Earl Gray Tea- Assistant Manager
I blinked at the lazy male, my eyes looking skeptical. He gave me a condescending smirk, his face taunting me lazily. Oh, how I wanted to punch him.
"You heard me, go buy me lunch." Aomine-Kun ordered, immersed in twirling his keys on his right pointer finger.
I took a deep breath and swallowed my pride. 'Don't kill him, don't kill him.' I held out my hand expectantly, making him raise an eyebrow.
"You expect me to waste my money on lunch? Buy it yourself, short stuff. I want the yakisoba bento from the 7/Eleven down the street. Get me a melon ramune, too." He said, making me chew on my lip.
It was still raining outside, and it had only started to pound harder. I closed my eyes and opened them, making up my mind and grabbing his umbrella from beside his feet. He glared at me as I turned away, and threw something at my head, making me spin around and shoot him an annoyed look. I glanced down at what he had thrown at me. It was a wallet. I did my best to swallow down a smile so I could look angry, but I think it only made me look really weird.
"You can only use 400 yen." I nodded at him, giving him a smile.
I moved to open the door, but it opened for me. It was the foreign guy with the freckles. I bowed my head cautiously to him as I walked past, playing with Aomine-Kun's umbrella awkwardly.
"Hey, Nanase-San!" He called in perfect Japanese. "I look forward to being your friend in class!"
'When did I say we were friends...?' I wondered, jogging down the hallways with a slightly perplexed look on my face.
I quickly changed into my outdoor shoes, opening the umbrella. I slid open the door, instantly hit in the face with rain, wind, and cold. It wasn't like this earlier, that was for sure. Earlier it was peaceful, calm. I ran through the rain, instantly soaked despite the umbrella. Fat load of good that did. Wind seemed to be blowing the rain every way, including me. In fact, it seemed to be pouring nowhere except me. Well, nature just decided to hate me today, didn't it? I ran quickly, my feet slapping on the wet pavement. People in cars flashed me concerned looks but I ignored them and kept running, even when the rain started to fall harder.
Momoi's POV
"Aomine-Kun!" I screeched as soon as Miyuri left. "How could you do that?! Do you see how hard the rain is falling? I know you saved her and she owes you, but this is too much!"
I quickly scrolled through my phone, showing the lazy boy the weather forecast. His eyes flicked to the screen half-heartedly, before yawning.
"She'll be fine. I'm hungry, anyways."
"Aomine Daiki! This is a Typhoon warning! She could get blown away and it'll be all your fault!" I practically screamed.
"Wrong. It was her fault for falling off the train platform."
I felt like I had been slapped. I knew Aomine-Kun had changed since the Generation of Miracles had disbanded, but this was just too cruel. The Daiki I knew wasn't like this.
I clenched my fists and made my decision. I grabbed his bag and pawed through it, grabbing his porn/bathing suit magazine.
"Oi, Momoi. What do you think you're-"
"Aomine-Kun, I'm not scared of you. Go and bring back Miyuri-Chan. Otherwise, say goodbye to Horikita Mai-Chan!"
"Momoi, let's talk about this, huh?"
"NO! It's your fault she's out there, and it'll be your fault if she's hurt! Now go, you idiot!"
I pushed him out the door and held it from the inside until I heard him grumble off.
3rd POV
Aomine's sneakers slapped against the wet sidewalk. He had stolen one of the umbrellas from the school bucket, a black one with a wooden handle because Miyuri took his. The wind blew strongly, but the only way it really effected Aomine was the fact that the wind was blowing rain into him. He had an annoyed look on his face. The lid of a trash bin almost hit him in the face- he avoided it easily, but a thought sprang into his head.
'The only reason I'm not almost being carried off is because of my weight. But the girl is a whole lot lighter than me, right?' He was almost worried. Note the word 'almost.'
"Nah," He mumbled.
Just because that was his nature. But he began walking a little bit faster. Then more thoughts popped into his head.
'Wait, what if I don't find her? What if she's dead? Shit, what will Momoi do? My Special Edition Horikita Mai magazine! That's a limited time one!'
Then he began running. He turned a corner, slipping on the curb and almost running into a bush. The 7/Eleven came into his sight and he ran into the store, panting slightly. He caught sight of the girl looking at him strangely, her teal eyes slightly surprised. Water dripped down from her uniform and her brown hair, making a pool on the floor.
"Oi, did you get my lunch?" He asked with a scowl.
She handed him a plastic bag and he checked inside to make sure everything was inside.
"Wallet," He ordered, and she placed the pouch in his hands.
He noticed that she was shivering.
'Whatever.' He thought, before leaving her alone in the store, cold and unattended to.
