Chapter Text
"(First Name)! Give me back my Mai-chan!" Aomine yelled, his deep voice echoing throughout the gym as he made his way over towards you. Ever since you and Momoi had discovered that such a threat would bring him to practice every day, the two of you had gladly teamed up to steal every disgusting magazine of his that you could find to use against him. The scheme had worked so far, hence the tall, tan pervert's presence in the gym, but that was the best it would do. Most of the time he just fell asleep on the benches "watching" the team practice, but you had a different idea in mind today.
"You can have it back if you do laps with the team at the end of practice, Aho," you replied, casting him a quick glance with your (eye color) eyes as you paid attention to a different member of Touou's basketball team: your crush, Sakurai Ryou. He was practicing his three pointers despite the fact that his aim was near perfect, but he had surprised you by making nearly every shot that he took. However, the one thing that you didn't notice was that he was stealing glances at you while you argued with Aomine about his porn magazine privileges.
Momoi hadn't brought you on as an assistant manager of the team until after Inter-high, and though you didn't have the pink-haired girl's amazing abilities, you did the best you could to help the team improve. You seemed to be doing a good job so far, because it seemed like the brown haired shooting guard had just set a new personal best for himself.
"Great work, Sakurai-kun! That looks like a new record," you praised him, pushing your (hair length) (hair color) hair away from your face as you wrote a few quick notes down and checked the time. There were only a few minutes left in practice, which meant only a few minutes left to spend with your former teammates.
You hadn't had the chance to tell anyone yet, but you were moving to (country) in a couple of days, and today was going to be your last day at school since you needed to help your parents pack. You wouldn't need to do a lot since your parents had decided to leave the furniture there and buy new things once you'd arrived at your new home, but there was still a lot to do. The most important thing on your to-do list: confess to Sakurai before you leave.
"T-thank you, (last name)-san," the brunette responded softly, your ears barely able to pick up the sound of his voice over the squeaking of shoes and the shouts of the other players practicing around you. You weren't sure if he would expect you to respond, but the sound of the coach's whistle spared you a few awkward moments of staring at each other.
Now you just had to tell them all that you wouldn't be coming back tomorrow.
You were usually very enthusiastic about seeing whether or not the coach agreed with the results that you had come up with from watching the practices, but today you lumbered over to the middle of the gym where the rest of your team was gathered. You didn't want to think about how you wouldn't be able to see any of them play again, or how not seeing Sakurai on a daily basis bothered you more than that ever could.
The words of the coach barely registered in your ears as you stood beside Momoi, the final notes you had taken, both statistical and personal, clutched to your chest. You couldn't keep your (eye color) eyes from flitting from person to person, noticing how much they had grown since you had first started assisting them with their training. Most of it was thanks to the pink-haired girl beside you, of course, but you had helped fill in the gaps with pointers that Momoi hadn't even thought to give. Though you wouldn't have thought of it this way, the team wouldn't be the same without your help.
"(Last name)-san!"
You were too lost in your thoughts to notice that the coach had asked you to comment on the performances you had seen during practice that day, but it wasn't hard for everyone to notice that you didn't seem like your normal cheerful self. Even Aomine knew that you had never spaced out during a discussion like this, and he was rarely ever here.
"S-sorry Harasawa-sensei, I wasn't paying attention. What were you saying?" you asked, startled (eye color) eyes finally registering the concerned faces of the other teenagers around you. The coach looked a bit surprised as well, but was quick to dismiss the wide eyes that had been previously staring at you.
"Is everything all right, (Last name)-san? You're usually more focused than this."
"Actually, I did have something I wanted to say to everyone," you replied hesitantly, avoiding eye contact with any one player as you took a deep breath. The last thing you wanted to do was leave, but your family hadn't exactly given you a choice in the matter.
"Today is actually my last day at school, everyone. My family and I are moving to (country) at the end of the week, and I need to help get everything packed up so that it can be shipped to our new home. I'm really sorry to leave everyone like this, but I wish you all the best of luck in the Winter Cup!" you finished, a bit surprised that you were able to muster up so much enthusiasm at the end of such grim news. No one else seemed to share that enthusiasm, though, for all you saw was wide eyes staring at you for the next few moments.
"When are you leaving?" Imayoshi asked, breaking the silence that had been brought about by your bad news. Everyone else still seemed perturbed by your sudden departure, but you would expect the captain to take control of the situation as he had.
"Uh, I don't know for sure. I know we're leaving on Saturday, but I don't know what time the plane takes off yet," you stuttered, unsure of your response as you looked around at all of the other teenagers. Many were mumbling to themselves, though you couldn't make out exactly what was said as you pushed your (hair color) hair out of your eyes before returning your attention to the third year that was standing in front of you.
"Then let us know when you find out. We'll come and see you off, (Last name)-san," he assured you, an oddly friendly smile accompanying his normally closed eyes that, even with glasses, you have no idea how he sees out of. Maybe he wouldn't mind you asking now that you were leaving.
