A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed and favourited and reviewed. It makes me very happy :)
Enjoy!
No other animal bonds to a human being the way a dog does. And I suspect there is no other animal to which human beings can bond the way we can bond to a dog. – Robert Crais
When you don't talk, there's a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.― Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Love, friendship and respect do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something. – Anton Chekhov
If you're gonna hit it, hit it until it breaks. – Oikawa Tooru, Haikyuu
A friend to all is a friend to none. – Aristotle
I believe that every single event in life happens in an opportunity to choose love over fear. ― Oprah Winfrey
Aomine almost overslept on Monday. It was Shiro that jumped into his bed and woke him up with lots of doggie kisses.
"Urgh, stop it. Y' 're heavy." He complained grumpily and pushed Samoyed's head away.
When she didn't stop he frowned. "Down. Now." He said in a strict voice and pointed at the floor.
Shiro jumped down at his order, but she didn't stop wagging her tail furiously. His father had taken them all out earlier in the morning, so Daiki knew she just wanted to play and cuddle. Too bad he wasn't in the mood for that. He wanted to sleep. He was sore and bruised all over after the weekend of practising jiu-jitsu.
"Go play with Kurome, Shiro. I'm not in the mood." He said, and turned his back to the dog.
Shiro whined.
Daiki sighed and turned over. To this whining, he couldn't resist. He started scratching Shiro's head with one hand.
The idea of skipping was very tempting. He closed his eyes. Shiro's presence was lulling him back to sleep. Then he cracked open one eye to look at the clock again.
He wanted to see Kagami, though he would never admit it. After the golden week, she'd acted strange. She'd looked tired and distracted, but he couldn't tell why. Then he'd seen her at the park... It was the first time he'd seen her vulnerable. Yeah, during their little basketball match, she'd relaxed around him – enough to forget about her scar, but she hadn't been vulnerable.
With a groan he rolled out of his bed.
He quickly washed himself and changed into his uniform. He couldn't care less about wearing it properly. There was no bento waiting for him, but mom prepared some small breakfast. He wolfed it down in one gulp and went out of their house. A brisk walk should be sufficient to get him into school on time.
He came just as the bell rang.
Kagami shot him a curious glance, but didn't comment on it. She continued talking with Ohno about some book the bookworm had read again. He didn't understand what was so good about the scaredy-cat.
######
During the last class before the lunch, the math teacher decided to give them an unannounced test.
I knew I should have skipped... Aomine thought after glancing at the equations. He had no idea what those strange things on the test were. He shrugged and then he randomly guessed the answers, hoping at least some of them would be correct. Not that he really cared about math problems.
"Did you know how to solve the question 10, Aya-chan?" Kano whined during the lunch break after the test. "Or any question? It was terrible?! And so soon after the golden week. Do they have any mercy?!"
"I'm not sure about everything, but the 10th question was actually simple." She shrugged. Math wasn't her favourite subject and there were things she didn't get, but she had the logical thinking and usually got the right answer. "According to my calculation, x was supposed to be 15/4. Am I right, Ishii?" She turned towards the one who was excellent at math and physics.
"I got the same result." He nodded in agreement.
"Whaaat?!" Kano cried out. "I got -23. How is that possible? What about you, Aomine?"
Aomine was picking his ear. His expression was so uninterested that Aya feared the answer. "I guessed 4." He answered lazily. "Close enough."
"You guessed?" Aya asked with a raised eyebrow. "Did you do anything at all during the weekend?!"
Aomine thought back to his jiu-jitsu practises. It was no one's business. "Why d' you ask? Wanted to hang out?" He smirked.
She rolled her eyes. "As if! But you have to do at least something! You can't fail every single small test."
He stared at her for a moment and then he yawned. "It's enough to pass midterms and finals. Don't fret over it. Math results are all individual anyways."
Aya and Ishii exchanged exasperated looks.
"Oi, Ryou, what's for lunch?" Aomine asked suddenly, glaring at Sakurai, who just pulled out his bento box.
"Eh?" He turned his wide eyes at the ace. "S-Sorry, I only brought one. I'm really sorry, Aomine-san. I should have made more. Sorry."
"-san?!" Aya asked and watched as Aomine approached Sakurai's desk and stole some of the meatballs that were neatly arranged in the boy's lunch box.
"Since when are they on good terms?" Kano asked in a whisper, not really believing his eyes.
"No idea." Aya shrugged. "Training camp, maybe?" She tried to guess.
When almost half of Sakurai's lunch had fallen victim to Aomine's hunger, she frowned. "Oi, Aomine."
