Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Kuroko no Basket!

...

...

1st year – Too Academy

"What are you thinking, Kenzie?"

Mac glanced at Daiki who was lazily lying on his back on the stage behind her, she saw him glance at her and met his navy blue eyes that seemed even bluer in the gym light. Wait, why was she thinking about the colour of his eyes…he had asked her about what she was thinking, hadn't he? She looked back to the court and cleared her throat.

"Just thinking," she said.

"About…" he pressed and she heard him move some and from the corner of her eyes, she saw that he was now turned to his side and propped his head upon his hand that was supported by his elbow against the floor. "You have that look on your face."

Mac pushed away from the way her stomach flipped at the fact that he was looking at her, and she couldn't understand why she was so…so affected by that. He had done that before without her being this…awkward about it.

"I was just thinking that Sakurai-san has something more to him," Mac admitted focusing on the sport and basketball, she was comfortable talking about that. "Another level."

Daiki hummed and fell back on his back, "he might."

Mac smiled slightly and pushed away from the edge of the stage and put her notebook down. She walked away from Daiki and over to where Sakurai and the others had been warming up before the start of their practice.

It was a Saturday and they had all gathered at the gym at school to practice, it was only a week until the match against Tokushin High, their first match in the preliminaries and on their way to Inter-High. She was pleased that Daiki had come (even if he was lazing away on the stage). He had shown up and she got to spend some time with him doing something she always loved. Playing basketball.

"Sakurai-san," Mac said bringing the attention to her and saw how the others looked up from what they were doing to give her curious looks.

"Yes, Mac?" Sakurai looked nervous and looked ready to start apologizing.

"Play with me," Mac said.

He blinked and looked at her before he looked over at Imayoshi who had tilted his head slightly to the side as he was watching Mac.

"What are you planning, Mac?" Imayoshi asked.

"I just want to test something," Mac said without looking at him, "come on, Sakurai-san. Play a match with me, one-on-one."

"Okay," Sakurai said nervously and stepped onto the court.

Mac smiled slightly as she tossed him the ball, "you start."

He nodded and dribbled the ball while Mac remained back and watched him with sharp eyes.

...

Daiki turned so that he could watch Mac play one-on-one against Sakurai from where he was lying on the stage. He didn't want to admit it, but he did feel a little curious about what she wanted by challenging him to play against her like this. She must have a reason and Daiki wondered what it was.

He was maybe the only one who saw that Mac was holding back and letting Sakurai move across the court without really doing anything to stop him. He frowned as he knew that Mac wasn't the type of person to hold back or allow anyone to do what they wanted to without stopping them, unless… she was testing him.

A frown settled on his face as he thought if over and he realised that she was indeed testing him. Why would she do that? She shouldn't give him so much attention, Daiki thought. He was just a nervous kid who apologized a lot. Yes, Daiki would admit that he had some talent for basketball, but not enough that Mac should single him out like this.

"Sorry," Sakurai apologized as he scored a three-pointer seemingly effortlessly.

Daiki scowled knowing that Mac could have stopped it, but she didn't for some reason Daiki was sure only made sense to her. He saw the calculating look on Mac's face as she watched Sakurai walk away from her before she smiled. She had a beautiful smile, Daiki thought before he froze. Why had he thought that? What was wrong with him? She was his best friend…

"Ouch," Daiki heard Namamura wince and he focused back on the court to see Mac on the floor making him wonder how she had ended up there. She got back on her feet without trouble and was smiling slightly so Daiki was sure she wasn't hurt.

She got in a defence position again and this time Daiki could tell she was going to give it her best and then Sakurai would have problems. Like Daiki thought she had not too many problems keeping up with Sakurai as he moved and used the right amount of pressure to keep him from making the shot.

Every time Sakurai took his stance to shoot she was there and she blocked him, making him step back and try one more time. Daiki could see the frustration on his face as he was blocked time after time, but she never stole the ball away from him like she could have done.

Daiki yawned as he continued to watch them play and barely noticed the whispers from the rest of the team as they watched in amazement or something resembling it. Daiki had seen Mac do this plenty of times and was not surprised.

"Why are you doing this?!" Sakurai suddenly demanded and glared at Mac.

