Chapter 144 : A Juicy Gossip
Furihata walked toward the gym's door silently, trying to peek at what was happening inside. He was followed by Hana and Saya who were also curious about why Momoi came from wherever she was from to Seirin even in the middle of the rain. However, when he saw Momoi's attire, he furrowed his brows deeply.
'Wait a second, is that Riko-senpai's shirt?'
Even though Furihata had never noticed what his senpai wore daily, the one Momoi wears right now, the shirt with the image of a cute bear in front of it, is one of the shirts his coach used the most in the training session. Usually, it was a normal shirt in Riko's body. However, for Momoi who had a well-developed body, this shirt created a sensual image for the pink-haired girl, making the boys blush pretty hard with their minds running wildly.
Honestly, Furihata was tempted to do the same, leering over his friend's body with a perverted thought running wildly. However, he would always remember the lesson his mom taught him about women in the past.
'Listen, Kou-chan. Don't do anything to a girl you don't want anyone to do to your mom. Treat them with respect, and the women in your life would be treated with respect too.'
Even though it is a bit superstitious, this lesson stuck in his head for a long time. That's why, when he saw his teammates leering over Momoi's body, he took out the team's jacket he always brought and threw it into the girl's head.
"Eh?" Not only Momoi but everyone else was also taken aback by Furihata's sudden action. They hadn't noticed the point guard came, and when they turned around, Furihata had already patted Momoi's back while saying, "What are you doing here with Riko-senpai's shirt? Wear this. You make them droll."
"Eh?"
Momoi didn't react for quite a while. It was as if the loading bar on her head hadn't been completed yet. However, when she saw the drool on several of them while there were even some who had nosebleeds, her cheeks reddened pretty quickly as she covered her chest with Furihata's jacket immediately.
Seeing that, Koganei cried comically while complaining to Furihata.
"Furihata-kun, why do you have to act like a gentleman and ruin our fun? WHY?!"
Not only Furihata but even Riko twitcher her mouth in annoyance. Inwardly though, she groaned tiredly at Koganei's embarrassing antic. This was not the first time he let hir mouth run loose in front of a busty girl or woman. He also did the same when Alex came for the first time. There is only one thing that came into her mind.
"Hentai."
It was just a word. However, it was almost like a thousand invisible arrows suddenly stroked into Koganei's body as the second-year small forward froze on the spot.
"No, no! I am not a perv! I am a man of culture! You have to know this!"
Furihata just rolled his eyes at Koganei's shamelessness. However, what makes him speechless more is the fact that there are a few of them who nodded in understanding.
"Yeah, I get you, bro."
"Senpai, you are really awesome! Mu role model!"
"We men of culture need to be united to fight off that hentai stigma."
"Yeah. We are not that low. We have a standard here. You folks with a girl on your arm would never understand us!"
Then, out of a sudden, all the boys' eyes turned to the three first-year players; Kuroko, Kagami, and Furihata, as it filled with full hostility.
"Wait a second!" Kagami raised both his hands. "Don't drag me into your conflict! I don't know anything about your 'men of culture' or whatever bullshit you spew!"
"Bullshit!" Several players replied simultaneously. "Don't think we forgot the last time we went to your apartment! Alex-san came out of your room with just her underwear! What have you done to her?!"
"You violated our 'men of culture' conduct! Screw you, Kagami-kun!"
"And Kuroko-kun, don't think we haven't noticed how lovey-dovey you are with Momoi-san!"
"Same with you,
Furihata-kun! We have already seen you hanging out with a girl from your classroom! Who is she?!"
Furihata had sweats drop on his face. For all he knows, this 'men of culture' thing is just a meme from the internet. But who would have thought that it would be taken seriously? In hindsight though, he should have expected that from Koganei, the jokester of the team. However, for now, he had to think of a way to not let them find out about Hana and Saya's presence outside of the gym.
Unfortunately, luck is not his friend this time, as he was backstabbed cruelly by Kuroko.
"Hana-san, what are you doing here? Are you waiting for Furihata-kun?"
'Goddamnit, Phantom!' Furihata cursed inwardly. 'This is going to be a mess.'
And just as he thought, hell broke as all the chatter and attention were suddenly turned into the two girls who hid behind the door.
"Oh! Another pretty girl appeared!"
"And look! The girl behind also looks very cute!"
"Can I get your contact?"
"Hey! It is not fair you ask first! How about giving it to me?!"
Seeing the discomfort on the siblings' faces, Furihata growled threateningly as he shielded the girls with his body.
"Back off, you pervert."
"Tch. Why are you trying to be cool, Furihata-kun?" Koganei showed his dissatisfaction. "If you want to impress them too, you don't have to drive us away. Are you afraid your charm is not enough to beat us?"
"Yeah!"
Even Hyuga and Kiyoshi who didn't care about the girls at first also nodded in agreement. To be honest, Furihata was taken aback by those two's reactions. He had never expected the two who always acted mature and reprimanded them to not think too much about girls would support Koganei too.
'Well, we all are teenagers here. It would be weird if they didn't have any reaction after seeing cute girls.'
