A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed and favourited and reviewed. I hope you'll like this chapter too.
Enjoy! :)
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. – Carl Jung
People have always found me challenging - I don't know why, when I am only being myself. I don't understand why they find me so annoying but they do. It is pity, but that is how it is. – Ian Hamilton Finlay
Talent without working hard is nothing. – Cristiano Ronaldo
Only people who have been allowed to practise freedom can have the grown-up look in their eyes. – E. M. Forster
Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships. – Michael Jordan
Getting up for morning practises was hell for most of the boys. Especially when those morning practises were mainly stamina or power training and drill of fundamentals. However, Katsunori believed that the more one knew fundamentals the easier it was to move, the easier it was to win. This concept turned out to be effective for the team; Touou had, only after the three years of his coaching, become a nationally recognised team.
He was watching the running boys with satisfaction... until he noticed a certain redhead dashing after them.
"Oi, Aya!" He reached his hand to stop her, but she was already far away. "Unbelievable..."
Satsuki chuckled. "She seems to have lots of energy." She mused. So far, she was unable to collect any valid data on Aya. But she was trying to make some assumptions based on Aya's interactions and behaviour.
"Tell me about it." He sighed, knowing very well he couldn't stop her. "She is a stamina monster."
After they were done running, the boys were dropping to the ground frantically grabbing any water bottle they could see. They were trying to wipe the sweat off their faces, but it was near impossible since their t-shirts were drenched just as much.
Aya took a small sip of water, ready for more running, almost bouncing up and down from excess energy. Her t-shirt was soaked with sweat as well; she just didn't look like she was tired at all.
"What the hell is with that stamina? Is she an alien or what?" Wakamatsu asked Tada.
"... I'm equally surprised. I noticed it during the matches; I just didn't think she would be so energetic so early in the morning." He mused.
All of them were taken aback; some were just too drained to talk about it. Kano, Naito and Arai seemed ready to vomit; and the other first years were barely catching their breaths.
"And where the hell is that bastard Aomine?!" Wakamatsu asked angrily after checking who was there – it was the manager's job to take attendance and one could get easily overlooked among 25 members. Not Aomine though...
"He probably overslept. Leave it, Wakamatsu." The captain stopped him. Now he understood what the coach had meant by Aya's unpredictability. To think she would actually run all the laps with them...
######
The basketball club members came to the classroom together. Aya entered first, greeting all their classmates with a loud 'Good morning' and a happy smile. The boys were dragging their feet behind her, glad they could sit for the next half a day, before continuing with that hell.
Talking was considered a waste of energy and they slumped to their seats silently, took out one of their bentos and ate breakfast.
Kiku eyed them suspiciously. "K-kagami-san? What happened to them?" She asked in hushed voice.
"Morning practise happened. They need to work on their stamina." She smirked and took out three apples to eat. She was starving too, but she didn't have two bentos, like the boys. "And I told you to call me 'Aya', already."
"Right!" She looked away. The girl was still not used to talking with the others much. It'd only been the fourth day – and someone asked her to call them by their name!
"Heee... Weaklings."
All of them turned towards Aomine, who strolled to his seat with a mocking smirk. A vein popped on Ishii's forehead and he was ready to snap at him, but...
"...says the guy who didn't show up at all." Aya rebuked first and didn't grant him the satisfaction of an argument with Ishii.
"You've seen me yesterday. Do you really think I need to practise?" He scoffed.
"Everyone needs to practise to stay in shape. If you think you are too good to practise, be my guest. But don't you dare mock those, who actually put in the effort." She said coldly and glared at Aomine. No way in hell she would allow him to insult those who were working hard. Prodigy or not. She didn't care.
Kiku gulped. The tension between those two increased tremendously. She admired her friend for standing up against someone like Aomine, but she was also worried about her.
An amusement flashed in his eyes and his smirk widened. "What are you, a mother hen?"
Aya snorted at his comment. "I don't have a problem with that."
"Failures really do stick together..." He muttered and sat down.
"What do you even know..." She retorted humorously and bit into her apple. Noticing a girl from a different class passing by the door, she called out: "Hanako!" She got up and left the classroom to chat with her.
######
Aya ignored Aomine's presence behind her the best she could for the rest of the day. The more she interacted with him, the more he pissed her off. So rather than wasting her energy on the idiot, she decided to focus on those, who actually accepted her attention and strange personality (not that she showed them her true colours yet).
