A/N: Everything "Written like this" indicates that they are using a foreign language - this goes for the other chapters as well (originally I used a completely different font). And I use cursive for "phone calls" and inner thoughts. I hope it's not too confusing.
There's something about having a sibling that you know will always stick with you. – Bishop Briggs
In some ways, siblings, and especially sisters, are more influential in your childhood than your parents. – Deborah Tannen
Sometimes siblings can get in each other's space. – Gisele Bundchen
Finding good players is easy. Getting them to play as a team is another story. – Casey Stengel
We've been conditioned to think that quitting is a failure, a form of failure. How do we know that that's true? – Stephen J. Dubner
When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It's to enjoy each step along the way. – Wayne Dyer
"Tadaima." She called out, when she finally arrived home after the very exhausting and unofficial first practise.
"Okaeri'." Taiga greeted her. "Where have you been for so long? I was starting to worry." His concerns cleared instantly when she came home safely.
"In school." With a nonchalant shrug she sat down to take off her shoes. "I played basket with those who stayed behind."
Oh, so that's it? She played? Her answer was completely rational, a norm for her. There was one thing he didn't quite get though... "In your uniform?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, eyeing her sweat drenched shirt and missing ribbon.
"I didn't bring a change of clothes. It should've only been an assembly meeting, buuut... You know me. I don't really care about clothes."
"And there you told me you wouldn't go to Seirin because of the uniform!" He pouted.
URGH! Not again... What she had told him, came back to bite her. She knew it would happen, because it was only half-truth. "It's different! Seirin's girls' uniform is hideous!"
"How is that any different?!"
"That's what boys will never understand!" She exclaimed and closed a shoe cabinet sharply. "I care what I wear! But when there's something I want to do I don't care what I'm wearing at the moment. If I wanted to jump into the ocean I would do just that, uniform of no uniform. So when I wanted to play basket I did just that!"
"Maaah, geeez. You could have said so from the start." He scratched his head.
"I have!"
"You girls are so confusing..."
"We're not."
A burning smell crept into the hallway. Taiga's face paled. "Fuck!" He turned on his heel and sprinted to the kitchen to save whatever food he was preparing.
Aya followed after him, expecting to see a burnt mass, but to her surprise it wasn't that terrible. "What are you cooking so late?" She asked curiously.
"I guessed you didn't have dinner, and I was hungry. You'll see, after you take a shower." He sounded disappointed, hiding his creation with his body. He looked at her over his shoulder and added: "You stink."
"HA?!" She yelled, vein popping on her forehead, ready to smack him. She had put on a deodorant after the practise and she was sure she did not smell of sweat.
"You stink." He repeated – knowing exactly that she thought of hitting him, but he couldn't help himself and teased her again. "Now go. Shoo." He waved his hand to make her go away. Whatever he was cooking, he didn't want her to see yet.
With a royal eyeroll, she gave up. "Whatever. I'll be back in twenty minutes."
Taiga just shook his head. Too bad, she hadn't gone to Seirin. His team was not half that bad. Except that small blue-haired ghostly guy, Kuroko Tetsuya, who managed to surprise him (ehm, scare the shit out of him) several times a day, every day. He couldn't wait to talk about it with Aya. And he was interested in what kind of day she had at Touou.
But before that, he had dinner to save.
Aya returned to the kitchen with her hair damp. She was already in her sleeping clothes, which were shorts, knee-high fluffy socks and a black tank-top. She leaned over Taiga's shoulder, to see the dinner. "Oh, tonkatsu? It smells delicious now!"
"Ah." He was so focused he didn't notice her until she spoke up. While Kuroko scared the shit out of him, Aya didn't have that effect. For some reason they always knew, if unconsciously, when the other was close by. Or maybe he just noticed the usual sweet and fresh scent of apricots, she brought with her from the bath. "Thanks. Would you take it to the table?" He asked, handing her a plate and a glass of tea.
"I thank you for the dinner." She smiled and sat down opposite him.
