A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed! It makes me very happy.
Answer (x3) to the Guest: I'm not sure if you're the same person, but I'm happy you like the story. I'd be nice if you could create some sort of a signature or something so I know. :) I usually update once every two weeks, I like to keep some advance in writing, as I'm trying to juggle school, job, master thesis and ff and social life. (Which isn't going that well)
Enjoy!
He can run faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo. ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
The team that is going to win is the one that does its homework the best by studying its opponents. – Imran Khan
The team which handles the pressure best, carries the day. – Imran Khan
Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake. ― Napoleon Bonaparte
True love comes quietly, without banners or flashing lights. If you hear bells, get your ears checked. ― Erich Segal
Love is a bonfire. It's every kind word. It's every sincere apology. It's every compromise. ― Nessie Q., Snippets of Imagery
Know your enemy, know his sword. ― Miyamoto Musashi, A Book of Five Rings: The Classic Guide to Strategy
Aya and Kiku arrived at the classroom a few seconds before the bell rang. Having three girls fight for the bathroom on a Monday morning was something Aya hadn't considered. Thankfully, Taiga had a morning practise so he'd been out before they woke up.
They sat down right when the English teacher walked into the classroom. Suzuki-sensei, who had replaced Irihata-sensei, was calm and good at explaining. It wasn't his intention to embarrass anyone, and he was glad there was someone like Kagami Aya in his class to help out the others, when he didn't have enough time. And he kept more attention to speaking and written assignments, which was a better teaching method than just mechanically teaching grammar.
"So a sleepover with Satsuki?" Aomine asked when they were supposed to work in the pairs on an English assignment. Satsuki had talked how excited she'd been to go to Aya-chan the other day that he got interested.
"Well yeah. But why would you care anyways?" She narrowed her eyes, clearly signalling that even if she was behaving like usual and explaining him the lesson, she hadn't forgotten his words.
"Tch." Should he apologise, shouldn't he? He felt guilty. But apologising? It the classroom, with the others there? Not a chance. "I don't."
"Good then. Back to the assignment."
######
By the end of the day, he figured out, that even if her behaviour hadn't changed, she suddenly felt distant, cold, out of reach. As if they were back to the square one or even worse. And it was then when Aomine understood what an impact could a few words have, even if they weren't meant that way, even if he spat them out before thinking. The worst thing about this entire situation was that he knew he'd do it some time again, because his mouth worked before his brain at times and he didn't think he could change that.
"The race we've talked about is still valid. Be at the morning practise tomorrow." She told him by the shoe lockers, when she was on her leave. She couldn't be angry at him for long, not after the discussion she'd had with Taiga and Satsuki.
At least she isn't avoiding me. "I won't lose."
"We'll see about that."
"Aomine-kun? Are you coming to the morning practise?" Satsuki asked, surprised that he was waiting for her at a corner of a street.
He shrugged and yawned. He had to wake up super early, considering he'd had to go out with the dogs. "Kagami asked for a race."
She really has a huge impact on him… Satsuki smiled. "At least she talks with you." She muttered, and stared at him.
He braced himself for the scolding that was inevitably coming his way. When Satsuki remained quiet he looked at her suspiciously.
"What? Do you want me to scold you?"
"No." But…
The pinkette sighed. "Look, I believe you do realise that what you said was wrong and you should apologise. I talked with Aya-chan. I told her you tend to speak before thinking. Honestly, I believe she'd been already aware of it… She is tough, Aomine-kun, but that doesn't mean your words can't hurt her." Since she has a crush on you too… "So don't rely on the fact that she is your friend and don't expect she will forgive you for everything without any effort from your side."
He knew that. But: My words? "Should I let her win?" He was sure he was about to win this time.
"She'd kill you for that."
"Right…"
"Just apologise. And maybe try not spouting nonsense the next time."
Easier said than done, Satsuki…. "What about the sleepover?" He asked after a moment.
And Satsuki started her comprehensive description of the Sunday and the birthday party and he was actually listening to her this time. However, she decided to omit, for the time being, what she'd learned about Aya-chan's father. Even despite that, there were a lot of things Aomine hadn't known about. He had no idea that there could be someone interested in Kuroko, or that Kuroko was actually in contact with Aya, or that Kagami Taiga was Kuroko's new light. He wanted to see and test that light right away.
Then she described the cupcakes, and how much she'd enjoyed helping with them.
He raised an eyebrow at that. "You sure no one got poisoned?"
"Aomine-kun!"
######
"Mornin'." Aya waved to Satsuki and Aomine when they met by the school gate. She was munching on an apple and carrying an additional bag.
"Good morning Aya-chan. Are you going straight for the dancing practise in the afternoon?"
"Yeah, there is something I want to try out with Senri, and Taiga asked me not to stay over-practise this week, so I need to be there sooner. We need to discuss the Kirisaki Daiichi problem today too." She reminded Satsuki.
"Oh, you're right. We only have to come with a plan how to shut them down."
Aomine was staring at both of them. Usually he didn't care about other teams, but the girls sounded gravely serious. "What are you talking about?"
"We'll explain later on."
They headed towards the changing rooms, where they split up.
"What brings you here?" Wakamatsu asked bitingly the moment he spotted Aomine.
"Tch, go to hell, Bakamatsu." He grumbled and shuffled towards his locker.
A vein popped on Wakamatsu's forehead, but Imayoshi shot him a sharp glare. Aomine was obviously not in the mood for banters, and the last thing Imayoshi needed was a physical dispute between the two.
They gathered on the outside running track once again. Wakamatsu led a quick warm-up, and then he let the coach to explain the practice.
"Every one of you will run 25 laps. Two laps sprint and then three laps recovery run at a leisure pace of your choosing – this will be repeated 5 times, so 25 laps altogether. You will run in quadruples. The second quadruple will start running 15 seconds after the first one, and so on. Momoi-san and I will measure your timing. Understood?" Everyone was nodding, so he concluded he had been clear enough. He noticed the challenging glares Aomine and Aya exchanged.
He pulled at his fringe and barely withheld an eye-roll. "Especially for the two of you." He said, and waited until Aomine and Aya looked at him. He gave them one long stare. "Don't you dare sprint for the whole 25 laps. Do you understand? The last thing I need is two injured idiots."
"Don't worry. It's better to have 5 races than 1, don't you agree?" She looked at Aomine.
He nodded. "You'll lose."
"When hell freezes over~"
"And they are at it again…" Naito sighed.
"How can Aya-san keep up with him at all?" Arai still had problems keeping up with anyone, he could only dream of ever keeping up with one of the two.
"She has the same crazy blood in her veins." Yamaoka grumbled, surprising the first years in the process, as he rarely ever talked with them.
"They are different blood types, Yamaoka-kun. You should keep to the facts, if you want to talk big." Imayoshi corrected him.
"It's not about a blood type and you know it, Imayoshi. Stop quibbling about such things."
"The precision, Yamaoka-kun, the precision~" He sang and went to take his place in the first running line.
Yamaoka muttered something under his breath, but no one really cared anymore.
The first runners were Imayoshi, Susa, and Aomine and Aya. Katsunori didn't know when to let the two idiots compete, but if they were in the last group, they'd cause a bigger ruckus.
"It's not really a race." Susa reminded them.
"I think it should be." Aya smiled at him. "Because… It motivates you better if you can outrun someone, doesn't it?"
"Not really. Just don't hurt yourselves."
"Tche, we aren't amateurs senpai."
