Ah, autumn. The most wonderful time of the year. The colorful leaves rained down on students as they chatted happily. It was back to school for Touou Academy. The second years were now third years and the first years were now second years.

Momoi was skipping happily alongside Aomine, who was looking gloomy. The two had spent a good half of the vacations studying, due to the fact Aomine still needed to catch up on a few things. His parents had even threatened to cut him from any source magazines – not to mention keeping him from touching a basketball. So he had reluctantly agreed to let his childhood friend tutor him.

Now, he found it quite useful, for he had had to take a test to pass to second year. And, thanks to all this hard work, he had actually succeeded.

A few people waved at them on the way. Momoi returned the gesture while Aomine ignored them.

When they arrived in front of their class, they noticed an unfamiliar person standing there. With shoulder length brown hair, glass-covered hazel eyes and fair skin, she must have been 5 foot 7. Her school uniform was all too big for her skinny form, and hid her slightly developed chest as well as her curves. Earphones were tucked in her ears, connected to an MP3 player. To top it off, a book was held tightly in one hand.

"She must be new," the pink haired girl said, tilting her head to the side.

Aomine snorted. Like the pervert he was, he thought that since her chest wasn't big, he would pay her no mind. Plus, newcomers pissed him off. They would come all calm and untalkative, use this guise to make friends only to stomp on their hearts carelessly as the cool kids lured them in. Afterwards, they would go back crawling to their old friends.

It was always the same story, with every person. And, personally, he despised them dearly.

Momoi skipped over to the girl to get to know her. Aomine didn't bother telling her to stay. He wanted to see how far this would go.

"Hey!" she greeted loudly.

The girl, out of surprise, dropped her book. She quickly picked it up and turned to Momoi.

"I'm Momoi Satsuki."

"N-Nice to m-meet you. I-I'm H-Hogiwara Airi."

Hogiwara stuttered so much Momoi couldn't help giggle. Perhaps she was a little too shy.

"Are you new?" she asked

"H-Hai."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. Maybe you'll want a tour of the school later? My friend and I have nothing better to do anyway."

Momoi pointed at Aomine with her thumb. It was true that, on the first day, there were no after-school activities yet. Upon seeing the intimidating boy, Hogiwara drew in a sharp intake of breath and took a step back. Man, was he tall. And muscular. Anyone who saw him could easily guess he played basketball.

The brown haired girl shook her head. "I-It's okay. I-uh, will v-v-visit myself."

"Aw. I insist though."

Momoi didn't get an answer. The teacher arrived and opened the door. The students rushed in, still chatting happily. Hogiwara went in last, and took a seat in the back of the classroom.

Their teacher clapped her hands together. Silence settled in as she presented herself and gave her yearly oration for new students, wishing them the best. Then, for the whole duration of class, she told them about the difficult program for this year and tested them on what they remembered from last year, to which Momoi greatly participated.

Lunch break

Momoi watched Hogiwara take out a bento, complete with panda shaped rice balls, steamed vegetables, some fish and sushi. Afterwards, she drank a juice pouch, stuffed her earphones in her ears, took out her book and began reading. It was as if the bento had been forgotten. No wonder she was so skinny. She must barely eat.

"I wonder why she declined my offer." Momoi sighed.

"Leave her be," Aomine said.

"But it bothers me. Look, she isn't even eating."

"Satsuki. Leave her alone."

"Neh, Dai-chan. You're no fun."

She dropped the subject nevertheless and rested her head on the table, her thoughts going to the basketball club. Aomine chose that moment to glance at Hogiwara. Her bento was, indeed, untouched. His stomach growled. He hadn't bothered bringing anything to eat. And sure enough, Momoi had brought him lunch. But being the athlete he was, he needed more food than anyone else.

Aomine did his best to ignore it. He had told himself he wouldn't interfere with this Hogiwara person. And he was going to keep true to his words.

Next day. Lunch break.

Hogiwara was sitting in the same spot as yesterday, listening to music while reading. This time though, she had bothered to grab one sushi and that was about it.

Aomine had a feeling she was teasing him. Why else would she leave a delicious looking bento on the table, and not finish it? Feeling grumpy because he had stayed up late thinking of the basketball team – and subsequently hadn't gotten enough sleep – he stood up and sluggishly made his way to her. Momoi thought for a second that he was finally trying to socialize.

Hogiwara felt rather than saw him approaching. Panic flooded her senses and she found herself shaking. Her spectacles almost fell to the ground. Why was he here? What had she done wrong?

She sunk in her chair even more and slipped off, hitting the ground with a thud. The Touou ace plopped himself carelessly on the sit opposite to her and began eating her bento. Hogiwara slowly sat back on her chair and stared in curiosity, adjusting her glasses. Was he only after her food?

Momoi shouted at her friend, who carelessly finished eating and left. The pink haired girl apologized and ran after him, prepared to give him a scolding worth remembering about. The new girl felt relief wash over her as they left.