"Kano-kun, you up for that one-on-one you wanted yesterday?" Aya asked him when the lunch break started.
He gave her a desperate look. "I doubt I can stand." He whined.
She laughed good-heartily. "Go walk around for a few minutes." She advised him, so his muscles wouldn't stiffen too much.
With tears in his eyes he got up. "Want something from the vending machine or cafeteria?" He asked them.
"Milk for me!" Ishii reacted immediately. It was nice that he didn't have to go all the way to the vending machine.
"Tea for me." Aya added.
"U-uhm... I-i-is it okay if – if I ask something?" Kiku spoke up quietly.
"Sure! Just tell him what you want, Kiku." Aya encouraged her.
"S-strawberry juice then."
"Ossu." Kano nodded. "You, Sakurai?"
"Ah. Sorry." He apologised – he didn't know he was included in the group. "I don't need anything."
Kano shrugged. "If you say so..."
"Oi! Bring me tea too!" Aomine demanded bossily.
"Fetch it yourself, Ace-san." Kano said, sticking out his tongue at Aomine. He didn't like his arrogance.
"Tch. What did you say?" Aomine growled at him.
Kano just laughed and ran out of the classroom.
"His legs hurt, huh?" Aya was shaking with laughter. "...Mr. Ace..." She ignored the vein popping on Aomine's forehead and his murderous glare. Kano just cut him off hilariously.
"Kagami-san." The class-rep walked up to her desk. "Ueda-sensei asked me to make a list of pairs who will be working together on all school projects."
She forced herself to stop laughing. "What? You mean we can't rotate or change partners during the year?"
"It's valid for one semester and then you can choose to switch or remain in the pair." The class-rep shrugged. He wasn't the type to question his teacher's decisions.
There was something suspicious about this. Aya narrowed her eyes at the glasses boy. "Can I choose whoever?"
He looked away.
I knew it!
"A-actually... Ueda-sensei recommended to pair you up with Aomine-san, or Ohno-san. But if I pair you with Ohno-san, Aomine-san should be paired up with Ishii-kun..." The poor class-rep must have been troubled by this for longer than just one class. Of course he'd been too reluctant to approach the bunch with a half-witted decision, but he couldn't just order Aomine to comply. The guy was way too intimidating. But after he saw Aya to interact with him... "You seem to be the most approachable, so I'm asking you." He admitted.
Aomine wanted to leave the class, but when he overheard his name he turned on his heel, to face the poor class-rep. "Four-eyes! You telling me I can't choose a partner myself?!" He snapped at him. If having a partner was obligatory, he'd rather be with Sakurai – who looked like he would do anything if ordered to.
The class-rep shivered. He was nowhere as tall or as big as Aomine. "I-it's not like you have any friends here... A-a-and being paired up with someone who sits c-c-close to y-you is good. U-u-ueda-sensei wanted this... A-a-and Kagami-san and Ishii-san had a great score at their previous schools..." He tried to explain himself, but kept stuttering and looking anywhere but Aomine.
"Are you saying I'm an idiot?" Aomine hissed.
"N-n-"
"Yeah. That's exactly what he said." Aya commented calmly, dragging Aomine's attention to herself and away from the class-rep; poor fragile boy, who seemed ready to piss his pants. She could deal with Aomine's glaring without any harm to her psyche.
Aomine was at loss of words. He just glared at Aya more intensely than before. There was nothing he could really retort, because it was mostly true. His scholar results weren't shiny at all. Not that he cared.
Aya sighed, already regretting her decision. She pointed her thumb at Aomine. "I'll take him on. Don't ever think of pairing him up with Ishii, Sugihara-kun. They'll get excluded from school rather than cooperating. Not that it would be much different with me. Buuut... I'll try to be as civil as I can." She smirked.
"R-right. Thank you, Kagami-san!" He bowed deeply and ran off.
"What about me?" Kiku asked, stunned.
"Honestly, I think you should be paired up with Ishii. It'll be fine. Go after the Class-rep, he seemed too intimidated to remain here any longer." Aya chuckled in amusement. What sort of a class-rep was he, when he couldn't stand his own against someone like Aomine?
"So you'll take me on, heh?" Aomine asked arrogantly, when Kiku chased after Sugihara (Ishii joining her of course).
"Gladly. There is one thing you should know, though... If you behave like a jerk towards me, I'll behave like a bitch towards you. It's as simple as that."
