Sorry it took so long everyone! I've been swamped with school and personal life so I had to put all my stories on hold for a short while. I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things and try to get myself back on track. But enough rambling. I hope you all enjoy!

~*Coming Clean*~

Aomine let out what felt like the millionth sigh that day. Why you ask? Because he'd fucked up. Royally. It'd happened a few days ago. They'd had another intense study session at Mira's again. It had been late when they'd finally called it quits. Trying to be a nice guy, Aomine had offered to walk Kanika home. He'd even made mention of trying to take Kanika out on a proper date for once. It would seem Kanika hadn't heard anything about the date part since she shut him down almost instantly. The mousy girl had insisted that it was okay for Mira and one of her friends to walk her home. When Aomine had pressed her on the subject, Kanika kept dodging the subject. This only irritated Aomine, so he'd tried to play the guilt card. When he'd brought up the idea of a date again he'd tried to make Kanika feel bad by not telling him where to pick her up. She'd insisted that it was fine and she'd meet him somewhere. The light blush on her face had told him that Kanika was excited, but she was still hiding things from him. What was she hiding from him? Was she embarrassed of him? Did she not want him to meet her family? Was it only okay to hang out in neutral locations that didn't hold that much meaning to either of them? This had led Aomine to blowing up on the girl and storming out before Momoi could catch up. And now the guy felt like shit. Why?

'I'm sorry…' He glanced down at the txt on his phone which caused him to sigh once more. Kanika had nothing to apologize for. Aomine had been the one acting like an ass. And did he know it.

'Shit….never thought this would happen to me.' Aomine smiled humorlessly as he turned the corner. He cared for someone. Actually cared for a girl other than Momoi. Which is why he was currently making his way down the final stretch to Kaijo when he should've still been in class back at Touou. 'I wonder if Kise will take me to the gym so I can talk to her?'

Just as Aomine was entering the school gate, he was clotheslined out of nowhere and knocked on to his ass. Before the boy could realize what was going on, he was being dragged off to some corner. Once Aomine could breathe again he was released from his attacker's grasp. The boy looked up, shooting his best glare at whoever dared to harm him. But it had nothing on the wrath radiating off Mira who stood over him like an animal about to go in for the kill.

"What are you doing here?" Mira hissed lowly, crossing her arms as she struggled not to strangle the guy right then and there.

"I-I came to apologize to Ichinose-chan." Aomine stuttered. He'd never feared for his life. Not even when facing down a pissed off Akashi. For some reason though, Mira was scarier than anything he'd ever faced before and he didn't doubt that she would actually put him in the hospital voluntarily should he cross her.

"Good choice of words. You just bought yourself a few extra minutes of life." Mira grunted as her anger began to subside. "Although I should still beat the shit out of you after what you said to Kanika the other night."

"You heard that?" Aomine picked himself off the ground, keeping a good distance from Mira just in case she changed her mind.

"How could I not? Anyone standing near the door, which was only me since I chased off all the other nosy asses, could've heard you. How can you think that Kanika isn't crazy for you? She goes gaga every time you send her a damn txt message!" The red head had to struggle to stay mad at Aomine. It wasn't every day you got to see the resident bad boy cowering in fear over getting chewed out for his mistake. "Ever since your little stunt at Inter High she has more confidence in herself since you showed her you were growing serious. Even Momoi-san has told us that you've hidden your porn magazines since you two started talking more often."

"Geh!" Aomine wanted to duck his head and hide in a hole. It was that obvious huh? "Ok fine! I like her alright!"

"I'm not the one you should be saying this to now am I?" Mira crossed her arms once more as Aomine stood up straight. "Besides, most of us kinda already knew this."

"I know that I should tell her. I wanted to do something special before it. But how can I do that if I can't even do things properly like picking her up at her house?" Aomine asked in a frustrated tone. Mira couldn't help but smile at the poor boy. Clearly he'd given this a lot of thought and was trying to make an attempt to do things right.

"Since you're serious I don't feel too bad telling you this. Kanika's home life isn't that great." Mira began softly. "Her parents got divorced when she was very young. Her father is almost always away on work, so she lives with her two brothers. Her oldest brother is a lawyer and the youngest is a third year here. Both of them are pieces of work."

"What do you mean?" Aomine could tell by the look on Mira's face that she was upset about Kanika's situation.

"Meaning I can't stand either one. There's a reason I've only been to Kanika's place a handful of times. I won't go into detail since that's Kanika's story to tell. But what I can say is they're the reason she was so shy when you first met. They pretty much beat down her self confidence to where she had turned into a pleaser. She did everything to try and earn her brothers' praise. Now they think she's becoming worthless because she has friends. Not to mention the complex the jackass here has because he thinks Kanika is trying to make him look bad." Mira gritted her teeth in frustration as she dug her nails into her arms. "Long story short, if you really plan on getting serious with her then you have to get Kanika to open up. By showing her you're sincere. And you can start by apologizing. Today."

