Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Chapter One
"Oh my God. I am going to be so late." Misao ran out the front door and slammed it behind her. She crammed a pop-tart in her mouth as she ran across the deserted road and into the next yard. The soles of her converses plopped against the concrete walkway leading up to a beige house.
She rammed up against the door, opened it, and surged into the house.
"Aoshi!" She checked the kitchen and the living room on the bottom floor then ran up the stairs.
"Where are you?!" She heard water running in the bathroom and turned right. She stood spread eagle, leaning in the bathroom doorway.
"Are you ready?" she panted. The trip over had tired her. Her adrenaline rush quickly wore off as she stared at Aoshi.
He stared back at her with a half shaven face and bed head.
"Hey." he said, standing up straight. Misao glanced over his body before growling.
"You're not even dressed yet." she said referring to his pajama pants and bare chest. She disappeared and was soon heard rummaging in his room.
Aoshi continued to get ready as Misao lectured him from down the hall.
"We're starting this again. It's first day of school and we are going to be late." She came back into the bath room, right as Aoshi was coming out, and threw a set of clothes at him. He shrugged and shut the door.
"Do you know how many times I got in trouble last year because of you? It's a wonder I kept it from my parents." she said as she gathered his books and shoved them into his backpack. She threw it at him when he cam back into his room fully dressed. Misao scowled at his messy head. She would never admit she thought it was sexy. She would die before she would ever admit he was sexy.
"Are you ready now?" she asked sarcastically. Aoshi stared down at her as he pulled his back pack up on his broad shoulder.
"Good morning to you, too." he said, trying to hide a smile. Misao rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, whatever. Let's go." They left the room, descended the stairs, and headed toward the garage. Misao walked down the steps into the cool garage with Aoshi right behind her. She went to the passenger side of his black truck, waited for him to unlock it, and then climbed up into the seat.
She watched as he easily stepped in and pulled the seat back to accommodate his long legs.
"Mom's been driving my truck again." he said as he started the engine. Misao sat back, letting the school routine sink in again.
Ever since Aoshi had been able to drive, he had taken her to school. Even now that she could drive and had a car, she still rode with him.
"You're going to have to show me around. I don't know the highschool very well. Meaning you're going to be stuck with me all day." she said. Aoshi never took his eyes from the road.
"You're not in junior high anymore? I though it was your first year." he teased. Misao humphed beside him.
"I'm sixteen now." she said while crossing her arms. Aoshi chuckled.
They teased each other like brother and sister. There parents had lived across the street from each other before they were born. There dads even worked together.
"Yeah, well I'm ready to get out. I've been in highschool way to long." he sighed, putting one arm on the arm rest. Misao giggled beside him.
"Only three years." she pulled her braid over her shoulder and ran a hand down it to smooth all the loose hairs down. He glanced at her.
"That's too long." He reached over and tugged on her braid. She slapped his hand away, knowing what would happen next. He caught her hand in his larger one and pulled her up on the armrest before swinging his arm around her neck.
Misao squeaked playfully as he held her there.
"I wish you would drive." she said.
"I am driving. I can multi-task." he squeezed harder to emphasis. Misao took an 'angry' breath, breathing in his smell. She rolled her eyes at the seductive scent. She absolutely loved the way he smelled. Unfortunately, so did other girls.
Although Aoshi never showed an interest in girls, Misao was always scared that one day he would. As long as he kept messing with her, it was okay.
He finally let her go and she scooted back to her seat. The rest of the trip was spent in comfortable silence. Misao pulled a book out of her backpack and began reading.
Aoshi glanced at the clock.
"Great. We're going to have to go to the office." he said. Misao looked at him from over her book.
"And whose fault is that?"
"Yours." he said simply. She huffed and sat forward but was jerked back as Aoshi roughly stomped on the brake.
"We're here." he said opening the door and stepping out. Misao, fuming, did the same.
"How is it my fault?" she asked as she stood beside him. She barely reached his shoulder.
"You're younger and you don't know your way around." he said, practicing his alibi.
"Oh...I see. This is a new excuse, isn't it?" They walked into the building and headed toward the office.
"Yep. I've been waiting to use it." They entered the office and he nodded at the secretary.
The middle aged woman stood up and placed a hand on her hip.
"Mr. Shinomori. Off to a good start, I see. Who's your friend?" she asked, looking at Misao over her glasses.
Aoshi placed a hand on the middle of Misao's back.
"Misao Mackimachi. She's a sophomore here and I was showing her around. That's why we were a bit late." he said. Misao smiled innocently to back up his story.
The secretary cocked an eyebrow at the two, then sighed.
