A/N: First of all I would like to thank everyone who have read, reviewed, faved and followed Split-Half. Thank you all so much. You make me very happy. And I would like to apologize for my shitty writing. I'm currently in the middle of doing my thesis, and I'm writing this during breaks. You know, just so I can get my mind off from thinking about my work too much.

And just some notes regarding Split-Half:

Chapter 1/1st Quarter takes place six months before the prologue. I wanted to start my story from when Aika was still Kise's girlfriend and what happened to them afterwards and the events that lead her to meet Aomine.

Hotaru Tanaka is actually the Tanaka who appeared during one of Kise's flashback when he was still at Teiko. He was the soccer player who was in Kise's PE Class. They were told that they would get an A if they could juggle the soccer ball using their knees (or the part above their knees) for more than a hundred times. And he was shocked to see that Kise, who was a soccer-rookie, can actually rival him. You can look him up at Chapter 64, Page 1 of the manga. And I'm actually the one who made Hotaru as his family name cause he didn't have one in the anime/manga. And he'll be playing a crucial role in what is to come.

I do apologize for having some random OCs. I found them necessary in building up Aika's character as well as giving you a glimpse of what Aika is really like.

Once again, thank you so much guys. I really hope that I won't disappoint you. Well, then, here's the first chapter of Split-Half.


Split-Half

First Quarter

I lazily yawned and stretched my arms as I walked to school from my apartment. Geez. The weather's so nice today but I feel so tired this early in the morning. Blame it on my hyperactive best friend for keeping me up until the wee hours of the morning on the phone. And no, it's not like we talked about very important things beneficial for our secured survival in the planet. It was more like it was majorly composed of random squeals and screams from the other side of the line. Yes. My best friend deprived me of sleep just to have someone listen to her fangirling over and over again. As if yelling in the middle of the night wasn't enough yet. But it's not like I can do something either. Haru was the type who would sulk and cry her eyes out whenever she receives any kind of rejection no matter how big or small. That's how immature and childish she is. Nevertheless, she is still my best friend. The only person who can put up with all of my crazy antics. So, without having the chance to voice out my complaints, I patiently listened to all of her ramblings like how a good best friend should be.

"How could I be this drained on a Monday? Seriously. This doesn't sound very nice." I silently whispered to myself as I rubbed my eyes and yawned once more. Dammit. Now, I feel like skipping class and getting some sleep. Being absent on the first day of the week. What could be better than that? I'm a straight-A student with an outstanding academic record. Plus, I'm also an excellent athlete. So I guess, making up lame excuses like I was sick or something may work for me. Well, whatever.

As I mentally debated whether to attend class or turn back while I still have a chance, I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder. It wasn't enough to fully awaken my sluggish form, but it was enough to set my mind straight.

"Good morning Keichi-san." I turned back to look at my unexpected companion and saw a surprisingly tall teenager with a face that would make any girl in our school scream to the top of their lungs. Yes. That is, any girl, but me.

"Ahh, good morning Hotaru-senpai." I bowed deeply and greeted the captain of our swim team. Hotaru Tanaka. A man every girl would die for. A man every boy wants to become. He's not just tall, he's not just skilled, he doesn't just have a perfect body but he's also smart and very nice. But I don't harbor romantic feelings or something of that sort for him. Though I admit that I admired him. However it's only as a big brother. No more. No less.

"You don't have to do that Keichi-san." He said, waving his hand in front of me and doing his signature "nice guy" smile. "Anyway, I wanted to congratulate you for winning the 100-meter freestyle in the regionals. You've done it again and I don't doubt that you'll grab the championship in the nationals with flying colors." He cheerfully told me while giving a thumbs up.

I did mention that I was an excellent athlete, right? Not just practice-wise or attendance-wise but the literal meaning of the word "excellent". Though our school, Atarashi Gakuen, maybe a small school with limited facilities, it is not unknown that we produce top class and high caliber swimmers that dominate the swimming scene all over Japan. And yes, I am one of them. It's not that big of a surprise for us to always qualify in the nationals. I mean, we do that every year. So, while being in the nationals thrills most of the participants from other schools, for us, it's just like taking a walk on the beach. Not something to get excited about.

