(ENG) KUROKO NO BASKET ONESHOTS

MIDORIMA X READER - OUR HOME (PART 2)

Hi guys! This Sunday I'll give you the ending of the previous story, hope you like it! This time though, the point of view will be a first-person one, Midorima's.

Pov: Midorima Shintaro

I watch her walk out the door, helpless, with my arm just barely outstretched towards her. I can't believe that everything ended so abruptly, that today (Name) was taken away from me because of a damn plane.

"Shintaro."

Reluctantly, I look at my father.

"Oh, what do we have here? You're crying because you feel tremendously guilty about what you did, aren't you?"

I lower my head, staying silent.

"Aren't you?" – he insists.

"She was important to me." – I whisper.

"What did you say? Don't mumble in front of me!"

"She was important to me, dad!"

"Her?! Don't say such nonsense!"

The conversation is interrupted by the sound of keys in the door lock, again. It's my mother this time, and she perceives in a moment the tension between my father and I.

"What's going on? Honey, shouldn't you be heading to Singapore already?"

"Thank goodness my flight was cancelled."

"Why are you happy about it?"

"Because it made me discover something very interesting. Did you know that our son has a girlfriend?"

Mom looks at me surprised: it's obvious that she didn't expect it.

"Is it true, Shintaro?"

I nod.

"He kept it hidden from us for three months, and when I found out today he tried to lie to me."

She looks at me: she's disappointed, but she seems to understand me deep down.

"While your mother and I think about what to do with you, go to your room."

I obey, grabbing my cell phone before walking up the stairs.

"Nah-ah. That stays here."

Annoyed, I put it back on the table and lock myself in the room, tired of seeing my father's face. I lay on the bed thinking about her and cursing myself for being reckless enough to bring her to my house. Oha Asa had said that with the lucky item of the day everything would be fine for both of our signs, but apparently fate chose otherwise. Apparently, I didn't do everything humanly possible to make things go right.

While my mind is trapped in this vicious cycle of thoughts, someone knocks. Reluctantly, I stand up ready to hear my father's verdict and reproach. To my surprise, though, beyond the door is my mother.

"Can I come in?"

I nod, puzzled. Mom sits on the bed and looks at me straight in the eye.

"Do you really like her, Shintaro?"

The question catches me off guard, but I know the answer.

"I do."

"What do you like about her?"

I don't understand whether her hint of smile is sincere or she's mocking me.

"E-Everything, really: she is beautiful, she is always kind, she understands me better than anyone else, she accepts all my flaws with open arms... and fights for me."

"Do you think she's the right one?"

"I'd bet on it."

Her smile widens, but it makes me uncomfortable. It's rare to see it like this.

"You know, even though your father is a very strict and demanding man-"

"He does it for my own good. It's not the first time I've heard that one."

"That wasn't the point. I wanted to tell you, Shintaro, that your father hasn't always been like this. He was seventeen too and was much sweeter at the time than you would expect."

Actually, I just can't imagine my father as a sweet and loving man.

"When we met, we were in high school. I had admired him for a long time, he was a talented tennis player and a good student, but above all he had a honest and kind heart. I fell in love with him, and when I confessed on Valentine's Day I discovered that he felt the same for me. We were truly inseparable at the time, we spent every moment together, and our sporting and scholastic results were brutally affected by this. I got away with a loud scolding, but your father wasn't so lucky."

"Was Grandpa as angry as dad was today?"

"Angry is an understatement, he was furious. As soon as he saw the grades and read the reports of the championship, he slapped him and called him a failure. I, who to his eyes was the main cause of your father's failures, was practically banished from the house, and he wanted to have nothing to do with me for years. I don't want to bore you any longer, but even if once we graduated we got back together and so we stayed, I think you understand what is behind the rule we imposed on you when you started high school: the desire not to see a boy full of potential like you waste his talent like it almost happened to us."

I stay silent, hearing a new and unexpected side of my parents' youth.

"I'm sorry, but what do I have to do with all this? Why am I the scapegoat for your traumas?"

"You're not the scapegoat, Shintaro, and I don't want us to behave towards you the way our parents behaved towards us just to take revenge on our past. In fact, I'm going to ask your dad to let you stay with that girl."

"What?!"

"You're better than us, Shintaro. You managed to live love without letting yourself be dominated from head to toe, and I'm sure this didn't happen just because you had to keep it hidden from us, but because you're a mature and responsible boy. More than our family's honour, we are interested in your grades and your basketball results to guarantee you the brightest future you can aspire to: therefore, if you'll keep balancing duty and pleasure as you've done until now, I'm not going to deny your happiness. I saw that you really care about that girl, and from what Dad said, I'm sure it's the same for her: run and get her back, darling."

"Mom..."

I can't believe my ears.

"Are you sure Dad will accept? I don't think that..."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him. And now, take this." – she says, handing me the phone I left in the living room – "I think you have someone to talk to."

I am so happy that a smile is not enough: I hug my mother, reliving a feeling so remote that I had almost forgotten it. While looking for (Name)'s phone number, just one thought is in my mind:

'Thank you so much, Mom. And thank you so much, (Name), for saving our happiness.'

Song used in the title: Our home - Akira Kosemura