p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Aomine loved street-ball, but he was beginning to become bored with those he played with. He had been coming by less and less as he became more and more bored with the lack of competition. He wanted someone to push him, he wanted to feel that thrill of pushing yourself to the limit again. When he was a child he would play against full-grown adults on a court just like this one, he loved it, even when he lost (although, even then it didn/spanspan style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"'t happen often)./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Aomine wandered onto the court but hovered with his back against the chain-fence to watch the current match taking place. He knew just about every guy that came to this concrete court to play, he had beaten every one of them. /spanspan style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"As he glanced over the players, taking in the match before him, he was surprised to see there was someone he didn't recognise, a girl. He didn't know how he could have missed her with his first glance when she whipped back and forth around the court like an elastic band, the speed of her movements causing her long, jet-black French braids to swing around her shoulders wildly. Aomine's eyes widened ever so slightly and he found himself unable to drag them away from the young woman blazing down the court, breezing past multiple opponents as though they weren't even there. As he watched her, his heart began to thump harder than it had in a long time, he was excited. She was good, so good he actually began to grin at the thought of challenging her. He knew he would still beat her (the only person who could beat Aomine was Aomine), but the thought of some real competition still lit a fire inside of him. The way she moved fascinated him, swinging like a pendulum around her enemies, throwing herself from side to side but with incredible control and grace, it was hard to keep up with her with his eyes, he understood why the other players found it so hard with their legs./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"He leant over to one of the older players, whom he had known since he moved into the area at age ten, and asked,/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Who is that girl?" he tried to keep his excitement out of his voice, keeping it monotone and flat./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Ah," His old friend grinned knowingly, "haven't you heard? That's Mariko Takahashi," he leant across to meet Aomine in the middle and whispered consiprationally, "but those that follow women's basketball know her as 'the viper'." his grin had almost reached his ears, it seemed Aomine wasn't the only one impressed by her skills./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""'The viper'?" Aomine scoffed, his eyes returned to her as he spoke, looking over her small but athletic build, her slight tan accentuated the lines of the bulging muscles in her calves, thighs and abdomen./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""You see the way she moves?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Yeah, she throws herself around, so?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""She uses her incredible leg strength to dart back and forth, keeping herself low to the ground and dribbling around her legs, they say it makes her look like a poisonous snake preparing to attack, although some also say it's because she's got a deadly bite." He laughed quietly and Aomine blinked, confused./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""What do you mean?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""You know that expression, all bark and no bite?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Yeah."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""She's all bite. Although she has got a smart mouth on her too." He laughed again as if remembering something but was broken out of his reverie as the game in front of them ended. Mariko's team won. "The last time I saw ball control that good, I was watching you." His old friend added with a wink, before striding away to hand out water to the players./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Aomine nodded to himself before strutting over to the young woman, his eyes glued to her, watching her drink great gulps from her water bottle and wipe sweat from her brow with the bottom of her crop top, revealing even more of her toned stomach. The closer he got, the smaller she became until he was stood barely a foot away and the top of her head was level with his sternum./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Hey, Mariko, is it?" He drawled. She blinked up at him,/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Yeah?" her plastic bottle hung from the side of her mouth lazily./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Play with me, one on one."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""What's in it for me?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""If you win," He chuckled to himself, "you will have the honour of being the first person to ever beat me on this court."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Not sure it's worth my sweat."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""What do you want?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""I win, you buy me a meal at Maji burger."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Fine."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""What do you want if you win?" He thought about the question for a moment, he was guaranteed to win… /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""If I win, you can never refuse to play against me, whenever I challenge you, you have to play." The look on Mariko's face showed she was obviously surprised but she didn't comment on his strange request./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Deal." She put her hand out and they shook once before moving to the centre of the court. The designated referee for the day stepped forward, ball in hand./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""We'll keep this short since there were two teams waiting to settle a grudge match, you're lucky they'd rather see Mariko put you on your ass." He laughed, "First to three baskets wins, doesn't matter what kind." he nodded to them both and they nodded back./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Aomine used his height to snatch the ball out of the air first, dropping down into a half-crouch ready to break away from the woman braced in front of him. He bounced the ball slowly once, twice, gone. Aomine blinked. Time seemed to slow down as he turned, his eyes desperately searching for the ball, Mariko was already metres away, entering the free-throw lane and skidding to a halt. Before Aomine had even taken a couple of stunned steps in her direction she had taken her shot, the ball sailing in a high arc and easily dropping through the hoop. She spun on the spot, putting her arms out and basking in the laughs and cheering from the crowd watching them from the benches dotted around the court, she had the most disgustingly satisfied grin on her face and Aomine grumbled to himself at the sight. