"Ugh, Aomine! Do it faster!" you yelled at the blue-haired teen.
He groaned and didn't speed up at all.
A few moments passed and you yelled again, "Come on, dang it! Move faster! Use those muscles!"
And faster he did. Then he slowed down again.
Exasperated, you stood up from where you were and walked over to him. "Ahomine! It's been thirty minutes since we started and you're way behind! I already finished polishing half of the basketballs you guys own and you're still on your third one!" You angrily stomped your foot.
He briefly looked up from the ball he was cleaning to glare at you. "It's not like I wanted to clean these balls or the whole gym." He continued cleaning, albeit slowly.
You glared at the top of his head. "Well, this wouldn't have happened if you came to the practices on a regular basis! Since you skipped too many practices and your duties as a freshman to be the cleaning crew of this team, you have to come stay and help me this time!"
"Tch," Aomine stood up and towered over you, "I don't have to listen to someone who's not officially on the team. Besides, I started coming to the practices recently, so why do I still get punished?" His cold eyes made you shiver. After glaring you down, he walked past you to get his things, and you sighed in relief.
You were still angry though even if he did make a good point. "Go ahead and leave! Face Satsuki-chan's wrath when she finds out you didn't properly do cleaning duty!" She was, after all, the one who assigned him to cleaning duty today.
Aomine tensed up a little and stopped. You could tell he was contemplating his options. One, stay here and help clean; or two, leave and face his childhood friend's yelling in the morning. You hoped he would stay.
Sadly, your hopes were crushed when he grunted and exited the gym. Angry tick marks appeared on your head as you watched the ace of Touou's basketball team walk out on you.
"Fine! I don't care anyways!" you seethed. You grabbed his half-cleaned basketball and started wiping it until it shone like the sun. This went on until every single basketball was shining. You even went back and polished all the ones you already cleaned. As you eradicated the balls, you muttered, "Ahomine.. Graah! I don't need you, Mr. No-one-but-me-can-beat-me! Hmph!"
FLASHBACK
You moved to Touou Academy's area at the start of the school year. The last town you lived in held some bad memories for you, so you asked your parents to move to another district. They agreed, considering how you felt after that incident. You were alone when you entered high school, but you soon became friends with a fellow freshman named Satsuki Momoi, your love for basketball being the reason why.
One day, Momoi invited you to watch the basketball players of Touou practice after school. You agreed to go since you had nothing better to do. It was there that you met Daiki Aomine, the arrogant ace of the team.
Aomine wasn't there at the start of the practice, but after the nagging calls from Momoi, he came. As soon as he entered the court to play, the room tensed. A player was switched out in the practice game so that Aomine can enter. The game resumed and it completely took your breath away. It was heavily fast-paced and it was only practice against each other! Your (e/c) eyes trailed all the players, but the one that caught your eyes was the ace himself.
Aomine's play was nothing you have ever seen before! His forms, his shoots, his speed... It was unbelievable! All you did the whole time you were there was watch Aomine play. Before you knew it, it was over - Aomine's team being the victor.
"Coach Harasawa! Please let me work for the team!" You begged, bowing low. After you saw how the team played, a spark ignited in you, filling your empty void with life, and you got the feeling of wanting to play basketball again. You knew that was impossible after what had happened, but you wanted to do something with this awesome team.
"Um... (Name)-chan, what are you talking about?" Momoi asked, approaching you.
You kept bowing, "Momoi-chan, today's practice brought a fire to my soul and I want to do what I can with the team, ifor/i the team! I know I can't be a manager since you're already the manager... but I want to do something!"
"Eeeh," one of the players said. You looked at him with your eyes. It was Shoichi Imayoshi, the captain. "I don't think you can be of any help since-"
"Please! I can be your watergirl! I'll bring you guys water and towels during your breaks, and help clean after your practices! I know you'll all be tired afterwards so cleaning would be a hassle for you! Please give me a chance!" You bowed lower. After that empty phase through middle school, the fire was finally rekindled! You didn't want that to be extinguished again, and you felt that the only way to keep it lit was to be around Touou's basketball team.
