"I...like you..."

A 13 year-old Aomine stared down at the trembling (Hair Colored) girl that was looking down at the floor.

"E-Excuse me...?" He stammered, clearly surprised at the sudden confession. "Sorry but what was your name again...?"

The girl looked up at him, hurt by the obvious rejection. "W-well...if you don't remember me then...never mind. I'm going now."

Aomine watched as the young girl ran across the platform, her long hair flowing out behind her like a curtain. Then suddenly, a train sped by.

The girl turned sharply and saw the oncoming train. Aomine tried to say a word of warning, but it was too late. The accident happened.

And that was the day (Last Name) (First Name) lost her voice.

You blinked, staring up at a clear white ceiling. How many times have you been here again? You recounted the number of days you had spent in the plain hospital room, surrounded by the smell of disinfectant. And you hated it.

Today was the day that you were supposed to transfer to Too Academy, a school well known for it's basketball team. You sit up from the bed that you were lying on, and open the door to exit the hospital room.

You lived in the hospital that your mother ran. Because of your unsteady condition, there was no telling how long you would live, or whether you would ever have a future. You often encountered asthma attacks that would suffocate you to the point where you felt as if you couldn't breath at all. The worse part was that you were mute- a temporary condition that should have left, yet stayed with you for 4 years straight. By the end of the third year, your parents had given up on trying to cure you, and decided to put all of their hopes and dreams onto the shoulders of your younger brother. And they isolated you, hoping that you wouldn't ruin their reputation in any way.

You get dressed, tie your silky hair into a ponytail, and place your new textbooks into your bag. You breathe in deeply, hoping that this year, you would be able to keep your condition a secret. It was difficult to make it seem like you were just a quiet and calm girl. Every time a person found out that you could not speak, they would look at you with one of the two things: pity, or scorn. You hated those eyes that judged you, thinking that you were just a little girl who couldn't do anything.

You walk to school, taking in the scenery that surrounded you. The cherry blossoms had just began to bloom, showering the sidewalks with white and pink petals. You see many students up ahead, talking and laughing. You then head onto the school campus, following the flow of the students.

As you peer up at the school map on a board outside, you trace the path to the Principal's Office. You then turn to head over when you bump into something huge. Looking up, your eyes widen at the familiar piercing dark blue eyes looking down at you.

It was Aomine Daiki.

You quickly look away, and try to escape the situation. Turning abruptly, you try to walk away, only to feel a hand on your shoulder.

"Oy." You tense. Did he recognize you?

"You're awfully rude, you know, bumping into me and walking away without saying anything." You feel your heartbeat quickening. The first day and you already encounter a huge problem.

"What's your name, girl? You've got quite some nerve, to mess with me."

You instinctively slap his hand off of your shoulder and run into the school building.

Five minutes on the campus, and you already knew what this school was going to be like. You sigh.

This was going to be an awful school year.

You sit in the principal's office, waiting for him to speak.

"(Last Name) (First Name), correct?" You nod, and he takes this as the signal to continue.

"I am aware of your condition. You cannot speak, but your parents wish to keep this fact a secret. I have already informed your teachers of this. I assume you will be cooperating as well?" You nod once again. The principal smiles slightly at you.

"Very well then. Here is a map of the school. I have highlighted your classes for you. Have a good first day, (Last Name)."

And there it was again. Those eyes filled with pity that you detested so very much. You stand up and bow, excusing yourself, and head out of the office. You approach your homeroom, and enter quietly when you hear the teacher ask you to come in.

"This is (Last Name) (First Name). She will be a new friend among everyone. Please be nice to her!" The teacher said. "Sit behind Momoi please, (Last Name)."

You see a pink haired girl look up at you and smile. You bow towards her slightly before beginning to walk to your desk. The door then slams open.

"Sorry I'm late, teach." You turn and see Aomine Daiki, standing at the classroom door. Many of the girls in your class begin to whisper excitedly.

"Aomine!" the teacher glares at the dark skinned youth. "I told you so many times to come to school on time already!" Aomine tuned out the teacher's words, his eyes settling on your tiny figure. You shift uncomfortably.

"Oh. That rude girl from this morning," are the first words he says. You feel a twinge of anger, before turning around promptly and sitting down at your assigned seat. You see Aomine heading towards you, and you shift your attention towards the teacher, ignoring him.

