A/N: Haha, well. So. I'm not dead, but my internship is taking a lot more out of me than I thought it would, hence the delay. As promised, this one is a bit longer than others (but still not longer than the first chapter, doi). My internship should end at around the second-to-the-last week of May, so if I can, I'll try to make a double update, but no promises. :| Sorry!

So, like I've said from the very beginning, since I started this before the Teiko Arc, there will be a few inconsistencies with the canon. For the most part, it'll just be the little details, and I'll try to conform to the manga as much as possible from now on, but I won't be going back and changing what's already been established, i.e., Midorima's lucky item on the first day is a paper crane, not a phonebook, and Kise's already debuted as a model before entering Teiko.

And that's it for the important(?) stuff. More of my ramblings at the end of the chapter. Thanks again for all the faves, story alerts and reviews. Love you guys lots. 3

chapter four
The Glorious

While it was boring having to go through the basic exercise tests, Aomine supposed it could've been worse. He could have been taking a written test—like Satsuki and the other manager applicants, the poor, poor saps.

Working his body was far easier than having to work his mind.

Though the captain did shout a bit too much.

"What the hell?! You expect get into the basketball club with that kind of footwork? Practice your cuts more!"

It was straining his ears in a different way compared to Satsuki's nagging, but it was still straining his ears nonetheless.

Aomine stepped out of the court after his turn at the rebound test—which was so pitifully easily he could do it in his sleep—taking a big gulp from his water bottle as he leant against the wall. He let his eyes wander around, taking in the sight of it all.

The coaches were strict, but reasonable; the captain was loud, but Aomine could tell that he was skilled. The members, especially those who were identified as part of the first string, were all diligent and radiating with a quiet energy. As miraculous as it sounded, he didn't really have anything to complain about.

Besides, the really interesting ones were first years just like him.

The first one to catch his eye was the purple-haired giant with the really complicated name he couldn't be bothered to remember right now. While Aomine couldn't really call him skilled, something about purple-hair was just so incredibly overpowering that when you face him, his lack of skill wasn't a problem at all.

He was like a huge, daunting mountain, especially when he was standing under the hoop. Purple-hair didn't even have to make an effort—he just slapped away the ball whenever it got too close to the hoop. He got a bit annoying with his whiny voice, but Aomine didn't really care. He didn't really expect to get along with him too well, but he supposed he could suck it up on the court for a full game, if his patience didn't run too thin.

Next was the glasses kid who kept showing off with three-pointers. It wouldn't have bothered Aomine too much—he liked showing off with three-pointers as much as the next guy—but the arc to his shots was just completely ridiculous. He could've sworn some of glasses' shots hit the ceiling lights, and waiting for them to fall in really grated at his nerves.

Actually, Aomine couldn't remember if glasses even made two-pointers. He only saw him past the three-point line during defense.

And then, of course, there was the red-haired guy who was with glasses. Aomine remembered him as the first year representative from the opening ceremonies, and he wondered why the top scorer in the entrance exams was trying out for basketball. Though he didn't make a habit of stereotyping people—Satsuki will nag him for it, god forbid—that Akashi kid just didn't really seem like the type.

He wasn't spectacularly fit—his physical capabilities were above average, Aomine would give him that, but he wasn't particularly tall, especially when he stood next to glasses when they talked during breaks. He didn't look like the athletic type either (then again, neither did glasses, so what the hell?). In Aomine's honest opinion, he looked more like the class rep type—smart and responsible.

Still though: at the end of try-outs, when the names of the chosen ones were called out, Aomine wouldn't really call himself surprised.

It was subtle, but Momoi had always been observant, so she had no trouble picking up on it.

It was thin and sort of discreet in the way it tilted across Ryuugamine's wrist, especially since she was wearing the white blazer of their uniform, but those icy rocks had a brilliant sparkle to them that Momoi had only seen behind glass cases.

She pointed it out while she and her usual group were eating in the cafeteria. Even though she bought just yakisoba bread on the first day, the green-haired Ryuugamine had decided to sample everything in the entire cafeteria menu before the year ended. Today, she got the gyuudon meal.

"Say, Ryuugamine-san," Momoi piped up, as soon as the conversation between Kohaku and Suoh had lulled. "Are those real diamonds?"

Everyone turned their heads at the word "diamonds." They all glanced from Momoi, to Ryuugamine, to the thin band of diamond-embedded white gold that hung elegantly on her wrist.

"Uwaah~ So pretty," Fujisaki complimented, awe fully overtaking her features.

"This?" The green-haired girl lifted her left hand, pulling back the sleeve of her blazer a bit so that it settled against the skin of her wrist. The gleaming purity of the white gold and diamonds was stark against the pale golden hue of Ryuugamine's complexion. "It's Stefani's. My mom cleaned out her dresser a bit and gave me all the jewelry dad had given her."

"Eh? Why?" Kohaku asked, surprised with her reply.

