seven

The following hours of that day sped past in a blur, and I soon concluded that this illusion was formed out of anticipation, the excitement and anxious beating of my heart awaiting what was to come. Perhaps I was expecting a little too much; I kept that in mind, but positivity was overpowering. Basketball was my passion-surely, if Nozomi were to watch my earnest efforts at work, he would be inspired in one way or another. Now it wasn't that this confidence of mine was blinding me, I simply say this from experience. Years ago, before I had become molded into the individual I was today, I remember sitting down at a basketball match one day-Tomoru's match-and the sparks that shot off from the crown of his head all the way down to the heels of his shoes struck me, a once indifferent, naïve little boy who never expected to take an interest in…well…anything. It had since been a dream of mine to change someone the way Tomoru changed me.

Hopeful thinking. I just had to stick to it.

"You're real antsy today, sport. Nervous?"

I felt my captain's firm hand clasp down on my shoulder, startling me. I immediately began shaking my head rapidly at him.

"It's just a practice game," he assured me, "so you can relax."

"Not antsy, not nervous, and I am relaxed." Jogging in place, I resumed with my pre-practice stretches, unintentionally shrugging off the quirked eyebrow aimed right at me. "I've got someone coming to watch me today, that's all. I'm all good…"

"Ah, so that's it then. A girlfriend?"

Again with this… "No, sir."

Tomoru, Atsushi, and Sato all eyed me from the distance. I could see it clearly in their omniscient scrutiny…they just knew. Even though I hadn't brought it up a single time within our conversations throughout the day, they could just sense that I was waiting for someone. My eyes were constantly, conspicuously scanning the perimeter of the gymnasium, the doors, the benches, heck, even the closets-not that I expected him to waltz out of there or anything. I just wanted to be certain.

I didn't want to rush him, though mentally, I was. But I had to remind myself I'd given him a choice. I wasn't going to force him to come, so in the end, if he decided to accept my request, I would have to respect the fact that his arrival might be delayed due to obvious circumstances.

"In position, boys! We're about to start!!"

I had to believe in him.

"C'mon, Fire Truck. My lunch tomorrow depends on the outcome of this match."

I had to trust that he would show.

"Asahi, eyes forward!"

"Y-yes, sir!!"

And so it began.

Time crept on by as slowly as ever. This was a practice match-nothing official, just a friendly game among teammates to assess our abilities, identify where improvements were necessary, and have fun. And I did have fun. But a piece of my mind had been out of my reach throughout the entirety of the game, most likely fluttering over Nozomi's head…wherever he was. But although I was certainly distracted, I didn't allow that to interfere with my involvement in the plays, and to the best of my ability I treated today's match as any other.

"Man, you really carried your weight out there, Asahi, just like always." Tomoru tousled my hair with the knuckles of his right hand, paying no mind to the sweat drops dripping off his fingers like water from a leaky spicket. "Thanks to you, I'm getting a free lunch, all expenses paid courtesy of the bitter expresso."

"Screw you, Tomoru, having little miss sunshine on your team is basically a handicap."

"Don't be so salty, Sato. Salt takes away from your already nonexistent cuteness factor."

"Atsushi, permission to drive my foot into the blockhead's gut?"

"Don't do it."

Sato let out a sigh of disgruntlement, pouting whilst he folded his arms in an indignant manner. "One of these days you'll give me permission…one day…"

Atsushi smiled a bit at the sight of the bickering duo carrying out their usual antics, withdrawing himself casually to stand beside me. Now that the game was over, the majority of our teammates were preparing to lock up for the day, emptying all excess basketballs into their designated bins, putting away any gear belonging to the school, mopping up sweat city off the surface of the gymnasium floor till it shone. However these tasks were only meant for the losers, such as the coffee twins, whereas Tomoru and I were free to watch them blissfully from an imaginary podium within a nonexistent winners' circle. I wasn't one to get proud, but Tomoru, on the other hand, was always willing to blatantly bask in the glory of a victory, no matter how small nor how insignificant.

Well, I shouldn't say that. No victory is insignificant.

"I gotta get home, 'm supposed to babysit for my parents tonight." Tomoru slapped my upper back, grinning as he unmindfully ran his fingers through my hair once more. "Don't get lost on your way home."

"Doki doki. Tomoru-senpai is so handsy these days…"

Tomoru made a partially disturbed, partially amused face, playfully shoving me away as he began to make his way towards the gymnasium doors. The second he was out of sight, I lazily combed my hair back to its original style before the blockhead had destroyed it. What I needed now more than anything was a shower to wash away the awful stench.

"Asahi."

"What's up?"

I turned to Atsushi, silently giving up on the idea of wringing the sweat from my crimson locks. Stamina was most definitely one of my strong suits, but nonetheless with great movement comes great big buckets of sweat…

Atsushi was smiling in an odd way. I tilted my head at him.

"Is there something you haven't told us yet?"

Now I was even more confused. "What do you mean-?"

"You've got a boyfriend, don't you? He's the one who's been watching you and only you the entire match."

What.

"I'm happy for ya, Asahi. You really should've told me sooner. As your friend, I'm entitled to know these kinds of things, aren't I?"

"Atsushi!!"

Atsushi flinched noticeably at the captain's booming voice, and he sidestepped, winking at me whilst mouthing the words, 'introduce us soon.'

