A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed and favourited and reviewed! We are already past 42 followers, past 50 actually! I didn't think I would get so many. I'm very happy. Here's the next chapter!

Enjoy! :)


Dance is certainly a sport, and they are phenomenal athletes, and they're also artists. – Neve Campbell

Maturity is not measured by age. It's an attitude built by experience. – Newton Paul's blog

There's nothing more boring, then playing against an opponent who has given up. – Aomine Daiki

The best protection any woman can have... is courage. – Elizabeth Cady Stanton

A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward. – Jean Paul

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. – C. S. Lewis

The only way to have a friend is to be one. – Ralph Waldo Emerson


Few days later, they were eating lunch outside. Surprisingly, Aomine tagged along. It was nice to eat in such a large group once in a while. Kiku felt a bit out at first, but when they stopped talking about basketball and their upcoming practise match, she could join too. Ishii, Kano and Sakurai were nice enough to let the shy girl speak up. Well, Sakurai was just as socially awkward as Kiku, so they were bound to interact in some strange way.

Aya smiled at it. She had told the boys to treat Kiku gentler, and see the difference in the girl's behaviour.

Then she turned to Aomine, who was daydreaming once again. Occasionally, his eyes looked her up and down in a way she wasn't used to. It was strange for Aomine, to behave like this. As if he wanted to say something and then changed his mind. She didn't get it. What was wrong? Was it because of the weekend? The scar? Aya thought back to it, but nothing had changed between them. Maybe they had some sort of a truce now, but... Nothing was different.

They even got 83 points for the essay. That was the best mark he'd ever gotten and Aya didn't seem to mind she didn't get a 100. She probably knew her own limitations when it came to kanji. The pairs working together were evaluated together in some cases. If one of them failed, the other would fail too. So they both had to work on their assignments. Not in all subjects, thankfully. The main point of this was to teach the students to cooperate.

What is going through his head?... "There is a practise match tomorrow." She said, because she wasn't sure he had been listening before.

"Hm?" His deep blue eyes looked at her again.

"There is a practise match tomorrow. You should participate. Or rather... they want specifically you to play in this match." She repeated.

"Tch. Fine." He knew he had a responsibility to come to matches. At least to some...

Aya was patient, but his staring was driving her crazy. It wasn't the kind of a look to check her out, more like he wanted to read her mind. And it was uncomfortable. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

He smirked. "Like what?" So she can be thrown out of her balance too...

"Like you want to ask or say something and then you don't." She frowned, her forehead wrinkling slightly.

The expression she made was cute. Originally, he'd wanted to know if she truly danced, but when he noticed she felt uncomfortable under his gaze, he wanted to know how long he could keep it up. It was fun, watching the normally confident girl avert her eyes from him at times. But he didn't think she would see as far as his unspoken question. Almost like Tetsu.

"Really?" He asked lazily, raising an eyebrow at her.

Aya rolled her eyes at that. "Stop fooling around. What is it?" Her hard stare almost turned into a hostile glare. She really wanted to know why he'd been staring at her like that.

He sighed. His small game was over after only three days. Better give her an answer... "You really dance?" He asked.

Her eyes softened up. "'s that it?" She asked with raised eyebrows and then laughed.

"Oi! What's so funny? I just asked a question." He grumbled louder than expected and dragged attention of the others to their conversation.

Aya shook her head. "Let me guess... Satsuki told you?"

"Who else?" He tilted his head and tried to decipher the swirling emotions in her eyes. "Was that a secret?"

"Not really."

She still hadn't given him a clear answer, so he had to confirm it. "So you do dance...?"

"Yes. I do. Any problem with that?"

"It's not a sport." He mumbled. Sure, while watching her, while playing basket with her, he noticed her lean muscles... and many more things, but still... It disappointed him a bit.

"True. It's not just a sport. It's so much more." She winked at him, and got up. "We should head back if we want to be on time for afternoon classes."

And there she went again, avoiding the topic she didn't want to discuss. He could finally understand, what Satsuki whined about.

######

Right after school Aya headed to Katsunori's office.

"What did you want to talk about?" She asked the moment she entered and sat down.

"Hello to you too." He muttered and sighed, pointing at the box set next to his desk. "The uniforms you ordered arrived, but..."

"Yeah. Right, hi." She added with a half smirk. "You sounded like it was something urgent... So? What's wrong?" She asked already suspecting some problems.

Katsunori shrugged unimpressed. "Look at it yourself." He said; omitting the basic courtesy when in a hurry, or when facing some problems, was normal in the Kagami family, he should've been used to it.

She got up and kneeled next to the box, rummaging through it. There were fifteen uniforms. Fifteen out of twenty five, and she had also ordered jackets, spare T-shirts and long sweatpants, not to mention training bags for everyone who didn't have it, including Satsuki and her.

"Where in the bloody hell could this go wrong?! I mean, I've ordered everything!"

"I'm not doubting you. There must have been some problem on their side. But now we don't have the uniforms for the practise match." Katsunori said calmly.