She stared at him confidently. Yes, a hint of annoyance was there, but Aya wasn't one to run away from a challenge. They'd probably never work well together; she just wanted to see how far it could go.
So far, it appeared that Aomine was the same. The burning challenge in her reddish eyes was not something he could ignore. "Fair enough."
There wasn't much of a choice, if their homeroom teacher wanted this pairing. They'd either learn to cooperate, or they'd get detention after detention.
######
"Aya-chan!" Satsuki jumped at her, the moment they came to the shoe-lockers. "I heard you were paired up with Aomine-kun!"
Aya blinked at her in surprise. "How do you know?"
"I caught him during lunch for a few minutes. He was..." She touched her lower lip, thinking about the right words to describe what she'd felt from him. "...fired up, or how should I put it."
"Already planning how to infuriate me to the point of killing me..." Aya translated 'fired up' with an eye roll. "You'd better pray I won't kill him first."
"I will!" Satsuki nodded seriously. "You have my permission to hit him, if he is too uncooperative."
"Ah... I-I'm off..." Kiku saluted them.
"Don't you have the cooking club?" Aya turned to her friend. In the past three days she'd used every spare time to talk with the shy girl and find out whatever she could. In the end, the two had become friends pretty quickly.
"W-w-e start next week." She shrugged. "I-I h-h-have plenty of time to read now, s-so I plan to make full use of that!" She said enthusiastically and adjusted her glasses, already looking forward to a new book resting on her night table.
"Oh. Tell me if the book was good. See ya!" Aya waved her good-bye.
"Hmmm, so she likes reading and cooking." Satsuki made a mental note; maybe the girl would be useful some time.
"It's completely normal, I think."
"Yeaaah. So, are you going to practise with them again?" The pinkette asked curiously; she still hadn't seen Aya play. The more they interacted, the more details Satsuki noticed. And she couldn't stop thinking that there was something vaguely familiar about the redhead; she just couldn't put a finger on what it was.
"Depends on the situation, if they are too tired I won't. And I can't stay over the practise today either..." She glanced at the boys dragging their feet behind, trying to brace themselves for what was to come. "By the way, is Aomine coming, or is he skipping?"
"I told him to come, so I hope he would. Not like he ever listens to me." A sigh she made was much-saying. "Have you seen his games yet?"
"Nope, not yet. I went straight for bed yesterday; I'll try to watch it tonight." Aya wanted to see it so much. She knew it was only a matter of time management, and if she wanted to manage it till tomorrow, she'd have to pull an all-nighter.
"Okay. We'll talk about it later then."
######
"Ayaaaa! Where did you put my magazine?!" Taiga demanded loudly, when he got out of shower, and wanted to read in his bed before sleeping.
"The second bottom shelf in the living room, at the right side!" She instructed him from her room, equally loudly through the closed door.
She heard some shuffling and something crashing. "Oh lords..." She mumbled.
Then his head peered into her room, waving the magazine at her. "Seriously... Why do you put my stuff at weird places?"
"I was reading it and put it there. Because it is a book-shelf. And magazine is probably the closest thing to a book you'd read." She yawned and rubbed her eyes.
"Anyways, how was your first day at work?" He asked and switched to Japanese.
"It's not really a work." She rolled her eyes. "But I guess it was good. The kids are nice and the elders are trying to keep up. It's peaceful, I like it. The pay is not that bad either." She smirked. "Not that I need the money."
"Glad you are happy. Is it manageable though? School, basketball club, coaching and all that?" He pointed at the charts and graphs on her laptop's screen. "I thought that father would really stop with this."
"Hmph... Who do you have me for? I can manage." She said proudly, sticking out her chest. Then she just smiled kindly, "at least for now. If it turns out to be too much I'll tell you. 'kay?"
"Sometimes I wonder if you ever sleep." He said softly and shook his head. Did their father even realise all the responsibilities he pushed on Aya to deal with?
"Tonight I won't." She laughed, pointing at the DVDs laying on her desk. "After I finish with this analysis, I have to watch these, so I can return it to Katsunori."
"Want some coffee then?" He asked, ready to get up and prepare some for her. He was too dumb (or at least he thought he was) to do their father's work, so the least he could do was assist Aya when she needed it.
"Nah... But..."
"Hmm?"
"Brush my hair, please." The feeling of someone grooming her hair was nice. She liked it. At first Taiga had pulled at it painfully, because he'd never wanted to do 'girly' stuff, but as they got older, he'd become pretty skilled at it. And sometimes, he would even style her hair when she asked him to.