She leaned over Sakurai's shoulder and covered his bento box with its lid. The poor shy boy went as red as tomato from Aya's sudden proximity. She was basically kneeling on her chair so she could reach, her boobs pressed against Sakurai's back and she was glaring at Aomine.
"Stop stealing his food. He needs to gain some more muscle! And there is P.E. at the end of the day too." She scolded him, and then turned her eyes on Sakurai. "And you. Don't be scared to tell him off."
"Err... Sorry! I'm so sorry!" He said, looking everywhere but Aya.
"Mind your tits, Kagami." Aomine eyed the way she was leaning over Sakurai.
"What did you-?!" Then she looked at poor Sakurai, suddenly realising her position. She immediately jumped back to her seat. "Sorry, Sakurai-kun! I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable!"
"He sure wasn't uncomfortable." Aomine remarked with a smirk.
It made the poor boy go even redder, unable to speak up.
"See? That's your fault!" She frowned at Aomine. "If you didn't steal his lunch..." She started and then narrowed her eyes at him. "Why would you steal his food?"
"It looked good." He said with a half shrug.
His stomach, however, decided to betray him and growled. "Tch." He stuck his hands into his pockets and turned to leave.
It never occurred to Aya, that Aomine might not have brought lunch, or that maybe he also hadn't had any breakfast… She reached over and grabbed his elbow.
"What?" He turned around.
"If you are hungry, just say so, stupid." She said in a scolding voice, but not angry anymore.
He raised his eyebrow. As if saying that would change anything… "And?"
Aya fished out her own lunch and handed it to him. "Here. Take mine. I'm not that hungry."
He was staring at it in disbelief.
Then Aya's stomach growled and she blushed, frowning at her flat belly.
"Not that hungry, huh?" He teased with a mocking smirk. Then he grabbed her elbow and pulled her out of the class. They'd already caused enough ruckus in front of their 'friends'.
"Did he just kidnap Aya-chan?" Kano turned his big eyes at Ishii.
"Seems like it."
Even Kiku couldn't believe it. She blinked at the door, and then shook her head and continued eating quietly.
The rest of the class wasn't paying much attention to the basketball club idiots. Soon after the school year started, they had learned that those five were idiots. Well, the majority of the class liked Aya, because she could organize things better than their class rep and she was easy to talk to, but when she was chatting with the circle of the basketball boys and Kiku, they kept their distance.
"Oi!" She tried to yank her arm away from his grasp, but he was too strong. "Where are you dragging me?"
He didn't answer and quickened his pace. He didn't know what had gotten into him. But what he did know was that he didn't want to be questioned about his actions, because he didn't get it himself.
Some people standing in the hallways gave them curious glances and then shrugged it off. Not worth gossip.
It wasn't that she couldn't keep up with his long legs, but it was damn difficult when he was holding her right elbow with his right hand and dragging her behind him. She was trying not to trip over his feet! "Aomine! Where are you dragging me?!" She demanded and shifted her entire body weight into her heels in a useless attempt to at least slow him down.
He either didn't notice, or he didn't mind. And she was aware that she wasn't the lightest girl out there – muscles always weighted more.
"Oi! Don't ignore me!"
He came to a sudden halt and she rammed into his back. "Would you stop whining?" He grumbled.
"Then tell me, where you're dragging me!" She exclaimed and rubbed her nose that got hit.
"Rooftop." He answered pointing at the last staircase they needed to climb. He took a first few steps – this time letting her walk on her own.
When he turned to look whether she was following, she wasn't. She was standing below the staircase, staring at him with a perplexed expression.
"To eat lunch somewhere quiet." He explained.
"…"
"Are you coming, or do I have to throw you over my shoulder?" He asked teasingly after she hadn't moved a muscle.
She shook her head and blinked. His sudden change in behaviour confused the hell out of her. "You wanna share my lunch with me?"
For a moment he was thinking about her question, then he shrugged. "Y' hungry too, no?"
What the fuck? "Right… I'm coming." She said.
They sat on the ground and Aomine put the lunchbox down between them. He was staring at it, not sure what to do now. There was only one set of chopsticks.
A small laugh escaped Aya, because she could almost see his thoughts. "You haven't quite thought it over, have you?"
"…" He frowned at the lunch.
"Help yourself." She said and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes. The sun on her face felt nice. "I'll eat what's left."
He nodded and approached to open it. Her lunch looked almost as nice as Sakurai's – but without the childish motif. He blinked at it. "You made it?"
"Yeah."
She had prepared meals during the training camp. Of course she knew how to cook. And it had tasted delicious. He didn't hesitate.
"So did you forget yours?" She asked after a moment.
"Mom didn't prepare one." He shrugged and wolfed down half of her rice.
