Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Kuroko no Basket!
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...
1st year – Too Academy
Mac sighed contently as she curled up on the sofa and into Daiki's side; the heat from his body pressed against her side was warming her up and making her almost sleepy. They had moved to the living room after they had gotten something to eat because they both were hungry after the match and hadn't really thought to find something to eat before. And now they were just sitting together on the sofa.
It felt so, what was the right word, strange yet right. Mac had been curled up next to Daiki before, but now she was super aware of the way his arm felt around her shoulder, warm and strong. She felt tingly just from the feeling of his heat and strength against her side in a way she had not really felt before. Compared to before this was more exhilarating and nerve-wracking as she really didn't want to make a fool out of herself, but at the same time…she felt strangely at home and safe.
Daiki kept glancing down at her as she rested her head on his chest, his fingers tracing patterns on her upper arm. He smiled softly as he saw her eyes starting to drop and knew she would soon fall asleep if they stayed like this. He swallowed as he remembered how her lips had felt against his and the way she had clung to him and the softness of her had fit so perfectly against him.
"Mm," she hummed. "I should get up."
"Why?" he asked.
"Need," she yawned, "to go home."
His arm tightened around her and she opened her eyes as she somehow managed to tilt her head back and glance up at him, her sleepy green eyes blinking up at him wonderingly.
"Why?" he asked again.
"Daiki," she smiled slightly and reached up to trace his cheek before lowering her arm again. "I can't stay here."
"Yes, you can," he protested.
Mac inhaled as she tried to remember the reasons for why she couldn't. It was so easy to stay, she had her own room still and she wanted to stay with Daiki, but…she was unsure about how she would react to be alone with him at night and his parents and siblings were away. She didn't trust herself.
"I need to check on Taiga," Mac said and saw the frown on his face.
"He's a big boy," Daiki grumbled but the fight was leaving him and he didn't seem as bitter as before. "I'm sure he'll be fine."
"Still," Mac said, "they had a tough match and…"
"…and you need to see that he's fine," Daiki sighed. "I get it."
Mac nodded and with some effort managed to push away from Daiki and get back on her feet. She stretched and yawned before noticing Daiki staring at her and she stopped moving. She blushed as she stared back at him and suddenly he was up and right there…and then he was kissing her again.
She lost herself in his kiss, his mouth on hers and his arms around her holding her close. It could be hours later, but in reality, it probably only was moments before he pulled away and smiled her smile down at her.
"I'll walk you back," he said.
Mac could only nod as her words seemed to have left her. She tried to tell her mind that it was Daiki and he was not someone she should feel nervous around. She had known him forever! Honestly.
...
They chatted lightly as they walked to the nearest bus stop and waited for the bus. The bus ride in itself was quiet, Mac didn't feel the need to fill it with chatter and it didn't seem like Daiki did either. He just held her hand and alternated between looking out of the window and at her and their joint hands.
"Shiro really misses you," Daiki suddenly said.
They had reached the park near her apartment building when Daiki broke the silence between them. Mac glanced at him before looking over at the court. It was empty now, it was rather late and it had started to get dark outside so she wasn't that surprised.
"I miss him too," Mac said.
Daiki nodded, "I'm sorry."
Mac blinked and looked at him. He was frowning and looked down at the ground like he couldn't face her, she felt the way his hand tightened around hers. He looked like he used to do when he felt he had done something wrong or thought she was mad at him.
"What are you sorry about?" Mac asked despite having an idea.
"If I hadn't…" Daiki scowled and looked away from her, "you stayed away because of me."
Mac glanced at him again before looking straight ahead lightly biting down on her lower lip. She wasn't sure what to say, she wanted to deny it. She wanted to say he was wrong, but…
"That's not entirely your fault, Daiki," she finally settled with. "I made the choice of staying away."
"But…"
"I know," Mac looked at him now and squeezed his hand. "We both should have acted differently, but we can't change it now. I don't blame you, Daiki."
They had now stopped outside of the apartment building and Mac turned toward Daiki who still looked unhappy. She leaned up and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before pulling away, her cheeks lightly flushed.
"We still have things we need to talk about," Mac said, "and we will, but right now I just want to focus on us and not try to figure everything out at once. We will take it in steps as we get used to the…change in our relationship and what that means."