"Oya, if it isn't Aomine-kun." Imayoshi almost sang when he noticed Aomine leaning against the gym's door. As the captain he was usually the first to arrive at the gym.
"Cut the crap." He said, irritated by the third year.
Imayoshi's eyes opened a bit more than his usual slits. "What do you want then, Aomine?" He dropped the honorific; he didn't need to be polite with this brat.
"I won't be showing at practises much." He announced with a yawn, glad it was already Friday. Satsuki dragged him to some afternoon practises. Mornings were different, since she couldn't barge into his house that easily. (Thank gods for that.)
"I anticipated that, so?"
"I wanna be fair, so I'll show you my full throttle, if you stay after practise to play with me." Suddenly, he watched the captain with the eyes of a predator.
A chill ran down Imayoshi's spine. Was there something better than what he'd shown so far? He didn't know, but he was curious. He needed to know. As the captain, he needed to know all the players' strengths and weaknesses.
"Very well. But I won't go against you one-on-one. Let's make it three-on-one to make it more interesting."
A smirk appeared on Aomine's face. "You're not playin' around, huh? Fine by me." He grabbed his bag and headed to the changing room.
######
"I've watched the games." Aya spoke up, when the door of their changing room closed behind them. "And I honestly don't know what to think about it. They are all incredible."
A sad expression settled on Satsuki's face, nostalgic even. "I suppose, you are right. They are incredible. It's just... They grew too much too quickly. If you know what I mean."
"Aomine evolved first, right? The older games... he was still playing with his team, but then... Each game was somehow more difficult to watch. And it wasn't caused by the fact that I binge watched it without any sleep." The joke at the end made Satsuki smile.
On Monday, Aya had no idea about the Generation of Miracles, now, after one tiny week, she knew enough to understand at least a little bit. She wouldn't dare to claim she understood Aomine's struggle, or that she could help him, or that she even wanted to. They barely knew each other and she was already sticking her nose into matters that didn't involve her. Why are you even doing this? She wondered. But truth to be told, she knew. It was just her nature; she was someone who poured her heart into everything she did. Be it for herself or for the others.
"There was no team in the end." Aya added quietly.
Satsuki abruptly turned towards her with wide eyes. "You could see that much from only watching their games?" That's not possible...
"I grew up watching Japanese NBL games and then American NBA games. I can read the team's atmosphere. I played whenever I had enough free time. But as I've already said, basketball was never my first priority. Well, maybe it will be now..." She shrugged, pulling a t-shirt over her head, thinking about how much those loud and sweaty guys grew on her in just one week.
"Oh... I never asked. You lived in America?" That might explain the lack of data...and her English, and she mentioned it, I guess... Satsuki was on the verge of giving up on digging info on Aya. Aomine was probably right and she should just ask. It didn't seem that Aya was a secretive person.
"Yes. For ten years. We lived in New York City and then L.A. I guess basketball grew on me..." She shrugged. "It's not like I could avoid it there."
"That's impressive. Actually, I got into basketball thanks to Aomine-kun. I watched him play, occasionally played too, but I'm no good at all. He's been playing ever since I've met him, even before that. Basketball was Aomine's one and only... I thought it would always be like that. Now, however..."
"He is trying to hate it, he's bored with it. He is a mess. I don't think any pep talk can help him. In my opinion... He is a tremendous idiot." Aya summarized.
"I think..." Satsuki sat on the bench – she was done with changing first, since she only changed her shirt and shoes, while Aya changed wholly into sportswear. "It's good that you came to Touou. I have a feeling that you... maybe you can change him..."
"Or kill him first." She chuckled.
"Pffft... I hope you won't kill him. Who would be my friend then?" Satsuki asked with a pout, but humour flashed in her pink eyes.
"Eh?" Aya blinked in sudden realisation. "Are you bad at making friends?"
She flushed and looked away. Why was Aya so damn good when it came to reading people? "I have certain problems..."
"Big breasts and cute face you mean?" Aya asked with a raised eyebrow, and pulled her hair up into a tighter ponytail than she wore during the day. "Welcome to the club then."
"What do you mean? You are great with people. I mean... you know half of all the first years, you have so many friends!"
"Hmmm... Does it look like that? Heh. Maybe you are right." Aya smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes this time.
'But it's not that simple.' Hung in the air unsaid and Satsuki did pick it up. She didn't dare to question though.