"That is a good idea," the coach said, twirling a lock of his hair. He looked at your bowing form. "And you do seem strong enough." He looked at everyone in the team. They shrugged. He turned back to you, "I'll give you a trial week. If your work is good, then you can permanently be our water girl, but if not, then," he shook his head.
You jumped up, "Thank you, sir! I won't fail you! I won't fail all of you!" Momoi gave you a small smile and so the the coach. The captain smirked at your eagerness. The others went back to practicing. Dark blue eyes looked at your happy form then returned to the game.
You kept your word. In the small breaks that the team had, you handed out towels for their sweat and ice-cold water, and prepared for the next time break was given. When practice was over, you thoroughly mopped the floors from all the sweat and dirt, and wiped the balls clean, ready for practice the next day. In your spare time, you either did homework or cleaned other parts of the gym. Coach Harasawa was pleased with what you have done in the past week and gave you the job. The whole team was happy since they got used to your company, but mostly because things will get a little easier during practice with your help.
It has been weeks now since you've started. You enjoyed being their watergirl a lot. Not only did it keep your fire lit, but it also kept you entertained. You had a fetish for men with muscles. And oh, the Touou basketball men had muscles~!
What you loved more than muscles, though, was that you were able to watch Aomine play during practice. His skill and talent just amazes you everytime you see him in a game, which is sadly not too often. You barely got to see him outside of practice, too. After the day Momoi invited you to watch practice, you found out that Aomine was in your class. He would be there, but sometimes he would skip and go sleep on the rooftop. You only had met the man for a few weeks, but your admiration had grown into a crush.
You were shocked when Momoi told you that Aomine was going to clean with you after today's practice as punishment for not going to the practices in a daily basis. Sometimes the guys were assigned to help you around with cleaning after practice, but you never thought that Aomine's turn would come! You tried to conceal your blushing face, but Momoi saw it and smirked.
"Ne~ Don't do anything, ok, (Name)-chan~," she sang as she walked away.
Your head overheated, "Sh-Shut up!" But you were glad you get to have some alone time with Aomine.
That is, until he lazily cleaned the balls and that made you angry, which brings us back to the present.
Flashback End
You huffed in pride as you looked at the now-cleaned balls. "Waah~ So shiny~! But what is that smell? It smells like burnt rubber..."
You put the balls back in the ball cage. After all of the balls were put where they belong, you rolled the cage into the gym closet, and took out a huge mop. You walked over to the stage, where your bag was placed, and took out your iPod and mini portable speaker. You turned on both and blasted your music in the gym. Doing this made it more fun to clean, and less scary since it provided you with company.
"Alright! Here I go~" You ran, pushing the mop hard across the sweat-covered floor.
Aomine's conscience was eating at him. He felt bad leaving you alone to clean the gym. He felt even worse when he thought of Satsuki yelling at him when she finds out the next day. He sighed, turned around, and started heading back to Touou Academy.
"FINISHED! Yeah~!" you happily exclaimed, dropping the handle of the mop as you raised your arms triumphantly. You were a little bit delayed, due to Aomine, but fuelled by your anger, you made up some time by doing your jobs quickly. You picked up the fallen mop and put it back into the gym closet. Now all you had to do was lock the closet and gym doors, then you could head home.
As you were walking out of the closet, something bumped your foot. You looked down and saw a deflated basketball.
"Aww," you picked the deflated ball as if it was a small child, "I didn't see you there! I'm sowwy wittle ball~ But don't wowwy! You'll be pumped and shined in no time!" You walked over to the air pump in the back of the room and proceeded to put the air inside the basketball. Slowly, the ball rounded up as pressured air filled it. After it was done, you shined the ball. You gave the object a smile and bounced it.