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Someone passed the ball back to the ref, who had returned to the middle, and he threw it up again. Again, Aomine knocked it down to himself first but this time he was quick to begin dribbling full-speed, no laziness this time. Mariko was on him instantly, darting back and forth in front, looking for a moment of hesitation. Aomine found himself actually having to work to keep his eyes on her, his body tensing and tightening as he fought to outrun her. He was fighting for every inch of ground and the closer he got to the hoop, the lower she dropped and the harder it became to follow her. He decided to give up on trying to break away from her and jerked back to attempt a quick shot, taking advantage of his height and her low stance, jumping up and throwing the ball easily, his confidence back at full force. She followed him into the air like a bullet, slicing through the air with an arm raised, fingers pointed straight up. Her height held her back considerably, but not enough to stop the pad of her index finger grazing the ball as it left his grip. The ball's course had been diverted and they both knew it wouldn't make the net, the pair threw themselves down the court, their arms jostling each other until Mariko managed to skid ahead by half a foot, snatching the ball from the air where it had bounced after hitting the concrete and spinning on her toe like a ballerina and dribbling back to her end of the court, dropping herself low to the ground and jerking back and forth to keep Aomine off her tail. He desperately tried to keep up but couldn't keep up with her haphazard movements, unpredictable and seemingly random. In a couple of minutes she had scored again. The applause was louder this time and it riled Aomine up even more, he couldn't tell if he was more angry or excited. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Final round!" Called the referee, his smirk making Aomine's eye twitch. "Finish him!" He teased, tossing the orange ball up for the last time. The third round started exactly the same as the previous two with Aomine batting the ball away with his huge paw. Mariko darted under him and swiped the ball as he began to dribble, his fast-paced street-ball style still not speedy enough to break away from her. He found himself panting and sweating as he gave chase, messily following her movements. Her style was too unpredictable, combined with incredible speed and jumping strength, it left Aomine in her dust. As he leapt up to block her throw, he locked eyes with her, despite her eyes being boringly black, they had a spark to them, a fire that he felt was most likely mimicked in his own eyes, that she had ignited inside of him. He hadn't felt that flame in years. She twisted her body beneath him, shooting from the side. He followed a moment too slowly and watched the ball sail through the hoop as he dropped back to the ground, his trainers hitting the concrete hard. The small group of men and boys lining the chain-link fence broke out in cheers and whoops and the designated referee collected the ball and returned it to the next group to play. Mariko ran a victory lap around the court, her hands raised and her smile glowing. Aomine watched her, turning on the spot to follow her with his eyes. She skipped back to him, stopping abruptly right under his nose./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Let's go!" She grinned./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""What?" Aomine grunted, he didn't want to come across too eager./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Maji Burger!" She poked her pointed tongue out cheekily, nodding to the gate out of the street-ball court. He blinked, schooled his face back to his usual dull expression and rolled his eyes. He had forgotten about his promise in the excitement of the game./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Fine." He stalked away, ignoring the jeering and laughter of the other players as he left the court. Mariko giggled behind him but he didn't look back to check that she was following. When he arrived at the burger chain's doors he allowed himself a half-second glance over his shoulder at the top of her head to make sure she could keep up with his long legs. They joined the end of the short queue. "What do you want then?" He drawled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Hamburger meal, please!" She chirped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""What drink?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Chocolate milkshake, please." She tilted her head, grinning at him still. "I'll grab a table." She added. Aomine nodded to himself and stepped up to the next available server. He ordered both their meals and took the tray with one hand, thanking the cashier quietly and turning to scan the room, searching for the bouncing plaits. He spotted her in the back corner and wandered over, dropping the tray down in front of her and sliding into the seat opposite. She pulled her food towards her and began to pick at her fries, her expression brightening even further at the first salty bite./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Where did you learn to play?" Aomine asked, slowly unwrapping his own burger./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Mmmm…" She chewed her mouthful with a thoughtful expression, "I didn't really learn… I just play for fun…" she filled her mouth with fries again with a shrug. Aomine nodded,/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""I used to play for fun, then I started Teiko middle school and I learnt to play to win." he /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""That sucks." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""I didn't really care by the end of the first year, I had no real competition anyway…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""When was the last time you were beaten on the court?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Ten minutes ago?" Mariko laughed, an honest, honking laugh. She clearly wasn't trying to act prettily for him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Before that!" She rolled her eyes and took a long sip of her milkshake. Aomine sighed, he couldn't remember the last time someone had even come close to beating him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Years…" He finally admitted. "But I knew straight away that you would be tough, that's why I want to play you again, I haven't enjoyed basketball in so long…" He thought of Kuroko, what he said about winning and how it had made him hate basketball. The match against Mariko had been the most exhilarating match he had played in years, and yet he hadn't even won. He had enjoyed losing. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Well, we can play again tomorrow if you want?