A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed! :)
Here's the little Akita adventure, not much of Aomine in this one, but... Enjoy!
I love seeing new places and meeting new people. I'm sort of addicted to travelling. – Erin Heatherton
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea. – Robert A. Heinlein
When you loved someone and had to let them go, there will always be that small part of yourself that whispers, "What was it that you wanted and why didn't you fight for it?" ― Shannon L. Alder
I would rather have a body full of scars and a head full of memories than a life of regrets and perfect skin. ― Atticus Poetry, Love Her Wild
You live as long as you dance. – Rudolf Nureyev
If you care about somebody, you should want them to be happy. Even if you wind up being left out. ― Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience. – Paulo Coelho
Few days earlier in Yosen's gym:
"Eh? And who's that?" Murasakibara asked lazily, pointing at the boy standing next to him. He was a lot shorter than him, with grey eyes and the left half of his face was covered by his long fringe all the way to the corner of his mouth. But the boy had a comparable aura to Kise-chin, maybe? Atsushi was staring at him, trying to figure out where he'd seen him before.
"I'm Himuro Tatsuya. We are in the same class, Murasakibara-kun." He repeated for the third time that day with a sigh. It was getting on his nerves, but he needed to somehow befriend the giant, who had everything Tatsuya'd ever lacked. Being new somewhere was sure difficult, and he was there all alone.
"Hm…" Atsushi frowned at him. "Boooring."
A vein popped on Tatsuya's forehead and he bit his tongue not to retort anything rude.
"Ahaha. Don't take him too seriously; he is like this with everyone. I'm Fukui Kensuke, the vice-captain. I'm glad someone like you showed up."
"Nice to meet you." Tatsuya replied politely and shook hands with him. "I'm glad you took me in so late in the season."
"But of course! You just won't play in the Interhigh. We already started it with the team we have, and it would be weird to suddenly bench someone… Aaanyways, I guess our current shooting guard, Muri-kun," Fukui pointed at the said boy, who turned around and bowed slightly before continuing his shooting. "will quit after the Interhigh to study, so the position will free itself for you."
Tatsuya nodded. It wasn't his intention to create a crack in the team. And he didn't mind waiting. His shoulder wasn't feeling that well lately. "I understand."
"Oh, hello! So you're the famed Himuro Tatsuya, coach talked about." A huge hand landed on Tatsuya's shoulder and he turned around. A huge guy, shorter than Murasakibara, but bulkier, with a split chin and sideburns was staring down at him.
He looks like a gorilla… Scary. Tatsuya thought, but kept his poker face. "Hey. You must be the captain."
"Okamura Kenichi. Welcome to Yosen's team." He rumbled. "Fukui will take care of you and tell you everything necessary."
"It'll be my pleasure~ I bet the girls are all over you with your looks, eh?" Fukui teased.
"Ah…" Tatsuya chuckled sheepishly. "I don't do it purposely. It's troublesome, really."
"Don't mind. Maybe I'll finally get a girlfriend thanks to that!"
Let's hope so… Tatsuya thought, hoping that his natural popularity with the opposite gender won't cause him problems on the team.
The coach wasn't there yet, so the practise was lead by Okamura. Tatsuya got into it quickly. It was different from the usual outside practises he'd had with Alex, but it wasn't bad at all. Yosen was a defensive team, which meant his abilities in defence would have to improve a lot, and at the same time he provided the team with an explosive offensive power – something their current shooting guard lacked as he noticed. He also noticed that the giant wasn't interested in the practise much, he kept complaining nonstop, sometimes taking breaks to eat snacks, and on top of it all, while they were playing mini matches (which Tatsuya watched from the sidelines for the time being) Atsushi hadn't moved away from his basket for a second, perfectly guarding it but never joining the offence.
Araki-sensei walked into the gym with a shinai resting against her shoulder at the end of their practise, followed by a little girl. "That's enough!" She called out to them and waited until they'd assemble. "I see you've managed without me, kids! There were things I had to take care of. And I'd like to introduce someone to you."
The girl stepped forward, her chocolate brown eyes shining with a curiosity, excitement and the smallest of fears. She was just 148cm tall, so she had to crane her neck to stare at all the tall guys around her.
"Hey fellas! I'm Hironaka Sumire, class 2-1. I wanna be your lady-manager-san!" She said and grinned.
"An angel." Fukui sighed.
"A manager?! Someone wants to be our manager?!" Okamura asked his teammates. "Am I dreaming?" He said teary eyed. "Finally someone!"
"Who forced you to do that?" Liu asked unemotionally.
"Ah, chibi-chan. Do you have something sweet?" Murasakibara asked and bent down to look at her face properly.
A vein popped on Sumire's forehead. "What did you say, you giant troll?" She hissed and slapped her palm across Atsushi's mouth. She was sensitive about her height, which kind of made her a perfect target for jokes.
"Ha?!" He glared at her and straightened up. "What's with the rabid squirrel, Masa-chin? I don't like her."
The coach glared at him and hit his shoulder with the shinai. "What did I tell you about calling me Masa-chin, hah?!"
"I ain't a rabid squirrel, you fukin' giant!" Sumire joined Araki-sensei.
Whoa… Where have I arrived?! Tatsuya blinked between the arguing people desperately. Praying this wasn't the norm.
"Aya! Hey!" Suzume was waving at her the moment she came got into the waiting hall on the Akita's airport.
A wide grin settled on Aya's face. Yes, this was what she needed at the moment. She quickened her pace and launched herself into the girl's arms, pulling her into a hug.
"Did you grow again?" She asked teasingly, when she barely reached Suzume's collar bones.
Suzume frowned down at her. "Don't even talk about it. I'm 190 cm now, and I seriously hope it stopped." She grunted. Being so tall as a girl in Japan was like a punishment. There were barely any attractive guys taller than her, and she always stood out.
"Oh. You're the same height as Taiga then!"
"So no high-heels in the summer training camp." She sighed. "I get it."
"Are your grandparents really okay with me staying over?"
"Of course! Maybe they'll ask you to help around the shop a bit, but I figured you won't mind anyways." Suzume shrugged and headed out to catch a bus. "Welcome to Akita." She added with a bright smile.
"Wait, wait, wait. What shop?" Aya had to run a few steps to catch up with Suzume's long legs and quick pace.
"A sweets shop in a spooky, old, yet awesome, neighbourhood. Haven't I told you? I'd swear I did."
"No! You haven't. What else do I not know?!"
