Another day, another chapter. I'M LATE YET AGAIN, I KNOW.

...SORRY.

EDIT - god, I'm awful right now. Forgetting one thing after another - I was asked how Mia exactly looked like! I don't like extreme descriptions in stories because they sound so dry and stuff...so I drew her the way Karen told me she looked like. Don't you dare to laugh! Seriously. People, my feelings are at stake here. IT'S ON MY PROFILE - EDIT

EDIT - took the reviews out to offer a better and more organized view after the story was completed - EDIT

Oh my gosh, all this chunk of text! I hope you don't mind? If it's too much I could put the author notes beneath the chapters from now on. Some of the readers or guests can't receive PMs so I just always reply here. But I write so much. Too much. Haha.

Sadly I've failed you Karen. Today is your birthday and the present is not finished yet! I'm such a despicable human being. Forgive me D: but, I do know that you enjoy it nevertheless, haha. Thank god.

The feedback was amazing last chapter and I was so surprised as I checked my emails today! I want to thank you all for the lovely follows, favorites and reviews! God, I wish I could hug you guys, really. Feel hugged. Like, right now.

DAY ONE HUNDRED FIFTY

"I'm tired."

"Well...you could sleep."

"I'm bored, too."

"Then do your homework?"

"...nah."

Mia sighed heavily as she leaned onto the table. Her gaze fell to his head which he had buried in his folded arms, not meeting her heated gaze which was a mix of embarrassment and annoyance. In contrast to him, she did do her homework. Which he always merely copied - and today she had chosen to sit in the academy's library to look up the certain history of an old well-known war solider Japan's.

A man who had a huge impact on the following turns of events years ago.

The basketball player, however, was merely skipping the practice like usual. The rain outside kept him from sleeping on the roof and he felt enough obligation in some kind of way to follow her all the way into the library. A place he had never seen before, she noted, by the way he looked around the shelves, desks and mountains of books in bewilderment.

That aspect definitely explained her annoyance. All he did was sitting on the other side of the table, reminding her from time to time that he had nothing to do. Was hungry or apparently wanted attention of some sort just because. Her embarrassment was easily caused by his familiar boldness; his feet had long ago tangled up with hers. His long legs kept hers in place which made her nervous with every movement because she could feel the warmth he spread even though he sat on the other side of the wooden furniture.

"Mia."

The orange-head closed her eyes for a second, the pulsating blood rushed through her ears. A noise she could hear loud and clear next to his gruff voice.

"Yeah?"

"I want banana milk."

This time she actually started laughing quietly, her annoyance fading as she started smiling at the teenager in front of her. Aomine finally lifted his head, his stern expression scanning her face as he started scowling at her.

"Stop laughing."

"Sorry." Mia breathed easily. "But I didn't take you for someone who likes banana milk."

"Well, I do." He challenged her.

The girl shook her head, her hands grasping the book in front of her once more as she continued to flip through it in search for the information she needed. The blue haired teen settled back down on his folded arms, his chin pressing into his arm as he chose to watch his classmate instead of just lazing around. The dark blue orbs flickered from the title of the book and her fingers towards her face.

Wordlessly his gaze trailed from the top of her head down towards her small nose until her lips gained his attention. Mia had pressed her lips against another in thought as she concentrated onto a certain passage in the book, the tension leaving her as she read something she had obviously needed to continue with her scribbling.

"Mia."

Satisfied he watched her gaze leave slowly the history book as she looked at him instead. Her eyebrows lifting ever so slightly to indicate her silent question of 'what now?' but all he did was shrug with his shoulders.

"Let's buy something on the way home."

The orange-head furrowed her brow, her toes curling inside her indoor shoes as she tapped her fingers against the book. Every time she heard him call her, she was certain she was just imaging it. But she wasn't.

"Well, if I could finish the homework, we could do that."

Aomine snorted, his head falling to the side to get more comfortable. The rain was still loud, drumming against the windows they sat at. Autumn had finally caught them completely, the grey weather glimpsing through the calm sunny evenings like today. But the orange haired girl actually liked that. The sound was soothing; the sight of a thousand droplets which fell against the glass was mesmerizing.