She loved their new living arrangement, where they could eat together like this. Talk over dinner. They intensely discussed the day's matters with their mouths full, not caring about occasional mess or half-choking with the food. Taiga vividly described those teammates he remembered and the words Kuroko had told him yet again. They talked about the generation of miracles – about the little they knew about them. She mentioned Harasawa, and they talked about him for a while; remembering some of the funny pranks they'd pulled on him years ago.
The dinner was eaten and time kept dragging on and on, as they talked. Eventually, Aya got up and took the dirty plates to the sink to wash them before the remnants of food would dry up. Taiga took a dish towel and helped her. They worked in a perfect sync. Once they were done, Taiga decided to pick up some movie for the night and Aya went to her room to prepare for the next day.
After a moment of staring at her phone, she picked it up and dialed Satsuki's number. She wasn't sure why she decided to call the pinkette so late in the evening. It was past 11 PM, but to her surprise, Satsuki picked it up almost immediately.
"Hello. Momoi Satsuki here." She introduced herself with a slight discomfort in her voice.
"Hey. It's Kagami Aya. Sorry for bothering you this late... I got the number from the coach, I hope you don't mind...?"
"Oh, Kagami-chan. No, no, not at all. I told you to ask for it anyways. What is it?" She sounded more relaxed, after identifying the unknown caller.
"I talked with Katsunori 'bout the generation of miracles and all that. You know them all, right?"
"Yes, I know them. They're not bad people but, uhm,... I don't want to bother you with it." Satsuki's voice got sadder. "A lot of things happened there."
"I can imagine that." Aya's thoughts trailed off to a few months ago. In sports, many things could happen.
"But if you want... no... uhm, anyhow, is there something in particular you want to know?"
Was Satsuki unsure of how to speak with her? "I'm not sure. I talked with the guys and Katsunori gave me some DVD's of Touou's and Teiko's games, so I'll probably watch it till the end of the week. I don't know what to ask yet, but I'm glad I can."
"Of course you can! What else did you talk about with the guys? Are they all good? Oh, I knew it! I should've stayed longer! That idiot just had to leave immediately!" She pouted and hit some poor pillow.
Aya chuckled. "Why did he leave anyways? I mean, he might be a prodigy and all... But..."
"That's complicated. Aomine-kun, I mean. Things happened and he drifted off. I've known him for so long, I kind of get what's going on in his head, but he closed himself off. It worries me."
"... You love him?"
"WHAT?!" Satsuki almost choked. "NO! Not at all! We are like siblings! We know each other too well, and while we are similar in some traits, we can't stand the other. And the thought of dating him is disgusting. Eww... He's a perv! Not a chance! I want someone caring, someone who speaks nicely to me. Plus, I'm in love with Tetsu-kun."
"Tetsu-kun?"
"Kuroko Tetsuya-kun. He is just so... Nah, I'll tell you about him tomorrow. Is there something particularly interesting that happened today?"
Aya blinked. Was it the same 'Kuroko' mentioned by Taiga? She wanted to know. There was so much she wanted to know, but she'd figure it out one step at the time. "We played some mini matches, when only 10 people remained. I took some notes I'll show you tomorrow, but you'll probably have to give me hints on what's important to watch and what isn't. And then... since I played the tenth player, I don't have notes from that time." I hope we won't butt heads over me joining the practises... instead of taking notes.
"You played? And they didn't hurt you?" Satsuki remembered when she'd tried to play with the guys back in Teiko – impossible – but it had been fun at last.
"Well, I used to play quite a lot in my free time in America, so I was really happy, when I could join. Although basket–"
"Ayaaaa! Come on, I wanna watch it already!" Taiga shouted across the entire apartment. He was getting impatient.
Aya pulled the phone from her mouth. "I'm on the phone! Just wait! I'll be right there!" She yelled back in English out of habit.
"Sorry! I have to go." She apologised without finishing what she'd started.
America?! Satsuki was just blinking at her pillow, trying to figure out whether it was a boyish voice or not, which interrupted them, and Aya's sudden use of English, very fluent English.
When Satsuki remained quiet for a couple of seconds, Aya decided to end the call. "See you tomorrow then."
"Ah... See ya."