"Well..." Aya exhaled sharply. "We have fifteen uniforms for fifteen boys. I think you don't need all 25 guys there?"

"Improvising?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. When it came to the Kagamis, they knew how to cover for almost anything.

"Yes. We will go in the school uniforms, it's not like they have to go there in the club uniforms and jackets..." She shrugged and pulled out her phone.

"Are you going to call them?"

"Yes! What else do you expect me to do? Pay fully for an incomplete order and make a new one somewhere else, just so they don't feel bad about messing up?!" She asked incredulously, already dialing the number of the company that was supposed to take care of the order. "And don't even get me started on wasted funds..."

"Ah, Hello. It's Kagami Aya here. From the Touou Academy. I'm really sorry for bothering you, but there is a slight problem with the order I made last week." She said in a sweet voice, sounding almost apologetic, and Katsunori couldn't believe his ears. She had been angry minutes before, and now she was sugar talking to whoever was on the other side of this call.

...

"Well, this is called service." She smiled smugly, and shoved the phone into her pocket.

"What's the result?" He asked, though he'd been pretty sure how it'd ended.

"You heard. They apologised, this delivery is not going to be charged and they will send everything next week with a discount for troubling us. Now I'm satisfied." She nodded, and stuffed everything back to the box.

"I thought you'd be angrier with them."

She shrugged. "They were very polite, so I was polite back. That's a common sense. I get that they are feeling bad for messing up, no reason to be rude."

"Right. Thank you."

"You're welcome. So? This is not the only reason you called me here, right?"

Again, Aya's ability to observe and pick up on the others' intentions threw Katsunori out of his concept for a moment. He pulled at his fringe and twisted it around his finger.

"Right... A golden week training camp is starting next Wednesday. Everyone will sleep at school, it is a tradition, and we will stay here on the Tuesday night as well. Is that okay with you?" He asked.

"Why wouldn't it be? It's not like I have competitions or anything."

"But you do have practises and Taiga told me that Haruka throws big amounts of work at you." At that Katsunori frowned. He couldn't imagine the goofy, cheerful and happy-go-lucky Haruka working one of his children that much. Well, he hadn't kept in proper contact with the man for years so he had no idea how much he'd changed.

"We don't practise during the golden week. Though, I have one more practise on Tuesday, but I'll come back here afterwards..." His overly observant look made her sigh. "I can manage, Katsunori. I'll be here. It's my duty to cook after all, right?"

"That would be very helpful."

"Good. Anything else?" She asked matter-of-factly.

Katsunori was watching the young woman in front of him. He was well aware of the Kagamis' weaknesses, and the last thing he wanted was to see Aya broken. He sighed. "The team is there for you. They might not be mature, and some of them might not vibe well with you, but you can rely on them. Also, if it's too much, whatever it is, I'm here too. I might not be your father and I might not like kids, but you can rely on me." After he said it, he felt like he had given the greatest speech of his life.

Aya's lips quirked upwards into a crooked smile. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." She said with a hinge of bitterness in her voice.

She got up and left.

Katsunori sighed. It was always so difficult to get close to Aya. She smiled and laughed and talked to people, but in reality it was probably only Taiga who could get really close to her.

He wasn't sure if she was currently troubled by something, but he had a feeling the workload she was getting, and responsibility that came with it was slowly eating her up.

######

"Okay everyone!" Aya called all of them to the benches, before they could start with practise. "We have a problem concerning the jerseys."

Imayoshi was surprised to hear that. In the morning he had been informed that the jerseys had arrived. Well, it wasn't Aya-chan telling him, and he hadn't seen the goods. "What happened?" He asked.

"We have fifteen jerseys and that's it. No t-shirts, no sweatpants, no jackets, nothing. Just fifteen jerseys. I called the company and it should be dealt with till the next week. But for now..."

"Only fifteen of us can go to the practise match." Imayoshi filled in, taken aback by the first year girl's doughtiness. Most of girls would chicken out from the situation like this. So she called the company. What d'ya know, she is braver than I'd thought. The very first day she had appeared he had had the feeling she was dangerous, but that was not all. She was confident, gutsy and resourceful. She was a lot more mature than some third years were, and she was only fifteen.

"Basically yes." She nodded.

"Okay. Hand out those jerseys we have. And we'll see who'll get a chance to play."

"Sure. I'll read numbers and you'll come and take it." She said and brought the box from a storage room.

After all the jerseys were handed to their rightful owners, they started practising. A jersey with the number 5 stayed on the bench. It was Aomine's and he was nowhere to be found once again. At least Satsuki promised to hand it to him.

The girls were taking notes on the team's progress; strengths and weaknesses of the players. It was the boring part of any managerial work, as Aya complained sometimes.

"Aya-chan?" Satsuki asked carefully.

The redhead blinked at her. "Hm? What is it?"

Satsuki'd never gone anywhere alone with Aya so far. And their talks were limited to the time they spent in changing room and occasional hallway talks. They saw each other almost every day due to practises, but they'd never had any girls' talk.

"Would you like to go with me to a cafeteria? I'd like to spend some time with you." The pinkette proposed hopefully, already decided that she wouldn't take 'no' as an answer.

