A chapter after a long break(?). Uhh, I have assignments to do, so I can't promise an update soon. But if my assignments are finished, I can start typing the plots I already thought of. For now, there will be one update on this and My Dignified Imouto. Sorry about this!

To lili:Thank youu! And yes, Haizaki will be part of the story like the canon, but it will differ here and there. He will probably be in the later chapters.

To Guest97: Hi again to you! You must be the one I heard most often from, hha! I like reading your long reviews, so no worries about that. Well, only time can tell where will NijiYume goes to. I want to make Yume someone the Generation of Miracles can talk equally with, someone they respect as she is. Romance will probably come after that~ And the awaited AoYume is on the way! Hope to hear from you soon!

Pairings : Undecided

Warnings : Teikō Middle School Days.

Disclaimer : I own only the OCs.


Chapter 26 - Tomorrow is tomorrow, today is today

The muffled noises of squeaks and swishes did little to perturb the silent exchange between the two teenagers who were lost in their own whirlpool of thoughts as they gazed into the other's soul, entranced.

It wasn't until a quiet cough echoed through the room did they snap out of their trance and looked away. They didn't know who made the noise but didn't question it. After all, they were still feeling the slight disorientation from the disconnection.

Another cough, this time from Nijimura. He fought down his blush as he attempted a small grin at the girls. "Yo. Manai, Momoi." he lifted his hand in the air, acting nonchalant. Because whatever just happened, he didn't want to be again avoided by a certain brunette, which by the rate he was going, might just happened.

"Nijimura-san!" Momoi returned the greeting enthusiastically, her pink eyes twinkling with mischief and something unreadable. She squeezed the brunette's hand as if to hint her.

Yume wasn't sure what the pinkette expected from her, but she did raise her gaze to greet the ravenette. After their previous talk, she didn't want for him to misunderstand and think that she was avoiding him still. And after whatever had just happened, she was about to, actually. But the image of the ravenette's troubled look flashed through her mind, and she decided against it.

So she managed a small smile, trying to maintain her countenance as she greeted him. "Nijimura-san, Konnichiwa." she uttered softly.

"What's with the animal concept?" he asked with a playful smirk, eyeing the faux ears on his kōhais' head, which he now realised was worn by not only the quiet brunette.

Momoi was the one to answer, happy that he asked. "It's our class' theme! Yuu-chan and I are waitresses, so we had to wear them! Our shifts are over for the day though. So you should visit tomorrow, senpai!" she spoke gleefully.

"Sure. I'll see if I'm free." he replied with a shrug. He didn't see why he couldn't pay a short visit. Well, naughty thoughts aside. To exorcise his mind, he quickly turned to his male kōhais. "Okay, boys. Back to work." he had one of his hand on his hip and the other gesturing backwards at the queue.

Their reactions were almost predictable; Aomine sighed and trudged begrudgingly, Midorima marched onwards with a frown as he held on to his precious, Murasakibara went with his snacks on hands while munching another stick of pocky, only Akashi nodded with a courteous smile before he left.

As the boys went, Nijimura was contemplating whether to stay and keep the girls company, or head off to work. His shift had just ended so he was free, but as he had said earlier, the club needed all the help they could get. Heck, he didn't even mind borrowing a cat's paw. (1)

He eventually decided to offer a conversation, since it would be rude if he just left. "So, uh..." he began hesitantly. "Do you girls want to try? Basketball lessons, I mean." Nijimura loosely motioned to the various pairs scattered around the court, each pair with their own orange bouncy ball.

Momoi shook her head. "I don't think I would." she refused, then out of the blue, grinned as she raised the interlinked hand with her friend. "But Yuu-chan would!" she exclaimed to the other's bewilderment.

"No! I-I mean..." the brunette wondered what she did to deserve this, everything about today was particularly troublesome. "...I prefer watching..." she quickly fixed her words, her gaze glued on the wooden tiles.

Too bad Momoi had an idea of her own and she wouldn't hear anything about it. She knew what she was doing; a puppy-eyed look on her bestfriend and she was sold. "Come onnn, Yuu-chan! Won't it be nice if we can play together sometimes? I always wanted a girl friend to play basketball with. Dai-chan doesn't count!" she batted her eyelashes pleadingly, grinning inwardly when she saw how the other female back-tracked.

If there was one thing the pink-haired girl learned about getting her way with her bestfriend, it was that her puppy-eyes worked wonders. She was aware of it. The brunette even more. Still, said girl could never refuse until it's too late. Momoi was simply too good at this kind of stuffs. The trembling lips and watery eyes were especially persuasive. Coupled with her silver tongue, it's checkmate.

So what else could she said other then yes? Yume wanted to grimace at her friend, really. She found herself twisted in the pinkette's fingers these days. "...Okay. But just a little..." she relented weakly.