Daiki frowned and almost got to his feet but he stopped himself. He saw Sakurai glare at Mac from his position a little away from the three-point line. Mac had her back to Daiki so he couldn't see her face, but he saw that she was prepared to stop Sakurai from making the shot.

Mac didn't reply and Sakurai got back into position with a scowl on his face. Well, that was different…Daiki thought. He normally only apologized…

The match continued a little longer with much of the same results and finally, Mac reached out and stole the ball away from Sakurai and with perfect timing and release shot the ball through the hoop scoring a three-pointer before Sakurai could do anything to defend the basket.

...

"That's enough," Mac said stepping off the court and grabbing her notebook again and opening it.

"What was that?" Sakurai asked still annoyed and standing on the court.

"A test," Mac said without looking up from where she was writing down her notes.

Daiki could see that she had all of their attention, even Harasawa was watching with a thoughtful look on his face. Daiki recognised the look, it was the same one Shirogane and Sanada had back at Teiko when they looked at Mac and was surprised yet fascinated by the things she did.

"Test?" Abe asked.

"Mhm," Mac said distractedly.

"You stopped me!" Sakurai exclaimed stepping toward Mac, "and made it look easy!"

Mac just made a sound and Daiki almost smiled amused as she was inside of her bubble and unaware of what was going on around her, he knew it was unlikely that they had seen her like this before.

Sakurai was now almost by Mac and Daiki suddenly frowned as he saw the annoyed look on Sakurai's face and was about to get up to do something when Sakurai stepped off the court and it was like a total 180 and he blinked before getting this scaredy-cat look on his face and started to bow repeatedly.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he repeated as he bowed. "I have no idea what came over me! I'm so sorry. It's my fault. I don't deserve to be on the team with how badly I played."

Daiki relaxed as he saw that Sakurai was back to normal and sighed.

"She's inside of her own bubble," Daiki spoke up deciding to make them stop trying to get Mac's attention. He knew it was next to impossible and would only be met with an annoyed Mac if they managed to break her focus. "She won't respond until she has written down the new data she got. She probably had some reason for testing you, and she'll let you know when she's finished writing."

The others exchanged looks before Inoue waved a hand in front of Mac's face, the only thing that happened was that Mac frowned slightly but kept on writing.

"Huh," Inoue said.

"You won't like the result if you break her focus before she's done," Daiki said lazily and lied back down with a yawn. "She can get…annoyed."

"Interesting," Imayoshi drawled. "We've never seen her like this…"

"She gets like this sometimes," Daiki said, "she'll snap out of it soon."

He closed his eyes and refused to say anything else.

"Hi! Don't go back to sleep!" Wakamatsu growled stalking toward Daiki, but Daiki didn't open his eyes. "Get to your feet and practice like everyone else, jerk!"

Daiki mentally rolled his eyes. He didn't need to practice, he wasn't even sure why he had come today in the first place. He was just there before he really thought about it, but he had to admit (although only very deep down) that the smile that had crossed Mac's face when she saw him had made his decision worth it. She had looked more open and happy than he had seen her in a while, and he wanted to keep that look on her face.

"Don't ignore me!" Wakamatsu yelled.

"Calm down, Wakamatsu," Susa more or less ordered and Daiki could tell that the tall blond-haired centre listened to the Vice-Captain.

...

Mac blinked and looked up to see that practice was in full swing and Harasawa was yelling out orders for the team. Oh, …she had done it again, Mac realised with a soft sigh. She just let her need to write down what she had learned to get the best of her and effectively shut everything else out.

"You're back?" Daiki asked.

"Yeah," Mac smiled at him making him smile back, it was short and not the happy one she loved but it was a smile and she would take what she could get. "I did it again, didn't I?"

"You did," he nodded.

Mac sighed and closed her notebook and placed it on the edge of the stage.

"What did you find out this time?" Daiki asked when she didn't say anything.

"A way to get Sakurai even stronger," Mac said.

She noticed that Daiki scowled and arched a brow at him but he shook his head and didn't say anything. Mac sighed but let it go and looked to see Sakurai running but he looked a little more tired than normal.

"You're back!" Namamura cheered when they paused in their practice and he noticed that she wasn't writing in her notebook anymore.

"Yes," Mac nodded.

"So…what did you find out by challenging Sakurai to a match?" Imayoshi asked curiously.

