It had been a normal morning, as always. Her father had woken up her affectionately and she had gone about with her normal routine. The only real abnormality was that she had decided to go to school earlier than usual. However, as she left the house she saw something she hadn't expected. Midorima and Takao were squabbling outside her house. When Takao noticed her, he waved with a grin.

"Hino-chan~" he singsonged. Kazumi froze in shock. Why were these two here? She knew that they went on the same route she did, but it seemed they had been... waiting for her? He skipped up to her and pet her head like a dog. Turning to face Midorima, he glared at him and launched into a mini rant about how Midorima had been annoying him. "So, you see Shin-chan is being a stubborn baka and brought a huge mirror that I had to help him put in the cart."

Kazumi nodded as if she understood. She vaguely understood that Midorima's lucky item had been a mirror, and thus, he had brought an extra large one to compensate for any "remaining bad luck" from yesterday's horoscope. Apparently, today hadn't been Cancer's lucky day either.

"Here," Midorima said, placing a glass vase in her hands suddenly. Kazumi looked at it confusedly. He coughed slightly while adjusting his glasses back into place. "It's your lucky item for the day... for yesterday," She tilted her head in question, remembering that her lucky item had been a mirror yesterday. Takao seemed to catch onto her confusion and shook his head.

"Nonono, he doesn't mean your lucky item from yesterday, it's Shin-chan's way of thanking you for being his lucky item yesterday," Takao explained. A flash of recognition appeared in her purple eyes. She bowed her head slightly in thanks and smiled at Midorima, who looked aside. His black-haired friend grinned and elbowed him in the chest, teasing him about being a "tsundere". Kazumi giggled at the scene, but still wondered about something. Why were they here? It probably would have been easier just to give it to her at class.

"We should go, Takao. We have morning practice," he said, heading towards the cart.

"Oh yeah! Good thing you came out in time, Hino-chan. We were planning on leaving the vase outside your door if you hadn't come out." Takao said, nodding in satisfaction. An idea seemed to hit Takao. "You should come with us," Kazumi looked unsurely at the cart, which was probably already very heavy with a large mirror and a high school boy riding in it.

"Oh, don't be polite. Shin-chan has enough stamina to ride us both over there," he said. Midorima clicked his tongue at Takao, a dark aura emitting from him. Ignoring it, Takao pulled her into the cart and off they went.

"It's a girl! A pretty one!" the Shutoku team exclaimed when Kazumi walked in. She was bewildered by their compliments and she shook her head frantically.

"Return to your practices," Midorima said sternly, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

"Oooh~ So scary~" the team mocked, ruffling his green hair affectionately. Midorima waved their hands away, obviously irritated. They went on their way back to practice while laughing and talking cheerfully. With a wave, Takao left Kazumi and joined the others. Hearing muffled squealing, Kazumi turned around to see a crowd of girls at the entrance of the gymnasium. The Shutoku team was pretty popular, after all- maybe too popular. The girls seemed to be glaring at her for being the only girl inside the gymnasium.

"Girls are so loud," Midorima sounded annoyed as he looked distastefully at the group. Kazumi wasn't sure what to think of this, wondering if it was a sign for her to go away. She shuffled away quietly from him, trying to avoid the stares of the girls who were looking at them. She felt a hand on her wrist, and she turned around to see Midorima who was gripping her wrist. She tilted her head in question.

"Not you," he snapped, releasing his grip. Kazumi felt a bit offended at him getting angry at her for assuming what most people would have. She frowned, but her pout disappeared when she felt the intensity of the girls' gazes rise. Their stares could have burned a hole right through her. Midorima cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "I didn't mean you."

Kazumi was a bit surprised at his apology. Was it an apology? Could it really be considered one? Well, she would accept it anyway. Right now, it was more important for her to get out of the gymnasium ASAP. It seemed she had become the enemy of the huge group of girls cheering for the Shutoku team as they did individual practices.

"Wait till we're done, or you'll get run over by them," he said, nodding at the entrance which was clogged by the girls. The girls all "Kyaaa!"-ed at the sight of the ace nodding at them, which she found a bit ridiculous. Nevertheless, she nodded and sat down on a bench. Watching the team practice different plays, she noticed that Midorima was more comfortable passing to Takao then to any other player. Kazumi had to smile at the friendship the two shared. It was nice having friends... maybe one day she could have a friendship as close as theirs.

"We're done," Takao announced cheerfully as he bounded over to Kazumi. She nodded and rose, picking up her bag and the glass vase. As she walked to the entrance, a familiar face popped out. It was Haruna. The brunette grinned and waved at her before tackling her into a hug. Kazumi received the hug warmly and smiled back at her.

"Quiet as always, Kazumi-chan," Haruna noted, her eyes brightening when she used the new nickname. Locking arms with her, Kazumi's cheerful friend hummed as they walked to class. Midorima and Takao weren't far behind, with Takao grumbling about Midorima dragging the mirror on the floor. Midorima retorted with his usual quote, "Man proposes, God disposes."

"I forgot to ask... but why are you carrying a vase around?" Haruna asked curiously. Kazumi turned her head and nodded in Midorima's direction. Haruna looked surprised but at the same time, she didn't. Did that make sense? The four walked to class in the nick of time, as the bell rung. Tamaki-sensei shook his head at their near-tardiness but smiled. Takao responded with a face of mock fear at the teacher's disapproval, causing the class much laughter. Their laughter only increased when Midorima had asked the teacher for help when the mirror didn't fit through the door because of its width. Tamaki-sensei looked dumbfounded and introduced the concept of "turning the mirror around" so that it would go through.

