Edited 11.03.2021
Before Summer Break
May 30th
The weekend came quickly.
Meeting Kuroko at the new burger shop had been interesting. Despite insisting to her father that Kuroko was just a friend, her dad still teased her the whole ride there and he'd dropped her off with a cheery, have fun!
Walking into the building had been weird too. Like, was there a code of conduct for something like this? Not to mention she couldn't even find Kuroko. The place wasn't that crowded, so either the boy wasn't here yet or he was being a jerk and using his invisibility power. After spending a few minutes standing awkwardly at the door, Kuroko finally came to retrieve her.
Therein lied the next problem, conversation. Unlike their last outing, Kuroko and Hana knew each other now, so the conversation wasn't filled with as many awkward silences. But that didn't mean they knew what to talk about. After the customary greetings, the two had been stuck in a stream of meaningless small talk.
A few minutes of irrelevant chatter later, they'd already ordered and were now in the process of eating. Kuroko was sucking on a milkshake across from her. Finishing for the moment, he questioned, "How are your studies?"
"My studies," Hana deadpanned at him, burger hanging halfway to her mouth, "What are we going to talk about next? The weather?"
"It is a bit hot out," Kuroko admitted.
"… That was a rhetorical question."
Her friend remained silent at her sarcasm and Hana took the time to bite into her burger. She had just closed her mouth when it was gone. Green eyes blinked at the empty air in front of her and her hands were still holding the now-vanished burger. Trailing a path up from her hands, Hana stared at Kuroko.
"Did you just?" Her tone was confused, "What?"
His head tilted as he sipped on his milkshake, the perfect picture of innocence. Except that's my goddamn burger on his plate. His voice was casual when he spoke, "I'm sorry?"
Furrowing her eyebrows, Hana stared at her burger, "That's mine."
"Oh," Kuroko looked down at her food, "I thought that would be a good way to initiate a conversation."
"By holding my dinner hostage?" Hana deadpanned.
"It's working, is it not?"
Yes, it was working, but Hana was not going to be outplayed. Narrowing her eyes on the phantom, Hana slithered a hand across the table and speedily grabbed his milkshake. Her resulting smile was challenging, "Still working?"
A blue eyebrow rose, "It would appear so. Would you please return my milkshake, Imamura-chan?"
"You are absolutely no fun," still holding the drink in her hands, Hana pouted at him, "You never give a reaction. Someone could probably kidnap you and you'd just apologize for the inconvenience."
"No, I would likely attempt to escape," Kuroko eyed his wayward drink, "Can I please—"
"Oh!" Hana's eyes lit up at his words, "That's right, the ghost thing! If you were ever kidnapped, you could like swoosh out of there. Wait, could you?" During her questioning, Hana leaned forward and was attempting to reach the straw to her soda, "Because that would be awesome. You could be a bank robber or something!"
"You're about to drink my—"
"Blegh," that wasn't the fizzy goodness she'd been looking for. Vanilla. Oh shit! Hana's eyes widened and she jerked the milkshake out of her mouth with a blush. Blinking at the innocent cup, Hana transferred her apologetic gaze up to Kuroko, "I'm so sorry— I'll go get you another one!"
In the commotion, Kuroko skillfully snatched his milkshake back, "There's no need, Imamura-chan."
"No, seriously, I'll pay for it…" Hana rummaged around for her wallet, "I know I had some change."
Blue eyes watched the manager as she dug through several receipts. A blush was still staining her cheeks and Kuroko ticked the side of his lips up at the muttered curses coming from her mouth. Meanwhile, Hana finally found enough money to buy him a new drink.
Her head lifted up only to pause, "Did you already go get another one? I said I'd pay for it—"
"No, I didn't," Kuroko answered before sipping his milkshake again, "There was no need."
"Wait, is that the same one?"
"It would be wasteful to throw it away."
"Gah," Hana's face met the table in mortification, "But I— just, never mind."
In the end, Kuroko never got a new drink despite Hana's protests, the earlier stolen burger was returned, and the conversation started to flow naturally. They talked about everything under the moon and then some. At one point, Hana tried to convince Kuroko to take up assassination jobs as a side hobby, but he hadn't been interested.
They made plans to meet up again. Much to her team's dismay.
June 1st
"Imamura-chan!"
"Momoi-san?" Hana trailed off in confusion, "What are you doing… here?"
By here, Hana meant her front doorstep. She'd been fixing her lunch when the door was knocked and Hana couldn't fathom who'd be at her door this early in the morning. In all honesty, she'd expect something like this from Kise, not the happy manager standing in front of her. None of them have been to my house... Goddamn information specialist.
"I wanted to come see you. I hope you don't mind," Momoi admitted with a tiny shrug. Normally, Hana would believe her, but today there was a glint in the fellow manager's eye.
