Title: The Eagle Eye (Patterns of Proximity in AO3)

Pairing: HyuugaRiko / HyuugaRikoKiyoshi

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke. If I do, I'll... /jots down ways how to make OTPs canon/ Hehe! Please enjoy reading :)

Notes: I really can't decide which title to use orz

For Izuki, possessing the Eagle Eye proves to be really handy, not only during basketball matches, but also during train rides.

"Hmm, maybe we should do something about increasing our stamina even more..."

"Yes, that'll surely help in our matches, especially our freshme-wait you mean...?!"

"Mm-hm! We're doing five times of that menu starting from tomorrow!"

"You sure want to kill us, huh."

Izuki smiles to himself while secretly watching how Seirin's coach and captain banter about their team's upcoming training menus while sitting next to each other. Although he's not at all excited for a five-times stamina-boost practice (Hyuuga is right, the team members might really die before a match comes up), he feels that usual surge of elation from the two's conversation. But it's not - at all - their exchange of dialogues that he's most interested in when it comes to them.

Possessing the Eagle Eye allows him to see it all, anyway.

It started when he first met Hyuuga and Riko in middleschool.

At first, he didn't immediately realize how and when the proximity between Hyuuga and Riko shrank; and when he did, he instantly thought that it was the price to pay when you finally meet a person you share a passion with. That was what happened when the three of them joined the basketball team, with Riko participating at the sidelines. However, he noticed that the closeness between the other two was slowly evolving to something more than friendship, something way different than what the three of them initially shared. He especially saw it one late afternoon, just after basketball practice.

"Sheesh, that was annoying. Like it'll get to me, that brat." Riko said while slinging her bag on her shoulder. Izuki and Hyuuga were behind her, done packing their own bags. "Should we get home now?"

Izuki nodded. "Yes, let's go home and device ways how to beat that brat, since he only knows how to prat!" He smiled to himself in satisfaction, while Hyuuga and Riko stared at him in half-irritation and half-pity.

"Izuki..." Hyuuga pinched the space between his eyebrows, his lips forming a scowl. "...that just didn't work, you know."

Riko placed her hands on her hips, and said, "It never will, Izuki-kun..." She let out a deep sigh, probably an indication of her disappointment, but it did the trick. Riko let out a relieved smile, and looked at Izuki with a brow raised. "Well, it's better to deal with your puns than with a boastful brat who doesn't know a nick about basketball, yet throws his senpais such disrespectful words." Her shoulders slumped and she murmured something like 'Aah, I don't think I'll need that from him, though. That's got to be silly.'

"Yeah, that brat was a bastard. When I get to highschool, I won't let any kid take me lightly." Hyuuga fisted his hand and lifted his chin. "And if any of them does, I won't let them through easily."

"Yeah?" Izuki stifled a laugh. "And how exactly are you going to do that, Hyuuga?"

"W-Well..." Hyuuga's eyebrows scrunched up, a frown stretching his lips. "I'm not one to talk about anger issues, but maybe I'll do it like Riko." He glanced at Riko momentarily, and the other looked at him, wondering what he was talking about. "Yeah, maybe I'll do that. That was a good one, by the way." He smiled at her, and she grinned back in satisfaction.

"You mean, how she smiled at that kid and told him to run ten laps around the court after he complained how unbelievingly unwomanly Riko was?" Izuki automatically chimed in, and instantly thought how death would strike upon him, especially with Riko just a few inches from him.

Riko glared at Izuki, a nerve comically popping on her forehead. "Well I'm sorry if I'm not that womanly enough, Izuki-kun!"

Without further ado, Hyuuga and Izuki took a few steps back away from her, just in case she would lash out at them like how she usually did.

"At least—at least I know about sports unlike other girls out there! Tsk, you all boys think the same." She unconsciously tugged the hem of her skirt and smoothed her sleeves, then spun her heel around and began walking towards the door.

"Hey, hey, we treaded on wrong territory..." Hyuuga scratched the back of his head while he stared after Riko, then heaved deeply. "Ngh, what the hell..." And with that, he took a step forward and followed Riko.

Izuki watched Hyuuga's actions with a tad of surprise. Usually, the two of them would wait for a few more seconds before following through, while trying to measure Riko's mood. Hasn't this happened a few times recently, too, and he just noticed right now? Or was he reading too much into it?