And it always made it a lot more comfy inside. She started to write something into her notebook, her mind pushed her classmate for a second out of her sight so that she could concentrate on finally finishing her dreaded homework. It was hard not to react startled every time he called her by her first name. Nanami did that as well but it had never sounded so foreign to her.

Mia could feel her heart squeeze. It was definitely different. In Germany all her friends had called her by her first name; her kindergarten teacher had done that, too. It was normal there. But the moment she had arrived in Japan it all changed. It had been years since someone else than her family had called her by her first name. And his voice and husky drawl only made it harder not to blush.

It made them sound close.

And he made it look so easy again like everything else.

Sighing, she finally closed the thick history book, withdrawing her feet from his. At the loss of the body contact, he finally blinked up at her. The girl gathered her notebook and pencil case, shoving them into her schoolbag before she stood up to bring back the book she had borrowed from one of the rows of shelves.

"Finished. I'll return this, we can leave after that."

Aomine nodded before he yawned. The loss of his nap taking its toll. The orange-head left the table they sat at, cradling the book in her arms as she quietly left the area where she and a handful of other students had worked in silence on their assignments and homework. The basketball player always made it look so natural; her thoughts continued stubbornly as she walked down a path between two shelves.

It wasn't fair. Being the only one who fell, crashed and wondered. Not to forget her nerve-wrecking blush which crawl onto her face whenever it wanted...in the beginning he had teased her. Said that she liked him and where was she now? Mia frowned as she stared at the empty spot in the bookshelf. The space which had awaited the return of the history book for quite some time...

She was right there. She had really somehow found a way to do just what he had mocked her with. If that wasn't embarrassing then she didn't know what could be...

"Oi."

Mia gasped as she quickly turned around, her hands clutched to the book in her hands in panic as her heart jumped into her throat. It felt like her skin was buzzing out of surprise, her dark orbs landing on the light frown of the blue haired teen who had apparently followed her after she had left him behind.

"Aomine..."

She breathed in relief, she already went through enough heart attacks on daily basis thanks to him...he didn't need to scare her to death now either.

"What takes ya so long?"

"Thinking." Mia muttered beneath her breath, pushing the book back into the spot between the others. Although she'd never dare to voice her true thoughts...she'd say something else which had plagued her mind since quite some time. "As Satsuki-san went on and on about this Tetsu-kun she knew...I had actually expected someone flashy. Like your friend Kise."

The teen scrunched up his noise as he shrugged with his broad shoulders. "She's been following him around like that since middle school."

"Are they, you know, together?"

Aomine once more shrugged with his shoulders, definitely uninterested in the topic. Maybe because he had already given up understanding it a long time ago, she'd probably done the same thing.

"Not that I know of. I'm hungry, let's go."

Mia nodded swiftly, following her classmate to gather their things before they left the library behind. His teammates were still practicing in the gym, all hard-working and eager to get stronger to win the Winter Cup while their ace was busy with sleeping and bugging the orange haired girl to finally go and buy some Teriyaki burgers. The girl still had to think about that as they changed their indoor shoes for their other ones, no matter how much she did get along with the tall teen she would never get used to that.

Kuroko looked like a hard working and earnest person, Mia mused. He had actually thanked her for looking after her blue haired classmate - whether she really did that or not was another question - but he definitely cared for Aomine...and she was sure that Aomine did so as well.

"Ah, at the Onsen." The orange-head suddenly spoke up as they reached the exit of their school. "You said you were good friends with Kuroko-san - do you know Kagami-san, too?"

She could see how his expressionless face suddenly twisted into a frown. "That guy is annoying. He throws around big words but in the end he's nothing."

Mia couldn't help but grimace, rummaging through her bag absent-minded for the umbrella she had brought to school that day as she still stared at her classmate. "That's harsh...he was nice." Her eyes lit up as another memory filled her senses. "And I saw him play before. He can jump extremely high, isn't that good?"

Aomine's face fell, his eyes narrowing. "You've watched him play?"

A bit uncertain she chose to nod carefully. "Yeah? In summer break was a street basketball competition. I went to watch it with Nanami and he played there with his friends, I think..."

