It was still raining. Yasu was at the entrance with a folding umbrella in her hand. After opening it, she walked out with it shielding her from the rain and looked for Midorima, whom she found was hanging up a call with someone before continuing to stare at the sky, letting himself get drenched from the rain.
Yasu let out a sigh. She knew Midorima was disappointed with himself after losing that match. Like Kise, it was his first defeat. Though he didn't show it, she knew he was deeply affected by it, especially when both the title "The Number One Shooter of the Generation of Miracles" and his infamous school known for being one of the Three Kings of Tokyo were placed on his shoulders, making him carry the burden. But most of all, he was alone, someone who refused to reach out whenever he needed help. Even back in middle school, he barely had friends and would always stay back to practise his shots by himself. Whenever she saw him back then, she felt lonely.
Midorima stared at the dark clouds as rain kept pouring until his gaze met with a white umbrella. Without even looking, he already knew who had joined him. "You'll get sick if you stay here." scolded the melodious voice he recognised from the start.
"You, too." he scoffed before shifting the umbrella to shield both of them from the rain, still refusing to look at her.
"Midorima." she called softly, knowing what was going through his mind. "It's okay to be disappointed, especially when you carry the pride of being one of the Generation of Miracles and a player for one of the Three Kings of Tokyo. But you can't mop around too long to the extent where you're standing under the rain and risk yourself of getting a cold, or even a fever, in worse case. Move on. Life's too short to even replay that episode in your mind forever. If you feel strongly about it, keep training not for anyone's sake, not even Shutoku's, but for yourself, because it is you who wants to become stronger.
"Also, you're doing it again. You're not reaching out to your teammates." Yasu noticed him slightly flinch when she caught him isolating himself from his teammates. "Like it or not, they are your teammates, and there's a reason for basketball to have a team of five. Otherwise, how are you going to win the game? Who are you going to share with the passion you have for basketball? How are you going to share the joy of winning the match with others? I know it sounds like I'm forcing you to play with them, but please, don't play alone. Don't go back to how you were back in Teiko."
It was silent between the two, with the exception of the pitter-patter of the rain around them. "Yasu." he murmured.
The said girl looked up but was caught off guard when he suddenly hugged her tight, like Kise had done back in Kaijo. She nearly dropped the umbrella, but was quick enough to grip the handle tightly, covering the both of them. 'Midorima?' she called silently. Suddenly, she felt drips of water on her shoulder, damping her sweater. Her eyes widened at this, knowing that the boy was crying, as he let out a quiet sniffle. She was fully aware that Midorima was never the one who openly showed his emotions, so all she did was place her free hand on his back, giving him some quiet time for him to let go of his frustration.
The both of them stood in the rain, with Yasu holding the umbrella over them, for some time until Midorima quickly pulled away, using his hand to push up his glasses, though she knew he was secretly wiping away the tears staining his cheeks. "Let's go back." she said to him, earning a nod before he held the umbrella over them and walked back with her. Once they had entered the building, Midorima folded back the umbrella and returned it to her. "I'll see you next time!"
"Yeah." he said with a nod as she took the white umbrella from him. "Yasu." The said girl stopped walking back to her team's locker room and turned around to look at him, who had his back facing her. "Thank you." She smiled, though he couldn't see it, and continued making her way towards where her teammates were.
On her way to the locker room, she suddenly felt a stabbing pain from both her feet, forcing her to stop. 'Oh, no!' she thought, panicking when she felt the swell slowly starting from her heels. 'I should have been careful with how I walk! Well, after all that jumping for joy, the pain has finally kicked in...' It took her some time to ease the pain by walking slower, which did in the end. Taking a deep breath, she continued at that pace while praying hard that the pain would go away by the time she returned home, not wanting her teammates to worry about her pain.
When Yasu returned to the locker room, she saw Riko standing by the doorway with her bag slinging around her shoulder. "Let's go home!" she called before noticing the manager standing next to her. "Oh, Yasu-chan! Go and take your bag. We're leaving already."
"No, wait..." called Hyuga weakly with a trembling hand held up to her. "Sorry... Seriously, wait... We just played two games against Kings."
"Oh, sorry." said Riko.
Yasu stared at her seniors shaking from the soreness all over their bodies. 'They're like zombies.' she noted before going over to Kuroko, who handed over her bag where she then kept her umbrella. "Thank you, Kuroko." she said with a smile, earning a nod from him.
"We'll be fine after we rest for a few minutes, but Kagami..." said the captain before his gaze landed on the trembling Kagami sitting on the floor. "He pushed himself too hard."
