four;

Daiki never had ambitions, even when he was a child. If you had asked him if he wanted to be the best at basketball, he would have said, in that carefree tone of voice of his: "Maybe, I dunno." Daiki didn't care about winning – he simply never thought that far ahead. Right up until he entered middle school, his basketball was the product of raw talent and aimlessness.

Maybe, in the end, he was just looking for a rival. Daiki never did find anyone who matched him. Kise came somewhat close (by objective standards, his rate of improvement was simply monstrous) but for Daiki, it just wasn't good enough. No one was good enough.

"You know," he mentioned to Satsuki once, not long after Tetsuya had quit the basketball club. "Tetsu said I'd find a rival one day."

"Do you believe him?"

"Nah," said Daiki. "Not really."

He stretched himself out on the rooftop – nonchalantly, languidly, and without a hint of ambition.

"But it would be nice, don't you think?" Satsuki said to him. "If you had a rival…"

He didn't say anything to that for a while. His eyes were closed. Satsuki honestly thought he was asleep.

But then Daiki shifted a little where he lay. His mouth twitched slightly and his monosyllabic response said more than Satsuki could ever ask for.

"Yeah…"

It was then that Satsuki thought that perhaps Daiki did have his ambitions, however vague and unrealised. Maybe he always did want to believe in Tetsuya. It was simply the case that every night, he just drifted off into a dreamless sleep that he never really woke up from. He had always been such a heavy sleeper.

But Satsuki dreamed.

Her dreams were of two types: they were hard or soft, shadowy or lit, gritty or idealistic; they were about basketball or they had nothing to do with it at all. Tetsuya featured in her dreams often but not constantly. In them, he held her hand. Satsuki knew Tetsuya's hands well because she had measured them a couple of times for her data. They were small yet clever hands – deceptive, even – for the backs of them were soft and pliant and the palms and fingertips were hard and calloused from handling the ball too often. Tetsuya had a basketballer's hands. Much as she fantasised about his hands holding hers in a romantic light, in her dreams, they never did anything more than rest limply over her outstretched fingertips.

There was once when Satsuki dreamed of Daiki's hands instead. His had a way of swamping hers. One could feel the power in Daiki's hands, even when he did not use them for anything. In the dream, Satsuki was not afraid of them but she was looking around for Tetsuya and was disappointed not to find him.

"Satsuki," said Daiki in her dream, his voice low and urgent. "Satsuki."

She could not pull away from the hand. "Why can't you be like how you were before?" she asked him.

"I'm not a kid anymore, Satsuki," he said simply.

She wanted to say that she knew that, but this was a dream and the thought did not occur to her. Instead, she sat still and silent as Daiki lifted his hands. She could not see him; she could only feel the weight of his touch. When she turned around, the scene had changed and she was back in his room, breathing in his familiar earthy scent.

"Dai-chan," she heard herself say. "Where are you?"

But Daiki was not there. Instead, there was Tetsuya. He sat patiently on the bed, his blank gaze boring into her. Then he reached out one hand and held it high, beckoning her towards him.

"I have always wished for you to be happy, Momoi-san," he said.

She seldom ever remembered him saying anything in her dreams.

Her stomach was writhing about in sweet, goo-like agony. She came near and he put his hand on her head, and she could feel his breath rolling down her neck. It was warm. Tetsuya was so very warm.

But somewhere along the lines, the very nature of his touch changed. She could feel it prickling coldly along her skin. When she looked up, Tetsuya was gone and only the feeling of the touch remained. This time, it was an embrace, fervently performed, one that threatened to crush the air out of her lungs. It was no longer Tetsuya's touch, but then again, it didn't always need to be.

In the dream, Satsuki closed her eyes and did not feel anything anymore.

As the manager for Teikou's basketball team, Satsuki had never had much time for making friends with girls. She could list twenty guy friends she liked and respected before she could come up with one girl. She had never been very popular with girls anyway. Perhaps owing to a combination of her womanly figure and by the fact that she consorted with the likes of Kise (who was easily the most popular boy in the school) on a constant basis, she had to admit the girls were rather catty with her.