"Do you always have to be rude, Honey-bun?" Aya glared at him, he was probably the only one who could use 'senpai' as an insult. Susa-senpai was only being nice to all of them ever since the beginning of the school year.
Imayoshi snickered at the face Aomine made.
"Are you ready?!" Satsuki asked with a stopwatch in her hand.
"Ossu!" All four shouted in unison, all banters forgotten.
"GO!"
The four of them sprang forward. It took only four of five steps for Aya and Aomine to take a lead.
With the spring in her step, Aya could make her strides longer than usual and it wasn't much of a problem to keep up with Aomine. She decided to hold on to him, using his speed as an anchor, and then accelerate in the last 20 meters of the run.
Susa and Imayoshi watched the two, who'd left them in dust. They could only dream of running in such a speed for two whole laps. Mother Nature sure wasn't fair in allocation of natural talent and abilities.
Accelerating in the last meters wasn't only Aya's idea. Aomine too, didn't want to burn up all of his energy at once, because repeating this five times would be taxing even for him. He just hoped that Kagami's energy reserves weren't larger than his own. If so, then it could be a problem.
They both accelerated, if it was even possible, in the finishing line. Katsunori carefully observed which one would be the first, because he thought that Satsuki alone wouldn't be able to tell with 100% accuracy. That's how equalled the two seemed. Whoever of them won, it would be only by millimetres.
Aya didn't care about where Aomine was anymore. She wanted to win.
All he could peripherally see was a red blur to his right. This time, he wasn't underestimating her, he'd learnt his lesson. But he couldn't let her win. Not again. The only one who can beat me, is me, dammit!
They both dashed past Satsuki and came to an abrupt halt, whipping around to hear who'd won.
"Errr… Uhm…" She glanced at the coach. "I saw Aomine-kun. His time is 0.08 second better?" She peeped, not really sure.
Katsunori nodded. "I've seen the same. So the first win goes to Aomine."
Aya nodded in understanding. She hated to lose, but she also knew how to admit defeat. In this round, she'd had the feeling he'd been slightly better. But nothing was lost yet. There were four more opportunities to win.
"Three leisure laps, understood?"
"Haaai."
They both started jogging, to ease their strained muscles. They kept to a side of the track, to not get into anyone's way, as the others were still sprinting. Keeping the same steady speed wasn't a problem for either when they weren't racing.
"Heh, I thought you are a sore loser." He snickered.
"I don't make scenes, Honey-bun." She winked at him. "And besides… when it comes to speed, we are about equal. But when it comes to stamina, I win. There are four more races."
Then she eased her pace a bit, falling behind Aomine. She didn't want to talk anymore. Running was helping her to clear her head, and she could use these three laps to think whether to forgive him completely or not (she wouldn't tell him of course).
After the fourth round the score equalled. Two wins for Aomine, and two wins for Aya. Aomine had won the first and the third race, while Aya had won the second and the fourth. In terms of timing, all wins and losses were separated by less than 1 second.
They were indeed equal when it came to speed. But Aomine was already starting to feel a fatigue creeping up on him. No matter… The fifth race was the last; he decided to squeeze out the necessary energy even if it killed him.
"GO!"
They sprang forward for the last race. The only focus of both was to reach the finishing line as the victor. Their breathing was heavy, and their legs' muscles were burning.
Aya knew that this was her critical point and once she'd get past it, she could keep on running for eternity – at least that's the feeling she had. A familiar feeling, when the body wanted to give up and rest, and yet, once overcome… Go. Keep runnin'. GO! She let out a grunt, ignoring her burning lungs and accelerated to her maximum.
She got one step ahead.
Oh no, you don't, Sweetheart. He thought his thighs and calves would burst, but he forced them to move nonetheless. There was no way he'd lose, but he had to admit, the redhead was amazing. To think that someone would push him to exceed his limits…
"They are unbelievable!" Satsuki squealed. "I don't even know who to cheer." This was the first time; she saw Aya's max speed. Or at least she thought it was Aya's max speed.
"They are pulling one another." Katsunori mused. "None of them wants to loose and admit defeat, but once this is over I believe they'll sleep during classes."
The last meters.
They hurtled past Satsuki and Katsunori. This time, they didn't manage to stop immediately, their momentums were too strong. When they managed to slow, they turned around and came to the judges.
"S-so?" Aya asked, catching her breath. She'd be so dead during the two afternoon practices.
Katsunori glanced at Satsuki's timer. They'd decided that he'd measure Aya's time and Satsuki Aomine's.
"It's a tie." He said in surprise. He'd swear Aya was the winner, but apparently not.
"A tie? You sure you measured it right?" Aomine asked incredulously and slumped to the ground. He was done for.
"So a tie, huh." Aya started laughing with hands on her hips. This was hilarious.
"Look at it yourself." Katsunori shrugged. "I believe this is your personal record. For both of you."
She shook her head. "I don't really care about the timing. Oh well… Now the recovery laps."
"A tie…" Aomine repeated and a dangerous grin spread across his face. Kagami Aya was truly amazing.
She stared at Aomine for a moment, but he didn't seem to be getting up any time soon, despite the wild expression he had on his face. "Come on, let's go." She grabbed the front of his t-shirt and yanked him to his feet again. So heavy! "If you remain sitting, you'll die tomorrow. I bet you haven't put this much effort into exercise in some time." One lap was, after all, 500m and this exercise was a killer one.
She can still go on? He let her drag him for a moment, until he regained some leisure pace.
"I can't believe it's a tie." He mumbled as they ran some more.
"Sounds believable to me." She shrugged. Suddenly, she fumbled, falling out of her pace with a hiss and she glanced at her feet. Shit, not now…
Aomine got ahead. "You okay?" He asked and looked over his shoulder.
Aya caught up. "Yeah, fine." She ignored the pain of a freshly torn blister. Or maybe she just hadn't noticed it sooner, she wasn't sure.
They ended this exercise first and waited for everyone to finish with their running, expecting some more power training, but Katsunori cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention.
"On Friday afternoon we have the semi-finals, which shouldn't pose a problem for any of you. And yes, you'll attend classes normally." He was met with disappointed grunts and eye-rolls, and he had to fight an eye-roll of his own. "However, on Saturday, we'll be facing Kirisaki Daiichi." He said seriously. He'd watched the matches Aya'd asked him to, and he too, was worried for this bunch of the boys he called his team. Satsuki was meanwhile handing the research papers to everyone, which surprised those who weren't regulars. "Read it during the classes, we'll watch a video of Kirisaki Daiichi's last match in the afternoon, so no practise. It's going to be a strategy meeting."
Aomine yawned, and crumpled the research; he didn't want to read it. Why should he be bothered? There was certainly no one to beat him in basketball.
Katsunori noticed it and shot a glare in the boy's direction. "It goes for you as well, Aomine. You don't have to play on Friday, if you so choose, but you'll be necessary on Saturday. And I expect to see you in the afternoon as well."
He stared at Katsunori for a moment. The lax man could indeed have a fiery look in his grey eyes. He is the former ace of the national team after all… "Tch. Hai, hai. I'll be here."
######
They've finished watching the footage of a Kirisaki Daiichi's match, and then the video of their fouling Aya had made and went through Satsuki's research.
"So that's what we needed to see." Imayoshi exclaimed, he was surprised to see his junior, Hanamiya Makoto leading the Kirisaki Daiichi team as the captain and also the coach – he was only in his second year, and already a captain. "This is going to be dangerous." He said with half smirk.
"Do you know them?" Susa asked their captain.
