Break 32: Without Doubt

Tell me something, what do you hold dear?

"Momoi," Kaed attempted to speak, "you're squeezing-way-to-tight."

The pink haired manager finally let up on her bone-crushing hug and pouted, "But Kae-chan! I haven't seen you in forever, how else do you expect me to react when you drop by Touou unannounced?"

"By not accidentally suffocating me?"

Shiny peach hued locks flicked from side to side as Momoi shook her head. "Oh Kae-chan, those biting words of your never change. Sometimes I wonder how Ki-chan handles it on such a frequent basis."

Rubbing the soreness out of her arms, Kaed snorted, "As do I, as do I. Speaking of which how do you handle the Ahomine?"

"Actually I don't know," Momoi admitted, "it's just someone needs to watch him, and I am his friend after all."

"Where is he anyway?" Kaed questioned, "I think Azalea is scaring poor Sakurai-san over there…" her eyes drifted over to where Azalea was looming over a very shaky Sakurai Ryou. Imayoshi merely looked on with either amusement or highly concealed concern (it was impossible to tell).

Momoi giggled, "I remember, you used to talk about her an awful lot back at Teiko. But Aomine-kun is probably up on the roof right now. He tends to skip practices. It's pretty difficult to get him down sometimes."

Teeth grit against each other as Kaed grimaced, "Figures," she muttered near venomously, "even Kise is working harder."

Instantly Momoi's eyes lit up, "So…how is Ki-chan?" The glimmer in her eyes denoted a different meaning to what Kaed had hoped she meant.

"Uh, well…he's Kise," Kaed said, shrugging and trying not to make eye contact. That proved to be fruitless as Momoi pushed closer to her in a pouty effort to get a better answer.

"That wasn't what I meant Kae-chan."

Tugging at her collar, Kaed cleared her throat in an obvious 'let's change the subject' gesture. Taking the hint, Momoi only smiled.

"Say…how would I get to the roof?"

Pink irises went wide, "Wait…you actually want to talk to Aomine-kun?! I thought you were just here to scout!"

"No, in fact the main reason I'm here is to have words with our dear Ahomine."

Momoi only rested her head in her palm, "Well, alright then. He should be on the building directly to the right of here, just head on up. And remind him to get to practice for me will you?"

"Of course I will," the taller girl replied, "mind telling Azalea I'm retrieving our, ah, target? Thanks Momoi!"

Not wasting any time, Kaed dashed out the door, the athleticism of her training showing through in her easy movements. It didn't take all that long to reach the roof. Glancing up at the ladder needed to reach the highest point of the building she sighed. Climbing up the rungs, she reached the upraised floor, the dark blue mop of hair standing out, as did the lazy figure.

Snorting at the dozing Ace, Kaed deftly pulled herself up into a kneeling position hovering above Aomine with an amused countenance. Mulling over how to wake up the lazy basketball player, she soon settled for a sharp flick to the forehead. Aomine's eyes shot open at the contact and he glared up at the satisfied female.

"What are you doing here?" he sneered, pulling himself into a sitting position, "Not to grovel for forgiveness I assume."

"For once you make an intelligent observation Ahomine, I'm not here to 'grovel for forgiveness' as you put it."

"Then what are you here for?"

"To talk," Kaed said, relaxing her frame, "the old captain has…challenged me I suppose."

Aomine scoffed, "Finally got yourself in trouble eh? What do you want me to do about it? Last I checked you were the double-sided one Tsuji."

"Look," she grumbled, "I'm not here to ask for help. I just want answers, directly from you."

The blue haired sloth only hummed in mild interest. He contemplated his answer before smirking smugly in reply.

"Play me. One-on-one. Just like we used to."

"You want me to what? I thought you were supposed to be lazy!"

He only yawned, "Is it so hard to understand? I thought you were supposed to be smart," he prodded, "Anyway, I'm just bored. You can get your answers through our game, Satsuki can't get after me about not practicing, and I can go back to enjoying my magazines and sleep. It's a win-win situation."

"Fine," Kaed agreed rather grudgingly, "but we both know how this is going to end."

Aomine only sent her a cocky grin, "Prove it wrong and maybe I'll reconsider giving you a straight answer."

"Deal."

Kaed was officially glad she had only worn a t-shirt and loose fitting shorts today. Otherwise this little match would have been much more awkward. When she and Aomine had entered the gym, they had garnered looks of high interest. Even Azalea broke away from tormenting Sakurai to regard the (really) tall arrival with darting eyes. Seeing her student's serious expression and movements to the court she immediately caught on.

"Oh~? Well this is much more than I expected. Please give us a good show!"

The student only shot her mentor an annoyed look before facing Aomine. "Let's just get this over with."

Clearing half of a court proved to be easy as everyone wanted to watch this weighted match between a girl and the Ace of Touou. As expected Aomine's advantage was clear throughout the match, it was almost painfully one-sided. Kaed's measly 5'6 height didn't hold candle to the Ace's nor did her much slimmer frame. Despite Aomine's obvious overwhelming power and speed, it became a competition of agility.

