A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed and favourited a reviewed. It makes me very happy. I have more time to write now, so I'm posting once every two weeks (more often than I promised). This chapter is shorter, but...

Enjoy! :)

A wise woman wishes to be no one's enemy; a wise woman refuses to be anyone's victim. – Maya Angelou

I don't usually lose my temper, but if I get angry, it's true - I'm scary. – Eva Mendes

Women. They are a complete mystery. – Stephen Hawking

She smiled, and I knew... I was in trouble. – Unknown

The first class on Monday morning being English, was like heaven for Aya. While Taiga constantly complained that 'Japanese English' was unnecessarily difficult, she found it rather easy. True, they paid a lot of attention to grammar and less to speaking and actually using the language, but she at least brushed up what she used automatically.

Their very first group task was to create a short introduction dialogue, to get to know their partners as well as to actually use the language at least a little bit.

She turned around to face Aomine – who was dozing off and watching clouds.

Please tell me he was listening... "Aomine." She called out to him to get his attention.

"Hmm?"

"We have a small assignment to do within 10 minutes."

"What is it?" He asked, but there was not a shred of interest in his voice. The only reason he answered was the fact that he had overheard her entire conversation she'd had with Imayoshi and it'd ignited some sort of respect towards the girl sitting in front of him.

"We need to create a simple introduction dialogue, where we say basic things about ourselves..." After the incredulous look he shot her, she added; "In English, of course."

The class started to buzz, when the students tried to speak English – many of them failing.

"Write whatever. They don't check it anyways."

So you expect me to do it on my own?! She thought, annoyed by his suggestion, but it was too soon to get angry at him. So instead, she said: "If there is only my handwriting it will be obvious at the first glance... And we are supposed to speak."

"Tch. Go ahead then..." He tilted his head. Satsuki had once tried speaking English and it had been terrible. He expected the same from Aya. At last he could make fun of her (not that he'd be any better.)

"Very well then..." She smiled at him and raised an eyebrow at his stunned expression. "I'm Aya Kagami. I'm fifteen years old and I was born in Tokyo, Japan. Nice to meet you!"

He blinked at her. No way...

Her English sounded... Well, like English. There was no hesitation, no fishing for words, no mispronouncing and no Japanese accent. More than anything, Aomine realised that the strange accent she tended to use – and it was weakening every day – was the same she used while speaking English. Damn, he'd even heard her before!

"Your turn." She had an amused twinkle in her eyes.

"Uh... I'm Aomine Daiki. I... uh... old fifteen year, and ... born in Japan." He managed to get out of himself with a terrible accent knowing it wasn't correct. He tried to repeat what she'd said, but he hadn't caught everything – she'd spoken too quickly.

"Uhm... You had English in your middle school, right?" She asked, already dreading the answer he'd give her. She could understand what he said, but it was far from correct and his pronunciation was rather terrible.

Aomine snickered at her dreaded expression. "Yeah. But I'm Japanese, so why bother with English?"

Aya wanted to facepalm. Being paired up with Aomine looked like a lot of trouble. "Because it's useful. Any language you learn is useful to you. No way will I let you fail in English."

"Where does that determination come from?" He asked teasingly.

"Hmmm...I lived in L.A., California, in other words, I lived in America until recently. No way am I going to let you fail in English. It's a matter of pride now." She said in English as if continuing with their dialogue. This time, she tried to speak slower – she wanted him to understand at least a bit.

He was staring at her. He heard, but he didn't understand, not really. America what?!

"Okay, let's try it another way..." She bit the nail on her right thumb and thought for a moment. There must have been something simple he could understand. "What do you like?"

He understood that one. It wasn't important at all. "Why are you even trying?"

"Eh?" She blinked at him. "Why not? I'm good at it and I can help you out. Why wouldn't you use that opportunity?"

"It's boring. And I don't need it."

"It's not. And you do!" She exclaimed. If he ever planned on becoming a pro basketball player, he would need at least English...