Mac really believed that. She knew they had to talk about everything, but right now she just wanted to enjoy the feeling of his hand in hers and the realisation that he liked her the way she liked him. Everything else would come later. It was no need to rush it. Besides, she was getting rather tired and knew nothing would be solved tonight anyway.
"Okay," Mac finally pulled herself away and smiled softly at him feeling almost giddy. "I have to go up."
He nodded, "alright. See you tomorrow, Kenzie."
...
As Mac stepped into the apartment she wondered if it really was earlier that same day that they had played Seirin. It felt so long ago. So much had happened and she felt a stab of guilt for feeling happy when she knew her cousin was unhappy. She was hit with the silence of the apartment and normally she wouldn't worry about that, but now she did. Was Taiga home or was he out somewhere?
Worry churned in her stomach now as she walked through the apartment. The living room and kitchen were empty, and the door to the bathroom was open so he wasn't there either. That left his room. She walked toward the room that belonged to him and saw that the door was closed.
So he was most likely back. She raised her hand as if to knock, but hesitated. Should she knock and ask how he was? She wasn't sure that was the best idea. Thinking that she would have preferred being on her own she turned and walked to her room, but she let her door opened so he would see that she was home and there if he needed her.
She let Nao out of her bag and he jumped up on her bed before circling himself a couple of times before settling down resting his head on his paws.
"You look tired, Nao," Mac commented softly as she reached over and scratched his head. "I'm sorry for keeping you in the bag for so long. I promise we will go and find a spot where you can run freely soon, ok?"
Nao barked softly and Mac smiled at him. He was such an adorable fox.
She went to find her pyjamas deciding that she wanted to change and get ready for bed even if it was too early to go to sleep yet. Mac sighed and smiled a little as she touched her lips with her fingertips and remembered how Daiki had kissed her; how he had held her and looked at her like she was special.
She sighed again as she remembered the way Taiga and Tetsuya had looked at the end of the game. She was impressed by the fact that they had kept playing and not given up. She had seen the team almost crumble but the two of them had pulled them through and she knew they would get back to their feet. Probably be even stronger than they were now, Mac thought. Yet, she felt guilty and worried about the other team, despite knowing that she shouldn't mix her personal feelings with the sport. Shirogane and Sanada had told her that plenty of times. She just wished that it was as easily done in real life as in theory.
Professionally Mac knew that she had to respect the space that Taiga needed to get over the loss and work through it. She knew that she wouldn't be able to help. She knew that, but it didn't mean that it was easy to just stay back and not do anything.
She sighed as the elation from earlier went down and she pulled a hand through her hair wincing slightly as she felt the tangled mess that was her hair.
...
"You're back."
Mac looked up from her Charm's book (she had forgotten that she had to read a passage before the lesson the next day) and saw Taiga standing in the doorway. He had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt.
"Um, yeah;" Mac said closing her book.
Mac swallowed as she looked at him and tried to get an idea of how he was handling the loss. His face was mostly blank, but she caught the pain in his eyes as he looked at her before looking away. She grimaced slightly as she got up.
"Are you hungry?" Mac asked feeling stupid. She wanted to ask how he was, but she couldn't form the words.
"No," Taiga said but just then his stomach grumbled and Mac arched a brow.
"I'll make you something to eat," Mac said. "It's important."
Taiga sighed but he followed her out to the kitchen and sat down staring blankly at the table while Mac worked to get some food ready for him. She glanced at him from time to time but didn't say anything.
"Here," Mac finally said and put the food in front of him.
He blinked before he reached for the chopsticks and started to eat. Mac sat down quietly and ate her food, partly just so she could stay there without it seeming as she was keeping an eye on him. Even if that was actually what she was doing.
"You don't have to worry about me," Taiga said without looking up.
Mac startled slightly and blushed. She hadn't meant for him to figure it out. He looked up and smiled slightly. It was the first smile she'd seen from him since the match.
"You're not that difficult to see through, Mac," he told her and she chuckled and smiled sheepishly at him.
"Sorry," she said. "I just…didn't want to overstep and do something that made it worse."
Taiga nodded.
"It hurts," he admitted quietly. "But we'll get stronger. I'll get stronger and next time we'll beat you."
