Archive of Our Own

To Momoi, her Teikou Middle School days were defined by the pretty images of her Dai-chan surrounded by his equals, his comrades, laughing harder than she'd ever seen him laugh, and playing basketball more enthusiastically than he ever had before.

He would hit Ki-chan's head, stand by Tetsu-kun's side in silent support, tease Midorin endlessly, make funny faces at Akashi-kun's back, and share popsicles with Mukkun. Teikou was meant to be like this, always: a picture of six silly basketball boys, laughing and just being simple, united by their sheer talent.

When it all fell apart, Momoi decided that she would recreate this picture, if they wouldn't do it themselves. For Dai-chan's sake, and her own.

___

Dai-chan had always been a single-minded kid. Basketball became an avenue for him to release all this focus, and the transformation led to the most inspiring, breath-taking burst of talent anyone had ever seen.

Without basketball practice, Momoi noticed that Dai-chan became more and more listless with each passing day. No surprises there, the boy did used to live and breathe basketball.

And so, Momoi took it upon herself to help him out of this apathetic rut. She pestered him to do errands for her. She forced him to look over basketball statistics and strategies with her. She dragged him around to buy basketball shoes, one pair after another.

Now, she was trying to get him to play basketball with Tetsu-kun again.

"Come on, Aomine-kun, come with me to see Tetsu-kun! It'll be fun!" she whined, prodding him with her foot where he was lying on the ground.

He turned away from her, drawling as he did so, "Whaat...I don't want to go if I have to get up from here..." After grumbling for a moment, his voice became quieter, as he continued, "We don't play basketball together anymore, anyway."

Momoi felt a lump rise to her throat. Her foot stopped prodding him, hanging pathetically above his shoulder. She could feel the silence hanging between them, like a black veil.

"Okay, Aomine-kun!" Momoi tried to sound cheerful as usual. "I'll tell him how you asked for him anyway!"

And when she turned to leave him, she didn't hear him say anything.

___

Momoi had decided to see Tetsu-kun first, to help her re-form the bonds. If there ever was anyone who treasured them just as much as she did, it was Tetsu-kun. He understood Dai-chan like no one else, except maybe her, and would help her on this mission!

He would, because he was the ever-reliable Tetsu-kun.

Tetsu-kun was sitting alone in the classroom, reading a textbook, even though it was lunch break and they were all free to run about everywhere. The moment she saw him, he looks so cool!, all illuminated by the natural light, she ran up to hug him.

"Tetsu-kun~! I missed you!"

He looked up nonchalantly, his hands still on the textbook pages. "Momoi-san, we just saw each other yesterday. We passed in the corridor."

Momoi giggled. "I still miss you!" She could smell the soap he used, crisp and fresh, a comforting smell. Her fingers then slowly slackened around his shoulder, and she moved to lean by the side of his desk. As she looked at the ground, her hair fell to cover her eyes from his view. "U-um...Tetsu-kun..."

He didn't say anything. She wondered if he knew just how hard she was trying to be cheerful.

"Y-you know, Aomine-kun?" She swallowed slightly. "He wants to play basketball with you. Just like old times. Just like when you were all together!" She turned to look at him beseechingly. "I can tell, even if he doesn't say it. Why don't we all gather at the gym tomorrow and play like a team then? It'll be fun!"

Tetsu-kun wasn't looking at her. He was still looking at his textbook, as though reading it, but his eyes were distant.

"We are not a team anymore, Momoi-san." His words cut through her, she felt like she was cleaved in two. "We're all graduating. And, I apologise, Momoi-san." Here, he actually turned to look at her.

She couldn't discern the emotion in his eyes.

"It is strange for me to talk to Aomine-kun now. It'll be better if we don't play basketball."

___

Aomine walked through the corridors, passing by rows of empty classrooms, hands grumpily shoved in his pockets.

Dammit, where the hell was Satsuki? He was fucking hungry. She'd better have some money for him to quickly grab something before the second half of the school session began.

Or hell, he might as well skive those periods.

School was boring anyway. He had been feeling so frustrated lately, yet he didn't feel like doing anything. The only thing that could stave off the suffocating feeling was flipping through one Mai-chan magazine after another, and staring at her glorious bosom. Or maybe attending basketball practice, but that was over anyway, and there was no way he was going back to do his own drills.

Eyes narrowed, he sighed, and turned a corner. He saw Satsuki leaning by a classroom door, looking down.

Boobs. Was the first thing that leapt into his mind. Second was legs. Then, ass.