"I know their captain and coach, Hanamiya Makoto." He said, sounding almost proud. "We went to the same junior high and we were on one team. He is incredibly smart, though his personality is wretched and don't be fooled, what you've just seen is not even a half of what he can do on court."
Aomine yawned, not at all impressed by this style of basketball. He wasn't fond of team plays, he mocked and insulted his opponents too, but he'd never physically hurt them during a game, at least not intentionally. But he had to admit that Kirisaki Daiichi was decent at least.
"I thought so." Satsuki said, going through her research. "Why do they play this way, Imayoshi-san?"
"Hanamiya loves misfortune of others. He likes to see them suffer. He's been discreetly fouling ever since the junior high, but that time, he couldn't do it in this scale."
Katsunori was pulling at his fringe, thinking about what he heard. "Have they played like this the last year too?" He asked and looked at Satsuki.
"Well… From what I've gathered, the fouling started last year, when Hanamiya became the captain. I couldn't see any obvious fouls on videos, but there were injuries; aces mostly, or players who stood out. For example Seirin's center, Kiyoshi Teppei, ended up with a severe ACL damage during the last inter-high, and is currently still rehabilitating. Whether he'll return or not, is unknown." She used Seirin as an example, because they'd been a new and very small team at the time, and still hadn't escaped the foul play, plus Tetsu-kun and Taiga-kun were there.
Imayoshi nodded. "That definitely sounds like Hanamiya's plot."
"Kiyoshi Teppei, huh? Mabo' tried to recruit him into Shuutoku's team, but the boy refused for some reason…" So he went to Seirin?
Aya blinked at Katsunori. "Eh? Taiga's never mentioned him."
Satsuki shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't know? His senpais might not be talking about it; their defeat was indeed terrible that time."
"Hmmm…" Katsunori rubbed his chin. Kiyoshi had been a star player at the time, he'd been thinking of recruiting him as well. "Touou shouldn't be affected by the spider web. But we can be affected by the foul plays… That makes me think about the starting line up."
"You're not thinking of forcing me to come and then making me a bench warmer, right?" Aomine grumbled with narrowed eyes. He didn't like the direction this conversation was taking, and he felt that coach might've been thinking of preserving his 'ace players', to prevent injuries.
"That's what I've been thinking indeed. You and Wakamatsu should probably sit this one out."
"What?!" Wakamatsu shouted. "Why me too?! I ain't a star player." The blonde protested loudly. This wasn't fair.
Before Katsunori could answer, Imayoshi came to support his vice-captain.
"But there is one detail coach." Imayoshi butted in; he was the captain after all. "We don't have anyone suitable enough to play Wakamatsu's position now. We need a skilled center. Hanamiya's team is strong even without fouls."
"How strong?" Satsuki asked, because she could only analyse what she could see, and if Hanamiya showed only a small portion of his skills…
"He is one of the uncrowned kings; almost on par with the generation of miracles. I haven't seen him play seriously in years, and we've never faced Kirisaki Daiichi in any prelims so far, but I wouldn't take them lightly. Especially if Hanamiya's become the coach."
Katsunori sighed; Imayoshi had a point in this. "Fine." Then he turned to face his two functional shooting guards. "How's your ankle, Sakurai?" He was running this morning…
"Ah, sorry. I think it's much better. Sorry for causing you trouble."
"Hmmm… Tada will be a starter; Yamazaki is quite tall for a shooting guard." When he noticed Sakurai's dejected face, he had a need to cheer the boy up. "It's not a punishment for your injured ankle, understood? I need an efficient team to win."
"Sorry, I didn't think that…" Sakurai started to freak out, when he noticed Aya's pointed stare. He gulped, no, he didn't want to do any more push ups.
Katsunori nodded. "Fine. As for a power forward –"
"I'll play it." Aomine said, before the coach could finish.
"Yes you will, but not from the beginning. You'll substitute Yamaoka, or step in, if it's necessary to create a point gap. Understood?"
"I agree with the coach." Imayoshi nodded. Aomine was the best, but handling Kirisaki Daiichi from the start might end up with Aomine broken. He didn't want to risk that, even though he didn't doubt Aomine's ability to cope with fouls.
"Ossu." Yamaoka nodded immediately. He was strangely happy, that he was chosen to be a starter.
"Tche." Aomine snorted. "If you want that useless bum to play…" He was insulted by this decision. It was his position; he was the best in the team, so why the hell would they make him sit out in a match where he could possibly have some fun? He could handle fouls.
"What did you say, Ahomine?!" Yamaoka shouted at him in defence.
"Want me to repeat it, useless bum?" He asked with a mocking grin.
"Stop it. Both of you." Imayoshi ordered in a strict voice. If Aomine wasn't obedient, Yamaoka was, he respected and feared their captain.
"So." Katsunori cleared his throat, unfazed by the starting dispute. "For the strategy… Just play like you usually do. Force them into one-on-one games; don't let them cooperate on those fouls. They can't break a teamwork which doesn't exist."
Aya frowned at this, but she couldn't oppose. Katsunori was essentially right. She would probably advice the same thing too; abandon the teamwork and work on your own. Still, the idea tugged at her heart, this wasn't what a team was supposed to be.
The next three days and the Friday's match went by in a blur. Everyone in Touou, maybe except Aomine who was prickly, was nervous and excited about facing Kirisaki Daiichi, which had one of the 'uncrowned kings'. And Aya had to deal with Taiga's excitement about facing the other kings: Seiho and Shuutoku.
When the day of the matches arrived, Aya was disappointed she couldn't see both of the Seirin's matches. The preliminaries' semi-finals and finals were held at a one huge complex with four gymnasiums. The matches went on consecutively in two gyms, where each gym was divided into two courts. The spectators' area was huge, dark, and those on the court could barely see who was sitting up there.
She frowned at an announcement board.
"Disappointed about somethin', Sweetheart?" Aomine's voice rumbled behind her. He slacked off during the semi-finals, but he wanted to be there for this match. He was interested in this Hanamiya Makoto, who was claimed to be on par with them.
Aya ignored the nickname; she was already used to it. "We are in the same gym with the block D." She sighed. "I hoped to see both of Taiga's matches today."
"You sure they can win against Seiho?"
"They did their research well. And if they can get used Seiho's movements during the match, I think they won't have a problem to win. When it comes to offence, they're better than Seiho. And I really want to see them play against Midorima and Takao."
Something dark flashed in Aomine's eyes. And Aya didn't quite like it. If both teams, Seirin and Touou, won, they'd inevitably clash later on. She didn't know the whole history, or rather, she knew only Satsuki's impression and hers point of view, not Aomine's or anyone else's; simply because Aomine had refused to talk about it. She had no idea what facing his former teammates could do with the ace. If she were to face Ray, her former partner, she wasn't sure how she would behave either. And knowing Aomine, she worried he might close up again.
"Tetsu should be able to get away from a defence." But with Seiho's man-to-man defence, he doubted Seirin's ability to win. If there was no one free to receive Tetsu's passes…
And Aya echoed his thoughts. "If he is the only one who can do that though… Well. I can imagine the struggle." Which is not that bad; it might force Taiga to grow…
The people who wanted to watch the matches were starting to gather up.
"We should go." He said and pulled Aya's elbow to get her away from the announcement board in the hallway. The last thing he wanted was to bump into someone familiar.
"Hai, hai. You don't have to drag me, gee'."
