She sits on the bleachers, listening to the squeaking of the sneakers against the wooden floor and Riko’s loud voice booming through the gym. She finds herself smiling at the sight of her hardworking friends but it all seems bittersweet to her because Kuroko isn’t here. It wasn’t like all she thought of every second of every day was Kuroko. She had friends, too. And, of course, she had club responsibilities. She wasn’t the manager just to ogle at Kuroko. She had a job to do, and that was to care for her members and make sure they were being… managed. That was her job, right? To manage things. Yeah.
Riko let the upperclassmen rest for a bit, which was very considerate of her. Well, it was their day off, after all. She shouldn’t have given them exercises to do in the first place. But, seeing them all fired up and exercising of their own free will, she just couldn’t help but join in the fun.
Suddenly, a commotion sounded by the door.
“Why are you taking shelter from the rain here?!”
She got up from her seat and looked over to the door, and sure enough, there she stood. The pink-haired beauty. Teiko’s former manager. Kuroko’s girlfriend: Satsuki Momoi.
She felt her heart sink at the sight of Momoi. She had luscious locks and pretty eyes, and not to mention that sexy body! Compared to her, [Y/N] was… Plain, boring, ordinary. And she was such a legendary manager, too. All [Y/N] ever did was buy stuff and knit wristbands for the players. She was soaked to the bone and she still looked pretty. If [Y/N] was soaked like that, she’d resemble a wet dog. And not the cute kind, either.
“Is Kuroko in?” Momoi asks in her soft, cute voice. She looks so sad and her voice sounds sad, too.
“Well, he’s not in at the moment,” Junpei says, trying to avoid looking at Momoi’s chest.
“I’ll call up Kagami and the others. I’ll tell them to come back here,” Riko informs Momoi, flipping open her phone.
“[Y/N], get a shirt for Momoi to change in,” Riko ordered. She nodded and scrambled for a shirt from the inside of Riko’s bag. That woman had everything in her bag. Once she found one, she handed it to her, and kept to herself as they waited for Kuroko and the others to return.
Finally, Kuroko and the others returned, a little drier than she expected. She kept herself from running to Kuroko because Momoi had that covered, running into Kuroko’s chest like it was the most normal thing in the world. [Y/N] felt her head spin and her heart sink, but she stayed seated, determined to sit this through.
She tried to distract herself with her phone but it proved ineffective. She could see clearly every single thing that was happening between Momoi and Kuroko. The way he gave her his shirt to wear over Riko’s too-small one, the way he handed her something to drink, and how he pet her head to reassure her that everything was going to be just fine. She even noticed how Kuroko told Kagami off after Kagami made Momoi cry again. She couldn’t take it anymore, but she had to. Kuroko wasn’t hers to begin with, anyway.
She felt her heart constricting tighter and tighter with each passing moment, and she felt resentment growing within her as Kuroko hasn’t once glanced in her direction since he came in. But who was she to demand Kuroko’s attention anyway? He didn’t like her. He told her that upfront the moment she confessed to him. She had to remind herself of that. She had no right.
“I’ll be taking my leave. I’m going back with Momoi,” Kuroko spoke, and he walked through the door with Momoi as soon as Riko and the others gave their okay. [Y/N] finally got up and punched the wall beside her, the sound of her fist hitting cement echoing through the gymnasium.
“Whoa, [Y/N], you okay?” Junpei asked, touching her on the shoulder. She shrugged his hold off and punched the wall again, harder than the first time. Junpei stood in front of her and the wall this time, catching her fists in his hands to prevent her from punching any further.
“Hey, relax,” Junpei soothed, but her furrowed brows did not light up in the slightest.
“Get out of the way, Junpei!” she yelled, tears pricking at her eyes.
She struggled to get free from his hold, but he was much stronger, and he wrapped his arms around her back, holding her arms down in the process.
“Shh, shh,” Junpei hushed, trying to get her to calm down.
“Let me go! Let me go!” she continued to scream, trying to free herself from his grip, but, eventually, she gave up and breathed in before sobs racked through her body, filling the air with the sadness of a one-way lover.
The other members of the team gathered ‘round, looking in concern at the scene unfolding before them.
“I don’t want to love him anymore, Junpei,” she managed to whisper into the crook of his neck.
“That Kuroko, he makes girls cry, too,” Kagami says roughly, rubbing the back of his neck in worry masquerading as annoyance.
She wipes her eyes aggressively and musters a big smile before looking up at the crowd that had formed. “Don’t worry about me, guys.” She gave her chest a sturdy pat to reassure them, but the looks on their faces showed her they didn’t believe her in the slightest.
“Don’t worry, [Y/N]. Kuroko doesn’t know what he’s missing,” Koga says, a big smile on his face. She snorts, finding it funny how Koga who had just been ogling Momoi like a kid at a candy store a while ago is saying that.
“Yeah, right, Koga. I saw how jealous you looked,” she poked him below the ribs. He feigned pain, and laughed along with her. It wasn’t long before everyone else joined in on the laughter, too.
That night, as she lies in her bed in her pajamas, her phone rings. She reaches over to check the sender of the e-mail, and her heart stops for a moment as she read the name blaring at her through the screen of her phone.
Tetsuya Kuroko.
She opens the e-mail.
Good evening.
Usually, she would be thrilled to know that she had crossed Kuroko’s mind to earn her an e-mail. But, after the events of today, she no longer felt the same.
Do you want to delete this e-mail?
She pressed OK.
