"Every year the same..." Kou mumbled, placing her palm over Hanamiya's heart, pushing him back. "You'll never learn."

"No, but I'm getting better every year."

"Please don't do that ever again..."

The girl bit on the inner side of her cheek and slowly got on her feet, leaving Hanamiya behind while she got her bag. He didn't move from the spot, resting his palms against the table, his shaggy hair covering his face. He was unreadable.

Kou was about to leave him for good but somehow she couldn't force herself to move past the bookcases. She turned on her heel, adjusting the strap of her bag over her shoulder.

"How did we end up like this?" She asked quietly.

Hanamiya rose his dark eyes at her, looking like a boy Kou met those many years ago. For a split second, all she wanted was to get back to him and press her ear over his heart while hugging him tightly. But instead of following her instincts, Miho shook her head and disappeared into the maze of the library.

1 year earlier

"We should ask him," Furuhashi stated with a sigh, his back leaning over the entrance of the school. "The coach is mad about all our lost games. He already threatened to replace us..."

"I'm not going as a second string," Hara informed playing with his half-chewed gum. He kept rolling it on and off his forefinger, not minding the disgusted glares he received from Seto, who had been woken up by the loud voices of his teammates, sitting in the shady part of the ground.

"He's not talking about second string when he says about replacing us," Seto yawned, getting on his feet. "The coach is prepared to give us a one-way ticket out, and I assume he won't even feel sorry about it."

Hara pushed the gum into his mouth and licked his finger.

"If I were him, I'd do the same..." He admitted slowly while blowing a pink bubble; it burst into his face, sticking his messy hair in one lump. "Maybe the school will disband the club in general? If we're out, that old fart will soon have to find new members. But he won't..."

"Why don't you just shut up, Hara? You're not helping." Yamazaki, who until this moment kept quiet, not particularly minding the direction of the conversation was going, blurted. "Stop chewing this gum for fuck's sake! It makes me sick... you're disgusting..."

Hara just shrugged and gathered the scraps of pink, and formed a small globule before popping the gum back in his mouth, making his teammates cringe.

"So back to the subject," Furuhashi broke the awkward silence, that hung in the air. "I wouldn't care if I'm thrown out unless I quitted so—"

"That's stupid..." Seto rolled his eyes, not minding Furuhashi glaring at him.

"Well, I wouldn't care if it wasn't for the coach, who is the problem here. There's no way we'll ever gonna win if he's still working."

Three sets of eyes shot at Furuhashi but Seto turned away and tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"That's true," he mused. "Without the old geezer and with Hanamiya our future looks better."

"I regret to inform you, genius, but the basketball club will get disbanded without an adult supervisor, ergo, a coach," Hara pointed out. "Good luck with finding someone in the middle of the term, who's willing to babysit our merry company."

"A supervisor does not equal a coach, Hara. Have you heard about Seirin?" Seto asked, locking his dull eyes in the purple-haired boy. Hara's lips twisted in a scornful manner in lieu of reply. "We'll figure something out. Now come on. We need to catch Hanamiya before the break is over."

And with that Seto pivoted on his heel, leaving for the small park at the front yard. Furuhashi and Yamazaki followed him without a word. The only one who stood by the back entrance for a little longer was Hara. He gave an exasperated sigh before catching up with the others.

"Who's gonna talk with him?" Hara asked, matching his pace with Seto's.

"We." Came a simple response.

The path to the yard was shadowed by the trees, effectively suiting off the spiring sun from blazing over very paled students, who were currently striding around the campus. Among them was this very same boy with whom the basketball team wanted to have a chat. They were a little relieved it didn't take them too much time to find Hanamiya. Kirasaki Daiichi building wasn't among one of the largest schools in Tokyo for no reason.

Seto took the lead, Hara right behind him, Furuhashi and Yamazaki a little in the back; they followed the duo they had been searching.

Hanamiya looked straight ahead with his hands stuffed in his pockets and Kou had her nose in a book; they walked a good 5 feet apart. The four boys followed the duo, who turned to the benches on the smaller yard of the main entrance. Kirasaki's basketball players shared a brief look, before approaching Hanamiya. It was either now or never. One way or another, they doubted they'd be able to catch Hanamiya when he didn't have any company. Kou had always been near.

So answering my own challenge: I believe that most people's behaviour could be somewhat explained by some traumatic/tragic stuff that happened in their past. There's also the issue of one's personality. As we probably all know, there's simply not much one could do for their nasty personality. I think the combination of those two could result in such a nasty character.

Well, I know there's also mental health factor, and it plays a major part in one's life, however, I don't want to direct that story in serious mental health issues, since it's a delicate subject, which ought to be carefully thought through when written about. Health is one thing, and personality one was born with, and their personal experience is something different here. So please be advised, I have no intention of bashing mental health issues.

Okay, sry for a rather long A/N :(

I forgot to mention this in my previous note ― I have this story almost finished. I think the whole thing will take up about 40-43 chapters, and I have already written 31. I have no intention of abandoning this story since it's been collecting dust for about 4 years now.

I'm leaving for two days and I don't know how's the internet connection there so I might post the next chapter later this week.

Oh, and the most important thing! This is an alternate universe. I had to tweak some character's ages, for instance, Imayoshi is a year younger... I'll keep you posted if I remember more. It's been so long since I made up all that plot :")