"When?" Aya asked, already picturing the list of tasks she had to finish before allowing herself to go out. It was still an amount of work she was fine with. Why was Katsunori so worked up about it?

"Ummm... Today after practise?"

"I can't today. I have dancing practise, but tomorrow after the practise match would be fine with me. Or some day on a weekend?"

"Tomorrow is fine." Satsuki nodded happily. "There is this new cafeteria near the station. I wanted to go there. And I want some girly company! It's been so long since I hung out with another girl. It's always Aomine-kun, and he's no fun!"

Aya chuckled. "I guess it will be a nice change of pace, then."

"Deal! I'm sooo looking forward to it." Satsuki was almost jumping up and down in joy. Finally, she'd get to have a nice talk with Aya. She hoped she could find out some things about her this way.


"Don't even think about sneaking away." Aya warned him, after classes. It was their duty to clean up the class and then they had to go to another school for the practise match.

Aomine was lazily sitting at his desk, watching her tiding up and waiting for the right opportunity to slip away. He so didn't feel like having a practise match. What was the point anyways? Those guys would give up after two quarters at best. "Hai, hai." He said absent mindedly.

"You are unusually grumpy today." She pointed out.

He was lost in his thoughts; he didn't even hear her.

She sighed and jumped up to wipe the upper corner of the blackboard. She wasn't that short, but their blackboard wouldn't come all the way down and she couldn't reach. Lazy ass. She thought, sending him a nasty glare, which he ignored.

When she was done, she approached his desk and waited for him to notice her.

"You done?" He asked emotionlessly. The usual teasing spark was missing in his eyes as well.

Aya seriously considered hitting him for the remark nevertheless. That she had to tidy up all alone was one thing, but him actually having the guts to mock her because of it was infuriating. She wasn't sure that he realized it this time.

"Thanks to your huge help it went much quicker, thank you." She said; sarcasm dripping from her voice. She turned on her heel and went out not giving him a second glance.

Aomine blinked at her in slight surprise, and then obediently followed; for once with no retort. He had a feeling that if he uttered another word she would seriously hit him. And provoking Aya while she was in a bad mood wasn't a good idea.

She cooled down till they reached a school bus, where they were supposed to meet with the others.

Satsuki was checking the list of players – only the regulars and the first years were going – and handing out the research she'd made about the other team. It was only a practise match, so the research wasn't as thorough as it could've been. Katsunori had told her not to do it at all, because he wanted to see his team play against a completely unknown opponent, but that didn't stop her. A habit was an iron cloth, and this was hers.

"Aomine-kun." She checked his name and nodded, relieved that Aya dragged him here. She was giving him the papers but he refused it.

"I told you not to do unnecessary stuff, Satsuki." He rumbled and pushed her hand away. He passed by her and slumped into the seat next to Sakurai.

There was hurt on her face for a moment before she shook it off.

"Don't worry, Satsuki. He's been grumpy the whole day." Aya said and smiled at her. She considered it strange that she, who knew Aomine for only three weeks, was cheering up Satsuki, who'd known him for years.

"R-right." She said and checked Aya's name. They were the last ones.

Katsunori nodded to the driver and they took off. The boys who were supposed to play were discussing vividly about the upcoming match. They were excited. It was their first practise match in this season.

"What do you think, Aomine-san?" Sakurai asked his seatmate, driven by the enthusiastic conversation of the others. Even those who wouldn't get to play were looking forward to it.

He gave them all an unimpressed look. "Just give me the ball."

"What?! How arrogant can you be?" Wakamatsu scolded him immediately.

"Oi, oi." Captain spoke before Aomine could retort something. "Calm down Wakamatsu."

"Tch." Wakamatsu frowned. "Talk about arrogant bastards."

Imayoshi sighed. This was going to be a one troublesome afternoon.

Aya tuned the guys out and stared out of the window. The hum of engine and talks of her team lulled her into sleep and she dozed off. When they reached their destination, Satsuki gently shook her shoulder.

"Aya-chan. We are here."

"Huh? Five more minutes, please." She mumbled sleepily.

"You need to get up, come on."

"Just kick her off the seat, Satsuki." Aomine snickered.

"Aomine-kun!"

Aya's eyes immediately snapped open to glare at him. And there she thought he was actually a decent guy last weekend. How naive she had been. "Mind your own business." She growled at him.

"See? She's up. You're welcome." He said with a smirk and exited the bus.

"I'm so gonna strangle him one day."

Satsuki chuckled. "You would make a good couple."

"Don't. Seriously don't. It's not even funny." Aya rubbed her eyes and grabbed water bottles.

"Just saying." She took her share and both followed the boys.

Kitamiya high-school was an all boys' school a lot smaller than Touou. Students going home were curiously looking at them, guessing what their business might be. They arrived at the gym, where the Kitamiya's players were already warming up.

Katsunori and Kitamiya's coach shook hands and started discussing. Kitamiya's captain approached to greet them.

He looked rather bored. "Hello. I'm Nara Gorou. I'll take you to the changing room."