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Yeah." Aomine tried to play it cool, even though the thought of playing against the little 'viper' made his heart race./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Mariko grinned through a mouthful of burger and Aomine felt his cheeks heat lightly. He hadn't felt like this before, ever./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Aomine wandered onto the court but hovered with his back against the chain-fence to watch the current match taking place. He knew just about every guy that came to this concrete court to play, he had beaten every one of them. /spanspan style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"As he glanced over the players, taking in the match before him, he was surprised to see there was someone he didn't recognise, a girl. He didn't know how he could have missed her with his first glance when she whipped back and forth around the court like an elastic band, the speed of her movements causing her long, jet-black French braids to swing around her shoulders wildly. Aomine's eyes widened ever so slightly and he found himself unable to drag them away from the young woman blazing down the court, breezing past multiple opponents as though they weren't even there. As he watched her, his heart began to thump harder than it had in a long time, he was excited. She was good, so good he actually began to grin at the thought of challenging her. He knew he would still beat her (the only person who could beat Aomine was Aomine), but the thought of some real competition still lit a fire inside of him. The way she moved fascinated him, swinging like a pendulum around her enemies, throwing herself from side to side but with incredible control and grace, it was hard to keep up with her with his eyes, he understood why the other players found it so hard with their legs./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"He leant over to one of the older players, whom he had known since he moved into the area at age ten, and asked,/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Who is that girl?" he tried to keep his excitement out of his voice, keeping it monotone and flat./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Ah," His old friend grinned knowingly, "haven't you heard? That's Mariko Takahashi," he leant across to meet Aomine in the middle and whispered consiprationally, "but those that follow women's basketball know her as 'the viper'." his grin had almost reached his ears, it seemed Aomine wasn't the only one impressed by her skills./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""'The viper'?" Aomine scoffed, his eyes returned to her as he spoke, looking over her small but athletic build, her slight tan accentuated the lines of the bulging muscles in her calves, thighs and abdomen./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""You see the way she moves?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Yeah, she throws herself around, so?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""She uses her incredible leg strength to dart back and forth, keeping herself low to the ground and dribbling around her legs, they say it makes her look like a poisonous snake preparing to attack, although some also say it's because she's got a deadly bite." He laughed quietly and Aomine blinked, confused./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""What do you mean?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""You know that expression, all bark and no bite?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Yeah."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""She's all bite. Although she has got a smart mouth on her too." He laughed again as if remembering something but was broken out of his reverie as the game in front of them ended. Mariko's team won. "The last time I saw ball control that good, I was watching you." His old friend added with a wink, before striding away to hand out water to the players./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Aomine nodded to himself before strutting over to the young woman, his eyes glued to her, watching her drink great gulps from her water bottle and wipe sweat from her brow with the bottom of her crop top, revealing even more of her toned stomach. The closer he got, the smaller she became until he was stood barely a foot away and the top of her head was level with his sternum./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Hey, Mariko, is it?" He drawled. She blinked up at him,/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Yeah?" her plastic bottle hung from the side of her mouth lazily./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Play with me, one on one."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""What's in it for me?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""If you win," He chuckled to himself, "you will have the honour of being the first person to ever beat me on this court."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Not sure it's worth my sweat."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""What do you want?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""I win, you buy me a meal at Maji burger."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Fine."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""What do you want if you win?" He thought about the question for a moment, he was guaranteed to win… /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""If I win, you can never refuse to play against me, whenever I challenge you, you have to play." The look on Mariko's face showed she was obviously surprised but she didn't comment on his strange request./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Deal." She put her hand out and they shook once before moving to the centre of the court. The designated referee for the day stepped forward, ball in hand./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""We'll keep this short since there were two teams waiting to settle a grudge match, you're lucky they'd rather see Mariko put you on your ass." He laughed, "First to three baskets wins, doesn't matter what kind." he nodded to them both and they nodded back./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Aomine used his height to snatch the ball out of the air first, dropping down into a half-crouch ready to break away from the woman braced in front of him. He bounced the ball slowly once, twice, gone. Aomine blinked. Time seemed to slow down as he turned, his eyes desperately searching for the ball, Mariko was already metres away, entering the free-throw lane and skidding to a halt. Before Aomine had even taken a couple of stunned steps in her direction she had taken her shot, the ball sailing in a high arc and easily dropping through the hoop. She spun on the spot, putting her arms out and basking in the laughs and cheering from the crowd watching them from the benches dotted around the court, she had the most disgustingly satisfied grin on her face and Aomine grumbled to himself at the sight. