There will be a short trip before the Gakuensai, but not literally. I just feel like showing more interactions between the characters to form the bonds. Not much is known about Yume at this point, so I will be defining her as best as I can while not giving out early spoilers. About grammars, I'm trying to fix them, but yeah, it's not my mother language. Enjoy~!

Pairings : Undecided

Warnings : Teikō Middle School Days.

Disclaimer : I own only the OCs.


Chapter 18 - The waters wear the stones

After a whole week of what Aomine referred to as hellish and tortuous, the exams period officially ended. The short time after the conclusion of the tests were probably the happiest moments for all students alive.

Some are looking forward to the results, some aren't really interested, while others had given up even before the tests started. It usually depends on how well you think you will do on the exams.

When the day finally arrives for the results to be posted, Yume decided to take a little detour to a place she hasn't visited for quite a while now before she meets up with the other by the school board.

"I haven't been there since I have lunch with Sat-chan and Daiki-kun.." Yume muttered softly, a happy smile decorating her face. No matter how troubling the two are, they are her important 'first' friends after all.

When she finally reached her destination, reliefs washed over her. In the time she's not here, no one else has found the place. She places her hand at the peculiar tree's bark. Yume can tell, because the terrains are undisturbed.

*Rustle* *Rustle*

From the bundle of leaves, Yume can see a golden-yellow tuft emerging out, the very same one she is familiar with. To add to her guess, no one else in Teikō shares the same striking - and flashy, hair colour.

"Oh..." Kise muttered in slight surprise when he noticed Yume standing there. He smiles sheepishly. "Uh, sorry, Manai-chan.."

Yume inclines her head to acknowledge the boy. "Kise-kun." she greeted. Then she noticed his rather disheveled appearances.

Noticing her line of gaze, Kise laughs shakily. "Ah, this?" he suddenly sighed. "..I was chased all over... My fangirls, you see.."

Being a famous model is great and all, what's with the designer's clothes he often receives for free and the satisfying pay check for a middle schooler. However. One can never underestimates the terror of fangirls.

The boy is famous for his good-looks, as Momoi had claimed and it seems like she wasn't exaggerating. Then Yume realised something out of context in the boy's speech. "Umm.. What are you saying sorry for, Kise-kun?" she asked curiously.

Kise's eyes widen a fraction before it softened. "O-Oh.. Remember that I said I won't tell anyone of this place?"

On her first day of school, Yume was on her way to her newly-found sanctuary when she accidentally led the boy into the place - by dropping her chopsticks pouch.

After noticing the distressed look on her face, Kise then promised not to tell anyone else about the place. Now, here he is.

Yume nods slowly. "I do remember that." she spoke softly, quietly urging Kise to continue.

"...and here I am.. When I'm supposed to keep this place a secret..." Kise answered in a dejected tone, riddled with guilt by the thought that he might just led his troops of fangirls into this place.

In all honesty, Kise loves this place. There're trees for shades, the breeze feels cool and nice. It's peaceful and secluded. Best of all, no one would find him here. That's probably why his feet unconsciously took him to the place.

"I-I'll leave now, Manai-chan." Kise quickly added, turning his back on her to walk away from the place.

"W-Wait!" Yume called out, stopping Kise in his tracks. "Oh, uh.. I mean.." she stuttered. She wasn't planning to be this rash with her explanation.

She takes deep breaths to calm down, then Yume smiles at Kise. "..It's okay, Kise-kun. I don't mind." she finally said.

"I was just checking the place, since it's been a while. These days, I'm eating with... uhh.." Yume stopped there, feeling heat rushed to her cheeks. She looked on the ground.

"...friends, on the school's rooftop." she finished, her face must be scarlet by now. Momoi and Aomine aside, Yume is not used to calling the rainbow group with that friendly term.

Yume then looked up, returning to meet the golden-yellow orbs. "So, it's okay. You can use the place, Kise-kun." she smiled gently.

Before Kise had any chance to voice his thoughts, Yume bowed slightly to excuse herself. "I'm leaving first, Kise-kun." she offered him a polite smile as she left the place.

What she doesn't realise is that the blond looks envious when she mentioned 'friends'. Eating together seems like fun.


"Ah! I found Yuu-chan!"

The familiar girly voice boomed from a distance, and pink is visible. Soon, Yume found her arms locked with Momoi's.

"Mou! Where have you been, Yuu-chan? I've been looking all over for you!" Momoi pouted adorably at her bestfriend.

Through this hide-and-seek, Momoi realised she doesn't know her bestfriend as well as her childhood friend. She had difficulties in guessing where the brunette might be, whereas she could find where her tanned male friend might be in mere minutes.