One corner of his lips turned up into a half-smile, she couldn't see, and he didn't let go. The coldness he'd felt from her at the beginning of the week was slowly easing up, but he wasn't sure he could consider it 'okay' just yet. And he actually feared the possibility of Seirin winning both matches, and hoped they would win at the same time. He didn't really want to face Tetsu, and yet he wanted to face Tetsu the most. He was conflicted; he didn't know what he really wanted anymore.
He changed into his jersey and threw a jacked over his shoulders. He wasn't a starter. No matter what he'd said, Harasawa refused to let him play from the beginning.
Aya, Satsuki and the coach were standing next to the door, watching over the 12 boys, chosen to be either players or bench warmers. The others and Kiku were already in the spectators' area holding a seat for Aya.
The atmosphere was rather heavy compared to the previous matches. Even Wakamatsu was eerily quiet and it made Aya worry a bit. She'd never thought she'd see Touou quiet like this.
"Let me tape your ankle." She approached Sakurai when she noticed he was fighting with a tape, not quite sure how to wrap it around his still slightly frail ankle.
"Sorry. I thought I could do it on my own." He flushed and looked away from her reddish eyes.
She sighed. There was probably nothing she could do about this apologising habit of his. "It's fine, I'll teach you properly later, 'kay?" She undid whatever he'd tried to do and started over.
"What are you afraid of, ha? Couple of bruises?" She asked suddenly, everyone's head snapping in her direction. Touou wasn't a team of scaredy-cats. "Kirisaki Daiichi can't compare to you in terms of offensive strength. There are players to sub you out any time necessary. Hell, I will sub you out if necessary. We've researched them and we have Aomine. So… What are you afraid of?!" She repeated her question in almost a shout.
Her reddish eyes were staring at them. She didn't doubt their ability to win; sure she worried for injuries, but she believed in them. They were her team after all. 'Sorry for using you.' – She conveyed to Aomine when their eyes met. She didn't know why, but sometimes they could understand each other without using words.
He responded with one of his typical arrogant grins. She just soothed his ego.
"AAAARGH!" Wakamatsu roared in response. "Nothing at all! We will WIN!" He yelled; cheering up everyone in the process.
Imayoshi subtly sighed in relief. Silent Wakamatsu worried him too, but he didn't know what to say to liven them up. And he noticed that confidence returned to all of the boys. Once again, Aomine being an exception, but that was normal for someone of his calibre.
"Don't you dare think you'll lose. Not even for an instant." She added when she got up from Sakurai's ankle.
######
"Imayoshi-senpai. Long time no see." Hanamiya smiled slimily when they shook hands. "I've been wondering when we were going to face each other."
Imayoshi didn't let his kouhai to shade him and flashed a sly smile of his own. "Same here, Hanamiya-kun. But the winner is already set."
"Oho? I wouldn't say that." His eyes travelled to Aomine, who was wearing a jacket, obviously not starting in the game. "Your star seems to be benched, senpai. Trying to conserve him? Or is he injured already?"
The wording he used didn't slip Imayoshi's attention. Already, huh? He was right, Hanamiya was after Aomine. "Being you, I wouldn't worry about him~" Imayoshi smirked, swallowing the bad aftertaste that Hanamiya's words left. "He'll join the game soon enough."
Imayoshi had to admit, they could've been labelled as friends during the junior high days. Both with similar personalities, both calculating, both enjoying teasing others, sometimes to the point of bullying… But Hanamiya had changed, he still had that friendly fake expression that had fooled so many people, but something made Imayoshi's skin crawl. He had no idea what in particular it was though; he just hoped he'd figure it out during the match. Reading people had always been his forte and he didn't doubt he would see through Hanamiya eventually.
Hanamiya chuckled. "It's good to hear he's in the top shape, senpai. Let's hope nothing happens~" He saluted to Imayoshi and went to warm up.
"That was weird." Susa commented, when he stopped by.
"I just can't wait for this match to start." Imayoshi said, with a frown and eyes opened a bit more than his usual slits. Let's not give Hanamiya the pleasure… He decided and turned to return to his team.
"Kazuya!" Hanamiya called out to his PF. "You'll take care of their no. 8. We want to get Aomine-kun out after all~" I want to see the ace of the generation of miracles in tatters.
"Shouldn't be a problem, captain."
"You sure, you want the monster to come out?" Furuhashi asked as he usually tended to be the one brave enough to question their captain's decisions. The others usually complained under their noses, never talking back to Hanamiya.
"Mhah!" A dangerous evil grin appeared on Hanamiya's face. He was aware that his team probably stood no chance against Touou, they had Imayoshi as the captain, Aomine as their ace, and also their center was skilled. Though Hanamiya had never seen them play in this line up. So many outstanding players. It's hard to choose just one… "What do I always tell you, hah? Whether it's a genius or a prodigy, it doesn't matter; once it's broken it's just garbage. We'll start with their no. 8, he shouldn't be standing on the court, don't you think?"
Furuhashi nodded. "I'll help Kazuya then."
"Eeeh? Not needed, but thank you, Furuhashi-kun~" He said and made a chewing-gum bubble, which burst onto his face.
It'd be nice if we could break Aomine. Hanamiya though as they went to line up. But he couldn't be so sure about it, he didn't know Aomine's full strength after all and he doubted that the ace showed his true colours in any of the matches so far; if the ace played at all.
The tip-off went to Touou, as per usual. Wakamatsu had the explosive power needed to take the first ball for his team.
Tada grabbed it, trying to get the first points for Touou.
Tch. He frowned when the ball bounced out of the hoop.
Wakamatsu and Yamaoka were both under the basket already, trying to get the rebound. But only Wakamatsu managed to jump. Yamaoka's foot was pinned down by Kazuya, making it unable for the PF to jump. Then Kazuya leaped up, using Yamaoka's trapped foot as a stepping stone. He didn't really want to get the ball, it was already destined to be caught by Wakamatsu, but the no. 8 was his target, so he would inflict as much damage as possible.
"Bastard." Yamaoka muttered through gritted teeth. It hurt. But referees didn't notice a thing.
The first points were scored by Wakamatsu.
"Right from the start, huh?" Aomine muttered, as he watched the foul. To think they want me to play that badly. He smirked. These cheap tricks wouldn't work on him.
"You're playing as dirty as always~" Imayoshi hummed, while facing Hanamiya. He made sure, he kept enough space to see and possibly avoid any underhanded tactics. He'd played with Hanamiya on one team for some time after all.
Hanamiya smirked. "Good to see you don't care for them." It was refreshing to see a team which wasn't overly sweet with the teamwork crap.
"They are not children~" Now, should I pass? Where? Should I shoot? Indeed, I have enough space to do so… A sudden movement of Hanamiya's eyes made Imayoshi send the ball to Tada, who shoot immediately, scoring points. It was an instinct; a fleeting feeling of danger. Phew, just in time. He mused when Furuhashi appeared in his field of vision, clearly screening referee's field of vision.
The pass made Furuhashi change his direction as well.
Hanamiya's face twisted into a grimace. He hadn't expected Imayoshi to dodge a bullet like this. "You haven't changed in the slightest, senpai." That mind reading of his… "Too bad. I probably won't be able to crush you."
"Oh? Am I a threat to you?" Imayoshi's eyes opened to look at his kouhai. You are this open about fouling now, huh?
"Not at all." He said, stuck out his tongue and ran off to contribute to other points for Kirisaki.
The next victim was Wakamatsu who got hit into his stomach while trying to get another rebound. They'd tried stepping on his foot several times – unsuccessfully, so now this? He growled in annoyance and tapped the ball out of the court. Touou could afford letting the ball go to Kirisaki.