Aya stomped to the living room. Angry. "Are you stupid, or what?! You know I hate it when you do that! Thank gods it was just Satsuki."
Taiga rolled his eyes and continued to use English as well. "As if you'd have a call with anyone important."
"It's around 7 AM in L.A. The working day is starting. I could as well have a call with someone important, you know."
"He said he wouldn't bother you with work while you are in high-school, no?"
"And you've believed that? Silly..."
She shook her head and sat down next to her brother, stretching her legs over him. She was done with answering his questions. He frowned and did the same, knowing damn well he was heavy. Expecting some retaliation he tensed, but Aya started the movie. She wasn't interested in fighting tonight.
Did something happen? He thought observing her absent-minded expression.
It didn't take long, and she got pulled into the movie just like him, enjoying it.
Aya barely got any sleep; she was too interested in watching the DVDs Katsunori had given her. Despite the lack of sleep (she was already used to it) she joined Taiga for their usual morning run. It was the last one, considering the morning practises they would have to attend from now on. After the run, and breakfast, they headed to school together.
They walked in the same direction for several minutes before parting. Aya had to take a train and Taiga had a bus to catch.
"Kagami-san! Wait up!" Someone was calling out her name.
She stopped and turned around. "Ah, Ishii-kun. Good morning."
"Good morning." He greeted her back, catching his breath after chasing her. To his surprise, the redhead had a fast pace. "You live nearby?"
"Yeah, just around the corner." She pointed in the direction of their apartment building.
"That classy place? Ah, it must be nice to have a 24/7 reception service and a convenience store in the building."
She shrugged, not commenting. There was no reason to boast about it. "Did you stretch properly yesterday?" She asked instead with a raised eyebrow, noticing how he winced after his short run.
"Uhm..." He scratched his cheek sheepishly. "I fell asleep immediately after I got home. The practise was harder than I had expected."
"That's why I told you to stretch." She shook her head. "And it wasn't even an official practise. We just played around."
"I'm already scared of what's to come." He mumbled.
"You'll play matches again today. Katsu-... The coach wants to see how good you are, your individual strengths and based on that he'll come up with a plan for you." She was so used to using Harasawa's name that she kept forgetting to address him formally at school or when talking with the other students.
"Are you not sore?" Ishii asked her, surprised. There were no hints that her muscles hurt, she was moving about the same as the previous day.
"Not at all. I'm used to far more than that amount of practise." She smiled.
"Eeeh? You are?"
With a hand on her hip, Aya looked at him confidently: "What's so unbelievable about a girl exercising?"
Ishii blushed in embarrassment, when he realized that Kagami probably had more stamina than him. "... Nothing at all..."
They boarded a train and talked all the way until they reached the school. It was easy to talk with Aya. And Ishii enjoyed her company. This girl would definitely be a good friend of his.
"I'm going to the cafeteria to buy some coffee. Do you want something?"
"Eh, no, thanks."
" 'kay. See you in the class."
"Sure." Thinking about the redhead, Ishii continued on his way to the class alone.
Before he could even sit down (next to Aomine) Kano's hand hugged his shoulders in a friendly gesture. "I've seen you come together with Kagami-chan~. Where is she?" He teased him.
Ishii knew where his friend was heading with this, but he was used to it. "We bumped into each other at the station. She went off to the cafeteria... And I have a girlfriend, you know... Too bad you had to take your siblings to school. You could've joined us otherwise."
Kano pulled a sour face. "Tell me about it. I had to go with Shouhei."
He sighed. The three of them: Ishii, Kano and Naito, were friends since forever, they grew up in vicinity, and naturally clung together. But Shouhei and Hideki were just too different. At least they had a truce, or something along the lines. "Shouhei is our friend you know..."
"I know, I know. But he is so distant. I feel like an idiot when talking to him." Hideki pouted.
"Because you are."
"Oi! What was that?"
"Mornin'." Aya greeted them. "Good to see you so lively, Kano-kun. I hope you did your stretches properly."
"Ah... Mornin' Kagami-chan. Eeer... Nope..." Kano scratched the back of his neck sheepishly . "I'm sore all over. I went to sleep right after I'd gotten home."