Mac looked at Sakurai who was back to being nervous again, he blinked when he noticed her looking at him.

"Sorry!" he bowed.

"Why are you sorry," Mac sighed exasperatedly, "I found out a lot. Sakurai-san, I want you to meet me every day for the next week before the match before school for some extra training."

"Eh?!" Sakurai looked shocked at her.

"Why?" Abe asked curiously.

Mac just smiled but didn't say anything.

...

"Daiki," Mac sighed as Daiki once more stole a piece of Sakurai's lunch.

"What? It's really good," Daiki said after swallowing the piece of food he had just stolen.

Sakurai stared at the lunch box before he looked over at Daiki.

"That doesn't mean you should steal other people's lunches," Mac scolded him with a smack on his arm. "Honestly, Daiki."

Daiki just shrugged and looked unrepentant making Mac sigh.

"I'm sorry, Sakurai-san," Mac told the other boy, "here, you can have some of mine. I had brought more than I could eat anyway."

"You're sure?" Sakurai asked. "I'm sorry…"

"I'm sure," Mac said and swatted Daiki's hand away. "You've already eaten Sakurai's food, Daiki."

"But…yours is so good," Daiki whined.

"Tough luck;" Mac rolled her eyes as she pushed the food toward Sakurai. She had already taken her own sandwich and started to eat it.

"Thank you," Sakurai bowed to which Mac only smiled.

She noticed Daiki pouting next to her and eying Sakurai eating the sandwich. She just shook her head at him.

The rest of practice went quickly and even Daiki was dragged into a practice match when Mac challenged him. She almost regretted it though when it turned out to be more of a one-on-one between the two of them seeing as Daiki dominated the play and they were on opposite teams. She could keep up a little with him given that she knew him as well as she did and her observation skills. Though eventually he got too strong and he won.

...

"Who's phone is that?" Yamaguchi asked between pants as he was drying his sweat with a towel after practice was over and Harasawa had left them to go to his office.

Mac who had been leaning on Daiki blinked when she realised that it was hers.

"Oh…it's mine," she said and let go of Daiki to walk over to her bag. She winced slightly as she felt her muscles hurt as she moved. She pulled out her mobile and smiled slightly when she saw the caller-id.

"Hello," she greeted.

"Hi Mac," Kiyoshi's voice met her. "Did I interrupt something?"

"No, we just finished practice," Mac said ignoring the looks from the others. "How are you?"

"I see," Kiyoshi said. "Then maybe you're free the rest of the day?"

"I might be," Mac smiled, "why? Are you bored?"

"Immensely," Kiyoshi admitted. "I thought…well, it was nice talking to you last time and…well, I wondered if you would like to come and keep me company. I mean…"

"Calm down," Mac chuckled. "I would like to. I just need to change and get ready."

"Good," Kiyoshi said and Mac wondered if she had ever heard him nervous or unsure before. It wasn't often if she had.

"Who was that?" Daiki asked when she hung up making Mac look up at him.

Right, Mac realised, she hadn't told Daiki that she was friends with Kiyoshi again, that they had talked and worked things out so they could go back to the friendship they shared before they started to date.

"A friend," Mac said making Daiki frown.

"Who?"

"Do I need to report my friends to you, Daiki?" Mac asked with a frown suddenly feeling defensive.

Daiki narrowed his eyes as he stared at her, he couldn't understand why she suddenly looked so defensive. He had only asked who it was because he was curious (or that was what he was telling himself), but now he was suspicious. Did she have a new boyfriend? A sinking feeling in his gut hit him hard. She couldn't…could she? Was she already over Kiyoshi? Daiki hadn't thought so, but…maybe?

Mac grabbed her bag and left the gym before Daiki could ask anything else, she ignored the rest of the team's curious looks. She could feel her cheeks heat and knew she was blushing. Why did he have to be so…so curious? Or protective?!

Mac frowned as she allowed Nao out of her bag and felt him nuzzle her neck. Why hadn't she just told Daiki that it was Kiyoshi who had called? Why hide it? She wasn't ashamed of being friends with Kiyoshi again, but…why didn't she just let Daiki know? She just knew that she didn't want to say it and him pushing it had her feeling defensive or something like that. She also didn't want the fight that she knew would come if she said it was Kiyoshi; she hadn't wanted to have to defend herself in front of Daiki for talking with Kiyoshi once more.