"Out of bounds!" One of the refs' shouted. "Kirisaki's ball!"
"What was that for?!" He yelled at Matsumoto, the Kirisaki Daiichi's center.
"Eh?" He looked at Wakamatsu with blank expression. "Did something happen?" He asked calmly, playing innocence. He didn't need the loud center to shout out he was hit. Too bad he didn't know Wakamatsu's short fuse.
"You hit me!" Wakamatsu shouted. It got a ref's attention and he shuffled closer, to see if there was any problem.
"I haven't heard the whistle." Matsumoto shrugged, and turned around as if nothing ever happened. I should be careful with this one.
Hanamiya took care of a throw in. As he was passing Matsumoto he gave him a message. "Leave the no. 6. Focus on the no. 8."
"Ossu." He nodded.
"You okay?" Tada asked his friend, when he came to rein in on Wakamatsu, in case he decided to return the favour.
"Yeah, you?"
"I rather don't count the rough screens…" He sighed.
"What's wrong with them?" Wakamatsu shook his head. This wasn't a game he was enjoying. In only 5 minutes, Kirisaki Daiichi had managed to cause several bruises, and all of his teammates were getting frustrated, mainly because they couldn't repay the favour.
The score was on Touou's side, but not by much; 18 to 13, certainly wasn't to Touou's tastes.
The ball was in. Furuhashi managed to force another points for Kirisaki Daiichi.
Imayoshi glanced at the coach. So far, he was the only one without a bruise. He wasn't sure if it was a part of Hanamiya's plan or not.
Harasawa nodded. The next out of bounds would be Touou's time out.
With Aomine out, Touou seemed to struggle to keep their lead. Even if they had read the research, and could predict some of the Kirisaki Daiichi attacks, the violence was something they weren't used to. An angry and frustrated player could never put up a decent fight. They knew. They knew all too well, but damn!
"Let me out." Aomine said when they gathered for a time-out. He didn't feel for his teammates, no. He wanted to prove to Kirisaki Daiichi that they couldn't touch him even if they wanted to. He wanted to break them in his own way. "I'll widen the point gap."
Yamaoka involuntarily felt a surge of relief. To think there would be a day when he'd be glad for Aomine... They were ganging up on him the most. He knew they wanted to get him off the court, but he was willing to protect his own position, he wasn't that weak. He'd remain there as long as necessary, but his ribs, feet and elbows hurt. He just wanted to sit down and rest for a while.
"Aomine-kun –" Satsuki started to scold him, but Katsunori shut her up with a wave of his hand.
"You have time until the end of the quarter."
"Hai, hai. I'll stay there 'till the end." He eyed Yamaoka. "This one seems to be done."
"What did you say, Ahomine?"
"Hah?!" A vein popped on Aomine's forehead. He didn't care what happened to this idiot but letting an injured player out was a shame.
"We'll see according to the situation. Are the others fine?" Katsunori turned his eyes to the other four.
Aomine took off his jacket and stretched. An arrogant smirk formed on his face, he'd savour defeating them.
"Look who's come out~" Hanamiya smirked. "Let's see what is going to happen." He'd thought it would take much longer to get Aomine out. But taming the monster might not be easy during the whole remaining 33 minutes.
"Let's see, senpai." Aomine spat out.
Kirisaki Daiichi soon found out, that breaking the prodigy, Aomine Daiki, was equal to impossible for them. He was simply too quick to catch. When they managed to shield a ref's field of vision, Aomine was already gone. When they tried to hit him, he avoided. Double teaming him didn't work either; he just slipped past, as if they weren't even there. And that unbelievable agility and change of pace he had. They didn't know his engines were still not fully on.
In the mere three minutes, he boosted Touou's score from 23 – 19 (as it was when he joined the game) to 37 – 21. His skills weren't to be trifled with.
Aya sighed in relief when the first break started and Aomine wasn't injured. She wouldn't admit it, but she worried for him more than for the others. Those feelings probably weren't something to be happy about, it was unfair. Yes, she hated seeing her team getting bruised up, but Aomine… If they inflicted some serious injury, he could lose his possible professional future. However, none of this was a reason enough to keep him benched and she wouldn't do that, more so if he wanted to play. Her eyes narrowed at Hanamiya.
"It's hard to watch." Kiku peeped. She couldn't watch Wakamatsu getting punched into stomach repeatedly.
"Then don't." Aya said.
Kiku's eyes snapped at the redhead, who rarely used such an icy voice. But it wasn't directed at Kiku, no. Aya wasn't paying much attention to her this time.
Ishii gave Kiku an apologetic smile. "Let her be, she worries for them."
Kiku nodded and looked back at the two teams discussing their next strategies.
"Tche!" Hanamiya was getting angry. He felt like kicking the bench.
Firstly, he couldn't use the spider web on Touou; there were no patterns to their passes he could read and Imayoshi was a terrible opponent. He could never guess what was going through the senpai's head. Secondly, Aomine was more perilous than he'd expected. The rough play didn't seem to have any influence on the ace. And then there was the 16 point gap.
"Calm down, captain." Furuhashi said and gulped down his water. "We still have three quarters."
"Let's just focus on breaking Aomine." As long as he could see Aomine crumble, he didn't need to win. "Look for any opportunity."
"Haaai." Kazuya blew another chewing-gum bubble and lazily scratched his head.
Aomine wiped the sweat off his face and took a water bottle from Satsuki. Even he couldn't afford to ease up against Kirisaki Daiichi too much. They weren't that good when it came to basketball, but the fouls were nasty. They were waiting for any opening he would offer like vultures. He could take a punch, but his body would most likely react in a defensive way, which had been enrooted into him since he was a child through the martial arts. He inwardly snickered at the thought he'd suddenly throw some Kirisaki Daiichi dude over his shoulder. But he couldn't cause a fight. And he needed to watch his back.
"You're staying on the court?" Katsunori asked him, because it the mere three minutes he'd sweated more than usual.
Aomine turned his stormy eyes at the coach and raised an eyebrow. "'f course I'm."
The second quarter started in an unbelievably quick pace, thanks to Aomine. His teammates could barely keep up, but he didn't care. There were several opportunities for the others to score as well. Kirisaki Daiichi was barely hanging in.
"You said you wanted Aomine to play~?" Imayoshi smiled slyly at Hanamiya when they faced each other again.
"I'll find a way to crush him. But the others might want to watch their backs too." He smirked. "One never knows…"
Who are you focusing on now? Imayoshi took in the entire court and all of his players. None of them seemed too bruised up or too tired. But Hanamiya was right. Aomine was stealing the spotlight from the others. The refs were focused on Aomine more than on the others.
That sure was one good opportunity to hurt the less outstanding players. Tada? The boy kept landing the threes in quite well. Or Susa?
Susa got almost hit by Matsumoto's elbow as the latter swung down with a clear intention to hit him, but the loud center managed to jump in between and stop it.
"What are you trying to do, you bastard?" Wakamatsu growled at him, but he didn't get another chance to cause a scene.
"Nothing. I'm just playing." He shrugged and passed to Yamazaki, who made the shot. Tada wasn't quick enough to stop it this time.
"Or maybe you." Hanamiya's voice sounded awfully close to Imayoshi's ear and he felt a sudden jolt of pain shot through his lower ribs. When he turned, Hanamiya was already several steps away, handling the ball he stole from Tada.
Crap, he played me. Imayoshi rubbed the sore spot.
The second quarter ended with Touou leading 58 – 36. For the mid-game 10 minute break they all went to the changing rooms.