The matter of scoring was even harder to stomach it was so partial to Aomine. He blocked any attempts at her offensive maneuvers with such ease; it was incredibly frustrating for his opponent. If anything, Kaed could only give Aomine a hard time. The least she could do was at not make it a boring victory for him. Her limber figure and immediate and calculated reactions disrupting every play he made.

Her constant interruptions both amused and annoyed the Ace. He was glad she was making it interesting, but at the same time her persistence only grated on his nerves. Even if she couldn't truly keep up with him she still managed to react appropriately and at a surprising speed.

This biased match continued until their time was up. Aomine walked off casually, barely breaking a sweat, he only looked over his shoulder to address his heavily breathing adversary. "Heh, well this time certainly wasn't as dull as the last time we played."

Kaed only scowled at his back. The Touou manager walked up to her with an encouraging smile, "You did well Kae-chan, I can see you've really improved from the last time I saw you play!" the peach haired girl, tossed the other female a spare water bottle, the latter catching it with a fond smile.

"Thanks Momoi, it really means a lot," the auburn eyed teen said, taking a deep gulp of the much needed liquid. Glancing at her appraising coach she braced herself for the criticism.

She only received a light tap on the head. Confusion was evident in her eyes as she looked up at the coach. Azalea could only grin knowingly. "Loosen up, you did your best. I don't expect any more then I think you're capable of."

"Are you actually being nice?"

"I'm being honest," Azalea huffed, "And I think you're manager friend will agree with what I have to say. You played perfectly, your judgment was correct in every instance, you were efficient and reacted appropriately. In the end you were only outclassed in ability."

"Now remember this: Playing perfectly doesn't guarantee victory, and making mistakes doesn't always mean defeat."

Kaed shook her head in response while simultaneously picking up her cell from her bag, "Leave it up to you in order to make a life lesson out of this." Taking a sip of water, she stole a quick glance at her phone's screen and almost choked. Ten (seriously melodramatic) texts and four missed calls, all from the same person; "Kise…"

Curious of the annoyed aura being emitted from her student Azalea peeked over her shoulder and snickered.

At the moment Kaed was busy dialing the blonde to let him know she wasn't dead or leaving him for Aomine (as he apparently thought…how he even found out about the trip she had no clue). He picked up on the first ring. Was he waiting by his phone or something? She had thought, yeah, he probably was, it was after all a very Kise-like thing to do.

"Tsujicchi! You finally called back~! I was getting worried-ssu," the model had cried, the crocodile tears already flowing.

"Kise, it's been like a day since I last spoke to you. Cool your head, and no, I'm not transferring to Touou. How did you even find out about this?"

"Hiraoka-chan told me~. But why would you even want to go to Aominecchi's school anyway? I know for a fact Kaijou isn't having any matches against them soon."

"Personal reasons," Kaed sighed, "just…don't ask. What's with the persistence anyway?"

"Eh? Oh! I almost forgot, summer's almost over and I haven't quite finished my homework yet… I was wondering, could you maybe come over tomorrow and help me out?" the pathetically whiny tone laced in with every intention to sucker her into agreeing.

Cue the heaved sigh. "Fine I'll help. Just maybe not tomorrow I have a morning practice and I'm doing something in the afternoon with Azalea, plus my sister has been bugging me about cooking dinner lately. Can we have the study session the day after?"

"That works too, I'm free for the day then. Aw, I was hoping I could see you sooner though."

"Kise if you're trying to make me call off my plans tomorrow so I can help you it isn't working."

There was a chuckle on the other end of the line. "Geez, you see through me too easily. But what is so important to you that you would sacrifice time with me to do it? Have I fallen that low on your list of priorities-ssu?! I thought we were best friends…"

"Stop being dramatic, I could have said 'no' altogether. I have to go so-"

"Heeey! Don't hang up on me! I still need to kno-!"

Click went the phone as Kaed cut the call. From Momoi's girlish smile as she came up to her Kaed knew that they had been rather loud.

The manager smiled sweetly, "Can't live with him can you~?" the suggestive lilt painting her words.

"Heh, I suppose so," the ashy brown haired female smirked wistfully.

"Though I doubt I could really live without him."

.

.

.

"Awww~! That's absolutely adorable!" Azalea cooed, her normally cool fascia broken. "But I still think he's a wimp. That Aomine guy though seems much cooler."

"Thanks for ruining the moment Azalea!"

A/N: Despite the fact I'm happy with the chapter I'm rather disappointed I couldn't finish it before the one-year anniversary of this story (October 3rd). Though this 'Arc' will be finishing up soon as we get into fall/winter, at least the timing is somewhat appropriate. As always, feedback is much appreciated!

Trivia

During her time in the Newspaper Club Kaed's favored subjects were sports, music, and pop culture/scandals.