"What are you standing there for?" Hyuuga called from a few feet ahead. Riko continued to walk forward, looked behind her, then moved. "U-ugh, let's go, Izuki!" And he turned his back to him, and followed Riko. Izuki, in turn, moved forward. "Hey, don't get too worked up about it." Hyuuga told her shakily while trying to pull out a smile.

"Yeah, yeah. Won't get too worked up about it, Hyuuga-kun." She said monotonuously while staring ahead of her. "I won't think too much about how men stereotype women. Just because I like sports and act like this..." she gripped her bag's handle, stopped for a while on her tracks while looking at her feet, then sighed. "Why should I care, anyway..." And she moved forward.

Hyuuga cringed and paused from walking, then scratched his head. He knew this wasn't going too well. That was why he reached out his hand and placed it on Riko's head, making her stop.

Hyuuga ruffled her hair and said, "Yeah. You're already fine the way you are, Riko." He flashed a smile at her. Riko was stockstill for a beat or two, and when Hyuuga noticed it, he immediately thought how uncharacteristic it was for him, and his smile tremblingly faded while he turned to Izuki who was a few feet behind to egg on, "Right, Izuki?" He pulled his hand away and used it to hold his bag.

Izuki blinked several times. "A-ah." Riko turned to him, and he straightened himself. He put a finger up and said, "Yes! Of course! So, if someone teases you again, you'd say it's not bad if your womanhood is on a different mood!"

"Shut up, Izuki!" They said in unison.

"W-What? But that pun's really juicy and fine like a pine!"

Hyuuga and Riko stared at him in disbelief, and both thought how the heck a guy with a cool demeanor sucks this much at making puns.

Izuki, who had about three steps before completely catching up, paused in his tracks. He observed how Hyuuga and Riko naturally fell again in a conversation like nothing happened at all, while their walking pace matched up with each other as they moved forward. He smiled to himself before he made the three steps, and walked beside Riko.

By the following days the three of them walked together, he would notice the occasional times when Hyuuga would stop in his tracks when Riko was about two or three steps behind them, or how he would make way for Riko whenever they were in a crowded area so she wouldn't have to push them off herself, like when they would line up at the canteen or when running for the train. Afterwards, they would typically fall into their usual pace, then sit or stand next to each other if the space allowed.

That was why, when they lost consecutively in their matches, it was easy for him to see how their usually adjacent paths separated ways, not only for the two of them, but for the three of them, too.

"Aren't we coming home together?" Izuki casually asked the two of them when the little number of people filed out of the classroom. "It's our last day of class and the next time we'll see each other is in graduation, you know," he said, and he knew that somehow he got his message across—there might be little time for the three of them to even talk during the ceremony, with each probably being busy with his or her own family. However, Izuki knew to himself that even if they would get enough time at that day, if they do not settle things now, they might not be able to settle those things anymore. He still had faith at the loose strings.

Riko looked at him momentarily, and Izuki could see that she was weighing the idea. He swore she was about to nod when she glanced at Hyuuga for a second and straightened herself, and he had the feeling that things might not really go the way he intended it to be.

"Are you sure I'm the one you should be asking that?" She murmured under her breath, yet audible enough for Hyuuga to hear.

They - Riko and Hyuuga - had already lost their faith, and Izuki's shoulders sagged—he knew it since their last defeat, but being reminded of it every time they don't even care to exchange the usual lively dialogues or for them to give an effort to walk home together really hurt him.

Hyuuga, who was done packing, slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Are you sure you even need to ask at all, dumbass..." Hyuuga muttered and turned to the door, his steps cautiously making its way to the room's exit. Riko and Izuki looked at him incredulously, then to each other, and followed.

While they walked home together, though, no words were exchanged. They went on silently, and they realized that they have held back for too long that it was already hard for any of them to break the glass.

When Izuki closed the door of his house, he knew it.

He had also lost his faith.

"Oi!, Izuki!"

"Izuki-kun, are you okay?"

Izuki blinks several times, and it is only then that he realized that his teammates are already staring at him. He tries to flash a smile while revelling on the fact that he succumbed to flashbacks while everyone's pumped up at sharing ideas for the next match. He nods at Riko and says, "Ah, of course. Sorry, I wasn't listening."