A tug at his lips showed that the ravenette was amused with what he was seeing. Nijimura didn't expect that out of all people, Momoi would be the one the brunette was subservient to. It appeared the deer-eared girl was weak against her friend.

Momoi clapped her hands in satisfaction, smiling widely. "Great! Then Nijimura-san, can you show Yuu-chan the ropes?" her tone suggested something.

That didn't rest well with Yume, and her blush returned in full-force. "Sat-chan!" she chided her friend before facing her senpai. "Y-You didn't have to..." she whispered.

"That's fine with me." Nijimura replied, trying and failing to act nonchalant about the whole situation. A faint blush covering his cheeks. He tried to hide it, but the sharp-eyed pinkette didn't miss it.

Momoi was about to explode with girly giggles and squeals at the two teen's adorable interactions. She would save it for when she was alone, in her bedroom. For now, she would burn these romantic scenes to her brain.

Often the brunette wondered what went through her friend's mind. She caught the pinkette grinning and giggling maniacally more often than not, then her pink eyes would glint mischievously. It's really unnerving. Because more times than she liked it, the idea she came up with was plain disastrous, for her or a certain tanned teen.

The Basketball lessons came with a set of sport jersey and a water tumbler, prepared by the club itself to maximise the learning experience, for a suitable cost obviously. As the manager, Momoi had one herself, which she lent to the brunette. She was the one to push her into the court after all. So while Yume changed, her friend waited on the bench by the court.

"Okay. Let's start, Manai." Nijimura spoke first, breaking the awkward tension with the smallest of grins. He dribbled the orange ball once before lightly passing it to the distracted girl. Thankfully, she was conscious enough to notice the incoming ball and caught it with only the slightest fumble.

"...Yes." she replied timidly.

Even as her blush subsided, Yume still felt hesitant to meet the ravenette's eyes. She did tell herself to focus on his lessons so she wouldn't be bothered with her thoughts. And thankfully, it was working for her.

Since she was young, Yume could only focus on one thing and the rest forgotten. In fact, multi-tasking was beyond her. She could do it to a degree of satisfaction, but definitely not to perfection like a certain redhead she knew.

It was probably why she admired his capability as an individual and a leader. Although his sadistic attitude left something to be desired. She really couldn't hate him, nor anyone for that matter.

Strong emotions could be detrimental for oneself, and they were so strong that they could go both ways. Like how love and hate was paper-thin. That was why she strived for balance.

The basketball lessons from Nijimura was in fact helpful. She could now see how each moves were executed as the pictures defined from the notes she received from Momoi and how to do them properly. He was a good mentor as he was a player.

Although Yume had to be extra careful to maintain an acceptable distance between them even as he taught her, she didn't want to be in another awkward situation. And if he noticed, he didn't say a word.

Nijimura was visibly impressed, the brunette learned the rope quickly. She wasn't borderline prodigious, but she was willing to put in extra efforts to succeed. It was only the basics, such as dribbling and lay-ups, but she still did satisfactory by his standard.

And he was thankful that he didn't make any blunders in his lessons. Nijimura had had enough of awkward moments with his kōhai, especially this particular one.


By the end of the lesson, Yume learned a lot. Perhaps she could get an A next time the PE class has basketball, she usually got C or B in a good day. The Gym was filled with many people trying out the lessons, and soon even Momoi was asked to help. She didn't coach of course, only taking care of the miscellaneous duties.

Since the boys' shift lasted until the closing, and Momoi had to stay to help, Yume decided to excuse herself. It was 3 and Kuroko's shift had began an hour ago. She could go there. It's getting crowded here and she never liked crowds and the rowdiness that they came with.

Although, ever since she knew Momoi and then Aomine, Yume started to begin accustomed to such loudness. Contrary to the popular beliefs, even the aloof Midorima could be a prick and thus attribute to the noises level whenever they had group lunch.

"Sat-chan, I will walk around for a while. Let's meet up in our class by 4?" Yume approached her busy friend who was moving tumblers and towels by a trolley.

"Mm. Okay." Momoi smiled at this. She felt a bit regretful that she couldn't fully enjoy the festival with her friend, but agreed that there's still tomorrow.

"I'll see you later. Good luck, Sat-chan." the brunette hesitantly patted her friend's shoulder. Even after knowing her for months now, she was still reserved about touching people in general.

As Momoi waved her before returning to her tasks, Yume exited the Gym without seeing any of the other boys she was acquainted with. They weren't in her vision when she wanted to leave, so it's not like she avoid them or anything like it.

The 3rd Gym was close, within five minutes walking distance from the 1st Gym but more desolated in comparison. Probably because the place was basically a 'dumpster' when it came to lacking basketball players and interest was meagre at best.