######
Touou's changing room:
"I-I b-b-brought you some honey soaked lemons." Kiku peeped as she presented them the treat, stuttering again. The atmosphere was so heavy, she couldn't help herself.
Aya was leaning against a wall with her arms crossed. Then she pushed off. "Shirts off. All of you." She said strictly.
"Eh?"
"Come on, we don't have the whole day."
Reluctantly, they all took off their jersey. Everyone except Aomine had some sort of a bruise, either on their sides, ribcages, or stomachs (and she didn't count the elbow and knee bruises). Or all three places, in Yamaoka's and Susa's case. Susa-senpai had seemed to be coping well and she hadn't noticed when he got so bruised up.
She frowned at seeing the darkening bruises. "Cool it down with ice for about two minutes, and then I'll apply a cream on your bruises to ease the pain and fasten the healing."
"Can I dress back…?" Aomine asked with a teasing sparkle in his eyes. 'Or do you want to stare some more?'
Aya understood his hidden question and rolled her eyes. This was not the time to neither stare nor flirt. She grabbed his sweat-drenched jersey and threw it into his face. "Don't forget the jacked. We don't need the ace to catch a cold, do we, Honey-bun~?"
The boys snickered at the nickname. At least the two didn't lose their teasing demeanour.
"Tch. You witch." He rumbled under his nose, but couldn't resist a smirk.
"By the way, you should watch your back, Aomine."
"Hm?" He looked at her while he was pulling the jersey over his head.
"They are starting to gather around behind your back whenever you jump to shoot. I bet they're studying, looking for a time when you're the most vulnerable."
"Really?" Katsunori asked with a frown. There were indeed things one could only see from above.
"Tch." His instincts had warned him the last couple of times he'd jumped. He couldn't see them, but he could feel them there. So I wasn't paranoid.
Kiku's lemons travelled around the room as the players thanked her and took a bite. They were holding ice packets wrapped in towels as Aya had ordered. And they listened, or quietly discussed their own observations. Satsuki's data was perfect, but Kirisaki Daiichi's plots couldn't be predicted.
"I don't know how you're gonna cope, but don't let them sweep you off your feet. There are still two more quarters." Aya reminded him.
She approached the others with the pain relieving cream which fastened the healing process. She started with Susa, whose bruises looked just as bad as Yamaoka's. Yamaoka had been benched already. He could wait.
"Kiku, would you mind taking care of Wakamatsu-senpai and Tada-senpai?" Aya asked her. She wanted to quicken the process and also she didn't want to make Kiku jealous that she'd be the one applying the cream on Wakamatsu's stomach. She just didn't think of what her calm demand would cause.
Kirisaki Daiichi's changing room:
They were sitting in a circle, drinking and eating honey-soaked lemons. "So?" Hanamiya asked. "How does it look?"
"He is the most vulnerable in the moment he lands on his feet." Furuhashi said. "But that's only a moment."
"You think you could sweep him off his feet then?"
"Hmmm… I'd need help. Aomine seems to notice us, somehow."
"Kazuya and I will help you get him down. But wait until the end of the third quarter. I want to see their faces when they'll lose their ace just before the last quarter." He snickered.
He is a psychopath… Furuhashi thought, but shrugged it off. Whatever, he didn't care.
######
The third quarter started more carefully. Imayoshi and the others decided to cooperate more than usual, leaving Aomine to cope on his own. The refs paid more attention to the ace than the rest, so the rest had to keep an eye out for each other. Bruises were nothing serious, but Imayoshi couldn't afford any grave injury amongst the best core of his team. He refused to give Hanamiya the pleasure of breaking any of them.
But Kirisaki Daiichi seemed awfully sincere during this quarter. They kept the rough play to a minimum, playing almost earnestly. They wanted Touou to start feeling safe, to ease up.
Hanamiya changed positions with Kazuya.
"Oi, oi," Aomine smirked as he noticed the Hanamiya himself facing him. "You sure that's a good idea?" Hanamiya was shorter than Kazuya and probably weaker when it came to physical strength.
"That arrogance will be your end one day, Aomine-kun~"
The voice which Hanamiya used made Aomine think of a slippery eel. "Oh? Threatening me?"
"Not at all." He smirked and received the ball.
Several steps away, Imayoshi frowned at Kazuya. "You sure you want to try that?"
He chuckled lazily. "Hanamiya isn't that weak."
And really, Aomine had to admit that once the eel got the ball, he knew what to do with it. Hanamiya's basketball skills weren't cheap, not as good as his, but definitely decent. And then he shot a floater.
"A tear drop, huh? Haven't seen that coming." Aomine muttered. It wasn't that high, he could've easily jumped high enough to catch it, but he hadn't expected the eel to have such a technique in his arsenal.
"I don't just use the dirty tricks." Hanamiya stuck out his tongue. "I can score whenever I want."
Aomine's eyebrow went up and he sneered. "Really? Let's try it out."
The next couple of shots Hanamiya tried were all fully blocked. He couldn't shake Aomine off at all. So this is the monster. But it wasn't like Hanamiya hadn't expected this. On the contrary, it was according to his plan that Aomine focused most of his attention on him.
"Scoring whenever you want? Don't make me laugh." Aomine snorted. And threw the ball in. Just like that. Without even jumping. "But you were more entertaining than the others so far. Should I show you? What scoring whenever you want to looks like?" Well… In the next quarter. He added inwardly after checking the clock.
Eh? Hanamiya blinked. Was he holding back until now? Or is there more to his skills? He had to begrudgingly admit that Aomine Daiki was amazing; though it didn't change the fact that he wanted to break him.
"Please do so~" He hummed, provoking Aomine.
Hm? His eyes narrowed. Some warning light flared in the back of his mind. Whatever they'd plotted, he'd manage.
There was the last 30 seconds of the third quarter. Hanamiya exchanged glances with the others. It was time. Their scores were beyond catching up with, 94 – 58 for Touou, but…
Hanamiya got the ball again. He went for the shot, expecting Aomine to jump for a block.
The ace responded instinctively and jumped. He noticed Kazuya and Furuhashi sneaking up from the sides and he knew that something was coming. He could feel a fight when it was coming. His adrenaline peaked and everything seemed to slow down.
When he was landing, Kazuya's foot swept his left foot, before he could fully land on it. Like this, he couldn't really keep his balance; no matter how talented he was, he couldn't defy physics. And he could see that Hanamiya 'bumped' into Furuhashi 'by accident', making him 'fall' backwards, with elbow conveniently stuck out.
"Aomine-kun!" Satsuki shouted in panic.
When Aya saw what was happening, the blood froze in her veins. If Furuhashi landed his elbow on Aomine's face… It could cause a severe concussion and a broken nose at least…
"Daiki!" He could hear Kagami's voice from the spectators' area.
"Keh." Aomine snickered, as he hooked Kazuya's foot with his right ankle, making it unable for Kazuya to disengage and dragging him down as well. In the meanwhile, Aomine stuck his chin to his chest, to avoid hitting his head; both of his arms went slightly backwards as he'd learned in jiu-jitsu, to ease the fall – and at the same time hit Kazuya – and he twisted slightly to avoid Furuhashi's elbow.
The Aomine's reaction was automatic and instinctive, he didn't think about a possible damage he could inflict. He was simply protecting himself.
When they landed, Furuhashi slammed his elbow against the wooden floor of the court, yelping in pain. And Aomine landed partly on top of Kazuya, his left elbow bore into Kazuya's solar plexus, though not as hard as it could've been.
