It hasn't been that long, has it? This seems to be the only story I'm updating lately and I really do need to update Rainbow Drops and Blue Sky. Oh well. It will happen. I think I will get a chapter up for the stories mentioned above before updating this story. On that note, I think this story is paced too slowly, so a speed-up is in order.

In the last chapter, I wrote Katou as 1-B's vice president, it should be Yamato, my mistake.

Pairings : Undecided

Warnings : Teikō Middle School Days.

Disclaimer : I own only the OCs.


Chapter 37 - The existence of other people is essentially awkward

Saturday in Teikō was noisy contrary to most schools which had the day off and the students leisurely enjoying themselves. The colour babyblue dominated the school grounds as well as in the buildings with its students scattered about, hands busied with mops, brooms, cleaning rags and few others. Chatters filled the air, be it mindless conversations, some jokes followed by laughters, or more frequently heard, annoyed grumbles.

Finished with her task, a certain brunette returned to her friend's side to sweep the ground around their designated area. The pinkette still had her innocent smile plastered on her face, showing that the girl wouldn't answer any questions the brunette asked of her earlier. And while she was less than delighted, she silently accepted not to talk about a certain ravenette.

Yume was only curious. Why did his name come up in the conversation? What exactly was her friend insinuating?...and most importantly, why was she blushing? Maybe the last wasn't really a question she needed answer for, it just happened because the very presence of the male flustered her, much like a certain redhead.

It seemed she still found it hard to interact with opposite gender. Even it got awkward with her supposed-brother once in a while, as rare as it was lately.

"I hope Dai-chan is cleaning properly..." Momoi muttered worriedly, her lips pursed. She knew how the boy acted about cleaning, his room spoke volumes for it.

Momoi stopped mid-cleaning, her eyebrows knitted together and concerned peach eyes resting on her friend, "He won't give too much troubles to his classmates, right, Yuu-chan?" she asked, hoping for another to assure her.

The brunette smiled, her hands holding a broom. "Daiki-kun will be fine. He may be reckless and a bit lazy, but he's not irrespon—"

"AOMINE!"

"—sible..." she finished weakly, whatever confidence she had earlier gone without a trace. There was, after all, only one Aomine in the whole school.

"GET BACK HERE!"

The angry roar rang from the yard on the other side of the building, the area 1-C was supposed to start with. It was honestly impressive how the homeroom teacher's voice rose loud enough to alert the girls considering the distance and the window glasses might have shaken in its frame. And even more so for the boy who made it happened, for he managed to escape mere minutes into the task.

As friends of Aomine, both Momoi and Yume were embarrassed for their friend's misbehaviour. They shared a sigh, long and resigned at the thought of the currently running-for-his-life navyblue-haired. It seemed getting Aomine to clean would be a life-long mission with little chance of success.

"...Don't worry, Sat-chan. As soon as we're done here, we will move on to the hallways," the brunette begins with a shaky smile.

The class had agreed that the one-half which was led by Yoshi-sensei and Takahashi would clean the bathrooms on the second floor, while the other half would be responsible for the hallways with the three classes they shared the hallways with.

"Daiki-kun will be there," she continued, then muttered. "...if he knows what's good for him."

By some kind of fates, the colourful bunch and the brunette were in the halved-group assigned to clean the hallways to their classrooms, and the redhead had made it clear that everyone were to be present, the 'or else' was left hanging in the air even with the ever-smiling expression on his face.

"...Yeah, it's a nice coincidence that everyone is in the same group, ne?" she spoke, her smile brittle.

The brunette's first reaction had been a nod while her mind wandered off and conjured an image of a certain redhead, a smile tugging his lips in a way she could only perceive as eerie despite others viewing it as charming.

'There's no way...' she shuddered, 'right...?'

Sound of giggles vanquished said image, and the brunette noticed it was her friend showing her amusement as she somehow noticed her line of thoughts.