Hyuuga grits his teeth and glares at him, and rants out, "Oi, oi, we've been giving directions and you weren't listening? Jerk. What were you even thinking, anyway? Spacing out while staring at us like that. It's creepy."

"I was?" He smiles at them sheepishly. "Well, being creepy's surely crappy, I'm sorry for making you guys unhappy."

"It's your jokes that make us unhappy... s-senpai." Kagami cuts in and looks at Izuki with an annoyed expression.

Kiyoshi, who is sitting at Riko's other side, grins at Kagami. "Hey, hey, let's not sweat it. What were you saying again, Hyuuga?" He smoothly segues back to the topic. "Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"You too?!"

Izuki chortles a bit, and looks at Kiyoshi. After all, it's thanks to this big guy that Hyuuga found his way back to basketball. If he hadn't, then probably he won't be standing inside this train, strategizing with everyone for the upcoming game.

Oh well, didn't it start, too, when Kiyoshi arrived?

"You know, he's persistent." Hyuuga once told him while they walked home together after their training. "That Kiyoshi, I mean."

Izuki looked at him wonderingly. "Yes, you've told me that over a hundred times." He smiled at Hyuuga and said, "You're still not used to that? We've been competing together for like, ages, and you're still complaining?"

"Yeah, we've been obviously competing against—" Hyuuga stopped midway, and looked at the lamp they've just passed by. "Yeah, yeah. Nevermind."

"A-ah..." Izuki sighed and pulled on his collar. "It's really hard to compete against summer heat!"

Hyuuga glared at him and said, "If that's a pun, I'm not buying it."

"What if that pun is Anpan?"

"Guh, shut it, Izuki!"

By that time, Izuki didn't fully understand what Hyuuga meant, until he saw it with his own eyes.

Riko was completely oblivious of it; Kiyoshi might be aware of what was happening, but he didn't say a word; Hyuuga was extremely conscious of it, but he didn't seem to have told a soul (though he almost told Izuki). The three of them often walked together ahead of everyone, with Riko frequently in the middle. Kiyoshi would do the same things Hyuuga had done in middle school, and would fall back, too, once Riko lagged a few times behind. Hyuuga would still make way when they walk a crowded area. Sometimes, Kiyoshi would walk beside Riko with Hyuuga somewhere else, and vice versa. It was like a tradition for the three of them, something typical and natural, and Izuki would gladly walk behind them while observing and prospecting how things would end up.

He would also see how Hyuuga would take that extra effort of making sure Riko was fine as how he has always been since middle school, and it was enough for Izuki to know what his friend was up to. Seriously volunteering for testing Riko's unique recipes even if his life literally depends on it, and making sure Riko has already been droppped off at her house on or before her curfew were enough to make Izuki notice. He would also gladly (though terrified) receive Kagetora-san's threatening words whenever Riko would arrive late, and although at times he would really slip out of his "let's be indirect" way of showing his affections by involving the team in taking care of Riko, he would also do things individually by offering her the support she needed at every victory or defeat of the team. Maybe that was also what Kiyoshi was aiming for, and with how Riko reacted with any of the two, Izuki would feel a mixture of being bothered and being excited—it was as if he already knew what was coming, yet still unsure of it. His Eagle Eye almost to never fails, anyway.

Riko might not be aware of it, but Izuki could always see how she would automatically file in to Hyuuga's line of direction whenever they would walk out together. If she needed something, whether it was personal or for the team, the first person she would think of would be Hyuuga, and Hyuuga would respond as soon as possible, as always. She sometimes does with Kiyoshi, too, but Izuki has always wondered how Riko could think simultaneously with Hyuuga, or at times, even think ahead of him like she knew him too well. He knew it could be out of growing up together, but he has an inkling that it was because of something else.

"That's it for now." Riko's voice snaps Izuki back to reality. Ah, it seems like he sunk even deeper to his thoughts, and he dares not to tell any of his teammates. Hyuuga looks at him, more perplexed than annoyed, and an understanding passes between the two of them as soon as Izuki flicks a glance towards Riko and Kiyoshi's direction.