"I can't even stand, let alone move." he said weakly, literally paralysed after overexerting pressure on his legs for the many jumps he made just to block Midorima's shots.
"But we can't stay here forever." said Riko. "Let's go to the closest restaurant. Someone carry Kagami-kun."
"Let's decide with rock, paper, scissors, then." suggested Hyuga before he and the others played one round of rock, paper, scissors to decide who would be carrying Kagami. In the end, Kuroko, who had the smallest built compared to the other players, had to carry him.
~Time skip~
The team landed up going to an okonomiyaki restaurant. "Excuse me!" shouted Riko with the team trailing behind her and Yasu.
"Welcome!" shouted back the chef before noticing the number of customers. "There's so many of you."
"There's eleven of us." said Yasu to him.
The chef scratched his head a few times while looking at the available seats in the restaurant. "I'm not sure we have enough seats." he said apologetically.
"Kuroko, you'll pay for this." growled the shaking Kagami, who had mud stains on his jacket and a wet right shoulder.
"Sorry, you're too heavy." said Kuroko bluntly.
Kagami then noticed two people from the corner of his eyes and realised that they were from Kaijo. "Kise and Kasamatsu?!" he exclaimed.
"Hey." shouted Kasamatsu, surprised at him being very casual when saying his name. "No honorifics?!"
"Hey!" greeted back the latter.
In the end, Kuroko, Kagami and Yasu sat with the two at the same table while the others sat on the empty seats. Kagami sat next to Kasamatsu, who was sitting across Kise with Kuroko on the latter's right. Yasu sat at the end of the table with Kuroko and Kagami on her sides. The two aces stared awkwardly while Kuroko and Yasu blinked at them, leaving Kasamatsu to continue eating the grilling okonomiyaki.
"Why are we sitting together?" muttered Kise before he realised what he had said and snapped his head at Yasu with a panic look. "I-I didn't mean you, Yasucchi! I was talking about Kurokocchi and Kagamicchi! Y-You can sit with us."
The girl blinked at him and laughed. "It's alright, Kise." she assured, making him relax a little. "I understand what you mean."
He let out a soft sigh, relieved that she didn't misunderstand his question, before his gaze landed on Seirin's ace. "And Kagamicchi, why were you covered in mud?"
"I fell." he replied. "Forget about that. And don't call me Kagamicchi."
"If you don't eat, they'll burn." warned Kasamatsu before looking at Yasu with a flustered. "W-Would you like some?"
"Oh, it's okay." she said with a small wave. "This is yours. We'll order ours."
"O-Okay." he said before quickly looking away.
Just then, the door slid open. "Excuse me!" called a voice that sounded familiar to Seirin. "Sir, do you have two-" The boy stopped when he noticed who were inside the restaurant, as well as his teammate entering after him.
"What are you doing here?" asked Hyuga, who was as shocked as the two Shutoku players. "Where are the others?"
Takao nervously chuckled before replying, "We lost the upperclassmen while Shin-chan was crying."
A giant irk mark popped out of the back of Midorima's head as he glared at him. "Hey!" he scolded.
But Takao ignored him and continued, "We figured we might as well get something to eat."
"We're going somewhere else!" said Midorima, abruptly leaving the building.
"Hey!" called Takao before quickly following him. Once he shut the door, a storm suddenly kicked in, forcing the two to return to the restaurant soaking wet. Takao's annoyed expression changed when he noticed Kaijo's captain. "Are you Kaijo's Kasamatsu-san?"
The said boy looked at him with a surprised expression. "How did you know?" he asked.
Takao then walked over to his table after shutting the door behind him and Midorima. "I saw you in Basketball Monthly!" he explained excitedly. "You're nationally famous as a strong point guard! Oh, wow! As someone who plays the same position, I'd love to hear your stories!" He then turned to Seirin's table where there were vacant seats available. "Do you mind if we join you?" Before anyone could respond, he ushered Kasamatsu to sit at the table. "Let's go talk over here."
Soon, the table arrangement had slight changes, with Midorima sitting at where Kasamatsu had occupied earlier. Yasu glanced at the boys in front of her, noticing Kise and Kagami's expression, and a sweat drop popped out from the back of her head. All five of them sat in silence, unsure of what to do, with the exception of Kuroko.
"That table is ridiculous!" commented Hyuga.
"Hey, hey!" squealed Riko out of excitement. "Isn't this exciting?"
"You wanted this to happen, didn't you?" asked Kasamatsu, who was staring at the table as well.
