Tada! A quick update! It's been a while since I managed that. Sadly, this is mostly filler before the Tōō game, but we do have the arrival of angsty Aomine. Regarding the question on last chapter, because of your tremendous support I've decided not to stress the length too much and it'll probably stay around the 7k to 10k zone. (That sounds like a lot, woah.) Next chapter most likely won't come out as quickly, but it is in the process! Finally, thank you guys for everything you've done!

Warnings: Bad language (one eff bomb, opps), thoughts of violence, and poor editing

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke.


F is for Friends Who Do Stuff Together

Half past midnight… are you serious?

"Oh gosh, I've kept you up so long," Staring at the clock on her dresser, Hana groaned, "I didn't mean to. I'm so sorry—"

"Hey, hey," the fellow occupant of the conversation laughed into the phone, "It's okay, Imamura-chan. It was great hearing from you again."

Pouting for dramatic effect, Hana sighed into the receiver, "But it's so late… I didn't mean to keep you up like this. I just couldn't stop talking."

There was another chuckle from the other side of the call, "No! It's been great. It's really hard to find a girl that's interested in basketball."

"Really?" She blinked in mock surprise, but her focus remained on the pile of notes complied on top of her mattress, "I'm still sorry though… I don't even know how we started talking about the finals. I'm nervous enough already."

"Don't worry about it," there was a stirring in the background before his voice came back, "I'm sure your team will do great, but you're right— it's pretty late and I've got to get to sleep. Think we can talk tomorrow?"

Probably not happening. Flipping the top page of her notes over, Hana hummed, "I won't be home until later, but I'll text you okay?"

"Sounds great, Imamura-chan. Talk to you soon!"

"Can't wait," flopping her hand to the side, she reached for her phone, "Bye, Tanimura-kun!"

Bringing her phone to her face, Hana disconnected the line, but instead of the awaited dial tone, the phone was filled with silence and she pressed the next button. As soon as the previously muted third participant returned, the sound of music blared through the connection. Holy hell! That's loud!

"Hey!" jerking her phone back, Hana growled into the receiver, "Turn it down!"

"…" the music abruptly quit, "Was that the last one?"

Turning the speaker on, Hana threw the phone back beside her, "Yeah, unless Iseri finds something else out about Meisei and Senshinkan."

"Finally. Who the hell was that?"

"Tanimura Yusuke," pulling the rest of her notes toward her, Hana flipped through the information she'd gathered, "Captain of Shinkyo Academy. He's pretty popular, a little too flirty though, but whatever."

"Ugh, you're awful," the previously annoyed voice morphed into disgust. After the sound of another grunt, Kitano continued with his complaining, "Why am I even here? I thought you used Uoya for this."

"I do," Hana agreed, staring at the page of notes she'd accumulated for Tōō, "But he isn't in our district, so he doesn't have access to the type of information I need."

"And I do?"

Such an attitude. Though she could agree with him. It'd been a draining day and staying up until the ass crack of dawn wasn't helping matters. But she had a duty to do, and that duty involved gathering information. Which is severely needed. Other than the old notes on her former friends, Tōō was basically an unknown.

Drawing a quick chart of the players' names she knew, Hana rolled her eyes, "Yes. Why do you think I've been telling you to talk to the other teams? Connections, man."

"How'd I get dragged into this?" despite his grumble, Kitano rehearsed everything he knew, "I don't know much more than Tanimura. All I've heard is Aomine is a beast, which is already obvious enough, and that the Tōō captain is as annoyingly manipulative as you."

"Captain?" Hana blinked before dragging her eyes down to the highlighted area, "That's Imayoshi Soichi, right?"

A grunt, "That's the one."

"Awesome. So, are we talking Akashi manipulative," writing the adjective next to Imayoshi's name, she rolled on her back to reach the phone, "Or Hanamiya?"

"I don't know, Hana," Kitano tried to snark, but his attitude was ruined by the yawn that echoed through the receiver, "Which one do you think you relate to?"

"…" she brought the phone to her ear in thought, "I want to say Akashi, but judging by your god-awful attitude, it'd be Hanamiya. Which I resent. Greatly."

"Well, if the shoe fits."

"No need for the bitchiness."

"Whatever," Kitano yawned again, forcing Hana to do the same when he replied, "Are we done yet? You may not sleep, but I do."

"Hey! I had a busy day too, asshole," she threw her unoccupied arm over her eyes, "We played against Midorima. Do you understand what that means? I talked to Midorima."

"Great. You want a trophy or something?"

"Honestly? It'd be pretty nice."

"Shut up. So, you finally realize what we've been telling you?"

"… I'm declining to answer that question."

"Ha," her friend let out a sleepy laugh and Hana found it hard to hold onto her embarrassment, "Damn, you're worse than me and Iseri."

Oh, ho ho? Perking up, Hana removed her arm from her eyes and smirked up at the ceiling, "Oh? Is this development I'm hearing? Took you long enough—"

"I hate you and I'm hanging up," Kitano interrupted her quite forcefully, "Go the hell to sleep."

"Wait! We need to talk about our feelings—" the phone clicked off and Hana let out a defeated groan. "Dammit. Thanks a lot, Kitano."

With a putout sigh, Hana pushed herself into a sitting position and stretched her sore arms above her head. Back thoroughly popped, green eyes scanned the mess she'd made of her bed, belatedly noticing she'd yet to put them into any type of order. Freaking great… Next, her eyes moved up to the top of her bed only to deadpan at the giant lump of dog spread out across her pillows.

"Really?" Hana crawled through the mess of notes, mentally promising to sort them tomorrow, before she pushed Nūdoru's heavy ass to his side of the bed, "You damn bed hog."

Lifting his head drowsily, Nūdoru blinked at her before collapsing back into sleep.

"See," Hana lifted the covers and scooted under, not bothering to remove her clothes from the day. When she was comfortable enough to attempt sleep, she twisted her body toward Nūdoru's, "You'd let me talk about my feelings, right? No judgement?"

Instead of responding, Nūdoru snored directly into her face.

I'm taking that as a yes.

x


x

It was the end of the school day and Hana didn't quite know how she got here.

Well, she did know this wasn't included in her job description.

The reflection that greeted her was something out of a prepubescent nightmare. The flashy neon yellow swimsuit covered all the delicate lady bits, but that did nothing to settle her nerves. No one thought to warn her about the day's training schedule, much less the swimming aspect. However, despite Hana's unfortunate lack of swim wear, Riko had a spare hidden in the recesses of her duffle bag.

To be fair, it wasn't that bad. The top half of the swimsuit wasn't terrible. It covered up all her chest and hid any traces of her minuscule cleavage and okay, she could admit the crop top aspect was cute. That wasn't the problem. No, the minuscule piece of fabric covering her ass was the biggest issue of the day.

Is it supposed to ride up that high? God, this shit is uncomfortable.

"I'm not doing this," Judging by the glower, Hana's reflection seemed to agree with her. "There is nothing on this earth that will make me do this."

