Would you dare?

by Sonya06

What if Kagami Taiga had a twin? And what if that twin happened to be a challenging girl, who decided to attend Touou Academy as the second manager of the basketball team... Is she capable of managing the problematic ace? And is he capable of handling her?

58. Chapter 58: Love birds

A/N: Hi there! Thank you for all reviews, favourites and follows :) It makes me do some work on the story.

I'm taking my sweet time, I know, I'm sorry. But here you go, a long chapter, I hope you'll like.

Enjoy!

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When I started training martial arts, I learned about respect. – Anderson Silva

I always thought martial arts was the most modern choreography we could have right now, and I always wanted to put it to music. – Lou Reed

I won't ever find the words for you— you are my everything always and even that is not enough. ― Atticus Poetry, The Dark Between Stars

There is nothing prettier in the whole wide world than a girl in love with every breath she takes. – Atticus poetry, Love her wild

I'm in deep shit Alex, 'cause I think I'd like nothin' better than to wake up with her every mornin'. ― Simone Elkeles, Rules of Attraction

Martial arts should be part of every girl's education. – Esha Gupta

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. – Aesop

You gotta be really careful what you bite off. Don't bite off more than you can chew. It's a dangerous world. – Ozzy Osbourne

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"So, you're going for a trip." Kano summed up. It took him a moment to get it. "To Hamamatsu, with his," he pointed his thumb at Daiki, "father."

"Yes." Aya nodded, was there something weird about it?

"Just like that? And your father's okay with it?" They've all seen the match. Haruka didn't seem to like Daiki at all.

"Mhm." She nodded again. She'd agreed with Daiki that there was no need to mention the jiu-jitsu seminar. And he let her deal with the explanations. If it was up to him, he'd already smack Kano up his head.

"And you're leaving right after school, so no practise for you."

"That's right."

"Awesome! We won't die." Ha clapped happily and tucked a loose strand of his hair behind his ear. Excited like a little kid, he overlooked Aya's annoyed eye-roll.

"He meant, yes, we will take your cleaning duty, Aya-chan. No worries." Ishii added, because that was the reason why Aya decided to explain everything, more or less. But he wasn't stupid; he knew there was something the two weren't telling them.

"Well, thank you, Ishii!" Finally! Judging by Daiki's agitated tic of his foot, she knew he was ready to throw Kano out the window. The ace lacked patience at times, but for now she'd agree with him.

"Oh, right." Kano blinked, "of course we will, I thought it was obvious…?" He shrugged sheepishly.

Aya let out a desperate groan and laughed. "Of course it was." She leaned over to him and ruffled his unruly hair, earning a pouty glare from Daiki.

"Aya-san?" Sakurai peeped, scrolling on his phone.

"Yes?" She turned to him.

"Uhm, sorry, but…" He fidgeted, although he knew they didn't like it, he couldn't help it. "The prelims are starting next weekend, right?" He asked to make sure. He'd found the info on the internet, and he was sure Imayoshi would want to go and see the new version of Seirin and how much they improved.

"Oh, yeah, right. Whoah, I didn't realise it was this soon." In this context, she could understand Taiga's anxiousness. She totally forgot. The time flew by, and the prelims were knocking on the door. Though she was sure Taiga had told her about it… Touou wasn't bothered because they'd already received a free ticket to the Winter cup. "Do you want to come? They should be playing against Josei first, if I remember correctly."

"I, sorry, if it's not troubling you, I'd like to come." Sakurai blushed. He was happy to be invited, he wanted to go, but it was during the Friday's afternoon practise and unless he got asked to go by the captain or one of the managers, he couldn't.

"Sure, of course. Anyone else?" She asked and looked around.

Kano and Ishii exchanged glances and then Ishii shrugged. "Nah, we're hanging out with Taiga and Kuroko-kun tomorrow, we'll see the improvements first hand."

"Oh?" Her eyebrows arched up. "He didn't tell me about that." She would try some killer move on this. Promise or not…

"Three-on-three if we include Daiki and Shouhei." Kano grinned. "I can't wait." [Naito Shouhei - FYI]

"Interesting." Kano, Ishii and Daiki [Kano's younger brother CH16], against Taiga, Kuroko and Naito… Interesting indeed. She almost regretted she wasn't staying for the weekend. She turned to Daiki, "you want to come watch their match against Josei?"

"Nah," he waved his hand, "Seirin will win."

"Hmmmm…"

That long questioning stare of her reddish eyes was unnerving. "Tch, if they don't they'd better not plan challenging us." He grumbled.

Us, huh?

######

"Thanks for the wait!" Aya hopped into the backseat of Daisuke's car, already changed into her casual clothes. Thank the gods for Kiku who agreed to deliver Aya's uniform to Taiga.

"Aya! Hey! That jacket is stunning!" Aiko greeted her from the front with sparkling eyes. She loved the black double rider leather jacket Aya was wearing. It looked awesome with Aya's red hair. And the tight light jeans… Aya could totally be her fashion adviser.

"Hi there, I hope you're ready for the weekend." Daisuke chuckled.

"Ah, oh, hello! Yeah, I hope I am. And thank you." She greeted both of them in surprise and glanced at Daiki, who seemed like he wanted to merge with his seat. First off, he could barely fit his legs into the space in the back, and Aiko sitting in front of him was certainly not going to move to make him more comfortable.

"See, Daiki?! That's how you leave school, not in the uniform."

"Please fasten the seatbelts at the back too." Daisuke asked them and drowned Aiko's commentary.

After fastening the seatbelts, Aya found herself a comfortable position and smiled at Aiko. "Long time no see, Aiko! I didn't know you were joining us in the car." She tried to ignore that 'thank you!' look Daiki flashed her, or she'd start laughing. Aiko certainly unsettled her man.

"Me neither." She turned on her seat, giving Aya all her attention. "But my dad will arrive tomorrow morning, something at work, sooo he asked Daisuke-san to take me with you. I can't wait to meet everybody again."

######

They soon stopped at a gas station to refill the fuel, go to the toilet and buy some snacks. They also needed to stretch their legs, especially Daiki, who didn't enjoy long rides squeezed in the backseat. Thankfully, this whole ride only took three hours and some minutes.

"Tch, my head hurts." Daiki grumbled and hopped back into the car, successfully changed into his casual jeans and t-shirt.

Daisuke chuckled. "You can still put on your headphones and tune us out." The two girls were talking non-stop and they still had two hours in the car ahead, but Daisuke didn't mind. On the contrary, he was glad he could join in and chat with them about trivial things like school or movies.

Daiki frowned, watching the girls choosing candy and laughing at something. They might be talking a hole into his head, but he liked when Aya was this cheerful and happy. He didn't mind the trivia in the conversation; he just lacked sleep because he'd been overexcited the previous night.

"But you're curious too, aren't you?" Daisuke grinned at him. "Can't blame you for that, but if you're really tired, you should rest. Those two hours will help."

He nodded, that would be for the best. He lazily took out his headphones and put on some relaxing jazz music he'd originally heard at Aya's place. It calmed him down and he was so tired he might actually fall asleep. The moment they hit the road again, Aya took his hand and intertwined their fingers. Her kind, warm smile told him she knew he wanted to rest and assured him he could sleep without worries. It was an 'I'm here, you're safe' gesture. After a few more minutes he yawned and slumped against her shoulder with a content sigh. He loved her scent, her presence, and any form of physical contact... The chatter around him quieted and before he knew it he fell into deep dreamless sleep he needed.

The girls weren't fazed by it. They already knew him; if he fell asleep in this environment, it meant they wouldn't wake him up so easily.

Aya blinked in surprise when he slid down and settled on her lap, like a kitten. Overgrown, sleeping kitten. She chuckled and gently caressed his hair. He was cute when sleeping so soundly.

"Eeeeh? So he can sleep around you… Hmmmm." Aiko grinned, observing the gesture keenly. She knew Daiki for years, and he wouldn't fall asleep that easily around other people; unless he fully trusted them… "You've come a long way, eh?"

"Hm?" Aya looked at the blond and smiled.

"You're cute."

"He'd smack you for that statement."

"He's sleeping though, isn't he?" Aiko winked at her. "A-ah, I just left and I already miss Tsu-kun." She groaned, thinking about her boyfriend, too bad he had to study and she couldn't take him with her.

Daisuke looked at his son in the rear mirror and smiled. It was unusual to see him this relaxed with someone beside the dogs. Really cute.

The rest of the ride was rather calm and quiet. When the car stopped, Aya caught herself nodding off too.

"Rise and shine! We're here!" Daisuke called out loudly, to get through Daiki's music.

"Mmm?" He frowned, his back was hurting from the breakneck position he settled in.

"Whoah, don't hit me, Daiki." Aya dodged his long arm when he stretched like a cat.

"Hm?" He finally opened his eyes and looked at her. "Uh, o-oh! Sorry." He hummed and sat up, rubbing his face and yawning widely. I really slept… Huh… He glanced at her with one of his unreadable expressions.

"What?"

"Nothin'." He shook his head and scrambled out of the car.

"You rested?"

Under the knowing and teasing look of his father he blushed. "Mm." He nodded, opening the trunk.

"Good, I need you alive at the practise."

A chill ran down his spine when he heard that. Of course… Tch.

"Ou, ou, ou…" Aya hissed in pain and leaned on the car's door.

"Numb leg?" Aiko asked, balancing a huge bag on her shoulder. "That happens when your heavy guy sleeps on you for too long." She cackled.

The redhead shot her a glare, massaging her leg. This wouldn't limit her, a dancer! "I'm fine." She grumbled and walked to the back to take her bag. With each step her leg felt as if ants were crawling up and down in her veins, but she stubbornly ignored it.

"You packed lightly." Daisuke blinked in surprise when handing Aya her backpack. Michiko used to pack soooo many unnecessary things 'just in case'…

"It's only two nights." She shrugged. Given how much she travelled, she was used to packing smartly and minimising the amount of stuff she had to carry around. "And why are you packed like you're here for two weeks at least?"

"Judogis take quite some space. And you probably don't want us to practise three days in the same one." Daisuke chuckled.

Her nose twitched at the thought. "Right…" Not that she knew what judogi looked like in real life…

He smiled and locked the car. "All right, come on kids, we need to check in and get our schedules. The first practise should start in half an hour."

He led them into a cosy ryokan, just around the corner, where they were accommodated. It was next to a dojo they'd practise in. Or rather it looked like a complex serving exactly this purpose, so the attendees could easily go to practice in their judogis right from their rooms. The place was traditional, with a sliding door, a wooden structure slightly above the ground and a low roof. There were nicely cropped bonsai trees framing the short rocky path towards the entrance. Aya was curiously admiring the traditional building squatting in a rather modern part of the city. She'd bet it had some sort of a small garden with a pond hidden inside.

Daiki felt so relieved and happy when he saw that expression on Aya's face. He wasn't sure what she'd think. It made him unusually anxious, which he hadn't realised until now. The place was nice, but also relatively old. It didn't have many tourists and only martial art events like this one were keeping it alive. In comparison to Kagami's modern apartment and money they had… It bothered him somewhere in the back of his mind. Huh… Since when do I worry about that…

A short older lady greeted them at the door and led them inside where they registered and received their room keys and information about dining and bathing rules. The whole time Daisuke was smiling widely and watching the redhead with satisfaction; she seemed to like it here. And he loved this place, the seminars were always so well organised and thought out.

They proceeded to a small table at the back of the room to an elderly man who was kneeling in seiza behind it and patiently waiting for them to approach him. But he didn't seem like the ryokan's staff member. His hair was short and grey, almost white; his skin was wrinkled but tanned. He must've been in his seventies or eighties, Aya couldn't tell for sure, but despite his age, there was unbelievable life force, vitality and humility in his smiling eyes. He was the picture of calmness and leisure. And there was something about him like a magnet. She wanted to go and greet him, talk to him for a moment. About whatever. But she decided to resist her sudden weird interest.

So it surprised her when they really walked towards him. The old man stood up elegantly and the three politely bowed. Aya did the same, trying to mask the curiosity on her face.

"Welcome, Daisuke-kun. I'm happy to see you here again. You too, Daiki, Aiko. And I see your group is expanding. Ah, it's nice to see new young faces around here."

"Good day, Ishikawa-sensei, it's nice to see you in good health. I'm happy you invited us this year too. Thank you for having us." He bowed politely again.

"But of course, I can't forget and leave out any of my pupils. If I do, it'll mean I'm getting too old for this and I wouldn't like that. Where did you leave your dad and brother, Aiko?"

"Daddy will arrive tomorrow morning and Ryouta has prioritised basketball and his work once again."

"Mmm," the old man rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "well, nothing to be done about that. It's his decision and forcing him would do no good. Nevertheless," he smiled and looked at the redhead. His black eyes were assessing her. From the way she walked, moved and held herself, he could tell she was confident and strong minded. Her fiery red eyes were looking back at him curiously, unwavering. She gave him a very good first impression, without saying a word, no matter who she was. That didn't happen often. He'd take her into his club right away if she asked. He'd met a few people like her in his life, and the girl truly had a spark. Then he glanced at Daisuke, prompting him to introduce her. "Who is this young lady I don't know?"

"This is Kagami Aya-chan; she is here with Daiki. We want to show her what we're doing here. I hope you don't mind her as an audience." He said proudly. The teenagers looked at each other in surprise and grinned. Being introduced like a couple, that was the first, but it felt great.