"Uhm, okay. In that case, you want to walk to school with me?" Hana rambled, "Since you're here and all."
"That'd be great, Imamura-chan!" Momoi smiled with a few too many teeth. Hana paused at the sight. I feel like I've walked into a trap.
"Alright? Just let me go get my bag," her voice can out in a squeak and Hana wasn't afraid to admit it. With quick feet, Hana sprinted into her house, snatched her bag, and appeared back outside. A tiny shiver bloomed when Hana noticed Momoi was still there smiling happily.
"You ready?" Momoi questioned and Hana offered her a nod before her arm was grabbed by the first-string manager. While Hana let out a huff of surprise, Momoi just giggled before tugging her along.
The first few minutes were spent in silence until Momoi broke it, "So, how'd your date with Testu-kun go?"
"Date?" Hana stalled as she mentally freaked the hell out, "It wasn't a date."
"Are you sure?" Momoi hedged teasingly, but Hana could hear the underlying tension in her tone. Hana knew about Momoi's crush on Kuroko. Hell, everyone knew about it.
"I'm positive," Hana agreed with a nod. It really hadn't been a date, in her mind at least. Call her a romantic, but she liked for her dates to end with a kiss or two. Hana continued, "If we ever went on a date, I'd call you before I accept."
Momoi's resulting blush was almost humorous, "What! No, you don't need to do that!"
"You like him, Momoi-san," Hana offered and the grip on her arm tightened as a result, "I know that. You know that. Everyone knows that— It's not a bad thing! Don't make a sad face!" Hana sighed in relief as Momoi stopped frowning, "I just mean, if we ever went on a real date, I'd tell you."
"But," Momoi paused to gather her words, "I don't want to ask you to do that."
"Okay, you're my friend," Hana blushed as she tried to explain, "Hell, I just mean— Uhm, if we ever went on a date, I'd tell you because I wouldn't want to hurt you. I don't know! It's not like it'll happen."
Pink eyes blinked over to her in astonishment and Hana twitched. Had she said something wrong? She'd never had a friendship with a girl before, so all this was pretty new. Hana was about to apologize when a pair of arms wrapped around her waist.
As Hana was promptly smashed into a very large bosom, Momoi was smiling, "You're so nice, Imamura-chan! How cute!"
"Yes, thank you Momoi-san," Hana coughed, "Can you let me go?"
"Ah, sorry!" Momoi let go and stepped back bashfully.
Rubbing the back of her head, Hana looked to the sky, "It's no problem. We're okay, right?"
"Yeah, I think so," Momoi acknowledged. Now that everything was all said and done, the two girls shot each other reserved grins before continuing their walk to school. "You're so sweet, Imamura-chan."
"Thanks—" As they walked, Hana finally asked the question that had been bugging her all morning, "Hey, Momoi-san? How'd you find out where I live?"
The other manager only gave her a grin.
June 4th
"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, Futabatei! Happy birthday to you!" Hana joined the chorus of her teammates in the impromptu performance.
The three first-years were all sitting all the floor, singing in various levels of excitement. Uoya was wearing one of those pointy birthday hats and Hana mentally noted to steal it later. Kitano and Iseri, the two second-years, looked less than impressed with the confetti Hana had told them to throw. Dodging a handful of glitter thrown by Kitano, Hana looked over at the third-years.
Saiki and Kajiwara were holding the cake, both looking equally annoyed about it. Hana imagined it had something to do with the candles she'd lovingly put on it. There was a total of one hundred and six. Hana counted.
Finally, the focus of tonight's excitement, Futabatei, looked murderous. He was sitting at the head of the table with a pink party hat on top of his head. His right hand was holding the plastic knife in a death grip and grey eyes glared at Hana. Giving her captain a shaky grin, Hana snapped another picture with the camera coach gave her.
"If those go anywhere," Futabatei spoke in a monotone, "I will not be happy."
"I promise! Not going anywhere!" Hana swore before darting away from her captain's glare. Bending under Iseri's arm, Hana popped up next to Kajiwara, "Hey blondie," Hana dodged his swatting hand, "You've got something on your nose."
Kajiwara's eyes narrowed on her, "Where?"
"It's—" She poked the tip of his nose, "Right there!"
As her senior brought a hand up to check for himself, Hana let a cheery grin cover her face. Her action's caused Kajiwara to stop and eye her warily. In return, Hana lifted the hand she'd used to poke him. There was glitter, curtsey of Kitano, spread all over her palm.
Kajiwara tensed as the situation sunk in and a low growl came out of his mouth, "Hana. You better not have."
"Opps," Hana faux gasped, "Whatever have I done? But, oh my! Look at the time!"
Forcing her feet to move at the speed of light, Hana ducked under Kajiwara's attempt to grab her. Sticking her tongue out at the blond's aggravated face, she retreated to Uoya. Hana rubbed his hair before sitting down, "Hey, Uoya-kun."