"Imayoshi Shoichi. Nice to meet you." Imayoshi introduced himself, taken aback by the other captain's uninterested behaviour.

The Kitamiya's team didn't have a manager, heck except those two old teachers they didn't have any girl in the school, so all boys were ogling at Aya and Satsuki as they were both pretty and gifted in the field of busts, though no one came to talk with the girls.

"I don't like it here." Aya said. The way those boys were looking at her was disturbing. She was used to being watched, but this was almost equal to harassing.

Without being aware of her surroundings, Satsuki said positively: "It's not that bad. They seem decent."

"Hey." One of the boys mustered up the courage to come and talk to them. "I'm Aoyama Jun."

"Kagami Aya." She said curtly and bowed. Talking with this bunch enthusiastically wasn't exactly what she wanted. Frustrated teenagers in all boys' school were not something to trifle with. And the air around this one was particularly unpleasant. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled as the boy stared at her. Her instincts kicked in, making her feel like running away. No, she really didn't like it here. But despite all that, she needed to act calm and composed.

"I'm Momoi Satsuki. Nice to meet you." The pinkette introduced herself happily and smiled. She didn't seem to notice the danger, so she was friendlier. In her sweet naivety she thought the boy wanted to be nice, because he had a pleasant face.

She is an idiot. Aya thought. The boy might look nice, but Aya wasn't fooled. There was something dangerous about him. Thankfully, he was scanning Aya rather than the pinkette and Aya could play indifference.

"I'm really interested if that Aomine is really as good as everyone says." He started a casual conversation, his eyes never leaving Aya's breasts.

"He is." Aya nodded.

"Don't be so cold, Aya-chan~, I'm trying to have a nice talk here." He said. "I'm pretty confident I can take him on." He said with a smirk.

"Good luck with that." She said and grabbed Satsuki's elbow. "Come on, the coach called us."

"Eh? But Aya –"

"Shut up." Aya hissed into Satsuki's ear. "I don't want to be breathing the same air as him. He makes my skin crawl."

"He seemed nice." Satsuki whined quietly.

"How naive can you be?" Aya shook her head when they arrived to coaches.

Katsunori gave her one of his bored looks; a sign she could talk.

"You wanted to discuss the starting line up and strategies, right?" She asked pleasantly, knowing the guy was listening. Her reddish eyes were, however, giving Katsunori a clear message 'please cooperate'.

He was quick to catch on what was probably happening. He'd expected some problems after all. "Sure. Show me your ideas." He got up and headed towards the bench prepared for Touou.

"Was he bothering you?" He asked quietly when he sat down, acting as if he was going over their plans.

"Not yet, but you should see the way he ogled us." Aya said calmly, but she was far from being calm.

He sighed. "It's fine. Nothing will happen, Robin. I promise."

Maybe I'm just paranoid. Aya thought and tried to shake off the unpleasant feeling. It wasn't like she couldn't protect herself if something was to happen, and she wasn't here alone. But an instinct was an instinct, and she'd already learned to listen to it.

Before Satsuki could ask anything, their boys came in, already warmed up, wearing the black jerseys with numbers and Touou's symbol. Aya immediately pulled out her usual cheerfulness.

"You look good!" She said to them with a smile.

"Thank you!" Ishii and Kano said in unison with wide grins. "We probably won't play though."

"That doesn't change the fact that you look good."

"Now now." Katsunori clapped to get their attention. "Starting line up is Imayoshi, Wakamatsu, Susa, Sakurai and Aomine. This time, you can do whatever you want. Understood?"

"OSSU!"

"You feeling okay, Sakurai-kun?" Aya asked gently. The boy looked so stressed.

"I-I'm sorry. Sorry. I'm okay. Sorry I worried you."

Aya patted his shoulder. "You are good, have confidence. Go get 'em."

Her encouraging smile helped him to calm down. It wasn't the first match he'd been put in. He would manage.

"Mother hen coming out, eh?" Aomine teased. "Any encouraging words for me?"

She rolled her eyes. Then she smirked and pulled him down to her level by his ear, which made him wince in pain. "Go get 'em, Honey-bun." She whispered, so that only he could hear.

"Would you stop that?!" He huffed in annoyance, and shoved her hand away.

Her eyes twinkled and she forgot about the other team for a moment. "What was it? Want me to repeat it?"

He glared at her. "Oh, don't you dare, you witch."

The team shot them curious glances, but before anyone could ask anything, Katsunori shook his head in exasperation. "Go line up." He said and pushed them forward.

Aomine was standing opposite Aoyama. They shook hands and Aomine looked him up and down. So this was his opponent. Nothing interesting, and yet there was something off about the guy.

Aoyama smirked. "Do you think you could share that redheaded hottie?" He asked provocatively, so only Aomine could hear.

His eyes narrowed dangerously. "She ain't for sharin'." He hissed. The sheer idea of this guy laying a finger on Aya made his stomach turn.

"Huh... We'll see 'bout that, Aomine-kun~" He hummed, as they spread across the court, waiting for the tip off. Maybe if he could rile up the ace of the generation of miracles, he could have a slight chance. "I'll defeat you, and she'll be mine."