"Akashi-kun isn't involved in this, Yuu-chan. At least, if he does, it doesn't reach my network," she said.

As her bestfriend, Momoi knew the brunette was somewhat averse towards the redhead, it showed in her twitching shoulders, maintained distance when the two walked together and such. It wasn't hard to guess why, Akashi wasn't exactly the friendliest person and he appeared like he had a hidden agenda to those observant enough.

Midorima, Yume and herself were these individuals in their little group. Murasakibara couldn't bring himself to care because he didn't think it worths the trouble, whereas Aomine had attention deficiency. Momoi herself was quite wary of Akashi, there was just something about him. It got better overtime and she forgot more often than not.

If there was one thing Yume could be sure of her friend, it was her information networks. Hearing her denying her suspicion, she was relieved. So she nodded, a small smile tugging her lips.

The cleaning was finished several hours into lunch. It hadn't been easy, the windows required polishing, the painted-walls some intense rubbing, heavy-mopping for the tiles, weeding by hands and sweeping with brooms for the yard. The corridor that connected the two buildings and the outer part of the buildinds were included as part of the deal. It took them about two hours to deem their handiworks acceptable within Teikō's standard.

"Can't we... can't we get fifteen-minutes break at least?" one of the boys huddled on the ground, groaned, already feeling their sore and aching muscles.

The boys were on heavy-duties which included weeding and wiping the walls to its original colour. With weeding, they could feel that persistent pain which elderlies felt around the waist and sores on both arms which were dedicated to the now sparkling walls.

"T-This...! is the most cleaning I've ever done in a year!" another piped up, too tired to even rub his sore muscles.

Emphathising with them, Yamato as the only boy standing, turned to the brunette. "Is that okay, Manai-san?" he asked with his board-like expression.

Now that she looked around, she could see exhaustion was present in everyone's face, she nodded, "It's okay, Yamato-san. Everyone deserves a rest for their hard work."

Yamato nodded once before he left to join the grateful boys who were looking at him like he's a hero, while the brunette joined the girls on the corridor, taking a seat next to her bestfriend, oblivious to the stares of the females of her classmates.

"Otsukare san, Yuu-chan," Momoi smiled at her friend, her peach-coloured hair in a high-ponytail. (1)

"Sat-chan too, Otsukare sama," she replied, returning the smile. Soon as she placed herself next to the her friend, the pinkette leaned her head on her shoulder and she found herself not minding it at all.

Probably because they were bestfriends and had only gotten closer as the days went by, the fact that Momoi was of the same gender helped tremendously. There were things about girls, only girls would understand after all. Yume felt at ease around the pinkette, more than she ever did with anyone else who was not a family.

"U-Uh, M-Manai-san?" a squeaky voice sounded from above her, it was her classmate.

"Can I help you, Akimoto-san?" the brunette replied, her tone kind and her expression equally.

If anything, the dark-brown haired girl squeaked even more. Akimoto lost the janken with her friends, so she had to be the one to do this despite her tendency to stutter her words. She made mental note that the brunette did know her name, she didn't expect that, they had never spoken before. (2)

"I-I, u-uh, t-that..." she stammered, her words making no sense at all.

It seemed the pinkette thought the same with her apologetic expression on her face. Not the brunette though, she was still patiently waiting for the girl to finish, with her limegreen eyes staring straight into her caramel-coloured ones.

Akimoto Manaka had to remember what was it she was supposed to say to the brunette. Oh, yeah. "T-That, M-Manai-san... W-We are wondering i-if you a-and of course, Momoi-san w-want to j-join us f-for lunch l-later?" she braced herself to return the stare, it was rude not to when the other party offered her full-attention even with all her stutters.

Blink. Blink. Blink.

Yume had reacted in a way that was of surprise, she hadn't expect that. Here was, one of her classmates that wasn't her bestfriend, inviting her to lunch when the two never exchanged even one word to the other. She was the representative, she realised, but they actually wanted her to eat lunch with them?