"Alright you two. Just don't make it a habit." she said pointedly. She handed both of them tardy slips that were checked excused. They turned to leave, giving each other accomplished looks, but the secretary stopped them.
"Misao, honey. You have P.E. first period, so you'll need these." she handed a set of clothes to her over the desk. Misao eyes the white tee and blue shorts.
"Uh...thank you." they left the room. Aoshi snickered when the door closed.
"You are not going to hang around me today smelling like a dog." he dodged the punch she had aimed for his arm.
"I shower. Believe me I will shower." she muttered.
P.E. turned out to be basketball. Misao thought it was stupid because football season was coming up. She didn't tell the coach that, though.
"Alright Ladies." Coach Gathes yelled. The woman was in her mid-forties but still had a young body. She was no taller than 5'4" and weighed 120 pounds. But she wasn't someone you could easily push around.
"I'm hoping that most of you know the basics of basketball." she said while holding a basketball in her palm. Misao sat nervously with her knees drawn up. Sure, she knew the basics but she was still oblivious to the details.
"We're going to start off with basic drills then practice." All the girls got up. Coach Gathes pointed out the drill and assigned seniors to the front of the line. Each senior was assigned a group of sophomores. The seniors demonstrated and the sophomores followed.
There were three others beside Misao in her group and were under Miranda Ordson. She was a tall senior that practically lead the team. She was scouted throughout the States. Misao was told that they were lucky to have her as senior leader.
(They're in the U.S.)
Misao was lucky. Especially since Miranda seemed to pay special attention to her.
"Good Misao!" Miranda clapped for the lay-up Misao just shot. "You girls would do good to learn from Misao!" the other girls grumbled as Misao beamed.
'At least I'm good at something.' she thought.
"All right girls...enough lay-ups." Miranda finally said after the four girls had already done fifteen minutes of lay-ups. They all were huffing and had their hands on their knees. Misao and Cathy, another sophomore, seemed to take a lesser toll than the other girls.
"Thirty laps around the court." Miranda said as she turned away with her arms crossed. They all started off at the nearest corner but growled at how Miranda was a driving beast.
Misao watched out of the corner of her eye as all the senior leaders gathered around Coach Gathes. They each pointed out a few girls that, Misao had noticed, were very good. They were tall, shot well, and had both excellent defense and offense.
When the coach turned to Miranda, Miranda turned around and pointed to her. They all turned to see a shorter girl, who was well built for the sport, and openly gawking at them.
Miranda put her hands on her hips. "Mackimachi! Is there a reason you're slacking? Push-ups! Now!"
Misao grumbled and dropped for her punishment. Miranda's voice rang in the gym as she counted.
Misao was sore as she sat down to eat. Cathy, Sam, and Doran sat down around her, each with sore bodies.
"Miranda worked us sooo hard." Sam complained. She was the heaviest set in Miranda's group. She wasn't necessarily fat but she was thick.
"We don't even play basketball." Doran said, agreeing with Sam.
"Well I happen to like it." Cathy said. All the girls glared at her as they dug into their food. Misao didn't even fell like talking...until Aoshi plopped down beside her.
Misao's friends gasped at the eye candy before them while quickly started talking.
"Aoshi!! I'm so glad you're here. Today has been so boring. But it wouldn't have been so bad if I wasn't sore and...aren't you supposed to be in class?" Aoshi had simply nodded until the last statement. He looked around before putting a finger to her lips.
"Yeah, I skipped...but don't tell anyone." He looked around the whole table pointedly. Not that the other three really believed he was there.
"Okay...whatever. You need to get me out of class sometime." Misao said quietly.
"Misao." someone said behind her. Misao's eyes widened and then squeezed shut.
'No not her again. Hadn't she tortured her enough already?' Misao pleaded in her mind. She turned around slowly and placed a sweet smile on her face.
"Hey Miranda." she said, friendlier that she wanted to be. Miranda smiled back before continuing.
"Coach Gathes wants to come to a basketball meeting after school."
"Um...okay." Misao was going to ask what it was for but Miranda turned to Aoshi, eyed him, and then walked away. This ticked Misao off but she was curious and it bested her anger.
"What's the meeting for, Aoshi?"
Aoshi played basketball and was pretty awesome at it. Misao always thought she could join the cheer squad and cheer for him. But it seemed highschool was turning in a different direction.
"The senior high boys and girls basketball teams always meet after the first day of school." He smiled and tugged her braid.
"Apparently, you're going to be joining it."
I think that's long enough for the first chapter, don't you. Anyway, the next chapter will be the meeting... and other things. Hoped you enjoyed the first chapter and are excited for the second.
READ AND REVIEW!!!!