Scratching his head bad-temperedly, he walked up to her. Shit, if she looked like that all the time, no wonder all the boys in the basketball team used to ogle her. He used to just throw basketballs at their heads uncomprehendingly.

"Hey, Satsuki." He rapped her on the head until she turned to look at him. For some reason, her eyes were slightly watery. He felt a tinge of concern slither in the recesses of his mind, and, despite his growling stomach demanding attention, decided to ask her first, "Oi, what's wrong?"

Satsuki blinked at him and then, slowly smiled. Ah, there was that annoyingly perky smile back again. There was nothing wrong after all.

"Nothing, Aomine-kun." She confirmed, to his well-hidden relief. "Ah, sorry, you want to go have lunch, right?"

"Yeah!" He scowled at her, and shoved his hands into his pockets. Jeez, if she knew that, why didn't she go look for him? He had to walk all the way here from the roof, too.

"Well, if you want, I could make you a-"

"I don't want any of your nasty bento shit, Satsuki."

Satsuki pouted in irritation, the usual end for their bickering.

____

When Tetsu-kun had refused to have the basketball hangout, Momoi had felt like giving up; if Tetsu-kun refused she didn't know who else would agree. But the image of Dai-chan laughing, his arm around Ki-chan and his hand on Tetsu-kun's shoulder kept her going. Dai-chan was too stubborn and lately, too lazy to contact his old team, so it had to be her to help him piece them back together.

She decided to go to Akashi-kun and Midorin. Akashi-kun used to be their captain after all, she had more confidence in him than anyone else she knew. It was the way he stated things, believing them to be true, and they would always be true. Midorin, meanwhile, she knew, would always pour his entire heart into anything he did. Perhaps he would do the same for this most important thing.

She knew where they would be. Tetsu-kun was right that the team had now been disbanded now that they were approaching graduation. However, both Akashi-kun and Midorin would still be at the Teikou gym, Midorin practising faithfully, and Akashi-kun using the equipment.

At the end of the school day, she left Dai-chan to his Mai-chan magazines on the rooftop and headed to the gym. The big, wooden double doors were so nostalgic to her, it seemed so long ago that she would run through them to excitedly hand over a new piece of data to Akashi-kun, even though it had only been less than a month. Shaking away the images from her mind, she entered to see Midorin doing his three-pointers.

Midorin was like the gears of a clockwork: precise, beautiful and intricate.

Momoi felt like she could watch him forever; it was so hypnotic seeing him throw one flawless shot after another. It was everything Dai-chan's shots weren't: perfect angles, smooth arcs, the straight line of the ball's trajectory through the hoop. Maybe that was why she was so arrested...it could be measured by her beloved mathematics in every way Dai-chan's basketball couldn't be.

He stopped when he saw her, pushing up his spectacles and nodding in greeting.

"Midoriin~!" Momoi squealed girlishly as she ran in front of him. She inwardly giggled when he made a confused expression; he never knew how to react around her perkiness.

"Momoi." He nodded again. "It's been a while."

"Yes it has!" Momoi whined, making her syllables longer and shriller. She hoped it would have an effect on him.

Midorin adjusted his spectacles, unsure of what to say. "I...hope you have been well."

Momoi laughed cheerfully. Oh, Midorin. He was always so proper. He was truly endearing.

"Thanks, Midorin! Actually, I was wondering, I want to have fun with everyone again. Including Midorin!" Her smile went wider as she saw him jerk back slightly at her words. "Let's have a basketball game tomorrow. You, Tetsu-kun, Akashi-kun, Ki-chan, Aomine-kun and Mukkun! Just like we used to do after practice." Unwillingly, she let her hopes rise as she saw him fall silent for a while.

He frowned, and then turned away from her to pick up a basketball and continue his shooting practice. "I don't see why that is necessary." He made a flawless shot, one that she admired so much.

"Why? Midorin..." Momoi tried to beseech him by whining harder. "Aomine-kun is starting to miss basketball with you. He wants to play with everyone again."

"If he wanted to play so badly, he would have attended practice," Midorin said, as he made another shot. "He would be practising now, even when the tournament season is over."

"Shintarou is right."

Momoi turned to see Akashi-kun stroll onto the court, with Mukkun behind him. She felt a sense of nervousness as she watched him walk towards them. She wondered when she started feeling this way, when it used to be that she couldn't wait to show him her analysis and see his confidence in her shine through his eyes.

"If he had wanted to play with us, he would have come himself," Akashi-kun continued as he stopped in front of Momoi. His gaze bore into her, making feel like a trapped insect. Instead of sending you. She heard his unspoken words like a chill passing through her body.