"Hana-chan," Uoya didn't look away from the piece of cake in front of him, "Stop torturing everyone."
She laughed, "Come on, you guys love it."
"We're all masochists."
Hana gagged at the word that came out of her young friend's mouth, "Where the hell did you hear that? Do you even know what it means?"
"Kitano-san," Uoya looked up to her and frowned, "And yes, I know what it means. Isn't it getting sexual pleasure from—"
"Kitano!" Hana shoved her hand over Uoya's mouth, "Stop influencing our progenies with your nasty mind!"
A bald head appeared in the doorway of Iseri's kitchen as Kitano frowned, "What?"
Hana could scarcely hear him over the cake he'd shoved in his cheeks, but continued fussing anyway, "Why were you talking about masochism with him!"
The heads of everyone over thirteen years old turned to stare at Kitano in shock. Futabatei froze with a forkful of cake centimeters away from his mouth. Even Kajiwara, who was still trying to get the glitter off his face, blanched at Hana's words. For his part, Saiki did nothing more than blush and cover his eyes with a horrified hand.
Iseri, on the other hand, had gone wide-eyed, "Shh! My little sister's home!"
Kitano and Hana winced in tandem. Removing her hand from Uoya's mouth, Hana turned to Iseri with apologetic eyes, "Sorry."
In the doorway, Kitano was about to repeat the process but all he could manage was a surprised, choked laugh. With everyone looking at him in disbelief, Kitano raised a hand and pointed toward Uoya, "Look at his face!"
All eyes turned toward Uoya. It was so silent you could practically hear everyone's thoughts catching up to the situation. The subject himself, Uoya, was glancing between the team with confused brown eyes. But that wasn't the funny part— the funny part was the glitter that strongly resembled a mustache and beard combo on his face. A few seconds passed before Saiki snorted and set everyone off into peals of laughter.
Still looking around in confusion, Uoya shrugged his shoulders before shoveling more cake into his mouth. It wasn't his fault everyone was so weird.
June 7th
A massive shadow fell over her and Hana screeched. She'd been bending down to pick up her backpack after some jerk had pushed her to the side after class. Papers and pencils littered the side of the hallway and Hana was busy dodging the incoming feet while simultaneously trying to save her precious homework.
So, when that giant shadow appeared over her shoulder, Hana had the terrifying realization that someone was about to step on her.
Crawling a few feet forward, Hana spun around to confront them, "Don't you see me! You were about to crush— Oh, hello?"
"Mura-chin," Murasakibara drawled as he stared down at her, "Why are you on the floor?"
Gesturing a hand at the mess surrounding her, Hana replied, "Some idiot made me drop all my stuff. Seriously though, I told you not to call me that."
His shoulders raised in a half-shrug, "It fits."
"No, it doesn't," Hana retorted as she snatched a rolling pencil, "Just call me Imamura, with or without the -chin. I don't care."
"No thanks," his purple eyes watched her crawl, "You should get up. You'll get stepped on."
Her eyes rolled involuntarily, "Well aware of that, thanks."
His attention fell on a pen near his feet and Murasakibara nudged it toward her, "You're really hard to find. It was annoying."
"You were looking for me?" Hana blinked up at him in confusion, "Why?"
"I was going to give you your thing."
"…my thing? You mean the container from the bakery?" Hana gaped at him, "Murasakibara-san, that was almost a month ago!"
"I forgot about it. Aka-chin had to remind me," he furrowed his eyebrows at the thought. He didn't like being ordered around, but he guessed Aka-chin was right.
Mouth forming a startled 'o', Hana crawled over to get her binder. A wayward student took that moment to walk by her and Hana scowled at how close he came to stepping on her hand, "People need to watch where they're walking. But I guess tell Akashi-san thanks?"
"You do it," Murasakibara retorted, "I don't want to walk all the way back."
"You could just do it tomorrow— Whatever, yeah, I'll do it," Hana answered, but her thoughts betrayed her. Nope, not doing it. Screw captain tomato.
In the meantime, Murasakibara had meandered over to the wall to rest. Mura-chin was taking too long. If he had known she would be so slow, he'd just have Kuro-chin take it to her. With a slow sigh, he gave her a small glare, "You move slowly."
"You know, I love spending time with you," Hana snarked from the floor, "I love being insulted about everything I do. It's just great."
"That's good, Mura-chin."
"… Sarcasm!"
They both fell into silence as Hana continued to clean up with Murasakibara letting out sighs every few seconds. Hana finally had enough and turned toward the giant with an open mouth, ready to scold. Letting out another sigh, Murasakibara turned away from the irate female just in time to notice the group of people rushing down the hall.
A purple eyebrow rose as he watched them advance without pausing.