"Too bad." She smiled, remembering her mom's cooking. It hadn't been that good, but she'd always tried her best. "Why don't you go to the cafeteria then?"
"Forgot my wallet too." He mumbled with a mouth full of food.
Aya chuckled and shook her head. "Talk about a lucky day."
"Here." After he finished half of her bento, or a bit more than a half, he passed it to Aya.
"Oh. So you've really left me something too." She teased him. "Thanks."
Without thinking twice about it, she took it from him and adjusted the chopstick. It was only then when it occurred to him that she'd use the very same chopsticks as he had. Indirect kiss. He stared at the first bite she took.
So she didn't even think about it. He thought.
After a moment of staring, she looked up from her food. "What?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. He'd been watching her curiously the whole day and now it got more intense. What is his problem this time?
He felt the heat rising to his cheeks, and he looked away. Admitting that he was thinking about indirect kiss was way too mortifying for him. But her reddish eyes were grilling him. He needed to find something to say, and real quick. Before she'd see through him.
"Are you really a world champion?" He blurted out, to divert her attention.
Aya almost choked. "W-what?! Where did you hear that?!"
So far, she knew about three people in her school who knew. One of them was Satsuki – Aomine's childhood friend, then Kiku – but she wasn't on speaking terms with him, and she would never tell him, and the last one was Katsunori – her godfather. Her mind was racing a mile per second, to figure out who could have spilled the beans. She wanted to trust Satsuki. And she wanted to trust Katsunori too. Aomine could have figured it out on his own as well, but Aya doubted that.
Her eyes were wide and staring at the food.
That reaction pretty much confirmed it. Aomine could see one more thing – she'd never expected him to know. He kept quiet, because he wanted an answer from her.
"Satsuki?" She asked quietly after a moment. She seemed as if the question itself was physically hurting her. She didn't want to blame Satsuki, she really didn't. But who else could have told him?
Aomine frowned. "No. You."
"What?" She snapped at him, her stomach tightening. That was not possible. She'd never talked about it with the others, let alone Aomine. She didn't want them to know.
"Answer my question." He demanded.
It was a fight or flight situation, and Aya knew what she'd choose. "And what if I am?" She straightened her back and held up her chin in a defensive gesture.
Reading in the others wasn't his strongest point, but somehow, when it was Aya... He could feel she was cornered. He raised an eyebrow at her. That question-answer of hers wasn't sufficient.
"I was. And? What does it have to do with you?" It came out more aggressively than she had wanted, but Aomine didn't seem to be affected by it much.
"Was?"
"Was." She said curtly. "You said I was the one who told you. When?"
"The training camp." If possible, he wanted to avoid saying he overheard her phone call. However, blaming it on her little speech in the storm was not possible. She had never implied anything like that.
Her eyes narrowed. "When?"
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked accusingly. She wasn't obliged to tell him, or give him answers, he knew that, but she had many chances to do so. She could have… no… she should have told him.
"When?"
"Why?"
He wasn't going to leave it.
Neither was she.
They stared at each other. No one wanted to give in and answer first, because that would mean losing the staring contest. And neither of them was good at losing.
Aya was usually the reasonable one. Not this time. She felt that this conversation got out of her hands and she didn't like it. She didn't want to talk about it with Aomine, because that would mean opening up to him.
He sighed and looked away from her, scratching the back of his neck. "If I answer, will you tell me why?"
That in itself ticked her off more than his stubbornness. Why do you want to know it this much?
"Tch." She clicked her tongue. No, she wasn't in the mood to give answers. "Because it has nothing to do with you! With any of you! … You know what? Forget it. I don't care how you figured it out, but I recommend you to keep your mouth shut." She got up, and yanked the door open.
"Runnin' away, Sweetheart?" He asked cockily just to hide that it, in fact, hurt him. Little did he know how close to home was his question.
Aya bit her lower lip at hearing this.
"So what if I am? I'm not the only one." She said bitterly and left. Talking about her reasons, her scars and hurt; she wasn't ready for it.
Congratulations. He thought bitterly.
He didn't bother to stop her. Instead, he stared at the lunch she left behind; she'd barely touched it. He had a sudden urge to throw it against the fence.
######
"What did you do to Aya-chan?" Kano asked as they headed towards the gym for the P.E. class.
The classmates hadn't noticed anything. But Kiku and the boys, who knew Aya slightly better than the rest, noticed that she was distressed about something. She had returned to the classroom alone, without her lunch or Aomine, and even though she'd spoken with them and smiled, they could feel something was off. That she was only half-present.
"Tch. Nothin'." He said, with his usual arrogance.