She'll be yours?... "Hmph. How stupid can you be?" Aomine snickered darkly, just as he caught the ball; without properly looking at the pass. His team truly followed his wish. Well, at least he could crush this insolent idiot as soon as possible.

Aoyama was no match. He had a few good moves, but Aomine slipped past him as if he wasn't even there and made the first points for Touou.

The next three points were stolen by Sakurai, who got the ball. "Sorry!" He said as he shot.

Aya chuckled. "Is he going to apologise to his opponents every time he does that?"

"Hmm... He probably doesn't mean it, but it is a pretty good method to rile them up." Katsunori mused. There were some details Sakurai could work on. His release was quick, but they could take it one or two notches further...

Aomine wasn't going all out, and he was playing even less seriously than he had played against Aya, yet he was getting many points for Touou. The Kitamiya's defence was useless against him, and it was no fun.

"Y' know." He said to Aoyama, who was still struggling to stop him. "That redhead plays better than you."

"Wha'?!"

Aomine shrugged and made another shot.

Kitamiya stole some points during the first quarter. However, while Aomine was getting the ball it didn't matter much. The point difference was only growing wider. Touou crushed this team in only the first quarter. The score was 45 – 15.

They came back to benches. "You are doing great!" Satsuki cheered them.

"That's obvious, Momoi-san." Imayoshi said. Aomine truly was the best. He made all the shots he attempted, and got their team ahead. It couldn't be better.

Aomine yawned. This match was so futile for the other party. And he could feel that he got better. Again. Those few practises he got dragged to. The basket he played with Aya... Tch. He was holding back so much, and was still that good. It was truly boring. And those cheap fouls Aoyama had tried were so desperately embarrassing.

Aya watched his dark expression with concern. She forgot to listen what the plan was.

"Aya-chan."

"Hm?"

"He'll be fine." Satsuki told her with a sad smile.

Aya looked away. "It's not like I was concerned or anything."

"Yes you were."

Katsunori looked at the girls with interest. Was something going on? He thought Aya might handle Aomine, not that she would become fond of the arrogant ace. I guess it can't be helped. They are similar in some ways...

During the second quarter, Touou pulled ahead even more. This time they were using mostly Sakurai. The coach wanted to see how the boy could perform under pressure, and what his successful shooting rate was.

Because of this, Kitamiya managed to come back a little bit, they were a team that needed time to actually start working. And this time, they were avoiding Aoyama vs. Aomine set up. Ans Touou was a team that focused on offence, so it was possible to score against them too. After the second quarter the score was 80 – 38.

Kitamiya was losing their will to play. With this score difference, it was impossible to turn the tables, as long as Aomine was in the game. And even if he decided to stop playing, it would be unbelievably hard to close 42 point difference.

"I'm done." Aomine rumbled during the 10 minute break in the middle of the match. He took a towel to wipe his face from sweat and slumped on the bench.

"Aomine-kun! You have to play in games."

"I did. I created the gap." He glared at Satsuki, and then his eyes turned to Imayoshi. "You can keep it up, right, Captain?"

The usual smirk appeared on Imayoshi's face. "Yes."

Aomine raised an eyebrow as Satsuki. "See?"

"But coach!" She protested, looking for help there.

"Let him go." Katsunori said. He could see the huge disinterest in Aomine's play ever since the match had started. "Actually... Susa, you sit out too. Ishii, Kano, get out there. I want to see how you'll manage."

"What?!" The two friends looked at each other in disbelief. Then, happy grins appeared on their faces. "Yes!"

Ishii looked at Aomine. Those two weren't on good terms, but still... "Any tips?" Ishii asked.

Aomine looked at him lazily, thinking whether to answer or not. However, Aoyama's comment was stuck in his head, so: "Don't let him provoke you." He said.

Ishii nodded. "Anything else?"

Aomine gave him a long look saying 'seriously?'.

"Worth trying." He shrugged, and then leaned over Aya's shoulder to peer into her notebook. "What are his specialties?" He asked looking at Aoyama.

"You've been watching no?" She gave him a scolding look, and then she smiled and explained her notes anyways. "I assume he started with basketball just recently. His ball-handling needs a lot of work so I believe you can steal from him without much trouble, but his footing is good. I assume he might have played football before. Anyways, you are better than him, so don't worry, just be careful about fouls. He will try to play dirty when the referee isn't looking. Aomine could avoid it, because of his skills. You be careful, we don't need any injuries. Okay?"

"Sure. Thanks."

Aya smiled encouragingly. Her team was not going to lose.

Meanwhile, Satsuki and Susa gave tips to Kano, who seemed more nervous than Ishii. Well, he'd started playing only recently, hadn't been in many games, and Kitamiya's small forward was a third year. It was normal.

The third quarter started and Kitamiya celebrated Aomine's leave, but there wasn't much to celebrate. They soon found out, that Touou wasn't strong because they had one good player. The entire team of Touou was high level; too high for them to take on.