"Isn't that why I'm here?" Aomine smarted off in his usual tone.

_._._

Kanika was humming to herself as she headed to practice. She went about her duties with a happy smile on her face. The Winter Cup was just around the corner and it would be Kaijo's second run at the national title. With all the kinks and bumps that had happened lately smoothed out, things were looking up for the team. Kanika had to make sure she was keeping up to par with her duties as well. She was going to go over the travel bag to make sure she had everything needed before the tournament started.

"Told you she'd be here." Mira's voice called out from behind Kanika. The raven haired girl turned to see both her best friend and Aomine standing in the doorway.

"A-Aomine-kun?!" Kanika squeaked as she jumped back into the wall.

"You've got ten minutes. Then practice starts." Mira warned Aomine before closing the door behind her to give them some privacy.

The two stood in silence for a long time. Kanika was shocked to see Aomine before her. Last time the two had talked had been a few days ago and he'd stormed off. Kanika had tried to call and apologize, but Aomine had ignored her calls. So she'd settled for a txt message. She'd never expected him to appear before her like he had. Kanika remained plastered against the wall as Aomine grabbed his neck. He'd never really apologized before. Even with all the fights between him and Momoi. The pinkette had always known when Aomine was sorry and never made him vocalize his sincerity. That's how their friendship worked. But with Kanika it was a different story. He couldn't afford to just assume Kanika knew he was sorry by him just standing there. Not if he really wanted to get his feelings across. That…..and he didn't doubt Mira would have his head if he didn't do things properly.

"Ichinose-chan….I'm sorry for the other night." Aomine mumbled softly while looking away from Kanika.

"Huh?" The girl couldn't believe she'd heard him correctly. Aomine was apologizing?

"I said I'm sorry!" Aomine boomed, scaring the girl again as she crouched down covering her head. When he realized his mistake the boy felt that familiar feeling of guilt shoot through him. He walked over and squatted down near the girl, gently peeling her hands off her head as she looked at him. "I'm sorry for the other night. I didn't mean to get so upset."

"Aomine-kun…" Kanika could hardly believe the words coming from his mouth. Knowing this, Aomine gently reached out and pinched her cheek to prove she was awake. "Ow!"

"I'm serious. I didn't mean to get so upset. I just….I wanted to do things right when I officially asked you." Aomine's usually hard face smoothed out for once as he looked into Kanika's crystal blue eyes.

"Asked me what?" The girl didn't want to jump to conclusions, but she couldn't help but hold a hand to her chest to keep her heart from jumping free.

"I want you to be my girlfriend." Aomine said softly with a slightly crooked smile. The smile she only ever saw when he playing the sport he loved.

Kanika couldn't help but gasp as she stared at Aomine. He patiently waited for her to say something as tears began to well up in her eyes. Kanika had known the two had been steadily getting more and more used to each other. But she'd never imagined Aomine would ever ask her to be his girlfriend. She'd always hoped with the way he would grab her hand, act jealous whenever another guy looked at her too long, or if she ignored him for very long. To actually hear the words coming from his mouth though? It left her speechless. All Kanika could do was nod before throwing her arms around Aomine's neck. A happy smile of her own was plastered all over her face as she felt Aomine's arms wrap around her waist. Relief flooded through Aomine as he held the small girl in his arms. He never imagined he'd say the words he had, let alone while he was still in high school. He could hardly believe it was possible to be this happy about something. Let alone someone. A low clicking sound drew the two out of their daze. They turned to see both Mira and Kise looking down at them. And guess who was the one who'd taken the picture?

"Kise….." Aomine growled, pushing himself up and out of Kanika's arms. Irritation shooting through him as the blond began to back away in fear for his life.

"Oh come on Aominecchi! You two looked so cute I had to!" Kise pleaded with the angry panther.

No other words were said as Kise took off with Aomine hot on his tail. Mira smiled to herself watching as Aomine cut Kise off at every turn, threatening to break Kise's wrist if he didn't hand over his phone. Kanika got up and stood near Mira who was leaning against the wall watching the antics of the other two.

"Good news I take it?" Mira smiled to herself as she held her own phone up. On the front screen was the exact moment Kanika and Aomine had looked up at them.

"Mira!" Kanika squeaked as she took the phone and looked at the picture. Contemplating deleting it or not.

"If I were you I'd want to keep it to mark this occasion. Not every day someone confesses to you." Mira looked to her friend who looked like she would start crying again.