"Oooh, so she isn't going to practise." The old sensei, hummed in disappointment, then cleared his throat, "Well, Aya, if you don't mind," getting her full attention back. "I'm Ishikawa Kazuo, one of the senseis." He introduced himself.

Sensei? She blinked. He was old… Can he really… But honestly, she had that feeling the moment they turned to greet him. "Nice to meet you, Ishikawa-sensei." She bowed. "I'm not planning to join the practises. I don't want to be a bother, but I might try, if it's allowed…?"

He chuckled, "of course it is allowed. I believe Daiki and Aiko here will be happy to let you try everything you want. Right?"

"Hai." Daiki nodded.

"Of course, Ishikawa-sensei." Aiko smiled.

"All right, here is the schedule of practises," he leaned down to his small table and handed everyone a sheet of paper with neatly written information about the times of practises and the senseis leading them. He was leading the first one. "Go get ready for the opening practise. It starts in twenty minutes. Aya-chan, I want you to watch this first practise, then if you'd like, you can join in with 6th kyus tomorrow."

She nodded in agreement.

######

"Who exactly is Ishikawa-sensei?" Aya asked the moment they walked into their small, but cosy room with one tiny window. Daiki showed an unusual amount of respect towards the man. Well, obviously, it was natural, given the old man's age, but still… This was Aomine Daiki we were talking about.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Do you want an explanation?" He asked and took out a white judogi with his blue belt. He should start getting ready.

"Of course, if it won't interrupt your… changing ritual…" She said with a teasing grin and sat down cross-legged, 100% ready to watch him during the process.

"Tch, are you gonna stare at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you wanna jump at me."

"I won't, so… do you want me to turn around or something?"

"…no…" He honestly enjoyed her attention. "No jumping at me though." He warned teasingly. Not that he'd mind that, but he had a practise to attend. And this time he wanted to attend it.

"Sure, no worries. Well then…" She rolled her hand in the air, "proceed, I'm listening."

He sighed and put the judogi on the ground; he missed a chair in this small room. "Ishikawa-sensei is 83 and he has the 10th dan, the highest rank you can get in jiu-jitsu. I don't know his whole story, but he'd been a part of the navy, and then taught jiu-jitsu to soldiers and policemen, that's how my father knows him… He's been working with some high-school clubs too..." He shrugged and pulled off his t-shirt. There wasn't much more to say.

"Mmmm…" She hummed, admiring Daiki's lean and firm muscles. "I had a feeling." Similar people could sniff out one another. "But he is nice, right?"

He looked at her in surprise, "yeah. He's always so… positive, patient."

"Humble?"

"That too…" He focused on his belt, because her attention was turning him on. He could almost feel her eyes touching him. He missed the skin on skin contact and he'd come here with expectations, not just for the practises. Yet, there wasn't time to do anything right now. Fuck, he swore inwardly, hating the blush settling on his face.

"Tell me about the ranking system, I have found several different things… You have, the blue belt, right?" She asked curiously, pointing at the belt on the ground. Then back at him, already in his boxers. "What exactly does that mean?"

She was good at distracting him. "The ranking system can be different in different clubs. Jiu-jitsu doesn't really have official competitions. Brazilian jiu-jitsu yes, but… We have 6 kyus, and 10 dans. The sixth kyu is white, you get it when you start, automatically, then you have exams to get promoted. After the white one, usually in a year or so, you get yellow, then orange, green, blue and brown which is the first kyu and then you get the first dan which is black. The time gap between the promotions is around that one year until the first dan." He glanced at her to make sure he wasn't boring her and to his surprise, she was lying on her back with a thoughtful expression.

"So it is from the sixth to the first with kyus and from the first to the tenth with dans… Huh, interesting. That means you are… uuuh… second kyu right now?"

"Yeah. Got it last March." He never really thought about it this way, it was a bit strange. "I have to wait at least a year to get another."

She turned her head to him and smiled proudly. "Are all dans black then? How can you tell if someone has the first or the fifth or the tenth?"

"Well, from the first to the fifth, dans have red strings you sew to one end of the belt, or gold strings when it is a special belt only used occasionally or depending on a club. Basically the second dan has two and the fifth dan has five of those… Then it is a red and white striped belt which is from the sixth to the eighth and then the ninth and the tenth are fully red." He explained, tying his pants.

"So between the sixth and the eighth there's no difference?"

"Not really… Or at least I haven't noticed one so far…" Was it really interesting for her? "It's difficult to get those ranks in the first place."

"How so?"

"Well, getting the first dan is not that hard, but from then on…" He shrugged.

"That difficult?"

"It takes the whole life. The first dan is only the beginning, it says you mastered the basics and you can really start learning." He said with a chuckle. "And you can also start teaching, actually, you have to, if you want to get further." Sure, there were those who thought that the first dan meant they were the best, but they were idiots and Daiki wasn't raised like that. His dad made him sweat blood and earn each rank properly. Plus, Daisuke, in his 37 years had the fourth dan, and he never boasted about it. "Dad got his fourth dan this year. And the tenth dan can be given only to someone over 70 years old, who has improved jiu-jitsu as the whole, someone who has spent years teaching, organising seminars, contributing to the martial art…"

"That's more like a way of life than a sport."

"It's not a sport." He nodded. "That's why we don't have competitions." He hummed and unfolded the top, flapping it in the air a few times.

"Why not, exactly? It has rules, techniques you could grade, right?"

He stopped and looked at her. "Well… the things we learn. Those techniques are effective, supposed to finish the opponent sometimes. Not just get them on the ground, but really work, some techniques can kill. How can you compete in that? What would be labelled as a win? When you knock them out? And if you don't manage to control the strength under stress, then what? I guess it's too dangerous to have competitions in this…"

Aya sat up, watching him curiously again. His behaviour after the match with Kirisaki suddenly made more sense. Daiki could be arrogant, in basketball, which was a sport, fun, that could be judged, lost or won basen on scored points; something he'd always been winning. But this, this didn't have winners or losers. You simply learnt and practised. You could tell whether you were better or worse, but competition wouldn't happen. Yet, it was important to him. She'd guess it was because of his dad that Daiki respected all the virtues of this martial art.

Daiki was letting her in in ways she wasn't sure either of them understood. And she was unbelievably happy, that she finally got to peek into this side of him.

"Sounds fair." She smiled.

"Oh… uhm…" He got a bit sidetracked in that explanation, a bit too fierce. She wasn't scared of him now, was she? She didn't seem to be… aaand she was staring at his abs again…

She couldn't help it. His judogi was all white, which made his tanned skin stand out all the more. He looked so damn hot, but there was something else she wanted to examine. The pants were loose slightly above his ankles with strengthened fabric on the knees, she could tell that much, the top looked thick and heavy too...

He smirked and shook his head, flapping the judogi's top sharply one more time.

She startled at the sharp sound and chuckled at her own reaction. "Can I?"

"What?"

"Can I touch it?" She pointed at the fabric, to avoid the teasing.

"Yeah, sure…" He handed her the top.

"It's heavy!"

He chuckled, "sure is, it's supposed to protect us, to cushion the falls. It can't easily break when someone grabs your lapels."

Yeah, the fabric was thick and rough on the outside. The lapels were the thickest and there were strings; one on the lower left inner side, both lapels and on the lower right side, but on the outside. And it had long sleeves. She put it on over her clothes out of curiosity. The sleeves were a bit too long for her and the judogi almost reached her knees. She crossed the lapels, the right side over the left. She looked funny; it was way too big for her, if she wanted to properly tighten it, the two sides would meet at the back.

Daiki laughed, she looked like a gnome, lost in his judogi top. And she was wearing it the wrong way. Nevertheless, it was cute.

"What?" She looked at him with a pout. "Not my fault you're so huge."

"You're wearing it wrong, Love." He was still laughing, but he motioned his hand to get her closer. "Come on, I'll show you."

Her eyes narrowed into a stubborn glare, but she was aware of her silliness. "Fine. What's wrong?"

He touched her wrists, noticing she was wearing the bracelet he'd given her, and opened the front. "Left side goes over the right. You need to be able to put your dominant arm inside; it can be used to store things… Quite handy. And you have the strings." He tied the inner string with the one on the right lapel, then outside one with the left lapel. "The strings keep it in place, so you won't get undressed."

She frowned, staring at the strings like they were the worst traitors. "I'm originally left handed. Can't I wear it the other way?"

"Ah, right… Well… The other way is used for dead people… You don't want to dress like a corpse."

"Why?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "That's the way it is."

"Strange custom." She undid the strings and handed it back to him.

He grinned and threw it over his shoulders.

"No t-shirt?" She blinked in surprise.

"No, I don't want to overheat. But the girls usually do wear t-shirts or tank tops underneath. Some others too."

"Right…" She chuckled; the fabric was thick and working out in that for a few hours… She sat back on the ground and observed how skilfully he tied the strings. The top reached slightly below his hips and sleeves just above his wrists. When he picked up the belt he respectfully bowed to it, before tying it around his hips. The gesture completely baffled her. More so because it was Daiki. The 'arrogant' ace of the team… "Damn, I love you…" She muttered under her breath.

"Hm?"

"Mmm, nothing." She smiled widely. "Any shoes?"

"Nope, we practise barefoot. Well, the majority of us."

She nodded. "Anything I should know before going to the dojo?"

"Bow at the entrance. Bow to the people I bow to, because I'll have to tell the senseis you'll be watching. And please stand while we do the greetings, in the beginning and also at the end; you'll know when."

"Okay."

"Ready to watch?" He grinned.

"Should I take notes?"

He rolled his eyes. Managers… "No."

"Ah, great." She hated taking notes during practises; she knew it was necessary that's why she never complained when she had to take them, but she was so glad Satsuki was leaving her off the hook most of the time.

"Let's go then." He offered her his hand, which she happily took and he led her to the dojo.

They stored the shoes on a rack inside. It was her first time in a dojo. She followed Daiki's suit and bowed at the entrance, walking in after Daiki. She let go of his hand; for some reason she found it inappropriate to hold hands in there. The place was huge, hardwood floor about a meter and a half wide ran along the entrance side of the dojo, the rest of the floor was covered with tatami. On the opposite wall, neatly arranged were different weapons, wooden sticks of different lengths, rubber chains, wooden knives, even some gun dummies and spare belts neatly arranged. In the middle of the wall hung three scrolls with calligraphy. Along the right and left walls were punching bags, some climbing ropes and a rack with some other equipment.

The dojo was slowly filling up with people. They were giving her curious looks, but she didn't mind. She was excited.

Daiki felt so great that his woman was there, because of him. Asking questions and willing to learn and accepting his activities; not all girls were impressed by guys doing martial arts. Maybe she would even join in. It made him feel so proud. He introduced her to senseis and told them she was with him and would be watching the practises, going from Ishikawa-sensei to lower ranks. If he didn't do what was expected, he knew they would give him a super hard time during the practise.

Aya found it fascinating how Daiki respected protocol and ranks in here. She'd never seen him do that. To her surprise, there weren't many teenagers. Maximum ten, or maybe twelve, out of almost hundred. And only eleven women altogether. People were talking, catching up in small groups; some were playfully fighting – only punching air or trying to touch the other's heads.

Daiki looked around; he needed to find a sparring partner.

"Wanna go socialise?" She asked him with a smile. Because of her, he was staying by her side. Even though he had introduced her, everyone seemed grouped already. And it would take some time for them to take Aya in.

He sighed, "I need to get a sparring partner."

"Go on then, I won't get lost here. Don't worry." She winked at him. "I'm a big girl."

He nodded. He had to leave her alone anyways; the practise would start in five minutes.

The moment he stepped on the tatami to look for someone of similar height as him (it wasn't easy as he was probably the tallest one there), Aiko and four other girls their age grouped around Aya. Daiki frowned at that, Aiko was certainly his competition here. And he was a bit worried, because those five girls together were basically a vicious gang if they wanted to be, but he worried for nothing. Soon they were laughing with Aya, and he was unbelievably grateful for that cheerful and friendly personality of hers he'd found so annoying the first few weeks…

"The redhead's with you?"

Daiki turned to the guy. "Yeah, the redhead's with me." He said protectively. Shimizu Kei, huh? The guy was about three years older, relatively tall (reaching Daiki's nose) and about the same weight as him. Daiki didn't know him much, they rarely talked and they certainly weren't friends, but he knew his name as they sometimes ended up practising together. And Shimizu wasn't a bad sparring partner, sometimes too eager, but skilled and usually thorough.

"Like a friend?" He asked teasingly.

"Like a girlfriend I'm sharing the room with." He retorted, and immediately bit his tongue. Maybe he shouldn't phrase it like that.

Shimizu whistled. "Welcome to the grown-ups then, Dai-chan."

"Tch, shut up, idiot."

He laughed, "whatever, man, I don't care. She's just pretty. Look at that figure and bo-... Uuuuh, don't kill me for praising your choices." He raised his arms in a defensive gesture, because Daiki gave him a nasty glare. "Where's Ryouta?"

"Not coming."

"Neither is Kouji. Talk about reliable ukes." He rolled his smoky eyes. "Wanna practise together?"

"Fine. Don't break my neck."

"Take good care of me too, Daiki-kun."

"Tch."

Ishikawa-sensei yelled an order and everyone gathered in a neat row from the highest ranks to the lowest. The senseis were standing next to him, facing the students.

Aya was standing straight, keeping her hands by her sides. Daiki gave her a small nod to assure her she was doing the right thing. She smiled back at him.

They knelt into seiza, for a short meditation, then the one with the highest rank in the line introduced the senseis, starting with Ishikawa-sensei; they bowed down to each one of them, then they bowed one more time, greeting one another, then they got up and bowed one more time. Aya remained standing during the whole process.