"No wonders they are friends..." Aya muttered under her nose in French. She sighed and put her bag on the desk, quietly saluting Aomine and Kiku. Aomine didn't even glance at her to approve of her arrival. And Aya didn't care one bit.
"Hm? What did you say?" Kano asked curiously. He didn't catch one word.
"Mmm," she shook her head. "It's nothing. And you, Sakurai-kun?" She turned to the boy sitting in front of her.
He turned around a bit startled that she actually asked him something. "Y-y-yeah. I stretched properly."
"At last one of you is thinking." She nodded in approval, then glanced at the two. "Improper stretching or lacking warm-ups usually leads to injuries. And sore muscles... Make sure not to omit it next time."
"You mean... you are not sore at all?" Kano blinked at Aya.
Oh, they ask and say the same things! Her eyes twinkled playfully. "From what? It wasn't a real practise yesterday, just playing around." She repeated the same thing she'd said to Ishii.
"Huh?!" Kano threw his arms up. "What do you mean?!" If that was not real practise than what the hell was awaiting them in the afternoon?
"Senpais were just testing you. Don't tell me you didn't notice. Changing pace of the game often and forcing you into formations, or positions you aren't used to. They wanted to see how well you can adapt. All of them are current regulars. And so far, Sakurai has the greatest chance - out of the three of you - to become a regular soon." She explained took a slow sip from her coffee. If she was dead tired, she didn't show it.
"Eh?" Sakurai stared at Aya wide-eyed. "But I missed so many shots. I'm sorry for that!" He added suddenly.
"True, but you mostly missed the shots Tada-senpai forced you to shoot. He is much taller than you and no one makes 100% of their shots anyways."
"Sorry! I'll get better next time! For sure!" He said quickly, almost biting off his tongue.
Aya laughed. "I'm sure you will."
"What do you mean by the three of you?" Ishii asked with narrowed eyes, already guessing the answer.
"Aomine is already a regular. He was recruited by the coach and he has a sports scholarship."
"Eh?" Kano couldn't believe it. So far he'd never heard about someone good enough to have a sports scholarship. "You do?" He turned to Aomine, who was acting ignorant.
"Yeah. What of it?" He asked lazily. "Envious?"
Kano snorted. "As if!"
So he is listening... Aya gave Aomine an unimpressed look and turned to Ishii and Kano. "I want to see how well you'll work with Naito-kun being your PG. You were on the same team in your middle school right? You should be able to coordinate better with him, than you did with me." She changed the subject.
"Hmmm... True, we are used to his passes." Ishii smiled.
"K-k-kagami-san. You play b-basketball?" Kiku asked with a trembling voice. She wanted to join the conversation, but she didn't know how. So far, she just observed them and listened. Those two boys seemed scary. Still... You have to speak up... she told herself and mustered up the courage... Her voice was too quiet though.
"Sure." She smiled at Kiku, catching her question. "Although I'm a manager I played with these guys, plus Oyama-kun from class 1-2, yesterday. They missed one player for a proper game, so..."
"U-uhm..." She didn't know what more to say. "T-t-that's great." She mumbled awkwardly.
"Oh, and you are?" Ishii asked with interest. He almost didn't notice the quiet girl at all.
"O-o-ohno K-kiku." She stumbled over her own name, her cheeks turned red and she wished to disappear.
"Nice to meet you, Ohno-chan. I'm Ishii Ryuu, these are Kano Hideki and Sakurai Ryou, well, and Aomine Daiki. We're all in the basketball club." He introduced all of them enthusiastically.
Aomine glanced at him, clicking his tongue in annoyance, and continued to ignore them. ...or pretending to ignore them. It wasn't like he agreed to be Satsuki's eyes and ears, but the story of Kagami playing with the boys got his attention. Maybe he would attend the afternoon practise to see the level of his teammates. As long as they were at least decent, he didn't care, who they were... Not that they would be any challenge.
######
"Eeeeh! You have a girlfriend?!" Wakamatsu yelled in shock, everybody jumping at his sudden loudness.
