A big thank-you for those still reading this fic! It's been more than a year, so I really thought no one would have posted a comment. I have several chapters ahead already planned, just need to hammer out the timeline so that it aligns with the original KnB. I will try to post the next chapter in five days!

To Roseheart37819: Hi! Indeed, been more than a year now… I try hard to keep them in characters so I'm glad you enjoyed it! Oh no, I'm not a Muslim. I do admire my friends who go through the fasting period though, waking up real early every day for a whole month. Whelp, I already have a hard time waking up at 7. So yeah…

Pairings : Undecided

Warnings : Teikō Middle School Days.

Disclaimer : I own only the OCs.


Chapter 41 - When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat

It is another Saturday for Kawahara Haruki as he sits behind the cashier waiting for customers who have books in their arms chosen from the wide range of selections he has in his bookstore for him to scan and settle the transaction. Haruki loves his job, he has always loved reading books. Being surrounded by them and having connections to get his hands on the newest sets when they're published filled him with immense joy and pleasure. With a book in his hands, he can possibly sit for hours on end.

Which is possibly the reason why it took him three hours into the shift to notice his capable part-timer is in a daze so unlike her usual self. The difference is subtle but he should have noticed anyway. After all, for all the months since he employed this particular student, the girl is never unfocused and always strives to show a good work performance in her quiet, reserved way without making too much noise knowing how he loves his reading time.

Curious, Haruki places down the book on his lap and pushes up his glasses as he scrutinises his part-timer. The girl is in a daze, yes. There's almost a silly, dreamy look in her gaze too. It's obvious her mind is wandering elsewhere unknown. And is that the slightest indication of red he sees brushing her fair cheeks? Well now, isn't that a surprise? There's only one conclusion he can pick out of all these observation points!

"Yume-chan? There's a boy you fancy?" Haruki inquires in that obnoxious way only an adult can towards a youngster, a crooked grin marring his expression.

It must be known that in the periods since hiring the girl, Haruki has noticed that the brunette pays little attention to anything other than her work and studies. The poor girl only started talking of her friends recently too. There's definitely almost no interest in the girl for a boyfriend. So this dazed-act of hers that's very much like someone in love filled him with so much curiosity.

"H-Huh? E—Eh?!" the brunette stumbles out of her stupor in a fluster. It takes her quite a time to orient herself and process the line of questioning her employer just said.

A boy she fancies?! Just how did Kawahara-san come to that kind of misunderstanding?! Was it something she did?

"There isn't!" she denies hotly, the red on her cheeks glaringly obvious. "I was only thinking of a match, a basketball match! The one I went to this morning!"

Following her promise to Momoi as well as her own interest in the subject, Yume goes to watch the basketball boys before she comes in for work in the afternoon. It's the preliminary match apparently and the boys are playing out all their pent-up energy on the court, this statement rings especially true for a certain basketball-mania who initially thought he wouldn't be able to participate in the match.

For the whole years in her life, Manai Yume never pays special attention on sports-related stuffs, it's simply not hers. Her area of focus has always been her family, her studies and her works. Recently, friends is added to the category, with Momoi Satsuki leading in front and Aomine Daiki a far second. Basketball is an extra that comes with them both and she doesn't mind indulging every now and then.

The basketball practice match Teikō had with Tomigaoka before this seems to pale in comparison to the preliminary match she has just watched. Seeing how energetic, how excited and how happiness seems to be thrumming from each of the boys she had only known for a few months as they dribble the orange rubber ball in the court, it caused her to feel something for the sports too.

"They were... amazing," the brunette whispers in an awe-filled tone, her limegreen eyes losing the focus she was known for.

Haruki responds with an eyebrow up-lifted. Apparently the girl is lovestruck not by a particular boy but a group of boys playing a single sports. At least it adds a new interest in the girl, he swears she needs so much more to actually live out her life as a middle-school student. Besides, the match must really be something if it can hook someone like the brunette.

Which reminds him...

"You go to Teikō, don't you, Yume-chan?" Haruki begins, not expecting her reply as he begins to squat and rummage his hand around the cabinet to look for something, "I should have it here somewhere..."

"Ah! Here it is!" Haruki clutches a book in his hand when he is done rummaging around, a grin hanging off his face as he displays his finding to his student part-timer.

"Have a look at it, Yume-chan!" he throws the rolled-up magazine in a slow arc towards the brunette who caught it softly with a confused blink.