He wouldn't let this situation bother him. After all, he wasn't at the wrong. He had all rights to ask, and she should have told him. He was more than sure that Kagami knew lot of things about him thanks to Satsuki, but Satsuki decided not to share as much about Kagami with him. Why Satsuki decided to basically leave him in the dark, was beyond him. And maybe he was jealous about it.
No. Girls took effort; Kagami Aya even more so.
He didn't need this.
######
During the P.E., classes 1-3 and 1-4 were joined together. It was warm enough to exercise outside, so while the boys were playing football (soccer) under Yoshioka-sensei's supervision, the girls were divided into teams to play volleyball on the neighbouring courts. The teams were put together according to their class.
Four girls from the class 1-4 were in the volleyball club, and they were on the same team by the P.E. teacher. The P.E. teacher, Umaki-sensei, who was also the coach of the girls' volleyball club, liked to keep those four on one team; even if it meant giving them an unfair advantage.
The rest of the teams were the students' choice.
Aya's class appointed her as the captain of one of their teams. And the first teammate she chose was none other than Kiku. It wasn't out of pity. But Aya knew that no one wanted to be on the same team as Kiku. So she made it easier for the others. The redhead didn't mind Kiku's clumsiness. She was okay with covering for her. And today, after her little strange argument with Aomine, she was ready to fight as never before. She didn't know why it had angered her, or what exactly caused her to snap at him that much.
The other girls weren't happy about it. With Kiku on their team, it was like playing with five players instead of six. Maybe Aya could make up for two people... Whatever, it was just P.E. and just another stupid match against the other class they had to survive. They weren't that good at volleyball either. If the teacher's volley-girls won, everything would be okay.
Nothing unusual.
Team 1-4 was starting with the first serve. One of the volley-girls was serving and she purposefully hit it with her full strength, aiming at Kiku – the girl who had the least chance of receiving it. If she didn't dodge, they'd get to see the embarrassment of the shy girl when the ball hit her face. They didn't consider that there was a certain redhead – currently a very furious redhead – who pushed Kiku aside and received the ball perfectly, sending it right to their setter.
"How cute! But you can't cover up forever, Kagami!"
Anytime they would target Kiku, Kagami would be there. Completely fine with guarding both positions.
As long as she stayed focused, she was pretty efficient. She made mistakes; the ball flew out a couple of times, when it was too fast; she missed a spike from time to time. But out of all the girls on her side of the net, she was the best.
After one set they lost, they changed sides. As unusual as it was, Aya seemed tired. She was running and jumping around much more than the others.
"Look at the losers. Congratulations, Ohno. You did a good job!" One of the four said mockingly, looking down at the small girl, who was trying so hard to hold back her tears. "Thanks for tiring Kagami out." Said another one.
They were doing it on purpose. Targeting Kiku was their strategy. Since Aya was competitive and protective, they knew she'd overexert herself, and since the beginning of the match she seemed somewhat off from her usual overly-energetic-self.
"Sorry. I'm so sorry, Aya-san." She mumbled under her breath.
Aya gently touched Kiku's shoulder, in a reassuring gesture. It meant – 'I don't mind.'
"Fuck off!" Aya growled at the girl and stood in front of Kiku. She was more hungry than tired. In her head, she was cursing Aomine for ruining her lunch with his curiosity. But no way in hell would she let it influence her performance.
"Hmph." The girl turned and crossed under the net. Maybe infuriating the redhead more then she'd already been wasn't the luckiest choice.
"You don't have to try that hard, Kagami-chan." Miyuki, the setter, said and patted Aya's shoulder. "It's not like we can win against them."
Aya chuckled and wiped her forehead; wildness and pure thirst for victory glimmering in her eyes. "Well, we certainly haven't lost yet."
"Eh?"
"Call the others; I think we could take this set." Aya said.
Her managerial and observing skills, as well as her volleyball experience came in handy. She explained what she had noticed and what they could try. They lost a set but the difference in points wasn't that huge. The two girls, Rei and Aki, who she had shot down in class for badmouthing Kiku, didn't want to participate in anything Aya proposed. But sure as hell it pissed them off, when the girls from the other class made fun of them.
"We will do it." They nodded as one. The two gossipy-geese (Aki and Rei) were fired up this time. It wasn't about covering for Ohno anymore; it was about showing those four bitches their place.
Aya smirked. Who would've thought that these two...
All of the girls were ready to tear their opponents to shreds.
Aomine was standing in a goal. As a basketball player, he didn't like football much, but as a goalkeeper he didn't have to run around. Catching the ball wasn't that much of a problem for him anyways. He was watching the girls play their matches and he didn't get why Kagami would go to such lengths for a stupid game she probably didn't even like… helping Ohno and even calling the others for some strategy meeting. What a useless effort. He thought. He was still angry and hurt, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He wanted to figure her out. He wanted to see if she could get those girls to win. (And he wanted to see her boobs bounce every time she would jump to get the ball.)