But seeing Koganei's smug smile after receiving their support, Furihata had to resist the urge to beat his senpai to death or he would create another trouble for the team. Fortunately, Riko intervened before things could get worse.
"Enough, Koganei!" She raised her voice harshly. "Not everyone can understand and accept your pervert nature. Give up."
"Hey, what do you mean by that?"
At first, Koganei still wanted to resist and make a joke. However, he was silenced by Riko's cold glare and didn't dare to do anything out of control anymore. Seeing that the small forward backed down, Riko sighed in relief before turning her head around toward the girl.
"So, you are Furihata-kun's friends? What are you doing here?"
Even though she said this politely, Hana and Saya gulped nervously as they received Riko's smile. This was the first time they saw a girl dominate a bunch of muscular boys and make them follow her words, and to be honest, they were pretty intimidated. Fortunately, Saya is a pretty outgoing girl, and she braved herself to introduce herself to Riko.
"A-Ano!" The little sister stuttered cutely, making several players blush and turn their heads away. "My name is Saya Hishida, and this is my sister and Kouki-san's classmate, Hana Hishida. We are here because we heard Momoi-san cry out loud from the outside!"
"A-ah! Yes!" Hana reacted quickly. "We are worried something happened to Momoi-san!"
Furihata's twitched his mouth speechlessly at their reason.
'Good God, they forgot their purpose here is to get an umbrella….'
However, he couldn't blame the girls. In fact, he had to give a hat off toward how fast they adapted to the situation. When they saw how clingy Momoi was toward Kuroko, it took them a second to think of a reason to stay and listen to the juicy gossip here. What he forgot though, is the presence of his single dog teammates.
"Furihata-kun, you are on a first-name basis with those three girls?!"
"Unfair!"
"Is that why you tried so hard to not let us get close to them? You should not be afraid of competition, you know?!"
"Yeah!"
A hint of irritation flashes in Furihata's eyes as this topic is brought once again to the air. Unfortunately, Riko interrupted once again before he could retort and make things bigger.
"Okay, enough you all!" The glare is colder than before, freezing all of them straight on the spot. They turned their head away, trying to avoid Riko's eyes as soon as possible, not wanting to get caught in her wrath. "Koganei, stop being a pervert. And Furihata-kun, stop getting irritated over everything!"
Furihata and Koganei nodded quickly, not wanting to refute her word. Even though they joked around and irritated each other a lot, they knew when to stop, especially when they had already touched Riko's bottom line. Standing on thin ice, they are not stupid enough to continue and risk their life.
Riko herself breathed in relief, glad that the troublemaker finally listened to her words. Even though the others also shared the guilt, Koganei and Furihata are the source of the conflict. The moment she subdued them, it could be said equal to conquering the entire team.
And now that the chaos is finally over, she turned around to the source of it with a dark smile while asking, "So, what are you doing here?"
Under that smile, even with her experience being in the generation of miracles, Momoi couldn't help but gulp nervously, frightened by Riko's intimidating aura.
"Well… It is complicated…"
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The rain is getting heavier, creating an abstract melody when it hits the roof. The sun went down, and the sky started to get dark outside. All the sweat from the training had already dried up, leaving an unpleasant smell for everyone. However, this didn't dampen Seirin players' enthusiasm as they all sat down like good puppies around Momoi, listening to her story as if she were a prophet telling her prophecy.
Furihata who sat next to Saya and Hana was speechless at everyone's excitement. Even though he knows the appeal of gossip, isn't this a bit overreacted? It wasn't like they didn't know Aomine's toxic trait would bring up trouble sooner or later. Hell, Kuroko said that a lot in the past. That's why it shouldn't be a surprise for them to get this news.
However, deep down, Furihata knew what is the source of this excitement. He also wanted to know how Aomine messed up his team this time and how severe the consequences would be. He leaned forward, listening to Momoi's story with curiosity.
"So, you noticed Aomine had a hidden injury and asked the coach to replace him, and as a result, he blamed you and vented up all of his frustration onto you?" After listening to the full story, Riko tried to sum it up. "So, this is just the usual Aomine being an asshole, huh?"
Several of them snickered at Riko's blunt words. It was not often for her to use this kind of word to describe a player. However, Furihata approved this. Seeing Momoi's gloomy state, the girl needs a boost of confidence right now, and making her think she was right is the best way possible to do it.
"Um…" The pink-haired girl nodded slightly, wiping the tear that threatened to fall from her eyes. "He said he hated me… What should I do now?" Her voice gradually turned into a whisper as she held back the tears in her eyes. The other started to panic, not having a slight idea of how to handle a crying girl. However, before they could do anything, Kagami threw the grenade that blew up the dam that held the tears down.
"Well, listen. I know it was sad, but there is something I don't get it. You said you loved Kuroko, right? What are you doing here, whining about Aomine hating you?"
This….