Mac felt a stab of affection for her cousin and smiled.
"I look forward to it," was all she said and honestly? It was all she needed to say.
Taiga would be fine. Relief filled her.
...
Sato's house
"Miss Potter," Mac looked up and saw her professor looking at her from his desk. She had been reading the next chapter for the Charms.
"Yes, professor?"
"You remember that you read about the Dementor attacks a while ago?" he asked her.
Mac shuddered lightly as she nodded.
"Yeah," she vocalised her answer.
"I was thinking that you may be ready to learn the Patronus Charm," Sato told her.
Mac blinked at him. She remembered reading about the charm and wanted to learn it, but he had told her she wasn't ready yet. He thought she was ready?
"Really?" she asked feeling excited.
"Yes," he nodded. "You have shown a lot of progress over the last months, and I think you are ready now."
Mac grinned and he allowed himself a smile as he looked at her.
"Thank you, sir," Mac told him.
"I want you to read the chapter on Dementors and then the chapter on the Patronus Charm once more," he told her.
Mac opened her book on the right page and started to read right away. She couldn't believe that she was actually being taught that charm. She wanted to learn it, because despite never having faced a Dementor before she felt an underlying fear of them ever since reading the article about the couple being kissed.
...
"Right now I want you to just think and get your happiest memory," Professor Sato told her seriously.
Her happiest memory? Mac frowned as she leaned forward over her desk and stared at the opened notebook and her notes scrawled over the pages. What was her happiest memory?
"I'm Aomine Daiki," he suddenly said and sounded different from before, happy.
Mac snapped her eyes to him and found him smiling widely at her and holding out the sketchpad to her, she took it and pressed it against her chest.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"No problem;" he grinned, "what's your name?"
Mac looked back at him startled that he was still talking to her, normally everyone walked away when she was close. She hesitated, should she tell him? What if he walked away, like all the others? What if he didn't want to talk to her? But…he had stood up against Dudley.
"Mackenzie Lillian Potter," Mac finally said, "but everyone just calls me Mac."
"That's a strange name," Daiki said amused.
Mac glared at him, "it's English, so my last name comes last!"
"Oh," Daiki blinked, "well, I'll call you Kenzie."
Mac blinked, "why?"
"Just because" Daiki grinned. "I like it."
That had to be one of her happiest memories. It might seem simple, but it was then at that moment her life changed for the better. Everything that had happened after that was because he had entered her life when they were only eight years old.
Finally she looked up and found Professor Sato watching her closely.
"Got it?" he asked.
"Yes," Mac nodded.
He nodded and told her to get up. She did and walked to the centre of the room where she normally did her practical work. She inhaled as she got into the right stance.
"Remember to be clear in your pronunciation," Sato reminded her.
"Ok," Mac nodded.
She inhaled and focused.
"Expecto Patronum," she said clearly.
Nothing happened.
She thought harder on the memory she had chosen and held harder on her wand.
"Expecto Patronum," she repeated.
Again…nothing.
And so it went. She focused, she cast the charm, but nothing happened.
It was clear that it was harder than she had thought. She finally stopped feeling frustrated and disappointed. Why couldn't she manage to perform it even without a Dementor?
"Okay," Professor Sato said.
"I couldn't do it," Mac muttered.
"It's a difficult charm, Miss Potter," he said. "I would have been very surprised if you had made it already."
"But…"
"It will take work and focus," Professor Sato told her kindly. "You will get it."
Mac tried to feel reassured by that, "can I try one more time?"
He looked at her for a moment before he nodded.
She inhaled deeply and closed her eyes for a moment as she remembered her friends, Daiki, Seijuro, Tetsuya, Shintaro, Atsushi, Ryota, Taiga… all of them. The time they spent together, playing basketball and just hanging out together.
She opened her eyes again and called clearly: "Expecto Patronum!"
A silvery substance flowed out of her wand and a silvery mist appeared in front of her before it quickly vanished into thin air.
Mac blinked and looked to her professor who had a surprised look on his face before it turned pensive and rather…proud? Mac wasn't sure she read the last part right so she pushed it away.
"Well done, Miss Potter," he told her. "I hadn't expected you to be able to do that yet."
Mac smiled shyly at the praise from her professor.
...
"This proves," Professor Sato looked at her, "that you are ready to take your OWLs."