Ishikawa-sensei had a short speech to greet them and then he assigned Daisuke to warm them up.

Aya sat down on the bench, observing. The warm up was short, but intense. At the end of the warm up, they practised falls, or ukemi waza, on their own and then over obstacles made by three volunteers who curled up into the balls on the ground. She blinked in surprise watching the ukemi waza practise; she knew that. The falls… When she started exploring acro, this was the first thing she learnt. How to fall safely… Huh…

After the warm up, Ishikawa-sensei took the lead. He showed them a technique on his uke, who was about twice the size of the old man. The uke proceeded to punch the sensei, but the old man deflected it, turned in a circular movement and flipped the uke over his bent leg. It was so smooth, so elegant. The 83 year old sensei did it like it was nothing; the easiest thing in the world.

Aya's jaw hit the ground when she saw that. "Wow… amazing…"

He repeated it in slow motion, naming the individual parts of the technique. "Soft ude-uke," he deflected the punch, "with a stopping short tate-tsuki," he gave his uke a short fast punch to his chest, "then you turn into tae-otoshi," the throw. He did the whole thing slowly. "That's for warm-up; you all know it, try to do both sides. I'll explain individually to those who'll need it."

Then he gave them 10 minutes to practise it, while he walked around and explained in detail or gave tips to those who seemed lost.

From experience Aya knew it was much more difficult to do things slowly. The balance and precision it took…

The old man was really great; every move he made had a clear purpose. No excessive movements. Aya was mainly observing Daiki with his sparring partner, whom she didn't know. The two seemed to know the technique, but once or twice they struggled, especially when practising the left side. The white and yellow belts looked like this was the torture of the greatest calibre, the higher ranks mostly knew it, but there were occasional mistakes too. It obviously wasn't as easy as it looked.

Ishikawa-sensei showed them five more techniques, the next always harder than the previous one. The lower ranks were really struggling, but he probably wanted it that way. At the end they had some time to repeat everything they'd learnt.

Aya was amazed. Some techniques were almost like a refined dance. The attacks were meant seriously, yet, no one would really punch their uke. They were learning. Each and every one of them. Even the black belts seemed to be practising what they'd been told without any complaints, trying to get a better hang of it. To make the techniques instinctual. And to make something instinctual, one had to repeat it a thousand times. At least… She thought. That was how much she practised dancing. Until it was instinctual and she didn't have to think about how to move.

She definitely wanted to join and try this too; Seth had only taught her real basics, how to punch, how to avoid it, some ground work, some effective get-away techniques, but there were other interesting things, the whole world of other interesting things. And throwing Daiki over her hip? Or leg? She definitely had to try that one!

At the very end Ishikawa-sensei gave them 2 five minute rounds of wrestling.

She couldn't take her eyes off her man. Wrestling, sweating Daiki, with his top opened up in the front… And winning! Obviously he had the upper hand over his uke in the ground work.

"What do you think, Aya-chan?" Ishikawa-sensei stopped by her.

She blinked, resisting the urge to lick her lips. "I want to try it." She replied and stood up. She didn't mean to be rude. "I mean… It was amazing. It's like a dance I've never tried, and I'd love to if I can."

A dance? He looked really pleased by her interest. "Of course you can, but if you're supposed to do it properly, you need to learn how to fall. That's the first thing and it takes a few weeks to some. Maybe you can manage it sooner… Are you doing some sport?" He asked curiously, with that physique and confidence she had to do something.

"I do quite a lot actually." She chuckled. "I dance; ballroom, ballet, contemporary, acro – so I do some dynamic gymnastics. Then there's basketball – I'm a manager of Daiki's team and I practise with them more often than not. And then volleyball if I want to, but that is just for fun." She named out. "Ah, sorry, I'm rambling."

He blinked at her, he hadn't expected that many… "No, no. I'm glad to know this. I believe you'll master ukemi waza quickly then."

"I think so; I know some of it already. I've had to learn it because of acro… the falls can be nasty there…" She shrugged with a smile.

"Good, very good. Tomorrow they'll be split into three groups according to the rank and the senseis' will teach them corresponding techniques. Today I wanted them to struggle a little." He winked conspiratorially at her. "Sometimes it's good to force them into more difficult and complex techniques. Make them think and break the I-know-it-all attitude some have."

"Sure is…" She understood. She did it too. Sometimes she showed some really difficult choreography to her pupil, and once they mastered it, the one they'd been struggling with before seemed like a piece of cake.

"Yame!" Ishikawa-sensei shouted, stopped the wrestling matches and led the stretches. Then they formed a neat line again and repeated the whole greeting ritual. This time with a loud unison kiai /short shout/ at the very end. The kiai of that many people was so loud and filled with so much strength, Aya got goosebumps.

Daiki wanted to go to her right away, but his father stopped him, demanding he practised all the techniques of the evening with him. And once he was free to go, he saw Aya totally consumed by learning ukemi waza from Aiko and the girls. In her tight jeans and white long sleeved t-shirt, that wasn't exactly white anymore, it must've been uncomfortable. But she was doing well. The girls made a collective "Ooooooh!" when Aya did a front flip over the obstacle, without touching the girl curled up on the ground, and they immediately demanded a lesson on flips.

He wouldn't have that. He wanted to show her that!

He walked over to them and rested his arm over Aya's shoulders. "You really can't sit still, can you, Sweetheart?" He asked with a smirk.

She looked up at him, "you seemed busy." She shrugged.

"Dinner's in twenty minutes, kids." Daisuke reminded the teens who were still on the tatami; most adults were smarter, they knew the difficult part was only awaiting them, no need to waste too much energy tonight. "We should hurry if we don't want to go sleep hungry."

"What?!" Daiki turned at him. Damn, he believed he'd manage to have some private time with Aya before dinner.

He smiled at them, "hurry, hurry. You can practise all you want tomorrow." But he was right, the dojo was almost empty.

With a grunt, everyone turned to quickly tidy up, go take a bath and get to dinner on time.

"Is everyone packed in this ryokan? Or…?" She asked Daiki when they got to their room to get a change of clothes before the bath.

"No. There is another hotel across the street. Depends how fast you are with reservations." He hung his judogi top to dry as it was completely soaked. The ryokan only accommodated participants so he could walk around half-naked without offending anyone.

"Didn't I announce it late?"

Daiki grinned. "Kise was supposed to come."

"I should thank Model-kun for the opportunity then. Hmm, so we go for dinner wearing that?" She pointed at a neatly folded yukata with an obi folded in a pentagon shape suspiciously.

He chuckled. "It doesn't bite."

"I'm not taking any chances…" She pouted.

"What's wrong?"

She sighed. "I'll probably wear it like a corpse again… And I have no idea how to tie it. I've never worn a yukata before, remember?"

"Uh… The left side is on top…" He frowned, the baths were shared and divided into men and women ones. He had no time to show her how to tie it. "Tch, Aiko will show you how to put it on… She takes forever in the bath, so you'll run into her there."

"Haven't you said you would show me?"

"I'm not sneaking into the women's bath." There were limits to what he'd do… Especially with Aiko around. And he would not sneak her into the men's one either. No way in hell. One never knew who might come in and the temptation would be too great.

"Hmmm… Okay, I'll ask Aiko then." She looked a bit down when saying that.

"Tche." He felt he lost against the short blonde.

"You won't get angry, right?" She glanced at him, picking up her yukata carefully. "I can just take a fresh t-shirt."

"Why? No, wear it. I want to see you in it." He then smirked wolfishly. "And if I get to take it off of you... Aiko can be my guest."

She blushed under that stare. Her man was so damn hot, and then his stomach growled. She laughed. "Hai, hai, but dinner first."

######

"How long are you planning to sulk?" Haruka asked tad harsher than intended.

Taiga glanced at him with a handful of snacks he planned to eat during his movie night. He missed Aya at the house, but he was fully ready to spend the weekend in his room or out. Okay, and eating Haruka's food. But because of the food. Not Haruka. "I'm not sulking."

"Yes you are."

He shrugged. "There's nothing to talk about. I'm not sulking."

Haruka sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I should probably apologise."

"Probably?" Taiga snorted. "Oh, you don't have to. You made it clear where my place is."

"Taiga, look, I'm sorry. I got carried away in that match. I didn't mean to."

"Yeah, like you've never meant to play like that with me. I get it. I do." He said bitterly. "Aomine is the best… I know. At least he kicked your ass. That was worth it." Did he really just praise the idiot? Since when did he get so hostile over that little match? The longer his ignoring took, the worse it made him feel. And Haruka idly let it stretch, let him sulk. That angered him too.

The red eyes stared at him intensely, a bit lost, just ready to give up after those harsh words.

Yeah… Guess I'm not worth it for him. "Keh, we done?"

And then there was that agitated spark. He got up abruptly, almost tipping over the chair. He grabbed Taiga by the front of his t-shirt and dragged him to the entrance.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Taiga protested angrily. The snacks he'd been holding were scattered on the ground.

Haruka wouldn't have that behaviour. Oh, no he wouldn't. He messed up enough already. Time to be the father you are… "Put on your shoes." He ordered, towering over Taiga with his bear-like frame.

"Hah?!" The teen barked. What the hell?!

His eyes narrowed. He picked up the basketball that was always somewhere near the door and threw it to Taiga, who caught it on instinct. The pass was harsh and powerful. "I accept your challenge. And no, we're not done until you win one on me."

######

"You don't wear your underwear under a yukata!" Aiko argued with her hands on her hips and a vein popping on her forehead. The redhead was way too gifted with those perfect boobs and she insisted on wearing her bra underneath the yukata. It's a sexy bra though…

"Hell I do!" Aya protested, protecting her chest with her crossed arms and took a step back. She was up against Aiko with all that jiu-jitsu training. She wasn't sure what ninja moves the blonde could do, and she didn't want to find out while dressing up. Like she wasn't uncomfortable enough sharing the bath with the other girls, staring at her scar, urgh… At least they didn't ask.

"Tche, fine! I'm not gonna miss dinner because of this tantrum. C'mere." She gave up and held up the yukata to help Aya get into it. She had a little payback planned though.

The two girls were fuming and glaring at each other when they left the bath. Aiko hated to lose, and Aya hated that demanding approach Aiko had used on her. And it was a bit strange to walk around in the garment. She had to do small steps and they were in a hurry for dinner.

Daiki was waiting for them outside, wearing his yukata that was a little short for him, but fitted him otherwise. Thanks to Aiko, Aya was wearing it right and she was cute in it, but the vibes coming off the girls were scary. His woman didn't even look at him and marched ahead of them.

"What did you do to her?" He hissed at Aiko.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Undressing her won't be easy, Romeo." She warned in a low voice. "And she kept an interesting underwear on." She wanted to tease, but she sounded too grumpy for that.

He chuckled shortly, biting his lip to avoid Aya's attention. "White?" He asked boldly.

"Yeah, wh – ?! Right, of course! Of course, it's your doing, she insisted on wearing it!"

He burst out laughing, not hiding it anymore.

"What are you laughing at?" Aya snapped at them turning around.

"She lost! You didn't let her get her way." Daiki pointed at Aiko. "She lost to you! Damn, I'm proud of you, woman."

The blonde was glaring at him. And that boosted Aya's mood instantly. The two seemed to have some sort of a healthy sibling war going on. Aiko's sour expression was like honey to Aya's abused pride, and she'd gladly help Daiki win any sort of war. He was proud of her; well, that was the first time he'd said it and it felt good. She grinned. "Anytime, Darlin'. Anytime."

"Idiots." Aiko grumbled and passed them by to at least walk into the dining space first.

"By the way," Aya leaned closer to him, looking straight into his deep dark eyes and traced one finger over the bare skin of his chest so seductively displayed by the yukata. Or maybe Daiki was wearing it this loosely on purpose. "You look hot in it."

Fuck, she wants to kill me. He watched her skipping in front of him towards the dining hall. That perfect ass hopping at his arm's length. You don't win tonight, my Love.

She squealed and jumped higher when he playfully slapped her butt. She spun on her heel with a blush, "What was that for?!" She asked with pretended shock.

"Couldn't resist." He said with a satisfied smirk.

With the blush still present on her face she grinned too. Then with a shrug she walked into the dining hall first.

They got the last spots, next to Aiko and Shimizu. As much as the blonde wanted to sit somewhere alone, they barely made it in time and she couldn't be picky.

"Decided to finally introduce us?" Shimizu smiled at the couple, who sat down opposite him.

Aya stared at him for a moment. He looked nice, with his dark smoky eyes, short hair, but not as short as Daiki's, and angular jaw. But he's an ass… Sort of... She thought because of the way he was subtly teasing Daiki. But she knew him only for a few minutes, too short to judge his character.

Daiki bit his tongue then looked at Aya. "Wanna be introduced…?" 'Or can you do that alone?' His expression asked.

She grinned. 'I can do that alone.' "Kagami Aya." She outstretched her hand towards the surprised boy. "Nice to meet you." Whether she was breaking some social rules, she didn't care.

"Oh." He blinked at her hand lingering in the air. It would be rude to ignore it. "Uh, nice to meet you, Kagami-chan. I'm Shimizu Kei."

If Aiko had been angry a minute ago, she was simpering under her nose. She was enjoying Shimizu's embarrassment when Aya squeezed his hand in her firm and confident grip.

"You can call me Aya, if you want."