"Ahahaha." Suzume laughed. "We'll have plenty time to catch up tonight. I s'pose you weren't planning to sleep, right? I'll introduce you to my grandparents and Yomi. You know, my childhood number one best friend?"
"Yes, yes. I'm so excited~!" Aya jumped in her step and the girls boarded a bus.
They chatted about trivia the entire way. And once they arrived at the street where Suzume lived Aya stared at the old houses framing the street. "Whooooa! This is amazing!"
"Yeah, I know, right? Come on, we had ours a bit rebuilt though… The height is sure an issue here."
Aya blinked at her in confusion, but followed with a hyped spring in her step. She loved seeing new places, meeting new people, it made feel joyful and happy. This is what she'd needed. Maybe she'd have no time to visit any tourist destinations, but she didn't care. When she noticed a glass window with displayed cakes, she understood. The inscription carved into the wood above the door said 'Moriyama's sweets kingdom'. It was already closed for the day, but Suzume unlocked the door and walked into the cozy shop.
A doorbell jingled, announcing their arrival. "Hey! We're home!" Suzume called out.
"Come to the kitchen!" A woman's voice answered them.
"Aya! Come on." Suzume nudged her after several minutes, but the redhead was drooling over several brands of chocolate, and then running towards a coffee rack, and then across the shop to check out the solid candies and lollipops.
"This is heaven!" She exclaimed with a childish glee. She loved how the interior looked, not too big, not too small, just perfect. Everything seemed to be made out of dark wood. At the back were several beautifully carved tables – probably for the regular patrons. "It's amazing!"
A deep chuckle interrupted her staring. "Oh!" She immediately turned around, and stared at a huge man around his sixties, who came into the room. "I'm sorry for my rudeness." Aya bowed immediately with a chuckle.
"It's all right! I'm more than glad to see happy faces of my customers!" He chuckled. "You must be Kagami Aya-chan. We've heard a lot about you. I'm Moriyama Naoto. Come on in, the dinner is ready."
They had to cross a big kitchen with six ovens and a huge middle "table" where the sweets and cakes were prepared. Everything in here looked somewhat strange, but Aya couldn't figure out why. After the shop's kitchen, there was a narrow corridor ending with a tiny hall, where they took off their shoes, and entered the residential part of the house.
There she met Suzume's grandmother, Saeru, who was already serving a dinner for them all. Aya was always good in talking with people, so the conversation at the table flowed naturally. She was asking about the shop a lot, and the grandparents were asking about her school and championships and all. And surprisingly she didn't mind.
"Oh!" She clapped her hands when she figured what was weird about the house.
"What is it?" Saeru asked her curiously.
"The house… Everything is adjusted to your height!" She blurted out. "That's amazing!"
"Well, we are kind of a family of giants." Saeru laughed. With her 189 cm, she stood only 7 cm shorter than her husband and 1 cm shorter than her granddaughter.
"Mornin' Yomi!" Suzume greeted her friend, who was waiting for them in the morning, so she could meet up with Aya.
"Good morning." She greeted them. "Sorry I couldn't join your night discussions, but I kinda fell asleep with the little ones." She scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, and eyed Aya up and down.
Aya watched the girl with curiosity too, mainly the two coloured hair. The lower half of Yomi's pitch black hair was dyed electric blue, and it looked awesome. In combination with her blue eyes, it gave the girl an air of magic. She wasn't surprised that Yomi was about 10 cm taller than her. Ever since she'd come to Akita, she felt like a dwarf. Everyone she knew was taller than her; need to say, she wasn't exactly a short girl herself. And she hadn't even met the Yosen's team of titans.
"That's fine. I'm Kagami Aya. It's nice to meet you."
"Endo Yomi. Nice to meet you too. You have nice uniforms in Touou!" She said and ran around Aya curiously. "I seriously hate my sailor uniform. I want to hurry up and go to Yosen too."
"Ah well… I wanted to wear my casual clothes, but Araki-sensei said I should properly wear my school's uniform."
"You don't like it?" Yomi asked and adjusted her glasses. "It's cool though."
"Thanks, I just don't like wearing it more than necessary. Anyways, I heard you play volleyball too, which position?" Aya asked curiously, because looking at Yomi's expression she'd never guess the girl was in a sports club.
"I'm a wing spiker and a receiving specialist, you can say… But I'm no match for Suzu." She said staring at her feet.
Suzume ruffled her hair. "What are you saying? Last year, we met in Tokyo, in the final match of the spring tournament."
"And I still lost, even if your knee was hurting. I could barely get any spike through; you either blocked it or received it." Yomi pouted. "But I can only get better, so I'll become a good and reliable teammate to you, once we are finally in the same school."
"Ah, right, you lived in Miyagi till recently, right?" Aya asked looking at Suzume. "Didn't you have a boyfriend there?" During the night, they mostly discussed Tatsuya, and Aya felt bad for not asking Suzume about her troubles.
"Yeah, we broke up. And mom sent me off here to cure my 'volleyball filled brain'…" She rolled her eyes. "She's never wanted me to play volley and she knew Yosen didn't have a strong team whatsoever, or, I believe she thought there was none. I guess she had it well thought out. My team right now… they suck. And what's worse, they're not even trying to get better. You can't play volleyball alone. What's the point of such a club then?"
"When I join, it'll get better! I think one or two girls from my team want to attend Yosen too. So, we'll build a new team quickly." Yomi said enthusiastically.
"I wonder about that."
Yomi parted halfway and the girls arrived at Yosen. Suzume accompanied the redhead to Araki-sensei's office, as she had no idea where she should go to, and went to her class. She could hear whispers about Tatsuya all over, but she didn't care one bit. She knew everything relevant from Aya, and couldn't care less about the stupid rumours. Well, despite that she was indeed curious what ruckus was Aya's presence going to cause in this usually calm and steady institution.
######
"Aomine-kun?!" Satsuki asked in surprise when Aomine strolled into the gym for the morning practise.
"What?" He asked her. "I feel like practising, any problem with that?"
She hid her smile. "No problem at all."
"Did your mom enjoy the chocolates?" He asked with a dangerous undertone.
"Ahahaha. Yes! Of course she did! Thanks for fetching it for me!" She answered awkwardly and looked everywhere but Aomine. She hadn't done the trick smoothly at all; she'd just thought it out on spot.
"You're unbelievable." He shook his head, totally seeing through her.
"Well, you at least talked with Aya-chan! Nothing wrong with that."
"Hai, hai." He sighed and looked around, partially hoping that the redhead would miraculously appear. "She really went away."
"Just for a couple of days, Dai-chan." She teased him with a smile. "She'll be back in no time."