"I was just lucky senpai. That's all." I nervously replied as I scratched the back of my head like an idiot. These stuffs didn't really suit me. If I could see myself in the mirror right now, I'm sure that I'll look as hilarious as Ikkaku's Lucky Dance from Bleach.

"No. No. Don't say that Keichi-san. Miracles don't happen by accident, nor does it happen by luck."

Now, what the hell does that mean? I'm sure that I have heard that line from somewhere before but I couldn't quite put a finger on it. Senpai may look like a jerk on the outside but he sometimes blurts out junks of philosophical non sense way beyond my understanding. Well, either way, he's your average club captain with a pure heart, that's what I thought about him. Or so I thought. Anyway.

"Well then Keichi-san, I'm going ahead. I still have some matters to discuss with the members of the softball club. See you later at practice." He shot me one last smile and immediately darted forward like a kid playing tag without even bothering to wait for my response.

"Umm. Yeah." I was about to wave at him but seeing that he's almost gone from my sight, I dismissed the thought and continued to walk towards my classroom.

"WAAAAAAAAAH!" The moment I stepped inside, I was welcomed by my best friend's frantic face which got redder with each passing moment. I could see a steam blowing off from her head and her hands were clasp in front of her as if on a fervent prayer. Oh boy, here we go again. I'm in for another fangirl treat this early in the morning. I guess the call last night wasn't enough yet.

"What the hell is wrong with you Haru? You're being weird again and it's not even lunch yet." I tried to make my voice a little harsher. "And why are you here? I thought you said that we'd walk to school together today. Honestly, all you do is giving me headaches."

"I'm sooooorrrry Ai-chan!" She bowed in front of me with a remorseful look painted all over her face. "I was about to call you earlier but I just can't!"

I sighed heavily with the intention of letting her hear my displeasure. "Was it because Hotaru-senpai was walking with me?"

She nodded.

Damn. I couldn't really understand this girl. How can she act like a total fool just because of a guy? I mean, it's not like I haven't experienced what it was to love. I even have a boyfriend. And I do love him, though he can be such a total idiot at times. And I also feel butterflies in my stomach every time we're together but that's just all there is to it. I don't stutter nor lose my head just because I'm standing face to face with him. I have to admit that it can make my heart beat like a horse on a race but not to the point where I feel like fainting. Oh wait. Maybe I'm not the one who's normal here? Almost every girl feels and acts like Haru when it comes to their crushes right? So, maybe I'm actually the one who has a screw loose? Do I really need to act like that to prove that I love my boyfriend? Does my lack of emotion or reaction mean that my love for him is not as deep as I though it was? Ahhhhh! It's so confusing. Either way, I know that I love him. I'm sure of it. And I also know that I don't want to lose him. Not to any girl. Ever.

"I'm sorry Ai-chan! I'm really sorry." Haru's words brought me out of my reverie as she held out her hands to me.

"What is this?" I asked, suspiciously scrutinizing the object she was holding like a detective on a crime scene.

"Take it as a symbol of my sincere apology for what I did earlier." Taking her "apology", I held it carefully in my hands and opened the intricately wrapped package. Geez. Haru's stupidity is really off the roof that it can quite scare me sometimes. Now where on earth did she get this? Why has she prepared something like this in the first place? This girl really is full of surprises. It's not like she knew that Hotaru-senpai would be there that morning.

"Haru, can you please explain to me what this cute little papery thing is?" Holding the paper in my left hand, I scowled at her.

She looked at me with what she calls as "puppy dog eyes" which in my opinion looks more of a lemur's eyes than a dog, as she pressed her index fingers together. "A-anou..nee… You see Ai-chan… That should have been my gift for your birthday next week but then; things didn't work out really well today so I thought… I'd just get you a different present next time." She scratched the back of her head and laughed nervously. Now why does this look familiar? Oh yeah. I also did the same thing when Hotaru-senpai congratulated me earlier. I didn't think that this habit of hers was that contagious.

"You silly girl." I cheerfully replied and playfully hit her head. "But I guess this should do." Shoving the expensive concert tickets inside my pocket, I walked towards my chair and sat.

"Aye!" Haru did a salute and followed after me. Having an idiot for a best friend has its advantages. Especially if she the type who wouldn't mind giving you stuffs that are off the budget of a regular student's.