It was the same the following day. He ate her bento and exited the class without a word. Again, Hogiwara had freaked out upon seeing him. But she'd immediately relaxed when he'd walked away. Momoi, once more, had apologized.

"I tried to talk to him. I guess he didn't listen. Do you mind baring with it a while longer? I'll try to get him to stop," she said.

Hogiwara nodded nervously.

For the next two weeks, though, it didn't seem to stop. The young girl had gotten used to Aomine's regular appearances. In the end, it did her more good than bad. Now, she wasn't forced to eat so much when she went home.

Momoi, on the other hand, gave up. She knew how stubborn her friend could be. Trying to get him to quit something he was going to adopt as a habit was like trying to tame a donkey. She also started staying with Hogiwara whenever she could, which, at first, hadn't been easy.

Over time though, the shyness faded away. If the girl didn't respond to her questions, she would calmly listen to Momoi's bubbly voice and occasionally shrug, nod or shake her head. There was something between them, similar to friendship. And the pink haired girl couldn't be prouder of herself.

Momoi was now focusing on recruiting first years for the basketball team. She had been gluing flyers on the walls everywhere. The delay to sign up was Wednesday September 18, in two days.

Anyone who passed by couldn't say they hadn't noticed the posters, unless they were blind, which, from memory, never happened to any Touou Academy student.

Momoi had dragged Aomine to the gymnasium to help her out. All the guy did, however, was lie lazily on the bench. First years entered the gym and filled out the registration forms that were handed to them. By the end of the day there was a big pile of sheets lying neatly on the floor. Momoi sighed heavily as she sorted through them. Only three of the participants had made it. Either the rest all had horrible skills, or they were starters who had no experience whatsoever in basketball.

The next two days, Momoi spent the afternoons and evenings sorting through files only to reject them. She was beginning to think their team wouldn't get any particular new members this year.

On the last day of recruitment, at night, she was packing up when she heard footsteps stop behind her. She turned around and was quite surprised. "Oh, hey Airi-chan."

That caught Aomine's attention. He snapped his eyes open. What was she doing here?

"Hey Momoi-San," she greeted, seriousness written all over her face.

Hogiwara handed the pink haired girl a sheet of paper. Momoi took it, curious as to what it was.

"I-I. . . I-I want t-to - uh. . . J-Join the t-team."

The contrast between the unsure stammering and the firm, resolute tone was almost shocking. Momoi blinked a few times. Well that was a first. Not once had a girl stepped up to say she wanted to join the basketball team. No girl actually cared to play for that matter. That was the main reason why they didn't have a feminine team. They were only interested in the players, not the sport itself.

"Gee. I don't know. Do you really want to?"

Hogiwara nodded frantically, her expression hopeful.

"I guess we can give it a try. I'll tell coach about it tomorrow."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"I know why not," Aomine's deep voice interrupted.

Since she hadn't noticed him, the brown haired girl jumped in surprise. She froze stiff. This couldn't be good. She didn't mind him when he sat in front of her to eat her food. But the mere thought of being in the same room as him made her feel uneasy.

"I don't see why you're letting her in when no girl has been on our team before aside from you. And even then, you're just our manager."

"Dai-chan, give her a chance."

"Why? Have you seen her? She's a walking nerd slash skeleton. I doubt she will be able to endure one day of training."

"Dai-chan! Quit it!"

Hogiwara wanted to run out. How could she have been so stupid? Aomine was on the basketball team himself, and he was right. She wouldn't be able to endure one day of training, mostly because he would probably keep on trying to discourage her.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." Aomine snorted and exited the gym, hands in his pockets.

Momoi watched him leave and felt disappointed at her friend's attitude. She knew he was an ass, but this time, he had taken the meaning of the word to a new level. "Don't listen to him. He's being moody. I'll talk to our coach tomorrow."

Hogiwara nodded and left hurriedly as well. Momoi shook her head sadly. She had a feeling Aomine would be bullying this girl for a while. And to say she couldn't stand up for herself.

The coach, Harasawa, was as equally surprised the following day. He read over the document Momoi had handed him.

'Name : Hogiwara Airi

Position(s) : Center, Defense.

Team : Pillipinas Feminine Basketball Team

Statistics :

Physical Ability: 4/10

Technique : 5/10

Stamina : 3/10

Mental Strength : 8/10

Special Ability : Unknown.

Comments: Has a lot of work to do. Can come in handy at times.

Status: Acceptable.'

Harasawa twirled a strand of hair around his finger. What had striked him the most was her stamina, and physical ability. The stats were so low. How could she have played for any team at all? He sighed and gave Momoi the paper.

"I'm not even going to bother," he declared.

"Coach. Just because she's a girl doesn't mean she can't join."

"It's not because she's a girl. It's because she's weak. Plus, practice begins in a week, and the Winter Cup Preliminaries are in two months. How will she catch up?"

"Maybe if she works more she—"

"Momoi. I already made my decision. It's a no."

". . . Very well."

Momoi left the gym, feeling annoyed. Why was their coach such a jerk? It didn't matter. She would do everything in her power to help Hogiwara join the team. It had become her new goal.