Without further prompting, Yume rolls the what appears to be an outdated sports magazine in the opposite so that she can actually read it. She looks up for the basketball section right away, certain that it's the one her employer is telling her to check. And sure enough, in the first page of the basketball section is a huge font of a name she has grown accustomed to for the past few months: Teikō Junior High.

In the five-pages article, there's a description of Teikō as a whole, then followed by the main feature of the article: the basketball club. There're commentaries from the coaches, the Head Coach being a man in his late forties, Shirogane Kōzō. The few managers even have a small section dedicated to them. And of course, the starters and several reserved players took up most of the spaces in the article.

There's hardly anyone she is familiar with and she has almost believed that the Head Coach is the only one she can recognise until her eyes fell on a certain player with a similar features to someone she knows but younger, with rougher edges around his eyes especially and most importantly, a blond-hair.

'This is... Nijimura-san?' the brunette blinks once, limegreen eyes narrowed on the face of the familiar-stranger before blinking several times more to convince herself she is not having an illusion. After all, the atmosphere around the boy in the picture differs by quite a lot with the ravenette Captain she knows.

Unknowing of the girl's confusion, Haruki has an easy grin as he watches the brunette reading the magazine attentively. "Amazing, ain't they? Teikō has been a powerhouse in the basketball circuit for a long time. You can take that one home with you. It's outdated and has simply been gathering dusts in my cabinet."

This offer snaps the brunette to attention, she purses her lips to refuse, "Kawahara-san, I—"

"Take it," Haruki cuts her off, already used to the girl's reserved nature by now, "People are looking for the newest edition. That one is months late. Take it and give it a home."

The tone in which he spoke to her is firm, leaving no space for argument and knowing how much the man loves his books, Yume realises that it's not a bad thing. "I understand. Thank you, Kawahara-san," she nods at him.

Haruki grins at her, "Your welcome, Yume-chan. Back to work now, there's two hours left in your shift!"

No longer distracted, the brunette soon finds things she can get done and fix so it will be better. That's how she occupies the remaining hours in her clock. And just as she has said her goodbye to her employer and stepped out of the store to head home, she looks up only to see two familiar figures waiting for her near the handrail.

"Yuu-chan!" Momoi squeals excitedly, pushing herself off the rail to hug her bestfriend.

Aomine on the other hand, only lifts up his hand in greeting, with that trademark grin on his tanned face, "Yo!"

"Sat-chan," she turns towards the pinkette who is the closest in proximity first, a small smile curling her lips despite her surprise at their unplanned appearances, before she greets her other friend, "Daiki-kun."

His grin only widening, Aomine opens his mouth to ask the girl's opinion on the match, "How's my per—"

"Yuu-chan! What do you think of the match?! Is it good? Amazing? So-so? It's definitely not bad, right?" Momoi cuts off her childhood friend without an ounce feeling of remorse, she explodes with questions for her bestfriend instead, her peach pink eyes glittering like diamonds.

The brunette can only say sorry to Aomine in her heart, because faced with Momoi's enthusiasm, she can't not reciprocate. "It's amazing, Sat-chan, Daiki-kun. I'm impressed," she answers honestly.

Even now, it feels like she can still hear the cheers from the stands, the squeaky noises of the shoes, the sound of dribbling rubber ball, the swishes of the net, the calls from many players on the the court. It really overwhelms the brunette. Like she is drowning in the noises, but this time, she doesn't dislike it. The little bit of discomfort is buried with the excitement spreading from the court.

This honest answer delights the two friends, they can tell the brunette truly means her every words. Aomine is especially happy, his grin stretching so wide it almost hurts just looking at him. Momoi is joyful, many of her hard works went to preparing for the match even when she isn't playing in the court. The feeling of having someone you consider bestfriend appreciating what you like and did best, it's simply exhilarating.

In his excitement, Aomine ruffles the brunette's hair, taking care of the force behind it but still making it a certified bird-nest. "If only you're our manager, Yume," he sighs as his face turns purple at remembering a dreadful memory from just this morning.

"Satsuki sucks at providing food that's actually edible. All she can get us is supplements. Her idea of bento is deranged. If this goes on, it's only a matter of time before someone died," he grumbles.