With that, the bell rang and our class started for the day. And much to the dismay of everyone around me, our teacher suddenly gave us a surprise exam. As if appearing inside the classroom with a stupid smile on her face while wearing a pair of cooking gloves weren't surprising enough. Yes, our teacher's stupidity can rival Haru's but no one's actually laughing at her ass because of it. That's because she's hella smart and knows her lessons well. There was even a rumor that she topped the Licensure Exams the year she took it. So, anyway, while the rest of my classmates groaned in despair over the sudden trip to hell, I sighed disinterestedly and went to work on my paper. I'm a straight-A student remember? Things like this don't really do much to me. I can remember almost all of our past lessons without having to review the night before. Some say that I'm blessed with a photographic memory. Though I'm not sure what it really means, I'm quite aware that I am grateful to have a good- no, better memory than the rest of the entire human race.

"Waaaaaah. A test on a Monday. What could be scarier than that? Right, Ai-chan?" Haru gave me a look while imitating the expression of the man on the painting The Scream by Edvard Munch. Morning classes were over and the anxiety evident in the student's faces were now replaced by wide grins as the bell rang signaling the most favorite class of all, including myself, lunch.

"Well, it wasn't that hard…" I boredly replied as I took my bento out. Yes. Though most students from other schools prefer to eat lunch outside the classrooms, usually on the roof, we eat ours inside. It's not something that we really find weird or awkward. I mean everybody in my class is doing it. And besides, it's much of a hassle to eat lunch elsewhere when we can have the comfort of our classrooms all to ourselves.

"Don't say that Ai-chan. We're not all fortunate enough to have a brain like yours, you know." She pouted and crossed her arms in front of me.

"Tsk." I clicked my tongue and rolled my eyes.

"Ai-chan you're such a meanie!" She plopped herself loudly on the chair beside me and yawned.

"Itadakimasu." We said in unison and proceeded to eat.

After a while, I heard my name being paged on our school's broadcasting system.

"Keichi Aika of class 1-1, you have a call. I repeat, Keichi Aika of class 1-1, you have a call. Come to the admin office at once."

The hell? Now what in the world is going on? Someone's calling me through the school's official phone? Whoever the caller may be, he/she has some guts to actually reach me through our school's official phone. Talk about extreme arrogance. Or maybe he/she just wanted to embarrass me or put unnecessary and unwanted attention towards me. Yes. Being paged for having a call from the admin office meant extreme humiliation and a day of being the center of the school's gossip scene. Well, everyone has their own phones so getting a call from the school's official phone makes you look poor enough to not afford a phone of your own. But I can't think of anyone who would actually do that. If it were just my family or my friends, then they all know my number. And it's not like I'm not taking calls from an unknown number. Deciding to ignore the threat of being embarrassed further, I continued to eat without giving a second thought to whoever my damn caller would be.

"Ai-chan…" Haru gently shook my shoulders.

I shoved her hands aside and glared at her. "Oh, forget it. I'm not taking that stupid call."

Before Haru could scold me about how rude I was acting, I heard the school's pager scream again.

"Keichi Aika, come to the admin office right now! Kise Ryouta is calling you!"

Oh dear, out of the frying pan and into the fire. And with the more embarrassing revelation announced, I could see my female classmates shoot daggers at me with gawking eyes. I clenched my fist tighter and a loud crunching sound was heard all over our room.

Ooops. That was just my poor chopsticks who failed to escape the wrath that was slowly building up inside of me. Yes. I was very annoyed. Very pissed. Someone's really dying to be thrown out of the window from the 100th floor of a towering building. Not that I'm not capable of doing exactly that.

Before Haru could say anything, I noisily stood up from my chair with downcast eyes, head bowed down low. I silently walked out of our room and made my way towards the admin office. And as expected, everyone looked at me with those eyes, like that of a girlfriend who has caught her boyfriend in the very act of cheating. Yeah, that kind of look. A look full of jealousy and envy. However, seeing that I already have my hands full of one of my boyfriend's romantic schemes which to me, seems more of a trouble than something that might actually make the butterflies in my stomach flutter ferociously, I ignored their glares and continued walking as if nothing is happening.