"Whatever." He grunted. "Do what you want..." That was the moment he looked out of the window and refused any other cooperation.

Oh dear...

Creating a dialogue was left entirely on her. Why couldn't they present it in front of everyone was beyond Aya. She quickly scribbled down something passable, with some mistakes on Aomine's part, so it wouldn't look too suspicious.

She spent the rest of the class explaining the basic things to him. Or trying to explain... He was outwardly ignoring her and gazing out of the window – she thought she would throw him out of it at times. There were moments he would look at her, but he had a rather absent-minded expression; she wasn't fooled. What nerve he has... Her patience had to go through a very difficult test. How long would it take until she'd blow up... She didn't know.

After classes they were cleaning up. It was so strange she had to mop the floor in their hallway; it was something unheard of in America that students were responsible for cleaning up the school every day. And she was there with Fujioka-san, not someone who'd talk with her. Aomine hightailed right after the bell rang, Kiku and Sakurai were responsible for duties inside the class, and Ishii and Kano got toilet cleaning (poor guys).

When she was done, Aya went to take her shoes and head home, because she wanted to do some things before the dancing practise. She neared the shoe lockers...

"Ne, ne? Have you seen Ohno running today?" Said one of the girls from another class they had joined P.E. with.

"Don't remind me. That was a horrible sight." The other one said with a disgusted grunt. "Have you seen her expression?"

"It made my eyes hurt. She is so disgusting... And that played clumsiness."

"Yeah right? She just wants to be noticed."

"And that redhead jumped for it and takes care of that clumsy mouse. I pity her."

"It seems she doesn't know how to tell the clumsy mouse off."

"Should we make it easier for her?"

Aya remembered those two, but she didn't pay much attention, because the girls gave off unpleasant vibes. Now she understood what it was. Bitches... She thought, but it reminded her of America a lot. I guess this doesn't change wherever you go.

She didn't feel like listening to that anymore, so she came from around the corner; air temperature dropping below zero. They shut up, glancing at Aya with a mixture of curiosity and fear. Her aura was suddenly so unapproachable that the two girls fidgeted around, wanting to speak up, but not finding the courage. Did she overhear?

She took her shoes to change them and when she was done, she slammed the shoe locker. It made the girls jump at the sudden loud sound echoing in the hallway. Aya turned to look at them, which pretty much proved that she'd overheard their conversation earlier.

"Thank you for your concern." She smiled sweetly enough to cause cavities, but her reddish eyes were burning with cold fire. "But I can tell people to fuck off by myself." She said in a deadly calm voice and left, leaving the two girls blinking in disbelief.

######

"You seem angry." Senri said fifteen minutes after she arrived at the gym.

She was stretching and warming up, but from hers – sometimes too sharp – movements he could tell she was angry.

"That's a very dangerous thing to say to an angry woman. You know that, right?" She asked with a smile – polite but completely fake – that made a chill run down his spine.

"Yes, ma'am." He said immediately and went to warm-up as well.

He just hoped that Aya would feel better when the first members of the club would arrive. They were very happy to have a young girl teach them dancing – mostly because she was just amazing and kind, and could explain things in ways Senri had never even thought about. And the kids loved her even more. They could feel her love for dancing was genuine and she was spreading that love towards them as well.

Aya huffed and looked at herself in the mirror. True, she didn't have the best of the days, but that was probably no reason to be angry at the people she was about to teach.

It surprised her that Senri could pick up on it and actually had the nerve to ask her. Maybe she was being too disrespectful towards him, considering the more than 10 year age gap. But they knew each other well, he was like an older brother and she didn't see any problem with that. There was also no reason to tell him what had happened. It didn't concern him in any way.

She took a deep breath and locked all of her anger inside some imaginable box and put it away. She'd deal with it when the time comes.

Aya wasn't even surprised when Aomine didn't come to the morning practise the next day. She expected him to start ignoring practises. Still, they needed to take their measurements for new uniforms and all. Aya had it pretty much under her supervision, but Satsuki wasn't that sure if Aomine's measures hadn't changed over the past few months. He was still growing after all and so Aya had to get it by the end of the day.