And except Kano's few fumbles, they managed to keep the point difference. Every time Kitamiya scored, Touou scored back. And they were stopping Kitamiya's attacks here and there.

Imayoshi could use his teammates efficiently, and Wakamatsu was a steady pillar to get the point if the first years happened to miss.

"Where did Aomine disappear to?" Yamaoka asked. He was angry enough that he didn't get to play, and that the first year was even allowed to go away.

"Eh?" Aya and Satsuki looked around, but Aomine really wasn't there.

"Want us to fetch him?" Aya asked.

"Hmmm." Katsunori played with his hair. "He should be fine. Still... Maybe you should check up on him."

"Right." Aya nodded, got up and left.

"Ah..." Satsuki wanted to say something, but then she closed her mouth. Maybe it was better this way, Aomine seemed to tolerate Aya more than her, or at least the redhead annoyed him less.

"I know you are his friend Momoi-san, but right now, Aya is probably the only one who can truly understand his problem." Katsunori said to her, after he noticed her distressed expression. "You know she dances, right?"

Satsuki nodded. Yes, she knew. But there was more to it, apparently. "What do you mean?"

"Have you ever seen her dance?"

"No."

Katsunori sighed. It wasn't his place to talk about Aya; then again, she couldn't keep everything secret from her team. "When you do, you'll understand. She is Aomine in the dancing world."

"Oh... She must compete then, no?" She asked. If the coach knew, maybe he would tell her.

"Ask her that yourself and maybe she'll give you the answers you've been searching for. She didn't tell me anything specific either."

That left Satsuki confused, and even more curious. It was good that she'd invited Aya out.

######

Aya didn't have to search for Aomine all that much. She found him laying on the ground near water taps watching clouds. He glanced at her, but ignored her. He really wasn't in the mood for any pep talks.

"Doesn't that one look like dog?" She asked as she sat down to his side, pointing at one of the clouds.

"Mhm." He mumbled and looked at her with a corner of his eye. "Did they send you to check up on me?"

"Not really. Katsunori just thinks I understand you better than the others."

Now that got his interest. "Why so?"

"Not telling." She smirked at him teasingly. "Where would be the fun in that?"

"..."

He turned his attention back to the sky. Time was slowly flowing as they stared at the sky and chased the clouds with their eyes. Aya's presence was soothing, calm.

"It was boring for you, wasn't it?" She asked after several minutes.

Urgh... The silence was nice. "I don't need your concern."

Aya snickered. "Don't worry. You are old enough to manage yourself. I just... Why are you distressed when they give up? It's their problem, not yours."

He sighed. "Have you ever played... no... how to explain... Have you ever danced with anyone who wasn't into it?" He didn't know what the 'dancing' she did was like. He wasn't sure why he was bothering himself with explaining either. He could've shoved her away like everyone else. But for some reason, he wanted Aya to really understand, and then leave him alone.

"Yeah. And so? I still dance. Just like you still play basketball." She smiled at him and his eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected this answer. And she continued: "How far have you actually gotten? Three times in the nationals; some local contests? And that's it, right? I get that you are only fifteen, but Aomine, you can complain after you've searched the world and stood on top of it and still haven't found your equal. Until then... You are just whining, self-centered and arrogant... person..." She didn't want to insult him, but that's how he acted most of the time.

He snorted at the lack of an insult. Her description of him, however, stung. Because she was right. He hated when someone was preaching about teamwork and practises and all; like they ever walked in his shoes, but she wasn't preaching, no. She was scolding him, and she meant it well, he knew. Somewhere deep inside he knew it. And so he overlooked the non-insult.

He sat up and looked at her. "Top of the world, eh? Speaking like you've seen it all, Sweetheart." His tone was mocking, indeed. He wanted to see her reaction.

She was sitting with her arms folded on top of her bent knees. Her reddish eyes were burning with a powerful flames that didn't seep out. Enchanting... She wasn't offended by his behaviour, merely amused.

"Who knows?" She got up and dusted off her skirt. "Maybe I have."

"Aya-chan~" Aoyama's voice reached her ears just when she was about to return to the gym. "Here's where you've disappeared to."

"Do you need anything from me?" She asked and her attitude made 180°. If she was being relatively nice to Aomine, she was icy cold towards this person.

"Why are you so frosty to me, Aya-chan? I could melt you within minutes!" He said in a suggestive voice and his puppy-like eyes might've made some girls fall into his arms, but it was disgusting to Aya.

"I don't need it, nor do I want it. Leave me alone."

"But I would treat you like a queen!" He whined more.

Just how embarrassing can he be? "I said. Fuck. Off." She said slowly, accentuating every word. "Is that clear?"

She turned to leave, hoping this wouldn't escalate and not noticing Aomine's stunned expression after he'd heard her swear.

Aoyama wasn't the type who would let a girl he wanted go away that easily. If she didn't want to, she would have to. Aomine didn't concern him much. He assumed the star didn't want to get his scholarship cut, and basketball players from renowned schools were forbidden to get involved in fights if they didn't want to get thrown off the team.

He grabbed her elbow, not at all gently. "Well, if it didn't go the nice way..." He pulled her towards him.