The sentiment went both ways. She certainly had better things to do than to try and get along with girls who would be jealous of her no matter how she tried to please them. Boys were different. She liked boys. Okay, so maybe they had perverted things on their minds most of the time and usually their eyes were fixated on her breasts rather than on what she was saying, but she liked boys because of how endearingly simple they could be. They were straightforward. She respected that about them.

It was funny how just one small event could threaten to twist her entire outlook inside out.

After the Daiki incident, Satsuki found herself wishing she had girl friends instead. This was a first for her. In fact, it posed a rather difficult dilemma. She knew the way to fix Daiki's problem was to introduce him to different girls, but the problem was that she had deliberately not kept in contact with any of the girls from Teikou.

Fortunately, Satsuki was quite a creative thinker along with being a brilliant analyst and after a moment of thought, she came up with the easiest solution possible.

She rang up Kise.

"Ki-chan! Ki-chaaaaaaan! How are you?" she said, giggling into her phone, and was relieved when greeted her back just as cheerfully. He hadn't changed at all. "Listen up, Ki-chan! There's something I'd feel so happy about if you did it for me."

"And what's that?" Kise asked her. She could practically hear him beam into his phone.

"I want you to introduce me to some girls, Ki-chan!"

He went quiet.

"Ki-chan?"

"Girls, Momoi?" He sounded like he couldn't quite believe his ears.

"Of course! I was just thinking how tired I am about being around you smelly boys all the time."

"That's…" Kise looked like he was searching for something truly enlightening to say here. "That's really hot, Momoi."

She almost hung up right then and there. But she continued because – Dai-chan needs me. "I meant as friends, Ki-chan."

"Oh." He sounded a little disappointed. "Well, that's fine, I guess. Sure."

She wondered how Kise would react if he knew that this was part of her ploy to get Daiki to play basketball again. Because Daiki was stupid and she was stupid and instead of helping things, her involvement had made them more complicated instead. Time was running out. She had only a matter of days before high school started.

When she told Daiki that she wanted him to meet up with three girls on the weekend, he was naturally rather taken aback. At first, Satsuki thought that he would refuse to go, just because he was ornery like that, but then he simply shrugged. "Got nothing better to do," he said grudgingly, to which Satsuki breathed a mental sigh of relief.

She went with him for the date, simply because she wanted to keep an eye on him, though she made sure to dress down in a loose-fitting jumper for the occasion. When she turned up to the station, she spotted the three girls right away. They were Kaijo girls; Satsuki knew that from her data. They were all bubbly-faced and cute (Kise evidently liked the cute types) and while they were waiting, they were talking to each other in high-pitched, animated voices.

Daiki gave her an odd glance. Somehow, Satsuki suspected that this was not going to go down as well as she hoped.

As usual, her woman's intuition was absolutely correct.

"Oh, you're Kise-kun's friends, aren't you?" said the first girl when she spotted them. She seemed amiable enough, though she seemed to regard them both cautiously. "I thought Kise-kun was going to come too."

"He has other commitments," said Satsuki. Kise was a rare type; cheering helped him focus. He befriended the girls who supported him, talked to them – but did not spend a good deal of time with them. Most likely, he was preparing for the new season. Kise was a hard worker.

All three girls cast disappointed glances with each other. Then they all forced smiles on their faces as they turned to Daiki.

"So what's your name?" the second girl asked politely.

Daiki yawned and scratched himself before he replied with his name. Satsuki wanted to shake him. He was doing it all wrong.

In fact, he could hardly look more disinterested. He slouched when they sat down to eat and he gave minimalistic responses to any question directed his way. Naturally, conversation soon became awkward. The only reason Satsuki could possibly have wanted to be there was out of hope that she could salvage the situation somehow. Otherwise, it was painful to watch.