"Send it to me please." Kanika whispered softly after handing the phone back.

"Aomine please don't kill Kise. We need him for the Winter Cup." Mira called out as she worked on sending the picture to both Kanika and a peeved Aomine. He would thank her later.

After keeping Aomine from causing too much harm to Kise, and suffering a few catcalls from the rest of Kaijo, Aomine was finally told to shoo so that practice could commence. He spared one last look back at his now girlfriend who had the deepest blush on her face. But she was smiling from ear to ear. That in turn caused Aomine to smile like he'd just won some great prize as he sauntered away.

_._._

Kanika couldn't help but feel like she was on cloud nine for the rest of the night. She found herself giggling every time she recalled what had happened that day. She'd even gone as far as to put the picture Mira had taken as her background on her phone. Kanika took one last look at the photo before putting her phone down on the counter top. It was time to focus on food. Kanika hummed to herself happily as she finished preparing the last bit of dinner.

"All done." She wiped her forehead before looking over the three plates of dinner for the last time. Kanika moved the plates to the dining room where her oldest brother sat. "Aniki, the food is ready."

"Go get Taichi so we can eat." Daisuke didn't even bother looking up from his work before shooeing his sister away. He was still dressed in his nice shirt and tie from the day at the office. Kanika nodded before turning to head off to other brother's room.

Taichi was a third year at Kaijo and did his best to make sure no one knew he and Kanika were related. Not like things were any better with Daisuke. He was so busy with work and making sure their family name remained spotless that he held both to high expectations. To say the least, her relationship with her brothers was strained. She loved them both with all her heart, especially since the three had grown close during the time of their parent's divorce. The minute their father started distancing himself from the kids though is when things began to fall apart. Daisuke pushed himself hard to graduate college early so that he could start working soon. He helped to pay for the tuition of both his younger siblings and was basically head of the house since their father very rarely came home anymore. Due to this, Daisuke expected both his younger siblings to perform at the same level as he had. Kanika did her best in school and her grades had only increased thanks to Mira's help. But Taichi on the other hand….he was constantly compared to his sister in everything she did. This had caused a wedge to be driven between her and her older sibling. This in turn had led to Taichi acting out and any time he got in trouble he blamed Kanika for being such a prude. It always caused a shouting match between brothers, which led to Kanika to try and stop the fights. This is turn led to them both turning on her.

'Maybe things are starting to look up though? After all, a lot of good things have been happening lately. I just have to be like Mira and keep my head up!' Kanika thought to herself as she clenched her hands into fists in front of her chest.

"Taichi? Dinner is ready." Kanika knocked on her brother's door softly and waited for any kind of noise. "Taichi?"

"I heard you the first time." Taichi grunted, yanking his door open and pushing past his sister. He didn't even look back to see that the girl was still stuck on the wall from the force he'd hit her with.

"Both of you knock it off." Daisuke called from the dining room.

Kanika brushed off the incident as she quickly joined her family. Like always, things were silent. It was the usual routine, regardless of whether their father was around or not. Kanika didn't even know why Daisuke still paid for an apartment when he spent most of his time at the house with them. Everyone needed their own little haven though, she supposed. She glanced over to Taichi who kept his head down stuffing his face. Never once did he thank her for the food, but he always seemed to eat faster than anyone else at the table.

"Kanika, I see your grades came up once again. I'm impressed." Daisuke finally broke the silence. The younger siblings both instantly stiffened up. School was a touchy subject for all of them. "Tell me, have you given anymore thought on your career path?"

"I-I'm not sure Aniki. I still have another two years to think about my career." Kanika tried to gently side step this subject. Truthfully, she had already been looking into colleges that offered sports trainer programs. But she knew her brother would never approve of this.

"Tell us Kanika," Taichi sneered at his sister in his usual fashion because he knew this conversation was going to target him eventually. "what have you been thinking about doing? I see a lot of athletic pamphlets in your room. Is it because you want to go to a sports college? Does it have something to do with our school's basketball team making that big tournament? Is it possible you found someone to flirt with on your team?"

"Nee-san that's not true!" Kanika squeaked in denial. If anything, the team had given her something to work for. To better ground her and give her a reason to not just float through life anymore.

"Taichi, hush." Daisuke's tone was firm, but cold. The younger brother gritted his teeth before looking away and pouting like a child. "Is this true Kanika?"

"….Yes Aniki…." Kanika could never go against her brother.

"I told you that I didn't mind you joining a club to help boost your college resume. However, sports programs can only go so far. You can't expect to make a good living with a job in that field. Or with someone who only thinks of sports for that matter. You should be looking into accounting. You're good with numbers. It wouldn't be hard for me to give you a good recommendation to a firm or corporation. Finding a husband then would be easy." Daisuke was already grinning at the idea of this perfect picture for his little sister.