Aomine wasn't in the class yet.

She sighed and put her bag down.

"Is there something wrong, Aya-san?" Kiku looked up from the book she was currently reading. It was unusual for the overly energetic Aya to sigh in that way.

After spending one whole day solely with Aya during the weekend (when Aya had dragged her out), the girl had become less shy around her and somehow she'd gotten accustomed to Aya's presence and personality. And she also noticed several things about the redhead.

"Not really." She said with a half smile. She had had an exhausting evening and the morning's frantic practise had completely blown away Aya's thoughts about those two girls. When nothing had happened, and she found her shoes untouched, she let it go. No reason to make Kiku worry over nothing.

"Where are the boys? You usually come together."

"They were taking too long in the changing rooms. So I didn't wait." She shrugged and pulled out her Biology book for the first class. "What are you reading?" The usual cheerfulness returned into Aya's voice when she smiled. It was always like that with her.

"It's a light romance from Araki-sensei. It seemed interesting. Story is about a girl who is scared of love and a boy who swears to show her that it's not as scary as she thinks. I'm still at the beginning so I don't know whether I like it or not yet." Kiku summed it up.

Aya turned her reddish eyes towards the window and thought about it for a moment, before she spoke up: "Hmmm... Well, love is kinda scary. Don't you think?"

Kiku averted her eyes and her cheeks flushed. She wasn't confident in talking about everything yet. Definitely not love matters. "How should I know? All I've ever done was read about it."

"I don't think that's wrong in any way." Aya wanted to add something, but the boys returned and interrupted them with a loud "Yo!"

######

"Miss perfect has problems with Japanese?" Aomine snickered, when she read a kanji out loud wrong and the teacher corrected her.

"So? Making mistakes is normal when learning." She hissed back at him.

Yeah, the only one subject – Japanese language – was problematic for Aya. Despite being a fluent, native speaker, she had spent almost 10 years in America. Kanji were giving her a lot of trouble, but she was learning quickly.

"Kagami-chan!" Kano came to her during lunch. "You up for some one-on-one?" He asked cheerfully.

"Sure. I need to clear my head a bit." She glanced at Kiku, who started reading. "Wanna come with us?"

"M-m-me? Ah... I-I... know nothing about... basketball." She blushed and looked away.

"That doesn't matter! You can read while we play if you want." Aya said.

"O-o-oh... Then I might join. I-I-if you don't mind, Kano-san." Kiku turned her eyes at Kano.

"Eh?" Kano blinked in surprise, even after more than a week, the girl was still overly shy around them. "Not at all, Ohno-san!"

"Any friend of Kagami-chan is a friend of ours." Ishii smiled at her encouragingly.

"Remarkable phrase Ishii!" Aya laughed, and it made the poor boy blush. "Come on already, I want to eat too!" She added already half-way out of the classroom.

Except a few biting remarks, she ignored Aomine and he ignored her. Or at least he thought he ignored her. Sitting behind her, he could watch her all day long without being noticed. He started to notice things he'd never thought he'd notice about someone.

After school he went to his usual hiding spot on the rooftop, to spend his time napping and reading his idol magazines until it was time to go home. Even though Satsuki wasn't that close anymore she was still his friend, one of those few people who would put up with him even now. He wouldn't let her walk home alone in the dark. Suddenly he wondered if Aya was going home all alone, or with Ishii and Kano. From what he had overheard in class, he assumed those three were already friends, and lived in the same neighbourhood. Then again, why was he even thinking about it?

He took out a magazine with his favourite idol, Horikita Mai, to get distracted from those stupid thoughts he had. He hadn't noticed someone at the door, so when a voice said: "Hmmm... Nice boobs."

He almost got a heart attack."Uwah!"