The both referees blew their whistles to stop the game. It wasn't necessary, as the timer went off signalling the end of the third quarter.
The referees and the other players surrounded the bunch on the ground.
Furuhashi sat up squeezing his elbow, which was starting to swell. The pain was jolting into his entire arm in waves.
Aomine sat up, discreetly letting go of Kazuya's leg, which didn't seem to be as okay as before. Definitely a twisted ankle. Aomine thought. Serves him right. But Kazuya seemed to be choking. Well, the inability to breath was one of the side effects of such a hit, but something was wrong.
The chewing gum! Aomine remembered and immediately pulled Kazuya up, it didn't matter that it was an enemy; he hit him between the shoulder blades, making the boy spat out the stuff he'd had stuck in his throat.
Kazuya took in a raspy breath and started to cough. He calmed down after a while but he was still breathing with some difficulty. And then he retched.
He probably hit his head. Aomine couldn't feel sorry for neither of them. They got caught up in their own game.
The refs hadn't seen what exactly had happened until the three were on the ground. Two of them injured. But they couldn't blame Aomine, he was just lucky to end up in between – and that in between was suspicious. They looked at Furuhashi, while Hanamiya was trying to get Kazuya up.
"What happened?"
With a frown Furuhashi looked away. "Things got rough." He shrugged. "I don't really remember it."
They frowned, but there was no time to deal with this. "Take those two to the infirmary. Immediately." One of them barked at Hanamiya.
Two benched boys from Kirisaki Daiichi came to take Kazuya and Furuhashi away. By the glare Hanamiya gave the two injured ones, they could expect some serious scolding later.
"You okay?" A ref asked Aomine.
The boy smirked. "Nothing's broken or twisted. I can continue the game."
"We'll continue as well." Hanamiya barked at the ref.
"Gather up in two minutes." He nodded to both captains and Aomine.
Aomine came to the benches and slumped down.
"Aomine-kun! Are you okay? You aren't hurt, are you? It looked so nasty! Are you really okay?" Satsuki flooded him with questions. Her voice was panicky, and she was freaking out.
Aomine covered the ear closer to Satsuki. "Gee', quit yappin'. I'm fine." Despite how dangerous it might've looked, he wasn't hurt, probably not even bruised up. He grabbed a water bottle and drank its contents."No. 10 was a good cushion and no. 7 hurt himself, when he missed my face." He shrugged. "I told y' I could take care of myself."
When he looked up, he could see Aya gripping the railing, staring down at them. He couldn't see her face clearly, but he'd recognize that red hair of hers anywhere. He smirked and gave a quick nod in her direction. After a few more seconds her tense posture visibly relaxed and she slumped back down into her seat in the front row.
"He almost caused me a heart attack." She sighed heavily, rubbing her face.
All the boys were staring at her in surprise. They were shocked by the situation too, but to think it'd have such an impact on Aya.
"You sure you're not dating?" Kano asked with a teasing grin.
She shot him a glare. "Don't go there. Just don't." She said irritably.
"Yes ma'am!"
Aya huffed and turned back to stare at the court. Loose locks of her hair left to frame her face that day covered a blush which appeared on her face. She knew that people here used their family names unless the relationship was of the very close friends, family or a couple. She was trying to do the same, but right now… It just slipped out of her mouth before she could think about it. Get a grip Aya. She growled at herself inwardly. He wouldn't want of you. And you're friends.
"Seto!" Hanamiya roughly kicked a sleeping boy. "You're playing."
"Huh?" He asked sleepily. "You told me you wouldn't need me."
"Circumstances changed." He barked. "Warm up." No one dared to oppose their captain when he was this furious.
"Gee', give me my hair gel and I'll go."
The fourth quarter started with two new players of Kirisaki Daiichi's side. Seto was the usual part of the team, but no.6. wasn't. They couldn't cooperate that well with the boy.
Aomine demanded to face Hanamiya directly. "I've promised something, right? Or have you given up already, senpai?" He was smirking at him, his stormy blue eyes staring down at Hanamiya with a deep scorn.
Hanamiya didn't care about the brat in front of him anymore. He was furious. He could burst out from the rage he was feeling. Not only had he failed in destroying Aomine, but his own fucking teammates ended up in the infirmary.
"Hmph." Aomine snorted and grabbed a pass from Tada.
Yes, he did show to Hanamiya what it meant to score whenever one wanted.
The rough play was shut down completely, allowing the other Touou players to move with more ease. Despite the fact that Hanamiya gave no such order, the others could feel the gap created by their two teammates hurt by their own tactics. They weren't calm enough to continue with that strategy, not in this game.
In the end, Touou won. By doubling Kirisaki's score. 150 – 74.
They lined up to shake hands.
"How does it feel to get beaten in your own game?~" Imayoshi was grinning at Hanamiya. Probably similarly to when I lost in poker… He hadn't thought that Aomine would take out two of the Kirisaki's players, but it was a lucky miscalculation.
"I'll destroy you the next time." He growled through gritted teeth. It was pointless to try playing friendly and nice when Imayoshi knew his nature.
"Good luck in the winter cup then~"
######
"Come on, slowpoke. I can't wait for you for eternity." Aya complained, when she was the last one to stay in the changing room waiting for Aomine to pack up. "I want to go to Seirin already."
There were still around four hours until Seirin's match against Shuutoku, but she wanted to be with Taiga already. The rest of the Touou's team went out to eat, to celebrate the pass to the Interhigh. Aya couldn't go, and Aomine didn't want to go. So they were left behind. Satsuki took it as her personal task to protect Kiku if the boys said something dirty to her, though Wakamatsu would most likely do a decent job on his own.
He raised an eyebrow at her, stuffing his sweat-drenched jersey into his bag. After the match was over and the adrenaline from the fall dissipated, he felt unbelievably tired. He just wanted to lay into his bed and sleep. But there was nowhere to hurry.
"You're still here, y' know?"
"Because I need to lock up and return the key!"
"I can do it myself."
"You'd forget, or you wouldn't do it at all, 'cause it's too much trouble." She imitated his lazy tone.
He shook his head at the imitation. "That's not how I sound."
She shrugged. "I don't have your vocal cords." She retorted.
"Hai, hai." He picked up his stuff and slowly shuffled towards the door. He was moving intentionally slow, to annoy Aya even more.
She sighed in exasperation, but she didn't really mind it. It meant more time spent with him. "Don't do that to me." She said quietly, when he was passing by her.
"Hm?" He stopped at his stride and turned to stare down at her.
She huffed and raised her head to stare into his eyes. "Don't scare me like that ever again, stupid!" She said louder and her eyes were burning with suppressed worry and care and anger. Aya hadn't been on the court; she couldn't have run down there. The powerlessness she'd felt when she'd watched him almost getting crushed had been a terrible feeling.
"Hah?!" His eyes widened. "I'm completely fine! I had in under control. I don't do jiu-jitsu for nothin'." He retorted, but the intensity of the feelings swirling in her eyes took his breath away. Yeah, Satsuki worried for him too, but this felt different.
He heard her voice then.
'Daiki!' She called out to him. Suddenly he felt self-conscious. She hadn't used his family name; she hadn't used the nickname she'd given him. On instinct, or emotion, or whatever it was, she called out just his name. The name she'd never used before. 'Daiki.' A blush creeped onto his face and he turned away from her.