Furihata had to give Kagami a hat off. This was something he questioned since he started to know the girl. For all he knows, the closest boy to Momoi should be Aomine. Yet she would always run to Kuroko and proclaim the blue-haired boy as her boyfriend while complaining about Aomine. If there is indeed something between Kuroko and Momoi, would this make the boy jealous? And that is still not counting how close she was with the other generation of miracles.
If this is how she acted when she was the manager of Teiko Middle School, no wonder her reputation was bad among her peers.
"I-I-I-" Momoi stuttered for a while, not expecting this question. Her lips quivered as the dam on her eyes finally fell, losing its strength to hold back the tears. "You are right, but you are also wrong! Dai-chan is different from Tetsu-kun.. He needs to be taken care of! He gets up to all sorts of trouble if I leave him alone!"
"Eh?!" Kagami started panicking, didn't expect the girl would cry because of his words. "Wait a sec! I didn't mean it!"
"Kagami-kun, you just make a girl cry!"
"What a scumbag!"
"I said I didn't mean it!"
Furihata's mouth curled up as he saw Kagami bickered with the other players. He knows Kagami's question was something all of them were curious about. Now that the red-haired boy asked about it, they didn't have to lose their faces in Momoi's eyes while still waiting for her answer eagerly.
To put it bluntly, they sacrificed Kagami in order to satisfy their curiosity, which wasn't something he expected from his teammates.
Kuroko sighed deeply before he walked toward Momoi's direction and patted her head gently.
"Don't worry, Momoi-san." The boy smiles gently. "Aomine-kun said things he didn't mean out of anger. There is no way he would ever hate you. Let's go back. I am sure he is out there looking for you now."
"Tetsu-kun…" Seeing Kuroko's gentle eyes, Momoi cried harder while clinging closer to the boy, making the others who watched twitch their mouth in annoyance and jealousy.
"There, there…"
"Tetsu-kun~!"
"See, Kagami-kun…" Several of them turned their heads toward the red-haired boy with a teasing smile. "That's how you treat a girl.."
"Shut up!'
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In the end, they didn't get the answer they wanted from the girl, as Kuroko insisted on taking her back home. After that, Furihata followed with Hana and Saya, not wanting the girls to get close to the team. He ignored the hostility he received from his teammates and just walked away with it.
They spent the journey in silence for a while, until Saya couldn't hold back her curiosity and asked, "Kouki-san, is he alright?"
Furihata just chuckled a little, knowing pretty well who the 'he' that Saya mentioned was. "Don't worry about Kuroko. While he is a bit dull, that boy is not stupid. He knows exactly what he did."
However, Saya is not convinced. "Are you sure about that? It was not the first time I heard Momoi-san's rant about this Aomine. But I didn't expect she would do it in front of her boyfriend, and he didn't seem to mind. Did he have a weird fetish?"
Furihata stopped walking at the last question, turning his head toward the girl speechlessly. "How in the hell did it cross into your mind? Have you watched any weird adult movies recently?"
"What?! Of course, no!" Saya's cheek reddened at Furihata's insinuation. Not only her, but even Hana also had the same embarrassed expression, probably because she had the same thoughts as her sister. "I am just curious! He had his girlfriend ranting about another boy, yet he still had this calm face as if it didn't bother him. It wasn't normal, right?"
Hana nodded in agreement, still having a tint red blush on her cheek. Furihata pondered for a moment before he decided to answer the question truthfully.
"Well, it wasn't Kuroko who had the weird fetish. It was Momoi-san who misunderstood here and was too stubborn to admit her mistake. Even with how close they were, Kuroko had never thought about a girlfriend since the beginning. Or so that was what I thought."
Now, it is time for Hana and Saya to stop walking, looking at Furihata with dumbfounded faces. "You mean it was all Momoi-san's delusion?"
"Not delusion, per se. Just like I said, it was a misunderstanding. She claimed he was her boyfriend, and he never denied the claim. And this happened for a long time that their friends just accept it and never bother to clarify."
"So that's it.. Poor Momoi-san.." Saya sighed disappointedly. However, her expression changed into a serious one as she snapped her head toward Furihata, startling him for a bit. "Kouki-san, if a girl takes a fancy to you in the future, you cannot be indecisive like Kuroko-san, okay? You like her or not, just say it directly. Don't let her wait too long!"
She said the last part while glancing at Hana, making the red blush on her sister's cheek deepen. Furihata rolled his eyes in exasperation, knowing very well why Saya hinted at the last part.
"You little minx, don't worry about adult business. Let's talk about it again in the future."
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A week later, Furihata and Kagami came earlier than anyone else to the gym, waiting for the other players impatiently. A full week without training is enough to make the two madmen go crazy, and now, they are ready to vent out all of their frustrations in the next training session. However, the next one who came was not a player, but an adult that they hadn't seen for a while since they were eliminated in the Inter-High.
"Furihata-kun! Tiger-chan! Long time no see~!"
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Author note :
If you want to support me more, you can visit my Patreon page on patreon(.)com/ZetaFaes
You can read this fanfiction up to chapter 164 on that page. Also, you can read my other fanfiction, Diamond no Ace: The Prince of Hitter up to chapter 25 too.
Thank you! :)
-Zeta Faes-
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