He rolled his eyes and joined the running boys. He had no freakin' idea why he would come to practises when Aya wasn't even there, but he really felt like working out. Maybe he'd been sitting on his butt for too long. Certainly, the other two matches were boring as hell for him, but… Kagami Taiga was a threat. Maybe the boy had a long way to go, but what if that was exactly someone Aomine was looking for all over. If so, then he couldn't just stay still. And further in the Interhigh, he was about to face his former teammates, at least some of them. 'Don't let me down again'… was what she really wanted to say, eh? He thought, knowing she had camouflaged it, like always, to protect herself from another disappointment and to give him a backdoor. Then I guess I will try to keep that one.
######
"Let me introduce a student who came here for a couple of days to advise the boys' basketball team." A teacher said with a sigh and pointed at Aya, standing in front of everyone in her Touou uniform.
"I'm Kagami Aya. It's nice to meet you all." She said with a friendly smile and her eyes rested on Tatsuya, who was keeping his poker face, but his visible eye was screaming 'shock'. Then she stared at Murasakibara, who was secretly munching on an Umaibo right behind Tatsuya.
"Go take the seat at the back." The teacher said unimpressed and a boring history lesson started.
Aya had to try her hardest not to fall asleep, and suddenly she felt grateful for their sensei, because this one was so monotonous he'd make watching paint dry seem fun in comparison.
"Tatsuya! Hey!" She came to his desk and hugged him briefly. "Long time no see." She switched to English just to confuse the hell out of everyone in the class. She was supposed to be there only until Friday, she could handle the girls' glare-daggers for that long.
He could've felt how her heart was pounding. She must be just as unsure how to face me as I am… "Long time to see indeed, Robin. What are you doing here? You didn't warn me you'd be coming."
"Ah well… Araki-sensei asked me to teach your manager about what to do… She doesn't want to be bothered by that."
"The little swearing demon you mean? I guess she'd be fine without your help too."
"A swearing demon?"Aya raised an eyebrow at that.
"Yeah. You'll get it once you meet Hironaka-san."
"I'm interested."
"And you are?" Murasakibara turned around to ask. It might have taken him a long time to remember Muro-chin, but the boy was his friend. He sure as hell wasn't sharing him with a stranger who just came like a flood.
"Kagami Aya." She smiled at him. "You must be Murasakibara Atsushi-kun, right?"
He nodded and glared at her. How did she know his name? And what the hell had she talked with Muro-chin about?
"Oh, wait!" She lifted her finger and turned to her bag, rummaging through its contents. "I have something for you!"
"Eh? For me?" He asked curiously, tilting his head.
"Yeah!" She said and triumphantly pulled out two packages of cookies. The one Aomine had recommended and a one she bought in Suzume's shop in the morning – or left the money at the counter when she took it. "Here you go. I thought you might like it." She presented her treats to Atsushi.
He stared at it for a moment. Then stared at Aya for another, and suddenly she looked much friendlier. "Thank youuu, Aya-chin." He said and took the packages.
"Eh? Aya-chin?" She tilted her head; she hadn't been warned about a nickname.
Atsushi nodded seriously. " 'cause you brought me sweets." He explained.
"Seriously?" Tatsuya asked and stared at Aya. "That's all I needed to do? It took me days 'till he remembered me!" He complained, knowing that Atsushi sucked in English and couldn't understand a thing.
"Yeah, our ace told me to tell you about it. I guess you arrived earlier than I've expected. You should've given me a call or something, you know." She rather didn't mention Aomine's name as she had no idea what kind of relationship he'd had with Atsushi and she didn't want to fuck up right in the beginning. And she also knew that Tatsuya would cooperate. They might've not been dating anymore, but they were still friends.
"Could you switch to a normal language?" Atsushi asked lazily, munching on his new treat he'd just received.
"English is a normal language." Aya smirked at him. "But okay. So how is the new manager?"
"Ah. A rabid squirrel." He replied immediately. "A chibi-chan. A pipsqueak."
"Atsushi." Tatsuya scolded him with a look. "It's rude to talk about other person like that."
"So?" The giant shrugged. "She didn't bring me anything so far."
"So you only like people who bring you something?"
He shrugged again and munched on another cookie. "Where'd you get it?"
"This one is from a chocolate shop near my house in Tokyo. And this is from a sweets shop here, in Akita. Why?"
"Hmmm… Which sweets shop?" He asked curiously. He still hadn't discovered all sweets shops in the vicinity and he was always for looking for another one. You know, just in case. What if something happened to all the shops he knew? He needed backups. And backups on backups.
Aya scratched her cheek sheepishly. "Ah… I don't really remember the address." She'd promised Suzume she would definitely not give out the address to her schoolmates. It was Suzume's little secret and safe ground, and Aya wasn't the one give out such things.
"Useless." He muttered and didn't pay any more attention to her.
She raised an eyebrow at Tatsuya. 'Seriously?!' She meant.
Tatsuya just shrugged. He didn't completely get the giant yet either.
The school day went on peacefully. Aya vanished during a lunch break to eat with Suzume. The tall girl wasn't into socializing much and she didn't feel like personally meeting with Tatsuya or Atsushi, so they found a quiet hidden corner of the school where they ate their lunches.
To Aya's surprise, she was handling the situation with Tatsuya pretty well. She didn't have to pretend anything. The ring hanging on her neck felt a bit heavier than usual, or she was just noticing its presence a bit more, but it was fine. She was fine. The lovely looks Tatsuya was getting from other girls didn't disturb her and she could speak with him normally. She wondered how he was feeling. Usually she could read his feelings in his eyes, but that day, his poker face was more unreadable than ever and even his eyes were playing tricks on her.
"Hello." She greeted the basketball club and Araki-sensei as she walked into the gym in the afternoon. "I'm Kagami Aya. I'm here to help your new manager." And to get info on you in the process…. "Please take care of me for the next couple of days."
"Another girl?!" Someone asked in disbelief.
"And from a different school!"
"Look at that figure."
"This is too much for us in such a short time span…"
Aya had to withhold a chuckle. Poor boys… But they were indeed giants. At least three of them were over 2 meters tall, and the rest of them weren't left in the dust. My neck will hurt from constantly looking up at them... She caught Tatsuya's glance and his eyes were smiling at her. She really didn't get him at the moment.
"Oh, a big-booby person!" Sumire glanced at Aya from behind the coach. "Nice to meet you! I'm Hironaka Sumire."
She blinked at the tiny girl, shorter than Kiku, who was exactly on the eye level with her boobs. "Please call me Aya." She said with a smile.
