Another day, another chapter.

I MOVED THE ANSWERS FOR REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPTER!

They are at the bottom because there were so many wonderful reviews and I wanted to reply. But it was so much text...sorry about that, haha. The feedback was amazing and I was surprised how many of you were supporting the suggestion of another story after Egoistical, haha.

I have noted all your ideas and suggestions! I can't promise anything but I'll definitely consider to write another KnB story now.

Thank you all for the lovely follows, favorites and reviews!

DAY ONE HUNDRED SIXTY

"I don't get it."

"It's called practice."

"Yeah." He grunted. "I don't get why."

Mia pursed her lips as she continued to walk down the paved way, the conversation she had with Satsuki over the phone still fresh in her mind. But the bubbly girl had made it sound so easy to make the blue haired teen practice at least a little bit before the match. She was still a bit tired from the little sleep she got this night, Nanami and she had refused to stop until they had seen every single movie they had wanted to see.

Now she regretted it a little, covering her mouth as she yawned.

"The match tomorrow is important, isn't it?"

She turned around and glanced at the basketball player who stared at her with a frown. The way he dragged his feet made it obvious that he wasn't as thrilled about the idea of practice as she was, but she couldn't help but agree with Satsuki about this. It felt unfair. Kuroko and Kagami were taking it so seriously while Aomine was doing nothing but lazing around.

"Come on, just a little bit." Mia urged him.

The girl walked back the handful of steps which separated them. He narrowed his sharp eyes at her, his suspicions already clear and she was sure that he could imagine that his childhood friend had somehow wormed her idea into this whole meet up. Although the orange-head would lie if she said that she didn't share the concern of the pink haired girl at all.

"Fine." He sighed, spinning the ball on his index finger. "But you're paying for the drinks later."

"Deal." Mia grinned up at him.

It felt like a little triumph to her. Walking down the street towards a public basketball court which was close to Aomine's house, the park was further away and probably more popular than this one. At least that's what the basketball player had suggested as she had called him.

The girl looked up at the sky, scanning the grey sea of clouds above their heads. The sun didn't have any chance to peek through the dark blanket. The weather was turning colder and colder over the days while fall slowly but surely crawled away to make space for the winter. It was amazing how fast the year was coming to an end...next spring she'd become a second year.

Her dark eyes travelled towards the teenager at her side, his stoic expression busy with watching the orange orb on his finger. He always made it look so easy, spinning the ball around over and over again. The balance never once withering. Mia had thought about asking him how he did that. But she couldn't imagine him giving her a good explanation. It was always possible he didn't know himself how he did that, he just did it.

"We're here."

Slightly startled she looked up, observing the simple public court in front of them. "You've been here before, right?"

"Yeah." Aomine drawled, stopping the ball with his other hand. "In middle school. I often stopped here on my way home."

Mia stared at him quietly, noting how rare it was he mentioned his old school. She did learn here and there a few things about it. Not to forget his old teammates and friends which were definitely a colorful bunch of unique people. But in the end there was probably still so much she didn't know. Leaving her with a quite a few questions she'd love to ask.

"Heeh..." She breathed instead, dragging the word out with the air.

"Ya really think you can beat me?" His sudden grin surprised her, although quickly she caught herself.

"You're a lousy winner, you know?"

"Tch. Who cares?" The blue haired teen clicked with his tongue, his hand starting to dribble the ball.

Mia couldn't help but laugh. His mood had gotten better, just a bit, but his scowl from earlier had disappeared luckily. Easily she approached the hoop, urging her classmate to pass the ball to her. Because if she had learned anything over the time where they had played, it was catching the damn little thing. Her throwing skills still were barely passable.

It was obvious how she missed the hoop more often than she hit it. The game they played dominated by the lazy basketball player who found himself tackled by the girl every time when she got frustrated with his too fast movements. It was her only chance to actually get the basketball back into her possession.

As Aomine, however, threw the ball from nearly the other side of the court. The bright orb falling into the hoop, Mia threw her hands into the air.

"How is that even possible!"

He laughed, amused by her half-hearted glare. Although before he could have retorted, throwing some annoying comment at her head to rile her up a little bit more they were interrupted by the barking of a little animal.

Mia's and Aomine's eyes fell to their right, staring at the unexpected guest in confusion.

"A dog?" She called out puzzled.

Her tall classmate picked up the ball, furrowing his brow at the little animal while the orange-head crouched down next to the dog which curiously peeked up at her. It was a husky, she thought quietly, definitely. And by the way he wagged his tail, not flinching away as she carefully tried to pat its head it was obvious that it must belong to someone.

"Oh, he's got a collar."

Mia looked up as her classmate appeared beside her, his navy eyes staring at the little visitor.

"Guess that means he's somebody's pet..." His voice sunk an octave as he suddenly started to glare at the husky puppy. "Oi, quit staring at me like that."

The girl giggled into her hand, hiding her bright smile as his glare shifted, landing on her in the end. "Shut up, that dog pisses me off, kinda."

