Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter of Kuroko no Basket!
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1st year - Too Academy
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Tarou watched as Mac left for school. She had seemed completely normal and fine, but he could still see the traces of shadows in her eyes and he knew she hadn't been sleeping very well. It worried him.
He remembered Taiga calling him and telling him that Mac had been locked in a supply closet and that she'd had a panic attack at school. His heart felt like it dropped several feet before it landed in a lurch. He had hated that he had been so far away when his niece needed him when his son needed him. He had heard the anger and fear in Taiga's voice, it had affected him badly as well seeing Mac like that.
He didn't care that he hadn't known Mac for more than a couple of years. It felt like he had always known her, she had become such a natural and great part of their lives. Taiga had opened up much more and seemed to enjoy living in Japan more than ever. The sulky boy who had moved here was gone and it was only after Mac had moved in with them that he had started to smile again and become the boy he knew once more.
He only wished that his Sophia had the chance to meet her. Sophia would have loved Mac and would have known how to help her now. Tarou sighed as he took another sip of his coffee. He still wasn't happy with how the school had handled it. While he would admit that the kid, Fujimoto –wasn't it?- was still a child he didn't think that it excused her actions. She should not be allowed to think that locking someone in a supply closet was okay or acceptable. Only being suspended from school for a week was not really punishment in his mind.
But what annoyed him the most was the teacher. He had gotten Mac to tell him about Fujimoto and she had, reluctantly, told him that she had been coming with snide comments, mocked her because she was an orphan, and often seeking a confrontation with her even if Mac did her best to avoid the other girl. And the teacher saw it fit to place them on the same group forcing Mac to have to work with the other girl. The teacher should have followed up on it if he wanted them to work through their issues as he said. If that was what he wanted then he should have been more involved and make sure that they actually worked through the issue and not just given her the room to get to Mac even easier.
The doorbell rang and Tarou looked up before he got to his feet and moved to the door and smiled slightly when he saw Ayano and Takehiro standing outside.
"Hey, Tarou-san," Ayano smiled. "I hope we're not interrupting anything?"
"Not at all," Tarou smiled back and opened the door more. "Why don't you come in?"
They followed him in and he made them some coffee and filled up his own almost empty cup before he sat down again.
"I thought we might talk," Ayano said.
"About Mac, I take it?" Tarou arched a brow.
"Yes," Takehiro nodded.
Tarou nodded and watched the two in front of him. He knew they cared about Mac just as much as he did, he did feel a little jealous knowing that Mac probably felt more comfortable around them than she did with him. But he knew it was because she had known them longer and they had helped her when she really needed it. He also knew that Mac liked him and trusted him as much as she could.
"First I want to thank you again," Tarou said. "For your help."
"It was no trouble," Ayano said kindly. "We love Mac and will always help her when we can. And Taiga is a good kid as well. I was glad he accepted to stay over as well."
Tarou smiled at them.
"I hear Fujimoto got a week detention," Takehiro said.
"Yeah," Tarou snorted. "And only because Akashi threatened to sue the school. Pathetic. I am tempted to remove Mac from the school, but she really wants to stay."
Ayano frowned and nodded, "that's not good enough. The school needs to take responsibility."
"I'm going to talk to them about their teacher," Tarou said. "I don't trust that he can control that class. I don't think anyone who places together two students you know doesn't get along and have a history of bullying and leave them alone are fit to have the responsibility of a class."
"I agree with that," Takehiro nodded.
"Good," Tarou said. "I'm actually preparing an email now and will send it to the school. I'll wait a day or two before I contact them and see what they have to say."
The other two nodded and Tarou took another sip of the coffee.
"How's Daiki doing?" he asked. "Mac was worried about him, I think."
"Daiki feels really guilty," Ayano sighed. "He feels he should have seen what kind of girl Fujimoto was."
"It's not his fault," Tarou said. "He couldn't have known that."
"We've told him that, but he is extra protective of Mac and he won't allow anyone to say it's not his fault," Takehiro sighed.
"Hopefully Mac will be able to get through to him," Tarou said. "I'll also tell him that it's not his fault. He shouldn't go around carrying the weight of this on his shoulders."
"Thank you," Ayano smiled gratefully.
...
Tarou noticed Ayano getting more serious and looked at her curiously.
"I was wondering if you have considered maybe finding some help for Mac?" Ayano finally asked.
"Help?" Tarou frowned.