"Yes, perfect little Kanika can do no wrong. Why don't you set up an arranged marriage for her while you're at it since she's the one you're staking the future on." Taichi hissed, shooting a glare at his sister.

"That's not a bad idea." Kanika stiffened up when she saw the look on her oldest brother's face. He was actually considering the idea. "You could learn from her Taichi. Your grades are dropping, you're skipping school, and you haven't even begun to study for entrance exams." Daisuke's cold eyes locked on to Taichi who'd had enough.

"I'm not her! Quit comparing me to that damn goody two shoes!" Taichi slammed his hands on the table, glaring at Kanika as if it was all her fault.

"Nee-san!" Kanika rose from her own seat to chase after him, only stopping when she spotted Daisuke's eyes on her next.

"Taichi that's enough. Kanika, that will be your future should you insist on pursuing this silly basketball club of yours. I will allow you to finish out this tournament, but I expect you to resign once it is done and focus on your studies. That includes staying away from those friends of yours." He spoke in that commanding tone that Kanika couldn't disobey. She even found it hard to move at the moment.

It was then the picture from the Inter High flashed in her mind. The one of all the team standing together. Another image flashed after that. One of her and Mira smiling together. She recalled all the faces of the players she'd met from joining the club. Both from her school and others from all over. And one last face flashed in her mind. The smiling face of the usually hard and chiseled Aomine. Kanika didn't wish to give up any of it. No matter what.

She turned and rushed out after her out of the house, stopping only long enough to get her shoes on before bolting. Kanika had never ran so hard in her life. She could see it in her brother's eyes. He had every intention of trying to make her quit the club once the Winter Cup was over. He was going to make sure she followed the path he wanted her to take. He was going to make her into the ideal little sister. To mold her into what he saw was fit. Not what she wanted.

"Kanika!" Upon hearing her name she turned to see Taichi out of breath not that far from her.

"Nee-san?" This is the first time Taichi had ever chased after her.

Normally he saw her as nothing but a nuisance and wanted nothing to do with her. He always claimed she was too loud, constantly stood her up, and basically despised everything about her since he was always compared to the girl. Was he perhaps feeling sorry for once? Was he trying to console her? They were both prisoners of their older brother's whims. Maybe Taichi was finally able to see Kanika as not a rival and eyesore, but someone whom he had a common enemy with that he should bond with. Just when she thought it was too good to be true as she reached towards her brother, Taichi batted one of her arms away and made a dive for her wallet. He grabbed all the money out of it before tossing the coin purse back to her.

"This is really all you got? Oh well. Better than nothing to kill time with. Maybe you aren't completely useless sis." Taichi snickered, waving the money over his shoulder as he left his sister standing there.

Kanika felt like her heart had been crushed. She was never going to more than a sister by blood. Both brothers despised her. Taichi was tired of being compared to her, Daisuke wanted to control her. Neither of them would ever be the brothers she wanted. The brothers she needed. Her whole body went numb as her mind went into autopilot. She felt her body move down to grab her coin purse before making her turn and head towards the train station. She swiped her card and found a seat on the train. After a short ride she got off and wandered the street for a short time before coming to a stop in front of a building. Kanika climbed the stairs before stopping in front of a door. She pressed the doorbell and just waited patiently.

"Hello? Ichinose-chan?" Kagami was the one who answered the door. All Kanika could do was look at him with that blank stare.

Kagami let the girl by and closed the door behind her before leading her into the living room. Lounging on the couch with ice on her ankle was Mira. She picked her head up, only to see her friend in a zombified state. Mira popped off the couch and rushed to her friend, wrapping her in her arms as Kanika finally came back to life. The girl began to cry as she gripped Mira's shirt tightly. The two of them sank to the ground as Kanika continued to just cry into her friend's chest.

"Taiga, do me a favor and call Aomine. Tell him I said to get here asap." Mira said softly.

"Got it." Kagami may not always be the brightest crayon in the box, but even he could tell when someone was in immense pain. And he knew at the moment, Aomine would be one of the only ones to help Kanika to be able to heal.

Alright. So like I mentioned before school and life happened. I'm getting down to my last couple of semesters so it's getting to crunch time. I'm not gonna let the story die, but I will however probably take a long while uploading from now on. But that's another story for another time.

Anywhoo...back to what's at hand! I hadn't had a good AominexKanika moment in a long time and I've been wanting to do something to kinda bring my fav side couple back. Let's face it, these two are adorable! And there will be more of them next chapter I promise! For now review and let me know who all's still here!