Ishii flushed. "Keep it down, will ya?" He scolded his senpai in embarrassment, although there wasn't much to be embarrassed about. The gym was full of boys, and the only girls were Aya and Satsuki. The latter was too preoccupied by meeting all the second and third years she hadn't met yesterday, and Aya was somewhat okay. Ishii already considered her as a friend.
"B-b-but!" Wakamatsu tried to add something, when Susa smacked the back of his head.
"Will you shut up for a while?" Susa asked in annoyed voice.
"But he is just a first year! And he already has a girlfriend!"
"What's so weird about it?" Aya asked him, suddenly appearing at his side.
"We are senpais! We are supposed to... Ehm!" He scratched his slightly blushing cheek.
Susa elbowed him. "Shut up, before you embarrass yourself in front of our new manager... Or freak her out."
It clicked in Aya's head. She grinned foxily and she just had to ask: "Supposed to what?" She teased. "Does it mean you've never had a girlfriend, Wakamatsu-senpai?"
"Errrr." He jumped, taken aback by the girl's teasing. And by the fact that she guessed right. "W-w-why would you think that?! Of course I..." This time it was Tada, who elbowed him from the other side.
Tada smiled at Aya and intervened before Wakamatsu could dig his own grave. "Well, it's not uncommon to not have girlfriends for those who have club activities. We don't have time to properly interact with girls."
"Hmmm... And since girls usually don't interact with groups of big, scary, loud and sweaty guys..." She thought out loud, unintentionally (or intentionally?) stabbing everyone's heart.
"You said it out loud." Ishii whispered to her.
Aya noticed everyone's dejected eyes. "Crap!" She covered her mouth. "Sooorrryyy! I didn't mean it in the wrong way! I'm sure you'll all find wonderful girlfriends!"
Imayoshi laughed at her antics, Ishii joining him. She said it purposefully. They both thought.
The coach clapped his hands, shaking his head in exasperation. "Start warming up. Wakamatsu, take the lead!"
"I'm glad you're getting along well with them." He glanced at Aya.
"Of course I am." She smiled and turned to Satsuki. "Did you find anything interesting in those notes?"
"A lot actually. I can draft a training regime pretty fine. You even analysed the DVDs. I'm impressed. Did you even sleep?"
"Probably just one hour. No big deal, really." She shrugged.
"Sleep properly next time." Satsuki scolded her good-heartily. "By the way, the boy yesterday..." She recalled the voice on the phone.
"Oh... Yeah. My brother. We were about to watch a movie. He is rather impatient." She shrugged and tapped her pencil over a blank page. "So what about your crush?"
So a brother, huh... "Oh right! Tetsu-kun... I couldn't follow him to Seirin, unfortunately." Satsuki sighed and gave Aomine a quick glare, when he was, as expected, slacking off during the warm-up. "But he is just so great. You know, men are easily predictable, but Tetsu-kun... You never know what he is up to, what he is thinking. You can't predict him at all. He has almost no presence, and he can surprise you, and all that..."
"You like being scared?" Aya asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Sort of. I don't mind it..." That was how Satsuki's monologue started.
Aya was listening carefully, all the while keeping an eye on what the boys were doing during the warm-up.
When Aomine saw Satsuki's heart shaped eyes, he knew it was about Tetsu. He rolled his eyes, but he felt relieved Satsuki finally had another victim and he wouldn't have to listen to it for the millionth time again.
After the warm-up, Harasawa divided them into teams. He wanted to see them play. Two games went on simultaneously, while the rest of the boys did muscle training on the side.
First years versus senpais.
Aya's eyes were glued to Aomine. He seemed lazy, completely uninterested in the game, yet it was obvious he could read the game perfectly. His presence was overwhelming on the court, even though he barely touched the ball. Naito didn't pass to him that much as he made a good combo with Ishii and Kano, so he usually passed to his friends. They are not bad together. Aya noted, carefully observing how Naito passed, so she could adapt to those two if they ever played on the same team again.
After three minutes of not touching the ball, Aomine had enough. "Tch." He clicked his tongue in annoyance. He wanted to show them why he didn't need to practise.
