Another day, another chapter.

- removed review section after story ended for better view -

There are two small cameos this time of the Miracles. One is obvious the other one...well, kinda as well but the name is not mentioned so yay, mystery thing? Haha. Thanks for all the follows, favorites and reviews!

DAY FIFTY ONE

It was strange.

The nervousness which crawled beneath her skin. The way her guts squirmed around, making every step somehow uncomfortable. She didn't know what to think. Actually her head felt empty. It had never been like that before. At least she couldn't recall anything similar from her past. Mia was nervous. She was actually nervous to see the blue haired basketball player.

It was his fault, she concluded.

She had never paid it any heed before until he had leaned against her in the park. But he was tall - yeah she knew he was tall, but, he was tall - and warm. His body felt hard like a rock. Any skin contact felt suddenly foreign and the goosebumps ran down her spine as she had actually felt his body shook with his laughter and breath right next to her.

Mia could feel the thoughts slowly swirl around in her head. Of course, he was a guy, she knew that there was certainly a difference between female friends and male friends. It was an obvious thing. But she never had realized that as harshly as that day.

And now, it was suddenly strange to meet him.

The girl held onto the strap of her bag as she walked down the sidewalk. The inner part of the district was always busy. It was no difference this day either. The many voices and faces of people blurred into a sea of colors and noise around her, cars were driving down the street while she made her way towards the little fountain where they wanted to meet up.

"But where is he...?"

The orange-head glanced around, trying to find her classmate in between the strangers. But it was a pretty popular meet-up place, they had chosen, there were many other teenagers who had enough free time in summer break. And even with his height, it was impossible for her to find him yet. Still turning and twisting around, she typed into her mobile phone a message, simply asking Aomine if he had already arrived.

It was an underestimation if she wasn't surprised that he called her a few seconds after she had pressed send. Hectically, she pushed the green button, pressing the device against her ear.

"Yeah?"

"It's a pain to type it, I'm at the big clock right now."

Mia's head turned around towards the structure he talked about. It was not far from the fountain. "Well, me too...but I can't see you."

She heard him grumbling something, it was too quiet for her to understand, but it was obvious that he had started moving around as well. Maybe they should've met up at the station...that suddenly sounded a lot smarter than here, although now it was too late to change that.

"Wait right where you are."

The orange-head turned around again, her gaze wandering over the many heads of the strangers in hope to see the familiar blue haired teenager. But there were just too many people. Elders, children, teens who were just around her age...Mia found herself frowning slightly, how was he supposed to find her, when she couldn't find him?

His logic was flawless as usual.

"Aomine-"

Mia suddenly froze.

Her voice died on her tongue as her eyes locked with the ones of a stranger. It wasn't the person she was looking for, she had never seen him either before to be honest. But the cold glint in his gaze fixated her, the moment the name had left her lips. It felt like someone shoved down a pack of ice down her shirt, if she thought she had been nervous before then she was surely terrified by now.

The boy walked past her, leaving with a group of other guys who were taller than him. All wearing similar uniforms just like her classmate and his team - only the colors differed. Snow white and baby blue were the complete opposite of the traditional version of their school.

It was just a second they had looked at another anyway, a single moment. But to her, it had felt like an eternity.

"Nidori."

The girl felt a hand on top of her head which twisted her skull towards the tall teenager she had been searching for. Mia could feel herself relaxing as she saw the familiar face of Aomine. His frown was aimed at the stranger who had left a few seconds ago. But that didn't matter because the tremor in her heart felt suddenly soothing in contrast to the coldness.

"Aomine." She breathed in relief, shutting her phone in process.

He still wasn't looking at her, his blue orbs following something in the distance. But the second, he lost sight of it, his attention fell onto her. Bravely the girl suppressed the blush which wanted to creep onto her face, it was his fault. She concluded once more. All his.

"Ya alright?"

"I'm okay." She answered slowly, only once looking back towards the direction where the stranger had disappeared. But he was gone, of course. With ease she turned towards her classmate, smiling up at his usual bored frown. "Ready for a family movie?"