"So, you three like basketball, huh?" Satsuki said brightly, in an effort to break the awkward silence.

"Well, to be honest, none of us really play," said the first girl with a sheepish smile. "But we've watched Kise-kun and we think he's really amazing! I bet there's no one out there who's better than him."

"Yeah, there is," Daiki interrupted her. "There's me."

This was the factually correct thing to say. Socially, it was suicide. Satsuki elbowed him in the ribs.

"What was that for?" he demanded gruffly.

Satsuki was conscious that the girls were looking at him strangely.

"Don't say things like that, Dai-cha-!" She stopped. She didn't want to seem intimate with Daiki in front of these girls. "Aomine-kun!"

"What are you calling me that for? It's weird, Satsuki."

"You seem close," said the second girl, giggling.

"Childhood friends," Satsuki said, unable to keep the exasperation out of her voice. The damage had already been done. Her ship was sinking. "Anyway," she went on hurriedly, trying wilfully to ignore Daiki's stare. "Ki-cha… I mean, Kise-kun is very strong. I've been watching him since he was a freshman in middle school. He improved a lot in three years."

"Oh!" exclaimed the third girl. "Then… you're just like us, aren't you, Satsuki-san? Just an observer?"

Satsuki blinked. There had been far, far more to being Teikou's manager than simply observing. It didn't seem like it was such a big deal to point out, though, so she just smiled and was about to change the subject when-

"Bullshit."

All four heads turned to look at the speaker in surprise. Daiki was still slouching in his chair, not looking particularly engaged in the conversation. He shrugged.

"Satsuki's not just an observer – she's an athlete too, just like Kise is."

This was something Daiki had often said about her back when he played regularly on the team. Even though he never made use of her data, he was still aware of what it did and the lengths she pursued to obtain it. Anyone from Teikou's basketball team would have made the same remark as Daiki's.

Satsuki smiled. She promptly stopped doing it because of what Daiki said next.

"Well, I'm bored. Later."

And with that, he shuffled off with his hands in his pockets. There was a lengthy moment of silence at the table as he did this. Then Satsuki stood up as well.

"I have to go too," she announced hurriedly.

It was only then, as she cast one last glance towards the flabbergasted girls, did she realise the one key factor behind Daiki's disinterest: they were all A cups.

Unsurprisingly, Daiki was rather unimpressed when Satsuki caught up with him later. "I don't see why you dragged me out to see those chicks," he said to her afterwards. "All they did was natter on about Kise."

"I thought you needed to get out more," Satsuki responded with a huff. She was not used to her plans failing. It felt like such a blow to her ego.

"Besides," Daiki went on darkly. "I don't care about them, I only want-"

He stopped.

Just like that, the events of the other day came back to Satsuki with full force and the simple recollection of it left her reeling slightly. Daiki turned his head away slightly and made some other unrelated comment, but she didn't quite hear it properly. It was like everything had zoned out and all she could focus on was the grey-coloured memories in the back of her mind.

Her heart sank. She wasn't oblivious, oh god she wasn't oblivious. She scrunched her eyes shut, trying to think. Being out in public was one thing, but how could she let herself be near Daiki now? She thought she was so close, so close to bringing him back from the brink…

"Oi, Satsuki." Daiki's voice snapped her out of her reverie. "What's got you all worked up?"

… Did he really have the nerve to ask that? Really?

Satsuki sighed. Only moments after she did that, she clenched her teeth and pressed her lips together anxiously. She could feel some odd sort of climax approaching between them. Something would need to be addressed. Something needed to come out in the open. Soon.

She looked up at Daiki and in that moment, he didn't look all that strange to her. He was just his normal, lazy self, just stretched out staring at the sky with absolutely no sense of purpose. Maybe it was different, not being cooped up in his room with him. They had stopped at a park close to home and she was swinging herself idly on the swing. She could remember when they were young how often she had demanded that Daiki push her.