The line was there, short, but a line of people waiting for their turns at the maze. And while each customers soon earned themselves a guide, there was one guide who seemed forgotten by the side lines. Who else could it be but the babyblue-haired boy?

Kuroko was blending in with his surroundings, too well in fact, that he wasn't noticed by the rest of the customers searching for a guide. Perhaps they would notice if he speak, but he only stood there with a blank look on his face, holding what seemed to be a wooden plank advertising the club.

"...Kuroko-kun?" Yume slowly called out, unsure about the whole situation. Was the boy really that unnoticeable? Even in the situation where he was needed?

The boy blinked back to awareness as he locked eyes with the brunette. "Ah. Manai-san. Konnichiwa." he nodded at her. "Are you here for our maze?" he asked with his set expression.

"Uh... Yes. Are you available?" she casted a glance at the queue with four other customers before her, then back to him.

Kuroko followed her gaze and understood the unasked question. He stared at her. "It's okay. No one else will realise." he admitted.

His shift began an hour ago, yet after he was asked to hold on the plank for a while as a stand-in for the senpai who needed to go to the toilet, he was forgotten and thus stuck on the job.

It didn't help that said senpai decided to take on his place as the guide either. Which meant, that since the start of his shift, Yume would be his first guest. The two conversed light heartedly as they traversed the maze.

"Did you help making the props, Kuroko-kun?" she asked as they passed the well-made and sturdy walls that formed the maze. Yume normally wasn't one to initiate conversation, but she found it easy to do so with Kuroko. Perhaps it was due to his quiet nature?

"I did what's mostly forgotten." Kuroko replied in a flat tone, although he sounded slightly resigned.

Yume couldn't help but sweat drop at his honest confession. It was sad, really. "Uh... Will you be helping your class tomorrow? It's... Haunted House, isn't it?"

If memory served her right, Aomine was in the same class as Kuroko, although she wasn't sure if the tanned teen even notice his pale-skinned boy. And Aomine's class was doing a Haunted House, which according to Momoi, was having good sales today for the 'unexpected presence' at some point of the entry. Oh, wait... unexpected presence? Yume discreetly glanced at the boy walking next to her. Could it be...? But then again, who else could be?

"Yes. You are well informed, Manai-san. My classmates are talking about your class's cafe. They said it was popular." Kuroko replied steadily, now eyeing the brown faux pair of animal ears on top of the brunette's head.

He's been wondering about that for a while now, but he assumed it was just her class's event. "Are those animal ears part of the cafe's outfit, Manai-san?" he asked away.

As soon as 'ears' was mentioned, Yume stiffened. She knew she shouldn't follow Momoi's advice to keep them on. She's been the centre of attention since she did, which she loathed. "...Y-Yes. Everyone has different pairs..." she answered softly, avoiding his questioning gaze.

Like Momoi, Kuroko had one of biggest pair of eyes. His were brilliant blue, the tranquil colour of the sky while the pinkette's were striking peach colour. Through experience by dealing with her bestfriend, she knew that if the babyblue-haired boy here was to utilise the puppy-eyes look, he might as well be her weakness.

Heaven above forbade he ever learned that dreadful move. Yume had her hands full with Momoi and her requests, she didn't need another person she couldn't refuse. Kuroko wasn't nearly as devilish as the pinkette, but even the innocent babyblue-haired boy could learn a bad thing or two.

"Will you attend tomorrow's closing event, Manai-san?" Kuroko was the one with question this time and he was genuinely curious.

This year, the school held a special event for the students at the end of the Cultural Festival. All students from the first year until the last year were invited although it wasn't mandatory. The Student Council helped planning the event, so Yume knew about it more or less.

"Mm. Akashi-kun, he's the President of the Student Council, said that since we had hands in creating the event, the members should attend it as an example for other students." Yume recalled the words the redhead uttered, it held truth values and so she didn't question it and just went along.

After working with the redhead for weeks, she knew that he didn't make needless decisions and unnecessary orders. Or most of the times he didn't. Yume still couldn't ask why he told her to survey the Basketball Club few days ago.

"Will you go, Kuroko-kun?" she smiled slightly, feeling more at ease with her company.

Kuroko returned the smile, with only the smallest tugs of his lips. "I will."

Amongst her unintended acquaintances, Yume found Kuroko most agreeable, even more so than Momoi. They were both quiet and reserved, even sharing similar preferences. She didn't feel the need to converse continuously because they appreciated the silence.

In the case of Momoi, she didn't get herself in awkward silence because the pinkette would always have something to talk about or things to do. It was fun and Yume enjoyed every seconds of it. She was still surprised by her antics now and then.

