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After hours of careful crafting, Momoi finally finished the scarf. Soft in the hands and pale pink like her hair, Kuroko’s birthday present was complete, and with not a moment to spare. She was going to the basketball court later that day with Aomine to meet up with the others for the party, but first she had to figure out what to wear. Not wanting to throw on anything too fancy (it was a basketball birthday party, not exactly black tie), she settled for some black leggings and a red jacket.
Throwing her hair up into a pony tail, she looked at herself in the mirror. Smiling, she took a deep breath and failed to quell the excitement bubbling up in her stomach.
The Generation of Miracles, the best middle school players in all of Japan, had started off as regular kids who played for their school's club. That’s how it was supposed to stay, yet when everything slowly fell apart Momoi couldn’t help but want to piece everything back together. It’s finally happening, she thought. For all of their fighting, her old friends were finally growing to love the sport again, and while they had all changed, she was grateful to witness that it was for the better.
“Satsuki, what’s taking so long?” Aomine called out to her, lingering in the hallway by the door.
“Coming, Dai-chan! Give me just a minute,” Momoi called back, moving away from her reflection. She scanned around her room and made sure she had everything in her bag before pulling it over her shoulder.
“Just hurry up, I don’t have all day,” Aomine yelled, kicking at the floor slightly. When he looked back up Momoi was ready to go in front of him.
“Jeez, I’m ready,” Momoi huffed, smiling up at her oldest friend of the group. For as nonchalant as he tried to appear, she could tell he was just as excited as she was. The two set out to the local court, falling into the steady rhythm of walking they had maintained throughout their time together. The two talked about nothing in particular, simply letting the conversation wander where it wanted to go until they arrived.
Kise seems to have arrived first, greeting them joyously. “Momoichi! Aominechi!”
“Kise, you’re here early,” Momoi calls out, walking over with Aomine following, the latter calling out a lackluster greeting that only childhood friends such as herself could pick out as borderline affectionate.
“I know, but I was so excited,” Kise rambles excitedly, practically radiating happiness. Momoi would be lying if she didn’t feel the same way.
With the sun shining down on her, she turned to stare at the empty court, a wave of nostalgia flooding her system as she was reminded of times from middle school. Dazed, she almost didn’t catch Kuroko’s arrival. Almost.
“Tetsu!” Momoi shouted, waving him down with a bright smile on her face. “You made it!”
“I did,” Kuroko said, smiling slightly as Momoi rushed to hug him.
“Looks like the birthday boy showed up,” Aomine says, hanging back. Kise rushed forward to wish him a happy birthday as well, though his was more direct and less of a roundabout message than Aomine’s was.
“Tetsu,” Momoi ventured, smiling up at him before pulling her bag around to her front. “Here, happy birthday! Sorry if you don’t like it,” she said, pulling out the scarf to give to him.
“Hey, that’s that thing you’ve been working on, right?” Aomine commented, watching the exchange.
“Yeah,” Momoi confirms, blushing slightly.
“Thank you, Momoi. It’s a great gift,” Kuroko says, running his fingers along the soft knit. He brung it up to his neck, tying it loosely around until it settled nicely. Momoi felt like she was going to explode. He likes it!
Saved from having to stutter out how it was “no big deal,” the sound of peddling interrupts them as Takao bikes the rickshaw towards them.
“Here’s your delivery safe and sound and free of charge,” Takao sang out, breaking with a dramatic halt. A certain green haired shooting guard sulks in the back, mumbling something about mushrooms. Momoi looks fondly at Midorima, who gets out to retrieve a bag of dried mushrooms, his lucky item for the day, from an amused Takao. The gentle giant has always been odd in more ways than not, but it was endearing in its own way.
Momoi watched as Midorima gave Kuroko a small duck keychain, Aquarius' lucky item for the day. Seeing it, Momoi realized that, as much as he complained, Shutoku’s star player was always planning on coming. She thought back to middle school, to the constant reassurance Midorima got from his lucky items, and her heart swelled at him sharing that with Kuroko.
Akashi appeared next in his Rakuzan jacket, smiling brightly at the group as he walked towards them. Ever the gentleman, he wished Kuroko a happy birthday and greeted the group fondly. Momoi loved every version of her friend, but it was this version she appreciated the most. His thoughtfulness shone ever since he returned to his middle school self, and she couldn’t be more glad that Rakuzan and Seirin had brought him back to his kinder self.