"Nah. You're a big-booby person." Sumire shrugged with a smirk. "I'll call you that."
A vein popped on her forehead. "Oh?" She opened her mouth to say something like 'Okay chibi-chan' but Tatsuya gave her a 'don't go there' look. "… What should I call you then?"
Sumire's eyes narrowed. The redhead had just dodged a bullet. "Whatever you want."
"Fine. You'll be Hero then."
"Eh, that's not even a nickname." The girl pouted, it was just a shortening of her name.
"Oh but it is. In English it is." Aya smiled and fought an urge to ruffle the girl's bob cut hair. "Okay then. Let's get started." She crossed her arms over her chest and stepped aside. As much as she wanted to join the practise, her sole purpose was to explain everything she knew to Hero.
"I see. You know your role here, Kagami-san." Araki-sensei stood next to the girls. "Katsunori warned me you might join them."
Aya scratched her head with a sheepish smile. "Honestly, I'd love to join them, but eh… You really have a team of titans, sensei."
"The bigger the better." Masako nodded. "But the new one, he's really a good material. Thanks for the recommendation. Though he needs to work some on his defence."
Aya's eyes trailed Tatsuya, they were just warming up and she was really curious how much he'd improved in the months they hadn't seen each other. "That might be true. He is more of the offensive type of player."
Masako stared at the redhead for a moment, trying to guess what kind of relationship was between the two. But then she shrugged, it was none of her business. "Okay guys!" She shouted and went on to describe their training regimen for the day.
As Aya figured out, the tiny girl had no previous experience with basketball and she didn't know much about the sport. Therefore, she had to teach everything, starting with explaining the basic rules, what was important to notice, how to take proper notes, how to prevent strains and so on.
"Whoah…" After the official practise had finished, Sumire had several pages of notes and so much information that her head was definitely going to hurt. "That's a lot of stuff I need to do! I thought we just take care of the drinks and towels." She said as the boys started cleaning up the gym.
Aya gave her a sideways glance. "Wanna give up? You still have a chance to do so." Gee' why do I sound like Imayoshi-senpai?
"Fuck no! You've come all the way from a friggin' Tokyo, because of me! I'm not givin' up."
A swearing little demon. Tatsuya said it well. "Why did you choose to become a manager in your second year?"
Sumire glanced at her looking as if she wanted to joke, but then she sighed. "Allrigh' I'll tell ya my sad li'l story." She stared at the boys still practising and her eyes got a distant look in them. "I want to be of use to someone." She admitted. "I was in track and field club since elementary. Long distance runs were my specialty… You might think that with my height I can't run properly, but…"
"It's about stamina, not the length of your legs." Aya smiled at the girl encouragingly.
"Yeah. I'm small but I'm tough." She said flexing her biceps. She chuckled at it. "Last autumn I was practisin' like crazy for this upcomin' race. I don't even know how it happened but I tore my Achilles tendon, went to surgery. Can't really run anymore." She said with a longing expression. "But! There's no time to dwell in self-pity! I needed to do somethin' and this club seemed to be in a need of a manager, as everyone's fuckin' scared of them. So I thought… Why not?"
"Hmmm… Nice motivation you have there, Hero. Though one detail. You can still run, if you take it slowly at the beginning." Aya suddenly felt like protecting this girl. I've chosen the right nickname. Hero was rude and straightforward, but she was coming from a good place and Aya could feel that.
"Nah. I've already decided. I want to be the best manager they could ever have."
This time, Aya couldn't help it and ruffled the girl's hair. "And I'll help you become one." She grinned widely. "Promise."
"You're gonna fry my brain in these four days, big-booby-chan, but I really like you."
The redhead sighed. "Aya. My name's Aya."
"I'll see what I can do 'bout that." She grinned too and turned to grab the bottles to go wash them. "Uff." She wavered when a wall of muscle rammed into her shoulder.
"Ah, chibi. I couldn't see you there." Atsushi muttered wiping his face.
Sumire bristled and elbow punched the giant's stomach. "Then open yer eyes, ya purple elephant!"
"HA?!" He bent down to stare at her face. "What did you just say?"
"Open your eyes, you purple elephant." Sumire repeated coldly staring right into the lavender eyes of the giant. She wasn't scared of any of them and definitely not of this arrogant prick.
Whoa… A Chihuahua yapping at a Great Dane.
"I know what you're thinking." Tatsuya's voice came from behind her, and he was awfully close, interrupting her thought process. "And they are always like that."
"Don't scare me, Tatsuya." Aya barked and turned around.
He chuckled. "Want me to walk you to wherever you're staying at?"
"No thanks. Suzume's waiting for me at the school gates."
Tatsuya sighed. "And there I thought we could play some one-on-one." It wasn't as strange to behave normally as he'd originally thought. Aya was already over him, he knew, and if he didn't want to cause her trouble he should act like he was too. But… Not causing her trouble… Was it really what he wanted?
She studied his expression closely, she wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she felt like she needed to keep her guard up. It made her feel slightly uneasy. Since when have I ever kept my guard up around him? Strange… "Tomorrow. We'll play tomorrow." She promised nonetheless.
She brought cookies for Atsushi the next day too and started speaking with the other people in the class. Her natural cheerfulness and friendliness pulled everyone in.
"Hmmm… She's too bright." Atsushi pointed out and munched on his cookies. "But she brings me sweets, so she can't be bad."
Tatsuya was watching her with a smile and a slightly nostalgic look in his eyes.
"You know her well, right?" The giant asked, noticing the subtle change in Tatsuya's expression. He didn't really care about the people around him, but he wasn't stupid. And Muro-chin was his next door neighbour and classmate and he had caught his interest a bit. Because he is similar to Kise-chin…
"I guess she made it pretty obvious yesterday." He sighed and looked at Atsushi. "I've known her for years. We're best friends, you could say…"
"Hmmm…."
"And we used to date." Aya added coming from behind him, but no one else seemed to pay attention to her anymore.
"Eh?" Both of them snapped their heads at her.
She chuckled. "What? It's not like it's a secret or anything."
The honesty in which she'd said it made Tatsuya blush and he shook his head. "I seriously can't handle you."
"Never could~" She teased. "So, Atsushi-kun… I can call you that, right? You family name is too long."
"Ah, yeah." He nodded. It never bothered him what people called him and he was shortening the others' names too, so he couldn't really protest.
"How tall are you exactly?"
He blinked at the sudden question. "208 cm."
"And you're still 15?"
Atsushi nodded.