######
They barely got into the gym on time. The coach wasn't pleased, he gave them one scolding look, to which Aya just smiled innocently and Satsuki rather looked away.
For once, Aomine was practising seriously.
At the end of the practise, Katsunori divided them into teams to play a match and this time, Aomine and Sakurai were put together with Susa, Imayoshi and Wakamatsu. Katsunori was thinking about this starting line-up for some time. Sakurai was intimidated by playing with the senpais AND Aomine, he still had a lot to improve, but he could become a good asset.
They destroyed all the other teams by almost, if not, tripling their scores.
"Assemble!" Katsunori called them few minutes before the official end of the practise. "Aomine Daiki and also Sakurai Ryou, from today onward you are regulars of Touou's basketball team. All the others: work harder, if you want to secure a seat on the bench. That's all."
"You sure you won't ditch me, ol' man?" Aomine teased rudely.
Aya frowned at him. After this practise she realised one thing; she didn't like the direction Katsunori had set for the team. She felt it wouldn't do to any good to the boys. She also felt that it wasn't her place to speak up her mind at the moment. And she hoped it would change over the time; preferably without her meddling.
The practise ended and surprisingly, no one was willing to stay overtime. The first years were exhausted from the first week of intense practising they weren't used to and the seniors just wanted to enjoy their Friday evening.
Aomine walked up to them, when they were putting bottles away. "Go home alone, Satsuki. There is something I have to do."
"Eh? That's..." She wanted to know, but... "Okay." She said. They were friends; they just weren't that close anymore and she didn't want to make it worse.
He ran off immediately after that.
"He seemed to be concentrating on something." Aya pointed out, thinking it suited him more than the laziness he usually showed. "Strange... He didn't pick a fight."
"He is not that bad!" Satsuki tapped Aya's shoulder.
"Was that supposed to be a punch?" She raised an eyebrow and both girls laughed.
After finishing the minor cleaning duties, the girls went home together. They finally had time to talk about fashion, movies and whatnot. It was nice. They even walked slowly to keep talking longer, but they had to part ways soon anyways.
When Aya arrived at the station her wallet was gone. Crap! It must have fallen out in the changing room! To her luck she was the one who kept the key – in the mornings, she was at the gym sooner than Satsuki so it was better for her to keep the key. She turned on her heel and sprinted towards the school, hoping she would find it.
She sighed in relief and squeezed the wallet she found under the bench. She locked the changing room and turned to leave when she noticed lights on in the gym. Didn't they say no one was staying over-practise?
Curious as she was, she climbed the stairs to the second floor. Touou hadn't quite thought of the construction; you could enter the spectators' area, or the second floor, only from the outside. There was some funny ladder on the inside, but Aya didn't want to disturb whoever was in there. She had the keys from Katsunori – he had given it to her under the pressure of logical arguments she had presented. And a threat she would make a copy of all the keys anyways, with or without his permission.
The door didn't squeak and she quietly entered the second floor.
Her eyes widened momentarily.
Aomine was playing against three third years: Imayoshi, Susa and Yamaoka Tarou (the current power forward of Touou), and Tada-senpai was watching.
Aomine's movements were slightly different from the afternoon. He was quicker, his reactions were better – if that was even possible – and he was winning. Those three never stood a chance. Not really. He blocked them, outrun them, outshot them, and it looked like a piece of cake for him. There was just one thing much different, from before – his concentration. He was so focused, he didn't reply when they asked him something, but he reacted to every single movement they made. His usual cockiness and the air of boredom and laziness weren't present in his expression.
It almost seemed that he was enjoying the game. Then again, those three didn't present an acceptable challenge. Compared to him they all looked like a bunch of children, who wandered onto the court. No way could he be completely enjoying this.
His usual play was amazing – Aya had never seen such a unique style performed by a fifteen year old teenager. Not even on the streets; because Aomine's style was a tricky streetball. She saw similar styles in the NBA, but they were all adults with fully developed bodies.
What he was showing now, exceeded even that.
Zone? Aya thought breathlessly. So it is real... He can enter it. She caught herself admiring him and shook her head, to remind herself that he was annoying 95% of the time, and the rest 5% he was sleeping, or ignoring her.
"I've had enough." Aomine stopped and made the last formless shoot. "See? Told ya. I don't need to practise. Even the three of you don't stand a chance." He said quietly, with a hint of an emotion Aya couldn't understand. Bitterness, maybe?
