You were a player of Tōō's girl's basketball team. You were a very skilled and talented basketball player. In fact, you were the ace of the girl's basketball team. But you were no prodigy. You were on the level of the Uncrowned Kings, but you were still beneath the Generation of Miracles.
You were in the gym, shooting some hoops until you felt a jolt of pain.
"Ow!" you winced in pain. "This injury is nothing. It's not going to stop me from playing!" you said, determined.
During the Interhigh quarter-finals, you were up against Kirisaki Daichi High's girl's basketball team. Like their boy's basketball team, they used dirty tactics in order to determine their victory. In the game against them, one of the girls had severely injured your right arm. It was the worst place for them to injure, as your right arm was the one you mostly played with when you had the ball. Your coach had noticed this and told you to sit out during practices and for the next couple of games.
You revolted so many times but your coach wouldn't budge. You were a very important player, she didn't want to risk the chances of your injury to worsen.
So there you were in the gym alone, shooting some baskets since morning to noon.
You were getting quite tired since you never stopped practicing. You were about to take a break until your thoughts trailed back to what your coach had said.
"No, [Name]. You're sitting out on the games we have until your right arm heals. End of discussion!"
You clenched your teeth in frustration that you were not allowed to play alongside your team for upcoming games. You felt the pain in your right arm throbbing again, but ignored it, as you were more determined to practice than to rest.
You were so focused that you didn't hear Sakurai's footsteps step into the gym.
"[Name]-san, please rest a bit. If you overdo it, you'll end up injuring yourself again." Sakurai said worriedly.
"Eh? AHHHHH!" you screamed out, not knowing that Sakurai was there.
"AHHH!! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!! I DIDN'T MEAN TO SCARE YOU!!! I'M SORRY!!!" Sakurai screamed out his apology over and over again.
You sighed. "No, it's fine. It's not your fault. I didn't know you were there." you told Sakurai, trying to calm him down. "And it's fine. There's no way that I'd get injured. You should go home."
"..." Sakurai stayed silent, looking down. "Um, [Name]-san. Let's have a one-on-one."
"Eh?"
"Ah! I mean, I'm sorry! If you don't want to you don't have to. I'm sorry!!!"
"Alright...I haven't been able to play against anyone for a while now. It'll be fun." you agreed to Sakurai's challenge. "But I won't go easy on you. I'll have you know that I'm Tōō's ace of the girl's basketball team. Don't cry if you lose." you teased.
"I'll be the one to win, cause I'm better, hmph!" Sakurai pouted and turned to walk over to his net. "And, [Name]-san?"
"Hmm?" you turned your head over to Sakurai.
"When I win, please listen to what I have to say." Sakurai said
'What the-? He's so confident that he's gonna win. Since when were you so cocky? And what's with this sudden change of personality?' you thought to yourself, dumbstruck by Sakurai's sudden change of personality.
***
"It's my win, [Name]-san!" Sakurai smiled
You could only stand there, in shock, with your mouth wide opened.
"U-unbelievable..." you said in utter shock. You straightened your posture and looked away from him. "A promise is a promise. What is it that you wanted to say? What, are you going to lecture me now? That I should just sit there and rest while everyone else is out there playing against other schools?"
Sakurai didn't reply, but only brought out his honey soaked lemons from his bag and handed it to you.
"I-I'm sorry! The truth is, there isn't really anything for me to tell you! I-I just wanted you to eat these! I'm sorry!! For lying to you!! I'm sorry!! I made these for you because I thought that you might have been practicing today, alone. I'm sorry!! You don't have to eat them!!!" Sakurai apologized over and over again, with a slight blush on his face.
You smiled brightly, with the joy that he went out of his way to make you honey soaked lemons.
"Thank you!" you said cheerfully, taking out a lemon and putting it into your mouth.
Sakurai looked at you and said "...I like you, [Name]-san..."
"Hmm?" you asked as you thought you heard him wrong.
"EH?! U-um....ah!!!" he flushed at his sudden confession. "I-I'M SORRY!!! PLEASE FORGET ABOUT WHAT I SAID!! I-I DIDN'T MEAN IT!! I-I MEAN I DO!! BUT-UMMMM, I'M SORRY!!!" Sakurai stuttered, as he was too embarrassed and bowed his head down.
You smiled and chuckled as to how adorable he was.
"I like you too, Sakurai." you said, returning your feeling to him.
"Eh?" he said titling his head up to you. "R-really?" he asked, fixing his posture and standing up straight.
You went up close to him and gently brought your lips to his. He returned the kiss.
You pulled away and smiled "Does that answer your question?".
Sakurai bobbed his head up and down rapidly, with his face flushed.
"Now, come on." you grabbed his hand and intertwined with yours. "Let's walk home, together." you encouraged.
"Yes." he complied, smiling as the two of you walked home together.