Tetsuna's first day in high school was probably the most unusual day in her life. Not only had her father enrolled her in what was once an all-boys school, but for the first time, she became a class representative. Apparently the male class rep had no choice in the matter; none of the girls volunteered, and so he simply chose the girl whose name he could remember. It was a sudden stroke of fate, indeed; he remembered her name only because she had to mention it to him.

Somehow, in my always dull life, she thought, I found school life slowly becomes interesting.

But aside from her mandatory election as a class officer, Tetsuna's first day at school was nothing out of the ordinary. It was the same as her middle school days: she was not noticed by anybody, she simply did her thing, and then nothing.

Nothing.

Tetsuna heaved a sigh, disappointed. Her dream of having an exciting high school life was slowly crumbling, and it was barely the middle of semester. Worse thing was, she felt as if she could not do anything about it. Simply put, there is a very good chance that she will spend an entire school year going to and leaving school in her father's shiny black limousine without having fun. It was so usual for her, she wished she lived a middle-class life, or at least, she got into a high school where surprises are just around the corner. If only she could be different...or at least, be born with a great presence.

Her thoughts suddenly vanished when she heard a dog bark. A faint yip, by the sound of it, coming from somewhere nearby. It was followed by loud and menacing laughter. The combination of the two sounds sent chills down her spine.

Tetsuna knew that her limousine would arrive anytime soon. Even more, she knew that she had no business in whatever was happening at that time. But she could not help but feel worried about that barking sound. It sounded like a cry for help, and she just had to rush and give aid.

Aomine walked outside a few minutes later. He was about to go home. He did not like school that much, not even when Teiko became a co-ed school. The girls in his class weren't that interesting, anyway. None of them were at least C-cup.

Well...there was one girl that was in his mind that time.

There was a long, shiny black limousine waiting right in front of the wide gates of Teiko. Very much to Aomine's surprise. He knew that Teiko was a school for gifted children from all walks of life, so he had no idea who owned this one.

A timid-looking young man wearing what seemed to Aomine as a driver's uniform, was walking around the front ground; he seemed to be looking for something.

Aomine approached the helpless guy. "Looking for something?"

He looked at the driver's face, simply out of curiosity. Aomine got even more surprised. The driver was also a teenager, probably just as old as him. He had a good-looking, boyish face ruined by an almost permanent apologetic look. His hair and eyes were light brown, and his skin was pale. At a glance, Aomine knew that the guy was no wimp – for he noticed the guy's lean and reflexive physique.

"Uh – sumimasen," the young man bowed form the waist thrice, as if he had accidentally burned one of Aomine's prized gravure magazines.

"I – I've been looking for my young mistress...it is my job to fetch her after school...she is supposed to wait out here but she is not around..."

Some bratty girl's driver, Aomine thought. He pitied the poor guy.

"Well," he said, "why don't you tell me who she is and what she looks like. Who knows, maybe she is my classmate."

The driver looked at him tentatively. "Her name is Kuroko Tetsuna."

Tetsuna found the source of the sounds. She came to the back of the school's storage room, which was not far from the main entrance. There she saw two boys, both wearing the Teiko school uniform. They were sitting on their haunches, grinning maniacally at the square carton box between them. Inside the box was a black puppy. Its big blue eyes were pleading as it barked, helpless against enemies.

"Hey, what do you think shall we do to this mongrel?" said one of the boys.

"How about we throw him in the river?"

"Nah." The other guy replied.

"Maybe we should keep him as our guinea pig for our science project."

They went on throwing suggestions at each other. And each suggestion was more gruesome and disgusting for Tetsuna. Why would anyone try to harm an innocent puppy?

She approached them fearlessly.

"Don't hurt the puppy!" she said as loud as she could.

The two boys looked over their shoulders. Their faces were blank, dumbfounded. Apparently they had not seen her until she suddenly spoke.

"Ooh, look who we have here." Said the first guy. "A girlie!"

"Must be after our cute little puppy." The other guy spoke.

They both stood up and approached Tetsuna slowly. They stared at he with wide, deranged eyes and malicious grins. Tetsuna could feel her heart pounding in her rib cage in fear. These boys are more than mean. They are evil.

She took a step back.

"Hey, let's make a deal, cutie." Said the first guy. "We'll leave the puppy alone. But you have to come with us."

"Stay where you are." Tetsuna shouted threateningly.

"Hey, don't scare the girl, man." The second guy chuckled.

They both laughed as they walked closer to her.

"Just come with us, girlie – you want to save the puppy, right?"

Tetsuna closed her eyes and prayed for help.

Then, as fast as the speed of light, Aomine shot out his arm and punched one of the guys.

It all happened very fast. Or, it was better to say that Aomine was very fast that he came to rescue at just the right time. His agility was natural, and he was moved by instinct. He immediately went into action as soon as he saw Tetsuna in trouble. He gave the nearest guy a punch in the face. It was a strong and sudden motion, it probably broke the guy's right cheekbone and a couple of teeth were lost. The goon was knocked out and fell to the ground.

The other guy quickly came into a halt, stunned. He got cowed by Aomine's build and angry look. The tanned guy looked like a demon guardian ready to kill anyone who dares to attack his charge.

"G-geez, bro." The guy stammered in fear.

"Chill. We're not going to hurt your girlfriend..." he ran away, leaving his friend behind. A good decision, for someone who's afraid for his life.

Girlfriend? Aomine thought. He felt a bit weird at the sound of it.

He glanced at Tetsuna. She looked paler than usual and was shaking in fear.

"You ok?" he asked her.

It took a while for the girl to respond. She glanced upon his face, her baby blue eyes watery. She had been holding back her tears.

"Yes..." she spoke weakly. "I'm fine now. Thank you."

Tetsuna lifted a square carbon box from the ground, where a black-and-white puppy was hiding, frightened.

"It's all right." She smiled as she whispered at the poor creature softly, like a mother calming her crying baby.

"You're safe now...we are safe now..."

The puppy lifted its head, and licked her cheek happily.

Tetsuna was very thankful that Aomine came to rescue. If it hadn't been for him, she would have been in a big trouble.

She took the puppy from its box and cradled it in her arms. She was happy that the puppy was also safe. She had a lot to thank him for.

"Thank you, Aomine-kun." She said gratefully.

Aomine stiffened, startled. "You know my name?"

"Of course. We're in the same class, remember?"

Aomine blushed, embarrassed. Of course she knew his name, she's the class rep. How could he have thought it was something special? He scratched his head and looked away, hoping that she wouldn't notice his face go red despite his tanned skin.

"Yeah. Right." He said shyly.

"How did you find me?"

"It's..."Aomine didn't know what to say.

"It's...just by accident. Your driver's been looking for you, by the way."

Tetsuna's eyes widened, finally recalling that she had to wait at the front gate for the car.

"That's right, Ryou must be waiting!" she ran away.

Aomine watched her as she ran towards the limousine, where the driver almost hugged her in relief that the young lady was safe.

Aomine smiled. So what if there isn't a C-cup girl in his class?