"Why is it so complicated?" Mac sighed looking at Nao. "I wish I could just go back to when everything was easy, Nao."

Nao barked as if he was comforting her and she allowed a small smile to cross her lips.

...

"Hi Mac," Kiyoshi smiled when she entered his room at the rehabilitation centre. "Thanks for coming."

"Hi Teppei," Mac smiled back. "I take it you're bored."

"Out of my mind," Kiyoshi admitted. "Then I thought I could ask you to come and see me. I really have missed you."

Mac smiled and nodded in agreement, "I've missed you too."

"Do you want to relax in here or do you want to go out for a little while?" Kiyoshi asked.

"Perhaps we could go and get something to eat?" Mac suggested with a sheepish smile, "I haven't eaten since lunch in the middle of practice, and I am already hungry again."

"Of course," Kiyoshi agreed easily.

They walked to a nearby ramen place and found a table just as the waiter came and handed them the menu.

"How was practice?" Kiyoshi asked after they had ordered.

"It was alright," Mac said, "tough and long, but good. Daiki even came today."

"I see," Kiyoshi smiled. "That's good."

Mac nodded and frowned slightly as she thought back to the argument right before she left. She hoped he wouldn't be mad at her, she thought.

"Something wrong?" Kiyoshi asked noticing her frown.

"No, everything's fine," Mac smiled at him. She could tell he didn't believe her but he didn't push and she was grateful that he didn't.

"I had a scolding from Riko a little while ago," Kiyoshi suddenly said.

"Why?" Mac smiled.

"Something about not telling her that Kuroko would join Seirin and then it was because I didn't say anything about Kagami being your cousin," Kiyoshi whined making Mac laugh.

"Ah, sorry," Mac laughed.

"You don't look it," Kiyoshi said but he smiled.

Mac just shrugged, "it's not my fault you didn't tell her, Teppei."

He shrugged, "well, Riko is scary when she's annoyed at you."

"I bet she is," Mac agreed.

They talked more about their teams and basketball like normal making Mac relax more and enjoy her time with Kiyoshi. It was nice having him back as a friend and she had forgotten how easy it was being with him.

...

Mac almost groaned as she realised that she had Martial Arts lessons after the late basketball practice at the end of the day. She felt like banging her head against the desk and hope to be knocked unconscious so she could sleep. She was so tired, but she couldn't. Sometimes she wondered why she thought magic lessons and Muggle School was such a good idea to combine. Sato had been really tough in his lessons earlier and Mac was still tired from them. Then she had met Sakurai for an early practice before school and had used the entire time practising his shooting and explaining and pushing his limits. He was already showing progress.

"Mac," a voice broke into her mind as she made her way out of school and she turned to see Hermione standing there looking nervous.

"Hermione," Mac said. "What are you doing here?"

"I…um, I wanted to see you," Hermione admitted. "I thought maybe we could hang out?"

Mac rubbed the back of her neck as she watched Hermione. It was clear that the other girl was nervous and unsure about being here, but she was and Mac supposed that meant something. She wasn't sure she was comfortable seeing the other girl so soon, but she had meant what she had said as they parted last. She could see Hermione as a friend, but…

"Oh," Mac winced at how it sounded and felt bad when she saw the rejected feeling on Hermione's face. "I'm just… I was on my way to my Martial Arts lesson."

Hermione looked up and blinked surprised, "Martial Arts?"

"Yes, I take some Martial Arts lessons to learn defence," Mac explained.

"I see," Hermione said. "I should have asked you before I just showed up…"

Mac hesitated for a moment before she spoke.

"You could come with me if you want?"

"Really?" Hermione looked so hopeful that Mac had to smile.

"Sure, but it might be boring for you to just watch," Mac warned.

"I'll come," Hermione said and Mac nodded.

They walked in silence for a little bit and Mac glanced at the other girl from time to time.

"Shouldn't you be at school?" Mac finally asked.

"I will go back later today," Hermione said, "we are allowed to leave the school if we have a reason too."

"I see," Mac said. "So, you're going back to the school tonight?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "I have to be back before nine."

"Ok," Mac said.

...