Aya was laughing her ass off at his reaction. He'd been lying on the ground, going through a magazine, not paying attention to his surroundings at all. She'd wanted to use this opportunity to tease him a bit. But to think he would actually jump out of his skin and basically crawl several meters away from her was too much.

"Oi! That's not funny!" He shouted at her with a hand over his heart and wide eyes. "Do y' wanna kill me?!" It only made her laugh harder.

She was holding her stomach and almost crouching on the ground when fits of laughter erupted in her chest.

Eeh? Aomine saw her chuckle and smile all the time, but this was... Nice.

"S-s-sorry, S-s-sorry." She said, still fighting with her laughter.

"Tch... Y' are so not." He accused her.

"Right, whatever." She looked at him, still chuckling here and there. "So, this is your place where you go slack off and read your... porn, huh?" She asked, looking around. The magazine he had was quite far from porn, but it was suggestive enough, so she called it that just to see his reaction.

He had to double take. She actually said 'porn'... He shook his head, because otherwise he would probably blush. And there was nothing more embarrassing for him than showing that to Aya. "What'cha doing here anyways?" He asked gruffly. "I ain't going to practise."

"I can see that." She said and showed him a measuring tape she brought along with her notebook. "I'm not here to drag you there; I just need to take your measurements for your uniform."

"Satsuki knows that." He argued.

"She isn't sure anymore, because you are still growing. It's my responsibility and she told me about your usual hiding spots. So here I am. Hurry up, I want to go back to practise."

"Urgh. Fine." He grumbled and started to take off the upper part of his clothes, and soon, he was standing half naked in front of Aya. He wasn't embarrassed about it in the slightest. It wasn't the first time he had his measurements taken and it would be quicker than if she had to fumble with his clothes.

It wasn't unusual for her to see, or be around half-naked men, but damn... the sight of Aomine's tanned torso with refined muscles and trail of navy-black hair starting below his navel and disappearing in his pants was very alluring. And Aomine was exactly Aya's type; though she would never admit it had anyone asked her.

"Are y' gonna take my measurements or are y' gonna stare the whole day?" He asked teasingly, when her staring got a second too long.

Honestly, he felt strangely weird when she looked at him so intensely. It felt as if her burning gaze could touch him, as if she could see deep inside his soul, right through his mask of self-confidence and rudeness. He didn't know what she was thinking and so he tried to mask it, yet again, with a mocking smirk and teasing arrogance.

A blush that lasted for only a split second crossed her face, when she realized she was actually staring and what was even worse, she didn't feel embarrassed in the slightest.

Whether Aomine noticed it or not, didn't bother her. But after his cocky remark, she had one of her own. "Don't ruin it. It's nice to see something attractive once in a while~" She said in a suggestive voice, but then she smirked at him. "Come on, so we are done with it."

He didn't have time to retort. And he wasn't sure if she meant it or just teased him. "Tch."

Kagami: 1, Me: 0. He thought, and tried to move as little as possible, while she was measuring him.

Aya was super fast, trying not to touch him much, but whenever she brushed his bare skin, it sent electricity through his entire body.

Why the hell was he feeling that way?

He knew why... So far he just looked at girls in magazines; he never actually had one touching him (Satsuki taking his measurements didn't count; she was like a sister), or dating him, or interesting him enough to want to date. Girls took effort and he wasn't in the state of mind to put effort into something.

"Okay. Done. See? It didn't hurt." She chuckled after around two minutes. She folded the measuring tape and wrote the numbers down into what looked like a neat table with everyone's measurements. Aya got the task to order them new sports uniforms and jerseys, or have the old ones redone, for those who grew out of them.

He was buttoning up his shirt, when she spoke up, chewing on her thumb nail – which he noticed she always did whenever she was thinking about something.

"What number?"

"Huh?"

"What number do you want to have on your jersey?"

Was that what she was thinking so deeply about? "I don't care." He mumbled. "It's not important."

"Hmmm..."

She was muttering something in a voice too quiet for him to hear and he suspected it was English anyways.