The three guys just slumped to the ground, exhausted to the bone.
"Do whatever you want." Imayoshi said, barely breathing. "As long as you show up for the matches, I don't care."
"It's settled then. I'm going home." He said and walked towards the exit.
"What a monster..." Yamaoka said with disgust. He didn't care that Aomine was still inside, sitting on a bench near the door, gulping down water. Even if he had heard, what could he retort? It was the truth.
"Hmmm..." Aya's voice coming from above startled everyone. "I haven't quite seen a monster you are referring to, senpai. All I've seen is someone who worked his ass off to get where he is. Personality aside, it is admirable."
Aomine twitched. Was she defending him? Impossible. Even Satsuki thought he wasn't normal. The pinkette didn't have to say it; he saw it in her expression many times by now. And Aya would claim it was okay? He was dumbstruck.
Yamaoka stared at her wide-eyed in shock and surprise. Shock, because he didn't think someone was watching – and she appeared like a ghost. Surprise, because she was talking back to him – and he didn't really know how to react. This manager always had something wild and raw in her eyes he hated but didn't want to go against at the same time.
"If it isn't Kagami-chan~" Imayoshi smirked. "What are you doing here so late?"
"Forgot my wallet." She shrugged. "I saw the lights on and decided to check it out. I didn't think Aomine would actually play with you, or show you that..."
"Hmmm... Did you know about it?" Imayoshi gave a sideways glance at Aomine, who was listening and pretending he wasn't there; Kagami couldn't possibly see him from above. There was something awfully close to awe, reflecting in the Ace's eyes. Interesting.
"About what?"
"The zone..."
"That Aomine could pull it off?" She raised her eyebrow and leaned against the railing with a thoughtful sigh. "I wasn't even sure it really exists. The zone. I had a hunch, or experience..." Her experience and numerous encounters with the zone didn't matter at the moment. She'd always thought she was just a weirdo, a dancing idiot and she had no one to talk to about the zone. Was it even real in dancing? Possible? "It is sort of a myth, you know. But with his style, I'm not that surprised."
"And you really think he is not a monster?! How can you even say it, after seeing that?! His talent is scary! Impossible! His basketball is messed up!" Yamaoka shook off his confusion and shouted at her – completely forgetting that Aomine was still there and right at the moment ready to tear out Yamaoka's throat (but too interested in what Aya might say to actually emerge from his "hiding" spot).
She laughed. "Messed up? Are you jealous? Aomine's style is... It's amazing, enchanting! It's unusual! It's a damn tricky streetball! True, maybe it's not normal for a fifteen year old brat to have such power. But nothing is impossible. And things like zone don't come cheap... So think what you want, but don't impose it on me, senpai. I have my own head." Aya's voice was full of amusement. She was bold, but not exactly rude.
"So it seems." Yamaoka mumbled, obviously offended by the first year manager.
"You sure are protective~." Imayoshi mused. Bold and witty. What a dangerous combination.
"Well, Aomine did tell me I was a mother hen." She chuckled, but there was some softness in her eyes. "I can't deny that... Tell me, Captain, what do you really think of Touou's style?"
"Where did that question come from, Kagami-chan?" His usually squinted eyes opened up a little bit.
"I'm just curious. You are the captain. I want to know how you view the concept of a team." She was relaxed and she apparently wasn't hurrying anywhere. The team's situation had been weighing on her mind since the beginning.
"It's every man for himself, basically. If you are in a position to shoot, you shoot, if not, you pass. Expecting help is pointless and the goal is to win. We don't need to be friends for that." Imayoshi summed it up pretty well.
"As I thought."
"You are not fond of it, are you?" This time, it was Tada, who spoke up.
For some reason Aya considered him to be the easiest to talk to from the senpais. He was easy-going, intelligent and ready to offer help whenever needed. His teamwork was solid too and he seemed to like his team and the sport itself. Same went for Susa-senpai.
"I'm a manager, not a captain or a coach." She smiled at him, as she answered. "True, I'm not a fan of this sort of 'team', but as long as your non-existent trust won't start eating you up, I won't say a thing to oppose it. After all, even teams with no friendships can work together effectively."
"At least you are honest." Tada smiled at her. After playing with her, running with her, he noticed she was a team player, she was used to cooperate. Then again, she had no problem to work alone if necessary.
"I'd say she is stupidly bold." Yamaoka added, frowning.