As she watched him, his eyes shifted to the side and his gaze met hers and she could feel the lust there, still lying under the surface.

She stopped. All she could hear was the sound of the swing screeching to a halt.

Her mind was building up to some kind of frenzy and before she could follow the whole process through, she blurted out:

"Dai-chan, if I… if I…"

"If you what?" he asked confusedly.

"If I liked you, what would you do then? Would you join the basketball team?"

"… Huh?"

"I mean…!" Satsuki swallowed. She had no idea what she was saying. All she knew that it was important. Maybe she could fulfil her promise to Tetsuya after all. Maybe Imayoshi could learn about how it felt to win at nationals. (And herself. She would do it for herself, too.) "Dai-chan! I'd do anything for you if you joined the basketball team in high school. I really would."

"So?"

He really didn't get it. Did she really have to spell it all out for him? She groaned inwardly at the thought.

She had to do it. She had made up her mind. Besides, there was no going back from here. If she did, everything between her and Daiki would become awkward, because all the unspoken things would just keep piling up.

Their friendship had reached its climax and its ultimate testing point. After this, they might never be friends again.

"Dai-chan, if you joined the team, I'll let you do anything you want to me." She gasped and then added quickly, "As long as it's not so… well… you can see my boobs and that's it!"

There was a pause.

And then-

"What?"

"Whaaaat?"

"I mean, seriously, what?"

"I don't get it, what?"

They were staring at each other incredulously. "My god," said Daiki. And then, unexpectedly, he started snickering. "Are you serious?"

"… Yes."

Her heart was pounding. Okay, maybe she wasn't so sure about this.

"Who'd want to see your saggy tits?"

Satsuki blanched. That was an unexpected reaction. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, okay, sure, I admit it. I was perving on you. But I can't believe you actually said that."

Satsuki bristled. "Let's get this straight! My first time is only for Tetsu-kun! So it's not like you're allowed to do anything weird. You're not-!"

Daiki leaned forward at that moment and kissed her.

It was so startling she almost fell backwards off the swing. If she had been given more time to build it up in her head, she might have felt something. As it was, she was just incredibly confused.

"Dai-chan, you, you…!" Now she wanted to strangle him. "Damn it, that was for Tetsu-kun, too!"

It was really just a simple peck on her lips. She was surprised as she scrambled to wipe her lips to find that there was no saliva. Her lips just felt a little bit tingly. That was all.

As for Daiki, well…

Daiki was laughing.

He had doubled over and he was pointing at her no doubt shell-shocked expression.

"Would you look at your face?" he snorted. He was grinning. (He was really grinning.)

Satsuki couldn't help it. His laughter was infectious. She burst out into an incontrollable fit of giggles and this time, she actually did fall off the back of the swing and that made her laugh even harder. Just like that, everything that had happened up until now felt so stupid to her – she had been worrying over nothing. What had come over her?

She didn't know how long the moment lasted. She felt helpless. As soon as she thought she was finished, she caught sight of Daiki's face and that was all it took for her to crack up once again. All she could think was that she had found what she was looking for at last.

"Why'd you do that, Dai-chan?" she asked him later, as they were walking back from the park with the sun setting behind them.

They were both still chuckling. Later on, Daiki would be back to his usual scowling, apathetic self, but for now, the Dai-chan of old was back. Maybe he had been there all along, just waiting for the right occasion to surface. She wanted to savour the moment, but at the same time, she couldn't help but remember Tetsuya's words. There was no going back.

"I just… felt like I needed to get that out of my system," he said with a shrug. "It's not like I wanna go out with you or anything like that. Don't get the wrong idea."

"No, I get it," she said. She was smiling.

"Oh, yeah," he went on, looking away, as if just remembering something. "I'm gonna join the basketball club."

"What, Dai-chan? Really? Really?"

"Don't look so excited. I just need to kill some time, that's all. And you're right. I need someone else to annoy. I can't stand looking at your ugly face sometimes."