“Now all that’s left is Murasakibara,” Momoi said, clapping her hands together as if to highlight the fact.
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Akashi said, forever the captain, even outside of school and practice. As if summoned, their final player emerged from the woods near the court, clad in purple with a stick of pocky sticking out of his mouth. Momoi laughed a bit to herself, thinking, is Murasakibara ever found without a snack?
“Hey,” Murasakibara said, emerging from the forest and out into the sun.
“Hey, Murasakibarachi! I thought you weren’t coming?” Kise questioned, raising his arms to stretch them out above himself.
“Ah, I was already in the area,” he said, wandering over to the group.
Some chatter bubbled up between them as Momoi watched on until everyone was ready to play. Shuffling through her bag, she took out some lots so that everyone could draw teams fairly. The first teams were Murasakibara, Midorima, and Kise versus Kuroko, Aomine and Akashi.
Everyone settled on their sides as Momoi made her way to center court, basketball in hand. “Ready?” She said to no one in particular, throwing the ball up into the air before rushing to the sidelines. Watching from the edge, she could see the way Aomine smiled at catching Kuroko’s passes once again, at how everyone bantered back and forth. Struck by an overwhelming sense of deja vu, Momoi had to sit down on the bench as they continued to play.
Her friends had grown up. They all went to different schools, lived in different prefectures, and yet here in this moment they all smiled like they had when they were kids. Happy tears bloomed in her eyes suddenly. She dropped her face, wiping them away with the sleeve of her sweater when a ball rolled to her feet. Looking up, she saw everyone staring at her, Akashi at the front.
“Come on, Momoi. Your turn,” Akashi says, beckoning her to join in.
“What,” Momoi said, shaking her head and laughing.
“Come on, Satsuki,” Aomine called out, returning to his position on court. “I won’t go easy on you just cause’ you're a girl.”
“That’s not very becoming of you, Aomine,” Midorima reprimanded, standing next to him. Momoi looked up at each of her friends, finding acceptance on each of their faces.
“Okay, but don’t go too hard either, Dai-chan,” Momoi said, getting up to join them.
Never had she played a game with everyone, only occasionally with Aomine or Kuroko, so it took a little getting used to. Dribbling, passing, scoring, guarding, those all belonged to the Generation of Miracles. She had always shined on the sidelines, and yet, here, playing with everyone, she could understand why they loved it so much.
Even as everyone grew tired and the day waned, the smile didn’t drop from her face.
“Why don’t we call it here,” Akashi said after their game ended, looking around at the sweaty group. Everyone in agreement, they began to pack up.
“Thank you everyone, I had fun” Kuroko said suddenly as they all finished gathering their things.
“Of course Kurokochi!” Kise said all smiley, shaking Kurkoko around by the shoulders.
“Oh, there’s one more thing I’d like to do before we all go,” Momoi said, as if remembering what she had wanted to do. Shuffling around in her bag, she pulled out a small camera. “Can we take a picture?”
Kuroko smiled at that, something that sent shocks straight down Momoi’s spine. So cute! “That sounds like a great idea, Momoi.”
Nodding, everyone was corralled into the center of the basketball court before her camera, now on a little tripod. Fiddling with the controls, she heard Aomine say something about her dragging her feet before she finally got them just right. Hitting the button, the timer started to go off as she ran to take her place at the edge next to Kise.
“C’mon Kuroko, let's do a silly pose!” Kise said, sticking out a thumbs up.
“Stupid,” Aomine said, looking down at Kise.
“Don’t fight in the picture,” Midorima said, stoic in the back.
Momoi saw the flash, laughing at how the picture probably turned out. As expected, several of the boys weren’t even looking at the camera, yet it was beautiful. To Momoi.
“Can you send me a copy?” Kuroko asked, smiling slightly when Momoi nodded. Of course she would, this was the happiest day she had had in a long time. Looking back at the picture, she could see how much everyone had grown since middle school, both physically and emotionally.
Looking up at the real people in front of her, she couldn’t help but get emotional.
“Hey everyone, Kagami is throwing me a party at his place. If you would like, you’re welcome to join,” Kuroko said, breaking Momoi out of her temporary reverie.
“That sounds like fun!” Kise chimed in, already on board with it. Slowly everyone agreed, and one by one they all started walking over to Kagami’s.
Momoi hung back a bit, letting the image of everyone together again fill her eyes. As overjoyed as she was to give Kuroko the scarf, she couldn’t help but believe that this sight was the best gift Kuroko could ask for.