So, she didn't. Spinning on her heel, Hana's gaze addressed the empty dressing room and scanned over the boy's outfits. A part of her shivered in disgust, ew ew ew, but her dignity was at stake here. There were at least ten boys outside those doors and Hana would be thrice damned if she let them see her in this monstrosity.

Which is why when her gaze landed on the tee-shirt, thankfully folded up neatly in Kagami's bag, she didn't think twice.

Pulling at the hem, Hana readdressed her image. The white shirt ended near her knees and the collar hung off her left shoulder, but the overall effect wasn't half bad in her opinion. So what if the shirt dwarfed her? She was covered and that was all that mattered. Well, Kagami's opinion on her theft mattered a bit too, but that was easily dealt with.

Or not so easily dealt with.

"Would you stop stealing my clothes?!" Kagami imploded as soon as Hana stepped out of the dressing room, "That's the second shirt!"

"…" everyone's head rotated in her direction and Hana rubbed at the back of her neck sheepishly, "What makes you think it's your shirt?"

Even with his aching legs, Kagami was off the bleacher and stomping toward her. His hand fisted the back of the shirt before pulling the hem up, "My names on it—"

"What? No!" Hana ducked out of his reach, "That doesn't say Kagami! That's…" she pulled the tag around and pretended to squint at it, "Obviously, it says Imamura. Can't you read?"

"It doesn't fit you at all," Kagami deadpanned, "How the hell can it be yours?"

She stumbled for a minute, "… It's a dress?"

"It's mine."

"Oh, I didn't know you cross dress? I bet it looks great on you, Kagami!"

"Ugh, Imamura!"

Back at the pool, the rest of the team watched on in various states of impassiveness. They'd long since begun to expect these arguments and could safely assume for at least five to happen during practice. So far this was number one.

"Anyone else noticing they're acting better today?" Hyuuga commented, floating sluggishly on top of the water, "Wonder why."

"Maybe they realized they're two balls in a basket," at the blank stares, Izuki elaborated, "Two peas in a pod? But with basketball—"

"I get it," Hyuuga groaned before splashing at Izuki halfheartedly, "and it was terrible."

From his place beside the pool wall, Mitobe started making hand motions. Catching the movement, Koganei turned toward his friend before elaborating, "Mitobe says they remind him of his siblings," he paused when Mitobe's eyebrows rose expectantly, "But more… explosive."

The sound of a bark brought attention back onto the arguing freshmen. At some point, Nigou left his position beside Riko to sit by Hana's feet and the little dog stared unblinkingly up at Kagami. Meanwhile, Kagami's hand remained outstretched from where he reached for Hana, the dog's surprise presence causing him freeze.

"… Imamura sure made an impression on number two, Kuroko," Hyuuga flipped over to see the underclassman, only to stagger at the sight of Kuroko floating lifelessly, "— Hey! Don't lay in the water like that!"

While the rest of the team successfully resurrected Kuroko, Hana and Nigou teamed up to exile Kagami back to the bench.

Their dual attack was super effective.

Five minutes later, Hana cradled her new best friend and caressed the top of Nigou's fluffy head. When her fingers reached a soft spot, the tiny pup tilted its head toward her only to unexpectedly perk up. Hana's fingers paused when the puppy stiffened, staring expectantly at the door. He's all puffed up.

"What is it?" she blinked at Nigou when he stood up in her lap, "You do understand you're too small to be a guard dog—"

As soon as the words left her mouth, the doors to the pool were pushed open and Hana groaned. Why? The boys hadn't noticed the intruder yet, so Hana took the time to give them her best stare. Momoi wasn't affected by Hana's glower and her dainty steps only seemed to bounce higher.

As her friend got closer, Hana deadpanned, "What a surprise visit, Momoi. I'm sure it wasn't planned at all."

At the sound of her voice, the rest of her team made noises of shock, their eyes landing on the guest before promptly collapsing into a mindless pile of hormonal goo. I'm glad to see you all have such ironclad wills.

"Hi, Ima-chan!" Momoi paid no mind to the rest of the team, instead she bent down to grace Hana and Nigou with a beaming smile and a face full of breast, "What a cute dog!"

"No," Hana cuddled Nigou to her chest before pointing an accusing finger at Momoi, "You don't get to come in here all innocent and seduce our mascot. That's outright wrong—" Nigou blinked in apparent agreement.

In the meantime, the rest of Hana's teammates managed to escape the surprise they fell into. Other than a few blushing cheeks, most of the boys were back to their normal attitude. Thank god, I don't want to deal with that today. They may be enemies right now, but Momoi was still her friend and Hana was still obligated to defend her from perverts. Even if they were her teammates.

"…" Riko recovered first and crossed her arms over her chest, "So, you're Momoi-san? What are you doing here?"

Momoi brought a finger to her chin in a deceptive form of innocence, "Well, I wanted to come see my boyfriend, Tetsu-kun. I couldn't wait for the championship league, so I just came here instead."

"…" Riko paused, "Tetsu-kun?"

"Yup!" Momoi tilted her head with a peaceful smile, "Kuroko Tetsuya!"

The team exploded, "What?! Kuroko has a girlfriend?!"

Hana dragged a hand down her face while Kuroko explained. Way to make an entrance, Momoi. When Momoi tugged Kuroko into a bone crushing hug, Hana pinched the bridge of her nose. Her poor teammates didn't know how to handle this new development and their heads swiveled between the busty beauty and the apathetic Kuroko in horror.

"She was the manager for the Generation of Miracles, huh?" Kagami questioned before those glaringly bright red eyes landed on Hana, "What did that make you?"

"Uhm?" Hana blinked, "I guess—" she struggled with appropriately defining their relationship, "I was just their friend."

In the background, there was a splash. When the two teens turned to look, they were greeted by the sight of their drowning captain, furious coach, and shocked Momoi. Kagami and Hana simultaneously exchanged dry looks. The bonding moment lasted until Nigou decided to join in with a bark and Kagami lurched away from the both of them.

After reciting Hyuuga's name, Momoi's explanation brought Hana's attention back to her, "I know all of you guys."

"See," Hana muttered, motioning toward Momoi in exasperation, "I knew you had an ulterior motive."

The fellow manager only gave Hana a smile before continuing on with her spiel, "Hyuuga-san, club captain and clutch shooter. Izuki-san and his eagle eye. Mitobe-san with his hook shot and the new power forward, Kagami-kun. Tsuchida-san and Koganei-san…" Momoi's smile sharpened as she returned her attention to Riko, "Finally, the barely-B coach, Riko-san."

"Oi," Hana coughed, warily watching as Riko exploded into a ball of snarling, "Don't bring boobs into this," she motioned to her own chest, "That's a low blow."

Turning back toward Hana, Momoi tilted her head in consideration, "Oh, I almost forgot about you, Ima-chan."

Ugh, freaking fabulous. I hate competitions. Because that's what this was. Judging by her little montage, Momoi obviously hadn't come with the intention of gathering information. This was a warning or maybe some sort of rival teasing. Guess I might as well lay out the cards.