Mac blinked and swallowed.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes," he nodded. "but that means that you have a lot of hard work to do and it will be really difficult especially with the extra work you do with your regular school as well."
Mac nodded, "I understand."
He nodded, "well, that's it for today. We will start your preparations for your OWLs exams next time."
...
Too Academy
Mac couldn't really believe that it was just the day before that they had played against Seirin and Daiki had kissed her… she smiled slightly and blinked as she realised that she had sketched Daiki on an empty page in her research notebook. She blushed slightly and stared at the sketch of a smiling Daiki. She turned the page to the research she had on Meisei who were their first opponents for the day before Senshinkan High waited just two hours after their match against Meisei High.
Mac was currently seated outside the arena looking over the research waiting for her team to arrive. She had decided to enjoy the sun that was currently breaking out from behind the cloudy sky as she waited and to take a look at her notes once more even though she was confident that they had the teams covered.
Mac knew that even though they had won against Seirin they still needed to win against Meisei and Senshinkan at least one of them but Mac wanted to win against both. She just hoped that they would offer enough of a match that Daiki also would enjoy it.
Daiki…her mind was back on him and she wasn't sure just how to keep her thought from circling back to him. Not that she really minded…Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist and she was hugged from behind. The familiar sent of Daiki, a faint minty and leathered scent that reminded her of basketballs, hit her. She smiled as she leaned against him.
"How did you know it was me?" Daiki breathed into her ear. "Or do you just lean into everyone who hugs you from behind…"
Mac snorted.
"The last one of course," she said teasingly before yelping when he poked her side and she pulled out of his grip and stood up.
"Why you…" he growled at her but she saw the humour in his blue eyes. He grabbed for her, but she slipped away and darted out of his reach once more. She felt the laughter build inside of her as she ran around the courtyard escaping Daiki.
She laughed as he managed to grab her near the wall to the arena and trapped her between him and the wall. She gasped for breath as she stared up at him, her breath coming out faster given the chase and she was sure her cheeks were flushed by the laughter.
He stared at her. His blue eyes seemingly even bluer, deeper than before and a smile still playing on his lips as he gazed down at her. His strong arms still holding her in place making her super aware of the strength in them.
"I…"
"Well, well, well," a voice drawled interrupting them.
Daiki didn't pull away completely but he turned slightly and Mac could now see Imayoshi and the rest of the regulars standing to the side. They had obviously arrived without either Mac or Daiki hearing them.
Mac just knew she was blushing and wished that the earth would just swallow her up to get away from that teasing look, but she knew that it was impossible. She pushed at Daiki who reluctantly let go of her completely and stepped back a step. He glowered at the team like they had interrupted him in something very important.
"How…interesting," Imayoshi smirked as his usually closed eyes were looking at them both.
Mac looked away from him and noticed the rest of the team. Susa was smiling slightly but otherwise didn't show any reaction to the scene they had walked in on. Just what had it seemed like to them? Mac wondered briefly. Sakurai and Namamura were both gaping and blinking at them like they couldn't comprehend what they had seen, and Sakurai was blushing.
Wakamatsu was scowling and had his arms folded over his chest as his eyes were trained on Daiki. Abe, Inui and Yamaguchi were just looking amused and were smirking but not as wickedly as Imayoshi. Nakano was the only one who didn't seem all that bothered either way as he stood in the background.
Mac collected herself and arched a brow at them like she wasn't concerned about their reaction at all, but she couldn't deny the nervous fluttering in her stomach as she felt their eyes on her.
"What are you looking at?" Daiki scowled at them crossing his arms.
"You tell us…" Imayoshi threw back with a wide smirk. "It looked like you were in the middle of something. Don't let us stop you."
Luckily Mac had gotten used to his teasing and knew he wasn't really mean about it, but it didn't mean she appreciated the teasing right now because she didn't know how to answer. Did Daiki want to reveal their relationship? Was he…was he her boyfriend now? He was, right?
The sudden surge of unanswered questions hit her. It was part of what they hadn't talked about yet, and she suddenly wished they had talked about it. What if he…
"She's my girlfriend now," Daiki's voice interrupted her panicked thoughts making her head snap to the side to stare at him glaring at Imayoshi.