"Ah! Five! You'll be number five then." She exclaimed suddenly, making Aomine jump.

"Why are y' so... weird... 'bout it?" He'd say happy, but that sounded strange in his head.

"Nothing. It's free, and... well, nothing..."

"Does the number mean something... to you?" The last two words were barely hearable, but Aya heard.

She smiled to herself with a small, kind smile. Something quite unusual for the flamboyant girl she seemed to be.

"It's not important at all." She threw his previous words back at him.

Could she be even stranger? He didn't know anymore. But that smile... It was already burned into his memory. Shit...

"Shit." He muttered, echoing his thoughts when he tried to tie his necktie for the n-th time, failing again. Accidentally he'd undone it completely, and now he was lost. Usually his mother tied it and he just loosened it and wore it that way, without having to fight with the stupid knot every day.

Aya's chuckle reached his ears again. He looked up just to see her approach him again. She touched his hands and gently forced him to let go of the tie, taking it into her small palms.

"What a kid." She snickered and tied it within seconds.

He was just blinking at her in honest surprise. "How can y' do that?!"

"Skills honed by years of experience and practise~" She hummed and winked at him, already exiting his rooftop and leaving him with a head full of thoughts about her.

######

"Ne, Satsuki?" He asked when they were heading home.

"Hm? What is it?" She was curious, because he usually didn't ask her questions.

"Did you find out something about Kagami?"

"Eh?" Her eyes widened. "Haven't you said you weren't interested in Aya-chan?"

"I'm not interested, just curious." He scratched his cheek and Satsuki knew he was embarrassed but too proud to admit that Aya made his knees weak and kept his mind occupied.

A mischievous twinkle appeared in her eyes. "Do you have a crush on her?" She asked teasingly.

"No way!" He exclaimed too loudly and too suddenly for Satsuki to believe it. "She is annoying!"

"Hai, hai." She spun around happily. "But to answer your question... No. I don't know much. Only some details I've noticed during practises."

His expectant look was enough to make her talk. It wasn't usual that Aomine would willingly listen to her talking. If he was interested in Aya, it was a good thing. And if Satsuki could push them together, it could be fun. However, she had no clue as of what Aya thought about Aomine. There had been no reaction after Aya'd returned with the successfully obtained measurements and she hadn't say anything about Aomine's half-nakedness. That in itself was something Satsuki considered strange. Then again, she didn't know Aya properly at all.

"For starters, her stamina and speed are better than yours. I believe she could outrun you without breaking much sweat." She gave him a look, saying is-that-what-you-want-?.

"That's not possible." He muttered.

"Come to the morning practise some day. She outruns everyone without much trouble. I have no clue how is that possible, but she had to undergo some hell of a training to achieve that. I didn't ask yet though... She has a brother. And that's about it." Satsuki said with a sigh. "I wish I could dig out more, but because she lived in America and my English sucks... well... I'm stuck with observing."

"She lived in America?" He asked, remembering she'd said something involving the word 'America', the previous day.

"Yeah. For almost ten years. And she played basketball in her free time. Streetball, to be precise, but I still haven't seen her play." Aya was, despite her outgoing personality, rather enigmatic.

"Hmmm..."

"Did you notice something during classes? You see her more often than me."

"Not really." He shrugged and put his hands behind his head. "She can write with both hands, but I guess that's not important. She didn't flush when taking my measurements and she actually commented on Mai-chan. And she can tie neckties incredibly fast." All those things were pointless details. Something he wouldn't usually notice, but for some reason he was feeling a bit happy about noticing it.

Eh? Did he just smile? "So you are crushing on her!"

"Oh, shut up!"

"You didn't deny it!" Satsuki squealed.

"Just leave it!"

A/N: And that's it for now. Little bit of fluff - or not? I hope Aomine isn't too OOC in the 'rooftop' part.

/sentence structure, grammar minor wording changed on 4.4.2021/

Let me know what you think and remember, reviews are appreciated but never necessary. :)

-S.