He looked at Daiki, surprised. But the teen was giving him a cocky smirk. That was probably the girl's norm. What a spitfire. "Okay, call me Kei too, if you want." He parroted. It wasn't natural to him, but he wouldn't be a fool in front of these youngsters. Maybe he was still a 'teen' but not for much longer.

"Sure, if you don't mind, Kei." She smiled and looked around, noticing that not everyone was wearing the ryokan's simple yukatas. Those who weren't were probably the ones from the other hotel Daiki'd mentioned. Daisuke was sitting further away, chatting with his friends over the food and beer.

"Different than your training camp, eh?" Daiki asked following her gaze. This place was full of adults, some elders and only a few teens. And she hadn't really talked much about her dancing camp before.

She nodded. "Mmmm… The average age is definitely higher here, but I don't have to organise everything, and it's calmer, so I'm enjoying myself here." She grinned. "I love my camp, but after a week of reading the same bedtime story at least five times per evening to the little ones, it gets on your nerves."

"Waaaait, you organise training camps?" Aiko asked. "For kids? Really? I thought Ryouta was making it up!"

"Mhm, two-week long camp in the UK every August. Age categories from 6 to 30, usually, but it's not really limited by age. We had some older couples, even some younger ones too. The majority of attendees are the same every year, so it's like meeting old friends, but I also do my research to invite new couples, and I accept requests of those who want to come too."

"That sounds like a huge thing."

The redhead nodded and thanked the staff for the food that was put in front of her. "It is. Big, tiring, difficult to organise, but I love it. It's totally worth those sleepless nights." And morning hangovers… Not that she would admit it. They probably wouldn't understand that being 'under aged' was no excuse in the company of eastern Europeans and Kouta.

"Aya here dances, Kei-kun, if you wondered. Used to dance professionally." Aiko explained to Shimizu, boldly following Aya's suit and using his name. "How many world championships have you won, again?"

The redhead rolled her eyes. She didn't need that sort of attention. Nevertheless, "eight," she answered.

"Eight world championships, huh? Aaaaah, I wouldn't guess that." He tilted his head to a side. So the former world champion in dancing… Unbelievable at their age, but there was no reason to make it up. And given her figure she must've been in a top notch condition and exercising a lot. He'd guess some martial arts, something more aggressive with Daiki as the boyfriend… But dancing? Then he recalled her gait again, and then he nodded to himself. Fine. It fitted. He could live with the idea of Aya dancing. Plus the world championship piqued his curiosity, he'd definitely do some online research later. "Makes me wonder what a dancer sees in the basketball idiot here." And what she can do in bed…

"Hey!" Daiki protested with a full mouth. Because of the jab. But also because, on some subconscious level, he got a whiff of Shimizu's line of thoughts. And he didn't like it.

Aya laughed. "My life's full of basketball idiots. I'm managing the whole team of them, after all."

The dinner passed quickly and small groups formed afterwards. Friends catching up. Newbies trying to find their place among the community. Teens stuck together. The other girls and some guys joined them at their table. Apparently Aiko was a big deal around here, uniting the teens and being a friend to all of them. Her status was rightfully earned. She had the highest rank, the first kyu, despite her age.

Soon enough, Daisuke and some other adults stopped by for a small chat mingling in and staying among the 'kids'. The youngest kid being thirteen.

Aya didn't mind any of this, it was fun, the conversation was light and fluent, topics were naturally changing from work to jokes to school or teachers. She liked this about all training camps. The evening gatherings; which were sometimes better than the whole day of killer practise. But she could feel Daiki's restlessness; he wanted to kidnap her and leave.

She glanced at her watch; it wasn't that late yet. If they left right now, the suspicions and teasing would be on point. She wanted to avoid that. Hmmm, how to get away? She discreetly slipped her hands under the table and rested her palm on Daiki's thigh, gently caressing him with her thumb.

He almost flipped and for a second he thought she'd go up his thigh and do something she really shouldn't. But her hand lingered on one spot. He trapped her hand in his and she gave him a reassuring squeeze. She wouldn't do something so stupid.

Her phone vibrated in her yukata and she almost jumped out of her skin. Ignoring the laughter of the others, she focused on fishing the phone out of the damn sleeve pocket. She wasn't used to wearing these clothes. The name flashing on the screen belonged to one of the most relentless callers she knew. And she saw a run away opportunity in it.

Hallelujah, our saviour Thalia! "Sorry, I have to take this." She said apologetically and answered it in English, slipping out from the dining hall to save Thalia's ass. Whatever the girl was doing, she was either up way too soon, or hadn't slept at all.

"If you want to leave, go now." Daisuke muttered to his son as he took Aya's spot to be closer to Aiko.

"Huh?" He blinked at his dad, trying to look clueless.

"If she wanted to stay here she wouldn't have picked up." He said knowingly. "No matter who called."

Not happening, huh… His dad knew him through and through. Daiki nodded and slipped away too.

"And bring me some tea from the vending machine when you're at it." Daisuke added.

"Fine." He quickened his pace so no one else would demand anything. Thankfully, the whole group was already broken into several smaller simultaneous chats, and no one paid him much attention.

"Oi, Aomine-san, are you sure it's safe to leave them alone?" One of his less-popular colleagues leaned over to him.

"Safe?" He grinned. "No. But I trust these two. And what's the point of forcing them apart, we've been young too, right? Have the bans of our parents ever worked? Not in my case." His mind wandered to his lovely wife. I'm married to that-dirty-half-breed and I never once regretted my choice.

"If it was my daughter…"

"If it was your daughter, you wouldn't even know about it, my friend." Daisuke teased him rather viciously, knowing the man had indeed a teenage daughter. "I prefer to be aware of what's going on and I want Daiki to come to me, if there's a problem. There's a higher chance of that happening when he knows I know and I'm okay with it. And she's an amazing young woman. I have no complaints; I raised him well."

"Is this really what a fine woman does?"

How can a misogynist like you raise a daughter? Poor girl. "Is it your business, or theirs? And what's the difference between a boy and a girl in a relationship anyways?"

He seethed silently. This was what he hated about Aomine. The man was so open-minded it was disgusting. Women had their place, and it was certainly not in men's beds until marriage. "Does her father know?"

"Oooh yes, he'd certainly love to snap Daiki's neck." Daisuke smirked provocatively, he wasn't fazed by this and he'd protect Aya if anyone said some bullshit. He knew the man, he didn't like him either, though they had to hide it and cooperate. So he was enjoying it when he could undermine his old-fashioned opinions.

######

It took Daiki a moment to find Aya as she wandered outside, in the thin yukata.

With the phone at her ear, she was pacing up and down the street in front of the ryokan, explaining something as calmly and as easily as she could. She was completely ignoring her surroundings or the biting chilly night air of the late October. It was strangely amusing to watch her, so he leaned against the wall and waited until she acknowledged him. He doubted she would. He lazily crossed his arms to keep as much warmth as possible; given the thin clothes and bare legs, it was rather cold for him too.

"Gee' just how thick can people be?" She huffed when she hung up. Thalia was quick in understanding Aya's explanations and recommendations on how to communicate, but some managers apparently had an issue with the subtle change in the leadership and they were taking it out on Lindsay and Thalia and the others who were in regular contact with Kagamis. Fools. Like they can't pick up the damn phone and call Haruka or me directly. Urgh! I'll have to tell father to have a talk with them… Aya knew her age and this was not an issue she could easily solve on her own. All the managers respected her in a way, but not all of them liked her.

She sighed heavily and rubbed her temples, thinking of a possible solution without involving Haruka, but… It was out of her hands this time. Too much for her to handle.

"Everything all right?" Daiki asked from the shadows.

"Fuck!" She jumped a few feet away from him. "Do you want to kill me?"

He chuckled. "Not my fault you were ignoring the world, Love."

She shook her head and with a sigh she got the business out of her head. She shouldn't be thinking about any of that. You can't change it now anyways… And when it came to distracting her, Daiki was the best. "You came to check up on me?"

Sort of… "…and get tea for dad." He cocked his head towards the vending machine at the end of the street.

"The company got boring?"

"I prefer yours."

She smiled. "Let's get that tea or I'm gonna freeze." A shiver ran through her body with the evening's chilly breeze. Maybe I should've gone straight to the room and called from there.

He chuckled and took her hands. "No kiddin'." Compared to his relatively warm hands, her fingers were like ice. "Were you here for hours, or really just ten minutes?" He teased.

The gesture and his warmth were soothing, but! She wiggled one hand free and jumped up to touch his neck. But he caught her hand before she got there. "Oh no, you don't."

"Yes, I do!" She grinned.

In a second she was turned around, her back pressed against his chest and he was holding her hands in a firm grip. "No. You don't unless I let you." He whispered to her ear and kissed her jaw.

Damn, that voice. His deeper, husky voice alone was turning her on. She bit her lip. "We won't buy anything like this."

"I don't think I care."

"You sure?"

"…Tch…" His father's practise vendetta for not getting the tea would hurt. The image wasn't pretty. "They should have mango juice too." He said to get her attention.

Her eyes twinkled. "Eh? Really?!"

He never thought she'd wiggle out of his grip so fast. Or… at all. "Hey, wait!" He sprinted after her to the vending machine. She was not buying everything.

After a small squabble and a lot of teasing at the vending machine, they sprinted back laughing, with handfuls of treasure: three warm teas, two coffees and of course Aya's two cans of mango juice. Awkward as they were, given the contraband and yukatas, they were having a great time being silly together. They left some of the load in front of Daisuke's room and stumbled to their own with the rest.

"Brrrr, it's cold." She rubbed her arms the moment she put the cans on a small table by the door. Wait, why was it by the door? She didn't remember putting it there… She turned to scan the room. "Oh, they set up our bedding?" As far as she knew, they were supposed to roll out the futons on their own. [A/N: Just in case... Futons are traditional mattresses used while sleeping on the ground/floor, sure, they can be used on normal beds, but let's assume the ryokan they're at is traditional.]

"Hm?" The old lady must've gone out of her way and prepared the rooms during the dinner. "Oh, right, they sometimes do it, but…" The meter wide gap between the futons bugged him. He was not planning to sleep that far away from Aya.

She watched him pull the futons close together with a smile. "My thoughts exactly." She hummed.

He looked at her from the ground, sitting on his heels.

Finally. They were finally alone. He'd been expecting something to happen the whole day. Waiting; as patiently as he could, to be with her alone. He wanted to jump her, but she was so cute it would be inappropriate to just pull her into the bed.

He sighed and enjoyed the sight for a moment. She was beautiful and it deserved appreciation.

Her hair was sticking out or falling out from her loose messy bun. In the dim light of a small paper lamp, it had an interesting and unusual red colour he couldn't define and definitely not name. Her cheeks were flushed from the chilly air outside. She was watching him with her happy and lively eyes that looked more red than brown; full of warmth and excitement. And she had the most beautiful smile on her face. The one he loved so much.

She looked really good in the yukata, although it was a plain sleeping yukata; creamy and black with a simple pattern. The clothing was made in a way to fit just about anyone. But the more refined figure the better it looked. Especially the bust. The front of her yukata was open a little, showing the top of her cleavage. She wasn't wearing her necklace. I love her…

The longer he stared, the more electrifying the atmosphere was getting.

"What?" She didn't mind being watched, but that adoring stare was turning her insides into jelly. In a good way. He wasn't the only one who wanted to have some private time. Who had certain expectations…

He blinked: "you're so gorgeous..." He breathed out unconsciously, but it was so true, he wasn't even embarrassed by those words anymore.

She blinked at him in surprise. No make-up (she didn't wear it often though), messed up hair, strange clothes – for her tastes at least… The combination… Yet this guy was… The honesty and adoration in his words made her genuinely blush. She was speechlessly watching him sway up to his feet. How could he look that good in the exact same clothes as her? Yukatas had to be some sort of magical garment. She didn't get it. And she didn't get to think about it too much.

He gently cupped her face with one hand, pulling her closer with the other. He leaned down to kiss her, but for a second he stopped and enjoyed the look in those loving, kind, and currently quite overwhelmed, reddish eyes. He wanted to savour this moment, because it seemed so special to him. As if he was seeing his woman for the first time. She was here with him, being involved and interested in activities he liked, being around people he grew up around… Sharing a room with him in this cosy, old ryokan that was probably below her class, yet she genuinely liked it. She wasn't a pampered princess one would expect. And all this… The combination of that all… It just felt special. He couldn't explain it, but he loved the warm feeling in his chest. As if falling in love all over again. Then, with a tender smile he pressed his lips against hers.

The kiss was slow and gentle. She ran her hands up his chest and pulled him closer. She needed to get up on her tiptoes. He smiled against her lips as his arms circled around her waist to provide the support she needed. With a content sigh she kissed her way along his jaw and nibbled his ear a bit before returning to his lips. She loved his lips.

Enjoying the attention, his hands worked on the knot on the obi /the long belt/ that held her yukata together. While he was trying to figure out how the hell Aiko had tied it (because she truly was Ryouta's sister, and made some super knot), he noticed Aya's weight shift a bit too late. He stumbled backwards which caused Aya to fall forward against him.

"Ah –" She already saw them tumble down on the ground.

But miraculously, Daiki kept them upright.

"Whoah," she blinked holding onto his yukata lapels, she pushed open, uncovering his chest "uhm, sorry…?"

"Not really, are you?" He chuckled, she was undressing him faster than he expected.

She looked up at him with an overly-thoughtful expression, "no… totally not sorry," she let her finger travel from the hem of his obi up to his lips.

He let out a shaky breath; Aya certainly knew how to turn him on. "…what do I do with you?" He hummed.