Hana raised a sardonic eyebrow, "My, how rude of you."

"Well, you are kind of important," Momoi hummed as she brought her hands behind her back, "You did want to start an information ring, didn't you?"

"I did," Hana admitted before patting Nigou on the top of his head. At the tension growing between the two of them, she smirked, "It's been quite helpful."

Momoi paused, "Oh?"

Is that a touch of worry I hear? Gently pushing Nigou out of her lap, Hana crawled to her feet to meet Momoi head on, "Well, your team doesn't have the best reputation among it's opponents. Imayoshi-san and Aomine being fan favorites."

Momoi's doe eyes widened in slight surprise before she tamped down on the emotion, "I didn't know you made so many friends with other schools, Ima-chan."

Lifting a shoulder, Hana offered her friend a smile, "I had to one up you somehow."

"I see," the rivalry on Momoi's face fell off, only to be replaced by an ear-splitting grin. One second Hana was breathing freely, the next she had a face full of bosom, "I'm so proud of you~ I've missed you so much!"

"Oh," Hana coughed as the air was forced out of her lungs, "Now you notice me? Glad to see where I fall on your radar!"

"I'd never forget you!"

And cue the spinning.

Momoi was a few inches taller than her, so Hana wasn't that surprised by how easily she was manhandled. Though she was a bit surprised at the noises of shock coming from her teammates. They've met Kise, you'd think they'd be used to this. When Momoi stopped spinning her, Hana blinked the dizziness out of her eyes before looking at the blushes staining her teammates faces. Oh, that's why.

"Jesus Christ, Momoi," Hana laid a hand on the other manager's shoulder to steady herself, "Next time warn a girl, will you?"

Momoi grinned, but her reply was interrupted by Kuroko. Standing somberly a few feet behind them, the boy questioned, "Momoi-san? Do you really go to Aomine-kun's school?"

"Yeah," her excitement subdued, Momoi stepped away from Hana before crouching down next to Nigou, "I wanted to go to school with you and Ima-chan, but who knows what Aomine-kun will do without me?"

By that point, Hana wasn't listening anymore. Her thoughts stopped in surprise and startled green eyes anxiously scanned the pool yard. How'd I forget him?! She'd been so thrown off by Momoi's arrival, she hadn't even realized that Aomine wasn't with her. That in itself was odd enough.

"…" after scanning the area three times, Hana took a deep breath to settle her nerves. He's probably napping somewhere. Besides, if worse comes to worse, she could handle him, "I bet he'd get arrested for public indecency or something."

Momoi blinked up from her introspection of Nigou, lips twitching when her eyes met Hana's own, "Probably."

There was too much hidden in Momoi's face for Hana's comfort. There was something distraught, something longing, something… heartbroken. Yet, the thing that bothered Hana the most, was the layer of understanding that flashed through Momoi's eyes. Hana looked away first. I'm really not up for another flashback moment.

Don't get her wrong. She loved Momoi and would do anything to help her, but well, Hana was quickly realizing she was pretty much shit at this comforting thing.

One must also add in the fact Kuroko was in the vicinity. This would make Momoi's emotional responses even more complex and then Kuroko would jump in with his soul searching and sad puppy faces. Put in Hana's own conflicting feelings and the conversation would turn into a depression themed threesome.

Seriously, what part of that sounded like fun?

"I'm going for a walk," Kagami, blessed be Kagami, broke the growing pressure. Standing up from his perch, he stretched his arms high above his head, "My legs are locking up."

Riko, who was still fuming from the earlier joke about her breasts, looked at the ace suspiciously. The coach's hazel eyes scanned him from top to bottom before releasing a reluctant nod, "Just don't play any basketball— I mean it, Kagami-kun!"

Escape! Hana jumped into the conversation before Kagami could formulate a reply, "No problem, coach! I'll keep an eye on him."

Well, Hana certainly didn't appreciate the disbelieving looks sent her way. I thought they knew better by now! I am a mature human being! The only ones who didn't look flabbergasted were Kuroko and, strangely, Kagami. The ace eyed her for a long moment before giving an accepting nod. Well… that was easy.

"We'll be back soon," heading to the door, Kagami raised his hand in goodbye, "I promise I won't play."

"Yeah," unnaturally enthusiastic, Hana jumped after Kagami's retreating back, "I don't know how long I can stand his ass anyway, we probably won't be more than fifteen minutes."

Pushing the door open, Kagami groaned, "Shut up or go back, Imamura."

"Bye everyone! Opps, my bad. Shutting up now," Hana swore, skittering through the door behind him, "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Kagami's sigh was the last thing the team heard, "… if only."

Back by the pool, Momoi blinked. Her pink eyes traced the resigned faces of the Seirin team before landing on Kuroko. That was where her confusion turned into full out bewilderment; the small tilt of Kuroko's lips something she hadn't seen since their former Teiko days. There was a pang of longing, but Momoi forced a joyful expression onto her face.

"Ima-chan seems to get along well with Kagami-kun," voicing her interest, Momoi continued with her questioning, "I hadn't expected that from our phone calls, normally she's complaining about him."

Blinking, Kuroko turned away from the door, "They do have a strange relationship. It must look odd to you."

"It does," Momoi tilted her head before a charming smile spread across her face, "But Ima-chan's always been pretty friendly."

"Ha," Hyuuga grumbled as he got out of the pool. Giving Riko a glare in return for his soaking wet state, he turned his attention back to their guest, "That's one way to put it, I guess."

Momoi didn't have a chance to agree or disagree. Instead, the door to the pool slammed open and a flash darted into the dressing room. The person moved quick enough that most of the team didn't have a chance to identify them, but the black hair gave them all a pretty good hint. It was only solidified when they heard a shout from the hallway.

"Don't grab mine!" Kagami's voice held a tinge of resignation, like he already knew the outcome of the situation, "Who the hell forgets pants?"

The dressing room door opened again with a sheepish looking Hana running out. She waved her one good hand goodbye, while the other held a pair of grey sweatpants. No one dared breathe as the door shut behind her. One moment passed, and then another.

"Imamura!" Kagami's yell resonated through the newly shut doors, "Those are mine!"

Momoi gaped.

"Don't worry, Momoi-san," Kuroko placed a hand on her shoulder before walking toward the rest of his teammates, "This is normal."

xXxXxXxXx

The vending machine was mocking her.

Actually, scratch that. The whole world was mocking her. Glaring at the money in her hand, Hana tried to insert it into the machine again. She probably looked a sight; swamped in oversized men's clothing and cursing an inanimate object. Behind her, Kagami let out a longsuffering sigh, already impatient with her presence. Screw him.

"Just let me do it," Kagami insisted for the fifth time, "You're taking forever."

Scowling when the money was rejected again, Hana huffed, "No. This is my battle."

"You're such a brat."

"You're such a brat," Hana mocked before flipping the money upside down and trying again. The machine chirped for a second, but it wasn't rejected, "See, I win! Perseverance pays off!"

"…" Kagami stared at her, right eyebrow twitching warningly, "It's a machine, Imamura."