"I mean, she could need someone to talk to," Ayano clasped her hands together. "I think that we all forget that she did suffer from abuse when she was younger. She appears to be fine most of the time, but…she still suffers from it. I don't want to see her going through more panic attacks because she doesn't get the help she needs."
Tarou leaned back feeling…he wasn't sure what he was feeling. Something inside of him protested the idea. Mac was fine. She was smiling just this morning and she got good grades and even managed to take her OWLs. Then a small voice reminded him that Mac still looked like she expected him to turn her away when she (rarely) turned to him for something. The look of surprise when he agreed and listened to her always tore on his heart.
"You mean like a therapist?" Tarou asked even knowing the answer.
"I think she would benefit from it," Ayano nodded and glanced at her husband. "We talked about it, and I know that we're not her guardians. You are and I know you care about her. But so do we, and I just…we want to see her get the help she needs."
Tarou was thinking. He had never seen going to a therapist as a bad thing, he had seen a grief therapist when his wife died and so had Taiga. But the idea of seeking one out now was…overwhelming.
"You may have a point," he admitted. "I just…don't know how to go about it."
"Maybe talk to her professor?" Takehiro suggested. "I do think she would need someone who knows about magic."
Tarou nodded.
"I will talk with Professor Sato," Tarou said. "Maybe he has some ideas."
"Good," Ayano said relieved.
Tarou nodded thoughtfully as he wondered how on earth he was going to tell Mac about this.
...
Mac reached the arena just in time for the practice and smiled when she saw Susa and Imayoshi. They waved at her smiling.
"You made it," Imayoshi smirked. "I was starting to think that you were going to miss it."
"No way," Mac said. "I just got delayed."
"Your class again?" Susa asked.
Mac rolled her eyes, "suddenly they think that they should talk to me whenever I'm in the room. It gets tiring."
"Poor Mac," Imayoshi smirked. "You're popular."
Mac glared at him but there wasn't any heat in it. She knew he was concerned in his own way.
"They're only doing it because they feel guilty," she said. "I'm not interested in their guilt-friendships."
Susa looked concerned at her and patted her shoulder.
"You tell us if it gets too much," he said. "We'll come and rescue you."
Mac snorted and nodded.
"I'm sure Aomine will love that," Imayoshi laughed.
Mac laughed and rolled her eyes. "Well, should we go and find our seats?"
"Lead the way," Imayoshi said.
They were there to watch Seirin's preliminary match for the Winter Cup. Mac had wanted to watch them and see how they had grown. She was curious to see how Taiga was doing and Tetsuya as well, but she was also very curious and eager to watch Kiyoshi play basketball again in an official match for the first time since his injury.
She sat down and Susa sat down beside her with Imayoshi on his other side.
"Oh! There you are!" Sakurai said coming up.
"I thought you couldn't come," Mac looked at him as he took the free seat next to her.
"Sorry!" Sakurai said. "I thought I couldn't, but my plans changed and mum agreed to let me come."
Mac ignored the apology and nodded.
She looked down at the court and smiled when she saw Kiyoshi standing there smiling like he had just won the game (even though the game hadn't started yet). Hyuga was shooting him annoyed looks making Mac hide a smile as she was sure Kiyoshi was pushing the other boy's buttons on purpose. Kiyoshi loved to rile Hyuga up.
...
Mac snorted when she heard the loud yell from one of the Josei players about Riko not being sexy knowing that Riko would get pissed off then. She was right because it seemed like flames erupted from Riko as she gave an order (Mac couldn't hear what was said but she could guess) and the way her team seemed almost frightened.
"Good for you, Riko," Mac chuckled.
"She has them in line," Imayoshi commented.
"Of course," Mac said. "Riko is a good coach."
The game was rough for Seirin who seemed to struggle a little. Especially Taiga who was being double teamed and she could practically see the anger and frustration roll off him in waves as he stalked away. She could understand the frustration, but he would not win if he didn't calm down.
"Oh boy," Mac sighed. "He really needs to watch his emotions during games…"
"He does look angry," Sakurai nodded. "Oh, sorry!"
Mac glanced at him and shook her head, "don't apologize. Taiga gets angry too easily. Just like someone else I know…" the last past was muttered under her breath as her mind went to Daiki.