"Hell yeah." He drawled disinterested.

However.

Both of them couldn't help but grin.

Well.

Their plans had been postponed for an hour and a half. The movie started later when they had anticipated and now they were walking around the mall in hope to kill some time. It wasn't really helping her case with her slight nervousness. In the past, they had met up to play basketball, they had been busy and the natural topic of the sport had kept the conversation alive.

Now, however, they had met up to do something entirely else. And it was so strange; she couldn't stop repeating that in her head. The mall was huge, filled to the brim with visitors and she felt suddenly so out of place at the side of the basketball player who somehow was able to catch a few glances here and there thanks to his height.

At first, the two of them merely walked around, silent with the exceptions of a few mumblings here and there about when the movie would start and when they'd have to return to the cinema to not miss it. Only after they had passed a shop which offered clothes and sports articles, the life to their conversations returned. The known topic of basketball came back.

"There is a difference?" Mia found herself asking, narrowing her eyes at a shoe in her hand.

"Sure is." The teen replied, pointing at the object in her hand before he gestured towards the one he held. "The sole ain't the same. This one is good for the court inside and that one here is for outside only."

"Damn, they're just shoes..."

Aomine snickered at her comment, his already big ego swelling up with the knowledge he could offer while all she could do was nod and grimace. His arrogant grin was burning in her eyes. She hadn't been able to wipe it off his face once since she knew him. And because he didn't care about school - the only point where she could beat him - she'd never be able to get rid of it.

"Oh, I know these." Mia called out as she stepped towards a table in the shop.

The orange haired girl grabbed one of the black shoes, scanning the logo on its surface while some popular pop song hummed through the large room. The basketball player approached her side, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his pants as he lifted an eyebrow.

"Adidas?"

"It's a German brand, they're pretty popular - mostly made for jogging, though."

Aomine furrowed his brow while taking the shoe from her hands to scrutinize the pale sole and material of it. For her it merely felt like a lucky guess, she was somehow able to contribute some kind of knowledge about sport in general. It wasn't really much, but she could never compare to his passion for it anyway.

It even amazed her actually. And she wasn't even really a fan of it to begin with.

Proudly, Mia smiled at her classmate who actually grumbled something of 'It ain't a bad shoe...' to himself. After the awkwardness in the beginning had been broken by the sports shop here, she actually started to feel comfortable enough to relax. Maybe they even sold basketballs? She should get one so that Aomine wouldn't have to steal one from the club all the time.

The girl walked through the shop, leaving the older one for a moment behind to find the certain object, she desired. The beat of the pop song which was played hung in the air, making her hum along against her own will. The tune was catchy and her feet tapped against the floor as she glanced at a shelf which was filled with a handful of balls of different sports.

Mia grinned brightly as she grabbed the orange orb from the fourth row, weighing it with both of her hands before a different pair of hands grabbed another one next to her. Surprised, she looked up, taking a step back to make sure she wasn't in the way, but the stranger who quickly noticed it merely smiled warmly.

She would have maybe returned it. Really, she was a polite girl.

Her face, however, turned pale as she realized who these golden locks belonged to. It was a face which had been plastered across so many magazines the girls in her class read, it was hard not to have seen it ever before. And if her brain just wouldn't be a horrible filter she'd be able to recall his name immediately.

Such stuff didn't happen in real life.

The tall boy blinked at her innocently a few times, the honey-brown color of his eyes glinting in something as he seemed to get the idea why she had paused in her movement like this.

"Ah, I've been found out, right?"

God, he was talking to her as well.

Why in the world did she think it was a good idea to go and look for a basketball? Awkwardly, Mia hugged the ball closer to her chest, the paleness quickly disappearing as instead the blush of embarrassment chose to appear.

"Uh, no. I mean..."

The blond grinned at her brightly. "Do you want an autograph? I can give you one." He held onto the orange ball with his right hand as he lifted his other to his mouth, pressing the forefinger against his smiling lips. "But please don't tell anyone you saw me, alright?"

