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Daiki is seven years old when he develops his first crush and it’s on his best friend, Satsuki no less. Looking back on it now, his eighteen year old self isn’t even sure if his younger self knew of things like that but he can honestly recall the very day the crush happens. They’re playing in the mountains like they always do when he finds a tiny but very wet frog in the river. He’s always had a talent for catching things like crayfish and cicadas so he thought at the time, why not? She’s picking flowers by the river, all the while oblivious to him sneaking up behind her, and he wastes no time plopping the frog right on top of her head.
“Argh!” Satsuki shrieks, shutting her eyes and screaming at the top of her lungs. Tears are prickling out of the corner of her eyes as she begins to openly cry. “Dai-chan is so mean! I hate you, Dai-chan!” At this point, he’s the one freaking out. He honestly didn’t think she’d react so badly. When he makes a move to grab the frog, she cries even harder, shutting her eyes and balling her hands into fists. “I hate you! I hate you!”
“It was only a joke!” He tells her, diving for the frog once again and successfully catching it this time. He lets it hop out of his hands and back into the water before turning back to his crying friend. Her cheeks are flushed and her eyes are all red and he honestly feels like the worst person in the whole world. Satsuki is hiccupping through her tears, rubbing at her eyes and sniffling. Daiki is frowning and his eyebrows are turned downwards in regret but when he puts a hand on her shoulder to quiet her tears, he’s speechless.
At his touch, she looks up at him with eyes full of sadness and distrust and he takes it all back, now he feels like the worst person in the whole world. “I didn’t mean it, Satsuki,” he tells her, “I’m sorry I made you cry.” Seeing her tears and red face was too much for him. He hated it. He hated how he made her cry and he hated how every single tear she cried right now was because of him. After a few more seconds, he comes to the conclusion that he never wants to see her cry again. He decides that he would much rather see her smiling and laughing than her crying and sniffling. ‘I won’t make you cry anymore, I promise,’ he thinks to himself and it’s a promise he wants to uphold forever.
Aomine is fourteen when he realizes he likes her. It’s embarrassing and something he would rather not make public anytime soon but it’s a strange realization none the less. He’s known her practically all his life and they’re best friends. Hell, their parents used to bathe them together when they were babies, could it get any more embarrassing than that? His eighteen year old self shudders at the thought but then again, looking back on it, Aomine figures his crush-turned-possible-object-of-affection would pass.
Like everything else from his test scores to his way of basketball, he was very, very wrong. He remembers it like it was just yesterday; she had shown up at his house early that morning so they could walk together to Teiko. He lived closer so it made sense. When he came out of his room all dressed and ready to go, she smiled at him and gestured at herself, “Dai-chan! What do you think?” She asked him a simple question yet it left him completely stunned and unable to speak. As he looked her up and down from head to toe, from her navy plaited skirt to the navy ribbon around her collar, he felt his cheeks burn. He’d seen her in skirts before but he couldn’t believe how, dare he ever say it aloud, cute she looked in her Teiko uniform. Needless to say, he didn’t speak to her the entire way there save a few sounds of acknowledgement here and there.
Aomine doesn’t remember if he’s ever thought she was cute. Sure, his parents call her cute all the time but that’s his parents, not him. It doesn’t come as a surprise when his answer is just, “sure”. He didn’t even answer her question because he’s too mortified to speak. What was so cute about her anyway? Certainly not the way her long hair was pulled in a ponytail or the way those loose strands of hair fell and framed her face. That wasn’t cute at all, not in the slightest. It’s an embarrassing realization on his part; this girl is his best friend and he’s known her all his life. At this point in time, he’s a little dumbfounded because honestly, when did he start seeing her more than just the girl he grew up with? His eighteen year old self shuddered at the memories because he should have seen the signs, the signs of him being royally fucked.
Aomine is sixteen years old when he realizes he’s in love with her. They’re walking home together after the final match between Rakuzan and Seirin and the atmosphere between them is quiet. He can see her sneaking glances at him but it isn’t enough for her to say anything so he doesn’t comment on it. She hasn’t said much since he cried but he can tell that she wants to say something now. “What is it?” He asks, speaking for her. It’s silent for a few minutes before he feels her take his hand and he immediately looks towards their conjoined hands. Her hand feels tiny in his, he’s pretty sure he can completely cover her hand in his if he wanted. Her touch is soft and it’s comforting, much like her presence but when she speaks, her voice is far from it.
“We’ll win next time.”
It’s a promise of a lifetime and as he squeezes her hand back comfortingly, he feels happier than he has in a long time. She’s smiling at him now and he can say with the utmost confidence that his crush-turned-possible-object-of-affection is most certainly and definitely his object of affection. “Make me the best in Japan,” he says with a wolfish smirk.
“The shadow to your light,” she agrees cheekily.
Oh yeah, he’s definitely in love.
Aomine is eighteen years old now and in his last year at Touou Academy. He’s still 192 centimeters tall and he’s still most definitely in love with one very oblivious Momoi Satsuki. Not much has changed between them in the two years since they entered high school, if anything, it’s almost the same. She’s still in love with Tetsu and he’s still quietly loving her from afar. He’s not even sure if she’ll ever see him the way he sees her but maybe that’s just the way it should be. ‘It can’t be helped,’ he thinks, sighing. Aomine stretches out his stiff limbs and sits up from his position on the stage. It’s the first day of club try-outs and the new recruits are shoveling in. ‘Let’s get started,’ he smirks, excitement swelling in his chest as he waits for them all to get settled.