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The remainder of the week came and went with you constantly packing boxes and organizing your belongings, the amount of personal items you wanted to bring with you enough to keep you busy for an entire day at least. However, it was Saturday morning, now, and you were already headed for the airport at a time when most normal people would be sleeping off their exhaustion from a long week. You weren't expecting anyone from the basketball team to actually show up, but the fact that they had offered was enough for you.
You went through the process of getting your luggage on the plane with as much false enthusiasm as you could muster up at seven in the morning, your (favorite color) jacket keeping away the unwelcome chill of the facility's powerful air conditioning system as well as hiding your fatigue. Many other passengers seemed to be in the same, if not worse, condition than you, though, so you weren't too concerned about your appearance.
The woman working the desk shooed you and your family as soon as your bags had disappeared down the conveyor belt, her snappy voice cluing you in to her lack of desire to be working at this hour. That was forgotten, though, as soon as you spotted the boys that made up Touou High's basketball team in front of the hallway that led to the security check.
"I can't believe you guys actually came," you scoffed as you approached the group, motioning for your parents to go on ahead of you. It wouldn't be a problem for you to go through security on your own as long as you made sure you had the time to do so, and you didn't want them to listen to what your friends had to say to you.
"Oh, come on (First name)-chan! We promised, didn't we?" Momoi asked, stepping forward from beside a tired-looking Aomine and giving you a quick hug. You were surprised by the strength she put behind it, but didn't say anything. This was the last hug you would get from her for a while, after all.
You gave them each their own personal goodbye as they stepped up and wished you a good life in (country), though they became a bit more halfhearted when you realized that your crush wasn't among them. You couldn't possibly think of any reason that Sakurai wouldn't do something with the rest of the team, especially when even lazy old Aomine showed up, but you weren't going to dwell on it too much. He probably had more important things that he needed to do.
The clock above Aomine's head read seven thirty by the time he managed to convince Momoi to leave, giving you a good forty-five minutes before they would start boarding your plane. You hadn't been on a plane for some time, but you knew that it would be plenty of time for you to get through security and find your gate.
"(L-last name)-san, please wait!" a familiar voice called as you began to walk down the hallway, causing a smile to light up your face as you turned around. Nearly sprinting towards you, something unidentifiable clutched to his chest, was Sakurai. His normally smooth brown hair looked a little disheveled as he closed the gap between the two of you, but you weren't too concerned about that right now. He'd come to say goodbye, and now you could do what you'd been promising yourself that you would for a long time: confess to him.
"I'm so sorry that I'm late, but I made you this to make up for it! I'm sorry if it's not very good," he gasped, still trying to catch his breath as he handed you the piece of paper that he had been carrying when he first approached you. His brown eyes looked up into your (eye color) ones when he gave it to you, his cheeks tinted red. Was it that embarrassing for him to give this to you?
You flipped the paper over curiously, surprised when it revealed multiple sketches of a manga-style you in various poses. To any normal person it would have looked like it came out of a manga artist's sketchbook, but it was even more special to you that your crush had taken the time to draw it for you.
"Sakurai-kun, I love it!" you exclaimed, smiling up at the surprised shooting guard in front of you. You knew of his constant apologies by now, and this drawing wasn't something you wanted him to think that he had to apologize for. The only problem was that you were worried that it would get ruined on the plane.
"I'm glad you came, too, because I have something I've been wanting to tell you," you continued, gathering your courage as you shifted a bit closer to the other male. It was now or never, because you would never make it to the plane on time if you didn't leave in the next few minutes. The last thing you wanted to do was to leave Sakurai here after admitting something like this, but it couldn't be avoided now.
"I-I like you, Sakurai-kun-"
All of the words that you had planned to say to him were cut off as his soft lips collided with yours suddenly, your (eye color) eyes popping open in shock. However, once the initial shock of the sudden action of the shy boy was gone, you sank into the kiss without protest. Your lips moved in sync without much trouble, though you did have to pull yourself closer to the brown-haired male in order to make the kiss a bit more comfortable.
Both of you were gasping for breath by the time you pulled away from each other, your hands resting on his chest as you gazed up at his red-tinted cheeks and wide brown eyes. You weren't quite sure why he was looking at you like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, but you did know that you weren't feeling quite as guilty about it.
"I-I'm really sorry! I shouldn't have done that, (Last name)-san, I'm so-"
This time, it was you who cut him off, pressing your lips gently against his before he could go into a fit of apologies. Your heart was pounding in your chest now, for you would like nothing more than to stand there and kiss him for a while. However, you needed to get through security in time, or your parents would likely never forgive you.
"Don't apologize for that, Sakurai-kun. I would love to do that again, but I really have to go or I won't make the plane. I'll call you when I land in (country), okay?"
After a few more quick words and chaste kisses, you had finally managed to pry yourself away from Sakurai and rush in the direction of the security check-in. Despite the fact that you were no longer close to your crush, you could still feel the pressure of his lips on yours and the pounding of your heart at the action. You would need to separate from him for now, but you doubted that your heart would let you forget him after such a passionate revealing of your affection for each other. Now, all that was left was to get his phone number from one of the other guys on the team...