"Anyway, playing basketball together is pointless. We are no longer a team," said Akashi-kun. Mukkun behind him yawned, and added, "I don't want to play basketball if it's not required of me anyway..."

"But it'll be so fun, Mukkun! You'll get to see how much you've all improved since the last time!" said Momoi, trying to implore them.

"There is no point in seeing how much we've improved. We'll be competing with one another soon," Midorin sniffed, as he made a beautiful shot. Unfair. It was so unfair that he could make such beautiful shots when saying such things.

"Satsuki, I would like to focus on my exercises now. Is there anything else?" said Akashi-kun, as he turned away from her to look at her from the corner of his eye. Was there actually anything relevant you came to say.

"Oh, no, it's fine, Akashi-kun! Please, continue as you were," Momoi said, bowing at him politely. She turned to Midorin. "I'll see you around, Midorin!"

He just made another magnificent shot, swift and certain, as she turned to leave the gym.

___

Momoi walked out of the gym trying to numb her emotions. A sense of helplessness was bogging her down like a ball of chain. But there was no use feeling this, she should have known that Midorin and Akashi-kun operated on logic above all else, and Mukkun didn't like basketball to begin with. It was silly of her to have expected otherwise. She would just have to think of something else to get them all together.

As Momoi turned a corner, she noticed a familiar tall black-haired boy striding ahead of her.

"Nijimura-senpai!"

Nijimura-senpai turned to look at her, his eyebrows in his usual furrow. He was carrying a stack of books; clearly, it was his turn for classroom duty.

"Hey, Momoi." He gave her a small smile.

Momoi felt the corners of her mouth turn up, despite her previous burdened feeling. He was looking at her straight in the eye, and it revealed the unwavering strength she always admired in him as a leader. Akashi-kun may emanate authority merely by being present, but Nijimura-senpai projected it in his every movement.

"How's everything, senpai?"

Nijimura-senpai hummed as he adjusted the books in his arms. "The same as it always is. Being there for my family, trying to get a part-time job, you know, usual stuff." He smiled at her to show that he wasn't bothered by his circumstances, even as her heart fell. "How are you?"

At the simple three-word phrase, stated so sincerely, Momoi felt like pouring her heart out to him, but it wouldn't be fair. Not when he was already going through more than she could understand.

"Fine, senpai! I'm just trying to get everyone to play basketball together, you know?" Momoi forced a laugh. "Well, I really want to make Aomine-kun play with everyone because he just keeps playing on his own...and he won't be able to play in a team if he keeps doing that!"

Nijimura-senpai looked at Momoi carefully, an indiscernible look in his eyes. Eyebrows softening slightly from their usual furrow, he shifted the books he was carrying to one hand, then put the other one gently on Momoi's shoulder. "If anyone can help that brat, it'll be you, Momoi. You understand him better than anyone." He smiled at her again. "And once you figure out Aomine, the rest will be easy. They're all a bunch of idiots anyway."

Momoi released a giggle unintentionally. "Senpai!"

Nijimura-senpai scowled (with affection, Momoi knew) as he remembered all of them. Then, he turned, his back facing her and said, "Anyway, things will work out. Change isn't that scary. Take it from me, Momoi." He nodded at her, and then walked away.

Momoi smiled at his retreating back, so broad and comforting to her.

She turned around as well. She had to look for Dai-chan. She bet that he was still lying on the roof, reading one of his Mai-chan magazines again. He seemed to be going through them at record speeds, ever since he stopped practising basketball.

Sighing slightly, she started walking towards the roof, first slowly, then with a little spring in her step as she remembered Nijimura-senpai's words.

____


"Aomine-kun!"

Aomine glanced up at his childhood friend, who had just climbed onto the roof. Jeez, so she was finally done. What the hell was up with her anyway, disappearing so often. He watched her striding towards him.

He felt his breath hitch as he observed her shoes clattering on the cement floor, socks going right up to her knees, creamy skin peeking through, then, shadows cast by her skirt fluttering around the edges of her hips. His eyes narrowed. The skirt flicked as she stopped in front of him. He could see what she was wearing today from his vantage point, black, decorated with pink polka dots-

Fuck.

Aomine averted his eyes, ignoring the stirrings in his groin. He turned to his side to block her out. His skin was crawling with uneasiness, he felt like taking a shower and rubbing himself all over.

He felt like throwing her in there with him, her black, pink polka-dotted panties on the floor.

