"Don't move or I'mma cut this little girl!"

Ah.

Little girl.

That reminded her of the nationals in summer. Haranishi Junior High's head coach had mocked Teikou and called her a 'little girl'. While it was technically true, he had said it with such malice that made it clearly an insult.

But that time when Teikou was against Haranishi during the final game, there was one person, who had turned the term 'little girl' into some form of pride.

...

"Thank you, Haizaki-san."

"Ugh, just get your pathetic ass outta my sight."

As soon as she turned around, he muttered something under his breath, but Tsumiko was sure of what she heard and it made her eyes go wide.

"Stop being a little girl and be that fucking little girl."

...

And now, that very person was crouching down – uniform's a mess, but he was staring intensely at her, as if he was relying a message. When she stared back at him, he very slightly gestured his head towards his left. Mirroring him, she realized that she was just being held on the shoulder by the teen behind her. Looking back at Haizaki, she saw him glance down on the stony ground, where his hand was holding something.

'Stones', she guessed, but didn't move.

Silver eyes were now glaring at her, as Haizaki was becoming more impatient and frustrated at her. She had an idea of what he wanted her to do, but the tip of the knife was cold against her neck, and the tips of her fingers were turning cold, too – just like during the national finals. Recalling the ash-head's words, she inhaled deeply, before stomping on the teen's foot and shrugging her shoulders away from his hold. As she did that, a stone flew past her and a yelp of pain and clanking of metal on the ground were heard. Without looking back, she ran towards her teammates, and a pair of strong arms caught her immediately. It happened so fast that she didn't even realize that Nijimura had already placed her next to Haizaki, who threw another stone at the other's chest. The second-year kicked the knife towards them, then kicked the shin of the knife's owner, causing the latter to keel over and fall to the ground.

The Teikou freshmen couldn't clearly see their upperclassman's face, but he must've had such a scary expression that made all three boys kneel and bow their heads, apologizing and begging for their newfound 'Aniki's' mercy.

"Not to me, you fuckers! And I'm not your aniki!"

Abruptly, the trio bowed at her direction,"We're sorry, anego!"

'Anego?', she wondered. They looked like first-years to her, so they might be calling her the way gangsters do, right?

"She's not your anego, either, damn it!"

They then frowned at the boy beside her, "It's just that we didn't like the way that jerk looked at us earlier."

Smugly, mentioned jerk spat, "You're all fucking annoying. Your uniform sucks. Your school sucks. Ya'll su – ", before being silenced by a rock flung next to his face.

"I won't miss next time", the only person, who was still standing, warned. Comically, all students on the ground (including the only girl) obediently nodded.

Afterwards, the raven-head focused back to the group of boys and called them by their school, "Oi, Komagi."

With this, she recalled something Chitose told her. Glancing at the male on her right – who was gathering his bag, so that he's ready to flee, just in time their captain finished scolding the Komagi schoolboys – she figured a possible (and petty) reason why this fight started.

"Could it be you got annoyed at them because they reminded you of Hashimoto-senpai's ex-boyfriend, who also goes to Komagi?"

Though she felt a little bad for bringing that up, she couldn't help but be amused at the other's shocked face. Embarrassed and mostly irritated, he dashed away, without forgetting to flip the finger at her.

"Got it?", she heard the stern tone of the captain, as she watched the back of a certain Teikou uniform-clad youngster get smaller and smaller by the second.

"Y-yes! We're really sorry, aniki!"

"Don't fucking call me that! Now scram, you little shits!"

Oh, her crush would definitely not like the troublemaker escaping, but Tsumiko wanted to help her fellow first-year this time, so she didn't bother calling him back.


The following day, Haizaki attended practice again, though, he still seemed upset – and in Haizaki Shougo language, that meant he sulked and glared at the young coach and the captain even more, like a petty child threatening them not to tell anyone of what happened yesterday. True enough, they didn't tell anybody about it, and practice went on normally, except for the additional forehead flicks Haizaki received from the still-pissed senpai.

Witnessing the dynamics of the two oddly similar guys brought some warmth in her – and coupled with her wishing to return back the favor to the one, who believed in the little girl in her – led her in front of the Haizaki's residence at a Saturday.

The older boy beside her, decorated with his usual scowl, pointed at the box of cake on her hands, "So into this, huh?"

"W-well, it's his birthday after all."

Nijimura, despite sounding like he didn't want to be there, softened his gaze a little, "How much should I pay?"

"Eh? You don't have to."

"No matter how rich your family is, I know that came from your own pocket", he stated, while extending his arm to ring the doorbell. Before he could even do that, however, a door was opened then banged, followed by two voices, "Shougo!" "Shou-chan!"

They heard hurried steps, which was followed by the gate being roughly opened, revealing said 'Shougo/Shou-chan', whose expression went from angry and tear-stricken to surprised, when he noticed his unexpected guests.

Tsumiko – whose arm was secured around Nijimura's hand, when he instinctively pulled her away from the gate – opened her mouth to speak, when Haizaki wordlessly sprinted away.

The gate swung open again, "Shougo!", but this time it revealed a male teenager, who has the same gray strands as the birthday celebrant, but only shorter.

Pausing to scan the very familiar strangers standing near the entrance, he titled his head, "Uh, aren't you guys..."

"Shi-chan! Why'd you stop?"