She saw Kiyoshi walk over to Taiga and put a hand on his head and patted him lightly or maybe not so lightly because Taiga pushed Kiyoshi away and glared up at Kiyoshi. The way Kiyoshi smiled at her cousin told her that Kiyoshi was trying to calm him down (but only managing to confuse Taiga).
Her sharp green eyes watched as Kiyoshi talked with Taiga and the others and she saw when his smile turned more serious and she knew he was getting into the match now. The others also seemed to calm down slightly and seemed more confident now as well. Kiyoshi really was a great team player, Mac smiled to herself.
...
"His play is impossible to predict," Imayoshi said making Mac glance over at him.
"Who's?" she asked.
"Your ex," Imayoshi smirked making Mac roll her eyes.
Mac looked back at the court where Kiyoshi had the ball and jumped up.
"A hook shoot?" Sakurai asked from beside her but the Josei player followed him and Mac noticed even from where she was sitting the way Kiyoshi glanced to the side.
"No, just look," she said just as Kiyoshi turned his hand (still in the air) and passed the ball to Hyuga who was coming up free from his guards. She smiled when Hyuga scored.
The match continued and Seirin was coming more and more into the match, but that didn't surprise Mac. She knew that Seirin was slow starters; you never could dismiss them because they never gave up.
"Wasn't that exceptionally slow?" Sakurai asked surprised when Kiyoshi seemed to hover in the air as the same Josei player as earlier seemed to worry about what Kiyoshi would do this time. Finally, Kiyoshi shot the ball with perfect timing.
"Kiyoshi is an unusual centre," Imayoshi spoke up before Mac could say anything, "with the passing sense of a point guard. The defence has to predict what's coming."
They paused slightly to watch Kiyoshi with the ball once more.
"Playing against him is like playing the game of rock-paper-scissors," Imayoshi continued. "But holding the ball with those huge hands, Kiyoshi can change his choice when a normal person would have released the ball."
"What does that mean?" Sakurai asked.
"It means he can change his decision after observing his opponent," Mac answered absentmindedly. "You really shouldn't try to predict what he is going to do because he'll change it when he sees you react."
"Then with force…" Sakurai asked just as the Josei player tried that but was stopped when Kiyoshi jumped and slammed the ball away before he could make the shot.
"Many think that," Mac smiled as she saw the smile on Kiyoshi's face. "But that would be underestimating him. He was both the centre and the ace because he couldn't decide what he wanted to do and it was decided he would do both. If not for Murasakibara then Teppei would have been the best centre during Middle School."
...
Mac blinked. She blinked again and ignored Imayoshi's laugh and Susa's worried gasp as she stared at her cousin who was now lying flat on the floor after head-butting the basketball hoop.
"Seriously?" she sighed.
"That was…unexpected," Susa said. "Hope his okay."
"He's got a hard head," Mac snorted. "But seriously? He hasn't worked out how to measure the distance yet?"
She shook her head as she watched Tetsuya grab one of Taiga's leg and drag him off the court, the first quarter was done. She laughed seeing the deadpanned expression on Tetsuya's face.
...
"They must really trust their centre," Sakurai commented when the match neared its end and Seirin was leading and looked to be winning the game.
Mac glanced at Sakurai and arched a brow.
"They're stable and the rhythm is steady," Sakurai explained. "I just thought that it must be because they trust their centre."
"Well, of course, they do," Mac said. "Teppei is very dependable and he's making this team much stronger. If he had been playing when we played them I doubt we would have won by as much as we did."
"You really do believe in him," Imayoshi said.
Mac smiled and nodded. "Why shouldn't I? He's still my friend."
Imayoshi opened his mouth to say something but Susa placed his hand over his mouth making the words muffled.
...
Mac looked at her cousin and sighed. He was way too aggressive and his face was almost burning red and she could practically see the steam coming off him. He was way too eager and let his annoyance of not making any of his shots affect how he played – resulting in not making any of his shots (it was a vicious circle).
She huffed a laugh when Tetsuya (probably tired of watching Taiga steam) snapped his black wristband to Taiga's face. Taiga immediately turned to Tetsuya who looked as calm as ever as he looked back up at the taller ace.
Mac could only imagine what Tetsuya was saying. She couldn't help but remember all the times Tetsuya had done that to Daiki, how often he had been the one to calm Daiki down? She saw Taiga look up and met her eyes. She saw the surprise in his eyes as she hadn't told him that she was coming to watch his match. She smiled at him and he blinked.