Thanks to Aya's observation, they were keeping the set in tie.
Whenever the opponents scored, they scored back. It was a back and forth game. And sometimes, the ball was kept in the air for unbelievably long rallies. The girls playing on the other court stopped and watched them.
Even the boys got their attention dragged away from football, and rather hung on the fence staring at the girls running after the ball. Yoshioka-sensei couldn't make them go back to football, so with a sigh, he joined them to watch the games and his female colleague.
Umaki-sensei was watching in worry, turning a blind eye to occasional insults her girls spouted towards Aya's team. She didn't want the class 1-4 to lose, because it would mean that her new additions to the volleyball club weren't as good as she wanted to believe.
"Bring it!" Aya called for a spike running up to the net from the right side.
"Here you... GO!" Miyuki set it up higher, according to Aya's jump. She was an excuse of a setter, but after Aya had explained what kind of tosses she wanted, and after they had tried and failed several times, she got it right. Once in a while... This time, she got it right. She could see it from the ease with which Aya spiked it in, avoiding the block.
They got one point and were currently one point ahead.
Unfortunately it was Kiku's time to serve and the precious one point was lost immediately.
"Don't worry about it." Aya said. "I'll teach you how to serve later."
Kiku blinked at Aya. How nice…
The next serve from the opposite team targeted Kiku again. And Aya received it again. It was off, but Miyuki managed to set it for Aya again. Not as well as before, so the opponents were quick to return the failure of a spike.
The girl from the volleyball club who spiked it back was robust, tall and her spikes, as well as her serves were unbelievably powerful. Only Aya, and somehow Miyuki were managing to receive them.
She targeted Kiku, as per usual.
Aya wasn't close; she had barely landed from her jump, and no one else dared to jump between the small girl and the cannon ball.
Shit. Aya thought and sprang forward without thinking. She knew she wouldn't make it, but she leaped forward nevertheless, jumping in a sort of midair dive. She hadn't calculated the trajectory right, or she jumped with more force than she needed to, all in all, the ball hit the side of her cheek, making her bite into it. It hurt. She could feel the metallic taste of blood in her mouth, but the ball was up. "Cover it!"
"Ah!..." Rei jumped in and touched it. It was not enough for a spike.
"Just get it over the net!" Aya shouted, not realizing that blood was tracing out from a corner of her mouth and dripping down her chin.
Miyuki had the last touch.
"Direct!" Robust girl shouted, and spiked it.
"Tch." Aya dived forward to catch it.
"Eh?!" So far, Umaki-sensei hadn't seen Kagami dive. The redhead was extremely ferocious today. Some of her girls didn't know how to do that properly and they wore elbow and knee pads during practises and even now. Kagami wore none. Which meant she'd get her knees and elbows scraped from asphalt. The girl didn't care. She was in for the win.
Aya wrestled the point, not caring about a few scratches. There was a short break before she would serve and she could finally catch some breath.
"Aya!" Kiku's voice sounded panicky, upon seeing blood on Aya's face. "You're bleeding!"
Aya touched her chin and the right side of her mouth. Eh, really... Her right cheek was throbbing and she knew she'd have a bruise there. In an ungirly gesture, she spat out the blood which collected in her mouth and wiped her lips and chin with the back of her hand. Running for a handkerchief and fussing over something so insignificant wasn't in Aya's nature.
"Kagami-chan! Are you fine?" Miyuki asked with concern. Suddenly her entire team gathered around her.
"Yeah, yeah. Leave it. I'm fine. I just bit my cheek. No big deal." She spat out blood once again, but it was already getting better.
"You should go to the infirmary, Kagami." Umaki-sensei said. She shouldn't have been happy about a student's injury, but with Kagami out, the tied game would turn into her girls' favour.
Kagami narrowed her reddish eyes at the teacher; I-see-through-you.- they sent the message and a chill ran down Umaki-sensei's spine. She would certainly not go to the infirmary. "I'm fine. Besides, there isn't much the nurse could do. My teeth didn't get knocked out." She said firmly.
The teacher looked at Yoshioka-sensei in charge of the boys, looking for support. But her colleague was frowning at her, sending her a scolding look. "Let her play if she wants. It's not like she has a concussion."
Shit… She swore in her mind. "Fine. It's your serve, Kagami."
Aya took the ball from her with a victorious smirk. I-win. But she got equally irritated by Umaki's attitude.