He heard the door open and slide shut, and a pair of feet walking next behind him. A car flew by, and the tires dipped in a pool of water by Miyuri, effectively splashing her with dirty water. If he had turned around to see if she was alright, he would have noticed that her uniform was dripping with oily, filthy water, and that a drop of clear saline liquid was falling from her eye.
The wind swirled around the two, and he heard something skid on the ground. Aomine turned to see the umbrella had flown away from Miyuri, the wind and rain wrenching it from her grip. He blinked, mentally cursing. There went his umbrella. Her hair flew around her, wet strands slapping her in the face, and her uniform sticking to her small body. He rolled his eyes and walked to her, sheltering her from the blunt of the rain with his stolen umbrella and his body. Her face was blank.
"Hey, you're filthy," he commented.
She glared at him, her gaze supremely annoyed. Her tears were long gone, but her eyes were red. And of course, out of all the things he had to notice, it was the slight swelling of her eyes.
"Were you crying?"
She clenched her fists, her sopping wet hair darkening her eyes.
"Was it because you got dirty?" He asked with a smirk, continuing to walk.
Miyuri took a deep breath, relief flitting across her face when she saw the school come into view. The trees sheltered them from most of the wind and rain. But suddenly, a gust of wind made the same cherry blossom trees she had been admiring slap a branch into Aomine's face. Disadvantages of being tall, huh?
He looked shell-shocked, and Miyuri covered her mouth, covering a huge smile. Cherry blossom leaves and wet petals were scattered across Aomine's face and hair.
"Stop laughing, Miyuri!" Aomine ordered, trying to wipe off the petals, albeit unsuccessfully.
But how could she stop laughing? Mister I-will-break-you was being quite adorable. A smirk crossed Aomine's face as an idea crossed his mind. He saw people looking at them through the windows, probably wondering why the two were outside in such weather.
He leaned down, meeting her eye-level. Confusion was written across her face and he almost chuckled aloud. Miyuri may have been mute, but he could read her like an open book, no matter how emotionless she seemed in front of the people in class. For some strange reason, this was exceedingly easy for Aomine Daiki.
"I can't see where all the crap is on my face. So you take it off for me," He told her bluntly.
Her eyebrows knitted together at such a ridiculous request, but she obeyed anyways, her fingers peeling off pink petals and leaves off his face. A huge blow of wind thew her forward, surprising both of them. Her body slammed into his, and they both headbutted hard.
"Shit!" Aomine yelled, holding his head in pain. "Why is your head made of out rock?!"
They engaged into a glaring contest, eyes burning. Who had the better resolve? A mistreated mute, or an arrogant pervert? Hmm, certainly a hard decision.
The testosterone-high male gave her a final piercing glare before running into the school, the girl trailing after him, her eyes drilling holes into his back.
'Why do I do this?' She thought exasperatedly, stepping inside the school and shaking her arms in an attempt to rid herself of the rain water.
She walked back to class, realizing that she had ten minutes of lunch break left. Everyone was staring at her wet form. Everyone except the reason of her troubles, who was stuffing his face with the food she had gone out to buy. Her stomach growled at the sight of the food, and she looked down, embarrassed. Miyuri trudged to her seat and plopped down, the only sound being the whispers of gossiping students and water falling to the floor. She buried her head into her arms, helpless against the whispers that depressed her.
Unnoticeable to Miyuri, someone stepped forward. Her head jerked up to see the freckled boy wrapping a warm jacket across her shoulders.
"Are you alright?" He asked kindly.
Her eyes were grateful, and she smiled at him, putting her arms in the sleeves of the jacket. It was warm, warmer than she expected.
"I'm Kang Yi Ahn from Korea. You can have that jacket if you want," He grinned. "Looks like you need it, anyways."
She opened her mouth to say something-anything-but she remembered she couldn't. Her gaze cast downwards, and she just then realized how her condition crippled her. Truthfully, Miyuri had never made friends, seeing as her muteness did not allow her to speak. In fact, she stayed away from friends, mainly because she always came off as a third wheel. And no one had ever actually approached her to try to befriend her. Her nails dug into her palms, but her face remained calm and passive.
'Thank you, thank you,but I can't be your friend. I can't talk, can't you see?'
Her gaze drifted to the tall figure behind Yi Ahn, and she opened her mouth once more.
"Oi, Freckles," Aomine said with a look on his face. "Don't you think you should get back to your desk?"
"I was just talking to Nanase-San, Aomine-San-"
"That's great, Freckles. Tell it to someone who cares."
For some reason, Miyuri was grateful for Aomine. He got her out of that awkward situation, and he could tell how uncomfortable she was just by observing her body language.
'How can he read me that well? How is that even possible? And why did he even help me? Is it part of his messed up plan?'