Amused and delighted at the same time, Momoi struggled to keep her squeals lodged in her throat because it wouldn't do for her to start screeching and destroy this adorable moment where her friend took her first step to mingle with their classmates, her childhood friend always told her that her particular squeal was capable to pierce his eardrums, he was exaggerating of course.

Realising she had been staring in bewilderment and unnerving the poor girl even more, the brunette forced herself to utter a response, whatever would do.

"I... I would, I mean, of course...! Thank you for the invitation, Akimoto-san," the brunette finally replied, she had been confused but then she smiled if only to help calm the fidgeting girl.

"I'm going as well, Akimoto-san! Don't worry, we'll be there! Yuu-chan too!" Momoi chirped as she looped her arm around the brunette, her smile blinding.

Akimoto stopped, her eyes wide. "R-Really? O-Okay, I—, no I mean, w-we would wait for you," she bowed before making a run for it, "W-We will be waiting!" she spoke before leaving.

When the girl finally joined her friends and told of of the news, they looked both surprised and happy, the girls turned to their directions with varying delighted smiles before returning to their conversations.

"Isn't that nice, Yuu-chan?" Momoi questioned, her head tilted, "This will be our first time, ne?"

"...Yes," she answered simply, a small smile tugging on her lips.

The brunette was happy. She was happy that she was invited and for finally integrating herself in the class. It had always been Momoi and her, she had always felt bad that the pinkette had somewhat alienated herself from the rest of the class because she was awkward with her classmates. Now though, it didn't have to be that way.

And the pinkette was the same, she was happy for the sake of her friend. She knew how the brunette had it a bit harder with people more than ordinary person would, she deduced it was something from her childhood. Which was why, she made it her personal mission to help the girl had more friends. Even if it meant she would have less time for her.

"Here. Thank you for your helpful tip, Momoi," the male teacher spoke with a seemingly flat tone as he held someone by the scruff of his neck.

Both Yume and her were currently cleaning the hallways, the colourful boys around them. They were assigned to the same group as Akashi asked, including the boy the teacher was holding like he would a cat.

"Yeah. Thank you so much, Satsuki," the tanned teen was glaring at his childhood friend as he dangled from his teacher's arm, the man was actually persistent in finding him then lifting him like this.

It had been nice until his homeroom teacher found him napping on a tree in the most secluded spot no one else would actually know but his childhood friend who just had to betray him and rat him out. And that's about the whole story.

Apparently his teacher didn't appreciate the tone of his voice nor his sarcasm, so he was left rubbing his sore butt from the unwelcomed fall. The damned teacher didn't even say anything before he trotted away just like that.

"You should have known better than to skip this part of the cleaning at least, Aomine," Akashi spoke with a hint of disapproval in his voice and expression, subtle as ever.

Midorima scoffed, his fingers on his glasses, "What do you expect? He is an aho."

"Baka Mine-chin," added Murasakibara.

Before it escalated into a fight, the two girls stepped in and ushered the boys, the hot-headed and stubborn ones, away from another. Aomine was the hot-headed one, the stubborn, Midorima. The two boys didn't mix well and they knew it, picking a fight with the other at many given chances.

It wasn't even fifteen-minutes into cleaning, and Murasakibara was already asking about lunch, but considering he had nothing to chew on for the whole duration of cleaning since him doing so would go against the initial intention with the crumbs and all, it wasn't a surprise.

"Mana-chin, I'm hungry. I want lunch," he whined in a tone that was hopeful and somehow lacking enthusiasm.

The brunette had to wonder if the giant would be fine if a disaster struck and he had to conserve what emergency rations he had for three-whole days and not died from starvation. It was a food for thought, no pun intended.

"Lunch will be ready by noon, Murasakibara-kun. That's about two hours from now. It will be quite a while until then, but please keep at it. I can assure you that you can look forward to lunch," she replied with a kind smile reminiscent to that of a mother.