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Someone passed the ball back to the ref, who had returned to the middle, and he threw it up again. Again, Aomine knocked it down to himself first but this time he was quick to begin dribbling full-speed, no laziness this time. Mariko was on him instantly, darting back and forth in front, looking for a moment of hesitation. Aomine found himself actually having to work to keep his eyes on her, his body tensing and tightening as he fought to outrun her. He was fighting for every inch of ground and the closer he got to the hoop, the lower she dropped and the harder it became to follow her. He decided to give up on trying to break away from her and jerked back to attempt a quick shot, taking advantage of his height and her low stance, jumping up and throwing the ball easily, his confidence back at full force. She followed him into the air like a bullet, slicing through the air with an arm raised, fingers pointed straight up. Her height held her back considerably, but not enough to stop the pad of her index finger grazing the ball as it left his grip. The ball's course had been diverted and they both knew it wouldn't make the net, the pair threw themselves down the court, their arms jostling each other until Mariko managed to skid ahead by half a foot, snatching the ball from the air where it had bounced after hitting the concrete and spinning on her toe like a ballerina and dribbling back to her end of the court, dropping herself low to the ground and jerking back and forth to keep Aomine off her tail. He desperately tried to keep up but couldn't keep up with her haphazard movements, unpredictable and seemingly random. In a couple of minutes she had scored again. The applause was louder this time and it riled Aomine up even more, he couldn't tell if he was more angry or excited. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Final round!" Called the referee, his smirk making Aomine's eye twitch. "Finish him!" He teased, tossing the orange ball up for the last time. The third round started exactly the same as the previous two with Aomine batting the ball away with his huge paw. Mariko darted under him and swiped the ball as he began to dribble, his fast-paced street-ball style still not speedy enough to break away from her. He found himself panting and sweating as he gave chase, messily following her movements. Her style was too unpredictable, combined with incredible speed and jumping strength, it left Aomine in her dust. As he leapt up to block her throw, he locked eyes with her, despite her eyes being boringly black, they had a spark to them, a fire that he felt was most likely mimicked in his own eyes, that she had ignited inside of him. He hadn't felt that flame in years. She twisted her body beneath him, shooting from the side. He followed a moment too slowly and watched the ball sail through the hoop as he dropped back to the ground, his trainers hitting the concrete hard. The small group of men and boys lining the chain-link fence broke out in cheers and whoops and the designated referee collected the ball and returned it to the next group to play. Mariko ran a victory lap around the court, her hands raised and her smile glowing. Aomine watched her, turning on the spot to follow her with his eyes. She skipped back to him, stopping abruptly right under his nose./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Let's go!" She grinned./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""What?" Aomine grunted, he didn't want to come across too eager./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Maji Burger!" She poked her pointed tongue out cheekily, nodding to the gate out of the street-ball court. He blinked, schooled his face back to his usual dull expression and rolled his eyes. He had forgotten about his promise in the excitement of the game./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Fine." He stalked away, ignoring the jeering and laughter of the other players as he left the court. Mariko giggled behind him but he didn't look back to check that she was following. When he arrived at the burger chain's doors he allowed himself a half-second glance over his shoulder at the top of her head to make sure she could keep up with his long legs. They joined the end of the short queue. "What do you want then?" He drawled./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Hamburger meal, please!" She chirped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""What drink?" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Chocolate milkshake, please." She tilted her head, grinning at him still. "I'll grab a table." She added. Aomine nodded to himself and stepped up to the next available server. He ordered both their meals and took the tray with one hand, thanking the cashier quietly and turning to scan the room, searching for the bouncing plaits. He spotted her in the back corner and wandered over, dropping the tray down in front of her and sliding into the seat opposite. She pulled her food towards her and began to pick at her fries, her expression brightening even further at the first salty bite./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Where did you learn to play?" Aomine asked, slowly unwrapping his own burger./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Mmmm…" She chewed her mouthful with a thoughtful expression, "I didn't really learn… I just play for fun…" she filled her mouth with fries again with a shrug. Aomine nodded,/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""I used to play for fun, then I started Teiko middle school and I learnt to play to win." he /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""That sucks." /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""I didn't really care by the end of the first year, I had no real competition anyway…"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""When was the last time you were beaten on the court?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Ten minutes ago?" Mariko laughed, an honest, honking laugh. She clearly wasn't trying to act prettily for him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Before that!" She rolled her eyes and took a long sip of her milkshake. Aomine sighed, he couldn't remember the last time someone had even come close to beating him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Years…" He finally admitted. "But I knew straight away that you would be tough, that's why I want to play you again, I haven't enjoyed basketball in so long…" He thought of Kuroko, what he said about winning and how it had made him hate basketball. The match against Mariko had been the most exhilarating match he had played in years, and yet he hadn't even won. He had enjoyed losing. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Well, we can play again tomorrow if you want?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';""Yeah." Aomine tried to play it cool, even though the thought of playing against the little 'viper' made his heart race./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="mso-spacerun: 'yes'; font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"Mariko grinned through a mouthful of burger and Aomine felt his cheeks heat lightly. He hadn't felt like this before, ever./span/p