The rest of the match was really just Seirin controlling in the victory and she saw Taiga calming down somewhat and while he still jumped too high he didn't hit the hoop with his forehead again. That was something she never thought she'd see.
"Well, they won," Imayoshi said.
"Mm," Mac nodded as she watched the smiling faces down at the court. She thought hard as she watched them celebrate their win. She saw that they had grown a lot since they played each other but she would still say that her team was the strongest one. Though, if they could get Taiga to be calmer and actually focus on the match and manage to contain his excitement they would be an even larger threat.
She got up and walked out of the stands with Imayoshi and the others at her side while her mind went over everything she had seen. She knew she would be making more notes when she got back home and that her profile of Seirin had to be updated.
"Oh, sorry," Mac said when she bumped into someone.
"No worries!" A woman's voice said and Mac looked up to meet teal-green eyes belonging to a woman with long blond hair that reached her lower back. She had classic pink glasses that fit her face in a way that Mac couldn't help but admire. She was dressed casually, jeans and a white t-shirt and a loose black jacket that wasn't zipped up. "Ah, you're rather pretty."
Mac blushed and looked away but startled when the woman suddenly leaned forward and kissed her.
"Wh-wha-what?!" Mac spluttered as she pushed the woman off and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand staring at the woman with wide green eyes.
"Oi," Susa stepped in and put himself between Mac and the woman he even pushed her farther away and out of reach of Mac. "I think you should leave."
"Oh, I didn't mean anything by it," the woman said holding up her hands in surrender but her eyes looked at Mac. "Just a greeting. I'm American."
"No excuse," Susa frowned. "We should report this."
"Yes, we should," Imayoshi drawled.
Mac still felt shocked and stunned but her anger rose rather quickly as she glared at the woman. Without saying a word she walked passed her and didn't look back. She fumed as she walked. Just who kissed someone they didn't even know? Just…just who did that?!
"You okay, Mac?" Sakurai asked concerned.
"Fine," Mac said rubbing her lips again. Had she just cheated on Daiki? She blinked as she shuddered. No, she hadn't wanted the kiss… Fear and worry filled her and she tried her best to push it away. It wasn't like she had initiated the kiss or anything.
"We can go to security if you want," Susa said. "It's not okay to do that when you're not consenting."
"I'm fine," Mac sighed. "Just…shocked. I just want to forget it. She was just weird and it's not like I'll see her again."
"If you say so," Imayoshi said but he did sound concerned.
...
Mac saw Kiyoshi and the rest of Seirin minus Taiga leave the arena and she pushed off the wall where she had been leaning while she waited. Nao was lying at her feet but looked up when he heard or probably smelled them.
"Congratulations on making the final league before the Winter Cup," Mac said calling attention to herself.
"Mac!" Kiyoshi smiled and hurried over to her. "You saw?"
"Of course," Mac smiled and accepted the hug before she pulled back. "I wanted to watch your first match back."
Kiyoshi grinned and rubbed the back of his head.
"It felt good to finally play in an official match again," he admitted.
"You were good," Mac said.
"Hey, Mac," Riko smiled coming up to her with the rest of the team.
"Hey, Riko," Mac smiled. "Good game."
"Thanks," Riko said.
Mac frowned when she noticed that Tetsuya wasn't there either.
"Where's Taiga and Tetsu?" she asked.
"They met someone and went with her," Izuki explained.
"I see," Mac blinked.
"I saw you at the match," Hyuga said and Kiyoshi looked at him surprised.
"You did?" he asked before he pouted. "I didn't…"
"You were with that creepy guy and two others," Hyuga said.
"Imayoshi, Susa and Sakurai," Mac listed. "They wanted to watch as well."
"Not Aomine?" Koganei asked.
Mac snorted. "No. He's not interested."
"Harsh," Koganei cried dramatically.
"Sorry," Mac shrugged.
...
Mac ended up leaving with Kiyoshi who told his friends goodbye there before leaving with Mac. They walked in silence for a little while and Mac was glad to notice that it was as effortless as it always was between the two of them.
"Are you okay, Mac?" Kiyoshi finally asked softly. "I didn't want to upset you more so I didn't call, but I have been thinking about you."
Mac fisted her hands as she kept her eyes looking straight ahead. She knew Kiyoshi would have worried about her. She should have thought to send him a text or something to let him know that she was okay.
"I'm fine," she said. "Still a little upset by it all, but fine."