What a prejudiced prick. Aya chuckled. "She is still here, senpai."
"Then tell me. What would you do in my position?" Imayoshi's gaze darted to Aomine for a second and then he looked up at Aya again. "Would you not allow Aomine to skip?"
"That's... Forcing him to participate wouldn't do any good." She sighed. The question was hard to answer. "Then again... the same goes for not wanting him to participate at all. It seems that you are not particularly enjoying his presence – and that is by all means Aomine's own fault... Honestly, I don't know what to do. It's my first time dealing with someone like him, and I tell you, I've dealt with all kinds of people already."
"Let's just see how the situation evolves, then. So far he has only one responsibility and that is to show up at our matches and play." Imayoshi shrugged.
"I guess that's the best for now." Aya agreed. It seemed she wanted to add something, when her phone rang.
Everyone jumped at the sudden loud sound. It took her a few seconds to fish the phone out of her bag.
It was Taiga. The ringtone was set only for him, so she'd know right away who was calling her. He was probably worried, because she'd promised she'd be home for dinner and she was still at school, talking with her teammates. She felt guilty.
"Sooorrrryyyy! I forgot my wallet in the changing room, but I'm going home." The person on the other side had no time to start talking as she blurted out in quick English.
She waved them goodbye, with the phone at her ear backing to the door and vanishing outside. The keys jingled, the door was locked, and Aya was gone. She'd never noticed that Aomine was there, listening to her every word.
######
"Okaerinasai, Daiki." Michiko greeted her son, who came home much later than usual and didn't even say hello.
"...Tadaima." He mumbled and headed straight for his room, ignoring his mother in the kitchen.
"Stop right there, young man." She was frowning with her hands on her hips. "I don't remember raising you to be like this."
He stopped and turned to face her. If his mother had that tone of voice, there was no running away. "What do you want, mom?"
"I am a very patient and tolerant mother, Daiki, but I want to know what is going on with you! We barely speak. If not for Satsuki I wouldn't know anything." She wasn't angry, merely disappointed and sad.
True, sometimes she didn't have enough time or was too tired to properly care for what her son was doing, but he always had a warm dinner prepared and she could always see right through him. Even if he didn't say anything, she could feel when something was wrong. He was her son after all. And something was being wrong for a long, long time.
"It's not important. Not really." He shrugged.
"It is! Where have you been until now? It's not like you to be so late."
"I stayed over-practise."
Michiko blinked. "WHAT?!" She shouted in shock. "You what?!" Satsuki had been complaining about Daiki completely ditching practises since the second year of middle school, and now he stayed over-practise?
"Oi, oi... don't yell." He said with a bored expression. "I felt like practising, so I stayed. Not that I will attend anytime soon."
She narrowed her eyes but didn't probe further. It could scare him off to his room, and she wanted to chat about something else. "So... D' you have any friends? Any cute girls in your class?" She asked with a twinkle in her eyes.
Now it was Aomine's turn to get stunned and stare blankly at his mom for several seconds. "Not really." He grumbled and looked away.
Why a certain redhead flashed in his mind, was beyond him.
"Hmmm..." Michiko hummed and took notice of his withdrawal. Usually he would at least mention some big chested girl, even if the chest was the only interesting thing about her.
"What?" He asked harshly.
"Nothing at all." She smiled at him and turned around to finish preparing dinner. "Dinner will be ready in 20 minutes."
With a nod he disappeared to the safety of his room. He threw his bag into the corner of his room, without any intention of picking it up during the weekend, and slumped on top of his bed. His mind was constantly wondering about what Aya had said and about her in general. Who the hell is she anyways?
She was definitely not counted as a friend and she was not even an acquaintance. She was too enthusiastic, bold, annoying even. But he had to admit she was also challenging and not afraid to speak up her mind, not afraid to go against him, or anyone else for that matter. She was so different from all the other girls. And oh, she looked so good.
Was he crushing on that strange girl already?
Not. A. Chance.
He shook his head and let out a frustrated growl. It was only one week!
What the hell is wrong with you!?
A/N: That's it for now. Yes I know, no romance for now, this is gonna be a slow burn. But... Zone appeared! It was mentioned in the manga that he'd showed it to Imayoshi before, but I don't think Imayoshi would've been enough of a challenge, so... I also want to explore Aomine's private and family life too - there's gonna be more in the future chapters. Generally, I think Aomine is a good person, even though he doesn't show it much, so I hope he is in character so far.
/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.