"Not all battles are won at first chance," she grinned, pressing the button for her iced coffee. When it rolled down, Hana retrieved it and flashed it in front of Kagami's face, "It may have taken longer, but I still got my shit."

"Where'd you read that?" scoffing, Kagami crossed his arms over his chest, "One of Midorima's shitty horoscopes?"

"… how'd you know?"

Kagami paused, "Are you serious?"

"No, of course not," Hana waved the accusation off, but she didn't make eye contact with her fellow teammate. Instead, she brought her drink up to her mouth and hastily walked away, "I don't even read that stuff."

"You're lying," there was an edge of humor in Kagami's tone as he cut in front of her, "I didn't take you for the superstitious type."

Taking another sip, Hana raised a dubious eyebrow, "What do you take me for?"

His smirk wasn't hidden well at all, "A bitch."

"You know, I'm just going to assume that was said out of love," Hana grumbled before kicking a pebble at his back, "Dick."

She'd swear she heard a snort, but when Hana glanced up at him, Kagami's face reverted back to the determined mask he'd been wearing since facing Midorima. One track mind. Sure, Kagami wasn't the best conversationalist, but he sure beat standing around and lamenting about the past. The weather outside was really freaking nice, so that was an extra plus.

Turning the corner, the duo continued down the sidewalk. The friendly silence lasted until Kagami suddenly stopped and turned toward her, "Why'd you come with me? What are you thinking?"

"What? Maybe I just wanted to hang out—" Kagami scowled and Hana backtracked, "Calm down with the macho attitude. Look, honestly, it was a split decision. You gave me an out from an awkward conversation and in return, I'm keeping an eye on you."

Satisfied with her perceived honesty, Kagami began to walk again, "Keeping an eye on me?"

Well, it was a bit more mutually beneficial than that. It was a well-known, very well known, fact that Aomine was an asshole. But he was also a participant in the Inter-High finals and part of her wonderful emotional weakness for rainbow haired jerks. So, even though she hoped she wouldn't have to today, Hana knew she'd have to see him sometime.

Which meant she was still keeping an eye on Kagami. It was just… well, in case Aomine was actually here, she was hoping Kagami's rashness would cancel out her emotional outbursts and that her presence would even out Kagami's desire for fighting things obviously too strong for him. It was a pretty symbiotic exchange in her opinion.

"Okay, time for a fun fact," she wasn't going to give him the completely true reason. Instead, she skipped a few feet ahead until her steps matched pace with his own, "Momoi equals Aomine, but I didn't see said Aomine. That means he's lurking around somewhere."

"Another one of those Miracles? That's the one Midorima warned me about," the redhead perked up, eyes dilating into clearly unhealthy pinpoints.

He needs to work on keeping his fantasies in the bedroom. Hana understood determination, but this was crazy. It was like taking a rabid dog for a walk and the Generation of Miracles were the poor squirrels at the head of its rampage. Oh man, they'd have my ass for that description.

"Yup, you're catching the pattern," after a while, the sidewalk they were walking down started to turn into a quaint little recreation area. Eyeing the playground off to the side, Hana snorted, "They pop up everywhere."

Looking off to the side, Kagami grunted, "I've noticed."

"Yeah, and that's not even their final form. Anyway, if we see Aomine, we turn around. That's just too much asshole for me to handle today—" she blinked. Where the hell did he go? Standing on her toes, Hana peered around the recreation area. When she spotted Kagami's escape, she cupped her mouth and yelled, "Hey! Don't just walk away!"

"I'll be back," like the jerk he was, Kagami didn't turn around, "Don't wait up!"

Don't wait up?! Hana bristled, "You're breaking the buddy system!"

For a bit, she entertained the idea of listening to his order. It did sound mighty convincing. The air was the perfect mixture of pleasant heat and low humidity. Maybe she could even take a little nap? Peeking over her shoulder, Hana scanned the playground, eyes lingering wistfully on the swing set. One foot moved forward. But… Aomine might be out here…

"Dammit," she turned back around to look after Kagami's path and squinted, "Whatever, he can handle himself."

When she moved toward the playground, Hana paused. The swing set had lost its appeal.

What if Aomine does show up? What if Kagami gets hurt?

"Stupid battle hungry idiot," feet digging into the sidewalk, Hana flung her hands into the air before marching after Kagami. He couldn't have just listened for once?! The more she thought, the more threats began to surface in her imagination, "As soon as I find you, I'm sicking Nigou on your ass!"

Okay, if I was Kagami where would I go? Hana nearly rolled her eyes out of her head at her own stupidity. Duh, basketball. Now where would that be? Coming to an intersection of the sidewalk, she looked to the left and then to the right. Tennis courts and restrooms. Where's the basketball court?

Rubbing a hand down her face, Hana readdressed the area. She couldn't see past the restrooms, but the area beyond the tennis courts just looked like more of the same thing. Maybe he went back to practice? That was doubtful. Anyway, back to the issue at hand. Since the tennis court area seemed to be for naught, Hana took a deep gulp of her drink and moved toward the restrooms.

"This was my own damn fault," glaring at the concrete outhouse in front of her, Hana sighed, "Should have known better than to mention Aomine."

Marching down the sidewalk, she squeezed into the walkway between the bathroom's wall and the row of trimmed bushes on the other side. It was a quick little walk; only about fifteen feet front to back. That was why, when her arms broke out into goosebumps, Hana was admittedly quite nervous. There shouldn't be anything threatening about her position expect maybe an overgrown rabbit hiding in the foliage.

Ready to shut her anxiety the hell up, Hana rushed out of the small space.

And, of course, there was nothing there.

See? I'm just being paranoid. That thought didn't stop her from checking over her shoulder anyway. That shadow looks awfully familiar— No! I'm overthinking this. Aomine wouldn't bother. Determined to ignore the nagging suspicion, Hana scanned the area again before her eyes finally landed on a basketball hoop several yards away. Now where's Kagami?

Strangely, the goosebumps on her arm remained even when she found him five minutes later.

"You know," Hana commented from her position against the metal fencing, watching Kagami fiddle with his newly acquired basketball, "Riko's going to murder you for playing and I'm going to cherish it."

"Are you still complaining?" Kagami dribbled the ball twice before shooting it into the net, "I told you I'd be back."

Don't care, you still broke the buddy system. She couldn't stop the childish expression that overtook her face, "Yeah, right after I said, hey! There's a guy that might be out here and I don't think this is a good idea!"

"You didn't say that."

"It was implied!" This guy! Hana debated throwing her drink at him, but held the urge in by bringing it toward her mouth instead, "You've got to read in between the lines—"

He stopped in front of her after retrieving the ball from its rebound. As usual, his expression was pure exasperation, "I didn't ask you to follow me."

"Didn't have to," crossing her arms over her chest, Hana stubbornly refused to meet his gaze, "Unfortunately, you're our best player, so someone's got to look out for your stupid ass."

"…" Kagami looked taken aback for a second before her words registered, "What do you mean unfortunately?!"