You giggled as you dribbled the basketball out to the empty gym. You started running and dribbled around the court, enjoying your moment. It has been such a long time since you've done this. You slowed to a stop before the three-point line and looked at the hoop. Nostalgia hit you. Maybe it's all healed now...
You got in shooting stance at the three-point line.
Unbeknownst to you, a certain blue-haired, arrogant idiot just walked in the gym. He watched you from behind as you positioned yourself. His dark blue eyes widened a little as he took in your form. It was a shooting perfect stance! Perfect angles of the arms, the knees, the hands. It was as if you knew what you were doing.
You readied yourself to jump, just like you have always done before... before that happened. After releasing a deep breath, you jumped.
Your (e/c) eyes widened as pain in the middle of your back jolted your nervous system - just like it had always done when you shot a basket. The basketball slipped from you hands. You knew it wasn't going to make it in the basket, with the force of the ball and the direction changing from the hands' sudden tense-up. The ball bounced on the rim of the basket and fell outside.
You were on the floor as you watched the ball bounce away from you. "Dang...," you rubbed your back to make the pain go away.
"What's wrong with you? Is it that-time-of-month's cramps or something?" a deep voice said, arrogance and superiority in its tone.
You glared at the speaker behind you, "NO IT'S NOT, AHOMINE! I have uumm... a condition..." You muttered that last part and stood up. Wanting to get away from him, you picked up the basketball and returned it inside the ball cage. You were glad that the ball didn't get dirty enough to be cleaned again. You locked the gym closet after checking that all the things that were supposed to be in the closet were inside.
You rushed past Aomine to get your book bag. You stuffed your Ipod and speaker, which was still on and playing before you reached them and shut them off, into your bag and closed and locked the three gym doors. You went to the fourth one and waited for Aomine.
"Well, are you going to get out of there or not?" you looked at him, annoyed. First reason, because of what he said to you when he saw you in pain. Second, because he saw you make that shoot. From all of the people to have seen it, it had to be this arrogant blue-haired idiot. "Come on, Aomine... My parents are waiting at home and I need to get home to do homework and stuff..." 'Not to mention, get some early sleep.'
You both had a little glaring contest. It was broken when Aomine stated, "I will if you tell me why your back hurts."
Your eye twitched. 'Of all the things for a bargain!' You thought about it deeply.
"Oi, decide fast, or else time'll tick by," he said.
"Tch! Fine, I'll tell you! Now get out!" You tapped your foot impatiently as he walked towards you, smirk evident on his face. His face clearly said, "Even outside of basketball, the only one who can defeat me, is me." Once he was out, you slid the door closed and locked it.
In your deal to tell him your story of why your back hurts when you shoot, you got Aomine to walk you home. Afterall, time was ticking away and you couldn't stay any longer. Walking and talking saved time. Aomine didn't mind one bit. Both of you exited school grounds and walked towards your house.
After a few moments, you took a deep breath and began, "When I was young, I admired a friend of my daddy's a lot because he was such a great basketball player. He was called the Rebound King of Shohoku when he was in high school. Have you ever heard of him? Sakuragi Hanamichi?" You looked at Aomine.
His dark blue eyes looked at you, then back to the road. "Nope."
You frowned. "Eeeh, really?" You faced front and continued, "Well, anyways, because I admired him so much, I wanted to be a basketball player, too. That's why when I was in 6th grade, I joined the girls' basketball team in my grade school. Since I was so good, I became a regular and the ace of my team." You heard Aomine snicker at you, but you silenced him by jabbing his ribs with your elbow. "Shut up. I'm not as good as you, obviously, but I was the best in my team!" You walked faster to get ahead of him a little.