Kiyoshi glanced at her and smiled sadly.
"Kagami said she was suspended for a week," Kiyoshi said.
"Yeah," Mac nodded. "She'll be back at school on Monday. Who knows how that will go."
"You nervous?" Kiyoshi asked.
"A little, I suppose," Mac admitted. She hadn't admitted that to anyone other than Daiki, but she knew that Kiyoshi would not laugh or think her silly.
"That's understandable," Kiyoshi said. "I wish I could help you more."
"You're helping," Mac told him and smiled at him.
He smiled back and nodded accepting it even if he still looked a little concerned.
"So, how was it to play your first official match?" Mac asked. "Did you feel anything to your injury?"
She glanced worriedly down at his knee.
"It was amazing," Kiyoshi grinned. "I had almost forgotten what it was like to be on the court and wearing your team jersey. It was fun! I can't wait until we play or next match! I never wanted the match to end!"
Mac chuckled fondly as she took in the genuine happiness on Kiyoshi's face
"And no, my knee didn't hurt at all," Kiyoshi said. "It's as good as new."
"That' good," Mac said not able to hide the relief she felt. She was really happy that her potion had helped him and that he had done the surgery. She didn't want to see him get injured again.
Kiyoshi glanced at her and nodded.
...
Sato's home
...
Mac landed in the hallway outside of Sato's office and frowned slightly. Her uncle had been giving her some weird looks ever since she got home from her walk with Kiyoshi the day before. Even this morning had her uncle been shooting her strange looks, it was like he wanted to say something but couldn't bring himself to actually say anything.
"Ah, Mac," Kaori smiled warmly bringing Mac out of her musings and smiled at her professor's wife. "Welcome back. We have missed you around here."
"Thank you," Mac smiled shyly.
"Taichi is in his office," Kaori said. "He's expecting you."
Mac nodded and walked to the office and knocked before entering the room. It had been some time since she had been there but it still felt like it was only yesterday. She smiled at her professor who was standing by a bookcase when she entered.
"Potter-san," he nodded. "Good to see you."
"Hello, Professor Sato," Mac nodded.
"Did you get to rest some while you had some time off from your magic lessons?" Sato asked looking at her over his glasses.
"Some," Mac shrugged. "Though, basketball and Muggle School still take time and effort."
Sato nodded and smiled slightly.
"You can't be accused of slacking off, that for sure," he said.
Mac blushed slightly and shifted shyly on her feet.
"Sit, sit," Sato waved a hand and turned back to the bookcase and pulled out a book before he walked to his desk and sat down as well. "I have your OWLs results here."
"Really?" Mac asked leaning forward slightly but it felt like a hand was squeezing her heart at the same time. What if she failed?
Sato nodded and pulled out a yellowish envelope and levitated it over to her. She saw her name written with neat handwriting in calligraphic script. It felt light but her hands were shaking slightly as she held it and just stared at it. Inside was her result of all the work she had done over the last few years. It would prove if she did the right thing taking the path she had chosen or if she failed at it.
"You should open it, Potter-san," Sato said when she had stared at the envelope for several minutes.
In a way, she wanted to push it away and not look. Forget that it existed for a while longer and live in happy ignorance. But at the same time, she was curious and excited to know the results.
Inhaling deeply and a little shakenly she started to open the envelope. Slowly and carefully she made sure it wasn't ripped. She stopped when it was opened and hesitated for a second before she inhaled again and pulled the papers that were inside out.
...
Passing Grades:
Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)
...
Failing Grades:
Poor (P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)
...
Ordinary Wizarding Level results for Mackenzie Lillian Potter:
Defence Against the Dark Arts – O
Charms – O
Transfigurations – O
Potions – E
...
Congratulations of getting your Ordinary Wizarding Levels as a home-schooled student. You are now qualified to continue onto your NEWTs.
...
It was like she suddenly could breathe again and her chest felt lighter. She reread the letter and her results several times before she actually believed it. She couldn't believe that she had managed to get three O's! And the E in Potions was a little disappointing, but she knew she had made a mistake there so she was happy it wasn't any lower.
"Are you pleased, Potter-san?" Sato asked.
"Yes," Mac grinned up at him. "I…I can't actually believe it…"
"Believe it," he smiled. "You did great."