"Exactly what it sounds like."

"And what is that?!"

"… you know, unfortunate? I'm pretty sure it's in the dictionary."

Kagami's resulting foot stomp was mighty impressive. Kind of like a baby elephant if Hana was to be honest. Lips tweaking into a tiny smirk, she watched the ill-tempered ace march back to the shooting line. His anger would be a lot more satisfying if her paranoia would chill the hell out.

Seriously, she ran a hand through the length of her ponytail, this is annoying.

"Uhm," Hana's inner commentary broke when Kagami shot the ball again. It went full right side, not even hitting the rim of the hoop before falling to the ground. Removing her gaze from the fugitive ball rolling past her, Hana quirked an eyebrow, "You know, I bet this is why Riko said not to play—"

He grimaced, shaking out his ankle, "Shut up, Imamura."

"I'm just saying," she raised her hands pacifyingly, "That sucked."

Hana didn't hear whatever Kagami no doubt shot back at her. Instead, her attention was drawn to the creaking of the fence's gate. Well… I found out where that paranoia's coming from. Her breathe stalled in surprise, focus landing on the towering figure making his way onto the court. Aomine didn't look at her, simply choosing to stop the basketball with his oversized foot.

He looked… different. Everything about him screamed feral and untamable. There was a flash of fear in her gut, but Hana forced the emotions into the pit it belonged in. In its place a bone deep heartache surfaced and she repeated the process with one significant thought. This doesn't feel like Aomine. This isn't the person I care about.

In the meantime, Aomine bent down to retrieve the ball with the primal grace of a predator. His cobalt eyes grazed over her for a split second before he rose to his full height. Aomine started to dribble with one smooth motion and Hana broke out of her spell while Kagami spun to meet Aomine head on. Red eyes met blue and the earlier heat of the air chilled.

"She's right," the slow drawl of Aomine's words dominated in the budding silence, "You're Kagami Taiga?"

There wasn't any need for Kagami to answer. Aomine's words held no room for argument and his stance radiated confidence. Judging from Kagami's stiffening posture, he was aware of the fact just as much as Hana. If only they'd agreed earlier, but as formerly noticed, the two teammates sure choose the worst times to sync up with one another.

Well, time to fix that. Keeping a wary eye on Aomine, Hana scuttled to her feet, "Come on, Kagami. Let's go."

Kagami's crimson eyes moved from Aomine's position onto her own. When she had his attention, Hana raised a prompting eyebrow. Hurry the hell up! Instead of listening to her telepathic message, Kagami turned his attention back onto Aomine, sizing him up with a measured scan. And this is why we can't have nice things.

"Heh," Aomine leaned idly against the hoops pole, one hand shoved deep into his pockets, "You're going to listen to her? Come on, play me. I'll test you"

Narrowing her eyes, Hana turned her attention onto the former miracle only to pause. How the hell did he get taller? Whatever, not the time. Shaking the thought off, she took a restrained step forward, "Hey, don't order him around."

"I'm guessing you're Aomine," Kagami's followed her lead, face remaining deceptively blank as he looked between Hana and Aomine, "I don't like being told to play someone by a guy who hasn't even properly introduced himself."

Stepping away from his resting place, Aomine cut into Kagami's statement with a condescending sigh, "Yeah, the name's Aomine Daiki and I'm not asking you to play, if I tell you to play, you will."

"He will not," Hana wasn't going to settle for this. Screw her beating heart, she was not going to allow Aomine to pressure Kagami into something. Especially with that smug ass attitude! Moving away from the fence, she came to stand by Kagami's side, "You can't force him to do anything, Aomine."

"What does it matter to you, Imamura?" the full power of Aomine's stare wasn't something to belittle. It'd… it had been a while since she'd been on the receiving end of that challenging gaze and Aomine knew it. A tight smile cut between his cheekbones, "I'm not asking you either."

"Well," gathering all the bravery she had in her tiny body, Hana straightened her spine, "Too bad. You may get off on ruining people, but you're not treating one of my friends like this. Not without a damn good fight."

She felt Kagami stiffen and out of her peripheral, she glimpsed him gawking down at her. Not the best time to look surprised, Kagami. Choosing not to break contact with Aomine, Hana nudged Kagami in the side with her shoulder to and tried to project her support. If we run now, he can't catch us. Judging from the lack of escape, he didn't seem to get the hint.

Meanwhile, across from their combined front, Aomine's eyes slanted as he looked between them before something dangerous crawled over his features.

"Just give up," Aomine began to prowl toward them. He was only a few feet away when he locked those treacherous eyes on Kagami, "It's not like I'm expecting anything out of this. I'm not looking for a something that doesn't exist, a player stronger than myself. I'm just trying to relieve my boredom."

The words seemed to strike Kagami and his head tilted downward, hiding his expression.

Just trying to relieve your boredom… I can do that. Hana laughed, gaining Aomine's focus in the hope she'd distract him from her teammate, "You know, I thought you'd lose the crappy attitude when your balls dropped."

Well, that certainly caught his attention. For the first time since he'd got there, Aomine took the time to truly look her over. His eyes scanned her ruffled appearance impassively before crawling up and landing on her equally derisive face. A single blue eyebrow rose in interest.

"You haven't changed, Imamura," the grin that split Aomine's lips flashed ominously in the midafternoon sun, "You still don't know how to mind your own business." Is that supposed to be an insult?

"So? My team is my business," Hana took a strong step forward, shortening the gap between the two of them, "My friends are my business, which means Kagami is my business, and you're not fucking with him."

The emotion that flashed across Aomine's face was undoubtedly lethal. His grin morphed into an expression of emptiness and Aomine lowered his head to address her directly, "Damn, you're still annoying."

Don't do it. Jagged nails dug into her palms as Hana forced herself to stay still. Do not punch the predator.

A sweaty palm landed on her shoulder, it's heat seeping through the thin layer of Kagami's shirt. Shoulders shaking in anger, Hana snapped her head back only to find Kagami standing beside her, his expression still veiled in layers of obscurity. Any retort she had for Aomine's insult completely dried up.

Tightening his grip on her in a silent form of acknowledgement, Kagami let out a sour chuckle, "From Kise to Midorima, the Generation of Miracles is full of guys who piss me off. But you… you're exceptional even among them," removing his hand, Kagami swiftly lifted his head, "I'll crush you."

Woah. Kagami's whole body seemed to glow with the strength of his determination. Combined with his normal intimidating looks, the effect made Hana momentarily stumble. You can never do anything simply can you, Kagami?

"Kagami," Hana swallowed to ease her surprise before looking him dead in the eye, "You don't have to."

"I do," stepping back, Kagami moved his body into position. When he was safely standing a few feet away from Aomine, he looked back at her with a recurrence of his demonic smirk, "A guy like that needs to be taken down."

"I don't think you'll win," Hana didn't mince her words. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before blowing it out of her nose, "But you better freaking try."

"Careful, Imamura," Kagami let out a gruff snort, dropping his head, "You sound like you care."