The gears in my head must have been learning to rust spontaneously, for even without a buildup of any kind, they began to slow down my thinking and retaining process considerably. Atsushi's words didn't hit me until he had long since abandoned my presence. And for some reason I felt a compulsive urge to turn my eyes towards a certain bench, located on the far end of the court from where I stood.

Blonde strands of hair peaking out from a dark, hooded sweat-jacket, Nozomi sat with his back hunched over, fingers fondling a pair of sunglasses as though he were debating whether or not to put them on. My voice became lodged in my throat. At that moment, I couldn't find the words to speak, so instead I just ran to him.

"N-…" Holy crap, why do I feel so happy right now? "Nozomi, you're actually here…"

He shuffled his feet in silence.

"Did you see me out there? Did you see me do well??"

Nozomi continued to stare at his sunglasses. "You were fast…" He paused. "…but I could see you."

I didn't notice it at first-perhaps I hadn't been paying attention, or maybe it had just now appeared. There was something on his face, near the center, up towards the corner of his left eye, a hint of red. He was pouting somewhat, bottom lip curling ever so slightly so as to express a feeling akin to embarrassment. My chest tightened momentarily.

"You've got what some people might call talent."

A compliment. No matter what way you looked at it, he complimented me. And receiving a compliment out of nowhere from someone who could've easily been mistaken for the grinch who stole Christmas…well, it shook me.

I do not have a praise kink, I do not have a praise kink, I do not have a praise kink, I do not have a praise k-

"I'm, uh…really glad you came, Nozomi."

"It's beyond me why."

I stifled a laugh. "What do you mean by that? All I wanted was for you to have a little fun, maybe shed some light on dark times, ya know?"

I lowered myself to the bench, which was vacant of people save Nozomi, subtly scooting closer so that only a smidgen of space separated our bodies. Since he was already sitting on the far end of said bench, Nozomi was unable to move farther away of me without rising from his seat, and somehow I doubted he would go that far simply to expand the physical distance.

"If you clutch those glasses any harder, you're gonna break 'em."

"So be it then," the boy grumbled in response, drawing his eyebrows together to form a discontented frown. "It's not like I really need them. I only brought these for a disguise."

"Disguise?" Hold on, what? "Is that also what the hoodie's for?"

"Yeah. It is."

That was when he stood up. The sunglasses slipped out of his grasp, falling almost in slow motion before striking the ground, acting as a starting whistle which sent Nozomi the snail on his way to the gymnasium exit. He wasn't running from me this time. There was another reason for his behavior.

"Atsushi! Sato! I'll see you guys later!!"

"Don't get jumped by any creepy strangers! You gotta preserve that good butt of yours!"

"You, too, Sato!"

In the brief amount of time I had my back turned to Nozomi, he had somehow managed to quicken his pace enough to reach the door before I reached him. Impressive, I thought, maybe he's testing my tenacity. So I chased after him, striding with large, confident steps until I was once again standing by his side.

"You're a funny guy, Nozomi," I said teasingly, casually slinging my arm around his shoulders. "A disguise? What, are you hiding from someone?"

He tensed up.

"…Nozomi?"

"Everyone. Those who recognize my face and appearance easily, I can't let them see me in such a place…"

"You're embarrassed to be viewed as a basketball fan?"

"That's not what I meant. You're really clueless, aren't you?"

"Yup. Pretty sure we've been over this."

Nozomi scoffed at me in disgust, shimmying his shoulders in hopes that he'd be able to shake me off. I highly doubted he would try to make a break for it, especially since he was already presenting himself ready for the trip home, a light spring jacket covering his torso and his school bag already swaying at his side. So I let him go.

It remained quiet for quite some time after that. Nozomi was able to keep my walking pace without visually straining himself, and holding his wrist wasn't even necessary. He was, however, wearing a rather troubling expression which had me subtly eyeing his face roughly every ten seconds, only to find that, sadly, it wasn't changing in the slightest. It seemed as though by attempting to solve one of Nozomi's problems, I had tragically and unintentionally caused a new one to surface.

"Nozomi, I don't really understand what you're getting at, but regardless of why you're so upset about all this, I'm really happy you accepted my request. My team achieved a victory today with flying colors. You must be like a good luck charm."

"A good luck charm?"

The cutting, acrimonious tone of those soft-spoken words struck my ears like an amplified whisper, and without my knowing, that whisper began to settle itself into my core. It was painfully obvious that Nozomi disagreed with my statement in some way, as though my choice of words had hit him close to home, the very same place he hated to be touched. But I couldn't imagine why. To my knowledge, I hadn't said anything that should have upset or offended him.

But then again I've been wrong before.

"I'm going home."

"Nozomi, wait-"

"You've got everything you could possibly need."

My heart stopped for a second. "What?"

"Talent, friends who genuinely care about and love you, you've got a passion, something that motivates you, and I'm sure you've got a lovely family waiting for you back home."

I faintly heard him release a laugh, brief and bitter, through clenched teeth.

"You're not fooling me, I'm sorry. How ironic it is that I'm the one with poor sight, and yet you're the idiot being blinded here. Whatever your motives are for messing with my time, I highly suggest that you lose them before it's too late. Don't be foolish…please, just never talk to me again…"

I didn't realize then just how many blue undertones were scattered throughout Nozomi's message to me. He was heartsick. Why couldn't I see that? The boy was continuing to distance himself, all because I was making progress in destroying his barriers, and the fact that he was consciously aware of this drove him to build more.

It was starting to feel…as though I were traveling backwards.

And even though I was discouraged, I never did stop talking to Nozomi.

But he stopped talking to me.