"Continuing, my story. One day in practice, I was shooting hoops, trying to perfect my aim from any angle behind the three-point line. The other girls behind me were doing their own practice sessions. Well, the best and strongest passer in our team, Kanon, was practicing passes to another girl, Elaru. In one pass, Kanon must have passed it too strong for Elaru. She ran away from the pass. She was safe, but unfortunately for me, that strong pass hit my the middle of my spine just as I jumped to make a shot. I blacked out from the shock of the impact." You stopped and looked to the right, away from Aomine. You heard his steps stop next to you. "Since I was still young when that happened, the bones in my back molded into a weird shape. It is able to move fine normally, but a jolt of pain would come whenever my spine unfolds when I shoot a basket - always when I shoot a basket..."
You clenched your fists, "As you already know, spinal injuries to a basketball player is the worst kind of blow for them. It's not fair! I had potential to be a great basketball player!" A few tears dropped from your eyes. You snapped your head up and wiped them away quickly. "Well! A trip to memory lane sure is hard, no? Hehe..." You speed-walked away, "Come on, Ahomine! I'll leave you behind!"
Silence loomed over the both of you as you walked home. Sometimes you would look back to see if Aomine was still there. He always was whenever you looked. He also was staring right at you when you did, which always made you face front quickly.
You stopped at a small road intersection. The road was empty but it was a good place to wait for Aomine to catch up. You pouted when he was taking his time to get to where you were. "Hurry up~"
VRRROOOOM! Light suddenly illuminated the dark road.
You turned to the right to see a motorcycle heading straight at you. 'What?! I'm not even on the road! I'm on the freakin' sidewalk!' You stared at the light in fright.
"(NAME)!"
You jerked and backed away quickly. However in your haste, you tripped on your own feet. "Ow!" The motorcycle rushed passed you, missing your feet by a mere millimeter. A strong gust of wind blew after the motorcycle.
You watched the bike make a U-turn and a man jumped off of it. The driver of the motorcycle slowed to a stop then parked it. He seemed to care for his ride a lot. The man who jumped off first strode towards you. Your eyes widened when you saw that he was carrying some kind of stick in his hand - it was a bat!
"(Name), are you alright?" Aomine knelt down beside you. He was panting slightly, so he must have ran to you. Something clicked in you and you realized that it was Aomine who called your name before, snapping you out of your trance. You nodded.
Aomine turned to look at the two men, both who were now heading towards you and carrying weapons. Aomine stood up and walked to them.
"A-Aomine!"
"Hey hey~ Look what a catch we have tonight! Touou students..." Thug #1, the one who jumped off the motorcycle, said. You noticed Aomine clench his fists.
WHAM!
Aomine punched Thug #1 and sent him flying sideways. He strode over to Thug #2, who was shocked in place, and kicked him hard in the gut. You heard Thug #2 cough up blood as he doubled over, but he didn't fall to the ground. He sent a punch to Aomine's stomach. All Aomine did was grunt before grabbing Thug #2's head and brought his right knee up against it.
You felt a little happy since Aomine won, and was about to say so when your eyes caught Thug #1 standing up and raising his weapon to hit Aomine in the back of his head. 'Oh no! I have to do something!' Running over there and stopping the thug would be too late so you yelled out a warning just in time when Thug #1 brought his bat down.
"DAIKI!"
The blue-haired teen quickly turned to you, but saw Thug #1's attack instead. Using his speed, he punched the thug hard in his gut. You saw him drop his weapon and fell on the road. He didn't move after that. Aomine dragged the two men off the road and set them against the side of a building. Feeling satisfied, he walked over to you.
"I called the police when they rushed past you, so they should be here soon to take care of them." Aomine picked up his bag and faced you, "Come on, let's go."
You nodded and pushed yourself to stand, but your face contorted in pain as you did so. "Uum... C-Can you help me stand?" Aomine sighed before he walked over to you. However instead of helping you stand, his hands went under you and picked you up bridal-style.
You blushed a deep red, like Kagami's hair color. "WH-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"I thought that you needed to get home quickly. You can barely walk due to one of your sprained ankles and this is the fastest way to move." Aomine said plainly. That was true... You did need to get home quickly. You sighed in defeat. You toyed with the keychains on your bag to prevent looking up at your crush.