"Unbelievable. Didn't you have any spine problems when you shot up? I mean… you must've grown in a really short time period."
"Eh… well… it hurt a lot. But I had no serious problems."
"Hmm…"
"How tall is Taiga?" Tatsuya asked suddenly. The last time he'd seen Taiga, he was around his height, but now he wondered.
"190 cm. I guess he'll grow a bit more, but probably not too much."
"Is he in the Interhigh?" He continued almost urgently.
"No. They didn't pass the final league during the weekend. They lost their first match against my team and it dragged with them."
"Dragged?" Tatsuya's eyebrow shot up. He wanted a further explanation.
"It's Mine-chin." Atsushi said lazily. " 'f course it would drag. Even I can't shut him down completely."
Useful info. So Mine-chin, huh? "That. And Taiga had been injured before the match, hadn't fully healed, because he's an idiot like you." Her eyes were pinned into Tatsuya's. "In our match he pulled a muscle in the beginning of the fourth quarter. And why do you even ask? I thought you guys were in an argument."
"That's…"
"Tch… Cowards. Both of you."
"Aya. It's more complicated than that. He –" But Aya's palm covered his mouth.
"Don't. I've heard that. I've told you where I stand, you won't persuade me otherwise and I'm not arguing with you about this again."
Tatsuya frowned but nodded.
"Good we understand each other."
######
"So that was a layup right?" Hero asked Aya during the practise.
"Yep. Fukui-senpai is pretty good at layups."
"Hm."
"What?" Aya turned to look at the girl.
"He's pretty cool." She said with a faint blush. "I mean… Standin' his own among all the giant players, leadin' their attacks... That's cool."
"That's the role of a point guard. He needs the others to trust him the most. It's a huge responsibility too, but he seems to be doing a really good job."
"And why is the elephant not movin' at all? It irritates me!"
"He is guarding the basket. Apparently he can guard everything inside the three-point line and is too lazy to run around." But I wonder if it's just that… She tapped her pen against the notebook in a thought. 'Not attacking? Why?' she wrote and circled it.
"You're takin' more notes than yesterday."
"You see Hero, I'm here to help you, but I'm also here to do a research on them. We might as well face you guys in the Interhigh. Which reminds me, that's also one of our jobs. They need to train, and we need to gather information for them."
"Huh… So a big-booby-chan is a spy. I knew you're not all goody-goody."
Aya shrugged. "Be glad it's me and not Satsuki. She's much better at this."
"She another manager of Touou?"
"Yep."
"Big-boobs too?"
"F-cup if I remember correctly."
"Whaaaa'?! That's fuckin' crazy! You guys are scary." Hero pouted and stared down at her B-cups.
"If you want I'll gladly trade." Aya grinned at her. "But be happy with what you have, it's much easier for you to sleep on your stomach or get a cute lingerie."
Sumire shook her head and focused on the boys again. She needed to learn everything fast. The next day she was supposed to have Fukui-san as her supervisor, because she needed to learn personal stats and measurements of the guys, and no matter how good Aya was this wasn't her team. There were things the redhead couldn't have known.
"Hmmm…" Aya bit her thumb as she observed Tatsuya. He was moving smoothly, using perfectly polished orthodox basketball – a polar opposite of Aomine's over-the-top streetball style. It was nice watching him, because he made it look so easy. He's polished it to the point of almost erasing unnecessary movements… Perfect fakes… Even if I predict it, I might not be able to react in time. But she knew he wasn't showing everything. And it was either because he didn't want to, or because his shoulder was feeling strange again. "Keep an eye on Tatsuya for me please."
"Hm?"
"Fukui won't tell you much as Tatsuya's just transferred, but he tends to overtrain and overstrain himself. His shoulder was dislocated twice already, so it might happen again. He won't say it, but he needs encouragement. And he is a good liar. If you're not sure what he thinks, look into his eyes. It'll take time, but you'll learn to read him eventually."
"So it's true then, huh?"
Aya looked at her curiously. "What?"
"It's all over the school. You were datin'. You might not be here for long but watch your back. Crushin' girls in fanclubs can be vicious."
"Oh? Yeah. We did, and I know. You don't have to tell me about it." So someone in the class was listening after all. And it took them only a few hours to spread it… I'm impressed. "So… Tell me, Hero, how did they twist it?"
"One story was that you cheated on him and he broke up with you. Another says that he couldn't fulfill your selfish wishes and you kicked him out. And then there is one sayin' that your parents didn't approve, but you're still secretly goin' out. It all makes you look like the bitch of the story though. I'm tellin' ya. Viiiiscious. But I guess none of that is true, right?"
She rolled her eyes. Of course I'm the bitch of the story. They all like him not me. "Creativity and fantasy don't have limits."
"I'm surprised you're talkin' normally."
"We'd been best friends before we started dating. No reason to throw it out just because we didn't work out as a couple." She shrugged. "Besides, both of us are good actors."
######
"Tche! Lower your centre of gravity, dammit!" Aomine scolded the two of them for the nth time that day. "How many times do I need to repeat myself?"
"Well sorry!" Kano whined. "You are just tall!"
Arai was on a verge of vomiting, because ever since he and Kano had been assigned to guard against Aomine he didn't give them a chance to rest at all. It was unbelievably difficult; trying to keep up with the ace, but Aomine was barking orders and correcting their stances; he wasn't nice about it but it was helpful. Not that they would be able to stop him with that…
"Tch. That's exactly why you need to lower it!" And it seemed that Kano had this problem only when facing him. Tch…
Kano took a deep breath. It was hard to do what Aomine wanted, but if Aya-chan was there, she'd probably bark the same orders. "I wanna try again!" He said.
"What?" Arai asked with wide eyes and his stomach turned.
Aomine frowned at him. "If you're gonna puke you should take a break."
He nodded. "Sorry Kano. I'll go get a drink."
Kano patted his shoulder in understanding. "Sure thing. I don't want to clean the floor after you again." He teased and laughed when Arai rolled his eyes at him.
"So?" Aomine raised an eyebrow. "You sure you wanna take me on alone?"
"Yeah, why not?"
Katsunori was just staring at the simultaneous mini matches taking place along the gym. No one else besides the first years was willing to go against Aomine. Maybe Wakamatsu, but that had almost ended up in a fight, so he'd banned them playing one-on-one. Either way, he was surprised about Aomine's change of attitude and he had a suspicion it'd somehow been Aya's job.
######
"Eh? Your ball handling got much better!" Tatsuya blinked at Aya's improvement. It was the second time she scored against him. And now the stats were 2:5 for him.