"We're supposed to meet up by the school board 5 minutes ago!" Momoi continued to pout. The plan was for her to get Aomine while Yume do her business for a short minute and meet up before the results are posted.

Yume laughs apologetically. "I'm sorry, Sat-chan.. I just got a little side-tracked." Then she looked around, when she noticed someone is missing.

"So, Sat-chan.." Yume began slowly, facing the girl. "..Where is Daiki-kun?"

All hell break loose as Momoi screamed at the top of her lungs, making Yume cringed at the vibrations on her eardrums.

"I was so focused on finding you, I actually forgot about Dai-chan!" Momoi yelled in exasperation, feeling like pulling her hair out.

The pink-haired girl is a smart, rational person, but it isn't rare that she loses track of things when she focused her mind on one thing. When she fall in loves, perhaps the only person in her vision would only be that special person.

They are starting to attract gazes, so Yume sweat dropped and quickly calmed Momoi. "S-Sat-chan..! People are staring..!" she spoke in a hushed tone.

Momoi quieted down, but then teared up. "B-But!" she started to protest. "Dai-chan is..."

"SATSUKI! You found her?"

Dark blue is now visible in the distance, an annoyed look plastered on his face. He sighed as he slowly made his way to the two girls who had perked up at his voice - especially Momoi, who almost sprouted cat ears.

"Dai-chan!" Momoi exclaimed happily. Her eyes lit up with joy.

While Yume greeted him less enthusiastically. "Daiki-kun." she smiled a bit relieved at his appearance.

When Aomine reached them, the first thing he did is to lightly knock his fist on the pinkette's head. "You idiot. You should really fix that habit of charging in a straight line like a bull, Satsuki." he scolded, but he doesn't look angry, more like worried.

Momoi puffed her reddened cheeks, touching where Aomine just nudge her. "What bull?! And I'm not an idiot, mind you!" she retorted angrily.

"Oh? Then let's see." Aomine smirked teasingly. "How many dustbins do you think you knocked over on your run here?" he challenged.

The pinkette flinched at this, a look of hesitation and disbelief on her face. Aomine huffed. "Thanks to that, I got here late." he scowled.

"Sat-chan, Daiki-kun.." Yume stepped between the two, she looked frantic. "Please calm down, both of you..!" she worriedly eyed the two whose still in a heated stare-down.

Honestly, why are they both acting like kids? She sighed inwardly. "Sat-chan.. Daiki-kun is just worried about you running off on your own..." Yume tried to comfort the girl.

"..and Daiki-kun... You could have said it more gently, you know? Sat-chan is a girl, be more delicate.." Yume continued, now looking at the boy.

What she doesn't know, is that Yume had set off the bomb's fuse as both teens began to blush furiously and barked at the wrong tree.

"I WASN'T WORRIED!"

"YUU-CHAN!"

Aomine glares at the brunette, who flinched and backed away from the two advancing teens. "It's because I had to clean up after her mess!" he defended himself with a red face, which is hardly noticeable due to his dark skin colour.

"That's right! Dai-chan is just a childhood friend!" Momoi voiced her agreement loudly, which is rather off-tracked. Her cheeks tinted in pinkish colour.

Now Yume is intimidated. The heavy stares coupled with the unconvincing, childish arguments. But she decided not to pursue it further. The stares are hurting her, back and front.

"..Okay.. I understand..." Yume whispered out, her hands in front of her chest, acting as shields. "Can we go now? Please?" she tried asking in her quietest voice.

After what feel like forever, the childhood friends pair finally backed down, to the relief of their newest friend addition. Really, her two friends are livening her school life, in a way she has never imagined before.

If two are this noisy and handful, what will her life be when she has the complete rainbow group? Yume can't help but shudder at the thought.


Murmurs filled the area as students are crowding around the school board. Of course, Akashi and Midorima are already there. Murasakibara probably tagged along, or dragged there.

Even from this distance, Yume can make out the satisfied smile on his face. His ruby eyes are dancing with confidence. Murasakibara had sparkles in his half-lidded amethyst eyes, he seems excited.

But Midorima looks green in the face. Not the hair, nor the eyes. It's his face.


Teikō Junior High 1st Term Examination Results

1st Year (Out of 312 Students)

1st Akashi Seijūrō

2nd Manai Yume

3rd Midorima Shintarō

4th Momoi Satsuki

5th Matsumoto Takeshi

...

...

23rd Murasakibara Atsushi

...

...

...

...

...

207th Aomine Daiki

...

...