Eyeing the incoming group of people and Mura-chin who continued to ramble on the floor, Murasakibara made a split decision. With speed he'd gathered from basketball, Murasakibara came to Hana's side and a large hand yanked the back of her uniform. The girl let out a startled screech as she hung in the air. At the same time, the group of people rushed by right where Hana had been crawling.
"Did you just," Hana gaped at him, "You just saved me?"
"Again," Murasakibara drawled and hoisted Hana higher, "You're not very smart."
"I'm plenty smart! And you can put me down now!"
Only giving Hana's dangling body a passive glance, Murasakibara began to walk away. The sound of cursing reached his ear, but he paid it no mind. His voice traveled down to Hana, "You were taking too long, Mura-chin. This way is faster."
"But I can walk!" Hana declared, "Hey, don't ignore me!"
"Mura-chin should be happy," Murasakibara responded, "This way she doesn't have to spend energy."
"I want to spend energy!" Hana flailed as she tried to get her feet to touch the ground, "This is demeaning! I feel like a doll!"
"You're too loud to be a doll. They're quiet."
"Then put me down!"
"It's okay, Mura-chin. Just stop yelling."
"Murasakibara-san! Put me do—!" Hana was cut short by Murasakibara lifting her even higher. Giving him a glare, Hana folded her arms across her chest and sulked. This is so humiliating. I'll get him back for this, I swear it.
In the sudden silence, Murasakibara looked toward her. A pleased expression graced his face at her pout, "Good, Mura-chin."
"I am not a dog!"
June 19th
Since her first initial meeting with Kise, Hana had come to accept the boy a tiny bit more. Keep in mind, it was a tiny amount. He still teased her mercilessly and Hana threatened him daily. It was the founding basis of their relationship, after all.
But it was the acknowledgment of this new thought process that had Hana on the prowl for a birthday gift.
Normally, she would have said screw it and left it at that, but Kise had been so excited about it during lunch yesterday that she couldn't. As she walked through the department store, Hana twitched at the memory of Kise's, not so subtle reminder of the date. Are you going to bring me a present, Imamura-chan? I'll treasure it forever!
So no, she couldn't just ignore that. Which led her to her current problem; what the hell to buy him. It was a toss-up between a shirt or some knickknack. Unfortunately, she didn't know his size or what he liked to wear outside of school. Probably something expensive…
Maybe an earring? Can you even buy singular earrings?
Hana debated these questions as she walked. The store was quiet and only a few mothers were browsing around with her. Walking toward the jewelry section, Hana scanned the earring selection. A pretty, gold pair caught her eyes and Hana leaned forward to examine the price.
Blanching, she jumped away from the case. That's two months of allowance!
Frowning at the piece of over-priced metal, Hana continued to browse the jewelry section. A sparkly flash caught her eye and Hana raised an eyebrow at the simple necklace hanging off a display. It was a long necklace made of silver and only had one trinket in the shape of a tiny star. Tilting her head, she eyed the sale sign beside it. Perfect.
The next day came quickly and Hana was now standing behind Kise like some sort of creeper. Leaning left to right, she debated the best course of action. If she was to hand it to him directly, he'd surely tease her. On the other hand, if she was to give it to him discretely, the idiot might lose it. With a huff, Hana tightened her ponytail before walking toward the target.
"Kise," she tapped him on the shoulder.
The blonde turned around with a grin, but something in his eyes didn't match up. Kise leaned a hand on his knee before smiling up at her, "Hey, Imamura-chan!"
Hana did a double-take at the sight of his face. His eyes look so tired. With a barely noticeable frown, she questioned him, "You okay? You look worn out."
"I'm good! I had a photo shoot last night, guess I didn't get enough sleep," Kise brushed the subject off easily, "Anyway, what can I do for you?"
"Uhm, you mentioned yesterday that it was your birthday," Hana stumbled to find her wording, "Well, here!"
She shoved the necklace into his face with force. At the surprise, Kise floundered about a bit to catch the tiny piece of metal. Gold eyes blinked up at her in shock, "You got me a present?"
"Yeah, I'm a little late. Sorry about that," she refused to make eye contact with the blonde and stared at the necklace in his hand, "If you don't like it, I've got the receipt."
While she talked, Kise fingered the tiny necklace in shock, "No, I like it… Thank you, Imamura-chan."
"Good!" Hana cursed the blush that was working its way up her neck, "That was a lot of work, I'd be pissed if you made me return it."
"That was really nice of you, Imamura-chan," Golden eyes flicked up to her as Kise tilted his head, "Could you help me put it on?"
"Er, I don't know," Hana stammered and took a step back, "You've got two hands, right?"
"But I can't do the clasp! My hands are too big," Kise gave her an impressive pout, "Please?"
"Damn you," she grumbled before coming to stand behind the boy. Shooting her a smug smile, Kise handed her the necklace. She tried to ignore how her fingers were shaking as she undid the clasp and placed it around his neck. With it finally in place, Hana was struggling to redo the clasp, "Why are these freaking things so hard?"
