Chapter 14

I wake up the next morning with a strange fuzzing feeling in my stomach.

Yesterday . . . I kissed Aomine Daiki.

My fingers float up to my lips, the fuzzy feeling in my stomach growing, so much that I can barely feel anything else, even the feeling of my fingers against my lips, or the heat in my cheeks, or the whirl of my thoughts.

I kissed Aomine Daiki.

I might . . . like him. A lot, really.

A lot more than he or I can even understand.

I roll onto my back and stare up at the ceiling. I've woken up earlier than normal. It's a Monday morning. It's a school morning. I'll be able to see him today (provided he doesn't skip). Something shivers inside of me, and I know that I won't be able to go back to sleep, even if I try. I want to see him. I want to . . . wrap my hand against his. I kind of might want to kiss him again.

I roll out of bed. And in the next two hours, I put more effort into my appearance that morning that I ever have before.

When Matsuzaki knocks on my door to walk me to school, I'm such a fit of nerves that I have to breathe in several moments before I go to open it.

His eyes widen at the sight of me. "Tsuchiya-san?" he says, astounded.

I nod.

"Is this for Aomine-kun?" he asks.

I nod again, because there's no point in trying to deny it.

He says, "Wow. He's going to be pleased."

I flush with pleasure. "You think so?"

"Yeah. You . . . you look beautiful."

My blush turns crimson. "T-thank you, Senpai."

"Let's get going, then, shall we? Don't want to keep Aomine-kun waiting for . . . all this . . ." He almost seems at a loss for words.

For most of the way, the two of us walk in silence. Normally, it would've been unusual, but today, I am grateful for it. I am anxious to see Aomine, but I am also nervous, unsure of what he will make of me. Will he like it, or will he not notice it at all?

As we near the area that Aomine and I usually meet up, Matsuzaki says, "So . . . um, I'm going to take my leave here, then. Hana-chan said she'd make me a bento today . . . " and disappears.

I'm not quite sure what that has to do with anything but I nod, barely noticing him, and continue forward. If Aomine ends up skipping today, I've decided I'm going to kill him.

But as I turn the corner . . .

There he is.

My breath escapes from me.

He squatted on the ground currently, holding his hand out to a stray cat whose face is extended to sniff his hand. His face is very calm, relaxed, and in that moment, it almost seems like there's nothing else in the world. Just him.

"Daiki," I say softly.

He starts, and the cat jumps, racing away.

"Oh! Sorry."

"Kaminari," he says, his voice a bit gruff sounding. "You're early. And you scared —"

He looks at me.

Really looks at me.

His eyes widen noticeably. "Are you . . . wearing make-up?"

"I've worn make-up before," I complain.

"Not like this."

"No, not like this," I admit.

"And your hair . . . you did something different with it, too."

I raise an eyebrow. "I left it down."

"Is that it? I guess you usually always do have it in a braid or ponytail or something."

"Really observant of you."

"You didn't trip over my name again."

"Progress, right?"

He smiles suddenly, and my heart begins to pound, a steady drumbeat. He closes the distance between us in a few swift strides, and clasps his hands over mine. The sudden heat between us ignites like a flare, and I suck in a breath. He, too, seems to be breathing a little shallower than usual.

"You're here," he murmurs.

"Uh-huh," I say, unable to think of anything smarter to say.

"So . . . ," he starts. "What did you think . . . of last night?"

I frown. "What part of last night?"

"Well . . . you know . . ."

"The kiss?"

He licks his lips. "Right."

"You're the one who kissed me, and now you're getting embarrassed about it?"

My own cheeks are flaming, though . . .

He says, "Don't say it like that . . . I was just . . . caught up in the moment?"

"You're such a dork," I say.

He lets out a low chuckle. "Don't know what I can do about that."

"Well . . . I suppose it's one of your more endearing traits."

He raises an eyebrow. "Endearing?"

I blush furiously. "I — I mean that you have . . . some characteristics about you . . . that aren't as . . . aren't as —"

He kisses me.

His lips are softer than yesterday. Briefly, I wonder if he applied some lip balm. Briefly, I think that maybe I should, too. And then I'm caught up in the fact that Aomine Daiki is kissing me.

And that's not something that happens every day.

His arm moves around my waist, warm even through my shirt. One of my hands go around his neck and the other combs through his hair, which is softer than I thought it would be. My stomach is a bowl full of butterflies now, and this feeling — it's erupting inside of me, and I — I can't stop it.

We separate, and both of us are breathing a bit harder than usual.

"You don't need to explain to me," he says, his voice a bit rough, but somehow still gentle.

"That's right," I say breathlessly. "Boyfriends and girlfriends . . . they're just supposed to naturally understand each other, right?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"You think so?"

"I mean . . . I've never had a girlfriend before you. How should I know?"

"Oh, I suppose so. So . . . we're just winging this, then?"

"Weren't we always?" His eyes bore into mine, but this time, I enjoy the sensation, and stare right back at him, a silly grin on my face. "Besides," he continues, "there's nothing wrong with that. Some parts of life aren't meant to be lived with a guidebook. Some things you just need to live through while taking risks, acting on your impulses, and not worrying about the consequences."