She almost laughed at how stupid that last part was. She had only known Aomine for a few hours, but he didn't seem like the type to actually plan. But still why? Was it an impulse? Or just something to spite her with?
But she still couldn't help to be grateful to Aomine Daiki. Even if she constantly wanted to slap him, kick him, or gouge his eyeballs out.
"Hey, you two!" A voice yelled. "Get back to your seats!"
It was Nakamura-Sensei.
Miyuri wanted to sigh in relief,
"And Miyuri, Daiki, why are you two all wet?"
He just had to ask.
"We opened the window and got hit in the face with water," Aomine answered lazily, sidling over to his seat.
Miyuri could have sworn that everyone in the room sweatdrop at the same time, and she could literally hear everyone's thoughts.
'What an obvious lie!'
School progressed, and Miyuri took careful notes in her crisp white notebooks with lead filled pencils. When the bell finally rung, Miyuri looked out the window. It still rained, but significantly less.
"Miyuri-Chan!" She heard a familiar voice call.
Her teal eyes met Satsuki's pretty reddish-pink ones, and she let out a smile.
"Do you want to come to the basketball club with us?" Satsuki asked, grabbing Miyuri's hands with a wide grin. "We applied there, and I'm sure they'll make you Assistant Manager or something."
Miyuri returned the smile, stuffing her things into her bag and nodding to Satsuki's question. The said female grabbed Miyuri's hand and dragged her over to Aomine's desk, where he appeared to be snoozing, his head inside his notebook to pretend that he was actually paying attention. Satsuki snatched up the notebook and shook her head.
"He'll never get into a good college," She sighed, making Miyuri laugh quietly.
Miyuri shook Aomine's shoulder until his dark blue eyes fluttered open, the haze of sleep still in his eyes.
"Ngh..." He mumbled, not seeing clearly. "Gimme those boobs..."
He reached out, and Miyuri stepped away, clearly understanding what he was going to try. But his reach was longer, and his big hands wrapped around her breasts. A huge blush painted Miyuri's face, and she looked purely horrified.
"Hm? There's nothing there..." The glaze of sleep left his face, and his eyes grew wide. "Holy shit-"
"You pervert!" Satsuki exclaimed, trying to pull Miyuri away.
The victim was utterly horrified. How could so many bad things possibly happen to one person in the same day?
Aomine's grasp loosened, making Miyuri fall away from him and run from the classroom. The girl wiped tears from her eyes, and she almost ran into someone.
"What the hell?" A voice grumbled.
Miyuri bowed quickly and ran around a tall blonde, her head down. The tall male looked at the girl running away, and thought he saw a tear running down her cheek. He followed her, partly because he was worried and partly because what young man would leave a poor girl crying? An ill-mannered one, that's what.
The blonde followed Miyuri into an empty classroom (it was the end of the day, after all) and had an awkward look on his face. He must have seemed like a perverted stalker...
"H-hey, are you alright?" He asked, trying not to sound too stalkerish. "I saw you running through the halls earlier."
Miyuri stepped forward, rubbing her tears away. She opened her mouth to speak, but instead got her phone after a second of contemplation.
'Thank you, I'm fine. I went through a traumatizing experience, and it shocked me.' She wrote, smiling at him.'And do you know where the gym is?'
He grinned at her.
"Yeah, I know where the gym is!" He said loudly, enthusiastic now that his underclassman was assuredly fine. "It's my second year in the basketball club, actually."
Miyuri nodded, a slightly curious look on her face. That was the club she was to join, apparently, and she would have liked to know more about the club and it's members.
"My name is Wakamatsu Kousuke, and I play Center for the Touo Gakuen Basketball Team." he announced proudly, although Miyuri didn't have even the slightest idea what the word 'Center' meant in that context.
Miyuri used the name tag on her bag to tell him her name.
"Say, are you a mute?" He asked randomly.
Miyuri nodded and punched in a few words into her phone.
'I was in an accident when I was small, and the shock rendered me unable to speak. The doctors say that something of equal importance could scare me back into speaking, but no such thing has happened so far.' She scratched the back of her neck in slight shame.
"Hmm... BOO!" Miyuri jumped.
"Can you talk now?" Wakamatsu's voice was hopeful, and very loud.
Miyuri laughed silently and shook her head, opening the gym door.
"Miyuri-Chan! Are you okay? Do they hurt? I can slap Aomine-Kun if you want, I'm totally fine with it!" Satsuki-Chan jumped on Miyuri's case worriedly, examining her for signs of damage.
Miyuri simply wanted to laugh again. She gently pushed the overly-concerned Momoi Satsuki away, her teal eyes locking on an older man playing with his dark wavy hair.