Opponents missed a shot and even if Wakamatsu tried to get a rebound, Aomine stole the ball first. He didn't bother looking around. Opponents' defense was useless against him. He dashed pass them all and dunked. The rest of the match continued in a similar way; Aomine didn't give up the ball once. Stealing it by himself and making all the shots by himself, never passing, never missing. Not once. Even when he was in an unfavourable position, he forced a shot (and made it) rather than passing.
Satsuki was frowning with a dejected look in her eyes.
The match ended up with the first years – or Aomine - beating senpais by doubling their score.
"OI!" Ishii shouted at him. "What was the meaning of this? We want to play too!"
"Heeh~ Then get the ball yourself if you want to play. I don't pass." He smirked, and landed yet another basket, not even looking at his shot. "Or are you that useless?"
"How did that go in?" Aya stared at him with wide eyes. Aomine was something else. Amazing.
"It did. It always does." Satsuki said bitterly. "Aomine-kun is like this, unstoppable scorer."
"Hmmm. Unstoppable scorer you say... But he is actually holding back, am I right?"
"How do you...?" She stared at Aya baffled.
"I can feel it. He is not serious. With his build he can probably do much more than what he is showing. I think he is faster than this. Though, I haven't watched Teiko's games yet."
"So you can feel it, huh? You are pretty impressive yourself, you know..." Satsuki wanted to investigate more about Aya, but she was interrupted by the coach.
"Oi! Cut it out!" Harasawa yelled at Ishii, who was holding Aomine by his collar and despite their height difference it almost seemed that Ishii was taller.
"Let go." Aomine growled threateningly. "I warn you once."
"Aomine-kun!" Satsuki shouted at him.
"I did nothing." He shrugged.
The girls hadn't heard the entire conversation which had led to the situation.
"Of the court! Both of you! There'll be no fights during the practises!" Harasawa's voice thundered startling the boys. They'd never seen the coach angry. He had been paying attention to the other match and before he realised it, Aomine and Ishii were about to punch each other. He wouldn't tolerate it. Aomine's arrogance, he could get over it, but fights during the practises... Thank gods it wasn't Wakamatsu. The coach thought, well aware of Wakamatsu's short temper.
The two were standing next to the managers; Ishii next to Aya and Aomine next to Satsuki. The girls were an imaginary wall between them.
"You two are out of matches for today." Harasawa said coldly. "Try to pick another fight and you are off the team."
"You wouldn't put me off the team, ol'-man." Aomine smirked cockily. "You recruited me after all."
The coach narrowed his eyes at Aomine. "Who knows? Maybe I would, we're not that desperate." He shrugged and turned around. It was below him to argue with a fifteen year old brat. True, he needed Aomine, but if he caused too much trouble, he would ditch him without giving it a second thought. His team wasn't that weak.
"Coach: 1, Aomine: 0~" Aya said with a snicker.
Aomine glared at her over Satsuki's head.
"Don't glare at me. You were being a jerk, you know." She smiled innocently. "And just for your information... When Katsu's pissed, he wouldn't think twice about ditching you. So... Don't cause any more problems. If you want to keep your scholarship, that is..."
"Tch. Because you know everything..." He muttered.
Aya heard him – and ignored him. She turned towards Ishii. "And you? What are you? A five year old kid to get riled up by this idiot?!" She hissed. "Whatever he said was on purpose." She shook her head in disbelief. "And there I thought you were the calm type..."
"S-sorry." Ishii scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. The coach scolding him was one thing, Aya scolding him was another. The girl was scarier.
"Keep your excessive energy for your girlfriend next time." She muttered only for Ishii. And he turned as red as her hair when he understood her innuendo.
Aya smirked under her nose and shook her head. It was so easy to make fun of these boys.
Aomine's little outburst had a negative impact on everyone. And he managed to get hated in the very first afternoon practise...
Several minutes later the coach returned and made the two trouble makers run 15 laps outside. He was more than sure that Aomine would bail, or slack off, but at least Ishii should learn not to pick fights and ignore Aomine.