"What?" asked Takao innocently. "Of course not."
"Why don't we order something?" suggested Kuroko as he started looking through the menu.
"Yes, we should." said Yasu. "I'm hungry."
"I'm already pretty full, so I'm fine with what we already have." said Kise.
"I'm surprised you could eat that shit." remarked Midorima.
"Why would you say that?" scolded Kise.
"Excuse me!" called Kagami with the menu in his hand.
"Yes." responded the waiter as he went over to him.
"Could we get squid balls, pork balls, mixed balls, octopus balls and pork kimchi balls?" said Kagami, placing the order.
"You're ordering too much!" shouted Midorima.
"What sort of incantation is that?" questioned Kise at the amount of food ordered.
"It's alright." assured Yasu as the waiter walked away with the order. "Kagami will eat all of it himself."
"Is he really human?" asked Kise with disbelief. After some time, the food finally arrived. Yasu and Kagami began grilling the okonomiyaki batter on the hot metal plate placed in the center of the table, and the five of them waited for them to be cooked. Kise noticed the sour face on Midorima and said, "I know losing sucks, but come on! Yesterday's enemies are today's friends!"
"But today's not over yet, so he's still enemies with Kagami." remarked Yasu before chewing on a piece of octopus okonomiyaki.
"You're so mean, Yasucchi!" cried Kise. "I was trying to sound wise!"
"I just lost to him." sulked Midorima with his arms folded over his chest. "If anything, I can't believe you have no problem sitting with them. You already lost to them once."
Kise looked at him for a while before smirking. "Well..." His gaze then landed on Kagami and Kuroko. "I'll get my revenge at the Inter-High, of course." The duo stopped what they were doing and looked at him. "I won't lose next time."
Kuroko looked at him with a blank expression while Kagami swallowed his chewed food before saying, "Bring it on."
"Kise, you've changed a little." noted Midorima after staring at him for a few seconds.
"Really?" he asked, surprised.
"Your eyes..." the shooting guard pointed out. "They're strange."
"Strange?" he repeated, not expecting that word before looking at the girl. "Yasucchi, do my eyes look strange?"
"No." she replied after swallowing her food, shaking her head. "You look the same, but you've grown taller than when you were back in Teiko."
Kise sighed with relief before looking back at Midorima, saying, "Maybe it's because I've started practising more since we played against Kagamicchi. Also, lately I've been thinking, it's pretty fun playing basketball with the guys from Kaijo."
Midorima cut a piece of okonomiyaki grilling in front of him with his chopsticks. "It seems I was mistaken." he said. "You have no changed at all. You have simply reverted to a state before our three consecutive championships." He took a bite of his food while Kise chuckled.
"But, we were all like that back then." said Kuroko, making the two look at him, as well as Yasu.
"How you change is up to you." said Midorima to Kise. "However, I am not playing basketball to have fun."
"You guys think too much." commented Kagami. "Of course we play basketball because it's fun."
This seemed to have angered Midorima. "What did you say? How dare you speak like you understand when you know nothing at all-" He was suddenly cut off when an okonomiyaki landed on his head. Kagami and Yasu stared with their jaws dropped as Midorima knew who the culprit was. "We can talk about that later." He stood from his chair and charged at the person. "Takao, come here."
"Sorry, sorry." he cried while being dragged out by Midorima. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The latter shut the door, and people could hear him cry out in pain after getting hit.
"Kagami-kun is right." said Kuroko, grabbing Kise's attention. "That's what I realised during today's games. If it was boring, we never would have gotten this good."
Once Midorima was done with Takao, he went back inside to grab his things. "Kagami, let me tell you one thing." he said while taking Takao's bag as well. "There are two members of the Generation of Miracles in Tokyo. Myself, and a man named Aomine Daiki. You will face him in the championship league. He is the same type of player as you."
"Aomine, huh?" muttered Yasu uneasily.
"What?" responded the confused Kagami. "I don't really get it, but he's pretty strong too, right?"
"He's strong." replied Kuroko, who had the same feeling as Yasu. "But his style of basketball... I don't like it."
Midorima only looked at Kagami with two bags slinging over his shoulder, and placed his money on the table. "Well, do your best." he said while walking out the door.
"Midorima-kun." called Kuroko, halting him in his tracks, looking at him with a smile. "Let's play again some time."
The said boy didn't look at him, but Yasu could feel a smile on his face. "Of course we will." he said confidently before leaving the restaurant. "We will the next game."
~Time skip~
The Seirin team finished up their dinner and paid before leaving the restaurant. "Thank you!" shouted one of the workers.