"They really aren't," Kise reached a hand back and laid it on top of her own. A strange noise crawled out of her mouth at the contact, but Kise plowed on, "Your hands are shaking too much. Don't be so nervous~"
"Easy for you to say," Hana grumbled as she finally got the clasp to work, "I did it. You can take your hand back now."
Instead of taking it back, Kise squeezed her hand with his own. His head turned and golden eyes met her own, "Thanks, Imamura-chan."
"No problem," Hana echoed in a daze before her blush returned full force, "Look, I've got to go now. Happy belated birthday and all that jazz."
Kise's returning goodbye was lost in the wind as Hana sprinted away. He let a smile cross his face as he watched her leave in a huff. Without his control, his hand came up to play with the end of the necklace in thought. Imamura-chan...
June 21st
Her foot was tapping a beat on the floor and green eyes were narrowed on the red-head across from her in concentration. She didn't know what he was planning. Akashi had texted her out of the blue and inquired about their deal. She didn't know how he'd got her number, but her mind suspected Momoi.
So, with the threat of a scary redhead, Hana ditched her normal lunchtime crew and came to find Akashi.
She'd been expected a threatening location. Maybe an abandoned classroom filled with dead bodies, but instead she was sitting inside the cafeteria at an empty table directly across from Akashi. That fact was more than enough to make up for the lack of location. Other than a pleasant hello when she sat down, Hana had been subjected to silence from the captain. It was starting to piss her off.
"So," Hana hedged as she bit into a carrot, "You mentioned talking about our deal? Which is still totally jacked by the way."
Akashi's lips twitched, "Your opinion has been noted. I'll admit I was a bit rash in our first discussion, hopefully, we've worked out some of the tension?"
Ever since Hana's first appearance at first-string practice, she opened herself up to communication from all teammates. This included Akashi. At first, it was awkward and Hana remained terrified of the redhead and his spontaneous changing eye color. But as time passed, she realized he wasn't as petrifying as she thought.
Don't get her wrong, she was still scared shitless by the guy, but maybe a tiny bit less so. The fact she hadn't seen the strange orange eye color in a while helped.
"Sure," Hana shrugged, "I don't want to run every time I see you, so there's that."
"That qualifies as improvement, I believe," Akashi gracefully lifted rice to his mouth, "I have been thinking about the deal and I had a few improvements to discuss with you."
"That doesn't sound good at all," she snorted.
"Please do remember to keep your attitude in check, Imamura. Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, after all."
She raised a brow, "Do you know how many curse words I could use to describe you?"
"It would be in your best interest to refrain."
"Whatever," Hana glowered as she poked at her food, "What are these so-called improvements?"
"I would like to extend our deal to cover the range of information gathering. As it stands now, I have no use for your lying capabilities, but Momoi has informed me about your other skills."
As the end of his speech ended, Hana raised a hand to her forehead. She could feel the headache already, "Can't we just cut the deal off?"
"I'm afraid not," she hated when he got amused, it was such a pain, "I still desire your other talents, but this option would help in the meantime."
"So, you want my help against rival teams? You seriously do not need me, Akashi-san."
"I would rather not go through this argument again, Imamura. I'm simply asking if you'd be open to these new terms or not," his red eyes were piercing even in the hustle and bustle of the cafeteria. As his sentence ended, Hana raised an incredulous eyebrow.
"You're giving me a choice now?" Her tone was sharp with disbelief.
Across from her, Akashi let out a gentle sigh, "You've had a choice from the beginning. While the initial confrontations between the both of us were unfortunate, you still remained able to choose."
"Bull—" Hana cut herself off at Akashi's sharp look and gave him a frown, "Whatever, so now I have a choice? Help you or not?"
"In the manner of gathering information, you have a choice. The rest of our deal is solid and I will be asking for your help in the future," Akashi stated.
Letting out a sigh, Hana turned her glare away from the red-head, "I guess it's alright, then? I don't even know what this qualifies under."
"I'd like you to accompany Momoi to retrieve information. You two have different styles of analyzation and I feel like they would work well together," Akashi grabbed some more food with his chopsticks before continuing, "Feel free to use the information for the betterment of your team as well."
"That sounds… doable," Hana muttered under her breath. Giving Akashi a curious once over, she voiced her own question, "You're going about this a lot nicer than before. Why?"
"I'm regretful in the methods I choose, but I do not regret the outcome of that conversation," Akashi explained, "The matter now lies in the fact that you are not a threat to me anymore. I can express leave-way because of this and our relationship with one another."
"Our relationship?" Hana choked on the drink she'd been sipping, "The hell, Akashi-san?"
"We've developed a friendship, have we not?" The captain's lips tipped upwards at Hana's resulting gawk.