Everyone at school knew who I was. Not because I was smart, nor was it because I was an exceptional swimmer. Oh no. People don't give a damn about those things anymore. Instead, they knew me because I was Kise Ryouta's girlfriend. And almost everyone in Japan knew who Kise Ryouta was. I didn't expect that being his girl could be this bloody annoying and… exhausting. Especially when it comes to his fangirls. All those running we do whenever his fans ambush him out of nowhere, all the hate mails and threats that suffocate my email everyday, all those freaking interviews I get from the press. Yes, all of those. So, all of my efforts in maintaining a low profile all of these years have been for naught. Simply because I told the fucking bastard a bloody Yes. My life has changed this much but to my surprise, despite loathing the things that kept happening to me because I was with Kise, I've managed to endure all of it and held on. I've managed to survive everything and tolerated it all, bear with just about anything. And that's basically because I love him.

"What do you want?!" I shouted on the telephone which earned me a grimace from the president of our school.

But instead of answering the question, Kise playfully screamed at the other side of the line as if he was dying. "Woah! Aiiiii-cchiiiiiiii~~~"

Now, that really did get on my nerves. If other girls found that to be cute or something, I found that hella annoying. Yes. But then again, I'm not one of those other girls.

I pulled the telephone receiver away from my ears and grasp it a little too tightly which somehow made a cracking noise. Ooops, now what was that? I turned the telephone upside-down and shock slowly filled my eyes when I saw that I made a small crack on the telephone receiver. I should be careful when I get pissed next time, oh the things that I would destroy.

Mouthing the word "sorry" while faking an apologetic look towards everyone present in the admin office, I went back to talking with Kise.

"What Kise?" I asked him, making my voice a little harsher. You can't blame me. My blood's currently boiling as of the moment.

"Eeeeeh? Are you feeling unwell, Ai-cchiiii~~~?" He asked with the same tone that made my nerves jangle a moment ago.

"I am fine Kise."

"Then what's with the tone of your voice? Don't tell me, Ai-cchi is angry at me?" He said with anxiety and worry evident in his voice. He also seemed as if he was on the verge of sobbing.

"Nothing."

"Nothing? You're lying Ai-cchi. Come on. Tell me please~" Taking that kind of tone, I could swear that I can imagine him making a "puppy dog eyes" look on the other side of the line.

"You really want to know?"

"Yes Ai-cchi~~"

I sighed and inhaled deeply as if preparing for a non-stop verbal attack. "Who wouldn't be pissed when you called me through the school's official phone when I actually have my phone with me?"

I heard him chuckled mischievously. Dammit. Is this jerk really a part of the world-renowned Generation of Miracles? "Well~~~ I just wanted everyone to know that I love Ai-cchi so much~~~"

Okay. Even if I would deny it with all my might, I couldn't hide the fact that it made me actually blush. Yeah. Here comes my freakin' heart again.

"And whatever do you mean by that?" I blurted out angrily. Not allowing any chance to slip that he might notice that his last statement actually took my breath away.

"You'll know eventually." He laughed once again. Damn, that kind of laugh which I grew to love. The kind of laugh I could keep hearing all day and still never get tired of.

"So, what's up?" I lowered the tone of my voice.

"I actually wanted Ai-cchi to come over at Kaijou later to see our practice game."

"Oh? Is Kasamatsu-senpai too busy to babysit you later?"

"That's not it Ai-cchi! We're up against Touou Gakuen, you know."

"So?"

"Even if it's just a practice game, Touou Gakuen is quite a strong opponent that we're not even sure if we can win against them easily."

"So?"

"I wanted my girlfriend to come and inspire me."

Booom. Now that really hit a nerve. But mind you, in a good way. Hearing those words, I clenched my fist tightly. Good thing that I wasn't holding anything. This time, however, it was not because I got pissed. It was because Kise just made my heart skip a beat.

"So?" I answered him while trying my best to suppress the emotions slowly filling my chest.

"Well, I won't hesitate to fight and give every thing I have because Ai-cchi will be there cheering for me."

Double Booom. Shiiiiit! I could feel my cheek getting hotter and undoubtedly getting redder with each passing second. A small smile was about to form in my lips when I intentionally held it back. Yeah. Butterflies were now flying wildly in my stomach. If it was Haru, then I'm sure she must have yelled like a retard right now.