"Wouldn't want that, huh?" Taking a delicate step back, Hana made sure to avoid the still lurking Aomine as she replied, "Don't worry, you're still a dick. That'll never change."

Feeling a sense of unease crawl up her spine, Hana stopped walking to look to the left. Aomine's earlier languid arrogance was gone and the sinews of his muscles were laced in preparation. Two tan hands palmed the basketball between them before Aomine trailed his stare from the floor and up to the space between Kagami and Hana.

"Are you two done?" Aomine idly merged toward Kagami, dribbling the ball the whole way, "Shut up and let's get this started."

Hana flicked him the finger, but otherwise didn't respond to Aomine's taunting. The situation was in Kagami's hands now and she wasn't going to steal it. Eventually, she made her way back to her earlier position leaning against the fence. As she watched the two boys stare each other down, her stomach gave a sickening lurch. This won't be pretty...

She was right.

The match wasn't anything other than devastating, but it was also morbidly informative.

The game started off loud, both boys moving at speeds unattainable to the average human. But that was where the equality ended. Kagami was no match for Aomine, nothing he did effected the former miracle. The entirety of the game was a one-sided massacre and Kagami only possessed the ball long enough for Aomine to steal it again.

Over and over the pattern repeated.

Over and over Hana recorded the same moments, her phone held tightly between two shaking hands.

Finally, it ended with Kagami worn out and shaking. His body was saturated in sweat and every breath he took rattled him with the expense of energy. Like an avenging angel, Aomine stood tall and unaffected above him, but instead of a halo, all Hana could see were horns.

Standing only a few feet ahead of Aomine, Kagami cursed as he pushed his body to the final limit, "Bastard…"

Aomine dribbled the ball halfheartedly, his face utterly indifferent as he watched Kagami flounder, "Tetsu was wrong about you. He's a shadow, becoming stronger or weaker depending on the strength of the light," with his final move, Aomine whizzed past Kagami and completed an easy layup at the hoop, "And your light is too dim."

The ball bounced to the floor and Kagami took a knee as his legs failed him, all the effort from yesterday's game and Aomine's assault overtaking his strained muscles. The sight made Hana stiffen with the dredges of awareness. This outcome is too damn familiar.

"…" with a sigh, Aomine caught the rebound from his pass. His bored gaze speared through Kagami before returning to land on Hana, "What a waste of time."

Clicking her phone off, Hana slid it into the pocket of her sweatpants. Everything's always a waste of time. It's third year all over again. Stepping away from the metal fencing, she brushed passed Aomine without a second glance, "Get out."

Aomine scoffed, "Whatever," with a laidback throw, he rolled the basketball to the corner of the court, "You're just as hopeless as he is—"

"Get out! Get the hell out!" Her shoulders shook at the shriek and Hana couldn't stop the furious flush that overtook her features, "I don't want to hear it! You think you can talk?!" the mocking laugh that crawled out of her chest startled even herself, "You can't! Whatever light you had is gone, Aomine!"

The world seemed to still.

Taking a deep breath, Hana forced her fury down along with the budding guilt. Damn emotions. Arguing with Aomine right now would just be adding fuel to the flames and that was something she couldn't handle. Hana closed her eyes with a sigh, "I can't do this with you right now— Just get out."

There was an accompanying breath of air before she heard Aomine's clothes rustle as he left. Pausing at the exit, he threw one last comeback out, "Don't get involved in something you can't handle, Imamura."

The gate slammed shut behind him.

Holy hell, the world continued to exist in a permanent state of pause, that was some heavy shit. She hadn't expected it to go like that, but that was probably due to naivety on her part. After a moment recollecting herself, Hana shook her limbs, trying to regain feeling in her extremities. When she was finally back to a slightly more stable state, she turned toward Kagami.

He was still kneeling on the ground, but both his eyebrows were peaked from Hana's emotional outburst. And I'd been trying to prevent exactly that! Kagami's confusion only grew as Hana took a few wobbly steps toward him until she stopped inches away from him. Can his eyebrows go any higher?

"… Well," Hana rubbed a trembling hand across her face, "That was fun."

It took a moment before Kagami managed a scoff, "Yeah, fun."

A laugh crawled out of her throat, but it was too airy to be genuine, "How about next time we listen to my awesome advice and avoid the asshole, okay?"

"Sounds good," Kagami grunted as he shifted into a more comfortable position, trying to ease the strain on his leg, "I… I didn't think it'd be like that."

"Me neither," her mind flashed back to Aomine's repulsive indifference. Scrunching her nose, Hana lifted her head to the sky, "I mean, I knew you'd get your ass kicked, but I didn't know it'd be that brutal. He's a lot stronger than I remember."

Making a noise in the back of his throat, Kagami brought Hana's attention back to him, "How are we going to beat that?"

Good question. Clenching her fists, she managed another shaky sigh before plastering a strained grin onto her face, "Practice, praying, and possible human sacrifice."

Apparently, it wasn't the best time for jokes because Kagami didn't so much as crack a smile. A layer of stagnation fell over the two of them, with Kagami glaring at the floor of the court and Hana still digesting the confrontation. The silence finally became too much for Kagami and the redhead began to struggle to his feet.

"Idiot," Hana moved closer before holding a hand out in offering, "Don't strain yourself. You already screwed up your legs, don't screw up your ass by falling on it too."

For a second it seemed Kagami was going to ignore her, but finally he lifted his hand and interlaced it with her own, "Thanks."

"No problem. You can't kill Aomine if your injured, can you?" pulling at his hand, Hana once again attempted to inject some humor into the situation, "I'm not doing all the work, someone's got to do the heavy lifting and hide the body."

He simply stared at her, "… You know, you can be damn scary sometimes?"

"Well, yeah," this time she let out a genuine laugh, "Haven't you met the same guys I have? They'll never respect you unless you're a bit terrifying."

At the statement, Kagami saw the briefest flash of blonde hair before shaking the comparison off, "Huh, I guess that makes sense."

"You'll understand eventually," she pulled at his hand one last time before losing her grip. Honestly, Hana tried to drop him gently, but that was like 90 kilograms of body mass right there, "Hot damn, you're heavy as shit."

There was a stunted grunt as he landed back on ground, "Imamura. What the hell?"

"Look, I tried to do the bonding moment thing," this time Hana just watched as Kagami struggled to his feet. She felt a little bad, but seriously, he was really freaking heavy and her noodle arms just couldn't handle it, "I'm short as hell though and you're all… you."

"Shut up," Kagami let out a low sigh before wiping a rouge band of sweat off his brow. For a brief moment, they stood together in companionable silence. Frowning at the clouding sky, Kagami registered something, "Do you know how late we are?"

"Erhhm," Hana fiddled in the pocket of her sweatpants and fished out her phone, "Oh. Oh, no."

"What is it?"

"It's been like an hour— you idiot! You played basketball!"

Kagami blanched at the threat that realization promised.

Unconsciously, both teenagers' mouths moved as one, "Shit."

x


x

Oh, my poor legs.

