Wataru stared intently at something just past Kazuki's right ear, bringing his arm up in closer to his chest and thumbing his ring in an almost forlorn manner. Following the boy's gaze, he realized Wataru was staring at his hand, still woven in his straw-colored hair. More specifically, judging from the way Wataru played with is ring, his empty middle finger.

"What, the ring? I took it off for the game."

Kazuki's voice seemed to startle the blue-eyed boy out of his thoughts. He flushed, apparently embarrassed to have been caught spacing out like that. "Huh? Oh …" His voice was lackluster, and his eyes seemed to retain flecks of wistfulness within them.

Kazuki was confused over what Wataru could be sad about, but he knew for sure that he didn't like it. So, he thought he would try to lighten the mood. "Too bad for you I didn't lose it, huh?" He taunted, flicking a splayed-fingered hand in Wataru's direction.

It achieved its desired result; a flood of annoyance washed the sadness away. "Tch."

Kazuki chuckled, and took another step towards the gym. He was still worried about being discovered here by exiting fans … though part of him couldn't quite let go of the confusion over seeing Wataru upset over his missing ring. What could possibly be the reason behind it? He saw no logic in it.

"Man, you're easy to read," he lied, taking another few steps forward. "Anyway, it's not like I would lose it again—I'm not that stupid."

"…So I'm stupid, then."

Kazuki froze. The words had been muttered, almost as if Wataru hadn't meant them to be heard. He felt taken aback—what did he mean by that? Kazuki hadn't been insulting Wataru; surely the boy wasn't that determined to think the worst of him …right?

"Huh?"

Wataru had been looking down, eyes hooded and gaze obviously directed into his own memories. He didn't look up upon hearing Kazuki's voice, though an edge of focus did come back into his eyes. "Well, I've … I've lost it before."

"Before?" Kazuki echoed questioningly, wanting the petite boy to elaborate.

"Yeah … before we switched at the fountain. It was about one or two months after I bought it."

Intrigue flooded Kazuki's being—not because he didn't already know the story, but because there was something quite thrilling about hearing an old story in a new perspective. Unbeknownst to Wataru, Yuichi had been involved in that incident—and he was eager to hear the account of events from the junior's point-of-view.

Not wanting to give himself away, Kazuki kept a very impassive look on his face as he drawled "Aaand," with a 'continue-if-you-must' kind of aire.

Kazuki's lackluster interest seemed to bemuse Wataru, who obviously hadn't been expecting to recount the tale. "Um … well, it was at school. I took it off to wash my hands, just like last time … and left it there."

Kazuki remained frozen. How should he look? How should he act? He was bewildered, yet pleased—he both knew and didn't know this story, and the contradicting sensations were pleasant in his head.

"It wasn't that expensive, so … I gave up on it pretty easily. But then a week later, it just … came back."

"Came back?" So Wataru didn't have a suspect, other than karma or something like that. So, using Wataru's theory, Yuichi himself was some powerful force of destiny, set on bringing back the symbol of his love to its fated owner …

Ugh, what a stupid thought. Wonderful and pathetic.

"Yea. One morning … I came to school, and there it was on my desk. I still don't know how. I was so surprised—it was like the ring had come back to me on its own and … I was moved." He raised his pale, wide hand to eye-level, and then clenched his fist so that the ring was displayed quite deliberately. "When I look at this ring, I can remember that feeling …" Wataru's eyes grew foggier as he lost himself to reverberations of the sentiment.

And he wasn't alone. Kazuki's gray eyes were misty with his own memories of that day—the day in which he had fallen in love with the slender beauty before him. Sun rays had danced and shimmered in the air … apricot skin had positively glowed in the light … two pink lips had curved sensuously and beautifully upwards, bringing his heart to a dead standstill …

"…I see," he murmured softly.

"Since then, I've treasured it," Wataru continued, looking over to Kazuki's profile. "'Cuz wouldn't you be happy if you got something you'd already given up on?"

Something I'd already given up on …

He thought immediately of Wataru. How many times had he told himself to get over his love for Wataru Fujii, because it was simply impossible for it to come to any fruition? How many precious hours had he spent lying awake, covered in a sheen of sweat, haunted in dreams by the beautiful boy he could never possess?

He thought of the story he had just heard. Wataru had lost the ring, and dismissed it as lost forever. And then one day, one magical day, it had returned to him. With no effort on his part, Wataru had been reunited with a ring whose preciousness hadn't even been realized until that day. Kazuki began to daydream about a similar universe; one in which he was Wataru, and the ring was Wataru's love. Kazuki barely noticed as his eyes began to sting with a sheen of moisture. How cosmically glorious would that universe be …?

"…Something I'd given up on … yeah, I guess that would make me happy."

"What …?"

The delicate atmosphere shattered when he heard Wataru's breath of disbelief. What was he doing?! Acting all wistful, nearly crying over the story Wataru had told him ... Oh god, what did Wataru think of this?!

Forcing the unshed tears back into his tear ducts by sheer force of will, Kazuki adopted an arrogant expression and tossed his sweat towel over his shoulder casually.

"Well, if you ask me … it's too bad for you that we have the same design."

Wataru was certainly caught off-guard with this. If it distracted the boy from what had just happened, then Kazuki was glad for it. "What do you mean?"

Kazuki smirked. "Well, that ring looks way better on me, doesn't it?"

Wataru's expression sank into a dark glare, and it was obvious that the tender moment of Kazuki's exposed weakness was forgotten. "Kazuki, how dare you?"