Yume had been the one to help look and decide which catering service they would use, then approved of it with an official seal. The delivery would be received by Takeda of the Student Council, he would collect the invoice and submit it to her when the day ended. It hadn't been cheap, with the huge number of orders as well as the standards quality Teikō demanded. It was a good treat indeed.

"Okay," the giant replied with more excitement, but was still lethargic in all. His movements were as sluggish, with the slightest addition of speed.

If the brunette thought that would be the end of possible troublesome things, she thought wrong. Because a certain redhead just seemed to love proving her otherwise.

"You cared for Murasakibara exceptionally well, Manai-san. I'm impressed," he began with that charming smile, yet she could feel something was coming.

"I wonder if you would care for me just as well?"

...and that was the usual she so wished wasn't. He enjoyed the shades of red covering her cheeks, her flustered limegreen eyes that didn't know where to look and him knowing she would rather run and hide herself despite being unable to do so. Even with all those knowledges in her head, the same things happened every time.

"P-Please stop teasing me, Akashi-kun... You are very capable and I doubt you need someone to care for you like I do to Murasakibara-kun and Sat-chan to Daiki-kun, and Midorima-kun is just as capable," she tried to regain her composure, it wouldn't do to stay flustered long in the presence of the redhead.

In doing that and focusing on the smirking redhead before her, she failed to notice the reddening ears of a greenhead who happened to overhear (and certainly had not been eavesdropping) her compliments of him as capable.

"I am quite hurt, Manai-san. Even with all that, I do wish for your attention," he responded with a smirk that was so fitting more than a smile ever would, in her opinion anyway.

When red started to cover her pale cheeks once more, the redhead chuckled, having decided the poor girl had had enough and so he added and finished with, "You're the Secretary of the Student Council I lead after all."

The brunette knew she had been played, he had always done that. She had long realised her expressions entertained the male, yet she was too honest with her responses and nothing could change it, the pinkette said it was nice, it showed that she was sincere in everything she did.

Her response had been a silent nod, before she turned and pretended there was somewhere she needed to be, expertly ignoring the incredulous stare from the greenhead who had probably seen the whole interactions if he didn't hear, it was quite a scene after all: a blushing girl and the charismatic honour student.

And as if those weren't enough, there was the childhood friends bickering over what seemed to be unimportant but to the two of them, at first, it had been an apology from the pinkette for ratting him out, but then followed by a scolding that the should have showed up in the first place. Then it just escalated, as did the voice.

"You tore my favourite bunny doll!"

"That was years ago, Satsuki! And I didn't forget you deflating my basketball after!"

"I didn't broke it!"

"It still counted."

...and it continued. Before anyone realised, they had been almost done and the area was nearly spotless and dust-free. The brunette made it a point to stick with Midorima or Murasakibara who would gave her less headaches.

"Kuroko-kun," she noted with slight delight as she saw the babyblue-haired boy in his quietness that she dearly missed at the moment, carrying a dust bin and was walking towards the stair, which meant he was heading to trash it.

The male offered her a nod before he continued on his way, it was enough for them both. They weren't really the type to speak more words than necessary.

"Was anyone there, Yume?" the tanned teen stopped by her side, looking around to see anyone she could be talking to, seeing no one.

"I don't see anyone," the pinkette answered for the both of them, she was also curious about whom her friend was smiling at, but there really was no one there.

Just for the sake of it, because she felt like returning what she received for the day, she turned to face her friend with a playful smile and matching tone as she answered,

"No one was. At least not one you could see."

Needless to say, the two teenagers were seriously spooked and shuddered with chills clawing on their spines.


(1) Otsukare san, Otsukare sama: Thank you for your hard work. The former is more informal while the latter is formal. They are used to show appreciation for the efforts of others.

(2) Janken, janken-pon: Rock Paper Scissors game.


So yeah, how is it?

Reviews are very much appreciated!

Next time, Yume and Momoi's first group lunch with their female classmates! What about Kise?