So many laps. So much sweat. So much pain.

Sitting on the front steps of the school, Hana rubbed at her thigh. The scowl that grew on her mouth only resulted in a giggle from her companion. Oh, I'd like to see you run twenty laps! Hana was pretty damn sure five of those laps were Momoi's fault to begin with. Since Riko couldn't punish someone from a different school, she took her anger out on the next best thing, Hana.

"Sorry, Ima-chan," Momoi brought a hand up to cover her growing grin, "Your expressions are just too cute."

"I'm not cute," Hana grumped, kneading her fingers into an overworked tendon, "I'm ferocious. Speaking of that, you need to get your guard dog a leash."

Opps. That probably wasn't the best way to break that into the conversation, but she didn't feel too bad. To be frank, Hana was still a bit miffed about the whole thing. If they keep popping up every five seconds, I want a warning system.

"… You saw him?" Some of the light faded from Momoi's smile, making Hana lose the edge of her annoyance, "Sorry about that. I wasn't sure if he'd stay or not. I hope he didn't do anything too bad?"

Ugh, puppy eyes. Pausing from her mini-massage, Hana tapped a sardonic finger against her forehead, "Nothing I couldn't handle," that's a load of bullshit, "Don't worry about it, I think I was just born with an asshole magnet, they all seem to flock to me."

All problems can be ignored with humor—

"That's true," Momoi leaned back, perching her arms on the step behind her. Her pink eyes trailed up to stare at the sunset, "But, Ima-chan? You don't have to pretend with me. I understand what you're going through."

Or not. Damn mind reading powers. Ducking her head, Hana returned her attention to her legs. It was a half-assed attempt at distraction, but at least it was something, "Sorry. It's just—" the words she wanted to say dried up in her throat, so Hana went with the next best, "I thought it would be easier, you know?"

"That everyone would see where they went wrong," Momoi didn't seem to notice Hana's falter and continued the train of thought for her, "Or we'd get used to it and it wouldn't hurt to see them again?"

"Yeah," fumbling with her skirt, Hana peeked her head up to stare at Momoi through her bangs, "See, you're so much better at this shit. You make it sound all elegant."

"It's okay to open up," Ignoring Hana's attempt at nonchalance, Momoi brought home her next point with startling accuracy, "That way you don't have to run off." Ouch.

"I didn't run—" Momoi raised a judgmental eyebrow at Hana's denial, "Okay, but I was just giving you a chance to woo Kuroko— stop looking at me like that, dammit."

"It wasn't like that. I do understand though; our conversation did get pretty dark," reaching out, Momoi gently patted her on the knee, "But I'll still be here when you're ready to talk about it."

Ugh. See, now she felt guilty. It wasn't her fault, per say, but that didn't stop the slick sludge of blame from building. But… girls were hard. Learning from her friendship with Momoi, Hana realized that somehow girls just seemed to know everything. Like, where do they learn that? How do I develop this new superpower?

That wasn't really the issue though. It fell down to the fact that when Hana talked to her male friends, they understood what she was saying, but they didn't empathize. They took the problem at face value and gave her a sure-footed answer. Momoi though… it appeared as if Momoi could feel exactly what Hana did.

And honestly? That sort of freaked her out.

"Good," Hana laid her hand on top of Momoi's, squeezing it once in thankfulness even as she declined to elaborate, "I'll remember that, and hey, same goes to you. If Aomine ever becomes too much to handle, I'm your girl."

"…" thankfully, Momoi allowed the subject change and merely blinked at her, "Aomine-kun is always too much to handle."

Truer words have never been spoken.

"Have you tried a squirt bottle? Every time he acts like a dick, spray him in the face," at the accompanying mental image of a drenched Aomine, Hana cackled, "Holy shit, I can see it now! That'd be great!"

"You know," Momoi brought a finger to her chin in thought, "I think Midorin tried that once when he wouldn't clean his locker."

"Well we've got to do it again, but with everyone. Hell, let's get water guns instead. Can you imagine their reaction?"

"I don't know if I could do that to Tetsu-kun… or Akashi-kun."

"Fine, Kuroko can join our team and do it. He'll be the secret weapon to infiltrate their ranks—"

Sadly, their world domination got cut short. While Momoi broke down into giggles, Hana's phone chose that time to start up its jingle. Specifically, the annoying American one Uoya set up. Both girls turned toward her backpack and Hana hastily fumbled to retrieve the embarrassing piece of metal.

"Crap," Hana tapped the phone on and squeaked into the receiver, "Hello?"

"Imamura-cchi? Where are you?"

"… you're already there?" forgetting her guest audience, she gawked, "Kise! You should have told me!"

"I did!" Kise's whine filled the receiver and Hana didn't even have to imagine his pout, "I texted you five times; my shoot ended early today."

"Shit. I'm sorry, Riko had me running laps," stumbling off her step, Hana reached for her bag and precariously balanced at the top of the staircase, "I'll be right over there— I'm not even that far. Like, ten minutes tops? Maybe six if I run."

"Imamura-cchi, it's okay if you can't—"

"No, no! I really need your help, alright? Uhm," Looking over at Momoi, Hana tugged her lip into her mouth. I don't like that expression, it promises bad things. Shaking off the feeling, Hana returned her focus to the phone, "I'm going to hang up, but I'll be there as soon as possible."

Hana didn't even wait for Kise's reply before clicking off the phone. Skipping down the steps two at a time, she safely landed at the bottom and turned her attention up to Momoi. The tint in the fellow manager's eyes could only be described as scheming.

"Ki-chan?" Momoi's grin grew at Hana's flustered glower, "That's so cute."

"It's not what you think—" Hana paused when Momoi began to ruffle through her hoodie pocket. One second passed before a small tube was tossed into the air. Catching it, Hana looked at the little container of lip gloss suspiciously, "I hope you're not implying what I think you are."

"It's vanilla," Momoi avoided the question easily, "Try not to use it all~"

Pure evil shouldn't exist inside someone with pink hair, that's so wrong. Clasping the lip gloss in her hand, Hana stared at Momoi, "… Do people realize how horrible you are? Or is this a side of you only I see?"

"Aomine-kun does," the lighthearted atmosphere faded in the blink of an eye as a melancholy smile pulled up Momoi's lips. Shit, not again. Around them, the sun began to lower behind the skyline and the recesses of orange light tinted Momoi's hair, "Can we make a new promise before you leave, Ima-chan?"

Catching the gravity in the question, she swallowed, "Of course."

"I know we play against each other tomorrow, but no matter what happens," Momoi paused at the unwelcomed reminder, but she wasn't finished yet, "We'll always be friends, right?"

I can do that. Despite the serious air, Hana smirked, "You know you can't get rid of me that easily."

The past few days had been rough and her heartstrings ached from all the turmoil they'd gone through, but seeing the relieved grin spreading across Momoi's face almost made it all worth it.

If only everything was this simple.

xXxXxXxXxXx

Ten minutes may have been a bit of an understatement.

