Another day, another chapter.

- removed review section after the story ended for a better view -

Damn, I'm late again. Sorry about that. I know that some of you wished that Mia went to watch the match of Kaijo High and Tōō Academy but that didn't fit in my plans! Sorry about that, really. I hope that you'll like this chapter anyway because I needed her to not go for this certain step in the relationship department. Wohoo.

Thank you for all the follows, favorites and reviews!

DAY FOURTY NINE

Maybe she should have gone after all?

Mia couldn't help but stare thoughtfully at the bag of chips in her hand. Satsuki had called her, inviting her to join them, because they all drove to the big sport gym where the match took place together. The orange-head didn't really get why the pink haired girl was so eager to have her join them in the first place, but she mentioned somewhere along the way that they'd be playing against an old friend.

That could explain why Aomine was actually looking forward to a game, even though he had been skipping practice all the time.

But the hall was pretty far away and this noon, Nanami had finally time to call her. She did feel bad in the end for rejecting Satsuki's offer. However, it was so nice to talk to her dear friend again after some time. She listened to her tales of embarrassing family moments and the promise of showing her many photographs when she'd be back.

The orange haired girl wasn't really part of their basketball club either...so it would be weird for her to go, right?

Mia sighed heavily, putting the chips into her basket as she roamed through the aisles of the convenience store. It would have been weird. She told herself that over and over again. But after the tenth time, it sounded meaningless. The girl was curious; she would have actually really liked seeing Aomine and his team in action.

Yeah, they had played together. And once she had watched him play against the teenagers in the park - but this was a tournament. An official game. Mia had looked up the InterHigh out of curiosity yesterday, and to her surprise it really seemed to be an important thing for the high school's basketball. With audience and sometimes even interviews and stuff like that.

"I should've gone to watch it..." She grumbled to herself.

Now she was busy buying some snacks for a rather lazy late afternoon. She had decided to make a movie marathon. And for that she needed a lot of sugar, chips and chocolate like any other average teenager. Though she couldn't decide whether she should go with or without popcorn...

Mia jumped as her mobile phone started ringing, her hands hurrying to dig it out of her bag. It was a hard task to accomplish; the basket was in her way as she finally got hold of the vibrating little device. But after a little struggle, she was finally able to flick it open.

"Yeah?"

"...I won."

It was Aomine's deep voice on the other side of the line. Quiet and heavy. She could feel her heartbeat quicken at the sound of it. It was incredible how his already masculine voice dropped another octave through the static connection. She definitely wouldn't believe he was sixteen years old if she didn't know it already. He sounded a lot older.

"Congratulations..." She murmured quietly in return.

Something was off.

It was just a feeling but something didn't feel right. The basketball player had become silent on the other end, nothing too surprising, but his low breathing made her furrow her brow. It was as if she could see the horrible frown in front of her eyes. But they had won, hadn't they? Her mind hushed confused.

"Did..." The girl started slowly. "...did something happen again?"

"No." Aomine replied.

But she didn't trust him right away. Something had happened, she wasn't stupid. He had called her. Even when they texted each other sometimes...they never called. She had only done it once and as she did that, he hadn't been feeling well either...Mia bit her bottom lip thoughtfully, her gaze falling to the chips and chocolate bar in her basket.

"Are...a-are you hungry?"

The silence killed her, she was certain. She could hear him breathing, something rustled as he shifted or something. But then finally, he replied.

"The park."

Mia blinked slightly puzzled before her brain caught up with their conversation. She found herself nodding quickly, a gesture the blue haired teen obviously couldn't see.

"I'll wait."

He hung up afterwards, without a goodbye. The girl stood in the store, a bit confused and worried because her mind was full of 'what ifs'. He had won, he had said it himself. So what could have gone wrong? Maybe a member of his team had been rude again? But Satsuki and the others were there to look after him - well, it's not like he really needed it...or did he?

Mia found herself suddenly staring at the many different snacks in the shelf in front of her. There were so many colorful packages and wrappings, flavors and forms - not to forget drinks which awaited her in a different aisle.

She had no idea what Aomine liked.

The sun was already setting as she waited on the bench at the playground. She didn't know how long it took him to arrive from the gym, but she already sat there for an hour. She was playing with the strap of her bag, feeling slightly nervous because she didn't know what to expect.

It was a relief anyway to see his familiar stature in the distance. He still wore the jogging suit of his team, the dark black and red engulfing his body. A sight she wasn't used to, she had never seen him wear her school's colors before really...only the frown he had on his face was the same. Cold and nearly emotionless.

Mia stayed quiet as he sat down next to her. He was still radiating heat, his hair wet from the sweat he had worked up. Hadn't he took his time to shower properly first? The girl scanned his profile, hoping something would tell her what had happened because he didn't appear eager to tell her what was wrong.

