One Beat

Hanamiya stood awkwardly a few steps away from her, his eyes darting around for any potential witnesses. He couldn’t believe he was actually considering letting her carry him. His consideration became definitive and a moment later he took a step toward Mizuki, his eyes still shifting between her and their surroundings. “Make it quick,” he mumbled, stepping even closer toward his girlfriend.

“Yes!” Mizuki pumps her fist in the air, looking like the embodiment of childlike glee. She squats down and gingerly places one arm around Hanamiya’s back and another around the bend of his knees. Mizuki lifts him into the air with a grin. “Tell me when you want me to put you down, okay?” she asks, keeping him close to her body as she carries him bridal style.

There was something about the combination of Mizuki’s tone of voice and Kiyoshi’s dopey grin that set Hanamiya’s blood to boil. He may have had it in him before she spoke to strut right over to the band of lingering idiots and continue what he hadn’t quite finished on the court but his anger had narrowed to his girlfriend beside him.

Hanamiya shot Mizuki a glance that he usually reserved for those that harbored his deepest contempt and pushed her hand away. A keen sting of regret tore through his body; he should’ve never left that hallway. He’d wanted to be alone and for good reason.

“You have such a delicate way with words,” he spat, as he turned on his heel and headed back to the stadium. “Being the subject of your condescension has been delightful, but if you’ll excuse me – I’d rather be anywhere else…”

Stupid stupid stupid. She’s stupid for opening her stupid fucking mouth, stupid for trying to help, stupid for caring, stupid for ever falling for him much less considering him a friend, and above all, stupid for flinching when he shoots her a withering glare that pierces her to her very core.

He’s looked at her like that before, before they were a couple, before they were even on civil terms. Back then, before Mizuki cared, she had met his venomous stare with an icy, apathetic expression or a condescending smile. But now she can only imagine how vulnerable she looks with wide eyes and trembling lips. Stupid stupid stupid. A tide of anger surges through Mizuki and she rushes forward. “Hanamiya!” She skids to a stop in front of him, blocking his path.

”I know you’re angry. And I know better than anyone that anger is easier than dealing with whatever else you’re feeling.” Mizuki forces herself to meet Hanamiya’s gaze, scowling down at him as she bites back tears. “But don’t you fucking dare take it out on me,” she says, her voice splintering in her throat.

Straightening his posture, Hanamiya flicked his bangs from his face and peered at Mizuki who had began to titter. He blinked away the teariness that threatened the edges of his eyes then, as a pressure steadily began to build in his sinuses. “I’m glad I amuse you,” he said in the way where you could not tell if he was being serious or sarcastic, his voice sounding deeper than usual. Plucking the packet of tissues from her hands, he attempted to pull the blanket tighter around him without her noticing, but an all too apparent shiver rattled through his lean frame and all he could think to do was turn his face away.

Mizuki sucks in a deep breath as her giggling dies down. “You’re not fooling anyone with that tough guy act,” she says, grabbing one of the neatly folded blankets she had placed on the coffee table earlier. "Especially not me.”

She unfolds the blanket and drapes it over Hanamiya. “Do you want me to make you some tea?” Mizuki asks as she scoots closer to him. Her hand brushes over Hanamiya’s cheek. “You’re shivering.”

The blanket enveloped him adequately enough and the towel draped around his neck was doing its job for all intents and purposes but Hanamiya still felt a bone deep chill from the downpour he had subjected himself to. His eyes lifted when Mizuki spoke, expression remaining neutral as she questioned his comfort. He shrugged nonchalantly, setting his book aside. That was all the reply he intended to give her until his body bent forward suddenly, a loud sneeze following.

The rain drums against the windows of the Okitsuumi family’s living room and thunder crackles in the distance as Mizuki sets down her beloved copy of Tex Winter’s The Triple-Post Offense on the coffee table in front of her. She glances towards Hanamiya, who currently has a blanket draped over him, a towel nestled around his neck as his hair dries, and a book in his hands. “Makoto,” she says, flashing him one of her signature dazzling smiles, “are you warm enough? I can get you another blanket.”

Hanamiya ran his thumb over her hand, pensively. After a second, he tugged her gently toward an exit at random. “I think some fresh air would do us both some good.”