"OI!" Aomine was already on his feet ready to break Aoyama's nose, when something unexpected happened.

Aya turned around, ending up really close to the guy, and within a second a high pitched 'Hiiiiiii!' could be heard.

In her turn, she grabbed the boy's balls and squeezed them.

Poor Aoyama had tears in his eyes and was scared to move a millimetre that she would seriously crush his treasures.

"It would go the hard way?" She sneered. "Sorry pal, you miscalculated. If you want your queen, search for someone on your mental level. I said I wasn't interested." Her voice lowered into a dangerous growl. "And if I say fuck off, then fuck the hell off. Do you understand?"

When she looked into his eyes, he saw blazing fires of hell. He nodded furiously.

"Good." Aya smiled and her pleasant but fake smile scared him even more.

She let go and Aoyama fell to his knees with a whimper, his hands instinctively covering his sore crotch.

Aomine was stunned. So far, he only saw that in a movie, but thanks to Aya, he could witness a real life situation. He was ready to help her, but the fiery girl could manage just fine. Scary. He certainly didn't want to be in that boy's place. Ever.

"What a maaaan..." Aomine whispered mockingly, for which he got a nasty glare from the kneeling boy.

After she washed her hands – she definitely didn't want to remember what his balls felt like – she turned towards Aomine as if had nothing ever happened.

"Now. I believe we have a bus to catch." She said and headed back in.

Aomine followed, but after a moment, when there was no one in sight, Aya stopped and crouched down.

"What is it?" He asked, not sure if she was okay.

"That was scary." She muttered.

His eyebrows arched up. "You were. Yeah. I never thought I'd see something like that."

"He was." Aya got up and turned towards him. She stretched her hands to him, so he could see they were shaking. "See?"

He was blinking at her shaking hands not sure what to do. She seemed fine when dealing with the jerk. And now she got all shaky? He heard her took a deep breath and she pulled her hands back.

"No. Never mind." She turned around and started walking again.

On the way back, she discussed with Ishii, Kano and Sakurai about the match all over again. She was sort of sad that she hadn't seen them play and win because of Aomine. She should have stayed there with them. It made her relieved when they didn't hold it against her and just shrugged it off.

She was looking forward to going to cafeteria with Satsuki, but perplexed feelings were swirling in her. She wanted to be friends with Satsuki, and at the same time, she was afraid of it. Satsuki was different from Kiku, she had the childish naivety that Kiku and Aya didn't have any more. She wasn't sure how she should treat Satsuki.

On their way to cafeteria they talked about school mostly, how they were doing; who their partners for assignments were and so on.

The cafeteria itself was very comfortable. Everything was contrasting in white and black colours, it had cute tables and carved chairs. The staff greeted them with polite smiles and seated them to a table according to the girls' liking.

They made their order; Aya wanted a strong espresso and a strawberry cake, while Satsuki went for a vanilla milk-shake.

"Tell me one thing. Did Aomine ever study?" Aya asked when the waiter left to get their order.

Satsuki rubbed her cheek in embarrassment. "Not really. He got past exams in middle school, solely thanks to my copied notes. And he only read them the night before."

"And he passed?" If that was true then Aomine was far from stupid.

Satsuki frowned. "Barely... but yeah. His grades were always terrible. He hates studying, 'cause it's boring."

"Hah...How lucky." Aya chuckled. "But it's not like I don't get it."

"Tell me about it." Satsuki agreed. "For someone who hates to put effort into things, it is unbelievable you made him do the essay. He seriously asked me for a few kanji. How'd you do that?"

"Ah... I guess I blew off a bit, and destroyed his previous katakana attempt. I'm not proud of it, but... It served its purpose." She shrugged.

"Excuse me, ladies." The waiter came back with their order and placed it in front of them. "If there is anything you need, just ask me." He said with a smile.

"Thank you." Aya smiled back.

When he left, she looked at Satsuki and sighed. "Now. That I call a great service."

"What do you mean?" Satsuki tilted her head curiously. "Is it different in America?"

"Depends on where you go and how lucky you are. Some waiters who don't like their job will treat you like you are a bother to them and then there are those who are very pleasant and friendly. But ever since I've come to Japan I haven't experienced a poor customer treatment, seriously. And you don't even leave a tip. I've embarrassed myself couple of times until I've understood this. It's like... shocking!"

"Tips? Like additional money to your payment? You leave tips in America?" She asked in surprise. She'd never even thought about something like this before.

"Yeah! Everywhere. As long as I'm satisfied with the service and it's not obligatory, I don't mind... but some restaurants bill it, so you have to leave a tip regardless of your your satisfaction. I was very surprised when a waiter refused to take a tip here." Aya chuckled, remembering the embarrassing situation she had gotten both of them into.

"But you've lived here before, right?"

"I was a kid. True, I've come here couple of times throughout the years, but it was only for a short periods of time. Too short to get accustomed." She started eating the cake she had. Good lord, it was so delicious.

"You travelled a lot?" Satsuki asked, slowly sipping from her shake.

