Hitomi smiled, watching Kuroko and Kagami sleep in class. She studied their faces, tilting her head slightly. Kuroko's face was calm, but Kagami's was angry-like he was playing a basketball game in his dreams. Right as that thought crossed her mind, Kagami's hand shot out like he was dunking...right onto the teacher's head.
"How dare you sleep so shamelessly in my class? Come to the faculty office later." The teacher said angrily.
"What?" Kagami yelled in desperation. He then glanced at Kuroko behind him, not getting in trouble. Hitomi laughed quietly, covering her mouth. Kagami glared at her. She looked away innocently, looking towards the teacher. Class continued with Kuroko still asleep.
Yuuki glared at Aomine's spot in the classroom, the big brute wasn't here today-or not in class.
"Excuse me Sensei, I have to use the restroom." The teacher gave her a look but let her go. She stood and walked out of class, her bag with her. Being a girl made it really easy to escape with her bag. She walked to the roof, seeing Aomine laying down.
"Yo dofus." Aomine didn't even stir and she groaned. "Come on Daiki!" She sat next to him and shook his shoulder roughly.
"What dammit?" He looked over at her. "You brat." She punched him.
"I am not a brat! You brute!" She glared angrily. "Don't make me kick you. Asshole." She mumbled.
"What do you want Yuuki?"
"You weren't in class. I was conce-confused. I didn't know where you went." She blushed slightly and looked away from him, crossing her arms. He noticed and smirked at bit, sitting up. He poked her cheek.
"Are you blushing?"
"No!" She smacked his hand and glared at him. He laughed.
"You are! You were concerned about me!" He grinned.
"Fine, I'll just randomly disappear sometimes and see how you feel!" His face hardened a bit. He wouldn't openly admit it but he cared about her, and would not like it if she just disappeared.
"Nah." He said, laying back.
"...Nah?"
"Nah." He repeated. She shook his head and laid next to him.
"You're weird, Daiki."
"Yeah?"
"Yup." He chuckled when she laid her head on his ribs again. He put his hand on her head.
"Don't interrupt my nap this time, brat."
"I'm going to nap too asshole." He huffed and closed his eyes, falling asleep. Yuuki closed her eyes as well, enjoying the warmth that seemed to radiate from Daiki's body. That warmth lulled her into sleep.
"Go buy some bread!"
"...Bread?" Hitomi watched from behind the first year boys as she leaned on her crutches. To be truthful, she was tempted to just ditch them. Her arms were so sore and red from the pads under her armpits. Apparently it showed on her face because Kuroko gave her a sympathetic glance.
"Yes, it's the 27th of each month the cafeteria gives out special bread! Its supposed to give you luck and success!"
"I see."
"Only, it gets a littler busier than normal." Hyuuga put a hand to his chin, implying with his face that that was a major understatement.
"That's easy as pie, ma'am." Hitomi blinked several times. 'Good luck, Tagia...'
"The second years will pay for this, but if you fail..." His face got scary. "You'll be training three times as hard." The first years all stiffened, frightened.
"If you don't hurry, they'll be sold out."
Hitomi walked with them as they walked to the cafeteria, humming quietly under her breath. She was short of breath because of her crutches. She just wanted to toss them into the trash can and burn them. They all stopped at the loud noise coming from the cafeteria.
"Okay wow, I'm gonna sit this one out guys..." Hitomi turned and started walking down the hall. She sat down by her locker in the hallway. She glared at her crutches, glad she only had a few more days. A fimiliar face walked down the hallway.
"Akria-chan!" Hitomi called. Akria looked at her.
"Hitomi-chan!" She ran over. "How are you, I miss you!" She sat down next to her.
"Where have you been? I haven't seen you in a week!"
"Ah, My brothers and I have been out of school. My dad takes us out one week a year for a family thing." She smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.
"How are your brothers, by the way?"
"They're good, still dorks." She smiled happily. "Being a big sister is fun."
"I wouldn't know." Hitomi smiled softly, leaning her head against the lockers.
"Are you an only child?"
"Yeah, kind of? I mean I have Yuuki, but she's not blood related to me." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. Even if they weren't blood related. Hitomi couldn't think of a time where Yuuki wasn't there. Them going to different high schools was the first time they've been apart for more than a week. "She goes to Touou. I miss her."
"We should go see her!"
"We should." She nodded thoughtfully.
"Akria-chan!" A voice called from down the hallway. They turned to see Teppei at the end.
"Oh, that's my cue." She blushed slightly and stood. "See you later Hitomi-chan!" Hitomi nodded and watched her leave.
'I haven't even eaten yet..' She sighed and moved to stand. There was suddenly a hand in front of her face, causing her to squeak in surprise.
"Oh, Tetsu!" She put a hand over her chest. "You scared me." She took his hand and he helped her up. She stumbled a bit and he steadied her, putting a hand on her waist. She blushed slightly. "Thanks." He smiled at her gently.
"Here." He held out half of a sandwich to her. "I knew you didn't get lunch, so I cut mine in half."
"Oh! You didn't need to do that!" She was startled, she hadn't expected him to be so...caring?
"You need to eat too." He tugged her to a bench near her. 'Why didn't I just sit down there?'
He handed the sandwich to her and sat down next to her.
"Thank you, Testuya." She smiled at him.
"You're welcome." She took a bite into the sandwich.
"Wah, this is really good!"
"Isn't it?" He smiled. She stared at him for a second, his smile distracting her. "Hitomi-chan?"