After practise, the coach called them for an assembly. He didn't announce starting positions yet, he just warned them about fights and rude behaviour. Then they could either stay for free practise, or hit the showers and go home.
"Kagami-chan!" Kano called out to her. "Wanna play some one-on-one?" He asked with a smile.
"Sorry! Not today. I have things to do. I need to go." She said apologetically, but suggested: "We can go to the outside court tomorrow during lunch, if you want."
"Ah. Okay!" He sounded a bit disappointed.
She quickly went out to wash the bottles and prepare them for the next day.
"And where are you going?" Katsunori asked her with a raised eyebrow, when she returned for her bag. He expected her to stay longer.
"Shiranuis'! I've been summoned. If you need to discuss something, give me a call later!" She said in a hurry, collected her stuff and went to changing rooms.
"What are you? A devil?" Katsunori said to her back, but she didn't hear him. He shook his head. "Unbelievable." He sighed.
What a hurricane. Aomine thought slightly disappointed. He wanted to challenge her for some innocent one-on-one too. Mostly to humiliate and anger her... What a pity.
######
It took some effort until Aya found the place after so many years, even thought it was only 10 minutes of walking from their apartment. She didn't plan to come back here, but she couldn't ignore an S.O.S message from an old acquaintance and a good friend. Brother, would be more fitting.
She walked into a relatively big gym, with mirrors around the entire room. The place was so familiar to her. It hadn't changed in the slightest and it brought back memories. A memory from when she had danced for the first time was particularly strong – the three year old Aya watching herself in the huge mirror as she tried to learn her first choreography. Now, she looked at herself and smirked. How much had changed since then. After all these years, you're back. Back to the roots.
She made her way to the back door, through changing rooms and into a very small office with one table and two chairs.
A man with black hair and dark brown eyes was staring at some papers, not noticing her presence at first. He seemed tired, and aged. Like he hadn't slept for a few nights. Well, he was 28 and along his regular job as an accountant, he had taken over the dancing school after his grandfather had passed away, so of course he had to be under a lot of pressure.
"You wanted to see me, Senri. So, what is it?" She spoke up, her voice startling the poor man.
He looked at her, not recognizing her at first. Then his jaw dropped. "A-a-aya!"
"Okay now... This reaction is getting boring." She joked and sat on a chair opposite him, dropping her bag next to her.
"But you look so different!" He gasped. "I haven't seen you in years!"
"True, you don't compete, and you don't really watch it... So, you are the one leading this school?"
He sighed and looked down. "Rather than school, it's become only a small club. After my grandfather had passed away, many people left. Now we have just a bunch of mixed age groups, who are trying to learn something, and I'm trying to teach them."
"Are you dissatisfied? It doesn't seem like a money problem, but rather..."
"Well, I don't mind teaching that bunch, I know them well, and they are all nice people. And I always wanted to have a calm life."
"Okay. What is the problem then?" She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned.
"Uuuhm... Miki, my partner, broke her leg on the stairs after yesterday's practise. Don't ask me how. I have no idea how she managed that... And... I don't have a suitable partner to help me with the teaching now."
"And you want me to help you."
"Well... If you don't mind... I know you are probably busy with your school and competitions and all, but..."
"I quit competing. I have a job and club activities, but..." She said calmly and looked at him. "I'm not that busy anymore."
His chocolate brown eyes almost fell out on the table. "WHAT?! You did WHAT?!"
"Oh boy..." She sighed. "I quit competing. I want to have a calmer life too. Until I finish high school properly at least."
"YOU?! NO! No-no-no-no-no... I can't believe this." He pulled at his hair in despair.
Wow, it got him more than Taiga, or me... "You should watch the news from the dancing world at times. This one is already outdated. I quit before the winter break, but after the championships... Some November, I guess."
"But you were on the top of the world, no? World champion for consecutive 7 or 8 years? The best of the best. One in a million prodigy! You even jumped up the age category to youth because you had enough points from competitions!"
"...so you do watch the news..." She mumbled.
"No... Hikaru and Kouta bragged. But they didn't say anything about you quitting! I'm killing them when I see them! Why?"