The first one to react is Momoi, who jumps and squeals in joy while glomping her friend. "Congrats, Yuu-chan! You got 2nd!" she continued to giggle.

"Yosha! You beat Midorima, Yume!" Aomine cheered next. He actually looks happier about her grades than his own.

Teikō has rules in which the 100 students that placed worst on their year are to be subjected to extra classes every Saturdays for 3 months - Aomine barely escaped.

Yume smiles, her face shining with pride and happiness. "Mm! Thanks a lot, Sat-chan, Daiki-kun." she offered her gratitude.

"Congratulations, Manai-san. I must say, I'm impressed you managed to beat Midorima." Akashi smiled congratulatingly, while the male in question twitched.

"Hmm? Cashier-chin won?" Murasakibara trailed off, glancing at the board one more time.

"Ah. Cashier-chin's name is Manai Yume? So you beat Mido-chin." he continued to rub salt in the boy's wounded pride.

The brunette smiles sheepishly, feeling shy at her achievement. "Mm.. Thank you, Akashi-kun, Murasakibara-kun.."

The happiest person about the grades is probably Aomine, for a different reason. He grins triumphantly. "Guess that means you're the idiot, Midorima."

The greenhead jerked, his glare murderous. However, he couldn't get a word out.

"Idiot, idiot! Midorima is an idiot~!" Aomine sing-sang rhythmically. He ridicules the other male to his fill, looking absolutely satisfied.

Midorima shakes with rage, but he did lose the bet. So while he is greatly bothered by the tanned teen's antics, he swallowed it down.

"Haha..." Yume laughed weakly as the two boys exchange glares; insults in Aomine's case. She won the bet, but she feels like Aomine is way happier than she is.

"Manai." Midorima turned to face the brunette who blinked in surprise, his lips in a tight line. He adjusted his glasses. "It's your win this time. Congratulations."

Midorima is not happy with his loss, of course. But he accepts her victory fair and square. His loss only means that Yume put in more efforts than him, and there are more he could do.

Yume smiles at this. "Thank you, Midorima-kun. But I still couldn't beat you in Chemistry and Biology. You are really good, Midorima-kun." she compliments him.

"Of course." Midorima replied almost immediately, tapping his glasses proudly. "I won't lose even to Akashi in those subjects."

When he said he won't lose though, that doesn't mean he wins either. Because it's always a tie, that or Akashi wins by a point.

Akashi smirks at this. "I do remember there are times when I won by a point, Midorima?"

The greenhead twitched at this, but proceed to divert the conversation without properly confirming Akashi's statement. "If I may ask, Manai. Can I inquire your study methods?"

"Study methods?" Yume repeated with a blink of her eyes. "..I do review lessons every day after school, and of course I study more before exams."

Then she smiles meaningfully, while glancing at her pink-haired bestfriend. "..but this time. I think Sat-chan's notes help out a lot."

Midorima's eyes glisten at that. Then Yume continued. "Daiki-kun also uses them from time to time, including this time."

"Is that true, Momoi?" Midorima questioned in a hasty tone, his eyes wide. Momoi confirms this with a smiley nod. "I see.." he trailed off.

In his mind, there's no doubt that by the time the next exams come around, Momoi's notes would be the first thing Midorima looked for.

"Anyway.." Murasakibara began impatiently. He beamed at Yume. "Cashier-chin, what about my sweets?" he asked giddily.

Murasakibara did make it to the top 30, and he is ranked 23rd. He tried his best since there're sweets on the line this time, and he's been drooling in his sleep for that day.

"Oh.. Now that you mentioned it. You tried your best, Murasakibara-kun. You did good." Yume smiled at him proudly, further inflating his joy.

"About the sweets.. They should have arrived this morning." Yume recalled the order she placed for twenty boxes of maiubou and nerunerunerune candies.

Coincidence it may be, but today she's working there. "Do you remember that convenience store we met before, Murasakibara-kun?" she asked him, earning an eager nod.

"Then let's meet there after school." Yume smiled sweetly. "You have the basketball club's meeting first, right? I will have your orders ready by then."

Murasakibara nods immediately, repeatedly bouncing his head up and down. "Okay! I'll see you there, Cashier-chin!"

"Oh. And Murasakibara-kun, my name is..." Yume was about to continue, but the male had turned his back on her, making his way with long strides. "...Manai Yume.."

While Yume sighed and lamented the fact that she remains 'Cashier-chin' to Murasakibara, she doesn't notice the glances exchanged by the teens around her.

This time, Yume might just received more than she expects. As she has personally invited a potentially troubling person, who might just attracts more on his way.


So yeah, how is it?

Reviews are very much appreciated!