After the Martial Arts lesson, Mac was walking down the street with Hermione and Ueno having said goodbye to Yuki who had been pleased with the progress Mac had made.

"Still up for eating at our regular place?" Ueno asked.

Mac glanced at Hermione who looked curious.

"Sure," Mac smiled, "if Hermione also wants to?"

"Where are you usually eating?" Hermione asked.

"At this amazing ramen place," Ueno grinned excitedly. "It's really good!"

"Ueno-san loves ramen," Mac rolled her eyes but smiled slightly.

"I haven't really had ramen that much since coming to Japan," Hermione admitted.

"Then you have to try this place," Ueno said and grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her with her to the ramen place with a laughing Mac following behind them.

They ordered and Ueno was talking rapidly about the latest contest she had been in with both Mac and Hermione listening before she suddenly stopped and blinked as she stared at Mac.

"Right!" she exclaimed pointing a chopstick at Mac.

"What?" Mac asked arching a brow at her.

"I forgot!" Ueno's lilac eyes went wider, "who was that boy we met last time?"

Mac tilted her head and noticed that Hermione was looking at her as well.

"Boy?" Mac frowned.

"You know, the tall handsome one?" Ueno grinned, "brown hair, brown eyes? You said his name, but I can't remember…"

"Oh," Mac blinked. "That was Kiyoshi Teppei."

"Right," Ueno nodded. "So…spill it, Mac. It looked personal."

Mac looked from one girl to the other and saw that they both looked at her with expectation in their eyes. She sighed.

"He was my boyfriend," Mac admitted.

"Was?" Ueno asked.

"Mm," Mac nodded, "we used to go out before he broke up with me a few weeks ago."

Ueno frowned and got a worried look on her face.

"Oh…did I do wrong in letting you be alone with him? I thought…" she worried.

"No, it was fine," Mac smiled.

"How long did you go out?" Ueno asked.

"For almost a year, I think," Mac said trying to think back, "but we were friends a while before we started dating. We're still friends."

"You can actually manage to be friends with your ex?" Ueno asked. "I'm not sure I could do that…"

Mac shrugged.

"Teppei is a good guy," Mac smiled softly. "I missed him after we broke up. Our feelings might have changed, but I still want him as my friend."

"So mature;" Ueno sighed happily, "I wish I could be like that…"

Mac laughed and shook her head.

"I don't know about that," Mac said.

Just then her phone rang and Mac smiled apologetically at the other two as she pulled it out and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Mac-nee!" Shiro's voice sounded making Mac smile slightly.

"Hi Shiro," Mac said.

"Are you coming home today?" Shiro asked.

"I'm sorry, but not today," Mac answered feeling bad when she heard the sad sigh from the little boy. "Is something wrong, Shiro?"

"No, I just miss you," Shiro said. "I wanted to play football with you today."

"I miss you too," Mac said, "but what about I come and play football with you tomorrow?"

"Really?" Shiro asked.

"Really," Mac smiled.

"Ok! See you tomorrow, then!" Shiro said happily making Mac smile.

"Ok," Mac said and hung up.

"Who was that?" Ueno asked curiously.

"Shiro," Mac said putting her phone away again.

"Your little brother, right?" Hermione smiled.

Mac nodded, "yes!"

"Right, you told me about him," Ueno nodded. "I have a younger sister, but no brothers."

"I don't have any siblings," Hermione added. "I think it's great that you have three even if they're not your siblings by blood."

"Three?" Ueno looked at Hermione and then at Mac who blinked confused as she looked at Hermione.

"How do you know that I have three?" Mac asked, "I mean I understand you knowing about Shiro and Sayuri, but I don't think I've told you about Seijuro…"

Hermione smiled about something that Mac didn't understand and Ueno looked confused.

"Oh, I don't know who this Seijuro is," Hermione said, "but I thought that Aomine Daiki would be your brother as well since you see his younger siblings as your own."

Mac blinked at her before opening and then closing her mouth and then blinked again. She thought Daiki was like her brother? That was… something Mac couldn't really see.

"Daiki isn't my brother," Mac denied. "He's my best friend."

Hermione just smiled and seemed like she had a secret.

"Why?" Hermione pressed and Ueno looked interested as she too looked at Mac.

"He's my best friend," Mac repeated.