Aomine can still feel the phantom pain in his stomach which comes from a very real, very unfortunate event when he was younger. Being rushed to the ER and later diagnosed with severe food poisoning does that to a person. There's no guess as to who actually supplied said food.

Momoi huffs at this, affronted. "At least I'm trying! I didn't know that I need to slice the lemons before putting it into the water."

"It's common knowledge!" Aomine squawks, horrified. Just how terrible is this girl's common sense when it comes to cooking? "It's how one would normally think when making 'lemon water'! Not a whole lemon in a water! Even I know that, and you call me the idiot!"

Ah... they are starting again, the brunette is wondering if getting used to all these bickering is a good thing.

"Well, I don't want to hear the words 'common knowledge' from a guy whose only common sense for everything is basketball! You are an idiot, Dai-chan. An idiot with basketball for a brain!" the pinkette retorts, her cheeks puffed and face flaming in anger.

A sigh. Perhaps they should think of their surroundings before they begin this going-nowhere banter. She is stuck between the two, honestly. It's time to end this before the matter escalate further and who knows how many years-old of events they would bring up this time around to get an edge over the other. Yume has heard of the bunny doll and the basketball.

"...What's the result of the matches?" she asks, sincerely curious on top of searching for a means to end the words fight.

This time, it's not Momoi who jumps the gun. Every parts of the tanned teen is radiating eagerness and excitement, his grin almost positively blinding. "We win both games, of course! It's tough, especially that Isagaki Jr. High! Kumagai-san is really hard to beat! We managed, though!"

Just remembering where he was several hours ago, playing in the same court with the many amazing players both in his side and their side, his heart is thumping again, his blood rushing all over, making him feverish. Akashi and the rest had been great too, they are all freshmen and this is their first official game. There's nervousness obviously but when the whistle was blown, all he can recall is his burning excitement.

The feeling is just... awesome!

One thing though...

"Satsuki, you tricked me!" the bluenette scowled. His childhood friend has insisted that the first years won't be allowed to participate in the match.

The manager understands what the boy is accusing her of immediately, but it's not like she has a choice! "I did it because Dai-chan has a one-track-mind and I know you would really hurt yourself with more training when you're overexcited!" she defends herself.

"I'm not an idiot!" Aomine denies that statement, spluttering all the while.

Correction: he is not that much of an idiot!

Momoi puffs her cheeks as she glares at the offender and spouts, "You are!"

"Am not!" he returns with as much fervour, bristling like a dog having his tail stepped on.

And they go on and on.

There they go again... the brunette deems them a lost cause by now. Yume is tired of this. Very tired.

So she slips away, ignoring the two people she can confidently say she is most close with in the whole wide of Tokyo. They would notice when they regain their sound mind.

"Baka Dai-chan! Baka, baka, ba—" the pinkette pauses her tirade, her eyes scanning her surroundings trying to find a hint of caramel brown she is familiar with, "...where's Yuu-chan?"

"Huh?" Aomine blinks, snapping out of his prepared retort to look around him. And sure enough, the brunette's not anywhere in sight. "Oi, Yume's not here. Where did she go?"

Momoi frowns, she asked him because she didn't know. Why would he asked her back? She is about to tell him exactly that before she remembers that they are not supposed to be doing this right now. Locating her bestfriend comes first.

Shaking her head, the pinkette does just that, "I think Yuu-chan must have gone ahead of us, which means we are going that way, Dai-chan."

Aomine isn't convinced. Knowing that quiet brunette, she isn't likely to have left them ahead. "I will look somewhere around. Yume must still be around," he shrugs.

"No!" Momoi nearly yells, frustration seeping out of her. She knows her bestfriend best! Her intuition never fails her before and especially not when it concerns her bestfriend!

"Yuu-chan is definitely this way! Just go along, Dai-chan!" the pinkette pulls her childhood friend's arm, fully intending to drag him if she has to.

If he really wants to shake her off, it wouldn't be hard for Aomine. But he wouldn't do that to Satsuki even when he is not quite aboard with her ideas. Just as he is contemplating what to do as the pinkette tries her hardest to wrangle him along, a cold sensation shoots up his cheek, jerking him to attention as he pulls away from the pinkette, the girl doing the same as she let go at the same time.

"GAH!" the two yelp in surprise. Their face turning blue from the sudden chill on their cheek, it almost feels like being touched by a ghost in the middle of summer. The shivers.

