You ran towards your house, a box in your hands, your eyes shimmering excitedly.
"Mom, Dad! I'm home!"
Your mother and father turn to you. "What's that you're carrying, (First Name)?"
"I found a kitten on the ground! It was hurt... Can we take care of it?"
Your mother's gentle smile turns to a frown. "Honey, we already have enough to handle. We can't have this...thing taking up more money."
You pout. "But it's hurt! You're a doctor right? You can take care of it, right?"
Your dad rises up angrily at your persistence. He picks up the kitten by the scruff of it's neck, and throws it into the koi fish pool in your backyard.
You let out a small scream and run after it.
"Don't pick up such useless things, (First Name). We already have enough trouble handling the family as it is."
A sob racks your body as you scoop the kitten out of the pool. Suddenly, a flash of light approaches you from the right. You turn abruptly and see a train heading towards you-
You sit up in your bed, breathing harshly, sweat dripping down from your hair. It was that nightmare again. You take a deep, calming breath and run your hand through your (Hair Color) locks.
Ever since the train accident, you would have dreams recounting your childhood traumas that would always end with you getting hit by a train. You get out of your bed shakily and undress before heading into the bathroom, turning on the faucet, and letting cold water stream onto your body. You feel your heartbeat easing as you spray cold water onto your face.
After you got dressed in your uniform, you head out the door and start down the path to Too Academy. Looking up at the azure blue sky, you walk along the roadside, thinking about your dream.
That particular memory had occurred when you were 6 years old. You were naive and playful, and was always oblivious to your parents' attitudes towards small animals. The kitten had died soon after it fell in the koi pond. You had cried for days until your father grew annoyed and demanded that you snap out of it. Your parents were only gentle when you didn't 'get in their way'.
You notice a giant shadow looming over you, and you turn around, only to come face-to-face with Aomine Daiki. You would let out a squeal- if you could. You backed away slowly, before spinning back around to continue walking down the road to the Academy.
Aomine looked at you. "You really never say anything, do you?" He grunted, before walking besides you. You look up at his tall, muscular frame, wondering just how much he had grown over the course of 4 years. Aomine noticed you staring.
"What? Haven't fallen for me, have you?" He teased, smirking as you blushed and looked away. After he had saved you the previous days, it scared you how quickly the emotions you had locked away years ago came flooding back. You convinced yourself that it was simply a small attraction; you only respected him for his actions. But you didn't know how long it would be before your heart would begin beating quickly, and you would flush unconsciously whenever you saw him. But until that happens, you decided to resist the emotion as much as possible- or else you would once again experience that pain that you had felt when he had rejected you.
When you arrived at the Academy, you headed straight to the classroom. Aomine yawned. "I'm going up onto the roof now...today's class is going to be boring anways." You frowned and stopped in your steps, before going up behind the giant and grabbing his jacket.
"What?" Aomine turned around, narrowing his eyes. You glared at him, and tugged at his jacket, pointing over at the classroom.
"No." Aomine tried to take a step forward, but you tightened your grip on his jacket, pulling him back. Aomine sighs. "So persistent..."
Aomine turned around and grabbed your hand, making you release his jacket. Your frown deepened into a scowl, before you flung your arms around his midsection, dragging him into the classroom.
"O-Oww...!" Aomine grumbled as you accidentally let go and caused him to fall down on the floor. "Alright, alright. I get it. I'll go to class. Happy?"
You grinned, before heading over to the classroom and opening the door. You walked to the back of the classroom and sat down at your desk, taking out your notebooks. Chatter broke out as Aomine entered and sat down behind you, grumbling all the while. Classmates stared. Aomine never came to class on time; he usually didn't come at all if he could help it. Even Momoi, who just entered the classroom, was surprised.
"Dai-chan...? You're attending class...?" She said in disbelief. Aomine grunted in return.
"I was forced to. By this girl." He nodded his head towards you. You smile up at Momoi in greeting, before pulling a textbook out of your bag.
"Oh my. Dai-chan's listening to a girl...? The world must be ending." Momoi snickered as a tinge of red appeared on Aomine's cheeks. "Shut up, Satsuki."
The teacher then entered the classroom, and the clattering of chairs was heard as students returned to their desks. His eyes flashed briefly with astonishment when he scanned the room and found Aomine sitting in his seat, disgruntled.
"All right, settle down," He said, before beginning to take attendance. Aomine yawned. "I'm bored already..." he muttered. He then got up from his seat, and attempted to escape the classroom, but was stopped as you leaned over and once again grabbed a hold of his jacket, glaring at him.
"Tch." Aomine sat back down, a scowl written on his face. Onlookers were watching with amusement. The great Aomine Daiki was sitting down obediently in class. Now that was something you didn't see every day.
"Dai-chan!" Momoi was rushing over to Aomine's lunch spot outside of the gym. She came to a stop in front of him, breathless. "I found the information you asked for yesterday."
Aomine looked up at Momoi as she began her report. "(Last Name), (First Name). She lived in an urban area in Kyoto for a while, before she moved here. She attended Teiko for middle school, and went to an all girls school for her first year of high school before she transferred here. There isn't much else that I could find about her, which is strange."
Aomine frowned. So she has attended the same school as him before. He might have run into her once or twice, yet her name seemed much to familiar for the situation to be that simple. Aomine felt as if he was forgetting something important. But what the heck was it?
"Oh yeah. By the way, her three sizes are 35C-27-38, in case you were wondering." Momoi watched, amusement tinkling in her eyes as Aomine's face flushed bright red.
"Tch." He buried his face in his hands, trying to erase whatever inappropriate thoughts that came up at Momoi's words. "That wasn't the information I was asking for..."