"What are you talking about, you idiot!" I growled angrily at him.

"Hehehe… Ai-cchi's blushing~~!"

"Am not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Am not!"

"Don't deny the obvious Ai-cchi~~~"

"Hey, you can't even see me in the first place."

"I know you like the back of my hand, Ai-cchi~~~"

Dammit. That's the one thing I hated about Kise. He knows me too well to even guess how I was acting without even having the need to see my face. Oh god. I hate him so much. I just freaking hate him. It's like stripping me naked; all of myself laid out for him to see. But just that this time, I don't need to strip myself naked. He could completely see through me.

"What time?" I tried to maintain my composure while fighting the urge to put the phone down and hide underground.

"4pm Ai-cchi. Do you want me to go and pick you up~~~"

From the bottom of my heart, I was yearning to say yes, but then seeing how everyone shot me daggers earlier I restrained myself and refused.

"Nah, its fine Kise. Just preserve your strength for your game later. You said that Touou Gakuen is quite a strong opponent right?"

"But…" I could hear Kise sob. Just dammit. I got one hell of a jerk for a boyfriend. "But I want to spend some time with Ai-cchi~~~"

"We could spend all the time we want together after the game."

"Yaaaay!" Kise screamed like a toddler who just received a candy. And, here I am, thinking that childishness and basketball didn't go well together. "All right. I'll meet you later at Kaijou's gates then. Oh, you can call me through our school's-"

"No way in hell no!" I yelled a little loudly. I am not gonna do the very same thing he did to interrupt my precious lunch time. Sure, whilst I totally hated it, I know that Kise would have loved it if I called him using Kaijou's official phone, but I'm not going to let him have his way easily.

"Hahahaha. Just joking Ai-cchi, you don't have to be so stiff. So 4pm later?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then, bye bye~~~"

"Bye." I was about to put the telephone down when I heard him say:

"I love you Ai-cchi~~~"

Oh no. Not again. Not this. I am so not answering that. I am so not embarrassing myself further. I am so not saying those super duper humiliating words inside the admin office. No way. There's just freaking no way.

And with that in mind, all I could mutter was:

"Yeah."

"Ehh? What's with the 'Yeah' Ai-cchiii~~~?" I could hear disappointment in my boyfriend's voice.

Oh please Kise! Don't make me do this!

I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. It's quite unbelievable how something as petty as this can cause me this much dilemma.

"Ai-cchi, I said what's with 'Yeah'?"

"What?"

"What's with the 'Yeah'?"

"Yeah. Yeah means yeah."

"…"

"Kise?"

"…"

"Hey, Kise."

"…"

"You freaking bastard."

"…"

"Okay! Okay! I got it, alright! I LOVE YOU TOO!" I suddenly yelled at the top of my lungs. Dammit. I fell for it again. Yes. I just did it. I just embarrassed myself to no end. I couldn't even believe myself. But I guess the thought of my boyfriend getting a little bit angry at me was much important than my carefully protected and maintained reputation. Though I doubt if Kise would actually get angry because of something like that.

Everyone present in the admin office suddenly glared at me with looks that seemed to say "What the hell?", but anyway. No use crying over spilled milk, they say.

"Now, that's more like it. You just don't know how much I love you Ai-cchi. I'll see you later then."

And with that, he hung up, leaving me to deal with overly strict school officials lecturing me about my manners. Yes. About my bloody manners. As if I did something not worthy of their forgiveness. They went on and on about me going all smooches on the phone with Kise. That damn bastard! Tricking me like that! But hey, wait a minute. Aren't my highly respected school administrators actually the ones to be blamed with all of this? I mean, they should have known that the call was from Kise. And the last time I checked, they were all that strict about not wanting to receive outside calls for their students. Yup, they even instructed us that we should bring our own phones and stop making people reach us through the school's official phone. So how come they allowed Kise to call me, even going out of their ways to announce it over on the schools pager?

As I was thinking of a possible answer for the question that currently occupies my messed up mind, I felt someone clear her throat from behind me.

"If you're done, would you mind getting out already Keichi-san?"