Turning their head around though, they see that it's not a ghost touching their cheek at the most inopportune moment, but the very same brunette they were searching for just seconds ago. In her hands are three icy-cold Gori-Gori-kun popsicle, one is unwrapped already. Those two cold treats are what pasted into their cheek.

"For you," the brunette says simply, a small smile tilting her lips as she offers the two newly-bought popsicles to the bewildered and possibly slightly annoyed friends with the hand not holding her own popsicle to her mouth.

"Yuu-chan!" Momoi shrieks in delight, her eyes wide and bright.

"Yume!" Aomine scowls, less happy with the girl's action earlier.

Despite the opposing reaction of the childhood-friend pair to the brunette's little mischief, both didn't hesitate to take the offered popsicles. It's awfully hot and the cold treats would really be great for them. So why refuse?

"Thank you, Yuu-chan! How much is it?" the pinkette grins, her popsicle quickly unwrapped and lodged into her mouth before her hand goes to her bag looking for her purse.

The brunette shakes her head, her own popsicle tucked securely between her teeth. "My treat, Sat-chan. A gift for your hard work."

This unexpected yet sweet treatment from the girl she calls her bestfriend really hits her heart deep. If Yume had been a boy, Momoi might even have fallen for the brunette. There's just something about receiving a pleasant surprise in the form of treats, little stuffs like this, that gets the pinkette right in the heart much like a cupid does with his love-arrow. The brunette in her eyes, appears to be shining somehow.

Taking a huge chunk off the popsicle and enjoying the cold that permeates his tastebud, Aomine has a roguish grin plastered as he props his arm on the brunette's head. "If this is how you're going to reward hard work, I won't mind working a bit more."

"...While that's nice of you, Daiki-kun, please don't make a habit out of it. I don't think my wallet can support your 'hard work'," the brunette emphasises on that specific word, hardly minding his arm on her head. Not yet anyway.

The popsicles aren't expensive of course, they are treats for children and thus affordable. But if the tanned teen were to come out of basketball practice claiming that was a 'hard work' and asked for a popsicle every single time, obviously, she wouldn't be able to live well for the month.

Still with that stupid grin on his face, Aomine took his arm away so he can ruffle her hair, messing it. "I'm just kidding," he teases, taking joy in her dishevelled appearance.

Aomine Daiki is a mischievous boy by nature and he displays his playful behaviours mostly on his childhood friend as a child, but growing up, the pinkette has learned a sure-proof way to avoid any of his mischiefs. That left him with little targets, at least until the brunette before him comes along. He finds the girl's reaction to be funny most of the time.

This time isn't one of those times, because as the brunette turns her limegreen eyes up to meet his teasing gaze, a gentle smile hanging on her lips, she tells him in a soft voice that rattles his heart more than she can perceive, the words, "I know."

Feeling his heart thumping a little faster, the tanned teen quickly turns his head away, flustered. "Aa..." he drawls, a slight red on his cheeks.

Faced with this sight, Momoi smiles cheekily, as if she knows something he doesn't. She feels that Dai-chan is so cute like this! His current emotion is clearly written on his face, she almost can't restrain from teasing him as a payback from all those years ago when they were kids. Maybe she would do just that, when the brunette isn't here, lest she makes the air awkward.

"Anyway~! Summer vacation is coming up soon and the basketball club have a Summer Camp," the pinkette hums, more informing the brunette as she expects her childhood friend to be aware of this fact by now.

"Yuu-chan, are you returning home to Kyoto?" Momoi takes a small bite of her popsicle, the sweet taste filling her mouth.

Yume nods, enjoying her own treat after she has finished tidying up her messed up hair, making it presentable at least, "Mm. Ojii-san and Obaa-san are expecting me home for holidays."

It's one of the conditions she agrees to when she applies for Teikō Junior High. After all, the brunette insists on pursuing her education here in Tokyo instead of staying in Kyoto where her grandparents reside. Tokyo, where she has no relatives to help her out. It's a no-brainer why the two elderlies made that condition for her.

What is unexpected though, is the pinkette's answering grin which is somewhat disturbing and the reaction her other friend is showing with his eyes widening as if in surprise and realisation of something. Something she isn't made aware of. The brunette can't help the frown marring her features.

"When?" the pinkette asks joyfully, not giving time for her bestfriend to question her reaction earlier.