"I've told you I train with them." She chuckled and dashed past him.
He caught up and tried to steal from her, but she didn't let him. Aya's entire rhythm had changed since they'd last played together and Tatsuya couldn't quite get used to it. She'd always been using her natural speed and some sort of mixture of streetball and orthodox basketball, but there was something else.
She took a quick step back, entering a shooting motion, which made Tatsuya jump and just as he leapt up she smirked, ran past him and shot a layup, gaining another point.
"I thought you jumped!" Tatsuya exclaimed catching the ball – it was his offence next.
"I did ballet dear. I just stood on my toes there."
His eyes widened. "You're mixing dancing in?" He asked in disbelief.
"If I wanted to pass our ace, I had to dance my way around him."
"Hmph. Well… I'll show you something special then." He smirked.
"Oh? I'm interested."
They circled each other for a moment and then Tatsuya jumped. Aya was shorter, so to make the trick work, he didn't have to jump that high. It also gave Aya a false hope that she might reach it and stop it. And so she leapt up too.
And then she bilked in surprise. For a moment she couldn't see the ball at all, but she'd swear she touched it and then she heard it grazing the hoop as it landed in.
"What was that?!" She asked with her eyes wide.
"Won't tell."
"Tatsuya!"
"No. It's my weapon to defeat Taiga, when the time comes. I can't have you telling him about it."
"Then why show me at all? You know I'll try to figure it out."
He shrugged. "I don't really know. I felt like showing you." He smiled and then his eyes changed as he stared at her.
"What?" She asked picking up the ball.
"It's too dark to see properly." He said and then stretched his arm towards her. "But… Wanna dance? I guess you haven't danced in some time."
She narrowed her eyes at him. There was some hidden motive, she knew. But Tatsuya was right. Acro was dancing too, but it wasn't quite the dancing she had in mind. That fox. He knows I won't say no to this.
"What do you want to dance with me?" She asked as she took his offered hand.
Inwardly, he sighed in relief. He'd thought she'd decline him. "You've taught me only tango, waltz, cha cha and salsa. So? What do you feel like dancing?" He tilted his head to a side.
"Good question." 'When asking a girl to dance, and there's no music… the dance is always the girl's choice.' She'd once told him. He remembers well. "My choice is Salsa. Lately I'm teaching Senri acro, and we don't use any energetic music yet, so…"
A smile spread on his face and he spun her around. "Salsa it is then."
He took out his phone to find a music she liked, and they started dancing. The two idiots dancing in the dark on an outside basketball court. But she was laughing.
It'd been some time since she danced just like this. With someone who was important to her. And she had taught him how to lead her well. He wasn't touching her excessively, he didn't step on her feet, and she trusted his lead. Even though he'd let her down so many times, even though he wasn't the best guy, even though he'd lied… She trusted those hands leading her around the court. Though there was something missing. Something that made her heart pang, but she couldn't grasp it. And so, she turned off her mind and followed the lead. And she didn't care, she didn't worry about anything. She was enjoying the energy of the music and the dance.
When the music stopped, she was pressed against Tatsuya's chest. He was too close, and his grip didn't loosen. He didn't seem willing to let her go just yet. And for a moment, she wasn't sure she wanted him to.
Her hand reached his face and she brushed his fringe away. She wanted to see both of his eyes. He pulled away at first, but then he let her fingers brush a scar on his left cheek, he'd always been hiding with his hair.
"We shouldn't have jumped over that fence." He said remembering how he'd gotten it.
"We were being chased. Those dogs would've attacked us otherwise. We didn't really have a choice."
"Ah, right. One of them bit Taiga's butt." He chuckled.
The situation that time hadn't been funny at all. "Poor Taiga…" She chuckled too and sighed.
This closeness was so familiar. Her eyes roamed over his face. It'd been such a long time since she really saw it. How many times have I looked at him like this? She wondered, but then Aomine's face appeared in her head and she realised what was missing…
Her eyes remained staring at Tatsuya's lips a moment too long… He noticed it and leaned down. They hadn't broken up because they hated each other. So… Maybe…
"Eh?" She blinked and covered his mouth before he'd kiss her. This wasn't right. "I… Sorry, I can't." She said quietly and tried to push herself away from him.
"I thought you wanted me to." He said staring into her eyes, where he could see the swirling emotions, not letting her go.
"I… I'm not yours anymore Tatsuya." She bit her lower lip. "I can't… I don't want to."
He smiled sadly. With a sigh he let her go and ruffled his hair back to his usual hairstyle. "I knew you'd say it. But I had to try."
"Hm?" She blinked at him. "What are you saying?"
"If I… If I hadn't let you go then… If I'd tried more… What would we be now? I just can't stop thinking about it. I'm really stupid, eh?" His voice sounded almost desperate as he sat on a patch of grass framing the court.
"No." She said and sat next to him. "I used to think about that a lot too. If we'd done something, anything, to save it… we probably could have. But Tatsuya… We both let go. And even if we had saved it, I don't think we'd last. I'm just too much to handle after all."
And who isn't? "Was it right to let you go then?" He asked and squeezed his eyes shut. He didn't want to hear it, because she'd say the same thing she had back then…
"Whether you were right or not I don't know… but I'm glad you did."
"I can see that." He said and laid back staring at the night sky. "So we really are done…" What a terrible feeling… But it's my own fault.
"We really are done, Tatsuya. I'm not coming back. I'm sorry. I can't." I don't want to.
"A-aah. Just don't apologise. I want to meet that guy." He smirked and looked at her by the corner of his eye.
"Are you a masochist?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"No. I'm an idiot. But I want you to be happy. I can't even be angry at you. It was me who broke your heart then…" He'd had several months to get over her. He should've managed it, and yet… There he was, breaking his own heart all over again. And he wondered if there'd ever be someone who'd be willing to mend him once again.
She opened her mouth and then closed it. Tears welled up in her eyes and she looked away. Yeah, she loved this guy once, but she couldn't force herself to do it again. And even if… She would never fully trust him for the second time.
"If you start crying I will kiss you." He warned her.
"Wha'? No!" She exclaimed immediately. "I don't cry!"
Tatsuya laughed. "I guess I should walk you home, right?"
"It's gonna be so awkward tomorrow."
"No." He reassured her as he pulled her up. "We're still a patchwork family. Don't worry 'bout it."
"Thank you." She said in barely a whisper, but from his smile she knew he heard. She felt empty, and sorry, but she couldn't lie. Not to herself and definitely not to Tatsuya. She didn't love him like that anymore. But she really hoped there would be a girl who would appreciate him for who he really was.