"I'd have a few ide–"

~~~~~Lemons~~~~~~

She squealed when he suddenly drowned the words with a passionate kiss. Then she laughed against his mouth. He smiled too, deepening the kiss. As it turned more intense she moaned softly into his mouth and bit his lower lip. He ran his hands through her hair, freeing it from the hair tie and pulling at it the way she liked. When her hands ran up his chest and pushed the top of his yukata off his shoulders, he helped her and shrugged it off. He loved her hands roaming over his body.

She was caressing his abs and pectorals, enjoying how his breathing got heavier. But when her hands wandered lower, trying to find the knot on his obi that was keeping the yukata hanging around his hips, he stopped her by grabbing her wrists.

"I'm… not getting naked first."

She licked her lips and looked him up and down. Most likely he was going commando; and he wasn't fully hard yet. She smiled seductively. "All right... Do I have the honours, then?"

He kept her wrists trapped in his grip and pulled her close. He kissed her lips, and then her nose and then he kissed his way to her ear. She wanted to free her hands, but he didn't let her and bit the skin just behind her ear. She moaned and shuddered. Apparently it wasn't just his weak spot. He grinned and kissed and licked the abused spot, hoping he didn't leave a mark (he tried not to).

"Certainly..." He said in a low, sexy voice, his breath tickling her neck, "but I'll have the honours of taking it off."

She groaned, "do you realise… how hot you sound?"

"Do you?" He chuckled against her skin. "Tch." Then he abruptly turned her around.

"What are you–"

"The knot."

"Oh…" She chuckled. This was unexpected. "Is it that…. weird…? The knot…"

He sighed and tugged at the thick fabric. "No. Mine not." He pulled again at the other end, "but Aiko was in a devilish mood when dressing you up." He frowned; he was way too aroused to be stopped by a stupid knot. And this was embarrassing. Mortifying…

"Uhm… can I help?" Aya asked carefully.

"Tche… turn around then." He asked her and grabbed the knot so she would have it in the front once she turned.

"…huh…" She stared at the complicated knot she'd never seen before. "I expected a bow… or… something…" she hummed tugging at one end, while Daiki was trying to figure out a way to get it undone.

"I'm killing her tomorrow." He threatened.

Noticing his rising frustration, she cupped his face and forced him to look at her. "I'll help." Then she kissed him intensely. She didn't want the mood to go down the drain. Because of the stupid knot.

While kissing him, she was blindly trying to undo Aiko's masterpiece.

So was he. They were clumsy, but they were both grinning like idiots enjoying the clumsy, awkward kiss. Undoing Aya's obi was a joined effort, and both of them wanted to keep the atmosphere and mood right.

Her 'Oh!' when it finally loosened, was drowned in Daiki's mouth. But he felt it too and looked down. It wasn't completely undone, but now he knew what to do with it. He'd seen that kind of a knot on his mom's yukata once. Not that he got to examine it… He crouched down to be more effective and in a few seconds Aya's obi fell to the ground.

The front of her yukata opened, but it was still covering her body. He stood up and gently caressed her neck. He slowly pushed the lapels further, until it slipped off her shoulders and ended on the ground. He took a few steps back to fully enjoy the sight. Seeing the strappy white bra with just enough lace to spice it up and a silver ring connecting the cups in the middle… and matching panties… Of course they were matching. He almost flipped over. She sure had hot underwear hidden in her closet. He knew, and he'd love to discover them all, one by one.

But this garment… He'd seen something similar in one of his magazines, but he had no idea it could look this good on a real life person, without any photoshop tricks. And it did. It looked amazing. On his woman. It totally enhanced Aya's already generous bust. His eyes were roaming all over her, devouring her. Every curve and every inch of her body. He took in a shaky breath, he forgot to breathe. Perfect. That's how hot his woman was in his eyes.

Aya was grinning widely. Mission successful. She thought, delighted by his expression. And the reaction; she noticed his proud erection still hidden under the clothes, but peeking out to see the world, as the yukata couldn't do much to hide it. At least not in the half-undressed state he was in.

She let him stare to his heart's content. Really, that glee and appreciation in his eyes were priceless. But she wanted him to touch her already.

"Well?"

"Incredible…" He mumbled, and then blinked as if waking up from some haze of pure adoration and pleasure only he understood. Suddenly he blushed. He had no idea how long he stared. Seconds? Or minutes? Was she getting impatient? Bored? Was he too weird? "Uhm…" he just loved seeing.

She chuckled. Incredible, huh? Am I? He was cute with his embarrassment. Keeping the eye contact she crossed the small distance between them and traced the skin above his belt. His muscles tightened under her touch. Let me give you incredible…

"Can I take this off now?" She tugged at his obi.

"…you're not naked yet." He breathed out.

Kissing his chest, she asked: "does it matter?"

She undid the knot on his obi rather quickly. He didn't stop her this time. As his yukata dropped to their ankles, exposing all of him, her hands travelled down his chest, giving attention to his abs and Apollo's belt before wandering lower and touching his boner.

She sighed contently when feeling his length, warmth and also his hands on her skin. She loved the roughness of his calloused palms. She loved his reactions to her, and she wanted to hear his pleasure more. She wanted to…

"Pushing me down?" He asked breathlessly with a grin. She'd actually pushed him down on the futon. It surprised him. But it made him happy.

She shrugged with a mischievous grin, when she followed after him and kneeled between his bent legs. "I guess." She kissed his inner thigh, her hands going up to his hips.

She stared right at him, kissing her way up his thigh to his groin. "W-what are you–?" But he already knew what she was doing. That mesmerising glint in her eyes said it all. And no, he wasn't expecting it.

"Can I?" She asked coyly, her mouth only centimetres away from his cock. She wanted to do him like this. The first time had been a bit awkward, but she'd already figured out what he liked. And she loved pleasuring him.

Her gaze was burning hot. Confident, loving, excited. Her voice, her touches… He nodded; he was not in a state to think and definitely not in a state to talk.

A deep growl escaped his mouth, when her tongue circled the tip of his cock. Then she took the head into her mouth. Electricity ran through his body. He bit his lips to keep his groans in check. The walls here were thin, and Aya's lips and tongue weren't making it easy for him to stay quiet.

She varied between licking and sucking, while she was also using her hands to rub his length and playing with his balls gently. She loved his scent and taste; he tasted like skin, him and a remnant of soap from the bath. And it was turning her on. Her panties were already wet, but she couldn't care less. Her whole attention was on Daiki.

The sensations she was giving him were ecstatic. He propped himself on his arms, sometimes watching her, sometimes closing his eyes in pleasure. The way she looked him straight in the eyes while taking him into her mouth was breathtaking. Her loose, long hair tickled his groin, his thighs even his stomach at times. He wanted to touch her hair, so he reached out and dived his fingers into her thick wild mane.

With a soft moan, she let him slip out from her mouth, but her hands continued pleasuring him with their steady rhythm. She licked his shaft from the base to the tip and circled around it with her tongue, all the while looking at him.

He shuddered. That feeling was unbelievable. He wanted to close his eyes, but forced himself to return her gaze. It was so hot.

"Don't try to force my head down, please." She reminded him. Her voice was low, laced with lust. Her breathing was heavier.

"You… know… I won't." He assured her, he just loved her hair.

"Mmm…" She kissed his hip, resting her jaw a bit. Then returned to his cock.

She appreciated that he just kept his hand steady on her head and as she moved, his fingers massaged her scalp, or gently tugged at her hair. It was sending tingling sensations down her spine and she loved it.

Her soft, quiet moans and sighs were sending him over the moon. He curled his fingers in her hair, pulling at it slightly; his other hand gripped the sheet. He was close to orgasm. Very close.

His hips moved against her mouth instinctively, the tip of his cock hitting the roof of her mouth. Normally she would withdraw then and finish him off with her hands, but… She was tempted. In their relatively short intimate life she hadn't let him come into her mouth. Yet... She knew he didn't expect it, but he also wouldn't mind it.

He groaned. He was so close, and she still had her mouth around him.

"A-aya, I…" He warned her breathlessly. But she didn't pull back and he could see and feel her smile around him. "Fuck…" He growled, realising she was gonna finish him off like this.

After a few more strokes and licks he exploded in her mouth. His muscles contracted and his world blacked out for a moment. He closed his eyes and tilted his head backwards, enjoying the high.

She managed to close the back of her throat just in time to not get choked with his cum. She pulled back, taking in the full load and she swallowed. She didn't want to dirty the sheets and she was curious how he'd taste. To her surprise, because she'd expected something not very pleasant, it was actually quite normal. Sweet-ish, with a sort of butter-like taste somewhere, certainly unusual, but definitely not disgusting.

"Huh… tasty…" She hummed under her breath.

Daiki returned from his high and blinked at her. Did he hear her right? Did she…? "Have you…?" He couldn't see any evidence of him coming just now. He wondered how it tasted to her… "You…? Eh, well… you didn't have to…" He didn't know how to say it right, so he hoped it wouldn't shoot out wrong.

"I wanted to." With a smile, she kissed the tip of his cock again and continued gently stroking it as it was slowly softening.

"Tch… truly incredibly enchanting little witch…" He hummed. Then he caught her wrists and pulled her on top of him. Aya's squeal accompanying the action made him laugh. He was a bit tired after his orgasm and they were both sweaty and sticky, but he wanted to feel her pressed against his body, her skin, her mouth. And he certainly wouldn't neglect her.

She didn't protest when his strong arms wrapped around her, but when his lips touched hers she pulled back. "Uhm… are you sure you want to kiss me?"

He frowned. "Uh, yeah? Why wouldn't I?"

"Because–"

He rolled his eyes and kissed her, using his tongue, to prove his point.

She gasped in surprise. He didn't give her time to pull back or think. His hands roamed her back, caressed her sides and breasts. He quickly unhooked her bra and it got thrown aside before she realised. Then, without any unnecessary barriers, he flipped them over and pressed her into the futon. He kissed her nose and smirked. "I know how it tastes, Love." He said and enjoyed that confused expression on her face.

"Wait have you…? …really…?" She asked with a blush.

"Don't you know how you taste?"

"… well, yeah…"

"See–" The image of her licking her fingers after… or his fingers maybe… He licked his lips at the memory of her flavour… Oh god… He was blushing like crazy now. His thoughts were certainly dirty; embarrassed, he avoided her gaze.

"What?"

He shook his head trying to disperse the image.

Aya wouldn't have that. She pressed her hand against his chest and pushed him on his back, leaning over him. "Tell me." She demanded, her hair falling around them like a curtain.

"No… I…" He looked away. "…just my imagination… going… crazy..." He said through his teeth.

She raised an eyebrow at that. "Wanna involve me?"

Now he turned his head to her. A smirk appeared on his face and he flipped them again. "Probably won't work with you on top."

That statement and his weight pressing her down made her shiver in pleasure. She wondered what he had in mind. "Then show me…"

"Workin' on it." He grinned wolfishly and hid his face in the crook of her neck.

He was kissing her neck, collar bones and chest, fondling with her nipples, biting her gently here and there. He knew she liked it, and he was encouraged by her soft sounds and touches. He kissed his way down her flat stomach to the hem of her panties. He caught her scent and he smiled. The blowjob turned her on too. A sign to move his lips down south, licking, nibbling, kissing at her hips, thighs...

"D-Daiki…" She breathed out and rolled her hips against a thin air. Her insides were tingling with the hot feeling, when his hands slipped from her chest to her hips, pushing her down.

The sound of his name was turning him on again. Not a full boner yet. Still, it was a surprisingly fast recovery for him. He looked at her and he loved the expression of pure pleasure on her face. He touched her through the soaking panties; his fingers slowly tracing the entire length of her entrance.

"Damn… Daiki, t-take 'em off." She pleaded, pressing against his hand that hovered over her clit.

That sounded like heaven bells. And he was in heaven.

Her panties were off and following her bra in an instant. He looked at her pussy lovingly, she was so beautiful. His fingers touched her bare skin to feel her warmth and wetness. With a circular motion he teased her pleasure nub, never touching it directly. He was teasing her. Enjoying her moans and sighs. Then his finger travelled lower and circled her entrance.

Could he? He'd never tried it before. He hesitated.

Aya didn't want him to stop. His hand was doing wonders. For a second she thought he'd go down on her, but now… with his finger almost inside of her. She moved, pressing against that hesitating visitor shyly asking for a permission to enter.

"Uhm…" He looked at her, noticing her motion. Really?

She knew the question. He didn't need to ask. "Yes..."

He inserted one finger into her warmth. Her walls tightened around him, but she moved her hips taking in the sensation. It obviously didn't hurt, so he moved his finger around, curiously exploring the new area.

Aya closed her eyes and let him get used to it. She was getting used to it too, his fingers were definitely longer than hers and he reached deeper. When he carefully added the second finger she groaned louder and rolled her hips against him allowing him to get even further. The walls are paper thin, stupid… She bit her lip.

That was an unusual sound from her. "I didn't… hurt you…" He leaned higher and kissed her breast.

"N-no. It's… Ah," she moaned, not able to find words.

He tried moving his fingers in and out slowly. Then he found a certain spot where her reactions were stronger. It was more of the pressure change, than a full in-out movement. Oh fuck… He thought when his erection pressed against her thigh.

When his thumb stroked her clit in addition to everything else, she had to cover her mouth to keep her voice in.

The grin on his face said it all. He discovered another magic trick to bring his loved one over the moon.

With the height difference, he could totally go up to kiss her and keep his hand pleasuring her. As a bonus he could also press his boner against her. Rubbing against her would be too much multitasking for now though.

"G-go faster…" She breathed out, biting her lip. Her hips were coming out to meet his fingers instinctually and she was loving it. And his thumb on her clit, fucking amazing.

He obliged, and then her walls contracted intensely when she came, entrapping his hand down there with the help of her thighs. He pressed against her clit, enhancing her orgasm and enjoying the pulsing of both, her clit and her walls that were suddenly much wetter than before. Her breathing was frantic and she managed to hide her face in his shoulder.

She moved her hips, enjoying her high and relieving it a bit. By doing that, she rubbed against his cock and he groaned.

He realised he wasn't far from coming again himself. He glanced down at her to meet her curious gaze.

"Are you… close?" She asked; her voice a bit raspy.

"…sorry?"

"So not…" She grinned and released his hand.

He took his fingers out and brought the hand up to them. He stared at her glossy juices all over his fingers and palm. It was tempting. Very tempting. Then he glanced at her. Would she…? No… he couldn't ask that… But… That dirty image was back in his mind.

Her eyebrow went up. "What are you imagining?" She asked curiously.

He shook his head. That was too embarrassing. But he definitely wanted a lick. So he went ahead and licked his finger, while he pressed and rubbed his boner against her side.

His woman being Aya, she wanted to know what he wanted. Whatever it was. She grabbed his wrist and pulled his dirtied hand closer to her face. She could smell herself on him. It was strangely arousing. "What would you want me to do?"

Blushing, he glanced at their joined hands. She was already touching it.

"Daiki," her voice was low and seductive, "tell me."

"Would you… Uhm…" He was glancing between his hand and her lips.

Maintaining eye contact to see his expression, she pulled his hand to her lips. He was expectantly watching her, steadily rubbing himself against her side. His cock was so hot, so ready to go off again, with the pre-cum wetting her side. She licked the entire length of his palm and fingers with the tip of her tongue. She gently bit his fingertips.

He pulled his hand back and ravished her mouth, drowning his deep orgasmic growl.