He was her best friend, Mac echoed in her mind, and not her brother. Calling him her brother sounded wrong and…she shuddered, just wrong.

"You said," Ueno smiled seemingly catching on to whatever Hermione was going on about. "But isn't this Akashi Seijuro the same? You said he was one of your best friends too, right?"

Mac could barely remember that she had mentioned Seijuro to Ueno once they had talked about their friends after one of the lessons, and she probably had said that Seijuro was one of her best friends.

"Yes…" Mac admitted.

"Then what's different between Aomine and Akashi?" Hermione asked.

Mac stared at her and she tried to find her voice to say what the difference was, only… nothing came out.

What was the difference?

Seijuro was her best friend and her brother. He was someone who would be there for her and he made her feel safe and cared for. He was hers in a way that was different from how Daiki was hers, but how?

Daiki was her best friend, that much was clear, yet… she couldn't even start to picture him as her brother. Just the idea had her reject it instantly. Like Seijuro he made her feel safe and cared for, but it was somehow different from how she felt about Seijuro. It was hard to say why, or how, it just was. He was the one she wanted to see when she was upset, he was the one she wanted to see when she had done well with her magic lessons. He was the one she first thought off when she had problems.

Oh.

He made her feel warm and safe, yes, but he also had her on edge and her stomach was in constant butterfly-mode making her feel tingly and nervous at the same time. Something, that didn't make sense because she had known him the longest and had been so secure on him and he had always been her rock. Yet, she felt like that and it had sneaked up on her making her unable to see it happening until now.

Oh.

Mac blinked. She was really stupid.

Ooooohhh.

But…no, that couldn't be right….could it?

Oh.

Wow.

She would never have thought… she shook her head. She couldn't. She couldn't feel like this! She just couldn't! It would ruin everything! Why? Why?

She couldn't like Daiki! Not like that! It was impossible! Only…it wasn't.

"He's my best friend," Mac repeated and even to her own ears she could hear that it sounded hollow. "He's my best friend. That's it. He's my best friend."

She couldn't allow anything else. She would lose him if she allowed this other feeling that she was only now starting to recognize to take over. She wasn't going to lose him! Not ever.

I'm not the one you can't leave, Mac.

Kiyoshi knew. He knew and that was the reason why he had broken up with her. He even told her without really saying it. He knew she would choose Daiki over anyone else, even her boyfriend at the time.

"He's my best friend," Mac whispered not looking up at them and fisting her hands feeling her nails dig into her palm.

She didn't see how Hermione and Ueno exchanged worried looks. She just got up and grabbed her bag.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," Mac said and without waiting for their reply left.

...

She somehow managed to get back home and back into her room where she closed the door and ignored Taiga who had been looking at her worriedly from the doorway of his own room. She sat down at the edge of her bed and leaned forward taking her head in her hands as she stared down at the floor.

Was it true? Could it really be true that she liked Daiki that way?

The way her heart beat faster and her stomach felt like they had butterflies flying around suggested that it was true.

Groaning she tugged slightly at her hair as she realised that everything just got way to complicated and that everything just turned out to be that much more difficult.

"Why?" she mumbled. "Why…why…why…"

She had no good reason for why only Daiki's smiling, happy face showing up in her mind as a response. Now that she had entertained the idea (however forced upon her it was) she couldn't get the idea out again. It was like everything suddenly made sense, the way she felt when seeing Daiki with Fujimoto. She was jealous. She could admit it now, even if she didn't want to.

What was she going to do? She couldn't tell him, he couldn't know. He didn't like her like that, she was sure about that. She was just his best friend, someone he had adopted when he was a kid and still felt protective over. There was no way he liked her like she liked him. She couldn't lose him because of this, but he would be able to tell that something had changed. He was sure to see it. Wasn't he?

Or would he be able to hide it from him? Could she just go on like she had and not acknowledge the way she felt? Could she do it?

"I can," Mac said out loud into her almost empty room only Nao was there to listen to her. "I can do it."

Nao barked.

"I won't lose Daiki because of this," Mac said. "I promised myself that I would be with him and support him. I will."

Even if it hurt her, even if she would have to watch him with someone else.

She could do it.

Maybe.

Probably.

...

...

AN: Thank you for reading :) Mac finally discovered her feelings for Daiki :)