"She's going out with Akio-san now, so she wants to leave memories of her old flame behind, or something like that," Ryuugamine shrugged nonchalantly, going back to her gyuudon.

"That reminds me," Suoh started slowly. "I've been wondering about this for a bit now. Is Ryuugamine-san the daughter of that Ryuugamine Koumi?"

"Yep. That's my mom."

There was a bit of contempt in the smirk that formed on Ryuugamine's lips, and Momoi supposed she could somewhat understand. A few years back, all that Japan was talking about was how the rising Japanese theatre star, Ryuugamine Koumi, had divorced her American director husband after having a scandalous catfight with a veteran actress while at a gala. It was quite the messy affair, now that Momoi thought about it. She had been young when that news spread, but now that she was a bit older, something akin to pity bubbled up in her chest for the green-haired girl. It must have been hard for her.

"That's amazing," Fujisaki said breathlessly. "First there's the model, Kise-kun, in our year; not to mention that majority of the clubs and teams here are nationally-ranked. I even heard that both the student council president and vice-president were offered full scholarships to the high school the Prime Minister attended! There are so many famous people here. It kinda makes me feel really inferior."

"Oh, come on," Kohaku said with a bit of exasperation to her tone. "You're the one whose family owns a chain of restaurants!"

"It's Rina-chan whose father is set to inherit the CEO seat from our grandfather," Fujisaki sniffed.

"I'm starting to feel like I don't belong in this table," Suoh jokingly said to Momoi and Izumi, who both agreed heartily.

"Even Kohaku-san's father is part of the school's board of directors," Izumi pointed out.

"Oi, oi," Kohaku said with a smile. "Why are you making us to be the bad guys?"

"So we'd look like the heroines," Momoi joked, and everyone laughed.

"Minena."

A green-haired boy who looked remarkably similar to Ryuugamine came up to their table, holding out a camouflage-patterned handkerchief that had several, ugly little rips.

There was a bit of hesitance to the boy's tone, and he had a pale pink blush staining his cheeks. He was obvious in how hard he tried to ignore the other girls sitting at the table, and it was like his gaze centered on Ryuugamine and Ryuugamine alone. It made Momoi smile a bit.

It was quite the cute nickname, too.

"I dropped it in a rose bush and it got caught in the thorns," he said, his voice tense and nervous. Somehow, despite his nearly-perfect poker face, this boy was very clearly on the verge of outright panicking.

"What bad luck."

The green-haired boy threw Ryuugamine a sharp glare, and the girl simply grinned in reply. She reached into the pocket of her blazer, procuring a camouflage-patterned hair scrunchie.

"Try to not rip this one to shreds, too," she said wryly. "Wear it—on your wrist. Sheesh. Stop making faces. You're the one who ruined my Mercury handkerchief. And it's part of the fall set Akio-san gave me, too."

It looked like the green-haired boy was trying very hard not to snap back at her. His lips pressed into a thin line, substituting the ripped handkerchief with the hair scrunchie. As Minena had advised, he wore it on his wrist, though he made sure it was hidden under the sleeve of his blazer.

He walked away with a very, very forced, "Thank you." Ryuugamine just shook her head, picking up her chopsticks once again.

"Relative?" Kohaku asked, the small smile on her face clearly saying that she enjoyed the show.

"Neighbor," Ryuugamine replied easily, and Fujisaki let out a muffled squeal.

"A childhood friend?" she asked giddily. "The childhood friend?"

An amused smile formed on Ryuugamine's lips as she swallowed. "Actually . . . "

Kohaku clamped a hand onto Momoi's shoulder. "Okay, Momoi. Now that we've met Minena-chan's dear childhood sweetheart, introduce us to yours, too, and then we'll compare."

Momoi grimaced, shaking her head furiously. "No, no! I told you guys already: Aomine-kun is just a friend! Geez."

"He's tall! What's his name?" Fujisaki asked Ryuugamine.

"Midorima Shintarou. He lives in the house next to the one we moved into," Ryuugamine said. "Our mothers went to the same elementary, middle school, and high school."

"So, what's with the cute nickname?" Suoh asked with a grin.

These girls were feral, really.

"My grandparents called me that, and since they were the ones who lived in that house and talked to the neighbors, pretty much everyone in our street calls me 'Minena'. In fact, I don't think they know my name is actually 'Hatsuna'," she said, shrugging. "You're free to call me that, too, if you want."

"Oh, but it would take away such special privileges from Midorima-kun," Fujisaki said teasingly. She shook her head sagely, "No, no. Only Midorima-kun has the right for that."

Ryuugamine arched an eyebrow in amusement.

"Okay, but what was that about the handkerchief and scrunchie?" Suoh asked. "Does he have a thing for that design?"

Ryuugamine shook her head, "He's a devotee of Oha Asa. Cancer's lucky item of the day is anything with a camouflage pattern."