Mac smiled and looked back at her grades again. She felt really happy. No, happy was not a good enough description of what she felt…overjoyed, thrilled, excited and proud – everything went through her at once. She had not imagined getting O's in three of four subjects and E in the other. It was above what she had been expecting.
"What now?" she finally asked looking up at her professor who was still watching her. He was smiling as he did, though. She suddenly realised that she wasn't sure what was going to happen now. She knew that Sato had agreed to help her reach her OWLs, and now that he had done that…what would happen now? Would he still be her professor?
"You need to decide if you are happy with only achieving your OWLs, you don't have to continue with your magical education above this point if you don't want to," Sato said. "Or if you want to continue and going for the NEWTs in the subjects you passed."
Mac blinked. She hadn't thought about that. She could quit now? She could decide only to focus on her muggle school? She frowned slightly as she looked down at her results again. Did she want to quit?
"If…if I continue would you still be teaching me?" Mac finally asked looking up at Sato.
Sato looked at her for a moment with a serious look on his face and she couldn't tell what he was thinking. She forced herself to remain still in her chair but she really felt the need to shift and fiddle with something as she waited for him to say something.
"Yes, I would," Sato finally said and smiled. "I would be proud to help you achieve your NEWTs as well, Potter-san."
Mac smiled and looked back at her results. She just couldn't stop looking at them. It was proof. She had done it. She had achieved what she had set out to do and she had done it. She had done it on her own. While she knew she couldn't have done it without help from her professor and that she owed him for that, she also knew that she had been the one who had done the work. She had pushed and pushed herself until she barely could function at times, and she had done so while attending first Teiko and then Too Academy, difficult schools in their own rights.
"I…I think I want to take my NEWTs as well," Mac finally said.
"Good," Sato said. "You'll have a couple of days to think about it, but I would like for you to get started as soon as possible."
Mac nodded.
...
"Congratulations, Mac," Kaori smiled and hugged her when Mac followed Sato into the kitchen. "I'm so proud!"
"Thank you, Kaori-san," Mac smiled.
"Congratulations, Mac," Daisuke smiled stepping up and hugged her. "Dad told me to come home for lunch today so I could be here celebrating with you! It's a huge accomplishment. Three out of four O's!"
"Thank you, Daisuke," Mac grinned and he blinked at her before he laughed.
"Finally! You didn't call me Sato-kun!" he cheered.
Mac rolled her eyes as she laughed lightly.
"Come on, lunch," Kaori smiled. "I have made a special lunch for you today, Mac."
"Thank you," Mac said shyly. "You didn't have to."
"Of course I did," Kaori said. "You passed all your OWLs and you did it with style!"
"You've earned it," Sato added.
Mac smiled shyly again and let Daisuke lead her to the table and sat down. He immediately started to ask her about what she had been up to since they last saw each other.
Sato watched as his son talked to Mac and thought about the talk he'd had with her uncle. He had been worried hearing about what had happened at her other school and he thought that it might be a good idea for Mac to get someone to talk to. He just wasn't sure how she would react to that. He couldn't really see it going over well at all. She used the time before she trusted anyone and Sato could understand why, but all the more she did need to talk to someone. He should have picked up on it before, actually. They all should have.
"Come on, dear," Kaori told him bringing him out of his thoughts. "Now's not the time for heavy thoughts."
"You're right," he smiled at his wife and followed her to the table and sat down.
"You're already in the Winter Cup?" Daisuke asked.
"Yeah," Mac nodded. "We don't need to play for our spot since we won second place at the Inter-High and it's an anniversary of the Cup this year so they have more teams than normal as well."
"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Daisuke said.
"In a way," Mac shrugged. "But we miss matches that could help is grow and get better when we're not playing preliminaries or the Final League before the Winter Cup."
"You would think about that," Daisuke chuckled and Mac shrugged.
"Thank you for all you have done to help me, Professor Sato," Mac told her professor when it was time for her to go home.
"It was my honour, Mac," Sato said and Mac blinked at the use of her first name, he rarely or ever addressed her like that. "It has been great teaching you and you're one of the best and most dedicated student's I've ever taught. I look forward to continuing your studies with you if that is what you chose of course."
Mac blushed and smiled feeling happy.
...
Too Academy
...
"Daiki!" Mac yelled as she burst into the house not caring to ring the doorbell.
"Kenzie?" Daiki's voice sounded from the kitchen so Mac rushed into the room and jumped into Daiki's arms as he had stood up having heard her call. He stumbled slightly at impact but soon found his balance as he circled his arms around her waist.
