65 Chapter 65 : An Unnecessary Drama

Furihata and Kagami went back to the gym, just to find that Momoi is still there, talking with Kuroko.

"You are still here?" Furihata snarked rudely at the girl, catching his teammates' attention. "You have the gut even after almost causing trouble for us?"

Everyone looked confused until Momoi finally asked, "What trouble, Furihata-san? I don't know what you are talking about."

Furihata just rolled his eyes.

"You directed Aomine toward us even when you know we are still recovering after our injury and you know your dumbass of a friend behaved, and you still have the gut to act clueless like that?"

Momoi's face turned pale as she just realized what Aomine did.

"What happened?" Riko voices the question that lingers through his teammates' minds who still don't have any clue.

"He challenged us, of course. What else could happen?"

It stunned his teammates for a moment before the silence was broken with questions erupted from his teammates.

"What?"

"Why would he do that?"

"And how could he know where you will go in the first place?"

"That's absurd!"

"Okay, everyone! Enough!" Riko raised her voice, shutting up her players. "First, where did you go?"

"We went to the basketball court nearby," Kagami answered. "That is the place I would go if I wanted to calm myself. The fact that Aomine said Satsuki's information network is incredible when he saw us means.."

"He got that from you." Furihata finished Kagami's sentence while pointing his gaze at Momoi. "You know that it is creepy, right?"

"He has no right to call the other people creepy. I bet he would do that if the position is reserved." Hyuga muttered under his breath, which caused his teammates to snicker at that.

"I.. I don't know what to say.." Momi finally speaks, trying to gather her thoughts. "I just told him that Tetsu-kun's partner can be spotted on that court if he was interested. I don't think he would challenge Kagami-san like that.."

"So, what else do you hope to get when you said 'if he was interested'? That he would go over there and have a nice chat? You are not fooling anyone here, Momoi-san."

There is a hint of irritation in Furihata's voice. While he didn't know what he wants to accomplish by antagonizing the girl, he sure can hold a grudge for the trouble that she almost caused to the team.

"Okay, calm down, Furihata-kun." Riko interfered before things escalated out of control. "What happened after he challenged you?"

"I accept," Furihata replied, gaining stunned gazes from his teammates. "Hey, what else can I do? He provoked Red quite badly and said that only weaklings run away from challenges with an injury excuse. If I am not stepping up for him, I am sure Red would go and make things worse for his injury."

"Yeah, I can see that." Hyuga nodded in agreement. "While it was irresponsible, you did the best here. Who knows what Kagami-kun would do if you didn't accept his challenge? He might go behind our back and search for Aomine."

"Hey, I am not that bad, you know?!" Kagami tried to protest. However, he only got an eye roll from Furihata. "Red, you actually agreed with him that only weaklings use the injury as an excuse and are ready to play. Don't you dare to say you are not that bad."

"Fine!" The red-haired boy huffed in annoyance. "But you cannot deny that it feels good to beat him, right?"

A silence dropped for a moment as everyone looked at Furihata with astonished gazes. It only last five seconds before chatters erupted among them.

"You won?!"

"What the hell! How is that possible?!"

Furihata just rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"He didn't play seriously, duh." He spoke, calming down his teammates. "He was just there to test the water. If he found us boring, he wouldn't take the next game seriously. But this time, he would come to us with all his strength."

The entire pool turned dead silent at his speech.

"Yup!" Momoi who has her face paled a moment ago suddenly spoke with a bright smile. "If you caught his interest, you could see Dai-chan play at his full strength. It would be fun to watch him treating the game seriously again!"

"That doesn't change the fact you almost cause us a lot of trouble here, girl." Furihata rolled his eyes. Momoi just pouted at him and said, "Mou, Furihata-san. You are so mean. It is not like you get hurt or anything. You even win against Dai-chan! Is that good enough for you?"

Furihata just looked at him ridiculously.

"It surprises me how unconcerned you are with our situation. While I doubt you have any harmful intention in the first place, now I cannot think of anything about you other than an insensitive bitch. You didn't even consider us still in the recovery phase, right? Is that why all your friends called you the ice queen? Not because of your cold demeanor, but because of how easy it is for you to dismiss their concern like that?"

Seeing Momoi flinch, Furihata feels like a jerk. However, it really irritates him how easy it was for her to downplay her role for the trouble that she almost caused. He could also see Kuroko frowning at him.