The last two days of school passed by quickly. She spent most her time with Hero. On the third evening she occupied Hero's dorm. They were watching videos of Yosen's plays one after another. When they were done, it was midnight. Hero yawned, she'd never watched anything for such a long time.
"You sure you wanna go home Booby-Aya-chan? Why don't you stay the night with me?"
Booby-Aya-chan?! Was I just promoted? She blinked at the new nickname, but decided not to ask. At least her name finally appeared there. "Won't you have a problem because of it?"
"You're a girl. No problem there. It's your last night, eh?"
"I'm staying one more, but we won't see each other on Saturday."
Sumire shrugged. "Can you fit in my clothes?"
"If not I'll stop by Tatsuya's room to get a t-shirt." She said like it was a common thing to do.
"Heeeeh…" An evil grin appeared on the girl's face, accompanying a really mischievous idea. "Really? I've never sneaked into the boys' dorm."
A shiver ran down Aya's spine but she grinned too. She'd always been in for a mischief. "Wanna try it out?"
"Oh yes." She nodded feverishly. "But call that Suzume girl or who, first… They might be worried sick."
"Hai, hai."
After a few tries, Sumire found an oversized t-shirt and pants Aya could fit into. It was still a bit tight on the chest, but there was nothing to be done about that. They walked out and Sumire locked her room. "Just a warnin'. I have no idea when the night patrol goes for their rounds." She said.
"We can always claim we got thirsty and went to grab a drink from a vending machine." Aya said with a foxy smile.
"Not once we get out of the buildin'."
Aya rolled her eyes. "If you have cold feet, you can still go back."
"Fuck no. I'm goin'. It's first time I have someone to go with me."
The lights were already out, and only the exit marks were giving off some light. School buildings at night were sure eerie. They sneaked like ghosts past the guard sitting by the front door – he was too immersed into watching some movie – and got out. Aya didn't have a jacket so the Akita's chilly night's air made her shiver.
"For god's sake, it's June!" She complained in a whisper. "How come it's so damn cold?"
"It's Akita…" Sumire shrugged. "So what's our goal once we get in?"
"Dunno. You wanted to do it, right?"
"Let's find the elephant's room then. And your boy's one. And let's wake 'em up! Or scare someone shitless."
"He's not my boy." She hissed. "But the plan sounds nice."
"Aye, aye."
In the boys' dorm they slipped past another guard. This time he was sleeping, and Aya just shook her head. What was the point of having lobby guards when they were either watching movies or sleeping? Then again, it wouldn't be easy to get in and out if they weren't. The girls turned right, hiding behind a corner, when Aya stopped and grabbed Hero.
"What?" The little girl hissed.
"Do you know which floor?"
"The doors have nametags."
"It's 10 floors. We can't check all of them." The longer they stayed in, the bigger chance of getting caught.
"What's yours brilliant idea then?"
"He has records there right?" She pointed the finger at the booth with the sleeping guard.
"Fuck no. You're crazy. I ain't goin' there." Sumire shook her head furiously. "What if he wakes up?"
"I'll go. You watch. If you hear someone coming make some sound, or something."
Aya was gone before Hero could object. The girl peeked from her hiding place just in time to see Aya sneaking into the booth. What kind of nerves does she have?!
Aya's heart was beating like crazy. Indeed, if the guy woke up she'd be in a big trouble. Then again, she was from another school so there wasn't much they could do to punish her. When the door clicked Aya froze for a moment, waiting. But the guy continued snoring. She let the door opened and tiptoed to a filling cabinet. It was almost impossible to see in the darkness so she took out her phone to use its light. The guard was behind her back, facing the opposite direction, so it shouldn't wake him up.
Finally she found the drawer with the letter 'M' on it. She gritted her teeth as she slowly pulled it open. It made a sound and she froze again. The guy shifted, but remained sleeping. Great. She quickly found Muraksakibara's file and thankfully, the room number was written on the top. Lucky! No reason to pull it out.
She closed the drawer and with learned soundlessness she left the booth. When she was about to say 'hi' to Hero, she noticed the girl wasn't paying attention to her and faced the other direction. Aya rolled her eyes and grabbed Hero from behind covering her mouth to muffle any scream.
"Shhh. It's me." Aya hissed when Hero tried to fight her off, landing a good elbow punch to Aya's ribs. "Tch." That's gonna leave a bruise.
"Fuck! You wanna kill me?!" She hissed when Aya released her.
"The room is 909."
"The 9th floor. Are we taking the lift?"
"No way in hell. It's too dangerous. We might stumble upon someone from the night patrol."
"Stairs it is then." Hero nodded and led the way. "Huh… It has a different layout than girls' dorm."
Aya squeezed the bridge of her nose. Does she mean we can get lost in here? She thought but remained quiet.
They finally reached the 9th floor. And sneaked their way towards the room. It took them a few minutes to orientate in the darkness. There was a vending machine on that floor giving out a dim light. The corridor with 900 to 912 was to their left, so they headed there. But then they heard footsteps and soon enough saw a flashlight.
"Night patrol." Aya hissed and pulled Hero into a space between the vending machine and a wall. They were small enough to fit there. But the space was smaller than Aya had anticipated. As she pushed herself further she stepped on something, thinking it was just some trash.
They didn't dare to breath.
The patrol passed them. Then he returned and headed down the stairs. They waited for another few moments before letting out strangled breaths.
And then the hair on Aya's neck stood up. Because there was someone else crammed in the small space with them! She could clearly hear him breathe out too!
"You're standing on my foot Aya-chin."
"KYAAAAAHAAAAA!" Both girls let out high pitched screams, which would wake up a dead. Their voices were echoing throughout the entire building.
"Shut up!" Atsushi hissed and pulled both of them into the corridor where his room was.
Thankfully, he let his room unlocked, but… He yanked the door, but it was stuck. He'd had a problem with it since he'd moved in but he'd been too lazy to ask someone to repair it.
"Shit." He muttered and tried to open it again. And failed. If he used all of his strength he could do it, but he could very well yank it out of its frame too.
They could hear the guard running back up. And several doors opening.
Tatsuya's room opened and he stared at the panicked trio. He'd know Aya's silhouette anywhere, and Atsushi was unforgettable.
"Get in!" He hissed at them.
The three didn't even think about it and hurdled in, slamming the door shut.
All four of them now remained pressed against the door listening to what was going on. They could hear two muffled voices of the guards who'd heard the screams. But they didn't knock on any door as the students got out checking the situation themselves.
"Go out." Aya hissed at Tatsuya.