~~~~~End of lemons~~~~~

"I love you, Aya." He hummed, coming back from his second high of the day. Who would've thought? He suddenly felt so sleepy and heavy. All energy left him. So very romantic. He thought ironically.

She smiled. "I love you too."

She should clean up his cum from her stomach, and who knew where it might've ended, but she didn't feel like doing it at all. She should get up and clean herself up a bit too… They weren't at home. I'm tired…. I need to pee. Maybe it'll go away? So not cute… Urgh… I don't wanna gooooo… She was whining inwardly. Her thoughts were arguing with her, bugging her, when all she wanted was to close her eyes, snuggle with her man and sleep.

When Daiki's breathing steadied in two minutes, she laughed quietly. "I tired you out, eh?" She turned to her side and kissed his forehead. They were so in tune, she was amazed. She was thankful for their bond. She smiled kindly, "thank you…" Who would've said they'd get this far?

With a sigh she forced herself up for a little clean-up. And to throw the yukata and a blanket over him. He was sweaty and naked. The room wasn't exactly warm, and they didn't need to catch a cold. For a moment she stared at him. So handsomely hot…

She couldn't resist giving one last butterfly touch to his perfect muscles. His darker skin glistening with sweat was so unbelievably tempting for her.

Normally, it would wake him up.

Not tonight.

######

"I know you want me to win," Taiga caught the ball and put one hand on his hip, "but it's past 10 PM, we should go home."

"You need to win." Haruka insisted. He was dead tired from playing for so long, his knee was sore, but... A bit longer and Taiga would win one on him.

"Not tonight." He gave up with a sigh. It opened his eyes though, he needed to get better. Much better, if he wanted to face Aomine and win.

Haruka frowned, but his son was right. No reason to push it too far. "But we're not done until you eventually do."

"Tomorrow… After I get home we can play again. I'm going out with my friends to play a bit in the morning."

He opened his mouth to ask if he could come watch, then closed it. He was the father. It would be embarrassing if he went out with a bunch of teenagers. "… Okay." He said instead and looked at the starless sky. "I wonder what Aya is doing…"

Hearing that, Taiga's mind and inner bond wandered to his sister. Those ecstatic vibes he was getting from her could mean only one thing. And he wasn't happy he discovered it. He made a disgusted grimace. Urgh, gross. He certainly didn't need the image of Aya and Ahomine getting hot'n'heavy in his head.

"You don't wanna know." He grumbled under his breath, but made sure Haruka heard, and headed out of the court.

"WHAT?!"

---

Daiki woke up on his own at the ridiculous time when he usually took the dogs out. He was surprisingly fresh and well rested. He ran his hand up his chest, still naked… and sighed rubbing his eyes. He didn't remember falling asleep. He probably passed out immediately, but he was sleeping under the covers and, incredulously, Aya didn't kick him off the futon.

He looked at his sleeping woman and laughed quietly at her impossible sleeping position.

She didn't kick him off the futons, because she was the one who rolled out. Only her bottom half stayed on the warm futon, with the blanket tangled around her legs that were wide apart. Her feet were on the level of his hips, she had one arm twisted under her head instead of a pillow and the other one was stretched out. Her hair was everywhere and her yukata was a mess; her left boob was peeking at him, greeting him in the morning.

And there she could sleep in a bus, or anywhere, without a fuss. Was it because she felt safe here with him? He should start documenting Aya's night wanders.

If it was her norm, he'd love to see more of it (without getting hit and kicked, naturally).

"What on earth were you doing?" He chuckled and pulled her into the bedding. She must've been cold. That exposed chest was tempting, but she was sleeping. He wasn't that perverted, so he tucked her yukata back in place and rolled her into all the blankets he found like a cute little sushi roll.

He was about to wrap her feet when he stopped to examine them. "Huh…"

Honestly, he expected something really bad as she'd never let him see her feet without a tape, but it wasn't that terrible. Sure, calluses and hardened skin, old scars where the broken rifts on the skin got too deep. A few healing pinkish blisters and abrasions, probably caused by new shoes. Maybe some nails were bruised under the wine red nail polish, which he liked, but he couldn't tell. Her feet were actually… cute in a way, small, well cared for with perfectly trimmed nails.

"Why all that fuss…?" He wondered.

He gently stroked her feet – they were unbelievably cold – tucked the blanket over them and rubbed them through it to warm them up. How was it possible she didn't wake up, he had no idea.

Then he threw his yukata over his shoulders and went to take a shower. He certainly needed one.

######

"Seriously? A sushi roll?" She asked Daiki the moment he returned to the room with a huff. She woke up and she couldn't get out of the blankets. It was wrapped around her so tightly. She was trapped and helpless. And he left her there alone! It wasn't funny. The initial fright turned into anger.

"My sushi roll." He grinned, trying to get water out of his ear with his pinky.

Her eyes narrowed threateningly. "Get me out of it." It was about time she should take the pill.

"Uhm… angry sushi roll…?"

"Daiki." There was a warning.

"U-uh. I'm not sure it's safe to get close to you now, Love." He teased. "Sushi or not, who knows what you could do…" Certainly bite…

She groaned in frustration, wiggled around, and then with a sigh she gave up and dropped her head on the pillow. He was back, at least…

He crouched down to her. Hesitantly, he loosened the blanket, so she could get out.

She turned away from him with a pout.

Daiki sighed. "Are you angry?" He poked her shoulder. It was funny, in his mind. He didn't think it could backfire. Or that she'd wake up before he got back.

"…"

"If you don't tell me, I won't know."

"..." She was chewing on her lip. "Sort of… I thought you left me here like this… because I, maybe… kicked around in my sleep again. To… get back at me?" She didn't like the sound of that. Or her voice, sounding more sad than angry.

He chuckled in relief.

"What?" She peeked at him over her shoulder, her hair covering her face. "It was scary."

"Get back at you? After yesterday?" He tugged the strand of her hair behind her ear.

She looked into his honest, gentle dark eyes. "No?" She peeped.

He plopped down on the futon next to her and pulled her into his arms. "No. You were sleeping half on the ground and you were cold." He kissed her head. "I didn't think you'd wake up before I get back."

So he had only good intentions? "…the pill…" She grumbled and pulled away from his arms.

"Right." He let her go take it.

She hesitantly returned and snuggled close to him. There was a remnant of distaste and slight panic she felt after waking up. But his arms were soothing.

"You were a cute sushi roll…" He hummed humorously.

She burst out laughing. "Don't leave me alone next time."

"I won't. Promise."

######

"You brought me a… judogi?" She blinked at the pile of clothes Daiki handed her. Did he know she'd get to practise too?

"Yeah, it's one of my old ones. It should fit you."

"You were my size?" She teased.

He rolled his eyes. "Years and years back. Come on, you don't wanna be late."

######

Aiko was asked to teach Aya the basics. Falls, basic blocks, attacks, stances. In a day. Normally, ukemi waza (falls) alone took about a month. But Ishikawa-sensei thought they'd try and see how well Aya could cope. And how much they could push on her. Daiki volunteered, but… He chose Aiko, because she was patient, very skilled, the girls knew each other, they were more or less physically even and Aiko didn't mind missing her practise – she could always catch up in the evening. Daiki should get his own practise done and he might be too soft on his girlfriend.

"Does she know what she's getting into?" Shimizu asked Daiki after a warm up, when the huge group split into three according to ranks and Aiko took Aya to a side.

"Aya?" He laughed. "I think Aiko doesn't know what she's dealing with." He was disappointed he couldn't be the one teaching her, but deep down he knew that Ishikawa-sensei made the right decision; though he wouldn't admit it.

"Daiki!" His father called him.

"Oh fuck…" He grumbled, when he realised his father was leading their first hour of practise, and he was being the dummy.

"Good luck~" Shimizu teased quietly, delighted he wasn't the victim.

"Come on, honey puff!" Aiko slapped Aya's shoulder to get her attention. "You stared at him yesterday ~probably did something inappropriate too~ But today you have real work to do."

"Yeah, yeah." Aya rolled her eyes. She wanted to be amazed at Daisuke's skill, horrified at what was happening to Daiki (although she knew it looked worse than it was and Daisuke would never seriously hurt his son), and maybe see Daiki willingly giving up. How often could she see that? Never!

"So you did something yesterday?" The blonde teased, which earned her a fed up, unimpressed, royal eye-roll from Aya.

"Dramatic eye-rolls, mastered." She laughed. "Okay, now let's teach you something real good."

Soon enough, Aiko was pleasantly surprised. The redhead was a fast learner. She and the girls had shown Aya ukemi-waza yesterday, and she already knew it. Well, ushiro-ukemi (fall on the back) was obviously not Aya's favourite as she hit her head a few times, but it was quite decent. And it was similar with the rest of the basics. Almost like Aya already knew three quarters of it and just needed to refresh her muscle memory. Unfair! She already knows more than half of it! Aiko thought too many times during her mentoring. Aya was naturally good and had unbelievable control of her body, plus her energy was contagious. It was the first time Aiko saw someone relentlessly repeating things over and over again without uttering a single complaint. The world champion… She was the world champion for years… She reminded herself begrudgingly.

Ishikawa-sensei was observing them by the corner of his eye the whole time. When the official practises ended before lunch break he stopped by. "Aya-chan, have you ever done some martial arts?" He asked curiously. He had trained some dancers in his life and they tended to have certain troubles the redhead didn't.

"Oh, uhm…"

"Daiki taught her. Definitely…" Aiko grumbled glaring at the bluenette.

"Aiko."

"Sorry." She peeped. Aggravating Ishikawa-sensei was never wise.

Aya smirked at that. "I wouldn't call it martial arts, at least he… never named it. I mean… we had a guardian… who taught us some self-defence. Just in case. And I have a brother… and cousins."

The old man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If you don't mind me asking, have you ever been in a situation you needed to use it?"

She cringed, thinking about a few situations when she found Seth's teaching very handy. "I guess."

"Hmmm, what a world to live in…" He hummed, but didn't question it further. It was obvious it made Aya uncomfortable. "Good you had someone to teach you. I can see these things are not new to you, Aya-chan. So I've been thinking… You will join the afternoon practises with the others. Aiko, if you wouldn't mind –"

"Not at all, she's good." She smiled at Aya. "Take good care of me, sis'."

Aya nodded. Since when are we sisters?

Ishikawa-sensei nodded. "And after all today's practises, try the techniques with Daiki. Practising with someone bigger and heavier than you is different. He might respond differently than Aiko here."

"Sure thing, he is more flexible than me." Aiko pouted. "Did the guardian guy teach you nage-waza, uh… throws?"

"Huh? Like what?"

Aiko grabbed her right wrist, slipped the other arm around her waist, turned her back, ducked a little under Aya's center of gravity and threw her over her hip. "Like that." She said, grinning at the redhead's surprised expression.

"What just happened?" Aya blinked from the ground. "I was standing, and then I wasn't…"

"O-goshi happened." Aiko stretched her hand to help her get up. "It's one of the easiest; I'll show you how to do it later."

"It didn't hurt much…"

"You fell well. And Aiko threw you properly." Ishikawa-sensei smiled, "a good uke is just as important as good basics. And you don't want to hurt your uke."

Aya smiled widely. She was positively pumped up to get into this and to try as many new things as she could during this short time, because it seemed so cool.

The lunch was quick and during a short free time afterwards Aya and Daiki went out for a walk. Aya wanted to explore the surrounding area and Daiki was happy to show her places he liked and suggest a second dinner at his favourite takoyaki stall, a few blocks away, a really tiny hidden restaurant, where the only seats were outside. The only protection from bad weather was a marquise. But the food there was heavenly and he wanted her to try it. She thought it was cute and she was curious about the food.