"Oi, which way?" Aomine asked
"Oh! Umm, that way," you pointed across the intersection, "Just go straight and then I'll tell you where to go next."
And so Aomine walked, with you in his arms, to where you told him to walk. After a few minutes being a GPS, you arrived at your home. Aomine carried you without any complaint. He didn't put you down at all, even when you were unlocking the gate to your yard.
Aomine walked you up the front door and set you down gently. Your right hand held onto his shirt for support. You looked up at him, blush from the ride over still evident on your face, "Thank you very much Aomine. If you hadn't come back to the gym tonight, I don't know where I would be right now. Probably mugged and bleeding somewhere... so thank you!" You smiled warmly at him.
Aomine looked to the left. You thought you saw him blush, but it was too dark to tell. Plus, his skin complexion made it harder to tell.
"Um, Aomine? Are you hurt somewhere? I could go get our first aid kit and treat any wounds you have." You doubted he had any wounds. All he received from the thugs was one punch.
"Maybe an ice pack for your stomach?" His silence made you frown. You tightened your grip on his shirt and lifted it up.
"Oi, what are you-!"
"Aomine... its bruising..."
"Tch," he grabbed your hand and forced his shirt down via your hand, "It'll be fine in the morning."
You looked at him, your (e/c) eyes filled with worry and guilt. "Are you sure? I don't want it to worsen."
He patted your head with his other hand, his other still holding on to the your right hand, which was still gripping his shirt - a little hug moment for you which made your heart race. You swore Aomine's heart was racing, too, though you made yourself admit that it was from carrying you all this way.
"(Name)! Is that you?" a woman's voice yelled from inside your house.
You pulled away from Aomine and yelled towards the house, "Yes, Mom, it's me! I'll be inside in just a moment!"
"Alright, hurry up! Or else you won't get time to do your homework!" your dad yelled this time.
"Okay, okay!" You turned to Aomine. "Aomine, thank you again for tonight."
"...ki..."
You blinked owlishly at him. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
"You called me 'Daiki' before."
Blood returned to your cheeks. "Uum.. yeah! I d-did... But! I only did that 'cause you needed to be warned quickly of that thug behind you. After all, two syllables are quicker to say that four, right? Right!" Your brain was overheating and it was showing in your face.
Aomine just smirked, "Well, (Name), you better be ready when I come to pick you up tomorrow."
"Eh? What are you talking about?"
"You're the type to not skip school even when you're hurt, so you need someone to help you get to school tomorrow. Well, see ya." Aomine turned to go.
"Hey, wait a minute! Aomine!" He didn't turn.
"Ahomine!" you tried again. Aomine was opening your gate now.
"Daiki!" He turned, a smirk planted on his face, and waited for whatever you had to say. 'He obviously has won in this argument, yet again, so there's no use for me to deny his help.'
"I'll see you tomorrow then, Daiki. Take care." you smiled.
Aomine's smirk grew bigger and said, "(Name), your dreams of becoming a basketball player might have been smashed, but you're destined to be something else anyways! Keep smiling like that and you'll find it." He exited your property and headed home.
You watched him go, a grin and a blush on your face growing. The fire in your soul erupted and you were sure it would never go out because of what Aomine said.
"(Name)! Come inside now!" your mom called.
"Daiki...," you giggled like a fangirl then hobbled inside.
Your parents panicked when they saw your sprained ankle, but you assured them that you'll go see the school nurse the first thing tomorrow morning, so they shouldn't worry. They wrapped your sprained ankle tightly with bandage wrap after complying with your decision.
Epilogue
You lay down in your bed staring up at the ceiling when you realized that Aomine had called you by your first name instead of "you" or "Oi," as he have always done before. You ended up staying awake longer because you were rolling around in your bed and fangirling.
You looked forward to tomorrow.
~The End~