"What?!"
"It's normal to get woken up by that. It'd be suspicious if you're the only one not crawling out."
"And Atsushi?"
"I sleep like dead." The giant shrugged. "That wouldn't wake me up."
"That would wake up anyone." Tatsuya protested.
"You can't be sure." Sumire mixed in. "Just get out there and save our butts."
Tatsuya sighed. What the hell? "Fine. But I'm getting a kiss for that."
Aya's eyes widened and she paled. "I'm not…"
But Tatsuya was already opening the door and slipping out.
"Tehee~" Hero smirked. "Told ya. Your boy. Buuut he didn't say whose kiss he wants" She teased.
"Maybe yours." Aya teased. "I hope it won't be your first~"
"Go to hell." Hero barked and then punched Atsushi's ribs for scaring them like that. He scowled at the chibi, but wasn't given a time to protest. "And what were you doin' there?!" She asked the giant in a scolding tone. "My heart almost stopped!"
He rolled his eyes, rubbing his sore ribs. It was obvious. "I wanted pocky." He said and yawned.
Tatsuya returned back. "No one seems to know anything. This is gonna turn into a hilarious ghost story." He laughed quietly. "What has gotten into you to sneak in here in the middle of the night?"
"Adrenaline rush?" Hero shrugged. "I finally found someone willin' to accompany me."
"Really Robin? Don't you have enough with your dreams? Do you really need to scare yourself like this?" He asked with a mild scolding in his voice.
Aya rolled her eyes. "I'm not scared of the dark."
"Mhm, and here you are, in my room, because you screamed as if they were skinning you."
"I wasn't alone." She said stubbornly.
"True. But you two can't leave now." Tatsuya agreed.
"It's quiet." Atsushi said. "I'm going to my room. I should open the door with more time."
"If not come back." Tatsuya told him with a smile, not that anyone could see it in the dark. It wouldn't be the first time for Atsushi to stay over due to the stuck door. "You should tell the janitor you can't open the door properly."
"Haaai." This time I will… He thought. This experience had been a good lesson, if he ever needed to sneak someone in, he'd need a functional door. Thinking about going to a janitor, he shuffled out of the room.
"So… When can we leave? And how?" Sumire asked a bit panicky.
"Tomorrow morning. You'll play guys going for the morning practise. I'll give you some of my clothes."
"Hero will swim in them." Aya said and walked further into Tatsuya's room. She sat on top of his bed, which was still warm. We really did wake him up.
Tatsuya shrugged. "I don't have any other idea."
"What if we wait for two more hours and sneak out?" Sumire proposed. "The ghost incident should die out till then."
"Sounds good too." The two agreed. "But we need to stay awake till then."
"Will I see the kiss?" Sumire asked teasingly.
"No." Aya said leaned against the wall. "But maybe Tatsuya could kiss you instead. What do you say?"
"Ouch, rejecting me like that, Aya. That hurt." Tatsuya chuckled and sat next to her. "But don't worry. I was just teasing you. Come on, you're not gonna sit on the ground, Sumire." He patted the bed.
"Eh? I just… I… Uhm."
"Never been in a boy's bed~?" Aya teased, enjoying the girl's embarrassed burbling. She'd bet Hero was all red.
"Fuck off." She growled.
In the end, much to Sumire's despair, they ended up watching more basketball games. But this time, they were watching records of an NBA team the two liked.
######
"Seriously? A ghost in the boys' dorm?" Suzume asked her during the lunch break.
"I don't know anything about that." Aya's expression was a picture of innocence.
But Suzume knew better. She gave her an 'I-know-you' look. "Don't play innocent. I know it was you."
"And Hero, the manager."
She laughed at the image which popped in her head. "You're lucky you didn't get caught."
"One day you'll sneak in too." She teased.
"Not happening."
On her last day in Akita, Aya decided to go to the ocean. This time she took her jacked, knowing the weather here wasn't as warm as in Tokyo. She didn't go into the water; she was just staring at the horizon and enjoying the salty air.
She agreed to meet Tatsuya there before she'd ask Suzume's grandpa to drive her to a station, so she could catch a train heading to Hanamaki, where she was supposed to meet up with Taiga, and then continue their journey to their grandparents' house in the middle of nowhere.
Her phone buzzed.
"Huh? Imayoshi-taichou?" She asked surprised that he'd call her on Saturday. "It's not like you to call me. What's up?"
"Did something happen between you and Aomine~?"
She blushed at the tone Imayoshi used. "Uh, no? What are you talking about?"
"He's been attending practises. I mean, all of them, since Tuesday. He slacks off at times but…"
"I'm not there, so maybe that's why?"
"Oh don't even think like that. Even Momoi-san is confused. Did you tell him something during the little party?"
"Ah, maybe. I told him he'd fucked up."
All she could hear was Imayoshi's laughter on the other end. "If that's the reason, you should've told him sooner. Well, you are coming back on Monday, right?"
"I thought more like Tuesday? I want to stop at my grandparents place. I'm just about to leave for the station."
"As you wish. See you on Tuesday then. Enjoy your weekend. Bye, bye~"
"Thank you, captain. Have a nice weekend too. Bye." Aya hung up and stared at the phone. "Pffft… Really, he's an idiot."
"Who is?" Tatsuya asked, coming to say goodbye as they'd agreed. He knew she'd be there earlier than him; she loved the ocean too much, always running to it when she had some problems, like a lost child running to its mother. He'd never understood why.
"Aomine." She smiled kindly at the phone. "But he might just be changing for the better."
A vein popped on his forehead. He knew she had a guy she liked. He wanted her to be happy, but seeing that super cute expression on her face while thinking about another guy made him unbelievably jealous. He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around so she'd face him.
And before she could say anything, his lips pressed against hers.
Finally. He thought as he pulled away quickly, before she'd hit him and smirked. It was only a small peck but Aya's shocked and blushing face was the best. Her fingers brushed her lips and she stared at him in disbelief.
"That's my reward for hiding you~" He chuckled but then he noticed a dangerous aura started emanating from Aya. He took a step back.
"Oh?" She smirked. "That's good than. Congratulations."
"Oh no." He turned on his heel to run for his life.
"Come here so I can kill you, you little punk!"
A/N: That's it for now. I hope you liked it and I hope I kept Atsushi and Tatsuya in characters. It's a little foreshadowing for MurasakibaraxOC story, which I'll hopefully get to once I finish this one.
Coming next - visiting grandparents, what could possibly happen there? :)
Let me know what you think and remember, reviews are appreciated, but never necessary.
S.