"It's just a dog, Aomine."

"Like I care." The basketball player turned away from her and the dog, his hand starting to dribble the ball once more because he was keen to ignore the little guy and continue their game. He maybe hadn't wanted to practice and it surely wasn't really practice what they had been doing, but it had been fun enough.

The moment the ball touched the ground however, the dog peeked up, barking once more.

"What?" Aomine lifted a single eyebrow at the dog who had gotten obviously interested in the basketball. "Don't tell me that dog likes the ball."

"I think he does..." Mia replied, rubbing the little guest behind his ears. "Isn't that cool?"

Her classmate shifted on his feet. His gaze scanning her bright face as he started dribbling the ball again, the movement easily catching the dog's attention once more as he actually started to pounce from left to right - like a hunter who was about to catch its prey. This time even the the blue haired teen had to crack a grin, the animal showed more enthusiasm than many of his opponents had in the past.

"Now where I think about it...his eyes do look familiar." Aomine drawled, quirking his brow.

"Really?" Confused she glanced at the little guy. "Mh...now where you mention it...they do."

Mia shrugged with her shoulders, standing up again to approach the basketball player. With a smile she grabbed the ball out of his hand, her eyes twinkling in delight with the silly idea she had come up with.

"Let's form teams. Me and the dog against you."

Aomine snorted. "Ya got to be kidding me."

"No way! Come on, dog." The orange-head glanced at the little animal which actually rushed to her side. "See, he wants to join."

"Psh, if you really think you can-"

Before Aomine could have spoken the last few words, Mia had already started to jog away. Dribbling the ball towards the hoop while the husky followed her steps eagerly, barking all the way. Her throw looked anything but pretty, the ball hitting the metal ring of the hoop and shaking the net beneath it. The basketball went in though, giving her the first point of their match.

"We're winning." She laughed, turning around to the blue haired teen.

He stared at her a bit surprised, the hard lines on his face disappearing before he grinned broadly.

"Bring it on."

"You could've given us a chance at least." Mia breathed as she bent down, holding onto her knees.

"That wouldn't have been fun."

She glared at her tall classmate who still smirked at her. She maybe had made the first point but it was hard to keep up with him the second he really tried to do anything on the court. Although the dog did confuse him sometimes, running around his legs while he had the ball in his hands. And that sight alone was already worth it, her inner voice hushed.

"I could use a drink now...it's getting cold."

"Really?" Aomine wondered, furrowing his brow.

"Really, really...you're seriously never cold?"

Aomine shrugged with his shoulders, uncaringly, while Mia lifted her hands to his face to get her point across. Her action was bold, and on backsight a bit embarrassing. But she started to grin as the teen flinched the second her freezing fingertips came in contact with his cheeks.

"Shit, you weren't joking." He grumbled with a frown.

Aomine pressed his own hands against hers, covering her cold skin with his burning one. He engulfed her hands with his, pulling them away from his face to save it from the coldness she spread. But instead of just holding them he stuffed them into the pockets of his coat. Mia grimaced as she could feel the blush creeping into her face, she had only wanted to annoy him a bit. But this was a bit too much for her heart.

"Uh..."

Her voice got stuck in her throat, her gaze glued to the white sweater the giant wore. Her height merely offered her the sight of his chest and to be honest she didn't dare to look up to see his face, in the cold late autumn air her face must be glowing. The embarrassment was already enough as it was.

"I'm hungry, let's go eat something."

"What?"

Mia could feel his fingertips brushing over her knuckles, the inside of his pockets warm thanks to his body heat. And for a second no one spoke, even though she hadn't really agreed to his suggestion nor had he repeated it after her very clever and neat 'what'. That is, until the dog beside them barked once more. Startled the orange-head glanced at the husky, her heart leaping out of her chest because right now they were not only standing close. But they were in public as well. She had forgotten that.

"What, what about the dog?" She asked weakly, her body taking a step back to create a bit more distance.

"Got a collar right? His owner is probably around here somewhere." Aomine replied lazily, finally allowing her to pull her hands out of his pockets. "Better?"

Mia nodded, glancing at their hands which still held onto another.

"How about Ramen? On our way here was a shop."

The girl would love to take the dog with them. But her classmate was right, the owner was probably somewhere here. The little guy looked groomed and well taken care of, it wasn't possible that he had been apart from his owner for a long time. What for a shame...she was sure she could have somehow forced her parents to keep him, her father loved animals.

"Sounds good." Aomine muttered beneath his breath.

The basketball player let go of one of her hands to pick up the ball beside them. His other shifting ever so slightly until their hands were joined comfortably. Mia smiled slightly to herself as she let him tug her forward, his orientation skills a lot better in his own neighborhood than hers. Carefully she glimpsed over her shoulder, a little longing filling her heart as the dog sat down in the middle of the court.

"I want a dog, too." She sighed heavily.

"They ain't bad, eh?" The blue haired teen agreed.

"Mhm." Mia hummed, slowly looking forward again. "You did practice in the end."

"Shut up."