"Alright, alright settle down. Next time, Midorima, please don't bring such a big mirror to school." Tamaki-sensei said, running a hand through his blonde hair, looking exasperated. Midorima nodded, and Takao looked at him skeptically. The laughter died down as Tamaki-sensei started to teach. The class went on as always until the teacher asked them to form groups of 4 for a mini oral report. Kazumi cringed at the thought of an oral report and remembered last year's shame of ending up with no group-

"C'mon Kazumi-chan! Takao-kun and Midorima-kun says we should do it together," Haruna urged, surprising Kazumi. The blond blinked in amazement a few times before nodding. In a few minutes, Midorima and Takao were arguing over which part of the report they would do with Haruna watching in amusement. Suddenly, Haruna turned to Kazumi. "Ah, Kazumi-chan, you don't need to talk if you don't want to. Sensei only said that everyone has to help write the report." Kazumi smiled gratefully at her friend's concern. Last year, this would have never happened.

A thought struck Kazumi. She should stop comparing last year and this year. Last year and this year were two different years with different people. Kazumi was now determined to enjoy the present, instead of lingering on the past. And so, she turned to the group with a smile on her face as her three new friends discussed peacefully, well attempted to, what they would do for the report.

"Ne, Hinomari-san, could you give this to Tamaki-sensei?" Kazumi turned to see three girls, who were smiling at her. With no time to respond, the girls had already piled up books in her arms. The trio walked away, giggling to themselves. Well, wasn't that rude. She wondered if she was being bullied but brushed the thought aside. It wouldn't hurt to stay in school a few minutes longer to drop off some books. Haruna had rushed to cram school as soon as school ended. Midorima and Takao had basketball practice as always. Kazumi, on the other hand, had only planned on returning a library book before leaving but hadn't expected to encounter the three girls.

"Arigato, Hinomari-san. But, why are you giving me the books for 2-D?" Tamaki-sensei said in a confused tone when she had placed the books on his desk. She merely shrugged and walked away. It would take too much effort to try to explain. After all, it wasn't like she could tell him. Opening the classroom door, she walked over to her desk and found that her bag and vase had disappeared. Ah, so she was getting bullied. She had never been bullied before- just unintentionally isolated.

"Ew, what is this? A vase?" a girl's voice said, shrieking with laughter. Kazumi turned to the entrance of the classroom to see the 3 girls she had met before standing there.

"You're such a slut, Hinomari-san." The tallest of the three girls said as they walked towards her. The other two nodded in agreement. Kazumi stood still, wishing that they'd finish talking fast. She'd stay emotionless and they'd get bored fast- well, hopefully.

"I know right?! Like, totally." A girl with dyed blonde hair said, who was holding the vase.

"You're fucking around with both our precious Midorima and Takao," another girl added, swinging around Kazumi's bag.

"You have nothing to say, eh?" the tall one asked, grinning creepily. Kazumi rolled her eyes at her, but froze when she remembered that she was going to stay emotionless. It didn't really matter much at this point anyway. At her reaction, the trio seemed to smirk. "Since she already has a vase, why don't we give this lovely flower some water?"

In less than a second after her words, Kazumi felt water being poured on her. She coughed, her eyes becoming blurry as water clouded her vision. She heard it before she felt it, but the sound of glass resonated throughout the room. Feeling shards of the glass hit her, she cringed. A thump told her that her bag had been thrown onto the ground. The three girls rushed away from the site, while Kazumi tried to cough out the water. Hearing footsteps, she wondered if the girls had come back.

"Hino-chan...?!" she vaguely realized that it was Takao's voice. Kazumi heard what seemed to be Midorima muttering, and the sound of shoes squeaking as someone ran down the hallway.

"Get out of the room, idiot." someone pulled her hand, firmly but gently. Kazumi realized it was Midorima, as she rubbed the water out of her eyes. Squeezing the water out of her hair, she attempted smiling at Midorima in thanks. His expression soured. "What are you grinning like an idiot for?" Kazumi feebly shrugged, tying her hair into a ponytail, straightening out her uniform, wiping away the blood- anything to keep her mind occupied from what had happened just now. Even with all these distractions, she could feel herself trembling.

"Oha Asa says that if a Pisces breaks their lucky item..." Midorima started to say. Was this really the time for horoscopes? She was about to break down, and yet he was still rambling about Oha Asa. Kazumi felt a hand on her hand, gently patting her. She looked up at Midorima, who cleared his throat and quietly spoke. "...the Pisces should cry in front of a Cancer."

With his words, she felt a warm yet an oddly heartbreaking feeling inside of her. Taking a step towards him, she buried her face into his shirt as tears streamed down her face. Kazumi didn't want him to see her cry- he might find her disgusting. But even as she thought this, she knew he wouldn't. That was the kind of person he was. Cold but gentle. Despite her tears, she wanted to giggle a little. Not only did this show he really was a tsundere, as Takao said, Midorima had very awkwardly placed his other arm around her in a weird hug.

Omake-

Neither Kazumi nor Midorima knew that Takao was rapidly taking pictures of their awkwardly adorable hug. He had caught the three girls quickly, since they had resumed to a slow walk after rushing away. Takao had sent the trio to Tamaki-sensei, who then understood why Kazumi had brought the books earlier that afternoon. Haruna, on the other hand, had no idea of what was currently going on since she was stuck in cram school.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter and the omake! Hehehe~ Thanks to Sylver Tyz and charrmingchrissy1 for reviewing!