What? No, she didn't want that. She was just surprised that people like him were normal human beings after all - he was a model, right? Gosh, why couldn't she remember his stupid name while she could recognize his face just fine?

"Oi, Nidori?"

Mia had probably never been so glad in her life as she was now, that was already twice today he saved her from an uncomfortable moment with a stranger and eagerly she turned around to the blue haired teenager to escape this more than awkward moment between her and someone her classmates would die for.

She lifted the basketball in her hands to show him what she found, his name barely passing her lips as the very blond haired teen behind her started to raise his voice in surprise.

"Aominecchi!?"

What?

Mia's eyes flickered from the blond to the tanned teenager a few times, her brow furrowing in confusion. They knew each other? What? How? Why?

"Kise."

That was his name, right! Kise something...Kise Ryouske...no, Kise Ryōta, yeah that was it. The young high school student who was working as a model for some brands, even though he was barely older than her - just a few months, she recalled. But how in the world did her classmate know him? That just didn't fit in her mind.

The guys looked at each other surprised and slightly uncertain. But all those emotions flew over Mia's head because she didn't know what to do in between the much unexpected fronts. Slowly and carefully she put the basketball back into the shelf, her fingers playing with another as the teenagers had forgotten her existence for a second.

"I...I got your message." Kise said quietly.

Aomine scratched the back of his head, frowning at nothing in particular as he grunted in reply. The orange-head could do nothing but glance at the awkward grimaces on their faces, wondering just what exactly was going wrong today, because apparently it wasn't enough that her thoughts were all in a chaotic mess. No, there was one strange thing chasing another.

"Uh..." Was all she could mutter but it was enough to catch the attention of both males.

"Right, Nidori. Let's go." Aomine grumbled, ready to turn away and leave but Kise would have none of that it seemed.

"You know each other?" It bubbled out of the blond curiously. His lips freezing in motion as his mind grasped what exactly was going on right now. For a second he looked left and right, searching for something or someone but then his eyes widened as if he was a five-year-old who had discovered a new toy. "No way, Aominecchi - are you, are you on a date, right now?"

"What if." The blue haired basketball player challenged him while he quirked a brow.

"No way, did you hear that senpai-?" Kise turned quickly around, his gaze searching for someone as his lips were pulled into a grin. But there was no one behind him, he stood all alone in the aisle and his shoulders fell as he realized that. "Eh? Senpai? Kasamatsu-senpai?"

Mia felt a strong hand closing around her wrist, a single tug was enough to pull her away from the model who started to whine, because his friend had apparently left him behind. The orange-head stumbled slightly on her first steps, but shortly after she adjusted to his pace. She followed Aomine obediently out of the shop. The two of them fell back into the stream of people, putting some distance between them and Kise before the basketball player finally came to a halt.

"How small is this god damn city..."

"Is he a friend of yours?"

The teen frowned. "...kinda..."

The girl glanced at the masses of people behind them, making sure that in between the unknown faces was no sudden glint of gold to be seen before she looked back to the basketball player.

"Well, he's gone now...want to get something to eat? We still got time."

It was funny, really, how strange it could be.

There were moments where she felt as comfortable as she had become with her classmate since they got to know one another. And then there were moments where she caught herself hesitating because of her damn brain and its stupid thoughts. Silly ones, really. But they existed nonetheless.

Aomine bit into a burger, licking his lips as some ketchup clung to his skin. They sat at the window side of the diner, eating fries and drinking coke because the movie still wasn't starting yet. It wasn't like they had any other options in a huge mall concerning food but she was simple, really, and if she had learned anything over the years, it was that you should never underestimate the good old burgers and French fries.

"So, he went to your middle school, too?"

The tall teenager nodded, chewing on his meal.

The orange-head raked through her mind, trying to put all the information, he slowly but surely offered somewhere into her mind. That guy with the glasses, the model - they looked like a colorful bunch of people and they all knew the tanned boy in front of her.

"You know many people..."

Aomine gulped down the portion of his meal, shortly afterwards snorting at her words.

"Many freaks, maybe."

Mia couldn't help but laugh, gnawing on a fry as she reached for her cold drink.