"Personal reasons." She said curtly, and changed the topic. "So when do you train, what exactly do you expect of me and so on... Start talking."
He gulped, suddenly feeling like being interrogated and started spilling everything to her.
"Okay, to recapitulate. You want me to come here on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from six thirty PM till eight PM – the only times you practise - to be your co-partner. You will pay me for every practise I teach the same amount you gave the injured girl, you really paid your fiancée?, and you will stay over practise if I need or want to try something else."
He nodded ferociously, praying she'd agree and ignoring her question.
"Sure." She smiled at him. The club she was currently in – because she couldn't imagine stopping dancing altogether – was starting to get on her nerves, they admired and idolized and badmouthed her too much, when all she wanted was to train like everyone else. Senri's proposal came in the best possible time, and bonus, the club was literally ten minutes of walking from her home. "One condition though."
"Yes?" He asked warily. Deals with Aya could be as well pacts with the devil.
"You won't use me as your advertisement. You won't tell anyone in the club I was a world champion. If they figure it out, then so be it, but I want to keep as low profile as possible... Thank gods people are not that interested in dance sport to actually recognise me."
Senri's eyes dropped to his intertwined fingers. This was an unexpected condition, which he hoped wouldn't come. After several heartbeats, when he weighed pros and cons, he agreed. "As you wish."
"Very well then." She offered him a handshake, which he accepted in a surprise and then they bowed. Aya laughed happily. "Now... Care to ask me for a dance?"
His eyes widened at her demand and she grinned. "What? Need a written plea?"
"Uh, no... Come on."
They had the entire gym just for themselves and dancing with Aya was an unbelievable opportunity as well as a challenge. He didn't believe his mediocre abilities were enough to match hers, but she didn't seem to care one bit. She just wanted to enjoy the dance. And that was something he'd always remembered about Aya. When she was a snotty brat, she danced because she enjoyed it from the bottom of her heart. After she'd won her first world championships, he thought she would gradually lose that joy. But he'd had thought wrong. The love for dancing had never disappeared from Aya's eyes and she'd never become arrogant. Or at least he didn't feel any arrogance coming from her.
When they entered the mirrored room, she kicked off her shoes and made several steps as if trying out the wooden floor. There was no music, but Aya seemed to dance to some rhythm only she could hear. He never saw someone as perfectly fitted for dancing as Aya was. She was perfection itself. Every step she made was wonderful, full of life and energy. She wasn't just following a routine, she was enjoying herself. And she could spread that energy to her audience.
"I guess I should be good to go." She smiled and offered him a palm.
"What do you want to dance?" Senri asked curiously.
"What do you?"
"Anything is fine."
"Even Pasodoble?"
"Urgh..." His face turned sour. He didn't like that one.
Aya chuckled. "No worries, it's not my top favourite either. Latin or standard?"
"Latin. Hmmm... Let's say... cha-cha?"
"Sounds good to me." She smiled.
They picked cha-cha music with a slower rhythm for the start, because Aya liked that song. They'd never danced together before, so learning to coordinate well was the first thing they had to do if they wanted to teach together.
Senri wasn't the best lead in the world, but he was good enough. To his relief, Aya had the ability to lead herself at times he messed up and accommodate her pace to him. The ability to adapt had always been one of her specialities.
She was beside herself with joy. A mediocre partner or not, she couldn't care less. Senri was surely good enough to win some local competitions, but nothing compared to the world class dancers. The best part of this whole situation was that now, she could just dance for herself. It was a liberating feeling, as if her chains – chains she hadn't realized she'd had – suddenly came off and she was free to do whatever she wanted. The pressure was off and she was grateful for it. She had this feeling ever since she'd quit with competing. Since she'd gotten over the pain.
It was great to move and breath freely.
A/N: I hope you like it, and that it's not too confusing. I went through the first few chapters several times over and over again, not sure if it is ok, I even rewrote it couple of times, and this is the version that satisfies me the most.
/sentence structure, grammar minor wording changed on 3.4.2021/
Let me know what you think and remember, reviews are appreciated, but never necessary.
S.