Appearing behind the older and taller version of 'Shougo' was a beautiful adult woman with ash locks secured in a hair clamp, and with a gentle voice, "Oh my. Shougo's teammates?"

At the recognition, said teammates lowered their heads. The second-year instantly spoke, "I'm the captain, Nijimura Shuuzo. I could go after your son, and bring him back."

When the gray-haired folks didn't really show any signs that they disagree with his proposition, he turned towards his companion and squeezed her shoulders, "Sorry, I'll be back", to which she simply nodded in response. Bowing one last time at the Haizakis, he proceeded to run.

Left behind, the snow-haired girl introduced herself, "Good afternoon. My name is Irosuzuka Tsumiko, a first-year and a coach", before explaining, "I apologize, in behalf of Nijimura-senpai, for our sudden appearance. We simply wanted to wish your son a happy birthday."

In spite of the female grown-up's watery eyes, she still managed to let out a smile, "That's so sweet of you, and I'm really sorry. I'm Shougo's mom and you can call me Saya. Why don't we wait inside, okay?"

Not giving her a chance to politely accept, a masculine voice was directed at her, "Let me carry that."

Subsequently, she felt the weight of the cake vanish from her hands, as the house owners led the way.

"Shigeru, by the way. That kid's older bro."


"My sons' father and I got divorced when Shigeki's in his third year of middle school and Shougo's still in fifth grade", Haizaki's mom started, but immediately paused. She glanced at the back of her eldest son, who was busy washing the dishes. Tsumiko could see her hesitation, as if she was hiding some information, that might not really be pleasing to hear. It was totally understandable, though, because it was not easy to discuss private matters, especially to a twelve-year old kid one just formally met. Thus, the girl waited patiently for the lady across her to continue, "Since then, he started hating his father and became rebellious."

The young girl could see the warmth in the mother's face, as thin lips curved up, "But when he started junior high, I noticed he was getting better. He made it to the basketball team and got good grades. He even told me he found himself a girlfriend."

The other's lips eventually fell, and Tsumiko slightly fidgeted in her seat – worried that she was stepping into something too personal.

"But this past week, he seemed to be down and he even came home with bruises one time. I got worried and I just wanted to make him happy, so I finally accepted the money his father had offered for Shougo's birthday gift."

Okay, that's enough.

"Um, pardon me for interrupting, but you really don't have to continue and tell me everything. You don't have to explain anything to me. I understand."

Saya shook her head and smiled again, "It's okay. I'm sorry for saying all of this, but since my idiot son's not really good at expressing himself, I felt that I should tell his friends even just a little bit about him."

"But – "

"Just let her talk. Letting friends know could help that difficult brother of mine. Trust me. I had firsthand experience with rebellious phases and shit."

What Shigeru declared from the kitchen made her even sad for this family, but it also made her listen to the rest of the story.

"Earlier, when I saw his peaceful sleeping face, however, I realized that he would not be truly glad if I lie to him. That's why I texted my ex-husband that I will return the money soon. Shougo later woke up energetically and lunch was great, until my phone rang. Shougo was quick to get my phone for me, and I saw how his face contorted, as he saw the caller ID. Before I could even stop him, he had already furiously answered, and that's how he knew. I already explained to him but he still stormed off."

These information was indeed hard to take in, but she was determined not to cry – definitely not when the woman before her was strong enough to share these things with her. Instead, she decided to turn the atmosphere to a more positive one, while they wait for the two teens' return. To do this, she told Saya stories about her youngest son in school, in trainings, and in matches – not forgetting that remarkable finals match.


Meanwhile, certain middle school boys were arguing at an empty park. The light-haired one struggled to set himself free from the dark-haired one, who's clutching the back of the former's shirt.

"Fuck off, Nijimura!"

"That's senpai for you, moron."

"Don't care. Now, let go!"

"You're so mad you want to fight, right? I'm getting a little mad, too, so be ready brat."

With that said, Nijimura released him, and as predicted, the shorter of the two attacked. The former had dodged it and countered. In between kicks and punches, these two rebels managed to talk about their own family problems and somehow understand each other. Because that's how you have a heart-to-heart talk in both Haizaki and Nijimura language. There's no need for sappy shit. All they needed to do was use their fists and legs and throw curses at each other – with the occasional and actual sharing of their issues, when their emotions started getting to them even more.

As soon as their energy got drained, along with their angst, they leaned against a tree and caught their breaths.

The more experienced fighter, as shown by the lesser number of bruises, recovered first and stood up, "Have you let out enough steam now? Let's get you home. Don't worry your mom and brother even more."

Bending down, he ruffled the spiky, yet soft mop of ash, "You still have to blow your candles, birthday boy."

"Fuck you."


A/N:

Yo anikis and anegos! Thank you for the faves and follows!

To the guest, who reviewed, hello! Thanks for commenting! Sorry about leaving the last chapter hanging, but here's the continuation~ hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)

To everyone else, how was it? Hope you liked Niji's fighter side ;) and the appearance of the Haizaki fam! Personally, I really wanted to know more about Haizaki in canon ;A; but since we weren't given much, I made this part (lol). I just hope I did good in writing Haizaki!

By the way, what are your thoughts on Haizaki, in general? I'm kinda curious, because so far, I see some people consider him only as a villain (which he was, of course, but I always thought that he was more than that or idk? lol) Anyway, to Haizaki fans out there, be proud ("be that fucking little *insert gender*") and let yourselves be known in the comments, because this is for you~ Yay!