The whole way through the maze was quite pleasant, the two teens were able to learn more about one another and even traded tips and infos on books. Kuroko turned out to be a satisfactory guide, he gave helpful hints to the quizzes along the paths and kept her entertained. It really was a nice day.


"Yuu-chan! Here!" Momoi grinned and waved her hand in the air to signal her friend at the end of the hallway.

The brunette, who had now shed her ridiculous deer-ears, let a sincere smile gracing her face when she spotted her friend. Only for it to slip on her first step. Because behind the peach tresses, four other blinding colours sported. Her steps felt heavy now.

"Where did you go? You seemed happier than before you left the gym!" Momoi noted with an excited tone, locking her arm with the quiet girl who was trying hard not to bother with the extra presences.

"O-Oh... Just here and there..." Yume managed a small smile as she recalled what a nice day it was, until about now. At least Momoi was here. She had the perk to dissipate tensions and awkward moments.

"Heh..." a voice bursted between the girls.

Without notice, Aomine popped his head in the middle of the two girls, effectively surprising them, the brunette more than the pinkette - Yume nearly jumped out her skin and she didn't appreciate it one bit. As insensitive as he was, the boy must had noticed her shying away from close interactions.

"Nijimura-san said you were worth teaching. Told you're good for his standard." Aomine complimented with a lopsided grin, resting his elbow on the brunette's head comfortably. "You're picking basketball now? About time, Yume." he added playfully.

Really, he would think that after befriending Momoi who was as crazy for basketball as he was, the girl would learn how to side-step her opponents or performing cool fade-away by now. But of course, she just had to be stubborn and say she preferred watching.

Yume was happy and glad to say that she was closed to her friends now, and Aomine had taken the liberty to use her head as his elbow rest these days. The latter, she hoped he could decrease in frequency, because if this kept up, her growth would be affected.

"...It's only the basics, Daiki-kun. And please... remove your arm from my head. I need to grow." Yume sounded annoyed, which was rare and mostly reserved for the tanned teen alone.

Aomine grinned even more at her response, he enjoyed playing around like this and his target was quite limited. No, he would never pull this kind of stuffs towards Akashi. That was just a huge NO. Midorima was overly grouchy and he spoke alien with his obsession. Murasakibara was too ignorant and denser than the rock, it wouldn't be as enjoyable. Momoi would do in certain times, other times she would nag his ears to bleed.

"Mana-chin wants to grow tall?" Murasakibara joined in the conversation as Aomine lifted his elbow away. "Mana-chin is fine like this." he patted her head like he would a child. "Do you have sweets?" he asked hopefully, his own stocks depleted and his Captain made him stay so he couldn't go get more.

"Coming from you, Murasakibara-kun, it's not very convincing." Yume answered as she turned to face the purplehead. A few seconds later, she produced a strawberry-flavoured Ch*pa C*ups. She quickly unwrapped the sweet, and pushed it into the giant who was already leaning in.

Unexpectedly, Midorima found it necessary to coin his own opinion about the situation. "I see you're prepared for Murasakibara, Manai. Oha Asa did mention it's best for Pisces to be prepared for hardships today." he had his lucky item in hand even after the scolding from a certain ravenette about practicality.

"A-Ah..." she wasn't sure how to respond to that. Yume could handle Murasakibara's cravings, Aomine's playful behaviour, but she couldn't understand the greenhead's obsession with the particular morning show. She tried watching them a few times after knowing Midorima, but she wouldn't say they were frighteningly accurate. At least not for her.

"You took off the deer-ears, Manai-san? A shame. I say you look adorable with them on." Akashi spoke good-naturedly as good natured as he could be, a formal smile accompanying his compliment.

In her eyes, he was a charismatic evil lord smiling down at his prey. "...Thank you, Akashi-kun. But I have two functioning ears." she returned the courteous smile while her mind was in a full-blown panic, casting away the embarrassing scenes from the exchange she had earlier in the day with a certain redhead.

"That you do." Akashi directed an amused smile at her. It was more reserved than when it was just the two of them.

It was fun to watch her bestfriend conversing with the boys, but Momoi wanted her attention too! She was her bestfriend. "Ne, ne, Yuu-chan! Our shifts are short tomorrow, so let's go around the festival together, okay?" she turned her sparkling eyes at the brunette.

This, without the help of puppy-eyes look, Yume would readily accept. It's something she would like too. "Mm. Okay, Sat-chan." she smiled sweetly.


(1) To borrow a cat's paw: It means that one is extremely busy; so much so that they would appreciate the help of even a cat. (Doctor P, Yahoo answers)


So yeah, how is it?

Reviews are very much appreciated!

Next time, Yume and her friends walking around the Cultural Festival! What could happen?