"Alright!" said Hyuga. "On to the championship league!"
"Yeah!" shouted the boys in unison.
Yasu looked around and noticed someone from the group missing. "Where did Kuroko go?" she asked the boys.
"Excuse me." he called from the side, grabbing their attention.
"Where did you..." asked Hyuga but he trailed off when he saw what was in Kuroko's hands.
"I found this... dog." said Kuroko, holding a box with a Pomsky puppy, as assumed by Yasu, that had two white spots for eyebrows and blue oval-shaped eyes.
"A dog?" repeated everyone questioningly.
"Don't take him with you!" scolded Hyuga.
"But he's cute!" defended Yasu.
"You're bothering the neighbours." scolded Riko as she stepped out of the shop.
"That's terrible." remarked Koganei, which confused the coach at what they were looking at.
"What are we going to do with that?" asked Kawahara.
Riko turned to what they were looking at and saw the puppy on Kuroko's head, wagging its tail. Yasu thought she saw flowers suddenly blossoming around Riko when she grabbed the puppy and spun around. "He's so fluffy!" she squealed. "He's so cute! Where did you come from? You're so cute!"
"Coach?" called Hyuga. "Calm down."
Riko finally stopped spinning when she noticed something about the puppy. "Doesn't he look like someone?" she asked before holding the puppy towards Kuroko as everyone started looking from him to the boy and back a few times, until they realised it.
"The eyes!" shouted Izuki. "The eyes!"
"Oh, crap!" exclaimed Hyuga. "He's already become attached!"
"Okay!" said Koganei, pointing at the puppy. "Your name will be Tetsuya Nigou (Number 2)!"
"Don't name him!" scolded the captain. "It'll only make it harder to leave him!"
Yasu felt the pain return and had to lean against the wall for support. "I can't believe people still abandon their dogs." she commented, trying hard to hide the pain.
"Hey, I've been wondering..." said Riko, grabbing everyone's attention as their eyes landed on Kagami hiding behind a signboard with his arms covering his head. "What are you doing, Kagami-kun?"
"Uh, well..." he turned around looking mortified. "I really can't handle dogs." Everyone just stared at him while Riko blinked, not believing that a big guy like him was afraid of dogs.
Izuki noticed Yasu wincing in pain while leaning against the wall. Just as he was about to say something, she slipped from the wall and was about to fall on her butt when he quickly caught her. "Are you okay, Yasu?" he asked concernedly, making everyone's gaze land on them.
Kuroko's eyes widened at the familiar expression on her face before he rushed over to her and knelt down. "Yasu-san, is your chronic pain back?" he asked, earning a gasp from everyone.
"Y-Yeah, sadly..." she replied weakly.
"Yasu-chan, you're..." trailed off Riko when she realised something, as if the puzzle pieces had fit together.
"What is it?" asked Furihata, noticing her expression.
The coach looked at Yasu, who nodded at her when she understood what she meant, then back at the boys and explained, "Three years ago, when us upperclassmen were second-years in middle school, I heard of a rumour about the elementary school level girls' basketball championship MVP had retired when she became a first year. Another rumour was that the ace of Rikka Elementary girl's basketball team had to quit basketball because of a chronic pain called plantar fasciitis. Yasu-chan was that MVP, and the ace of that school."
Except for Kuroko, all the boys looked at the said girl with shocked expressions, making her look down with embarrassment from the sudden attention. Even Kagami was surprised at her background. "But all this while, you've been fine, Yasu-san." noted Kawahara. "Why did the pain suddenly came?"
"I feel the pain every morning when I wake up." she explained. "But as long as I have my arch support, I don't feel it, or I seldom do, at least. But I guess after all that cheering and walking back in the stadium had taken a toll on my feet."
"It's getting late." noted Furihata when he noticed the time. "We should go home. But who's going to take the dog back?"
"I will." volunteered Kuroko.
"Alright." said Hyuga. "Since Yasu goes home with Kuroko, and that the dog is settled, we can go home."
Kuroko then offered a piggy-back ride to Yasu, who got on him without asking due to the pain. "Let's go home, Yasu-san." he said before getting up with Nigou in his bag.
"I'm sorry, Kuroko." she said softly as he began walking home.
"No, it's alright." he assured, glancing back at her with a smile. "If you're sleepy, you can take a nap. I'll wake you up when we reach your home."
Too tired to argue with him, Yasu nodded before placing her head on the crook of his neck and closed her eyes. "Thank you, Kuroko." she said before falling into a deep slumber.