Mac bit down on her lip to stop the smile from spreading. She felt stupid for questioning Daiki, she should have known he wouldn't want to keep it a secret or not see her as his girlfriend. The word caused a thrill to go through her.
"Shoichi," Susa interrupted mildly, "let's just get back to the locker room. Stop torturing them."
"How boring," Imayoshi sighed.
Mac threw Susa a grateful smile which he returned with a small nod.
...
Mac walked beside Daiki a little behind the rest of the team to the locker room they had been assigned to for the match. She glanced at Daiki and saw him looking at her as well.
"Do you mind?" he asked suddenly looking worried.
Mac knew what he was asking.
"No, not at all," she said smiling slightly trying to stop the blush she felt spreading in her cheeks.
"Good," he said. "I know…we didn't talk about it yesterday… but, um, do you want to be my girlfriend, Kenzie?"
Mac pressed her lips together to stop the wide grin from spreading. Her stomach made a summersault as she felt happiness fill her.
"Yes," she managed to say. "I'd like that."
Daiki grinned quickly and she felt a spark of happiness seeing his smile that was almost like the smile from before.
...
Mac had the ball and she smirked as she looked at the boy in front of her. She watched him closely. He was the best player on Meisei High basketball team; there was no doubt of that. He was strong and fast, but Mac knew she was faster.
She dribbled the ball to the side and he followed and she let the ball linger within his reach. He fell for it and reached for the ball, shifting his feet and just as he was about to take the ball she made a quick movement with her wrist managing to change the direction of the ball as it hit the parquet of the court and she twisted as she caught the ball with her other hand and was free from his reach and a free path to the hoop.
She barely blinked when another Meisei player appeared in front of her and observed how his body was positioned noticing how he had his weight on his right leg before she passed him on his left making him stumble slightly and fall back.
Mac shot the ball through the air and watched as it flew through the hoop giving them another three-pointer.
23-2 : 12 minutes played – 2nd quarter
Mac smiled as she saw it go through and felt a hand on her shoulder and looked to the side to see Susa smiling at her.
"Well done," he told her.
She grinned.
The Meisei players were looking at her warily and were drying sweat off their foreheads as they did so. Mac pretended not to notice this.
...
Mac had the ball again. She passed it to Imayoshi who passed the ball back to her as soon as she was free of her two marks and she caught the ball before quickly firing off the shot and watched as another three-pointed went in.
29-2 : 14 minutes played – 2nd quarter
Daiki had the ball and singlehandedly passed the entire team like they were cones standing on the court. He rounded one two times just because he felt like it before he dunked the ball firmly through the hoop.
He yawned and Mac swallowed and looked away. She felt the familiar sadness fill her as she saw the boredom and resignation on Daiki's face once more. She had hoped…
She pushed it away. She couldn't focus on this right now. She would focus on the match.
...
Mac watched as the Captain from Meisei dribbled the ball looking for an opening in what Mac knew was a very organised Too team. She switched positions with Sakurai so she was now in front of Meisei's captain.
He narrowed his eyes at her, but she just tilted her head as she stared at him. He shifted to the side but she followed and with a quick tap on the ball she had it away from him and under control as she had a free path toward the other hoop given that the team had been in the middle of attacking them.
She paused just over the half-line point and took the shot knowing that the ball would go through the hoop just like Shintaro had taught her back in Teiko.
103-14 : 20 minutes played – 2nd quarter (end)
...
Mac caught the pass from Imayoshi and was faced with the same Meisei player that had been on her the whole game and she saw one of his teammates come and help him.
She tilted her head as she dribbled the ball close to her body watching them in place. They were panting harder than normal and had a wary look on their faces as they looked at her. With a soft sigh, she faked going to her right and they both followed the movement freeing their left side and she was past them before they realised what she was doing.
She played wall with Susa as she got past another Meisei player and got the ball back in the ideal position to score…she raised her arms to take the shot and…
Wham!
She was knocked into so hard that she was harshly pushed to the floor and she felt her right shoulder twist slightly as she hit the parquet court.
Her breath caught at the sudden impact with the floor before pain pulsed through her and she could distantly make out the sounds of the referee's sharp whistle and feet running toward her.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Daiki's voice growled as he pushed the offending player away before kneeling down beside Mac. "Kenzie."