Satsuki let him off the hook for that comment, but that was only because she was in a good mood. If he had said it under any other circumstance, she would have thrown him off a bridge.

But she did still kick him in the shins. And he did curse loudly in reaction.

In the end, she thought, perhaps her first kiss was a small price to pay. She didn't think she would ever forget just how close she and Daiki had come to stepping across that unspoken yet very definitive line. The one that separated friendship and… whatever lay beyond. But for now, it just wasn't important. She had managed to get him to join the basketball team, after all, even if he was going to sit around and play hooky all year round.

Yet for now, she had seen him laugh again. It was just once, but it was enough. She would tie this memory up close to her heart, let it lie there until it wedged itself a permanent corner that she would take to her grave. It was, above anything else, an assurance…

Tetsuya would have been so proud of her.

The new school year began, and in Touou High, the cherry blossoms were blooming. Satsuki was proud of her new uniform and her new role in the scheme of things and, to no one's surprise, she was a hit with the club members. Equally to no one's surprise, Daiki didn't turn up to the first practice – or any other practice after that. He spent his lunchtimes lying on the rooftop sleeping and occasionally, he would even bring his girly magazines to school.

To his secret delight, Daiki did indeed find someone new to annoy. His name was Sakurai Ryo and perhaps Daiki took a shine to him because he was small, effeminate-looking and doe-eyed, just like a girl. (Daiki still had no female friends besides Satsuki.) Satsuki didn't think Sakurai would believe her if she told him that Daiki's relentless bullying was really his way of expressing his friendship. And, well, Daiki was a bit of a dickhead. No getting around that.

Time inched forward, little by little. Satsuki was surprised to find how much she liked Touou. It really was, in many ways, similar to how Teikou had been, only this school hadn't yet discovered how dim victory could feel and it was easy to get swept along by her earnest team mates and their bright, fanciful dreams.

But all the same, Satsuki never forgot Teikou. Sometimes, when she was in the mood for nostalgia, she put on the videos of the Generation of Miracles in their glory days. In the videos, all her boys were as large as life; their forms were spectacular and their zeal for the game was evident on their faces. That, of course, was only true in their early matches, when the scores were closer and the action was frantic.

When she watched the videos, Satsuki thought of Tetsuya and his promise. She wondered how he was doing. How everyone was doing. She still talked to them on the odd occasion, but it wasn't like they were really a team anymore and that thought hung over them all like a perpetual haze.

It was Daiki, along with the endless amount of new problems that he caused her, that distracted her from really thinking too deeply about the past. Otherwise, she might have thought on it and dwelt upon her nostalgia forever. Instead, she was busy every day, waiting, preparing…

(That year, Tetsuya told her that he would defeat Daiki. She didn't believe him because neither the data nor her intuition told her that it was really possible. But even so, it was what she was waiting for. When Tetsuya promised her that he would defeat Daiki, Satsuki couldn't help but think that he was the knight who had come to her rescue.

And until that day came, when the curse of Teikou had lifted from the Generation of Miracles, Satsuki would stay by Daiki's side, waiting and hoping. Endlessly.)

Fin

To us, everything is motionless because moving forward is the only thing we've ever known.

Acknowledgments: This story is dedicated to doroniasobi, who I love with the power of ten thousand suns. I'd also like to thank AquaJet, who encouraged me constantly as I wrote the first draft, and The Jabberer, who proofread the story and crushed my Aomine-like ego. (lol.)

I'd also like to especially thank you, the reader, for reading this all the way to end. It means a lot to me.

Small note: I'm thinking of doing a follow-up story to this. I wouldn't call it a sequel, exactly; it will be a standalone story set after the Winter Cup. I still haven't yet worked how I feel about Aomine and Momoi as a couple. I find their relationship very charming to write about, though, mostly because it strikes a very personal chord with me. I don't think I'm done with them yet – but as for whether I'll write gen or romance, that's something only the future can decide.