You hear a clatter of a chair as Aomine sits down in the seat behind you. 'Oh crap...' you think as you hear the scraping of a chair on the tiled floor. 'Why does he have to sit behind me, of all people?'

"Hey you," Aomine hissed as the teacher began to speak. You disregarded his words and pulled out a notebook and pencil.

Tug. You feel the back of your head jerk back slightly as Aomine grabs your ponytail, pulling on it. "I was speaking to you," he growled. You scowl, and whack his hand away before slipping the rubber band holding your hair in place off so that he couldn't tug on it anymore.

"Tch. Unsociable person, are you?" he muttered before looking out the window. You stare up at the teacher, attempting to focus on the lesson, but found yourself unable to due to his presence.

Aomine Daiki was the cause of your muteness for four years. At first, you simply appreciated his attractiveness and basketball skills. However, he soon wormed his way into your heart when you noticed the little acts of kindness he did, such as secretly helping a kitten down the tree when no one was looking, or lending you an umbrella when it was raining extremely hard. He had also once taught you basketball, and helped you perfect a turn-around technique which you used to develop your own style. Yet he forgot you. You had been rejected, carelessly ran off crying without paying attention, and ended up in a train accident. The accident then caused temporary brain damage, causing you to lose your voice.

You smile bitterly at the thought. You wonder if fate led you to encounter the blue-haired male once again. Taking a deep breath, you let yourself slip into concentration mode, and begin to write down notes on the teacher's lesson.

A while later, the bell rings and you begin to pack your things away. You see the pink haired girl in front of you turn around and smile at you.

"Hi there, (Last Name)-san! I'm Satsuki Momoi, I hope we can get along this year!" She smiles brightly at you, and you give her a small polite smile in return.

"Oy, Satsuki. Who the hell is this brat?" You feel a large hand smash down on your skull and ruffle your hair slightly. Scowling, you hold your head and look up at the giant.

"She's a transfer student, Dai-chan." 'Dai-chan? Was Momoi supposed to be his girlfriend?' "Her name is (Last Name), (First Name). You shouldn't be so rude."

Aomine's face contorts for a second, as if he recognized the name. You hold your breath, hoping he didn't. But seconds later, a frown appears on Aomine's face. "The rude one is this girl sitting here. She bumped into me this morning and didn't even apologize."

You get up immediately, and walk straight out the door. Socializing with people, as fun as it was, only caused you problems since you couldn't say anything. You were once again stopped by a hand grabbing onto yours.

"What the hell is your problem?" You hear a low voice growl. "Say something, you little brat."

"D-Dai-chan, come on! Don't be so violent," you hear Satsuki plead with Aomine, trying to get him to leave you alone.

"Shut up, Satsuki." You feel blue eyes pierce the back of your head, and feel extremely helpless at the predicament you were stuck in. The way Aomine looked at you was different than his old self. You feel your eyes begin to water.

Stop it, (Last Name) (First Name)! Get a grip on yourself...! If there was anything you hated, it would be situations like this where you couldn't do anything. You couldn't apologize since you couldn't speak, and you couldn't break out of Aomine's iron grip either.

Aomine and Momoi seem to notice you shaking. "H-Hey, Dai-chan, you're making her cry...!"

Aomine looks stunned for a minute. "S-sorry," he mutters, before letting go of your hand. The second your hand was released, you sprinted down the hall and down the stairs, trying to get as far away as possible. School just started, and you had already appeared as a weak little girl in front of someone.

You hated appearing this way in front of people. You slam open a bathroom door and turn on a faucet, splashing your face with cool water to calm down. As much as you wanted to live out a normal school life, your disability made it impossible. You let water stream onto your face, washing away the emotions that were overfilling.

Gym class was your favorite period. You loved to play sports as a to vent the stress that you build up over time. As you stretch, you notice Momoi approach you hesitantly.

"(L-Last Name)-san?" she says. "Sorry about Dai-chan earlier. We're childhood friends and...he just has that kind of personality, you get what I mean?"

'So they're not dating...?' You give her a small smile, and she seems relieved. "Do you do sports, (Last Name)-san? You have a really nice figure..."

You nod as you stand up. A whistle sounds as a teacher instructs the students to line up for jogging. At the sound of the gun, you kick off and run.

You feel as if you are flying, and easily breeze past the other students. Looking to your side, your eyes widen as you see a familiar tan figure running alongside you. Scowling, you increase your pace.