She dribbled the ball and took a deep breath, redirecting her anger and irritation into the ball. Her success rate was only 5 out of 10 tries with this serve. But if she could make it… It could make those mocking idiots shut up. If she couldn't, she'd only get angrier.
"Cover the back of your heads!" She shouted and threw the ball up.
She did a run up, leaped up, and hit the ball with her entire body strength. For a moment, she looked like she grew wings. Because Aya could use the entire strength of her body, it was a stronger cannon than from the robust girl, who only used her arm's strength. The sound was terrifying. The ball made it through at such a speed that the 1-4 team didn't have time to blink, let alone react.
"No touch service ace!" Miyuki squealed in joy. "We didn't know you could do that!"
"Jump-serve?!" Yoshioka-sensei whistled. That one was difficult for boys, let alone girls. "How good is that girl in sports?" He asked Ishii, because he knew they were both on the basketball team.
"I didn't know it applied to volleyball too." He answered in bewilderment.
"Don't celebrate. My accuracy isn't all that good." Aya muttered and dribbled before her serve again.
Aya managed to get two more service-aces before the ball hit the net right next to Rei's head, which made the girl glare at Aya.
"Sorry." She shrugged with a mischievous smirk.
It got them three points ahead and they managed to keep it.
The class 1-3, despite having a complete sport anti-talent on their team, won the set. And after that they won another, shorter one, due to the class ending.
"Yes! We did it!" Aya high-fived with all the girls. "You were awesome, girls."
"What were you doing?!" Umaki-sensei shouted at the four girls from her volleyball team. "You are in the volleyball club! How can you let them win so easily!? How does that make me look!?"
Aya laughed at that. If you taught them humility first… "So what do you say? Wasn't it worth the sweat?" She asked Rei and Aki, the two gossipy-geese.
"Hmph. It certainly doesn't make us friends." They said, but they couldn't fight off a smile. Winning felt awesome. Even though it was with Ohno and Kagami on their team, it was worth it.
"Fair enough. What about a truce?" Aya asked, offering a handshake.
"I guess that's fine." Aki said and shook Aya's hand.
Then they turned at Kiku. And she turned to face them, but she couldn't hide the fear in her eyes. It was her fault Aya-san got hurt. If only she could…
"You too." Aki said grumpily. "We are not friends, but… A truce."
"H-h-hai!" Kiku said and bowed deeply.
The four volley members passed by Aya, all giving her hostile glares. Bitches. She thought, and then waved them with a bright smile on her face. The P.E. was over, and all they had to do was to go get changed, do their class duties and head home.
Aya caught Aomine's stare. He immediately broke off their eye contact and left towards the changing room. Serves me right. Aya thought. Now that her anger got dismissed by the match, she didn't know why she got that bitchy, when the only thing Aomine had done, was ask her a question.
Her boys surrounded her with worried eyes. "You cheek is bruising, Aya-chan!" Kano gasped.
"Eh?" Aya touched her stinging cheek, he was right. "I suppose I'll have to wear make-up for a couple of days." She shrugged. "No big deal."
"We didn't know you played volleyball too." Ishii said, calmly observing their manager for once.
"Ah well." She smiled. "Los Angeles, sun, ocean, beaches and beach volleyball contests… Let's say streetball wasn't the only free-time activity I did there."
"Did you argue with Aomine-san?" Sakurai asked warily.
Aya gave him a short glare. She didn't mean to scare him off or anything, but she was finally feeling a bit better and he just had to bring that up. She didn't want to think about Aomine. Not now. There was dancing club awaiting her in the evening and she really wanted to at least try and enjoy that.
"S-sorry. I didn't mean to pry. I'm sorry." He was bowing to her continuously.
"Oh, it's fine, Sakurai-kun." She was still using honorific when it came to Sakurai, or those she didn't know much. "You don't need to apologise."
"So?" Kano peeked at her from behind Ishii as they were heading towards the changing rooms.
"I don't know, okay?"
"You don't know?" Arai asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know." She repeated. "Would you mind leaving it? I need to sort it out myself." She said, disappearing into the changing room.
"That was weird." Arai muttered.
"Certainly" Ishii nodded.
"Sakurai, you shouldn't apologise that much. It tick's people off." Kano pointed out good-heartily.
"Sorry! I'll try not to. But sorry for annoying you! Sorry!"
######
"Are you going to talk about it or not?" Taiga asked when they were heading home from the dancing club.
"I'm fine. There's nothing to talk about."
He could feel his sister wasn't feeling as 'fine' as she tried to make it look. He knew her masks, and he also knew the girl with scars beneath them.