"What's going on?" Sayuri asked confused.
Mac was laughing as she hugged Daiki tightly and knew he was confused and so was the others but she didn't care. She was just too happy and excited.
"Kenzie?" Daiki asked after a moment. "What's going on?"
"I did it!" Mac said pulling back slightly but not so she was out of Daiki's arms. "I did it!"
"What did you do?" Daiki frowned.
"My OWLs! I got my results!" Mac laughed and pulled out her letter and gave it to him. She stepped back now so he could read it. He looked at her face for a moment before he looked down at the letter and quickly read it. She saw the smile growing on his face as he did and with a quick movement he handed the letter over to his mum before he scooped her up in his arms again and started to twirl her around.
"You did it!" He echoed. "I knew you could do it!"
She laughed and hugged him as she felt them spin around the room hearing his warm laughter as well. She felt breathless and giddy as she rested her forehead against his shoulder when he stopped and pulled her closer.
"Congratulations, Kenzie," he said breathlessly. "You earned it."
"Thank you," Mac leaned her head back so she could smile at him and she felt her heart skip a beat when she saw the warm and proud look in his blue eyes. He leaned down and kissed her not caring that his family was in the room with them. Mac soon forgot as well as she sank into the kiss.
"Ew. Come on," Shiro whined making the two pull back and Mac felt her cheeks turn red. "What's going on?"
"Kenzie passed all her OWLs," Daiki bragged leaning in to kiss her temple before turning her to his family.
"Congratulations, Mac," Ayano said warmly and hugged her. "I'm so proud of you."
"Congratulations," Takehiro smiled. "I'm proud of you as well. Great job, kiddo."
He too pulled her into a hug and Mac couldn't help the grin on her face. She wondered if she had ever felt this happy before, it was an overwhelming feeling and she was not sure what to do with herself. She grunted when both Sayuri and Shiro collided into her and hugged her around the waist.
"You're the best, Mac-nee!" Shiro cheered.
...
Later the same day Mac walked into her apartment feeling tired. Her good mood had lasted throughout the day but the stress of being with her class that was feeling guilty and was constantly trying to talk to her was enough to dampen it a little.
"Congratulations Mac!"
She froze and blinked when she saw her uncle and cousin as well as Daiki and his parents and siblings standing in the living room along with Sirius and Remus as well. Everyone was smiling at her and she felt like something was lodged in her throat and her heart skipped a beat.
"Eh?" she managed to get out.
She blinked again when Sirius was there and hugged her making her feet lift from the floor as he hugged her tightly. He whispered congratulations and that he was proud of her in her ear over and over before he finally let her go and Remus was there then. He hugged her as well but was calmer than Sirius.
"We heard from your uncle," Remus explained. "And we wanted to come and celebrate with you."
"Celebrate?" Mac looked around and noticed the decorations in the room and the table behind them. It looked like Ayano had gone all out in making dinner and she swallowed and quickly blinked away the tears that filled her eyes.
"Of course," Tarou said. "We're going to celebrate your achievements on your OWLs. We'd invite your other friends but since they don't know about magic…"
Mac looked away and avoided Daiki's eyes as she nodded. She couldn't tell them that her friends did know, she saw the looks Sirius and Remus exchanged but luckily they didn't say anything. She knew they probably suspected that her friends might not be as ignorant of magic as everyone believed.
"Right," she said. "But…you didn't have to do this…you shouldn't go to all this trouble…"
She bit down on her lip and looked around again. She felt really touched and happy about this.
"Silly," Daiki said putting his arm around her shoulder and squeezed. "It's no trouble at all, Kenzie. You deserve this."
"Aomine is right for once," Taiga said and ruffled her hair ignoring the glare from Daiki. "You deserve this, Mac. We're happy to celebrate with you. You've worked so hard for this."
"Thank you, Taiga," Mac smiled and hugged him.
Mac had not had so much fun and felt so at ease in a long time. She was surrounded by her family and the only ones missing were her closest friends. She really did wish for them to be there but knew they couldn't be. She promised herself that she would see them soon, though, as she enjoyed the food and the company around her.
...
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AN: What do you think? XD
Hope you liked the chapter! :) Did you notice who showed up? ;) The official meeting in the next chapter...how will that go? :P Hehe
Thank you for reading and supporting the story as always! XD