The Captain and The Coach

Camera Roll

"Where's the coach?" the team asked Junpei as they gathered at the gym for practice.

"She's observing our first opponent's practice game," he replied, then startled as he heard the door to the gym open.

He turned and his heart skipped a beat as it always did when he saw Riko.

"I'm back," she greeted them, and he said, "Speak of the devil."

"She was skipping after the Kaijou game, but she's not skipping today," Koichi observed. 

"Coach, are you going to skip today?" Koki asked excitedly, and Junpei had to hide his smile when Riko snarled back, "The hell I would!"

"Morons," he said to the entire team, "She wouldn't act like an idiot over an official game."

Then he turned to Riko as she set her bag down on the floor and looked at her closely. "But you do seem unhappy. Are they good?" he asked.

"One of their players might give us trouble," she said seriously, then handed her phone to him. "You can watch the video later. Take a look at this picture."

As the rest of the team gathered behind him, Junpei flipped her phone open and his eyes widened at the photo.

He flushed as he heard the team snickering behind him, for on the screen of Riko's phone was a photo of him making a basket at the three-point line.

Riko took a quick peek at her phone then covered her eyes with her hand. "Sorry, it's the next photo," she waved, and Junpei quickly clicked to the next photo.

This time, he turned a deeper shade of red as he could hear the team guffawing behind him. The photo on the screen was of him asleep, and it seemed to be taken at the library when he and Riko had been studying together one afternoon.

He clicked to the next photo, praying it was the right one, only to see a photo of him and Riko with their heads together, smiling at the camera. Despite himself, the corner of his mouth lifted as he remembered how they had taken this shot one sunny afternoon before practice. 

Then someone cleared his throat behind him and Junpei remembered where he was and why he had her phone in the first place.

"Riko..." he muttered, and she looked at her phone and groaned in exasperation. "Oh for crying out loud," she grabbed her phone from him and found the right photo. "Here!" she showed them all her screen, and everyone gasped at the photo of the foreign student.

"His name is Papa Mbaye Siki. He is two meters tall, weighs 87kg," she said seriously, and everyone was back to business as she told them all about the practice game she had witnessed.

Junpei was relieved when they all sat on the court to discuss how they might guard against a player like him, who was not only tall but also had long limbs. It seemed that everyone had forgotten about the photos they had just seen, now that everyone was focused on the upcoming game.

The rest of practice went by like usual, until finally it was time to head home. Junpei waited for everyone else to gather their things and leave the gym before he went over to Riko. Glancing around to make sure no one else was there, he wrapped his arms around her from behind and murmured into her ear, "Those were quite the stolen photos on your phone."

Riko elbowed his stomach and he groaned. "As if you don't have stolen photos of me on your phone either," she said, turning around in his arms and raising an eyebrow as she looked up at him.

Junpei flushed as he thought of what was in his phone, and Riko's eyes widened at him. Before he could stop her, she reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, wriggling out of his embrace. "Hey!" he yelped, trying to grab his phone away from her, but she was too quick for him.

He watched helplessly as Riko opened his camera roll and clicked through the photos. He held his breath, waiting for the beating that was sure to come now that she knew the kinds of photos he had taken of her when she wasn't watching.

A photo of her with her forehead scrunched up as they studied, because he found it so cute whenever she did that.

One of her during training, as she stood with a hand on her hip and the other on her whistle. He had snapped the shot as he went for a water break, and he loved seeing her strong and determined.

His favorite one was of her laughing over a meal. The entire team had eaten out after a game, and Riko had laughed as she watched Taiga and Tetsuya bickering again. He could hear her laughter whenever he looked at this photo.

To his surprise, a soft smile came on her lips, then she handed back his phone without a word.

"That's it?" he asked in surprise, and she nodded with a smile.

Riko stood on tiptoe and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. "Let's go home," she said with a smile, and Junpei couldn't help but smile down at her too. He slung his bag on his shoulder and took her hand. "Let's go home," he said, as they made their way out of the gym and into the night hand in hand.