Aomine notices this, and smirks. He matches your increased pace easily. Your frown deepens even more, and you run even faster. Yet he managed to match that pace too. Soon, the too of you were racing down the track at a frightening speed, neither of you wanting to give in to the other.

By the end of the running exercise, you were worn out from the race. Taking deep breaths, you eye Aomine who was standing next to you, panting only slightly. You feel your displeasure deepen. 'Show off.' you think as you see him turn to you and smirk.

"You suck," he said, amusement dancing in his midnight blue eyes. You open your mouth to retort, and bite your lips, remembering that you couldn't speak. You curse inwardly. Associating with others only makes you want to be able to talk even more. You glare at him before stalking off to the basketball courts.

"Oy, you," You hear Aomine call out suddenly. Turning around, you glance at him. "Do you know how to play basketball?"

You stare at him for a while, before inclining your head ever so slightly.

"Do you want to play? One on one." You frown. If you recalled correctly, Aomine was one of those people that were so good no one could ever match up to him. At the same time, you didn't want to back down from the challenge. You dip your head in his direction.

The game started with you taking the ball out. You watched as Aomine's eyes shifted back and forth, noting your unfamiliar stance. Taking a deep breath, you allow yourself to slip into a realm of concentration before dribbling the ball slowly.

As soon as you take two steps into the court, Aomine had already found a way to steal the ball from you. He smirked at your stunned expression, and jump to dunk the ball.

You feel a smug smile crawl onto your face. If there was anything you were good at, it was jumping. You were the ace of your volleyball team when you were in the first year of high school. You feel a familiar tension in your legs release as you leap up into the air. Aomine's eyes widen slightly in surprise. You tap the ball lightly with the tips of your fingers, causing it to slip out of his grasp.

Yet within seconds, Aomine had grabbed the ball in midair and preformed a flawless formless shot. You frown in annoyance as the ball slips through the hoop cleanly.

Once again, you take the ball out. You dribble it slowly, drinking in every detail of the familiar figure before you. You take a step forward, and instinctively preform a move that you had practiced so many times it was imprinted into your memory- a turn-around. You notice Aomine's eyes widen in surprise as he watches the familiar move, giving you an opportunity to shoot an unexpected three pointer, which scored. You couldn't help but smirk at his expression in satisfaction, until you notice the look in his eyes. 'Oh crap. He recognized that-'

"Have I...met you before by any chance?" He questioned, clearly disturbed by how familiar you figure seemed. You gulp, and shake your head vigorously.

"Hmm..." You notice Aomine's eyes narrow in suspicion as he picks up the fallen basketball. "I don't feel like playing anymore. Go do something else." You scowl at his sudden backing out of the game.

You grab a volleyball from one of the nearby courts, and serve it straight into the back of his head. You stick your tongue out at him, and smirk.

"Why you little...!" Aomine growled, heading towards you, but was stopped by the teacher blowing his whistle and summoning the rest of the class.

You laughed inwardly as the two of you walked off to the gathering. The teacher was talking about volleyball, and demonstrating an underhand serve. 'His form is off', you think, frowning. Your arm twitches as you resist the urge to go up and smack the ball out of his hands. Aomine notices this and smirks.

"Teach, (Last Name) here seems to think you're doing it wrong," Aomine said loudly. You curse and elbow him in the stomach, which didn't have much effect. He grins. "Why don't you ask her to demonstrate for us?"

The teacher looks warily at Aomine. "Very well. (Last Name)-san, please show us any serve format you would like. It doesn't have to be underhand..."

You gulp and nod a bit, before stepping forward and taking the volleyball onto the court. Bouncing it up and down a couple of times, you notice Aomine smirking at you in the crowd, clearly believing that you couldn't do it. You frown in displeasure. 'I'll show you...' You take a few steps behind the court and throw the ball into the air and jump up, swinging your hand backwards and hitting it to the back row of the defensive side of the court with a ridiculous amount of strength. You land on the court, satisfied at the jump serve you performed. You turn to your classmates, who were obviously impressed by your example. You look at Aomine, and return the smirk that he had directed at you before.

Momoi observed Aomine's stunned expression, a small smile on her face. It was the first time a girl was able to show up Aomine, and could keep up with his fast running and basketball pace. Despite Aomine's attitude, Momoi was aware that he was just being stubborn and refusing to acknowledge (Last Name).

"Oy, Satsuki."