Saturday had been just a slip due to Aya's tiredness, but the more she kept others at the arm's length the more tiring it would be. Always watching out what you say, how you say it, who to… Knowing the others without letting them know you… Unsaid things and secrets never did well to friendships. They'd both learned a lesson, yet Aya didn't seem to get it.
"Right… Fine enough to actually step on my feet." He provoked, knowing where it hurt her pride. "Twice." He added with a smirk.
"Taiga…" She said in a tired voice. "Don't start."
"Then talk. I ain't gonna judge." He insisted, knowing her all too well.
"I might have screwed up." She said with her eyes cast to the ground; so unusual for the proud and confident Kagami Aya.
"You screwed Aomine?" Taiga asked with a mocking tone.
"Wha-?" She punched his shoulder. "Taigaaa." She said accusingly.
"What? You talk about that guy a lot you know. I wouldn't be that surprised if you did."
"For a guy who shies away from sex, which I don't understand, you sure don't mind mocking me with it." She looked at him with a raised eyebrow and he turned away with a blush.
Just because he hadn't found the right girl yet, she didn't have to make fun of him. Not that she was any different.
Aya chuckled. "No. I didn't screw Aomine. But I might have pissed him off. Or…" She told him the whole story, and Taiga stared at her. That Aomine guy sure was brave for dragging his sister somewhere. "I don't know what to do now."
"… What if you give him some space too? I mean, if you don't want to give him answers, then don't... uhm… lead him on? You get what I mean, right?"
Taiga wasn't good at giving life advice, let alone love advice. Wait, was Aya in love? If so, she didn't seem to be. He'd already seen how good she could be at hiding such a thing, or how efficiently she could deny it and deceive herself, so he decided not to trust the impression she gave out and assume that she, at very least, genuinely cared for that guy – more than for anyone else.
"Yeah, I get it." She said, already lost in her thoughts. "Do you think I should talk with them about it?"
"The basic back story wouldn't hurt… I think…"
"Have you told your team?"
"Errr… It never came up." He shrugged.
"Right… So basically you have no clue what to do either." Awesome.
"…No…" He admitted. "But… Try talking with uncle Kyou. Or Hiroto. Or Katsunori. Or Alex. Or Suzume. Or Shiranuis. Or… Wait… Who else do you trust enough?" He scratched his chin, thinking about someone else.
She chuckled at his question. There were some more, but Taiga got it right. She knew hundreds or more people – too much considering her age. Some were just acquaintances; many called themselves her friends, some even best friends. But in reality, there was only a small circle of people she trusted. Really trusted.
Aya nodded. "But I'll try to think about it on my own first."
Taiga nodded. "Now… Who gave you that bruise?" He asked and pointed at her cheek.
######
She got out of the shower and laid on top of her bed. Her mind was still running in circles.
"Urgh!" She buried her face in the covers. She knew the work wouldn't distract her enough and there wasn't much she had to do. Only some e-mails she'd have to send and reply to, she could finish that within an hour.
Her phone rang – the personal one. An unknown number.
She stared at it for a moment. The last time that had happened, it'd been Aomine asking her to play basket with him. That day had been nice.
She shook her head and picked up.
"Hello? Kagami Aya here."
"Ayacchi! Hello! Good you picked up. I have something–"
"Who am I speaking with?"
"Eeeh?! You don't remember my voice? How saaaad, Ice queen-chan."
"Ah. Model-kun." She recognized the nickname and the attitude.
"Yes. Kise Ryouta here." He introduced himself nonetheless.
"Ayacchi?" She asked in an amused voice. "Why –cchi?"
"Oh, I call my friends that. The close ones I respect." He explained proudly, as a child showing off his new toy.
"When have we become such good friends, Model-kun?"
"You don't want to be friends?! Why not? I thought a friend could be handy to you." The last sentence – he said it seriously. Not threateningly, but in a way that said I-see-through-you.
Aya picked up on that quickly. In fact she was aware that Kise Ryouta was an intriguing man, who could be as harmless as a puppy one second and deadly dangerous the next. She knew the type and she usually avoided it, but those she avoided were indeed bad to their core. Kise, on the other hand, was essentially good and jovial, but perilous if things precious to him got threatened.
Frighteningly similar to Tatsuya, yet so different. That was how Aya felt about the blonde. He'd indeed saw through her, during that short time they had talked. Really… It was admirable.
"It was you who said I didn't want to be friends."
"You know your way with words, Ayacchi. But that's what's intriguing 'bout you."
"Why are you calling me, Kise-kun?" She asked, staring at the ceiling, unimpressed by the compliment. "I doubt you just wanted to hear my lovely voice."