"I am Katsunori Harasawa. Are you the girl who wanted to be the Assistant Manager?" He asked, his voice smooth.
Miyuri nodded, her head bouncing up and down.
"I see. And you can't talk, is that correct?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I assume you know the basics of basketball?"
She shrugged. She knew what the objective of the game was, and she understood that some people had different jobs.
"Have you ever played a sport?" He interviewed, his voice rolling.
She nodded, typing in one word into her phone.
'Swimming.'
"Ah. So you aren't just a normal weakling schoolgirl. You can be the Assistant Manager, handling things like their water bottles, towels, massages, cooking foods for their energy. I assume you can handle that?" He listed off.
Miyuri nodded, realizing the responsibility set on her shoulders. But she could do it. She often found herself with more free time than the normal teenager, so this should be no sweat at all. Anyways, she often took the responsibility of shelving kickboards and flippers after swim practice, as well as pulling out the lane ropes and unhooking them from the walls before and after practice. It was fun for her, for some reason. As long as she was being useful, she didn't mind what she was doing.
"Wow! First Momoi and now a cutie!" She heard a boy catcall.
Miyuri flashed a cold glare in that general direction, willing to go over and kick whoever it was, but settling for hard glares. If only looks could kill, huh?
"Oho, is the little kitty mad?"
"Shut up, your annoying." Someone growled.
Aomine-Kun stepped forward, approaching Miyuri. He wrapped an arm around her neck, making her cross her arms and glare up at him. But he wasn't paying attention to her, so she settled at burning holes through the wall behind everyone.
"The only one allowed to bother this girl is me," He announced. "Got it?"
Miyuri discreetly kicked him in the shin, but he acted like her assault was like a mosquito. There were murmurs of 'Yeah, sure..' and alike in the small crowd, which satisfied him. Whence everyone else's attention was directed to the Coach, who was giving an introduction, Aomine leaned down to Miyuri's ear.
"What was that kick for, Miyuri? Are you still mad about the boob thing?"
She rolled her eyes. No duh, Aomine. Way to state the obvious.
"Sorry about that." He said, not really sorry at all.
'I swear I'll never get a sincere apology from this guy.'
"You were thinking that I'll never apologize seriously to you, right? Ha, you're too easy to read."
"Oi, Momoi and Nanase," The Coach began. "Get up here."
Miyuri pushed past tall boys coming to the front of the gym. Satsuki-Chan and the mute stood on either side of Coach, looking out at all the male basketball players.
"These are you two Managers. Treat them well, and they will do the same to you."
"My name is Momoi Satsuki! Nice to meet you!" Satsuki-Chan bowed, a grin on her face. "This is my good friend Nanase Miyuri! She can't talk, but I hope we get along! Now, before we get to practice, I need to know all of your names, age, your height, and weight."
One by one, young men walked up to the two Managers, saying their names and other information, and Satsuki-Chan would write their names on a clipboard. A few daring ones winked in a flirty manner at the two, but if that happened, Miyuri woulds grab the clipboard and push their heads away forcefully, making their whole bodies turn away from them.
"Imayoshi Shoichi, 18, 180 centimeters, and 71 kilos," A boy with glasses and long black hair announced. "I'm the Captain."
"Ah, nice to meet you!" Satsuki-Chan greeted cheerily. "I hope we can get along this year."
He nodded before moving.
"Wakamatsu Kousuke, 17, 193 centimeters, 85 kilos," The blonde didn't look up when he bowed, so Miyuri smiled and tapped his head.
His eyes flitted up, meeting the girl he saw crying in the hallway.
"You're my Assistant Manager?!" He cried in disbelief, standing up straight.
She grinned, her smile wide. He was loud and enthusiastic, but she liked that.
He was like the opposite of her, and she enjoyed people like that, even if others thought it annoying. It was slightly different than the situation in the classroom with Yi Ahn, seeing as she would be playing a major part in Wakamatsu-San's lifestyle and it was required that she be helpful to him.
"Yes, are you friends?" Satsuki-Chan asked, her voice matching his enthusiasm.
"Yeha, we met in the hallway just a while ago. She was crying and I wondered what was wrong."
Miyuri shot a look at Aomine.
'Why can't you be more like this guy?' She wondered, shaking her head.
He stepped up and pushed Wakamatsu-San away.
"Oi, what's your problem?" Wakamatsu asked in annoyance. "Can't you see I was talking?"
"Is everyone on this team this annoying?" Aomine snorted. "Aomine Daiki, 16, 192 centimeters, 85 kilos. Got it?"
Miyuri rolled her eyes, making him scowl at her. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her away from the gym.
"We need to talk." Oh, the dreaded words.