"That's "Sir" to you, Wataru. In spite of your looks, your attitude's not cute at all."

Wataru's entire face flushed with rage and embarrassment. "C-cute…? Don't say CUTE! It gives me the chills …!" He shrieked, his voice about an octave above his usual tenor tone.

Inwardly, Kazuki was amused at the boy's expression—until he realized what had come out of his mouth. 'Oh, shit…! Did I really just call him cute?!' He'd been so focused on making Wataru forget his moment of softhearted emotion that he hadn't even noticed that he was making an even bigger fool of himself!

"Anyway, you—"

"I said you're not cute," Kazuki blurted in a panic, overtop of whatever Wataru was going to say. "Stop ranting and listen."

Wataru's mouth shut with a snap, and Kazuki could see the movement of his lower jaw, how he ground his teeth together. Kazuki waited, sensing the outburst, knowing he had just crossed a line with his latest rudeness.

And come it did. Wataru began shouting at him, every word laced with righteous anger; every consonant sharpened to a deadly point. "Just to let you know, I'm never taking this ring off again! So of course I'll never lose it again, either!"

Kazuki kept his expression carefully neutral, and continued to let Wataru yell. "I have more of an attachment to this ring than you'll ever have … so I pray that with each passing day, you'll get more and more tired of yours! And, by the way, the fact that we have the same design really gets on my nerves!"

Kazuki watched as Wataru's chest heaved to make up for loss of breath … and as he looked into blazing blue eyes, he recognized a familiar struggle within them.

Wataru was not angry, not really. Instead, Kazuki saw poorly-concealed panic and regret—emotions that were so familiar to the senior that he could recognize them no matter how hard a person tried to conceal them. He saw them every day in the mirror, after all, when he looked into his own blank eyes.

Wataru regretted his outburst, just as Kazuki regretted his own. It seemed that things could never go smoothly between the pair of them … they were both liars and hiders, and without honesty there was no hope for a real conversation.

Suddenly, there came from behind them a raucous din as hundreds of students cheered and spilled out onto the quad through multiple doors. But Kazuki couldn't care less—what had been a serious concern for him a mere few minutes ago now seemed insignificant compared to the unresolved tensions between his secret crush and himself.

Wataru looked relieved; though he tried to maintain his poor illusions of anger as he turned heel on Kazuki with a snubbing air and said, "Well, I'm leaving now."

But Kazuki did not let him go. Quick as a flash, he had snatched the boy's wrist out of the air and dragged him back under the copse of trees. He barely felt the pull of resistance against his iron grip; barely heard the words sputtered by the soft lips of his catch: "W-what?! Are you mad?"

Was it wrong for Kazuki to desire at least one ounce of honesty between them? All of this nonsense, hiding their real emotions, lying to one another—Kazuki was sick to death of it. He began to grow angry; angry at himself and at his convoluted relationship with Wataru, and angry with Wataru for perpetuating the situation with his own falsities.

Kazuki couldn't let him go without releasing some shred of truth—how could he let himself ache and grieve over a situation when it was within his power to change it …? All he needed was one little sliver of verity … to show Wataru his real emotions, instead of burying them with cold, unfeeling numbness …

But how could he do it? He knew very well that he couldn't go and kiss Wataru now … not after what had just happened. If he hadn't lost his cool after that tender moment, then maybe … but now was not the time to reflect. He had to act, before it was too late and they were discovered …

And then, it came to him. It was the perfect solution—a way to confess his feelings for Wataru without the boy ever realizing what he had done.

"Kazuki …?"

"You … just won't ever shut up."

And then Yuichi Kazuki bent down and brought Wataru's hand up to his lips, brushing them against the soft silver metal of the ring.

Wataru had been wrong to suggest that he was more attached to his ring than Kazuki was—the dark-haired boy couldn't even begin to fathom how much Kazuki treasured that ring. It was the instrument through which he had been given the gift of Wataru's sporadic attention; the catalyst that had incited love and passion in Kazuki's dull heart. What better way to silently confess his love to Wataru than by kissing his most precious ring? And not just kiss it—Kazuki concentrated on filling every square millimeter of the warm metal with his purest, honest emotions.

Satisfaction came over Kazuki as, after a long moment, he pulled away and dropped Wataru's hand unceremoniously. He smirked at Wataru, a mischievous and knowing smirk that broadcasted some secret humor to the dark-haired beauty. "Serves you right."

Wataru had felt the ring was a metaphor for unexpected returns and happy reunions—but now Kazuki had changed its symbolism. The junior would never realize that Kazuki's essence had come to inhabit it … he would wear the blonde's passions around his finger without ever feeling their presence.

It was the most perfect confession Kazuki could hope for.

'Just to let you know, I'm never taking this ring off again!'

Good, the senior thought as he turned away, hesitated for a fraction of a second, and then headed back to the gym with a heavy sigh. Then, from this day onward, in some strange way, Wataru Fujii will always belong to me.

He could settle for that.

Today is my birthday. What better way to celebrate it than give all of you the last "Basketball" chapter?

This was SO. HARD. TO. WRITE. I've written this scene over and and over; so many revisions and rewrites. I'm still not 100 percent happy with the interpretation of Kazuki's thoughts ... but it's the best one I've come up with so far and I don't want to keep you guys waiting any longer.

I'll leave it up for you to decide—do you understand his reasoning, did I make it clear enough? Does it make sense for him to think that way? Drop me a line; tell me your opinions. I would be happy to be inspired by you guys and make a few more revisions.

Merry Christmas! :)