Yume doesn't reply straight away, confused with how her friend is acting. She hesitates at the pinkette's cheshire-like grin. And the bluenette is avoiding her eyes! Something is off here, so she settles with a half-hearted answer: "...As soon as the vacation begins."

"Twenty-first of July?" the pinkette is grinning really widely it shouldn't be possible by now.

Can I really answer this...? she really have to wonder despite doubting that her bestfriend wants to cause harm on her person. There's just this sense of foreboding, like it would end in her embarrassment or something.

"...That's the plan," she responds carefully, still eyeing the uneasy expression her friend is sporting.

"Flight?" the inquiry comes again.

"...Yes. It's cheaper than the shinkansen," the brunette has checked this to be true. All these questions from the pinkette and she doesn't know the reason why.

"Great!" Momoi appears to be fully satisfied now, sparkles seem to appear in the background with flowers blooming around to complete the very picture of a delighted young girl.

What is? the brunette wants to ask. Aomine is still avoiding her eyes! He is actually pretending he heard nothing, obviously cooperating with Momoi's attempt at creating a suspenseful situation. If she hadn't seen how the tanned teen is surprised when the pinkette first brought on the subject of summer vacation, she would have believed the two staged this whole questionings.

"Because the basketball club is going to Kyoto too!" the pinkette announces proudly, her tone full of cheers as she continues, "For the summer camp of course!"

"What?!" the brunette whirled at that, nearly dropping her popsicle if not choking on her bites. "I haven't heard of this!" her tone filled with protest.

It is supposed to be a Summer Vacation! The period where she doesn't have to deal with a group of colourful individuals with personalities just as unique. Her time of peace! And now she is actually told that the entirety of Teikō's basketball club is going to hold a training camp in her hometown, the very same Kyoto?!

Momoi, she can handle—the girl is practically her bestfriend she should have introduced to her grandparents. Aomine, she can tolerate, she can think of him as that particularly annoying neighbourhood kid who is just very playful but overall manageable.

But Akashi? Midorima and Murasakibara?

Just... no way.

The brunette is still reeling from the sudden onslaught of unwanted information, her focus not totally stable at the moment. So when her other friend starts to babble with his goofy grin in place about how Teikō basketball club had indeed been going to Kyoto for summer camp even though it isn't always held there, she just zones out.

"—Hawaii. It's the regular training spot every summer. Can't wait to be there!" he speaks with excitement hardly contained.

"Hawaii?" the brunette blinks back to focus, her mind picking up a word she didn't expect, causing her eyes to go wide with bewilderment and clutching the stick holding her popsicle a little tighter. "You're going aboard for a summer camp?"

She really couldn't be blamed for being so disbelieving. After all, in the end, it is just a summer camp for a school club. The idea of going aboard just for training is ridiculous to the brunette. If this is true then the club sure has a hefty fund invested. The school must have paid them quite the attention. Yume herself has never been abroad.

"Yeah, ain't it amazing? I'm so looking forward to Hawaii!" with his eyebrows jumping around to match his eagerness, he almost looks like a kid going to a toy store for the first time. Then of course his following words just have to destroy that expression.

"The beaches there are to kill for! And the view, well... the best view on the beach is definitely that!" now his wiggling eyebrows don't appear that childish anymore. If anything, it reminds the two girls who quickly catch on to his definition of 'best view' of a perverted old man.

Thus it can't be helped that they reward the boy with a flat stare, eyes filled with disdain as they open their mouth and say the one word–with a tone as flat–they have in mind at the same time.

"Pervert."

With imaginative rocks crashing into his head, the tanned teen finally returns to reality, his dark complexion coloured with enough red for anyone to see that he is throughly flustered. He knows best what his thoughts had been and the truth behind his friends' accusation.

"I wasn't thinking of the girls!" he splutters his denial. Not girls in bikini swaying their hips on the beach! Definitely not him!

The two girls don't even grace his poor attempt at self-defense with a response, electing to walk away wordlessly from the 'pervert' they claimed him to be. There's no need to associate themselves with a pervert. They don't care of the fact that the teen left behind is squawking, trying to regain his dignity as he chases after them.

"I'm a boy, damnit! This is a normal healthy reaction of a prepubescent boy! I'm not a pervert!"


So yeah, how is it?

Reviews are very much appreciated!

Next time, It's the long-awaited summer vacation! And a trip to Kyoto with Generation of Miracles?!