"That is a bit harsh, Furihata-kun." The blue-haired boy said. "I am sure Momoi-san didn't mean to do that. And just like she said, there is nothing happening other than you played against Aomine-kun, right?"

"I think Kuroko-kun is right." Riko nodded in agreement. "You have already prevented Kagami from accepting his challenge and it was good enough for us. I don't think we need to bring this conflict further than necessary. And you call her a bitch is also a bit too much. While I don't like her, I don't think that she is as bad as you portrayed her to be."

Seeing his teammates also nodded in agreement leaving Furihata a bit speechless. After a few seconds, he burst out a laughter.

"Well, I am sorry if you think it was too much for her." He spoke after wiping out his tears. "But I will still call her a bitch. And in case you forget about something, it is not only Red who is still recovering from the injury. Thank you so much for your concern."

He stood up immediately before they could say anything, leaving the pool in silence. However, before he could leave the gym entirely, he was stopped by someone who called him out.

"Oi, Bastard! Wait!"

"What do you want, Red?" Furihata answered without turning his head to the source of the voice, already knowing who the person behind him is. Yeah, only one person called him bastard on the team.

"Slow down a bit, will you? You are the one who says I need to be careful or my injury will get worse."

Furihata clicked his tongue in annoyance, didn't expect Kagami would use his words against him.

"Fine, what do you want?" He asked again, but after slowing down his walk to let Kagami catch up with him.

"Just want to ask, are you okay?" Seeing the dumbfounded expression on his face, he just shrugged nonchalantly. "Hey, even though we are not that close to each other, we are still teammates. And even though your reaction is still surprising me, I don't think you are wrong in the first place."

Furihata's expression softened at that.

"Thanks, Red. I appreciate that." He sighed tiredly. "And I will be okay. While I admit that I went a bit too far earlier, it irritated me how easily she disregards our concern and how quickly Phantom defended her. And coupled with the game against Aomine earlier, I couldn't help but snap at the team. I still have three days off, so I will be back for training in the next three days."

Kagami nodded at him.

"I will tell Senpai about that. Use your time. Just make sure you come back with your head clear. We are in a crucial time right now and we don't need this unnecessary drama."

Furihata snorted at him.

"You sure can be smart, Red. If only you use your brain earlier."

"You are the smart one here, so it is your job to do that. I only do this because you are way too hot-headed than usual, so I need to make sure you are okay."

"Whatever, Red," Furihata muttered under his breath. "Anyway, I will take my leave now. See you in the training next three days and take care of yourself, Red. Bye."

And with that, Furihata leaves the gym, wandering around aimlessly for fifteen minutes. However, he was stopped by the sudden voice that called him out.

"Furihata-kun? What are you doing here?"

When he raised his head to see the source of the voice, he could see the coach of the basketball community he grew up with, Shiro Fujita, looking at him. That is when Furihata realized that he is already walking toward his home and arrived at the court nearby.

"I am still not allowed to go training until the doctor checks me up the day after tomorrow, so I just go back a bit early."

He could see the eyes of his old coach softened after hearing that.

"I am sorry for your condition. How is it now?"

"Not bad." Furihata shrugged. "I even did something foolish enough to accept the challenge for a stranger earlier, so I guess I will be okay. How about you? Is the team doing well?"

"It's been better than well." Fujita has his eyes beamed at that. "We are growing fast right now, and we are even invited to the local tournament several times. Godai even suggested that we took a registration fee so we can afford new jerseys for our team. It would be embarrassing if we go to the tournament with sports vests, right?" He chuckled at the end.

Furihata just nodded his head in agreement. However, after hearing the name Godai mentioned, a sudden brief idea suddenly came to his mind.

"Say, Fujita-san." He spoke slowly, gaining his old coach's attention. "Would you mind asking Godai-san to do me a favor?"

"What favor?" Fujita asked back, this time with curiosity lingering on his face.

"I want to ask him to train me in a one-on-one situation. I think I will need it in the near future."

"Why?" Fujita asked again with a strange face. "Besides me and Godai, you are the best in the one-on-one situation here. Hell, even we would have a hard time facing you in that situation. Is there a need to train that specifically?"

Furihata nodded at him,

"Yeah, I will need Godai-san's specialty because my next opponent is Daiki fucking Aomine."

Now, his old coach just looks at him with pity in his eyes.

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Author note :

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-Zeta Faes-