When they got back, she got fully sucked into the practise. In four hours, she got to know four senseis, including Aiko's father, Kise Itsuki. He seemed to be a great person and a very good sensei, but she still thought Daisuke was the best of them. She had to admit she might've been biased because she knew him better and liked him. He was also teaching them as the last and he showed techniques more difficult, where they had to think; even Aiko gave him a perplexed glance once, but he didn't care. Daisuke liked seeing his pupils think and he had no problem explaining repeatedly, if necessary.

Then they were repeating everything they learnt during the day and then came wrestling matches. They could choose an opponent freely, it wasn't limited for the group they'd practised in during the day.

Aya wasn't sure what to do at first, but with Aiko's quick explanation being: "Don't get immobilised and try to immobilise the opponent. No biting, no eye jabbing, no hard hits, no deliberate kicks in the balls. No one from the guys will try to grope you, I guarantee it. Other than that, do your best.", and facing Aiko first, she figured out it wasn't that bad. Sure, the blonde was unbeatable, but it was different, it was fun. It forced Aya to use muscles she didn't get to use that often. And after the fourth round, she was exhausted. Her sports bra, t-shirt and even the thick judogi top were completely soaked with sweat.

Daiki loved seeing her like that; cheeks red from effort, hair a total mess sticking to her face, sweat trickling down her neck... It made her beautiful in a completely different way. And he was proud of her. How many girls would be willing to do that? And how many of them would actually like it? Probably just this one wild redhead… His redhead. He had to get that last round with her.

"I knew it." She grinned when Daiki sat into seiza opposite her, waiting for a command to start. She didn't know anyone properly, so she didn't go around choosing her sparring partner, instead she waited for whoever came to her. So far it was Aiko, two men she didn't know and who didn't introduce themselves, and Daisuke (he even managed to teach her some things or gave her tips during those five minutes).

"I'm enjoying the last round to the fullest." He hummed with a smirk. Wrestling, or more like grappling on the ground trying to win, was one of his favourite end-of-training activities. And doing that with Aya… well, certainly he had some interesting things going through his mind, but this was dojo not bedroom. And he definitely wouldn't let Shimizu spar with her even though she was wearing a t-shirt under the top. Not with those few comments he'd uttered her way. "Mmm, I wonder who'll win."

"You, of course." She chuckled. "I'm beat."

"You? Isn't your stamina limitless?" He teased.

"I'd wish. But look at me."

"Hajime!" Ishikawa shouted and Daiki grabbed her lapels at a lightning speed.

Daisuke and a few other senseis let this one round pass. They stood by the edge and observed the youngsters, to see their lackings, so they could incorporate it into the training. Daisuke was watching his two teenagers; somehow Aya'd been labelled as 'Daisuke's other kid' the previous day. At first, he wouldn't protest out of courtesy towards Aya, but seeing her practise today, he wouldn't protest at all. He was proud of that label she'd gotten.

"She's savage." Kise's father whistled, ruffling his hair with a towel. The kids had so much energy that, as the middle aged man he was, he couldn't get it.

"She has a brother." Daisuke grinned. Aya was truly a piece of work, twisting and wiggling her way out of Daiki's grips the moment he hesitated or made a mistake. She could take advantage of any little opening she found, or Daiki offered – in several cases his son behaved like a true gentleman. He was proud of him too, but he also knew Daiki wouldn't let her win in the end. She was flexible, she could get out of things the majority of people in this room wouldn't, simply because their joints would refuse to bend any further.

"Just one?" Itsuki raised an eyebrow.

"And cousins. And she had someone teach her self defence before." Ishikawa-sensei hummed, joining the two. As much as he didn't want to do favourites, he liked these two men as his own sons. "Being the pretty girl she is; I believe the person taught her some really effective ground work too. I dare guess it was jiu-jitsu."

"Could be..."

Daisuke blinked at the sensei, ignoring Itsuki, though he was right, it was obvious she knew what she was doing. "So someone taught her? They didn't tell me."

Ishikawa-sensei looked at him knowingly, with a humour in his eyes. "But did you bother to ask either of them, Daisuke-kun?"

"Eer… no…" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Daiki won this time, let her go and they got back to it again. The same trick didn't work on the redhead the second time. "But it is obvious… when you say it." Judging by Daiki's vigour in the fight, his son must've known Aya had some skills in this area.

"I wonder what happened she got to be taught that." Kise's father wondered.

"Nothing had to happen." Daisuke shrugged. "If she was my daughter, I would teach her that too. Just like you did."

"True…"

Ishikawa-sensei cleared his throat to get their attention back. "Aya-chan wasn't comfortable talking to me, maybe she'll tell you, Daisuke-kun or Daiki, if you ask her. Even if nothing happened, I'm glad that, whoever that guardian was, taught her this."

"Are you still at it, sensei?" The two said almost in unison.

"Yes!" The old man said vehemently. "This should be taught to all girls in school, during P.E. classes. For once they'd learn something practical that might actually save them." He was trying to achieve this half of his life, but no, no one would take it seriously. Kendo during P.E.? Yeah, why not? Really effective self-defence for girls to help them in situations… No. Why? It's aggressive. It's offensive. It's embarrassing to get students into such obscene/suggestive positions during the P.E. We live in a safe world. But he knew better. Rapes happened, maybe the society was too prude to talk about it, too prude to admit it, or too sexist, but it was happening even in the safe times. He valued women greatly, so whenever he got a chance to teach them self-defence, he used it. Every single one of them deserved to know how to protect herself.

Itsuki and Daisuke exchanged glances; they knew this was a sensitive topic for the old man, and that he considered it his failure; he didn't manage to get a certain set of his teachings to schools country wide. Some schools took it, and taught it. Too little in their opinion. Itsuki taught both his daughters, they taught their wives and even their sons were practising this. They agreed with the sensei that martial arts should be in everyone's education at some point, but! They'd add that not only girls needed it, and that some might misuse it like one might misuse a weapon. Because that's what it was. Every martial art was a weapon in a way.

"Those who want to, learn. Some …situations could've been avoided if it was widely taught, yes, it's a pity, but… some bad situations could arise as a consequence too." Daisuke shrugged. "Sometimes you can be the best in here, and freeze when the real stuff happens. Accidents happen." Shit happens…

"Yeah, yeah, I know…" The old man huffed. They all had that one student turning out wrong.

"YAME!"

"It wasn't five minutes yet." Itsuki pointed out, but the old man just waved his hand and ignored him with a grumble.

"And I win." Daiki smiled at her. After a really interesting grappling fight, he had her firmly in a lock. She could move and breathe (as long as he didn't squeeze, and he wouldn't), but she couldn't get out or get him off in any way.

"Congrats. I bet I gave it a better fight than you expected." She said proudly.

He kissed her forehead swiftly and released her from the lock. "Tch, I knew you were a fighter, when it came to it… and yeah, certainly better than I expected." He nodded approvingly, pulling her up from the ground.

"Can I try o-goshi on you later?"

He grinned. "Sure, but I won't make it easy for you."

"Oh, please don't."

######

The head nurse walked into Kimiko's room to check up on her. The found child was named "Kimiko", based on votes, as no one could figure out the child's real name. When she saw Michiko sitting by the bed and reading a story, she stopped and sighed.

"Aomine-san, what are you still doing here?" She asked softly.

Michiko turned to her with an apologetic smile. She couldn't help herself. "Reading a bedtime story?"

"You didn't have a shift today in the first place. I admit, you being here helped us out, but you can't be here 24/7."

The head nurse was a strict but fair lady in her late forties. She was short and with her heart shaped face and a beauty mark under her eye, she looked younger than her age. Her short black hair wasn't greying yet either. She was working as the ER's head nurse for the past ten years; from the day Michiko had entered on her previous position. It wasn't an easy job; it took her quite some time until she had built trust and respect from her subordinates. And she needed a thick skin as some patients didn't want to respect someone who 'had just come out of school'. But she was very compassionate and always stood by her staff when necessary (given they did their job properly).

Michiko rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I know, I know. I'm sorry, Ennoshita-san."

She sighed and looked at Kimiko, who was giving her a blank look. She wondered how much the kid understood. "Look, Kimiko-chan will be here at least until Christmas. Then she'll be in the care of social workers. It' not like she'll disappear on you."

Michiko closed the story book. "I know, I just…" She looked at Kimiko longingly. "I can't help it. I want to help her."

"I understand, but don't start neglecting your own family."

"No one is home during the weekend anyways –" Her eyes widened in panic. "–oh no! The dogs!"

Ennoshita shook her head as she watched her best nurse saying goodbye to the kid and frantically running to get changed. This was so like Aomine. Consumed by work she often forgot to eat, rest, or care for herself.

"Looks like she left us alone, huh, Kimiko-chan?" She asked the kid gently and approached the bed. "How are you feeling?" Like shit, abandoned and with all the injuries… She thought. The idea of breaking the bones so they could properly heal hurt her heart. But it had to be done. Once the other injuries heal…

Kimiko ignored her; in fact she didn't react to anyone. The kid was completely shut down.

But there was a subtle change.

When Michiko left, Kimiko kept staring at the door.

######

Haruka was standing on the balcony watching the street below. He wanted Taiga to win, he wanted to let him win, but he knew it would do no good. Taiga needed to earn the victory. But when he compared the two boys, he still couldn't picture Taiga winning. There had to be some trigger, something to help Taiga improve. And it wasn't just him practising with his son. They needed to figure it out. Think… What could he do? There weren't many players like Daiki around here.

Phone in his pocket disturbed his thoughts.

Lindsay.

"Yeah?"

"Hello, Kagami-san. I think you need to come back. We have problems in the management. I believe you already heard?" She wasn't beating around the bush.

"No, I haven't." He pinched the bridge of his nose. Just as expected… I'm gone for a while and those… "Who?"

"… Several of them."

"They're throwing rocks at you, right?"

"I don't want to complain, but it's not just a personal problem. I cannot handle this situation alone. Some contracts were missed. Purposefully or not… Thalia already informed Aya-chan, and I apologise for that, I didn't know."

"Aya knows? She didn't call me."

"I thought she told you, now that you're living together. I was surprised you haven't called already."

"Nah, she's on a trip with her boyfriend." He said it like an insult. "Well, I think I'll have to talk with her too, once she comes home tomorrow."

"She might've planned to talk to you about it in person. I wanted to deal with it without troubling you, but… But once I learnt Thalia had told her, I decided to call you, so you heard it from me. But that's not all, I found something else that bothers me."

"What is it?"

"I'll send it to you via e-mail, I think you need to see it for yourself. I don't want to make a fuss, but it looks like a fraud to me. Though it's basically invisible in the books."

"WHAT?!" He almost dropped the phone. Then he counted to three, it was only a suspicion. "Thank you. I'll come back. Book me the first available flight."

"Monday evening." She said. "You should wait for your daughter to return home and talk with her properly. It's not a wildfire here. Yet."

"Yet…" He repeated grimly. Backstabbing management was the worst plague a company could experience. Plus a suspected fraud?! He needed to see how much it would cost them. He hoped not the whole company. And he'd been sure he only employed responsible, loyal, yet ferocious men. Apparently I was a fool in more things…

"We'll handle it."

"I'll call you back when I look at it."

######

"Can I try something with you?" She asked.

"Jiu-jitsu?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I guess… It didn't happen during the grappling aaaand I'm not sure I still know how to do it right." The frown on her forehead was cute. "It's been ages since I've last got to practise it."

He was getting an idea what this was about if she asked him this in their room, not in the gym, after the dinner and in casual clothes. "We are meeting dad and the rest in ten minutes to go for takoyaki."

"Give me five, please."

"All right. What do you want me to do?"

She lied onto her back. "Get inside my legs and try to choke."

He frowned. "The rape position?"

"… yeah… I don't feel comfortable practising it with just anybody." She grumbled under her nose.

For him it was a part of practises at times and he learnt to get out of it. He'd never thought about it from a girl's perspective, until now. It really might've been uncomfortable for girls. But it was practise and he wanted to check out what she knew. And if she was comfortable enough to ask him, if she wanted to practise it with him… He would be the uke she wanted.

Instead of really squeezing her neck he hooked his fingers around under her trapezius, to give her time to think what to do. She hadn't practised it for a long time after all. If he stressed her out, it could turn out bad for him. Or both.

She nodded.

First she hit the pressure points on his forearms, and she aimed damn well; it momentarily numbed his forearms from elbows to tips of his fingers and he lost balance tipping forward. He hated sparring partners who knew how to accurately hit those points, it was a nuisance. His head ended up somewhere above her neck and he felt her insteps hook his shins from inside out; her left hand came under his chin and further, hooking his jaw, the other above his head.

Fuck, she's gonna stretch me like a frog. How much I hate this one… But did she have enough strength to flip them?

Yep, she had.

She stretched her legs out, completely disrupting Daiki's balance and with the opposite rolling movement of her hands she twisted his head. Using the whole right side of her body, especially the leg, as an axis she did flip them over. Quickly mounting him, her fist stopped a centimetre from his face.

He grinned. "Good, but if you can't hit the pressure points? Or if I was heavier? Or if I bit you?" He didn't consider it too usable in a real situation… There were too many things that could go wrong.

"Then you'd bite a chunk out of my arm, but I'd get away." She said with a determination in her eyes and he was sure she'd manage to do it despite all odds, if pushed too far. "And I have another one, a bit easier I guess…"

"Show me." He challenged and flipped them over, taking the same attacking position again.