Meanwhile, Hana was patting on her chest to stop her choking, "I- I don't know! Don't call it that!" her voice evened out, "Hell of a messed-up friendship…"
Gathering his trash together, Akashi began to stand. He looked down at Hana with a sharp smile after he rose, "You've established yourself into our grouping, Imamura. I'm surprised you are only now acknowledging the difficulties of those relationships."
"Stop calling it that!" Hana placed her hands over her eyes and groaned, "If I wasn't so scared of what you'd do in return, I'd punch you."
"Be careful with your threats," Akashi hummed as he turned around, "Retaliation wouldn't be pleasant."
As his feet led him away, Akashi smirked at the sound of a face planting into the table behind him. Without a doubt, it was Imamura. She was such a strange girl. A nuisance in the purest of forms, but at least her presence provided a source of entertainment. But with the right training, she could prove irreplaceable.
A loud curse echoed back to his ears. If only her mouth could be cleaned.
June 29th
Today's practice had been canceled due to Futabatei touring a high school that had hoped to gain his admission. Weirdly, Hana was jealous of her captain. Honestly, it was great that Futabatei was being recognized for his hard work, but Hana was a bit resentful. You see, there was no way a high school was going to scout her out. Everything about her was average and unassuming.
Well, other than her personality. But what school wanted a crude-mouthed teenage girl?
Kicking a stray can down the pathway, Hana frowned. Normally her future didn't bother her. What was with her today? She had her plan. She wanted to be a private detective when she grew up. It wasn't going to be the best paying job, but it fit her skills perfectly. What other profession would need a liar and a thief? She thought bitterly.
Yeah, the danger rate was high. It wasn't going to be a stress-free job, but since when had any of her life been stress-free? As she pouted, she walked toward the outside gates. In a fit of annoyance, she had temporarily borrowed one of the school's basketballs and was on the way to the court located down the street.
One might ask why she didn't just stay in the gym, but the answer was simple. She wanted to be left alone.
As she made her way into the gated courtyard, she realized her plan was for naught. There was a body lying on the ground, hands behind their head. If it had been any other person, Hana would have ignored them. Unfortunately, judging from the navy-colored hair, she knew this person. Her feet stalled as she recognized Aomine. Doesn't he have practice?
"…Aomine-san?" Hana called out. The body on the ground did nothing at her yell. Maybe he's asleep? Padding toward the body, Hana nudged him with her foot. Nothing happened until a tan arm snaked out and grabbed her ankle, making her jolt.
"The hell, Satsuki?" Aomine muttered, "I'm taking a nap."
She shook her leg out, "I'm not Momoi-san! Let go of my ankle this instant!"
"…ugh," Aomine blinked groggy eyes open, "I only know one girl that loud and I hope it isn't her."
"If you're talking about me, sorry to say I'm right here," Hana deadpanned. The hand around her ankle still hadn't let go and she narrowed her eyes on it. The contrast of tan skin compared to her pale looked weird.
"Imamura?"
"In the flesh," Hana rolled her eyes at his lack of movement, "Wake the hell up and let go of me."
In response to her order, Aomine released her ankle. The tall boy sat up on one hand and rubbed a tired hand over his eyes. Hana watched him in bemusement. Sleepy boys were always cute, but this was Aomine. Don't think about it. You will not acknowledge the adorableness. Letting out a yawn, Aomine looked to her, "What time is it?"
"School got out like forty-five minutes ago. Didn't you have practice?"
Aomine raised his arms above his head in a stretch, "I didn't go. No need."
"How can you not need practice?" Hana quirked an eyebrow, "You're stupid."
"I didn't come out here to hear you bitch, Imamura," Aomine grumbled without heat, "Why are you here?"
"To use the basketball court, obviously."
"Doubtful."
"I'll have you know, I'm an excellent basketball player. I could totally kick your ass!"
Still resting on the ground, Aomine let out a bark of laughter, "Yeah right."
"Oh really," Hana growled as her hands landed on her waist. She knew she couldn't beat Aomine, but her pride was injured. The least she could do was try, "Come on, then. Get up, mister hotshot."
"No way," Aomine drawled, "I'm comfortable."
Hana huffed at the obnoxious boy. He laid back down and was pretending to sleep in an attempt to ignore her. Well, Hana wasn't having that shit. Green eyes sparkling with mischief, Hana palmed her stolen basketball.
As Aomine's breath evened out, she tossed it. The orange ball hit him in the forehead before rolling away.
"Ow," Aomine groaned and brought a hand to his face, "The hell was that!"
"I win," Hana stated with a smirk.
"How was that winning! You just hit me with the ball!"
"Well, if we were playing dodgeball I would have won."
"We weren't!"
"You sure?" Hana challenged, "I never said what I'd kick your ass in."