He chuckled. Of course she wouldn't get swayed by him. Whenever he wanted something from girls, he would usually send a text, or there was no end to their ranting about pointless stuff and they would jump to a conclusion they were special. Urgh… But he was sure Ayacchi would shot him down rather than jump into any conclusions, so he didn't mind calling her.
"Unfortunately, no. But I have an invitation for you!" He said enthusiastically. "I believe you could use a distraction."
A shiver ran down her spine. What the hell was with this timing? "What invitation?" She asked cautiously.
"I'm organizing a goukon on Saturday – I wanted to do it the next Saturday, but that's right before the prelims and Kasamatsu-senpai would have killed me for that, so, anyways." Kise talked a lot for a guy, but Aya didn't mind at the moment; it made her think about something else. "You know what a goukon is, right?" He asked, but he didn't wait for an answer – Kurokocchi had told him what he knew about the Kagami siblings. "It's a blind date. Were random, or… well, people who don't know each other meet, with the intention to start dating. Honestly, I go there to gather more contacts and hook up with someone occasionally. You can invite friends and all, but we need to have, or should have the same number of guys and girls to match up."
Hook up with, huh? She thought, not commenting on it. "I get the general idea, Kise-kun. I might have lived in the States, but I do know. Uhm… Is it okay if we know each other?"
"Well… The girls might not like it, but I'll know Hana-chan too. And I believe you are not gonna be intimidated by random girls, or are you?"
"Of course not, Model-kun. Is anyone else I know going?"
"Not that I know of." He said and smiled for himself. Originally he'd thought it wouldn't be so easy to get Aya to agree. And manipulating her the same way he had Aominecchi would be peculiar, since he barely knew her. He bet on the fact that she was similar to him in a way and that she would want some new contacts too.
"It'll be a new experience… Why not. I'll go." She agreed. It was also a good opportunity to come to different thoughts. One week... Maybe I'll resolve the Aomine problem somehow until then...
"Awesome! I'll send you the details later. The meeting time should be around two PM, but it might change. If there's anything you need to ask, feel free to call me or text me, Ayacchi."
"Sure. I'm interested in this event of yours." She smiled. "Make it worth my while, Model-kun."
"Great! I'm looking forward to it. Bye, Ayacchi!"
"Bye."
She stared at the ceiling for a moment and then she saved Kise's number.
So I'll go to a goukon.
######
Aomine's phone vibrated.
He was staring at the ceiling thinking about Kagami. He wanted to know if she was okay after that nasty hit, but he couldn't bring himself to ask.
'It has nothing to do with you.' Sounded in his mind.
And maybe that's how it's supposed to be. He thought.
When it vibrated again he reached for it with an annoyed groan. Who on earth would bother him in the middle of the night?
Kise.
Of course it was Kise.
The first text said:
'I have a date for the goukon!'
The second text said:
'Are you not curious?'
It vibrated again.
The third one:
'Don't ignore me, Aominecchi! T-T'
The fourth:
'Are you asleep?'
Aomine quickly typed his answer, before the blonde would spam his phone:
'Get it into one message, will y'?! Stupid.'
Kise replied almost immediately:
'Oh, so you are up. Great!'
After that one Aomine thought he'd throw his phone out of the window. And then it rang.
"What?!" He barked.
"Don't be so mean, Aominecchi! I just wanted to hear your lovely voice." He said, taking a small inspiration from Ayacchi.
Urgh… "If you have nothing to say, I'll hang up."
"Oh, but I have. The goukon we spoke about previously... This Saturday at two PM. Once I'll have more details I'll text you."
"In one message."
Kise laughed. "It's fun to tease you, Aominecchi. I'll send dozens of texts if you want. Not like you'd text with anyone else."
"Tch. Idiot." Aomine hung up.
######
"Eeeeeh! He hung up on me! Aominecchi hung up on me!" Kise whined, staring incredulously at his phone.
"Shut up Ryouta!" His sister banged on his wall, because their rooms neighboured. "I want to sleep!"
"Sooorry, Aiko-nee-cchi! But Aominecchi hung up on me! Do you believe it?!" He whined. "Do you?!"
"YES! Now… SHUT UP!" She shouted back.
"Would you BOTH SHUT UP?!" Kise's mother intervened from across the hallway.
"Sorry!"
"Sorry!"
They apologised in unison.
A/N: Maybe a bit too much volleyball, but I got carried away. I've seen Haikyuu couple of times actually, so inspiration came from there. :) And a goukon arc is coming up - two more chapters before the goukon, but... Well, I hope you don't mind delaying the Inter-high, don't worry it'll come... (Around 18th and above chapters, according to my timeline - at the end of May)
/sentence structure, grammar minor wording changed on 12.4.2021/
Let me know what you think and remember, reviews are appreciated but never necessary.
-S.