"Ah, sorry." She blushed. "Are you coming over for dinner again?" Since that night Hitomi invited them to dinner, Kagami and Kuroko would come have dinner with her and her mother every night or so.
"I'm not sure."
"How about.." She bit her lip. "How about after practice we go and get some milkshakes at Maji Burger?" His eyes lit up slightly.
"That sounds good." She smiled with a blush on her face.
"I'll look forward to it then."
_
"Captain, I copied the Inter-high tournament bracket!"
The team was standing in their practice gear listening to Riko and Hyuuga.
"Inter-high starts as preliminaries, so if we lose, we're out. We can't let our guard down at all." Hitomi had abandoned her crutches(no sadly, Kagami and Hyuuga wouldn't let her burn them) and was standing in the middle of the boys. She wasn't going to be practicing, but she was the manager for now, so she needed to pay attention. She nodded slightly at Hyuuga's explanations. She sighed softly. If she wasn't so immature she could probably be practicing with them at least for the tournament.
Her eyes glanced around looking at the eager faces of her team.
'I think we'll be okay.'
"I get the gist of it. But you're wrong about one thing." Kagami said, and everyone looked at him. "They're not chosen, they win it...sir." The team smiled, and Hitomi pat Kagami on the back.
"We've got three weeks until then. We fell a step short last year, but we'll definitely go this year. We'll be facing a lot of strong teams, but Shutoku is our biggest threat. They have a Generation of Mircales on their team. If we can't beat them, we won't make it to nationals."
Hitomi looked at Kuroko.
"You know who he is, right?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He said to Kagami and her. "Kise-san said that they were on another level. If they've improved at all, I cannot imagine how strong they are."
"Lets make sure we're on the ball!"
"Yeah!"
It was rough, just watching the boys practice, but Hitomi made sure to pay attention to each of their skills. They were all sweaty and tired when they headed to the locker room. Hitomi changed into casual clothes in the woman's restroom. She slid on a pair of dark jean shorts and a long tee shirt that was a size too big, because it was comfortable. She pulled her bag over her shoulder, wishing that they hadn't had to send her Seirin jacket back because it was too big. She walked out of the restroom to see Kuroko waiting for her.
"Ready to go?" He asked her and she nodded, following him. They walked out of the gym together, causing their team to look at them curiously.
"...Im going to follow them." Izuki said quietly. He was curious. His team members nodded in agreement and they all started to follow Hitomi and Kuroko stealthily.
Meanwhile, Kuroko and Hitomi were discussing middle school.
"It's not bad you didn't remember me Tetsu-kun. We only met once, and it was barely for ten minutes. Akashi-san needed a favor. Kise is the only one that continued to hang out with me after we met."
"I still should have remembered. I don't normally forget."
"It's not a big deal!" She smiled happily. "I looked familiar, so that's fine. I remember watching a lot of your guy's games though, Kise dragged me to them."
"I see." Hitomi looked up at him. She hit his arm lightly with her shoulder. He looked at her and smiled slightly. She smiled up at him. The team exchanged looks, some were confused, others knowing. They walked into Maji burger, and Hitomi got a chocolate milkshake, while Kuroko got a-surprise-vanilla one. They sat at a table by the window (fortunately enough for the Seirin team).
"Do you think their dating?" Kagami asked the team.
"I don't know. They call each other so casually.."
"And he's always nice to her.."
"They could just be friends guys."
"We'll have to ask them." They all turned to look at Koganei like he was crazy.
"ASK THEM?!"
"Ask us what?" Hitomi asked from in front of them innocently. She was now supporting Kuroko's jacket, the sleeves covering her hands. She stood slightly behind kuroko.
"If you guys are-"
Kagami, Izuki and Hyuuga covered his mouth.
"What?" She pouted. The men stared at her pout.
"SO CUTE."
"I'll walk you home, Hitomi-chan!" Riko offered, hooking her arm around hers and walking away from them.
"Wait I need to-"
"See you boys tomorrow!"
They walked down the street together, their arms looped. Riko looked down at the smaller girl.
"So Hitomi-chaan~" Hitomi was nervous.
"Y-Yes senpai..?"
"Are you and Kuroko-kun dating?"
"W-What?! e-eh, where did t-that come from!" She asked, flustered.
"You seem to like him enough..." Hitomi went quiet, fingering the ends of his jacket. She looked at the ground.
"We're not dating. We're friends, Riko-san."
"Oh?" 'Why does she look so upset at that?' "How do you feel about Kuroko-kun?"
"I..." She looked away. "Look its my stop. Ill see you tomorrow, senpai, thanks for walking me!" She dissapeared into her house.
"Mom I'm home!" She walked forward a little and her dad walked from around the corner. She stared shocked for a moment.
"Hi Hito-chan~"
"Dad!" She cried happily and ran to hug him. He swung her around and laughed, petting her head. He hugged her tightly.
"I missed you, squirt."
"I missed you too, dad." She smiled at him. They moved to the living room to sit down on the couch. Its been months since she's last seen her dad.
"How long are you home?"
"Permanently, I hope." Her eyes widened in surprise.
"What? Really?!"
"I've been moved to a station in Japan finally, so I'll be home everynight."
"I'm so glad!" She hugged him tightly, snuggling his side.
"Me too, Hito-chan. Now tell me about these boys your mother keeps talking about."
"Well..." Hitomi blushed.
"Oh and you like one of them? This is what happens when I leave, I miss all of the juicy stuff." He pouted.
"DAD!"