"My sister only listens to that when they have a basketball game," Kohaku grinned. "She and the captain have the same horoscope, and she told me it works pretty well."

"I suppose it's pretty accurate," Ryuugamine mused. "Then again, some of lucky items are just plain weird."

"Oh, I remember!" Kohaku exclaimed. "On the final day of the Summer Tournament last year, Aimi-nee's lucky item was supposed to be a dakimakura with a bishounen. She was able to borrow one from one of the basketball player—"

"What?!"

"—player's sister," she finished, and Fujisaki grinned sheepishly at her overreaction.

Kohaku leaned back a bit, crossing her arms over her chest as she closed her eyes and nodded. "Well, despite that, I don't really know if it's because of Aimi-nee's lucky items or the Teiko team is really just that strong. The captain, Nijimura-senpai, isn't to be taken lightly, and neither are the coaches."

"Yeah, they all looked intimidating," Momoi commented with a sheepish grin on her face. "Even Aomine-kun was no match to them, haha."

"I know, right?" Kohaku said. Then, she lowered her voice, leaning over the table with a scandalous look in her face. "But Aimi-nee tells me that even the coaches are nothing compared to the Student Council President."

"3-A's Sorano Aya, right?" Izumi confirmed.

"She was already president last year, and she got the board to drop the special A class system to promote student equality. Her campaign for it made quite a ruckus, and in the end the she got the board to force their hand. This is the last year there'll be special A classes, and starting next year, classes are going to be assigned randomly," Kohaku said. "Daddy did nothing but complain about it last year."

"Wow," Fujisaki exclaimed breathlessly. "And she was only a second-year then?"

"They also said that last year's Teiko-sai was the most successful there is. Since the President was able to get the board to approve the lengthened three-day schedule for the festival, they managed to rake in a lot of big-time sponsors, too."

"That's right!" Fujisaki commented. "The heir to the Kihara Group was a third year and part of the student council last year, so they were a major sponsor for their events."

"Apparently, this year, the President is pushing for Teiko-sai to be a week-long event," Kohaku said with a grin. "Daddy's already complaining about it."

"Sorano Aya, huh?" Suoh said. "She sounds like quite an amazing person."

"'Amazing' doesn't even begin to describe it," Kohaku said with a sigh. "Her nickname really suits her, too."

"Let me guess," Ryuugamine said—her smiled tinged with a hint of sarcasm that only Momoi picked up on—as she placed her elbows on the table and cradled her chin in her hands. "It's 'Joutei.'"

"I'm back."

Minato let his eyes stray from the TV screen, looking over his shoulder to greet his sister as she passed by the living room.

"You got a letter from Kourin-san. I slipped it under your door before mom found out."

Minena stopped at the foot of the stairs, turning her head to gaze at the entrance to the living room.

"Kourin . . . ? Ah—that guy," she mumbled to herself. She fished out her phone from the pocket of her skirt, remembering the text message from before as she unlocked the screen with a swipe of her thumb. "You should've just burned it."

Minato's ears picked up on his sister's last comment. He turned his gaze back to the television screen, popping a potato chip into his mouth.

"But it probably has a check again."

Translation Notes:

Dakimakura. Those long pillow-things with the characters often in suggestive poses.
Teiko-sai. A nickname for the Teiko School Festival. Literally just means "Teiko festival." Yay creativity.
Joutei. Empress. The 'tei' in "Joutei" is the same as the 'tei' in "Teiko."

Some other stuff:

Okay then. Just FYI, Freundeskreis will only cover their Teiko years. There will eventually be a sequel covering their high school years, but it will be posted as a different story.

Also, someone already asked this before in a review but I forgot to reply to it, orz: The title, Freundeskreis, is German for 'a circle of friends.' The meaning will be hinted at all throughout the story, and maybe (probably will be) properly explained in the last chapter if I feel like I haven't gotten my point across, haha.

On another note, I've noticed that a lot of new people are putting this story on their alerts, but not reviewing. While I won't force anyone to review, I'd love to hear from you guys, so I will be putting up after-chapter questions that you can answer. :) Don't be shy about your opinions, I don't bite very hard, haha. :D

Question of the Chapter: How would you guys describe Minena?

Tell me all about what you think of her. :) Maybe give some adjectives and why you say that. I actually have a written profile about her that I'm trying to follow, so your answers can help me know whether I've been characterizing her according to plan or if she's going Mary Sue.

Follow-up stuff:

I'm thinking of posting some short OC romances with the MiraGen, like noelswonderland is doing. Like, 11/12/13-chapter things, with relatively long chaps; kinda like a regular, 1-season anime. It'll take a while before I put any up, but who do you guys want to see first? (Though I have my own biases, so depending on what inspiration comes to me, certain people will definitely come up before others, haha.)

I've put a poll for this in my profile. Feel free to vote. :D

Other stuff:

Stefani's = Tiffany's
Mercury = Hermes