The manager of the Too basketball club looked up at the dark-skinned giant. "What is it, Dai-chan?"

"That girl, the one who did the volleyball serves. Can you find some information on her for me?"

Momoi looked surprised. "Are you not asking for her three sizes, Dai-chan?"

"Did I ask about that?" Aomine growled, clearly flustered by the question. "Include that if you want. I just want to know her background, previous schools she attended, and so on."

"My, Dai-chan is actually asking me for information on a girl." Momoi emphasized the last word, smiling slightly at Aomine's embarrassed expression. "Fine. I should have it by tomorrow."

Aomine merely nodded before heading out the gym. Momoi frowned. "You're not coming to practice, Aomine?"

Aomine narrowed his eyes. "I'm doing private training for now. No one in here can keep up with me anyways."

Momoi looked back down at her clipboard, a smile still etched on her face. "I guess that match with Seirin got to him after all..." she murmured, before scribbling something down.

x x x

You were practicing your three pointers in basketball outside after school. Too's main devotion was the basketball club; there were no female volleyball clubs here. You frowned as your shot bounced off the rim. The female basketball group was simply a 'fanclub'; they didn't actually play at all. In other words, there were no sports features that you had any interest in at this school. You pick up the fallen basketball and return to the three point line. Jumping up, you shoot the ball and watch as it spins towards the hoop. One glance told you the shot was going to fall clear through the net.

An arm shoots up grabs the basketball out of the air just before it reaches the net. You pause, surprised by the stop of the ball. Looking down, you spot a random guy surrounded by a group of friends, with your basketball in his hand.

"You're that transfer student everyone's talking about, right? The 'pretty and quiet' girl." The guy grins at your confused expression. "I heard that you were pretty good at volleyball. Someone even said that you were decent enough in basketball to keep up with Aomine Daichi."

You frown. What was up with this guy? Why was he even talking to you?

"What do you say you come and hang out with us sometime, little girl? We could make use out of someone like you." Your frown becomes a scowl at this point. You turn around and begin to walk away, only to have your arm grabbed roughly by the stranger.

"Hey, we're talking to you. Don't you think you should tell us a word or two at least?" The guy frowned as you shot a glare at him. "I told you to say something!" He grabbed you by the collar of your shirt. "Teenagers sure are rough these days, even to girls.' you thought, as he slammed you up against a wall.

"Still staying quiet?" He hissed, clearly ticked off at your silence. Not that you could say anything anyways. You had encountered this kind of situation various times, and each time, it always ended up the same. You were beaten up, and no one passing by said a thing. No one came to look for you. So what did it matter? Honestly.

"Well then, girly, why don't we go have some fun?" You suddenly feel nervous. This was not right. This was not going the way you wanted it to at all. He did not punch you, he did not kick you and try to break your bone. Instead, he grabbed yanked the collar of your shirt. Hard.

You begin freaking out, and struggle against the arms holding you down. No. No. This kind of thing was not supposed to happen. You kneel him in the crotch, only to seem to rouse his anger even more. You wanted to cry. You wanted to scream. You were stuck in this predicament again- you couldn't do a single thing to save yourself. And if you didn't escape, who would help you?

"Oy. What the hell do you bastards think you're doing?"

Heads turned to find the source of the voice that spoke. You saw Aomine standing there, gazing coolly at the scene laid out before him.

"A-Aomine," One of the guys stuttered, and looked from him to you. "W-we were just...uh...Sorry!" The guys glanced at each other, before running away as fast as they could.

You slid down the wall, your hand clenched tightly around the neck of your blouse, silent tears streaming down your face. Scary. Scary. Scary...So scary...

"Hey," you see Aomine bend down next to you. "You...are you alright?" He scratches the back of his head awkwardly, clearly not used to worrying about someone. His words only make you cry even harder. It had been so long since someone was concerned about your well being. Aomine hugs you awkwardly.

"C-calm down, okay...?"

A small smile appears on your face at the clumsy giant's act of gentleness. You bury your tear-stained face into his chest, and breathe in his comforting scent. Not only did you calm down, you fell asleep in about five minutes flat.

Aomine chuckled lightly, looking down at your sleeping face. "(Last Name) (First Name), huh. Sounds so very nostalgic...as if I heard the name before."

He ran a hand through your silky (Hair Color) hair, his face depicting a rare gentle smile.

"Sweet dreams, (Last Name)."