“First-years, this way!” Satsuki calls, waving her hand for everyone to see. The first-years all gather in front of her and he can hear them whispering excitedly about how beautiful their manager is. She isn’t paying attention to their chatter because she’s too busy getting everyone settled in so he decides to do it for her.
The Power Forward jumps down with a grunt and all-knowing smirk on his lips. “Yo, welcome to Touou Academy,” he says, his eyes twinkling challengingly. The gymnasium is silent as he begins to rise from his crouching position and as he looks down at them, he can see the awe and bewilderment in their faces. “I’m the captain, Aomine Daiki and this,” he began, extending an arm out and slinging it over Ryou’s shoulder and effectively startling the teen, “is Sakurai Ryou, the vice-captain.” Nudging his head in Satsuki’s direction, Aomine introduced her as well, “Our manager, Momoi Satsuki.” He dislodged himself from the brunet and stepped forward, crossing his arms. “Sorry to say but Coach Harasawa isn’t here today so I’ll be the one handling try-outs.” Aomine then smirked. “Like I said, welcome to Touou Academy. Let’s see what you’ve got, huh?”
The first-years are confused by his words so knowingly, Satsuki comes forward to stand beside him. “It’s a Touou tradition to play one on one with the team’s current captain and this year, it’s Aomine-kun. You’ll be playing a quick, five minute game. I’ll be watching and collecting data on you all so please give it your best!” She smiles at them reassuringly but it does little to quell their nervousness. The pink haired teen then hums contently as she glances at her clipboard, “Is Yamura-kun here?”
There’s shuffling from the crowd of first-years and after a few seconds, an average heighted brunet comes forward. “Yes, I’m here!”
Aomine clicks his tongue excitedly as Satsuki leaves his side to make herself comfortable on the stage. He sees her in the corner of his eye and inside, he grins a lopsided grin. With her clipboard in hand and pen tucked safely behind her ear, she honestly looked fucking adorable (and it’s okay for him to admit it now since he’s already accepted that he’s royally fucked). He accepts the basketball Ryou hands him and proceeds to spin the ball on the back of his pointer finger, “Entertain me a little, huh?”
Three hours pass and the first day of try-outs are complete. The new recruits are exhausted but invigorated at the opportunity to play against the Ace of the Generation of Miracles so when they retreat to the locker rooms, they’re all in high spirits. Ryou and the other upperclassmen are cleaning up the gymnasium and Aomine is just about ready to join them when he feels something cold touch his forehead. He flinches at the unexpected cold intrusion and looks up from his position on the bench to see Satsuki giggling.
“Here you go, Dai-chan.” Her words come out in a sing-song sort of fashion but he accepts the cold water bottle from her hands and downs half of it in one go. She sits down beside him and looks up at the ceiling, exhaling slowly. “It’s going to be a good year for us,” Satsuki comments. “Nagasawa-kun, Kusatsu-kun, and Uoya-kun look like promising Point Guards and with some practice, I think Hirase-kun would make a great Center.”
Aomine wipes the sweat off his brow with a towel and nods in agreement, “Sakubara seems like a good choice for Forward too. We’ll need to work with him to get past Kise and his Perfect Copy.” Taking another sip from his water bottle, Aomine nods at her. “Run those numbers again later tonight and check in with the Coach before tomorrow’s practice. I want to see their individual stats before I challenge them as a team.”
Satsuki hums in response as she scribbles down a few notes, “I’ll analyze their progression as well and I’ll have to go over the numbers again just to make sure but I’ll let you know later tonight when I’m done. Ryou-kun is developing extremely well also, I’m sure he’ll be able to hasten his Quick-Release soon if he worked on...” She’s off in her own little world now as she begins her analysis and she’s concentrating so hard that she doesn’t even see the corner of his lips curving upwards in a small smile.
The dark-skinned teen is watching her, much like he always does, and just listens. He listens to her mutter to herself as she calculates and jots down the solutions. He listens to her grunt in annoyance when parts of the equation don’t make sense and he listens to her when she giggles upon finding the answer. The nice thing about Satsuki being in her analytic trance is that he can sneak glances like this at her without her knowing. Aomine clicks his tongue to get her attention however and he nudges her shoulder with his gently, “Hey, will you go shopping with me this weekend?”
The pen between her fingers go slack as she turns to face him, “Shopping?” Satsuki studies him briefly before nodding and smiling. “Sure, Dai-chan. Lunch is on you, though.” She doesn’t even give him the chance to respond for she turns her attention back to the clipboard in her lap and the numbers in front of her. It’s quiet for a few minutes before, “Basketball shoes?”
Aomine laughs genuinely before boosting himself up off the bench and throwing his towel over his shoulder. He’s aimed in perfectly and manages to make it seven or eight steps away when he hears her shriek and throw his dirty towel to the floor.
“Aomine-kun, you are so disgusting!”
It’s enough that Aomine knows for sure he’ll never love like this again.