Frowning at himself, he rubbed his eyes with a single forearm, trying to get rid of the images before Satsuki noticed. He grabbed one of his Mai-chan magazines strewn over the floor, and opened it with so much force he nearly ripped the magazine. A poor substitute, but better than what he was feeling towards Satsuki right now.

"Aomine-kun, are you listening to me? I'm saying we can go home now. Sheesh..." He felt her hand on his as she tried to lower the magazine to look him in the eye. Her touch sent his pulse racing again, and he felt the familiar frustration crawl all over him, particularly around his crotch. Shit. 

He scrambled up so quickly, she yelped and fell backwards to sit on the floor. He glared at her from his full height, and then said, "Finally. Let's go, then." He quickly turned around from where she was partially splayed on the floor when she fell – imagine straddling her right now – and strode towards the stairs leading to the ground floor.

___

Momoi picked herself up from the floor, grumbling under her breath all the while. What was the matter with Dai-chan? He had become such an unrecognisable jerk.

She hurried to follow him down the stairs, where he was bad-temperedly stomping down, hands irritatedly shoved in his pockets. She didn't make him wait that long, did she? He had all his Mai-chan magazines anyway.

She finally reached his side when they arrived on the ground floor, and glancing to her left, she noticed as they passed by the Teikou third-string gym. The walls looked blank and imposing, and the shadows cast an unfriendly appearance across everything.

In her mind's eye, she could see Tetsu-kun and Dai-chan playing basketball, Dai-chan erratically dribbling the ball like always, Tetsu-kun executing one of his invisible steals, basketball shoes squeaking on the floor and the sounds of thumps and thuds filling the air.

The vision was gone as quickly as it came.

She looked away.

____

After a few days of thinking, Momoi decided that she had been overreaching when she tried to get everyone together again for a game. She had to start small, or else even Dai-chan would refuse to come no matter how much she whined and cajoled. So, reciting Nijimura-senpai's words to herself to keep up her motivation, she decided to approach Ki-chan.

She knew that he admired Dai-chan the most, and so, there was no way he would reject a game with him. It made logical sense.

She also knew that as the newest member, he was probably feeling very affected by the way everything had changed so suddenly. Even she was having trouble comprehending what was happening.

But when she approached him the next day while he was on his way to his classroom, he averted his eyes from Momoi's beseeching eyes.

"U-uh...Momoicchi, I have modelling gigs, you know? I won't have time to do one-on-one's with Aominecchi until after high school starts." He trailed off, looking away from her and scratching his head.

Momoi felt like the last sliver of hope had been snatched away from her before it even had time to form. You'll be in Kanagawa by then, Ki-chan. Too far away from us. Forcing a smile on her face, she said, "Oh, um, that's okay, Ki-chan! I don't want to hold you back any longer, so I'll just go now!" She turned away from him as she tried to control the bitter sense of disappointment currently engulfing her being. She walked away quickly before Ki-chan could notice her forced expression. But as she reached the end of the corridor, she was interrupted by his call.

"Momoicchi!"

She turned to look at Ki-chan. He was waving at her from the spot where she left him, a small grin on his face. Not like his usual smiles, full of playfulness and joy, but a smile nevertheless.

"Let's play basketball together sometime, you, me and Aominecchi!"

Momoi felt like crying at the lifeline of optimism he had thrown her. Things would never be the same, but with this, she felt that things would at least be okay.

And she would keep this little moment from Ki-chan in her mind, wrapped up and protected, along with the strong, encouraging words from Nijimura-senpai, to bolster her through the changes to come.

___

To Aomine, graduation passed by in a blur, and then it was the lull of the holidays before he entered Touou in March. He didn't bother seeking out anyone at Teikou for final goodbyes (he wondered how Tetsu was doing), he didn't care enough to do so (how was Kise finding Kanagawa), and he was just so lazy.

He chose to bury himself in Mai-chan magazines instead.

The pent-up frustration he had been feeling ever since he stopped playing basketball with razor-sharp focus only compounded with every magazine he read. Luckily, Satsuki was there to distract him.

He kicked up a huge fuss as she tried to drag him out to the little clearing behind both their houses. She was panting heavily as she pulled him, all six-feet-plus of him, and he steadfastly refused to follow. Glaring at her, he opened his mouth to growl his refusal, when he noticed her breath mist out as she panted, and his eyes trailed southwards, down her neck, and downwards even further-

"Fine, Satsuki," he grunted, as he shoved past her to walk out the door.

They both arrived at the clearing, and then as Aomine shoved his hands into his pockets sulkily, Satsuki turned around, and beamed at him.

