Certain and Uncertainty

It all began with a popsicle stick.

As both a girl and a manager she felt left out of the boys' after practice get-togethers. Even if she spent so much time with them, she wasn't one of them.

It was then that someone gave her a popsicle stick. She hadn't recognized him despite being in Teikō basketball team. It had nothing to do with the fact how large the club was, she had always been good at remembering those kinds of things. Somehow she couldn't remember him. The fact was mostly over shadowed by her conflicting emotions of being approached and by thinking she had received garbage.

But it was a winning stick.

He had barely spoken to her yet his deed showed so much consideration for her.

At this moment she decided she wanted to get to know this person.

.

Momoi had come to learn the boy's name was Kuroko Tetsuya. From that point on she would try her hardest to observe him. It was a few weeks later that Dai-chan met Kuroko in the gym where the two would practice more after their already demanding practices. Unfortunately, it wasn't until she heard this revelation from her childhood friend that she realized that Tetsu-kun was the "ghost" the rumors spoke of. Much to her dismay even she hadn't noticed that.

Tetsu-kun continued to remain much a mystery throughout middle school, but she did learn more about him little by little and came to like him more. His gameplay improved as he made his own style. It was nice to see Tetsu-kun and Dai-chan to play together so enthusiastically in official games. Tetsu-kun also protected her from those high school students. Furthermore, he would later stand up against those same high school students again in a poorly placed bet while injured just for them to give her an apology—to save her pride. Tetsu-kun always seemed to know how to act around her and he was endearing. There wasn't a single ill thought of him.

She knew the likeliness of winning was slim with the current odds but she had been touched.

It was the first time she came to understand that, yes, she did love Kuroko Tetsuya.

Some would question why she wouldn't go out with those who had asked her out.

Some would question why she didn't like someone like Kise who was probably closer alike in personality.

Some (Kise and later Kagami included) would also question if she was in love with her childhood friend, Aomine Daiki.

She still remembered how Kagami questioned her love for Tetsu-kun as she cried for Aomine. His teammates seemed to think him dense with girls, and they were right by her data, but was he so stupid that he didn't think one could cry for a friend. If so she pitied the boy for not having a close enough friend worth crying for.

It didn't matter what they said or continue to say. It didn't matter who they believed she should like or date. The truth was she loved Tetsu-kun and that didn't seem to be changing anytime soon, if at all.

.

Despite claiming to be his girlfriend, it was expected to hear the response from him to be otherwise. Momoi wasn't the type to go out with someone she didn't hold feelings for, so any attempt to 'date-to-get-over-him' was also never going to happen.

It was in her third year of high school when she wanted to ask him directly about how he felt. While he would always reject her being his girlfriend, he had never turned her down. Some would say he had been giving her false hope, but he wasn't like that. Not to mention that Tetsu-kun has never been on a date with anyone else—she would know.

She had come to learn so much about Tetsu-kun but there was always so much more to learn. In the end she had been swooned by Tetsu-kun and Momoi had been unable to ask him what she wanted to know.

.

They had recently graduated from high school. They were currently on their short holiday before the next school year began.

Momoi invited Tetsu-kun on a date to see the bloomed sakura trees and spend the day together. As usual, she was on cloud nine when he agreed. This would be their twelfth date.

.

Momoi-san had asked him to spend the day with her. It wasn't like he was ignorant to her feelings, even if he did question it sometimes. It's not that he thought she liked someone else or anything, it's just that he never really understood feelings of liking someone in that way. To be honest it would be hard for him to tell if he ever did like someone. It was part of the reason he could never reject her. He wouldn't lie to her, it had been painful enough to lie to her that one time which had led to her tears.

At first she was just a manager. Then she had become someone he respected. Finally she had become his friend. But what did he think of her now? He couldn't really tell you. She was beautiful. He would admit that. But that fact hardly meant anything to how he felt.

Kuroko wondered how long he could get away without having to give Momoi-san a proper response. To be honest, he already had more time than he thought he would have.

Perhaps it was selfish to make Momoi-san wait, even if her patience was admirable. Still, he didn't want to make the wrong choice.

As he left the house to their meeting spot he mused whether today would be the day he would understand his feelings for her.

.

OMAKE—6 years later

Kuroko and Momoi sat across each other at Maji Burger. Kuroko was enjoying in vanilla milkshake as Momoi sipped on her soda. It was another one of their "dates".

Momoi wasn't expecting today to be any different but she had been happy enough to stay by Kuroko's side.

He sipped on his milkshake while watching Momoi go through a variety of emotions—probably to some mental scenario. Suddenly it clicked. He finally understood his feelings.

"Let's get married."

Momoi stopped and starred at Kuroko. She slapped her cheeks. She wasn't dreaming. "Kuroko…" she let out in a breathy whisper. "Of course I'll marry you!" Suddenly she was on the other side of the table and gave Kuroko an exaggerated hug and a long lingering kiss. She didn't know what was up with the sudden statement but she wasn't going to turn him down.

[1] The Replace translations (since my Japanese reading capabilities are worse than a first grader) is vague with the popsicle stick scene as far as a timeline is concerned. The anime indicates after Kise joined but the manga is ambiguous. So I just put that scene when I wanted to.

Happy Valentine's Day (I don't really celebrate it but holidays are always a good excuse to self-motivate to write). I'm not really a one-shot kind of person and I'm both mentally and physically exhausted.

I'm working on my other stories to update. Sorry it's taking so long. I'm a full-time student and I work. And since my co-worker got fired, I have all his shifts on top of mine until someone else is hired and trained.