His voice sounded so anxious that Mac had to force her eyes open and blinked at him as she tried to catalogue her body to see where it hurt. She immediately felt her shoulder throb painfully, but it wasn't too bad.
She sat up grimacing slightly as she did.
"I'm fine," she said.
Daiki still looked worried as she got to her feet and smiled as Imayoshi handed her the ball with a searching look.
"Are you sure you're fine, Mac?" he asked seriously.
Mac nodded at the same time as she ignored the faint throbbing pain in her shoulder.
"It was more the shock of the impact that affected me," she said.
It was true, Mac thought to herself. She hadn't expected to be knocked into from behind and the sudden impact with the floor had knocked the breath out of her taking her by surprise.
"Ok," he nodded, "then, feel up to take the free throws?"
Mac nodded. "Of course."
She took her place at the free throw line and ignored the sour looks from the surrounding Meisei players in between her own team.
The whistle sounded and she inhaled before taking the shot.
It went in.
She was handed the ball again and once more shot and watched as it went through the hoop.
168-23 : 29 minutes played – 3rd quarter
...
The rest of the match was very much the same and Mac was saddened but not surprised to notice that Meisei was giving up and not really trying at the end. It was not like Mac hadn't seen it before.
She felt her shoulder protest slightly as she made another shot.
Daiki frowned at her but she smiled at him before running back to their side of the court as Meisei came with half-hearted attempt to get another point.
210-28 : 40 minutes played – 4th quarter (end)
...
The celebration for their win was brief but genuine much to Mac's pleasure. It was always heartening to see the genuine happiness after a victory; she hadn't seen that much at the end at Teiko.
"Good game, Mac!" Sakurai smiled at her shyly. "I never knew you could play like that."
"Me neither," Namamura grinned at her.
Mac shrugged before grimacing lightly feeling the pain throb in her shoulder at the movement. Had her shoulder gotten hurt worse than she thought?
They had the last game in the Final League the same day just a couple of hours before and Mac used the time to ice her shoulder and hoped that it would help with the stiffness she felt settle in it. She assured both Daiki and Harasawa that she was fine but that it was just a precaution. She wished she had her salve that she had given to Taiga with her, but she would use it when she got home.
The match against Senshinkan High was another one they won with huge margin despite them being one of the three kings of Tokyo and Mac was pleased with how she saw her team work and play on their strengths. She took a more background place in this one because she didn't want to push her shoulder too much, but still had a good amount of points.
Her combination play with Daiki was great and stunned the audience when they saw how the two could find each other without even having to look.
The final score ended up being 199-44.
Mac couldn't help but smile and laugh as she celebrated with the others. They had done it. They were in Inter-High!
...
Daiki was on the court near his house. It was the same court where he had first met Mac and gotten his best friend. He had never been more grateful for a friend than for Mac, and now she was his girlfriend. A thought that still had him smiling and feeling happier and lighter than he had in what felt like years.
But. There was always a 'but'. He knew that there was at least one person who might not be happy about this and that would be able to get Mac to, well, maybe not change her mind but at least make her unhappy. Daiki wanted to avoid that.
And that meant…he had a call to make and he had to do it now before too much time passed. He had to call the one who cared for Mac almost as much as he did and was equally protective of her. It was a scary thought. He pictured Mac's face and inhaled as he pictured her smile and hit the dial button before he lifted the phone to his ear and waited for the other boy to pick up the phone.
"Daiki," the cool voice greeted him after two rings. "What do I owe the pleasure of having you calling me?"
Daiki swallowed and opened his mouth to speak.
...
...
AN: As always, thank you for reading! I know the last two games seemed rushed, but they had me at a stump so I decided to just do it like this. I'm sorry.
!YOU CAN HELP DECIDE MAC'S PATRONUS!
As you see Mac is in the process of learning to cast a Patronus and you can help decide what her Patronus will be. I'm down to a couple of options.
a) Kitsune - Nao's form as her protector
b) Panther - Symbolic to her bond to Daiki and he's often compared to a panther in the anime.
Next chapter familiar characters will return :D
To everyone who has left a review; thank you so much! I really appreciate every review I get. It helps with my motivation for the story and will help me finish it (eventually). :) So, thank you and please keep them coming ;)