Now where she actually thought about it...did Mia already see Kuroko there as well? The memory had become a blur over the days, the only things which had really stayed with her was the gigantic guy she had offered her chocolate and the red haired basketball player because he jumped so high. But somewhere out of the corner of her eye...it had been possible that she had seen a pale boy, running alongside the other guys.

Aomine, on the other hand, didn't appear to be amused about all of this. His frown deepening as he clicked with his tongue. "I've played against him before, he sucks."

"Well, Kagami-san surely practices unlike you. He's probably gotten better." It felt silly to stand up for the stranger but Mia could hardly continue to hear him badmouth others like this. Yes, he was good. Yes, she had seen him play a bit already. But that didn't give him the right to judge others like that.

Stubbornly she opened her yellow umbrella, lifting it above her head before she dared to glimpse at the teen at her side. What she didn't expect to see was a glare aimed at her, a sharp and painful. It was aimed at her and no one else. If anything, she had never achieved up until now that Aomine gave her such a look and it honestly sent shivers down her spine.

Her face turned pale at first. A little wave of the old fear he had brought with him in the past filling her bones until her heart reminded her that it was ridiculous to even assume something like that. It was Aomine she talked about. Her table neighbor. The lazy classmate who always copied her homework and had somehow wormed his way into her heart by doing nothing but being his rough, annoying self.

"I just...I just don't like it if you say such stuff." Mia argued carefully, breaking their eye contact. "He's Kuroko-san's friend, right? And you all three like basketball...I mean, I mean look at me. I suck pretty much at basketball...but you still play with me anyway."

Aomine snorted. "It's way too funny to see you struggle."

Offended Mia looked up, the blood rushing back into her face as she struggled to come up with some kind of insults. Just because she didn't want him to badmouth others didn't mean she couldn't do so! But as they finally looked at each other again, she halted. The scary look had vanished, the anger slipping away as he started to grin at her instead.

She didn't know how to handle his sudden change of mood. But to know that she got so agitated over something he joked about made her feel embarrassed and the girl bit her tongue to keep her glowing cheeks at bay. A try in vain. But she could dream.

"Ahomine."

"Ya will never drop that, eh?"

Mia pursed her lips, sulking quietly to herself. Stupid, stupid Aomine.

"No."

The basketball player sighed, his tense shoulders relaxing once more as he reached over to grab her umbrella. Surprised she glanced at him once more, her hands reached half-hearted for her only shield against the rain which still fell from the sky without mercy.

"I forgot mine." Aomine deadpanned.

"How can you...you'd forget your head if it wouldn't be glued to your body."

Aomine ignored her weak insult easily, grabbing her hand with his free one in one movement. Mia let him pull her towards the exit, her feet catching up to his pace, he had started to forcefully slow down. Did they have a start of a fight? Or was it already over? Mia had to wonder if maybe that was what Satsuki had to go through every single day. He was really thick-headed the second someone opposed his opinion. It was merely poor luck that the orange-head disliked to step down either.

"I'm hungry." The blue haired teen groaned.

The rain drummed onto the umbrella's surface, the sound loud just like her heartbeat which never backed down when he was around. She took a deep breath, cherishing the fresh air outside which filled her lungs as she carefully intertwined their fingers. It was nice how the boy next to her easily understood what she wanted, his bigger hand shifting ever so slightly until their fingers and palms fitted against another neatly.

The warmth he gave off was amazing, like a heater on the cooled of days of the season.

"You already mentioned that." Mia mused aloud.

"'Cause I'm still hungry, obviously."

The orange-head laughed, relieved that the tension from before seemed to have disappeared.

"You really like Teriyaki Burger, huh? On the Culture Festival as well."

"They're the best. That's why."

His voice was gruff, the reply curt. But it was him, her inner voice hushed, the same old drawl in his voice and lazy glare in his eyes. He had always a sharp face, the natural frown something she had judged wrongly in the past, but his bad mood from before really had ceased to exist. Luckily. Mia started to smile to herself, taking a step closer towards Aomine. Her arm pressing against his, seeking warmth and protection from the rain - her umbrella was made for only one person after all.

Although maybe, only maybe she only did that to be a bit closer to him...

...because the rain was the best excuse she could ask for right now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAREN

LOVE YOU

KINDA

A BIT

JUST A BIT

NO SERIOUSLY

YOU ARE OK