She snaked her left hand underneath his right and caught his left forearm. Her right arm went over his arms and gripped his trapezius, touching his neck. She used her right foot to push herself sideways from his hip, thanks to that her left leg got under his right armpit, then her right leg returned, hooked around his neck and she flipped him to a side, holding him down with both her legs.

"Don't let go of that arm." He advised her, when he felt her grip loosening.

"Huh?" She lifted herself up to give him a perplexed glance. She kept holding his wrist, but gave him all the freedom he needed to help her understand what he meant.

"Use your left thigh as a lever, like this," he rotated his arm so his elbow was resting on her thigh to lead her into the right position, "see? It's easily breakable like this." He swung his forearm back and forth lightly.

"Like this?" She pushed his forearm outwards, and released it immediately when he hissed in pain.

Tch. His left elbow was messing with him once again.

"Sorry?" She peeped and released him from the 'trap' completely.

"Mmmm," he shook his head. "You did it well. And we should go."

"Two more minutes, please."

"Something different?"

She nodded.

He sighed and gave in. Two minutes were fine. "Where do you want me?"

"Mount me over my hips, and try to choke me."

He pushed her onto her back again and with another sigh he complied. She seemed so small when he was towering her like this, so fragile. The position should feel empowering, but honestly, with Aya down there, he felt like a bully.

"Just a question. To refresh my memory…"

"Hmm?"

"There is no point in me trying to punch you anywhere, right?"

He chuckled. "No, Sweetheart. I have all the advantages here. You wouldn't reach my face. Even if you punched upwards, it'd lose all strength halfway. You could try the pressure points or balls, but if it wouldn't work, it'd probably start a punching fest, with really bad consequences for you, especially on a concrete."

She nodded in understanding. "Plus you're choking me."

"Yeah. So what do you do?"

Her smirk told him, she knew this one much better than the other two. Oh shit… Was the only thought he managed.

"So, I do this." She grabbed his left wrist with her left hand, while her right hand grabbed his triceps, unconsciously finding another pressure point. Her right foot crossed his left ankle and hooked it. Then with her left leg in the center between his legs she pushed him to a side.

He had no choice but to go with her momentum. This one technique, she did faster, more precisely then the other two. He rolled further away onto his back and stared at the ceiling for a second. He wasn't used to falling this way; he rarely encountered left handed people in practises, and it was a bit difficult for everyone to do techniques the 'unnatural' way which was, however, preferred by Aya as he just learnt. He smiled.

"And you'd win."

"And I win!" She grinned happily. A praise like that…

She crawled over to him and mounted him instead. He blinked at her in surprise. "What are you planning?" Aya on top didn't make him feel uncomfortable in the slightest.

"How do you get away from that?" She asked and pinned his wrists to the ground above his head. She was so close, almost pressed to him, but she had no choice: his arms were so long! For a moment she was enjoying the feeling of power. Yes, that position gave her power, and she loved it. There was a childish glee in it, and she was really curious how to get away from that one, because she'd never figured it out. She called it a 'big brother move'; the attacker couldn't do anything, no punches, nothing of the sort, just holding her down to annoy her.

But then she made a mistake of looking into those deep dark blue eyes and lost her breath. He didn't seem to mind being mounted by her at all. On the contrary, he had that grin on his face, where she knew he'd kiss her deeply in a second… She could feel his abs tighten as he chuckled breathlessly.

A few loose strands of her hair tickled his cheeks. She was so close he could feel her heartbeat. Those fiery eyes were burning with victory, then sudden desire and he damn loved it. Her thighs around his hips and waist… He would enjoy giving her this satisfaction once in a while. "The question is, do I want to, Love?" He hummed.

She blushed. That husky voice was irresistible. She leaned down to kiss him.

"Sure you don't!"

Aya shot up, releasing Daiki's wrists. Her back hit his thighs as she swiftly got off him.

"DAD!" Daiki sat up feeling mortified. His face was burning and he could see Aya's was too. "Can't you knock?!"

"I did." He said with a teasing grin, "no one answered so I took the liberty… The door does have a lock though." Oh, this was gold material for teasing.

If Daiki could turn even redder, he did when he saw the people behind his father (Aiko with her dad, Shimizu and even Ishikawa-sensei… thankfully it was kinda family, but still), all of them having those grins… "TCH! Fuck..."

"Uhm, we weren't…" Aya started, her blush slowly dissipating. But that look Daisuke was giving them. It wasn't disapproval, but a pure mischief, "it doesn't matter what I say, does it?"

"All you say can and will be used against you, my dear child."

Her eyes narrowed. "…and there I thought I liked you, Daisuke-san." She said chuckling. "But you're savage."

His smile widened. "Oh, you don't know a fraction of it… Okay!" He clapped, "cool off, son, and let's go. We all want the takoyaki!"

They grabbed their jackets and headed out. Both blushing and staring at their feet rather than the others. Daiki was trying to get his composure back in check. He'd never expected anyone to walk in on them. And they weren't even trying to get intimate! It was innocent! Aya beside him was embarrassed, but silently laughing.

She slipped her hand into his, "it's fine," she told him quietly.

"…but you…" Gods! Aya probably hated it. With her problems…

"It's family, not the world. No harm done." She smiled softly. "…aaaand, it could've been worse."

"Tch, how worse?"

"Uuuhm, Haruka?"

"Oh fuck."

"Yeah, he'd probably tear your head off… and then mine … or mine first? Definitely mine first." She decided.

"Let's not find that out."

"Let's not."

"When's the wedding, love birds?" Shimizu teased them from behind. It was indeed a funny spectacle, but truly, he envied them that obvious chemistry they shared.

Daiki glanced at her with a raised eyebrow and a furious blush. He was speechless and had no idea how to answer that, so he was relying on her to let out some attack. But as he saw, she was blushing just as bad. And they both burst out laughing.

Then Aya decided to attack: "Are you jealous, Kei?!"

"The young lad can't seem to keep a girl by his side, Aya-chan!" Itsuki called out from the front.

"Or proper friends!" Aiko added.

"So of course he's jealous!" They both concluded.

Like father like daughter.

"Hey! I'm not jealous, old man!" He pouted. So what? He was nice, it wasn't his fault the people around him at the university were a bunch of shallow fools and this was the only place he had some friends he considered real.

They all laughed.

"Come to uni in Tokyo, and we'll find you someone!" Aya offered.

"Very funny." He grumbled.

"I mean it." She grinned. "You're not a bad guy, quite nice actually."

"Hey!" Daiki squeezed her hand.

"But sorry, I only love this one here." She kissed Daiki's cheek and made him blush once again.

######

Daiki sighed contently when they finally snuggled together on the futons. Aya rested her head on his shoulder and he pulled her close to his side. He kissed the top of her head. They were both tired from the practise, all the conversation and overfed from the second dinner. But this was still a heaven for him.

"We can go see the castle tomorrow afternoon, if you want." He hummed into her hair.

"Hm? Castle? Haven't you been there already?"

"But you haven't."

"I'm not bored here, with everyone, you know… But I'd love to see the castle, if you give me some lecture on it?"

"I'm the dumb student, how would I know?"

"Because you do." She grinned.

"Hmmm… let's see…" He was smiling like an idiot and he was sure she could hear it in his voice, still… He would tell her. Because he knew indeed.

---

The next morning she was admiring huge bruises that formed on her forearms, on the inside and the outside too. It was stinging, but it meant she'd practised and learnt.

Daiki poked at it with a finger and frowned. "I don't like you having those."

"You don't have them?"

"Not anymore." He showed her. "But today's the last day… They'll take out weapons. Then, I'll definitely have some too."

"Weapons? Isn't it like… weapon-less martial art?"

"Not quite. We practise with sticks, two different lengths, knives, chains, and even prop guns."

"Dummies, I believe."

"Yeah, all are wooden props; we often use our old belts as makeshift chains."

She nodded. Reading about jiu-jitsu, and actually seeing it and getting involved were really different. It was very versatile, with an unbelievably wide range of opportunities, millions of possibilities. She liked it. "Uhmmm… us too?" She meant the group of basically the beginners.

"Naturally. Always protect your face with Aiko. She knocked out some teeth already."

"What?!"

He shrugged.

"Are you praising it, or complaining about it?"

"I'm not missing any teeth, I'm just warning you. Always keep a hand between the stick and your face. Aiko's good with weapons, but sometimes her hand slips."

######

Bruised and dead tired after all the practises, they still found the energy to go check out the castle. The whole car crew, being Aomines, Kises and her. The joy of both Aomines livened Aya up. They were visiting the place for the nth time, but they were vividly discussing the historical meaning of it, as well as pointing out details, folk tales…

Aiko was bored, staring into her phone most of the time, her father was trying to keep up with the two, but despite numerous visits here, he lacked their passion for history and he was too exhausted. But Aya was listening carefully, admiring the place and admiring her man's knowledge. This was the best.

They took some pictures, and she ignored Haruka's calls. Then they had dinner in a local restaurant and then headed home.

On the ride home, the three teens were packed on the backseat, with Aya in the middle as a peacekeeper and a pillow.

"Being comfy back there?" Daisuke teased her, when he glanced at her suffering expression in a rear mirror.

"I don't mind Daiki, but really, she drools?!" She glared at Aiko drooling over her shoulder. Eeew… And the blonde wouldn't budge. A yawn escaped her.

"Sleep too, and you won't even feel it." Itsuki chuckled, he was only awake to keep Daisuke company, otherwise he'd be out cold just like the kids.

"Mmmm…" She snuggled closer to Daiki and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the wet fabric on her shoulder.

######

When she got home it was almost midnight. The whole apartment was dark and no one was waiting for her. Well, she didn't expect it anyways. She yawned and stretched her back; the car ride was so uncomfortable.

She shuffled to the bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth. She'd take a shower in the morning. She was too tired.

"Finally!" Haruka boomed at her. He was lying on a couch in the darkness waiting for the young princess to finally return home. He found some disturbing things in the books. They needed to talk.

"Fuck!" She dropped her bag and jumped backwards. "Are you nuts? Do you wanna kill me?!"

"You didn't pick up when I called!"

"I didn't want you to ruin my weekend." She retorted, trying to keep her voice down to not wake up the rest of the family.

"I believe you enjoyed it to the fullest." He cringed at his own venomous tone.

"Sure did. Like the whore I am." She grabbed her stuff again and marched towards her room.

He rubbed his face in desperation; he didn't want to sound like he meant it that way. He was angry at other people, not her. "Aya, wait." He said, with an unbelievable control in his voice before she could hide in her room. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry for raising my voice."

"Oh really?"

He inwardly counted to five to calm down. "We have trouble."

The atmosphere suddenly got very serious. And she picked up on that. Biting her lip to suppress her anger she sat on the couch opposite him. "How serious?" She asked.

He remained silent, for a moment. "Didn't Thalia tell you?"

"She told me about personal problems and some missed contracts… She asked for advice on how to communicate it with the clients. This. Based on your tone, it sounds worse."

He nodded. "It is."

They were sitting there in the complete darkness.

"How serious?" She repeated after a while.

"I've spent half a day looking into it… fraudulent invoices, some result in tax leaks, some missing cash. Mostly in European branches, but it is most likely organised from the headquarters. Some companies, I thought were fake, are charging us for services we never ordered or received."

"What?! What services? Audits were all fine and clean."

"Technical services. Reporting, even payroll processing. We're not outsourcing that. The funny thing is, the companies exist, the contracts exist, the invoices exist. They even confirm it, but the companies seem to belong in some way, or send the fees to a few people in our management." He explained his findings. It was hard to wrap his mind around it, but it seemed legit. However, he needed to do more digging, to get a real unshakeable proof. "It's not that obvious, actually it's perfectly invisible, because it doesn't harm any of our clients or partners, but…"

"Us?"

"Mhm," he agreed grimly. "Management betrayal. I haven't noticed because the sums were not that significant, but they were very periodic."

"Is it missing in the company?"

"Yes and no. The accounting is as clean as snow. It's just gone."

"Not missing, but stolen… Did you tell Taiga about this?"

"No. He has the match to focus on. No need to get him involved in this shit. Fuck!" He swore quietly. "They stole from me!"

But you're involving me… Well, she was working in the company, unlike Taiga, and she did have a say in quite a lot of things. This involved her too. "I'm not that good with taxes, but tax leaks…if we try to correct it, we'll pay a penalty, right?"

"Oh, fuck the penalty, that's not a problem, there are reserves for that." He huffed. "I want to kill those fuckers. Once I get the proof."

She scratched her head. Suddenly she was more awake than she'd like. "You're going back." It wasn't a question.

"I have to."

"When?"

"Tomorrow evening."

"Can I help?"

"I don't know, Aya. But there is one more thing regarding Akashi."

This was getting better and better… "Urgh, I need a cigarette." She got up and headed to the balcony.

Haruka followed after her, picking up his glass of whisky. We have a long night ahead.

---

A/N: A long one indeed.

I'm sorry if it's too much jiu-jitsu, I do the martial art, I love it, and I really miss the practises that are forbidden like all contact sports due to covid. For describing the techniques and practises, I used personal experience and what I know and some youtube videos (as I'm starting to forget what I know); however I slightly changed it as Aya's originally left handed. I hope it is understandable/imaginable, I tried.

I wasn't sure about the title of the chapter, so I used one of two possible ideas, but if you can think of something better, let me know. I'm saving the other for later.

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

S.