After Akashi said the shocking sentence, making even Seirin members too stunned to speak, Amanogi finally realised. There was something really wrong since the beginning of the match. He felt dumb just realising it right now.
Akashi wasn't saying it out of arrogancy, he was just revealing the plot he's been executing since the beginning of the match.
And as the match proceeded, Amanogi only shut his eyes in pained expression. What he thought was correct, Akashi purposefuly slowed down his pace on the first half, making Takao miscalculated his speed.
The ball got stolen after Takao passed it to Midorima. That's why Akashi said that Midorima wouldn't touch the ball anymore after the consecutive three points.
Then, with 16 points difference, Shūtoku was shut down by Rakuzan from advancing to finals.
"Yū-kun--"
"Yeah, no need to remind me." Amanogi replied, then quickly walked after having Riko's permission to walk away for a while. Watching Shūtoku lined up with hunched shoulders pained him. He forced himself not to look at the opposite direction--Akashi.
Amanogi decided to wait at the corridor where the Shūtoku players would pass by. He took a deep breath, bracing himself to see Midorima's broken state. He was about to greet the man, when his breath got hitched at the sight of the taller man crying.
"Eh? Is Shin-chan heartbroken?" Takao glanced slightly and grimaced, "But sorry--I can't really comfort you right now."
Takao looked as devastated as the other Shūtoku members, the same with Midorima.
"It's really frustrating..losing." Midorima murmured with pained smile.
"..Shin?"
Midorima looked up with widened eyes, then he hurriedly attempted to hide his face from Amanogi. Too ashamed to be seen in that state. But Amanogi moved faster, preventing the man to hide his face and instead pulled the taller man into a tight hug.
It was quite funny to see, the tall Midorima lowering his head on Amanogi's shoulders. But they didn't care at all, even the Shūtoku members only gave a sight glance and continued their walk, acknowleding Amanogi as someone they could trust to be with Midorima at the moment. More precisely, Midorima needed him right now.
"..I know, just cry as much as you want." Amanogi said while slowly rubbing the man's back. He too, was holding back his tears as he could feel the man's frustration from losing. He, unlike Akashi, knew the pain of losing, and it felt awful everytime he experienced it.
Both green haired men silently comfort each other at the corridor, ignoring the weird look from the staff walking around. At the moment, it was just them without a care of the world.
***
Akashi sighed, getting ready to be back when he took a glance towards the corridor where Shūtoku went. He saw Midorima, looking like he was getting comforted by someone. But the man's tall body hid the person completely, making Akashi unable to see Amanogi in Midorima's embrace.
"Sei-chan?" Mibuchi called, after shooting Akashi a strange look.
The red haired man immediately turned around and walked away from the court.
Mibuchi also glanced at Midorima, then turned around, following Akashi. 'Weird, Sei-chan looked really curious about someone.'
Just as Rakuzan left the court, Midorima finally let go of the hug, revealing Amanogi's face from where Akashi stood earlier.
It was just a mere minute difference, but Akashi failed to see Amanogi.
Was it fate? Or was it coincidence?
YOU ARE READING
The Jewel of Miracle -Kuroko no Basuke ff- (GoM + Kagami x Male!OC)
FanfictionAmanogi Yū, as a violin prodigy is a genius, including in basketball. He could copy everything he see or hear, and he got a very interesting eyes which could analyze the data of someone's body. Because of this skill, he became Teikō's basketball man...