"Oh my," Momoi teased. "This is the first time you became so worked up over a girl, Dai-chan~!" Aomine scowled.
"She's just...different. From the other girls I mean. It's simply because I'm not used to it. That's all." That and I feel like I know her from somewhere...
The sudden sound of footsteps warned the pair of someone approaching. Momoi and Aomine both turned to see you walking on over, a lunchbox in hand.
"(Last Name)-san! Are you going to eat lunch now?" Momoi jumped up enthusiastically and called you over. You give her a little wave before shaking your head. Momoi looks slightly confused as you walk past them and go over to a small bush at a secluded corner near the back of the gym.
A small kitten pokes its head out of the bush as you pulled out and open a can of fish, leaving it there for it to eat. You sit down a couple of feet away and smile as it crawls out hesitantly and sniffs at the mackerel you had left there.
Aomine stares at you, suddenly reminded of the time he had climbed up a tree and helped a kitten down from the tallest branch. His eyes softens slightly as he watches you smile gently at the tiny creature. Momoi notices Aomine's expression, before walking away quietly, giggling under her breath. She looks up at the clear sky.
"Oh Dai-chan, you fool..."
x x x
You are startled out of watching the kitten eating by a sudden chime of the school bell. Getting up, you brush off your lap before turning around to head back into the school building. You look up and see a tall, familiar figure.
Aomine Daiki stood before you, a mixture of embarrassment and amusement written on his face. You smile lightly and brush past him, and walk in the direction of the second year building. Then you stop, noticing that he wasn't following you.
Once again, you grab onto his jacket and frown stubbornly. Aomine scowls.
"I already attended morning classes. Can't you let me go just this one time?"
You shake your head defiantly, before grabbing his large hand and dragging him towards the building. Aomine sighed, but smirks slightly at a sudden thought that crosses his mind.
'She sure is one strong-willed girl.'
x x x
During gym that day, you feel strangely drained and exhausted. You manage to keep up with Aomine throughout the running exercise, and line up with the rest of the class as everyone begins to practice their serves. You grab a volleyball from the pile and head to an empty court with Momoi.
"(Last Name)-san, could you teach me an underhand serve?" The pinkette looks up at you, curious at the sudden uneasy expression that appeared on your face. You nod slightly, and help adjust her serving position using your hands.
Not before long, Momoi is sending serves successfully over the volleyball net. You smile at her, before running after the ball to retrieve it. Suddenly, you feel a familiar sensation crawl up your throat.
Oh no. This is bad... You slow down and put a hand up to your neck, running a hand up the side of your throat, hoping to make the feeling go away. But you were unsuccessful. Within seconds, you feel your lungs constrict, and you choke, a hand pressed to your neck.
"(L-Last Name)-san?" Momoi's concerned voice is the last thing you hear before you get hit by an asthma attack. You fall to the floor, your hand clutching at your chest, coughing and wheezing, trying to breathe.
You barely notice a teacher blowing his whistle and commanding a student to run to the infirmary to get a nurse. A strong pair of arms encircles your middle, and you feel yourself being propped up. A large, warm hand rubs your back soothingly.
You gasp as a shudder passes through your body. You feel your air passage being cut off, and your vision becomes blurry around the edges. You couldn't breathe- once again, the feeling of being suffocated encloses around you.
'N-no...!' Your mind screams for help as you feel yourself becoming lightheaded. You were subject to unexplainable asthma attacks that medications did not seem to have an effect on. As a result, you had no control over when you were suddenly struck by a smothering feeling covering your lungs, making it impossible to draw a single breath.
"(Last Name), calm down. I'm here." You hear a familiar low voice growl into your ear.
'Aomine...'
That thought was the last thing that registered in your mind before your world went black.
Aomine walked down the empty corridor after school. He let out a sigh. After the chaos of the morning, he would have liked for nothing more than to go home and douse himself in a cold shower. He remembered your small, shivering figure, and your mouth parted for air as spasms raked your body. The blue giant shook his head, trying to derive his head of the thoughts of your delicate frame.
Momoi had forced him to go back to the classroom to get his textbooks that he had left behind. As his footsteps echoed down the lonely hallway, his attention is drawn to a slightly opened door just before the classroom.
"...it really isn't possible to cure her?" The principal's voice is heard through the small crack in the door.
"That can't be, right? There are many donors- surely they'll find someone to help out even if her parents have given up."
Aomine walked on, uninterested, until he heard the man's next sentence.
"What do you think, (Last Name)?"
The blue-haired giant freezes in his tracks, his head slowly turning to face to door. A scribbling of pencil on paper is heard, and the teacher and principal on the other side of the door seem puzzled.
"It's supposed to be temporary? But why do you still have the condition?" The teacher sounds panicked, clearly shocked.
"Now now, let's not get too worked up." The principal speaks calmly. "I'm sure that it was a trauma or something that caused the incident in the first place. From what I've seen, (Last Name) is an extremely capable girl. Her condition doesn't seem to affect her education."
"I suppose..." The voice trails off uncertainly. "But students will surely realize something soon...! I can't call on her to help read passages in school- If I keep skipping her, the students will notice that something is off. Surely it's better to tell everyone the truth?"
The principal stands up sharply. "Mr. Ayukawa, if we let everyone know that (Last Name) (First Name) is mute, then she will withdraw from the school! That will cause an extreme problem and chaos among the students. We should try to keep it as hushed down as possible- we promised her parents as well."
"Alright... Fine. I suppose you are dismissed, (Last Name)."
Aomine is startled out of his shock at what he heard at the sound of the approaching footsteps. The door opens, and Aomine comes face to face with (Last Name), (First Name).
Your eyes open in shock as you realize that he had been listening in on the conversation. You wonder just how much he heard. He swallows thickly.
"You...can't speak?"
