Chapter 11 ~ Change
It was already time for the District Preliminaries they were against Kadooka Middle School and Shinako was watching them from the seats.
Recently, she's noticed Shintaro has been getting better and every shot he makes will go in the net. Not just him. All of them, Ryouta, Daiki, Atsushi and Seijurou.
They were evolving and she didn't see that it was taking a turn for the worse. If she did, she would've tried something to stop it.
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Shinako was one of those people seating at the back row on the opening day.
For some reason, she thought they were troubled. Shintaro hit the ring when he shot a three pointer. Usually, it wouldn't.
Pressure. There's too much pressure it's affecting their play.
"RELAX! DON'T LET THE PRESSURE GET TO YOU!" that's what Shinako would've said if she was more outgoing and confident. But being her quiet introverted self, she stayed silent, hoping they would win.
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"Kuroko-kun left practice already?" Shinako asked with furrowed eyebrows. "Why? What happened?"
Shintaro raised an eyebrow and said, "Why are you assuming something happened?"
"Because Kuroko-kun never leaves practice early."
Shinako looked around and saw Daiki was nowhere to be seen as well.
"I'll go first," she muttered out before walking out of the gym to find the two boys.
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Shinako approached Daiki who sat alone in front of the river. It was late and dark but she couldn't go home. She needed to find him first.
"There you are," she said monotonously, walking towards him. She shivered in her wet clothes. "Aomine-kun, let's go home it's late."
"Leave me."
"You have to -- "
"I don't care! Just leave me alone!"
"No!" Shinako shouted, raising her voice at the tanned boy, earning a surprised stare from him. "I spent two hours looking for you and I'm not going back unless you're with me. So, stop whining," she hissed. She wasn't going to go back empty handed. He'll be damned if he thought he could just raise his voice after she braved through the rain to find him. "You little pussy."
He stared, unable to comprehend what just happened. The soft spoken girl he knew just shouted at him and told him to stop 'whining' and called him a pussy.
Clicking his tongue, he turned back to the river, watching as the water violently gushed downstream.
Noticing his distress, she whispered, "Aomine-kun, what happened?"
Daiki scoffed at the sudden change of tone. Girls.
"None of your business."
"It is my business actually," she said as a matter of factly. All that was left was for her to say 'nanodayo' and she'd be a replica of her brother. "Is it because of basketball?"
Mentally slapping herself for the stupid question, she sat beside him. She would've have been stupid not to see it.
"Is it because of the fact that you're too good at it?"
Taking his silence as an answer, she nodded.
"Doesn't mean you're good at it, you're the best."
"You were there. You saw the match. They were basically nothing to me."
"They managed to score points. They tried."
"They didn't try hard enough," Daiki spat out.
"Not everyone is blessed with talent," Shinako snapped, smacking Aomine's shoulder. "Other people have to nurture it until it blooms. People like Kuroko-kun. But even then, they're still no match for you."
Daiki finally looked at her. "What's your point?"
Shinako stared him right in the eye. "You're going to lose. You can't keep winning."
Daiki narrowed his eyes at her and scowled.
"Say that when you find someone who can beat me," he said before he stood up.
Shinako sat in the rain, watching as he walked away.
Maybe I should've punched him, she thought, sneezing loudly.
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"Ohayo Aka - "
Shinako stopped and looked at the person who sat beside her during English. She stared at him with her eyebrows furrowed.
"W-Who..."
He stared at her with mismatched eyes. "Good morning Midori."
Her eyes widened, ever since the sleepover, he's been calling her Shinako. So, why is he calling her Midori now?
Feeling a stab in her chest, she merely nodded. He's not Sei. She thought before looking out the window.
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"Nii-chan?" Shinako only calls him 'nii-chan' if it's important. "Do you know why Akashi-kun is acting... a little different?"
Shintaro was speechless. Even Seijurou's own teammates didn't even notice the change in him yet a person he only talks to in English class did.
"No. I don't." He answered blankly.
Shinako nodded and went back into her room, wondering what the pain in her chest was.
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Shinako fell forward as a ball hit the back of her head.
"Oh shit!"
She rubbed her head and turned around to glare at the person.
"Sorry!" The boy said, running towards her.
Shinako picked up the ball, glaring at him. He stopped a few feet away from her, expecting her to throw it back at him.
Instead Shinako threw the ball outside the court before pointing the middle finger at him. She was angry, because that morning, Atsushu stole her food. Without even asking. Usually, since they were friends, he'd ask and she'd give him. But he just stole it from her. That's what made her pissed.
He looked shock, seeing a pretty girl be so rude. Muttering incoherent words under his breath, he shook his dark red haired head before running for the ball.
"Kagami!"
She trudged away, hearing a faint voice shout the name of the boy she encountered.
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Shinako gasped as she saw Tetsuya get hit by a player from another team. From her point of view, it didn't look like an accident.
What's happening to them? She thought, staring as they gathered around Tetsuya.
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"Until we eliminate everyone except for ourselves, we won't stop."
Shinako walked away after she heard Seijurou's voice echo through the gym.
All of them changed.
She didn't know what happened to the old people she used to joke around with.
The people she showed her smile to.
YOU ARE READING
I Hate Basketball (Kuroko No Basuke)
Fanfiction"I joined Teiko's basketball team." He said. She stared blankly at him before nodding. He knows she hated basketball, but he liked it. She was in no place to stop him from doing what he liked. "I joined the Literature Club by the way." She answered...