"Am I a freak too, then?"

Her classmate lifted an eyebrow, his elbows resting on the table as he cradled the burger in his hands. "Probably."

There it was. The comfortable atmosphere. It was a miracle in itself that she really was able to find something like that with the intimidating teenager - but somehow it appeared to be possible. They were able to talk, his snarky comments as present as ever and her mind had finally found peace. Or at least a break from all the thinking.

Her eyes rose to the clock on the wall as they finished their meal, the time had finally arrived where the movie would start. Mia pointed out that they should go; the trash was soon put away as they closed in on the cinema. As if it was something normal, something they were doing on daily basis. Instead of playing merely basketball in the park.

The tickets were bought, the counter where they sold the popcorn filled with many other people who wanted to have some of the sweet or salty treat. Mia didn't want to go without it as well, forcing them to stand in line as she got hold of her purse where her money was in.

"Nah, Nidori. Let's buy drinks, too."

The orange-head jumped as she felt his chest press against her back. It was just like a déjà vu from the day before yesterday. His chin pressing against the top of her head as he glared obviously bored at the signs above the counter where the snacks and drinks were displayed. Mia could feel the heat creep back into her face, because he was doing it again. No sense for personal space at all.

Stubbornly, she bit her bottom lip, her limbs tense as she continued to wait for her turn. Aomine leaned more of his weight onto her as he realized she wasn't stepping away, his body heat crawling through her clothes into her skin which probably only made her face glow more and more.

What was she supposed to do?

Mia had no idea, she couldn't think because her heart had started hammering against her ears. And as their turn finally came, she couldn't find her voice and the teen behind her took over the lead, grumbling their order while he still sounded as bored as ever.

At the very least, she found the strength to pay for half of it before he could overrun her there as well. She stared at him intensely as they moved towards their seats, but the back of his head wasn't helping. Not the lopsided grin either he threw over his shoulder once as he saw her staring.

This wasn't...you know...that thing there, right?

Mia cradled the popcorn as they sat down, her gaze thoughtfully watching the snack in her arms as Aomine's hand appeared. He stole a handful of the treat, shoving most of it into his mouth while slowly but surely a handful of other people joined them in the huge room.

"Aomine." She found herself saying quietly.

The blue haired teen still chewed, leaning further into his seat to get more comfortable with his long legs. "Aah?"

Carefully, she chose to stare right ahead, certain pieces of conversations made it through her thick head even though they hadn't done so before.

"As Kise asked you...if that was a date, you said 'what if'...as in, you know, that it is-"

"'Cause it is." He deadpanned.

Mia's head whipped around towards him, meeting his dark blue eyes which stared right back at her. The lines in his face were hard, not a single motion or twitch convincing her that he was joking with her in any way. But then suddenly his face broke into a smug grin, one finger pointing at her glowing cheeks.

"You're blushing."

Oh, that stupid, stupid...

Scowling at him she scooped up a handful of the popcorn, throwing it at his face.

"Ahomine."

"Stop callin' me that." He narrowed his eyes at her, unfazed by her sudden attack with the sugary treat.

But the girl would throw so much more at him if she could, something hard and heavy. How did she ever think that he could kill her? He was arrogant, yeah, and had a way too big ego for his own good. However, he acted like a kid instead of a murderer, all those glares and teeth were nothing but show. Pursing her lips she turned away, aiming her glare at the screen in front of them.

The curtain finally moved aside, the light dimmed as the first few pictures were projected onto the huge cinema screen.

The girl was determined to never look at him again. She felt embarrassed and his words were nothing but confusing while leaving her with more questions than answers. She knew, she was blushing, she was always blushing. He should have learned that by now instead of just assuming things and teasing her.

Aomine on the other hand laid his arm onto the rest between them, easily occupying the whole space by himself. His grin had shrunken as his eyes were glued to the moving pictures in front of them. But nonetheless, the humor was still present in his expression, the hard lines had softened which they rarely did.

Mia had problems to fight off the tiny smile which was about crawl onto her lips as well.