"Wow. That's surprisingly deep."

He looks indignant.

I laugh and rap my hand against his chest. "Daiki, you have changed, haven't you?"

He frowns.

I move closer to him and lay my head on his chest. His breath catches. Like always, he is firm. Immovable. But he is also warm and gentle, soft and caring.

He holds my hand as we walk into school. People barely glance at us, the shock of Aomine Daiki and Tsuchiya Kaminari dating having worn off long ago. The sight of us holding hands, while new, probably isn't surprising.

But it's a change for us. And no one knows exactly how much.

"Tsuchiya-san," Sakurai says during art class. "Is something different between you and Aomine-san?"

I suppose that Sakurai may be a little more observant than the rest of the students. And he also probably knows Aomine and me better than the rest, too.

"Ah . . . it's nothing, really," I say. "Why do you say that?"

Sakurai glances over at Aomine, whose head is lying on the desk, and is emitting soft snores. The teacher has yet to catch him and I can't feel bothered to wake him up, even though I normally would.

"You two are glancing at each other more than normal," he says. "And you appear more . . ." He shrugs, a helpless expression on his face. "I don't know exactly how to explain it."

I give him a small smile. "Well, neither do I."

His eyes widen a bit.

Just then, the teacher comes over and whacks Aomine on the head. He starts up with a yelp, and I have to bite back a laugh. Sakurai immediately begins to apologize for not waking him up earlier.

Maybe, though . . . the reason I didn't wake him up is because he looks rather peaceful when he sleeps. And just a bit cute.

We go up to the roof that day, of course. It's really quite bitter cold, though, and I almost regret it immediately.

"We're going to have to stop doing this soon," I mutter.

"It's not that cold," he says, but he draws his coat closer around him and I call him on his bluff, much to his dismay.

"It is that cold!" I say. "This year is turning out to be freezing! Do you know how much I hate the cold weather? This year . . . it's going to be awful!"

"Well . . ."

He scoots closer to me, and I gasp as he suddenly throws his arm around me and draws me in so close that there's barely any space between us. But now, my whole side is warm, everywhere he's touching almost a feverish hot.

"Better?" he asks.

"Better," I confirm.

I snuggle closer to him, a little awed by my audacity, but I feel comforted by his closeness. He rests his chin against my head and says, "You're soft."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Well, your hair for one. And your skin."

"Oh . . . then it's a compliment?"

He turns his head so that our eyes meet briefly, and makes a face. "Of course it's a compliment, silly."

"Right, right. Then, you're . . . warm."

"Warm? That's the best you can come up with?"

"It's true!" I defend myself. "I mean, actually, you're like burning hot. Like an oven. Or a furnace. A fireplace. The stove."

"Aren't those all really similar?"

"They're kind of like synonyms, I suppose. But slightly different!"

"I don't get your way of thinking."

I sigh. "Whatever. You probably just don't have the capability."

"That's . . ." He sighs and doesn't even bother to finish his answer.

I smile to myself and close my eyes. I grip his shirt in my fingers and just revel in the amount of warmth I'm gaining from his body heat. Boys' bodies really are something else.

Finally, I say, "Daiki . . . why me?"

"Huh?"

"I mean . . . why did you start liking me? And why did you ask me to be your girlfriend? At the very beginning, you even said you'd never like me."

And I, too, thought that I'd never fall in love with him. Yet here I am . . .

"That was a lie," he says easily. "You wouldn't have agreed if you thought I liked you. Would you?"

"No."

"And . . . I don't know why it's you. Not why specifically. If you ask me for just one reason, I'd never be able to think of one."

"Then if I ask you to give me several?"

"Then you might be waiting a long time."

"That doesn't make sense. I'm not . . . like anything that . . . special or something. I'm just . . ."

"Kaminari." He says my name carefully. "You were someone who looked at me differently than everyone else. Not because I was part of the Generation of Miracles and not just because I was someone who never did their work. You saw me as someone . . . who could be improved if I just tried."

"Everyone can get better if they work toward it," I say.

"See? That's what I'm talking about. I know I annoyed you and that there was next to a zero chance that you'd ever see me like that, but we kept getting paired together in school, so I couldn't help it. I would watch you, and how you always worked hard, no matter what. And you didn't put up with anything, not even me. I suppose that fascinated me. You spoke your mind, your truth, no matter how others reacted or thought."

"Daiki . . ."

"Kaminari," he whispers.

"I'm sorry. I never knew. I suppose . . . it's true that I thought you were just lazy. That you didn't respect anyone or anything. But I didn't understand any of it . . . and I didn't know . . . that there was so much more to you."

"You don't need to apologize. That was my own fault."

We both take in deep breaths.

"So . . . what now?" I ask, and my voice sounds almost fragile in the frigid air.

"Now?" He smiles. "I can't say I really know."

A/N: Just simple aftermath after that kiss last chapter. The two of them are becoming quite the couple. Thanks for reading this far, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

~ J. Dominique