Nearly hectically, she grabbed her bag, shaking it upside down to let all the things she had bought tumble out of it. Aomine finally looked at her, or better said at the the different chocolate bars, candies, chips and drinks which landed on her lap. Some of them rolled onto the ground.

The grimace on his face softened as his eyes widened. The grin was weak but he started snickering at the sight of all the unhealthy food she had brought with her.

"Ya really came prepared, eh?"

Mia's face flushed in embarrassment. "Of course...I didn't know what you liked so...I just kinda...bought everything..."

The basketball player grabbed a soda can which lay somewhere in the small mountain of candies and opened it. Even though, she had hoped the amount of food she had offered him would break the ice, it merely scratched the surface, it seemed. Carefully cradling the bags and cans in her lap, she chose to take a daring glimpse at his face.

"...what happened?"

Aomine stopped drinking, his gaze clinging to something far in the distance. Slowly he lowered his arm, leaning both elbows onto his knees to support his upper body.

"I..." He said slowly, scrunching up his face in discomfort. "I fucked up, I guess."

"You...wanna talk about it?" Mia asked slowly.

"Not really."

Nodding in understanding, she glanced at the snacks. She maybe had asked him if he was hungry, indicating that they should meet up. But now she was at loss for words. She couldn't force him to talk about the match if he didn't want to. And she didn't really know anything about it either except that they had won.

The tall teenager tapped his forefinger against the cool surface of the can, the lines on his face hard.

"...the face." He mumbled, frowning at the soda. "His face was just..."

Aomine sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he started to glare at his feet. So it was about the friend Satsuki had mentioned, she thought. Someone they had known in middle school, maybe someone who knew the teenager with the glasses she had met on the festival as well? It must be hard to fight against each other...it meant that one of them wouldn't be able to participate in the tournament anymore...

There could be so many reasons and Mia didn't know any of them for real.

"...you could always tell him. Apologize or something."

His heavy blue gaze landed on her, narrow and doubting but Mia continued.

"If he is your friend he'll understand you in time. Maybe not right now...but it's good to try anyway."

A breathy chuckle escaped the guy, the glare finally vanishing completely from his face. A small detail the girl welcomed because he looked so much better when he wasn't grimacing. A lot less hostile and scary. Aomine threw the empty can of soda in a trash bin which was close by, easily hitting his target without actually looking at it. But his shoulders relaxed afterwards, the tense muscles finally finding the time to rest.

"I'm tired." He drawled, stretching his arms above his head.

No wonder, her mind whispered. She could still feel the high body temperature his body gave off, the match must have been barely over before he had called her. And if she was already exhausted by merely running around a bit over the court, who knew how much he must have moved around in a match to be actually tired himself?

Mia looked at the snacks, hoping to find something, she could offer him now where the atmosphere had become friendlier. But quickly, she was caught off guard by the weight she suddenly felt on top of her right shoulder.

Her classmate had leaned against her, easily towering over her as his chin rested upon her head. She could feel his chest pressing against her side, the warmth burning through her clothes while his scent filled her senses. The blood rushed back into her face immediately. Her ears glowing as she didn't dare to move.

"What? Aomine...?" She tried to turn her head towards him although in the end she merely came to face his neck and shoulder.

All the teenager did in return was lean more of his weight upon her, locking her in place on the bench as her heart had started hammering against her chest. She was confused. She didn't know what to do. But he was so close. So damn close and she was certain that her heart was going to jump into her throat sometime soon.

"You smell sweaty..." Mia croaked weakly.

Aomine chuckled, the vibrations of his laugh crawling through her side as his chest heaved with every breath he took. Her body couldn't relax; her limbs were tense as she didn't know what to do with herself. What was she supposed to do anyway? Move away? Say something? She had no idea. All she knew in this moment was that he was warm, very, very warm. And that he smelt of sweat and something like lemon.

"Shut up." He mumbled after some time. "I'm getting comfortable here."

Mia couldn't help but smile at that. He always had to have the last word, no matter what.

"We should watch that stupid movie of yours."

At that she tried to look up, a try in vain because his chin still kept her head in place. Her mind didn't have to search long for the needed memory. The placard was still burned into her head about the animation movie which should have been released by now actually. A movie for families mostly, but she always loved those stories about tales, good and evil and a happy end.

Her smile shrunk slightly as she lowered her chin, it felt like as if she tried to hide her red face and smile from someone. But there wasn't anyone around to see her. The blue haired teenager probably knew she was glowing anyway...but for her, it was hard to imagine what his face looked like right now.

"Yeah." She breathed deeply, her body finally relaxing. "We should."