"Yes, you did! You said basketball!" By now, Aomine crawled to his feet and was pointing at her in accusation. A large red splotch had grown on his forehead and Hana couldn't control her laughter at the sight. Hearing her, Aomine growled before stalking toward the basketball. He passed it to her roughly, "Come on then, play."
Catching it easily, Hana dribbled, "You sure? I don't want to hurt the injured, little baby."
"Imamura," Aomine growled in warning, but this only made Hana laugh harder. She passed the ball into her right hand before grabbing it and shooting. She was too short to shoot without jumping, so Hana had to hop to reach the right height. Aomine watched her in incredulity, but the swoosh of the basketball net distracted him from making a scathing remark. He raised a blue eyebrow, "I didn't think you were serious."
"I am!" Hana taunted as she raced after the rebounding ball, "Come on! Don't be a scaredy-cat!"
"I'm not scared!" Aomine retorted before heading toward the goal, "It's not like you'll be able to score with me blocking."
Deciding to be a brat, Hana shot the ball again. This time she wasn't aiming for the goal, but for Aomine's head. The ball hit the top of his head once, before bouncing to the floor and Hana smirked. Watching Aomine's face flare-up in irritation, she let out a giggle as his cheeks turned red.
The ace snarled under his breath before advancing toward the ball. Bending down to retrieve it, he yelled at her, "Come on! You started this so you better play!"
"Fine!" Hana laughed at the tall boy, "Just don't be mad when I destroy you!"
In the end, Aomine won. This was to be expected of course, but Hana would do it all again just to see the tall boy smiling as he did. Apparently, her screwed-up playing style was more of an amusement than a hindrance. Time had passed quickly and soon it was dark outside. As the streetlights came on, the two said their goodbyes, and Aomine ruffled her hair before leaving.
Hana would never admit it to anyone else, but that had been the most fun she'd had in a while.
July 7th
If there was one thing Hana could change about herself, it would be her blush.
They happened at the most inconvenient times. If she was angry, happy, flustered, or tired Hana was blushing. Even worse was that it wasn't a tiny speckling of rose that adorned her cheeks. No, Hana's blushes were comparable with what your skin would look like if you rubbed it down with sandpaper. Blotchy, dark red, and completely unattractive.
Midorima, on the other hand, had the kind of blush Hana wanted. The bespeckled teen was standing in front of her, eyeing the bag Hana had shoved into his hand with contempt. His cheeks were a pretty shade of pink and Hana couldn't stop her envy from rearing its ugly head. Midorima forced out a response, "What is this?"
"Uhm," Hana stalled, "It's your birthday present?"
"You got me a present…" Midorima considered the sparkly pink bag, "Why?"
"…Because it's your birthday?"
"I didn't need anything," He pushed his glasses up his nose, "But thank you."
Blinking at his attitude, Hana pushed the conversation further, "Aren't you going to open it?"
"I will," Midorima answered and if Hana didn't know any better she'd say he was annoyed, "Not at this moment, though."
"Please?" Hana hedged. She really wanted to see his reaction to the gift. It had taken her a lot of thought to figure out what someone like Midorima might want. He was an odd fellow to shop for.
"Considering it is my birthday, shouldn't you be acknowledging my opinion?"
"No," Hana deadpanned, "Since when have I ever done that?"
This was a true statement, Hana had never really cared for Midorima's personal limits. Ever since they had made a connection, or friendship whatever, Hana had insisted on pushing the green-headed boy's boundaries as much as she could. There was this one time when she'd given him a hug and his reaction had been the best thing she'd ever seen. In the end, despite how annoying Midorima insisted she was, he never pushed her away. Hana took that as an accomplishment.
Meanwhile, in the present, Midorima let out a forlorn sigh, "Scorpio's."
Hana rolled her eyes at that. Whenever she annoyed him, he pushed the zodiac thing in her face. Something about Scorpio's being volatile and unpredictable. Which, frankly, she thought was bullshit. She wasn't volatile! Giving Midorima her best pout, Hana continued, "Please?"
"Fine," Midorima said, "Give me a moment, please."
Waiting patiently, Hana eyed Midorima as he cautiously opened the bag. She really wanted to roll her eyes at his over dramatics but figured that would be kind of rude. He did have a point to be cautious. Turning back to her friend, Hana watched with bated breath as he pulled the stuffed animal out of the bag.
"What is this?" Midorima questioned, again.
"A stuffed animal!" Hana declared at his blank face, "It's a crab! You know since Cancers are crabs and all. It also has the Cancer constellation printed on it…" she trailed off at his wide-eyed look, "You don't like it?"
"It's…" Midorima coughed and his blush grew, "It's satisfactory."
Giving him a sharp look, Hana continued, "If you don't like it Midorima-san, I won't mind. Just tell me so I can return it."
"No," Midorima brought the stuffed animal to his chest defensively. A moment later, he seemed to realize his actions and brought it back, "There is no need to return it. It would be pointless."