She turned her face down as well. Similar thoughts running through her head, but it didn't matter anymore. He was fine. Nothing had happened. Not to him at least. "I know you can handle yourself." She breathed out. "I know, but still…"
His huge palm landed gently on top her head and he ruffled her hair. "Don't worry 'bout me, silly." His voice sounded a bit deeper than usual. "Ain't worth it."
She blinked. She didn't understand. "Huh?" She wanted to look up at him, but his hand stopped her from doing so.
He didn't want her to see his face now. And he didn't want to look at her right now. He didn't think he could refrain himself from hugging her, from showing her that he truly was okay; not if those reddish eyes of hers looked at him like that. Heck, he needed to persuade himself that he was truly okay. The girl had probably no idea what effect she had on him.
Think carefully what you want, boy… Hikaru's voice was haunting him. Tch.
There was one more thing weighting on his mind, for which he felt guilty. "Sorry for the other day. I shouldn't've said that."
Her jaw almost hit the ground and she was left speechless. Aomine Daiki apologising on his own accord… "Mhm." She nodded in acceptance. "It's okay. You spoke before thinking."
The guilt was lifted off of him. She was so quick to forgive him for his missteps, and that stupid mouth of his. He nodded to himself as well. Then a low, almost desperate chuckle escaped his lips before he turned his back to her and started walking away.
Aya remained frozen on her spot. What the hell is the meaning of this?! Ain't worth it? As in you? Or what? And that chuckle, in wasn't meant for her, she could tell that much… What is going through his head?
Her hand patted the spot where Aomine's palm had rested just seconds ago. She blushed at the thought of him ruffling her hair. He wasn't fair. He should've known what effect he had on her.
"Don't forget to hand in the key, Sweetheart." He called out to her, not turning to look at her. A smirk could be heard in his voice, though it was probably a fake one.
His voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "Don't worry, Honey-bun! I can do my job properly!" She called out after him, hoping her voice sounded just like usual. She checked the changing room one last time and then she hastily slammed the door and locked it
######
After threatening the two injured idiots, who were out of practises for a good month, for their incompetence, Hanamiya wandered around the complex. He sent his team home, locking the changing room and returning the key. He didn't feel like looking at those idiots for quite some time or he'd kill them. He thought of going to watch the games of the other teams.
There was still a time before that, so he headed towards an outside vending machine, hoping he'd find a black coffee there.
When he reached the vending machine, there was a girl tucked in her jacket, smoking a cigarette. He'd never seen such a vivid red hair colour before. He could tell she didn't notice him. She had a blank expression on her face, but she kept on chewing her lower lip. She was probably around his age, but without a uniform, he couldn't pinpoint her to any school.
"Problems?" He asked in a pleasant voice and tossed coins into the vending machine.
"Hm?" She turned around, slightly startled. It was rare that someone managed to sneak up on her. Hanamiya Makoto? "Don't you have your own?" She asked levelly. This man had been hurting her team during the match. She didn't want to talk with him.
Two drinks came out and he leaned forward to take them out.
"Did you watch the matches?" He asked with a polite smile and offered her a black coffee. The same he chose for himself. If she was smoking, she'd probably drink coffee too. He had no idea why he was doing it. Maybe he just needed to occupy his mind with something else besides the injured idiots.
She took it reluctantly. Was this really the bastard she'd seen on the court? Well whatever, she might as talk with him. He had no idea she was a Touou's manager. And getting to know one's enemy was never pointless. Wouldn't hurt anyone… unless she decided to strangle him in the middle of their chat.
"Yes." She nodded. "How are your teammates? That fall looked nasty." Her voice sounded neutral.
A dark light glimmered in his eyes. Did she have to bring them up? "They'll be fine."
A chill ran down Aya's spine. He was dangerous and she needed to be careful with her words, or he might even lash out at her. It was the bastard she'd seen. "Want one?" She asked and offered him a cigarette. She decided to avoid talking about basketball.
He stared at it for a moment. "I've never smoked in my life." He admitted, with a half-smile, quickly reining in on his dark emotions.
Aya shrugged. "Tastes terrible, but it helps me to calm down."
After a small thought he reached for a cigarette from a nearly full pack. "Let's give it a try." He shrugged. He was in such a foul mood that this couldn't have made it any worse.
"Kagami Aya, by the way." She said when she lit the tip of his cigarette.
"Oh, how rude of me. I'm Hanamiya Makoto." He inhaled the tobacco fumes and started coughing. Tears appeared in the corners of his eyes.
Aya laughed. "The usual first-time reaction."
He glared at the cigarette. "How can you smoke?"
"Dunno. I can handle the stinging feeling?" She shrugged. "But if my brother knew he'd kill me." She'd promised to refrain from cigarettes for couple of months.
"A secret smoker?" He asked and took another draw. He'd finish this one. The first and the last.
"Not really, I just don't smoke regularly."
"Only when you're stressed?" He guessed. The redhead had something that was putting him on edge. She didn't seem wary of him, a random stranger; she wasn't trying to get away. He hated strong and confident girls. They annoyed him to no ends. He wanted to hurt them, make them cry, break them. And this one had confidence written all over her. And yet, for some reason, he continued to talk with her.
"Something like that." She opened up the packet and took another one out. She tilted it so he could see inside. "I've bought this in December. And it's more than half full."
The wind got stronger, chasing dark clouds in the sky. Aya tucked her jacket closer and struggled with a lighter. She needed to shield it with her hand. "Tch. I hate this weather."
"A storm is coming." He pointed out. "Are you going to watch some other matches?"
"I'm interested in Shuutoku vs. Seirin."
"Oh? So they won against Seiho…" A devious smirk appeared on his face. He could remember how well he'd crushed Seirin the last year. "Maybe I'll watch that one too."
"Ayacchi?!" Kise's voice reached her.
She turned around. "Ah, Model-kun? Haven't expected to see you here. Have you watched the Seirin's first match?"
Another annoying one. Hanamiya growled inwardly, noticing the familiarity between the two.
Kise eyed the remnant of Aya's cigarette and Hanamiya with a surprise and a scold, but he didn't comment on it. "Yeah. I figured Aominecchi wouldn't play." He said ignoring Hanamiya. He didn't know the boy, but he'd ask her later.
"Touou would've had some sever injury without him. No doubt about it. Though he almost got injured himself." She said and shot a pointy glare at Hanamiya.
"Eh?" Kise's eyes widened at the news. Aominecchi played? But Aya wasn't paying attention to him at the moment and the atmosphere suddenly tensed.
Hanamiya's eyes narrowed at her and she smirked, unzipping her jacket, so he could see the Touou's insignia on the left side of her chest. "It seems we're enemies, Hanamiya-senpai."
"Mhahaha." Hanamiya laughed upon seeing this, it was a kind of laugh that made your blood freeze. His greyish eyes shining with something close to madness. If he'd figured it out sooner, he could take his anger out on her. She'd suffice. Now there was a witness. "What a cunning little bitch you are, Kagami Aya."
Kise bristled and wanted to speak up to defend her, but Ayacchi's malicious smirk stopped him from doing so.
"Know your enemies~" She sang, and turned to join Kise. Suddenly she was so glad he'd appeared there. "It was nice talking to you. And oh. Thanks for the coffee, senpai." She threw the cigarette butt into the can and threw it into a bin next to the vending machine.
A/N: So, Kirisaki Daiichi! As they didn't appear in the Interhigh they must've been defeated in the prelims, and to be honest who's better fitted for that role than Aomine? Personally I feel very content with this chapter, so I really hope you liked it as much as I do.
Let me know what you think and remember, reviews are appreciated but never necessary.
-S.