Oh, it was our school president, Otome-sensei who actually told everyone to call her Otome-sama. That damn old hag. Her name doesn't suit her at all and will never ever suit a demon like her. She's the type who would also make teenage girls suffer. Well, everyone's saying that she's just jealous about those who are in the prime of their youths, seeing that she's actually past her expiration date but she doesn't have a boyfriend- much less a husband yet. And realizing that she must have overheard my conversation with Kise a while ago, then I guess the rumors were actually more inclined to the "truth" side than just being regarded as a mere gossip. Well, anyway, I don't have time to deal with the likes of her. So, I went out of the admin office and silently walked towards my classroom, tolerating the stares which I also got earlier.

Entering our classroom, I was met by a hard hit on my head.

"Holy shit. Why'd you hit me Haru?" I stared at her angrily.

"Watch your mouth Ai-chan!"

"Hey, that's not what I am asking about."

"Well." She placed her hand on her waist. "Ai-chan, I can't believe that you're actually treating Kise-kun that way!"

"Huh, what way?"

"Like talking to him as if he's not your boyfriend, for example?"

"Oh, Kise's used to that."

"Mou… Ai-chan, if Kise was my boyfriend, I would pamper him all day and do all of his bidding.

"Well, I'm sorry Haru, but he's not your boyfriend." I smirked at her.

"That's why I can't believe that you're actually doing mean things to someone like Kise-kun!"

I sighed at proceeded to sit at the nearest vacant chair near her.

"Well, to be honest, I can't believe myself as well."

"So, you also can't believe that you're actually doing those mean things to Kise-kun?" In that instant, Haru's expression suddenly got a little brighter.

"No, I can't believe that I fell for an idiot like him!" I said to her in a loud voice.

"No Ai-chan! Between the two of you, you're the one who should be called the idiot! Kise-kun is a wonderful guys and yet-"

"Oh, let's stop this Haru." I got up from my seat and made my way towards the door. But before I had completely got out of our classroom, what Haru said next surprised the shit out of me.

"And I hate you very much for hurting his feelings!"

"Okay." I blurted out to her, turning back to face her. "Now, where did that come from Haru?"

"When he told you "I love you", you hesitated for a moment to tell him "I love you too". That's just so mean Ai-chan! I can't believe you actually did that."

"Hey. Look Haru. I am not like you who can just-"

Before I could finish whatever I was saying, realization hit me like a splash of cold water. Talk about karma. No, wait. Is this called karma? Am I using the term correctly? Well, whatever. But this doesn't really sound good. I've got a gut feeling that I would really regret asking Haru and whatever answer she may give me, I'm pretty sure that it would really cost me my life.

"Haru, how in hell did you know about my conversation with Kise earlier?"

She looked at me with a pretty straight face and answered me without breathing.

"Huh? What are you saying Ai-chan? You're conversation with Kise-kun was broadcasted all over the school."

Bull's eye. My gut feelings have never failed me. Not even once. But I didn't think that it was something very humiliating and mortifying like that. This better be not real.

"Oh my gosh. Please tell me that you're lying Haru. Please tell me that you're making that up to make me pay for not treating Kise well. Please tell me that it's just one of your crazy schemes again. Please tell me that it's so not true."

"What are you talking about Ai-chan?"

As I was about to voice out tons of complaints and disbeliefs at what she just revealed to me, the classroom door suddenly swung open and our new PE teacher, Garcia-sensei suddenly went in and faced me.

"Well, it was because Kise-kun told us that he wanted the whole school to know how much he loves Ai-chan." She said matter-of-factly.

No. Shit. Hell.

I will fucking kill you Kise! I will fucking kill you and feed your remains to my pet vultures at home. You're gonna pay for this. You just wait!

Oh god! I hate you so much Kise Ryouta!

To be continued…


Split-Half

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I clenched my fist tighter until I could feel my nails piercing my skin and making them bleed. I've never been angry like this in my entire life.

"Oh, now would you look at that." I silently whispered to myself, ignoring the "what the hell" look that everyone around was giving me.

Smiling maniacally, like a predator spying on its prey, I cracked my knuckles loudly and emitted black aura from within me.

Okay. Maybe that black aura thing was just my imagination but whatever. That's how I saw myself right now, with a rage of fury slowly encompassing my whole persona.

Holy shit. Somebody's really begging that her ass be handed to her big time. Oh yes. If it's a bitch fight she wants, its one hell of a bitch fight she'll get.