Ah, Hana thought, he totally likes it. She couldn't quite contain the smug look on her face when she responded, "Well I'm glad. Anyway, happy birthday Midorima!"
The choking cough that came from the boy was enough for Hana to realize her mistake. Now she was blushing alongside Midorima. Well, it's too late to take it back now. Meanwhile, Midorima was looking anywhere other than Hana. His voice came out strangled, "Thank you, Imamura."
"I'm just…" Hana flailed her arm around a bit, "Gonna go now? Yeah, that sounds good."
Turning around stiffly, Hana began to walk back the way she came. Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute. Way to overdo it! He'll never be able to look you in the face!
Still standing in the hallway, Midorima looked down at the blue crab crushed between his fingers. He relaxed his grip and smoothed a slow hand across the stuffed animal's head. It was unexpected, but not unwelcomed. His green eyes flicked back up and he caught the tail end of Imamura's ponytail twist around the corner.
Unexcepted, but not unwelcomed.
July 10th
The two girls were reclining on Hana's bed with a cup of tea for Momoi and a cup of coffee for Hana.
Hana had followed Akashi's orders and went with Momoi to observe the first-string team's opposition. It had been a good game with Teiko's competition-winning with a forty-point lead. They ended up getting sucked into the match and having to use a tape recorder to analyze it later. Both girls were painting their nails as they watched the proceedings play out again.
"That player number fifteen is really good," Hana commented as she painted her finger with another layer of pink, "What's his name?"
"Yasue Kiyoshi," Momoi answered, "Yeah, his specialization is in defense. See? He was able to corner the offense without any trouble."
"Eh, shouldn't be any trouble for you guys," Hana watched the tiny digital player snatch the ball out of another's hands, "He's reckless. Isn't he on his second foul now?"
"Mhmm," Momoi hummed and reached over Hana's leg to get the nail polish remover, "He got taken out during the third quarter."
"Pair him up with Akashi-san," Hana retorted, "He'll be able to force him to foul out quicker."
"I was thinking Aomine-kun," Momoi replied, distracted. Her pink-haired friend rewound the video back to when the player snatched the ball, "Aomine-kun would be able to avoid those swipes and pass to Tetsu-kun."
Tilting her head, Hana considered the words, "Yeah, true. It would just be a pain for two of your players to get caught up in his defense instead of one."
"Hmm, Ki-chan maybe?" Momoi retrieved her bottle of nail polish, "Do you like this color?"
"Kise would be good," Hana glanced toward Momoi's feet, "Yeah, it looks like Murasakibara-san's hair though."
"Imamura-chan!" Momoi let out a startled giggle but continued to paint her toenails in the lavender color. Giving her friend a smirk, Hana laid back and stared at the ceiling. She eyed the water stains contemplatively and wondered when her dad would be home. At least I don't have to clean tonight.
"Speaking of Ki-chan," Momoi began teasingly and broke Hana out of her thoughts, "He's been talking about you a lot lately."
Feeling the breath shoot out of her chest, Hana glanced to Momoi in surprise, "What?"
"Yeah, he really liked that necklace you gave him," Momoi giggled and covered her mouth with her hand, "But Midorin brought a cute little crab to practice yesterday. Does that ring any bells?"
"They were birthday presents!" Hana defended before rolling onto her stomach and staring up at Momoi, "What are you implying?"
"Nothing! I just think it's cute," Momoi teased with a smile.
"Cute," Hana scoffed. Tilting her head over her shoulder, she watched the game before wincing at a particularly nasty fall, "Ow, did you see that?"
"You're changing the subject, Imamura-chan," despite this Momoi looked toward the television, "Yeah, I remember that. Don't you? He had to be taken out the rest of the game."
"Oh, yeah!" Hana snapped her fingers, "Shit, I totally forgot about that. So, I guess that means he won't be in the game next week? Unless he has like superhuman healing abilities."
"I doubt it," Momoi gave her a small smile before wiggling her toes in the air, "I really liked this color until you told me it looks like Mukkun."
"My bad," Hana didn't sound at all guilty and Momoi shot her an exasperated look. The two girls trailed off as they watched the game continue with the occasional comment or note-taking. By this point, both girls had at least two pages of notes built up with information about the team.
Hana thought it was a bit of overkill, but she couldn't deny how much fun it had been.
Their little get-together lasted about two more hours before Momoi said she had to head home. As she watched Momoi walk toward the sidewalk, Hana realized that having a girlfriend was really nice.
Her thoughts were cut short when Momoi turned around and yelled up at her, "We still need to talk about Ki-chan and Midorin! I'll be waiting!"
Hearing the words, Hana's face fell and she shot the pink-haired girl a glare. Maybe not that great, after all.
Oh well, all in all, it was a pretty good day.