"Remember this place?" She said. She walked around the clearing, putting her own hands into the pockets of her hoodie as she ambled around, peeking at corners, touching the fencing surrounding it, and finally, resting her hand on a tree trunk. The tree trunk.

"This is the place we used to play basketball together as children." She smiled at him again, and then, leaned against the trunk, facing him fully.

Aomine snorted. "Well, of course, Satsuki. You can still see that dumb hoop I made out of some shitty materials." He jerked his head upwards to gesture at the hoop.

Satsuki followed his gesture with her gaze, and then laughed lightly. He watched her as she did so, eyes raking over every movement she made.

"Yeah..." She smiled a secret smile of her own, eyes pointing towards the ground. Aomine swallowed, taking in the picture of her against the tree trunk, all her curves contrasting with the wide expanse of the trunk.

"I've been struggling to come to terms with all the changes lately," continued Satsuki, unaware of Aomine's intense gaze on her. "I think I've been thinking too much about the past...everything seemed so simple. Everything used to just be about basketball." She smiled a bitter smile, still at the ground.

"But recently, I've realised that things will be okay somehow." She turned her head to look at Aomine, who was still scrutinising her. "Even if I don't understand the basketball you're playing now, Aomine-kun...you will still play basketball. Even if it is a warped up version of what I remember. It's still basketball."

She beamed at him, eyebrows slightly furrowed, yet Aomine could sense it was a completely sincere smile.

"And so, no matter how things change, I'll still be wherever you are!" Her smile widened, even though her eyebrows remained furrowed. "That's a promise, Dai-chan!"

When she finished, Aomine realised that he couldn't control himself anymore. He wanted to get close to her, needed to get close to her. She was looking at him with those eyes. She just said she'd be with him. That was fucking confirmation to him.

Every nerve fibre in his being was screaming at him to touch her, to feel her...he could feel his heart pulsing and beating with this need. It was dizzying, it was making him insane with frustration.

And so, Aomine stepped forward, and moved close to her.

___


Satsuki felt his breath on her, wisps of his warm breath, ghosting over her face. She could smell him, all his sweat, and nasty Dai-chan odour, wafting over her, mixing with her own scent. What was he doing? He was so close to her. Her heartbeat was ringing in her ears, she couldn't hear anything else but his breathing...

Satsuki felt her breath hitch in her throat, unconsciously. She felt like berating herself, for feeling this confused and scared of Dai-chan being so near. It was Dai-chan, there was no reason to feel fear.

But the fear was more tangible and real than the fear she felt at losing Ki-chan, Midorin, Akashi-kun, Mukkun and Tetsu-kun.

It was the fear of losing Dai-chan forever, of losing the sense of comfort and assurance she knew she could always feel around him, if he chose to go over that precipice, their unspoken rule, and blur the lines they had always drawn. She would always stand by him no matter what happened, of course – they would always be friends...they had gone through too much together to stop being connected – and she cared about him too much not to do so. But she would never be able to feel the same carefree assurance she always associated with him. Their relationship would be changed for good.

A friendship infused by awkwardness and insincerity. He would really become 'Aomine-kun', then, rather than it being just a meaningless, throwaway phrase outside of her mind; while she still kept the real Dai-chan close and precious to her in her heart.

And this was a fate too terrible for Momoi to bear.

But before she could frantically shove him off (I don't want things to change between us, Dai-chan), he suddenly moved away from her himself.

___

Shit.

He was so close, so close to getting what he wanted.

But when he had moved close, eager to finally get the release from the frustration he had long suffered with, she had suddenly looked at him with panicked eyes. And he knew her more than anyone else.

The look in her eyes was that of horror at what he was doing.

He couldn't continue. That look reminded him too much of the look on Tetsu's eyes, during that final championship game. Hell, he couldn't remember the opponents.

He could only remember Tetsu looking at him, at them, dubbed laughably as the Miracles, with those eyes, the same eyes now reflected in Satsuki.

So, he drew away from her. And he pulled her hair like he used to do when they were children.

Satsuki yelped, and her hands immediately flew to her scalp. Before she could say anything, however, Aomine turned around, shoving his hands into his pockets once more, eyes clouding over with remembrance of that day.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever makes you happy, Satsuki," he said, as he stalked off back to their houses.

He didn't hear Satsuki's reprimands as she rushed forward to follow him. He was thinking about Touou.

Because Satsuki was right. He was still playing basketball after all. And he would show everyone that his basketball was correct, despite what Satsuki said about it.

And he would forget all about this frustration, about Satsuki's scent when he was so close to her, about Tetsu and his look, once he threw all his focus back into his version of basketball.