He didn’t know why he thought they’d be alone, as if by some practical sense players that were already done with their respective games would go home or something. No such luck.

There was moment then, where he hesitated. He hoped silently that Mizuki hadn’t noticed, but he knew there was no getting one over on her.

Hanamiya’s eyes settled on a familiar group of teens and the unmistakable colors of their uniforms. Seirin. A steady exhale escaped his nostrils, and the grip he had on Mizuki’s hand tightened. “Well, isn’t this just great.”

Mizuki nods her assent and lets Hanamiya lead the way, a smile still on her face. She gives herself a mental round of applause for not fucking up and saying something that would have set him off. Tamika and Ramu would have probably teased her by calling it a small miracle. Her smile fades when she notices Hanamiya hesitate. She follows his gaze and a soft “ah fuck” falls from her lips as she spots the lingering members of Seirin. Kiyoshi is seated on a bench, smiling that endearing stupid apologetic smile of his as Riko and Hyūga discuss something a few feet away.

So much for small miracles.

“It should be fine,” Mizuki says, as if to convince herself. She steps closer to Hanamiya, closing the already small distance between them. “If you don’t want to want to talk them right now, just imagine how much they don’t want to talk to you.”

Her hand was in his and she was speaking but his mind wanted to tear him away from the present. Hanamiya gave Mizuki’s hand a gentle squeeze; it was cautious more than anything. He had left what was left of his physical hostility out on the paint but still he took care to temper his emotions.

When she went quiet, he canted his head toward her, his bangs falling away from his eyes. There was a smile on her face, not quite confident but necessary for him. An unsteady breath shuddered through him and he relented, finally shifting where he stood. 

“I suppose we could move to a better area.” His eyes glanced over disparagingly at the storage closet next to them, its door was slightly ajar, the space inside emitting a less than pleasant smell. “This hallway isn’t exactly the best place to brood menacingly.”

Mizuki exhales a sigh of relief at Hanamiya’s response. Her smile grows steadier, moonbeam-bright, as the tension that hung between them like a curtain of fog finally dissipates. Tightening her grip on her boyfriend’s hand, she leads him down the hallway and away from the closet.  “I gotta say, it’d be hard for anyone to do anything menacingly in a hallway that smells like bleach, but you weren’t half bad,” she teases, coming to a stop once they exit the hallway and come to one of the stadium’s many exits. “Where to now?” Mizuki smiles down at Hanamiya. “I’ll stay with you as long as you want.”

For the Valentine’s Day Alphabet Meme!

J   :   JEALOUSY.   does your muse get jealous in a relationship?

Mizuki doesn’t have a jealous bone in her body. But beyond that, in order for Mizuki to start a relationship with someone, she has to trust them enough to believe that they wouldn’t cheat on her in the first place. Furthermore, she’s an extremely selfless partner and just wants her partner to be happy, which is something expresses openly. If her partner wasn’t happy with her or didn’t love her anymore, Mizuki would want them to leave. That being said, she would be hurt and a little furious if her partner tried to make her jealous to get back at her or to upset her. Mizuki views trying to get a jealous reaction out of her as a form of manipulation and the fact that her partner was trying to make her jealous and toy with her emotions like that is more offensive than her partner flirting with someone else. L   :   LOVE.   who does your muse love?

Mizuki loves basketball! Mizuki loves women! Mizuki loves female basketball players! Mizuki loves her family! Mizuki loves HER FRIENDS!!!

Romantically, she is in love with your Hanamiya even though he can be the Worst (TM). Mizuki is pretty inexperienced with romantic love so she often doesn’t realize she has feelings for someone until it hits her all at once. Like OH, her heart beats faster when she comes into physical contact with them because she likes them! OH, that’s the reason she daydreams about them sometimes and has every time they’ve smiled at her committed to memory! She’s in love! V   :   VALENTINE. how does your muse feel about valentine’s day? Generally speaking, Mizuki goes to an all girls school and she doesn’t have many male friends, so Valentine’s Day is more about making candy for her friends and classmates at school, making obligation chocolate for Ramu’s brother, and buying candy that’s on sale so she can share it with friends or make homemade ice cream with it.