"We'll meet at the school at the designated time. Don't forget the strategy, and be sure to get enough rest! Kagami-kun, don't you even dare to catch up to a nearby court and practice—you must be at full-power tomorrow. Kuroko-kun, Alex-san volunteered to take Nigou with her while watching the match. Furihata, Fukuda, Kawahara, we're counting on you on the supplies, but get ready to be out of the bench, too..."

Izuki listens to Riko's last minute reminders as a compensation for not being able to focus on the strategy at all. When they arrive at their station and part ways, they go into small groups on their way home.

"Tch, what was that all about?" Hyuuga cuts to the chase as the two of them walk side-by-side the pavement.

"Hyuuga," Izuki nonchalantly throws him the question. "When are you planning to tell Coach?"

Hyuuga raises a brow at him. "Tell what?"

Izuki smirks and says, "Tell her that Anpan sells! Oh c'mon, you know what I'm talking about, lover boy."

"L-Lover boy?!" Hyuuga's face flushes ten shades of red. "What are you even talking about?"

"Stop it, Hyuuga. Being defensive is useless in my perspective."

Hyuuga glares at him and stays silent for a while.

"You're not sure yourself, huh?" Izuki brings out his water bottle. "Is the competition that hard to win?"

Hyuuga looks at him reproachingly for a second, then sighs. Denying anything is really ineffective against Izuki. The primary requirement for having an Eagle Eye, after all, is the power of observation. He has always wondered if he has already noticed his feelings for Riko before, even in middle school, and this night confirms his thoughts.

"Maybe. But more than that, it's her," Hyuuga says gravelly. "If I jump at the wrong time, I'll miss."

Izuki downs the remaining water in his bottle. So, he's been thinking about this a lot, huh?

"Hmm..." He puts the bottle back in his bag, and stays silent for a little while.

Hyuuga cuts in as he asks, "So, this is what you've been spacing about, huh? During an important time, you're thinking about this?" His eyebrows knit together while looking at Izuki disappointedly. "That's bad, you dumbass. Don't tell me that if we lose, you're gonna whine about how you got so de-focused during an important meeting because you were thinking about us in that way."

Izuki chuckles at Hyuuga's biting remark. "Well, I wouldn't want to have that, would I?"

"Of course, and no one would want to have that." Hyuuga looks ahead of him, stringing his words in his head. "That's one, too."

"About getting you guys out of focus if you jump at the wrong time?" Izuki completes it for him. It's true, after all, that their affections can became a huge distraction during the game, what with Riko as the coach, Hyuuga as the captain, and Kiyoshi as the center—pivotal roles that a team can never afford to lose.

Hyuuga nods at him and says, "This is something important for the team, and for her, too. I won't be able to forgive myself if things go haywire because I forced the ball in and missed."

Izuki smiles at Hyuuga, letting his friend's unusual sharing of feelings sink in his head. Taking his observations into account, he is reminded of the uncertainty of something that he already has a grasp on.

"Hyuuga, the ball is round," Izuki puts a finger up, and Hyuuga stares at him and says, 'I know. It's common sense, moron!' Izuki continues with a knowing smile and completes his line, "You'll never know what you'll find even if it is wrongly timed."

Hyuuga halts, and stares at Izuki. His friend's words are being engraved in him, and although he still feels that confessing any time soon would be off, it is as if somehow, the pressure of conveying his feelings to Riko as soon as possible lifts even for a little.

"I really appreciated it, Izuki." Hyuuga smiles at Izuki, then grits his teeth. "I don't appreciate your lame puns, though."

Izuki looks butt-hurt. "What? But that pun banged like a gun!" He insists on, and Hyuuga pinches the bridge of his nose. "You and Coach always say you don't appreciate my puns, but..." He stops, and the trail of thoughts continue only in his mind. But I know you both do, he says to himself, remembering the times when the two of them would laugh after his pun takes away their bad vibes of the day (after being the receiver of the bad mood). Izuki flashes a thumbs-up before Hyuuga and says, "At least I don't sound silly with a missing ball-simile." He chuckles, and Hyuuga instantly tells him to shut up.

The following day, Izuki's Eagle Eye works as early as the team assembles in front of the gates, and it takes a particular liking to the patterns of proximity among Hyuuga, Riko, and Kiyoshi.

He smiles to himself, and inwardly remarks how Eagle Eye comes in so handy.