Day 18 (Part I)

With a compelling look on his face, Midorima Shintaro stared hard at the rickshaw in front of him, debating to himself whether he should go to Teiko in that or just ride a regular bus instead.

He gave the matter a grave thought.

Was he actually going to make Yamazaki Iris, the vice president's daughter, ride this oh-so-gorgeous carriage of his? Was he ready to make himself the one of a kind joke of the century? Did he even think about what her family would do to him if they'd ever see their sweet little princess on the streets? And in a rickshaw of all things.

Midorima groaned, making a sick sound.

"What am I thinking-nanodayo? This is stupid," he mumbled to himself, facepalming at his sudden lack of intelligence.

There's no way he would show up to Iris looking like a newly harvested carrot in a rickshaw. If anything, he should call a taxi and fix himself to look even more presentable in front of his girlfriend.

Yeah, he should do exactly that.

"Shin-chan!" Hearing Takao Kazunari's loud voice from behind nearly busted his poor eardrums, startling him a little bit. "What are you doing here? Let's go, it's time for practice."

He sighed, calming himself, before whipping around to face the guy. "I have somewhere to go first-nanodayo. I already asked permission from Coach that I'll be late."

The ravenette's mouth was already hanging open by the time Midorima finished his sentence.

And it was quite a funny sight to see.

"Are you keeping a secret from me, Shin-chan?" Takao wasn't really sure why but it was clear that his friend had changed. After all, it wasn't like Midorima to ditch practice like what he did the other day; or be late, like what he was trying to do now. "Did you get a girlfriend or something?"

Midorima immediately turned his flushed face away, aware that Takao could easily see right through him. "What are you talking about-nanodayo? Of course, not."

But then,

..wasn't he forgetting something?

DAMN IT.

Wasn't he just about to go get Iris and bring her here to watch him practice with everyone else?

Damn it...

Takao immediately noticed his obvious demise. "You don't say... You actually got a girlfriend?"

Given the situation and with Takao cornering him like this, he was pretty sure that things wouldn't go smooth sailing from here on if he'd lie. So Midorima released a breathy sigh then faced his friend once again, showing him a serious expression, before saying, "Listen, Takao. SillySweetheart made me her boyfriend-nanodayo."

With that, Takao looked like he just saw Tokyo Tower collapsed right before his eyes. "A-Are you being serious right now?"

Midorima popped a vein. "Do I look like I'm joking? You fool."

"Huh? So you're really telling the truth?" the point guard asked, astounded.

After pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Midorima gave a small nod. "Yeah."

"I can't believe this," Takao uttered in a shaky voice, "So you're having a relationship with a girl you haven't even met?" Then as if a light bulb enlightened him about something, he added, "Or have you? The other day, you were out with her, weren't you?"

Once again, Midorima nodded. "Actually, there's more-nanodayo."

"What? You got her pregnant?"

The shooting guard was too flabbergasted that he ended up smacking the idiot's face with the pile of phonebooks---his lucky item for the day---he was carrying. "Are you out of your mind-nanodayo? How is that even possible when all we did was eat in a crowded restaurant?"

Ignoring his aching nose, Takao erupted into a laughing fit. "So you ate with her in a restaurant, huh? Way to go, Shin-chan!"

Midorima groaned, getting more and more frustrated each passing second. "What's so funny-nanodayo?"

"Nothing. I just can't believe it, that's all," Takao replied, finally able to calm himself. Then after a few seconds, he furrowed his brows, as if realizing something that he failed to earlier. "Anyway, I didn't expect you'd actually date a stranger, Shin-chan. This is beyond impossible for a guy like you. Moreover, how did all of this happen?"

"She's not a stranger-nanodayo."

Takao's frown deepened. "What do you mean?"

"You'll know later," Midorima said, turning on his heels, preparing to leave. "She said she'll watch me practice so I'm going to get her-nanodayo."

"Really?" Dumbfounded, Takao Kazunari followed his teammate. Even for him, suddenly taking in everything that the tsundere was saying wasn't an easy task---especially the girlfriend-boyfriend part. "You've gotten that close to each other already?"

The said tsundere didn't answer and only remained focused on his steps. He knew that Takao would be surprised, but he didn't expect him to be asking so many questions.

"Oi, Shin-chan! Where are you going?"

Annoyed, he glanced at the shorter male through his shoulder. "I already told you-nanodayo. So stop following me."

"You're going to get her, right? I'm coming with you."

Midorima knew it was pointless to say No to Takao.

Why?

The guy's middle name was annoying and persistence was what he was known for.

"Okay," he finally agreed, "But don't be an idiot in front of her."

"Roger that." Takao gave a salute, brushing away the fact that he was just referred to as an idiot. "Who is she, anyway? What is SillySweetheart's real identity?"

"SillySweetheart is Yamazaki Iris, the vice president's daughter-nanodayo."

Shocked and petrified, Takao Kazunari tripped on his own foot. "WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY?!"