"Yes." She said hesitantly, evaluating how much she could tell the pinkette. One slip and Satsuki would succeed with the research she was most likely trying to do behind her back.

"Why?" It was a curiosity, and Satsuki didn't mean anything bad.

"Because I could."

"And because of the competitions, right?" She asked, disappointed by Aya's constant avoidance.

Aya's eyes were swirling with emotions Satsuki couldn't decipher. Bitterness? Anger? Annoyance? Distrust? Hesitation? Disappointment? Sadness? ... There was so much, and Satsuki's intuition couldn't pick just one.

"Listen Satsuki," Aya's voice was suddenly serious. "I don't know how much you know, or where did you get that from. But please... Stop searching. The last thing I need are some strange rumours spreading throughout the school, because you can't keep it for yourself."

"I wouldn't..." She started to defend herself, offended by Aya's doubts, but she stopped. Aya was right. Satsuki had a bad habit of sharing everything with at least two or three people she considered 'friends'. And it had happened before, that those 'friends' had twisted it into strange rumours.

Aya raised eyebrow at her, her expression saying 'see?' "Sooner or later everything gets out eventually, but I'd rather have it happen later." She said simply, and took another bite of her cake. "If you can't keep things for yourself, don't go researching personal life of the others, Satsuki. You will only make enemies."

It was only an advice from Aya, not a threat, and Satsuki could tell that much from the girl's voice and body language. The redhead didn't mean bad, but oh, how much that stung.

"But I want to be your friend! How can I do that if I don't know you?"

"Then get to know me. Take your time. You don't need to have my entire life story in some file after only three weeks, while I know nothing about you. That's not how friendships work." Aya smiled at her encouragingly. "Truth to be told, I don't know how to treat you either."

"Eh?" Satsuki blinked at Aya. She was surprised about the straightforwardness of the girl, and she knew it took a lot of courage. "Why?"

"I don't know yet, but when I figure it out, you'll be the first to know." She'd swear she'd met Satsuki somewhere before, she just couldn't remember where or when. And so she smiled kindly; it was pointless to worry the pinkette over nothing. "Is that okay?"

I've seen that kind of smile before. The pinkette thought but couldn't remember when or where. "I s'ppose." She couldn't force answers. "But I want to know one thing."

"Yes?" Aya asked and took another spoon of cake.

"The coach said that you are Aomine-kun in the dancing world. What did he mean?"

Aya's eyes narrowed into slits. I'm gonna kill him. The murderous thought made Satsuki shiver in fear, but she refused to give up the answer and remained staring at Aya intensely.

The redhead sighed in defeat. "I so don't want this to go around the team, let alone the school... But if Katsunori starts talking there's no escaping." Aya sighed again. The decision she was about to make was difficult. What was easier to handle as a rumour? Something people wouldn't believe, right? "I've won some world championships in Balroom dancing more specifically Latin dances, which were my specialization." She said nonchalantly as if announcing the weather. Though it wasn't just Latin...

Satsuki almost choked with her vanilla-shake. "WHAT?!" She stood up, unable to keep her voice down. But after noticing a nasty glares from an older ladies, she covered her mouth and sheepishly sat back.

Aya gave her an unimpressed, almost bored look. "I don't think anyone will believe that, but yeah. That's pretty much why Katsunori had said I'm similar to Aomine."

"Why haven't you told anyone?!" She hissed.

"Why should I? It has nothing to do with any of you. Really." Aya finished her cake and watched Satsuki with a mixture of amusement and worry. "And I quit competing, so... What does it matter anymore?"

An investigative mode within Satsuki switched on. "How can I believe this anyways?"

"Whether you believe it or not, it's up to you. But I have no reason to make up something like this." She said calmly and sipped her coffee.

"Hmmm... True enough." Satsuki admitted in deep thoughts.

Aya, meanwhile, called the waiter and asked for their receipt. She turned to observe Satsuki for a bit. "It's fun to watch how you make theories and guess." She commented with a mischievous smile.

"If I just... Oh no... I'll wait till you decide to tell me everything on your own." Satsuki decided, even though she knew it would be one damn of a hard job to keep her curiosity in check. And she also would not tell this to anyone. She had to keep this for herself and then again, what fun would it be to tell Aomine everything? You should figure it out on your own, Dai-chan.

"Oh?" Aya raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like fun."


A/N: That's it for the time being. Don't be angry at Aomine, he tried to help Aya - he just wasn't fast enought. And I wrote it like this for a reason, which should be revealed in chapter 10 or 12 depends on how I'll decide to cope with the 'golden week training camp' chapter.

I admit that the cafeteria part feels somewhat like a filler, but I needed to put it there. I was thinking a lot about what to write there, and I changed it several times, but I couldn't cut it out completely. I want to give some depth to Aya's relationship with Satsuki too - and there will be more to it, but I'll give it out slowly.

About the tips... I've been to America and we did leave tips almost everywhere, it's the same in my country. I've only read about Japan so if I made a mistake, I'm sorry.

Let me know what you think and remember, reviews are appreciated, but never necessary.

- S.