Hana forgot to factor in the fact her legs felt like liquid hellfire and as such, running was out of the question. Even though the evening crowd wasn't terrible, there were just enough people that she got jostled at every stop sign. When she finally, finally, made it to the designated meeting ground, Hana could cry. It was just so beautiful and it was calling her goddamn name.

Not even Kise's noise of confusion stopped her. Hana simply continued to march to the metal bleacher before slamming her body down onto it's wonderful, chilled surface.

I've found heaven.

"Imamura-cchi?" Kise blinked at her, arms still held up in shooting position, "Are you okay?"

No. I want to chew my legs off. Snuggling into the bench, Hana peeked up at him through her bangs, "I'll let you know in five minutes. Once I can breathe again."

He'd obviously been here for a while. It was apparent in the disheveled state of his clothing and the lack of energy at her arrival. Despite popular fangirl belief, Kise did not have unlimited levels of sunshine radiating out of his ass. Thank god. Hana hadn't been sure she had the mentally stability to handle that after the week of hell she'd been through.

Meanwhile, Kise shook his head with an indulgent smile before following through with his shot. It swooshed through the net perfectly, "We could have rescheduled—"

"No, I need your help," rolling onto her back, and subsequently flailing as she tried not to fall off, Hana sighed, "This is pretty last minute and I know we were supposed to hang out, so if you don't want to…"

"You haven't explained yet," jogging after the ball, Kise spun on his heel before preforming a dunk suspiciously like Kagami's. When he dropped from the hoop, a teasing grin spread over his lips, "I can't help you if I don't know what's going on."

Placing a palm behind her, Hana pushed herself into a sitting position. Oh man, that hurt like hell. Stretching her legs out, she motioned for Kise to come sit beside her, "Technically this is going to count as subterfuge, but I think it evens itself out in the fact that Aomine's a dick face."

"…" Kise paused in his movements toward her, "I'd really like to know what's going on now, Imamura-cchi."

"Then come on, but just so you know, by sitting down you agree to help," Hana motioned to the empty space again, "It's your call."

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Kise let out an amused sigh, "You aren't giving me much of a choice, you know?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about—"

With surprising gracelessness, Kise collapsed into the space beside her. Placing the basketball in his lap, he nudged her with one sharp shoulder, "It's written all over your face," his fingers drummed across the top of the ball, "So, what's the big secret, Imamura-cchi?"

"Hold up," tilting to the side, Hana reached for her bag and retrieved her phone. Feeling Kise's eyes tracing her every move, she scrolled through her recent photo's before pulling up the video of Aomine and Kagami's match, "Can you watch this and tell me what you think?"

Two smooth fingers plucked the phone out of her grasp. Reclining into the bleacher, Kise brought the phone up to his face and pressed play. Each second that passed forced his face into a new emotion all ranging from confusion, to surprise, to shock, and finally to resignation. When the video ended, Kise's bangs hid his final thoughts from Hana's observation.

"Aomine-cchi hasn't changed much," after a minute, he tilted his head back before letting out a subdued chuckle, "He's still so mean."

Yeah, 'mean' is totally not the word I'd use. Retrieving her phone, Hana fumbled with it as she gathered the words she wanted to use, "We play him in the finals tomorrow, but I don't doubt all of your gossipy asses knew that."

"Rude," the pout Kise pulled looked anything but genuine, "We don't gossip."

"Yes, you really do," Hana rolled her eyes at the flood of denial spouting from his lips, "Whatever, that's not what I wanted to talk about. Uhm… I actually wanted to ask for a favor."

He perked up like an excited puppy, but there was an edge of suspicion under the mask, "What kind of favor?"

Okay, start from the top. With a deep breath, Hana began, "So, Tōō isn't going to be easy to defeat. I know that, you know that, everyone knows that. And," she waved her phone in the air, "We both just saw how easily Aomine took Kagami down which means we need to find a way for Kagami to defend against him."

"…" golden eyes narrowed at the explanation, "How are you going to do that?"

"See, that's where your wonderful self comes in," Hana motioned her hand in demonstration, "I know you've never copied Aomine's movements fully before, but whatever you can copy, Kagami should be able to defend against because it'll be in his skill level. Do you get what I'm saying?"

Kise hummed, "You want me to try and copy Aomine-cchi, but I don't understand how that benefits Kagami-cchi."

"If you can do it, Kagami can do it," Hana paused, "At least that's what I hope. Anyway, if you can copy even some of Aomine's movements, then Kagami should be able to counter whatever you can copy. It's mostly just giving me a base idea of the skill difference between them."

"Can I see your phone again?" Hana held it out without complaint and Kise rewound the video. When it was over, he flicked his gaze up to her own with feline poise, "Hmm… I'm still a little confused, but I guess I can try."

"Look, I'll owe you one. I'm not sure how your copycat thing works, but I'll try to understand—" Wait, wait, what? Hana cut herself off and raised a hand, "That's it? You agreed? Just like that? Not that I'm upset, but what?"

Slipping off the bench, Kise palmed the basketball before starting up a lazy dribble, "I don't mind helping you, Imamura-cchi. You don't need to look so surprised."

"But—" she barely managed to get her mouth to move, "I thought I'd—" her eyes narrowed as the pieces clicked together, "You want something."

Like the imp he was, Kise merely laughed, "You're the one that said you owe me."

Hana kind of hated that his grin no longer pissed her off. In fact, it seemed to do the exact opposite. Watching the blonde move back to the court, her mouth twitched into a identical smile when his brows lowered in contemplation. I don't think he realizes how confused he looks. A moment of thought passed before Kise started to jog and Hana took that as the signal to begin, aiming her phone's camera into position.

"…" Kise looked over his shoulder and, catching her attention, he sprinted toward the hoop before attempting Aomine's formless shot. It was a complete and utter failure, but he still grinned, "Focus on my left side, it's my best angle~"

Really now?

When the container of Momoi's lip gloss promptly smacked him in the head, Hana denied all involvement.

x


Reviews!

Addicted: I'm so happy to hear that! It makes my day to hear that you enjoy going into Hana's world, best compliment ever. As for the multiple endings, that's almost 100% going to be the outcome. I've become attached to all the guys and I just can't hurt them! So no worries, the adorableness will remain. Thank you for the review!

Amgs: Awwwh, thank you! I'm glad you liked last chapter and the kinky captains (I hope that's what you were referring too hahah). Thank you for the kind words and I promise I'll look after myself! I just get so excited when I finish a chapter I can't help but post it! And finally, thank you for reading! I wouldn't be anywhere without you guys.

OneWhoReadsTooMuch: Opps, here comes Aomine. I'll agree with you though, Midorima's moment was one of my favorites just because it felt natural? Idk, it was just so easy to type and it made my day. But poor Hana… I do agree hahah. Thank you for review, friend!

Crystalviolet24: I'm glad to hear you like the long chapters! I do agree with that feeling of dread sometimes though, especially when I'm editing. That's the worst. Yes, Takao was the hero of this chapter, I agree wholeheartedly! And I know! I hadn't meant for Hana to come out so honest in the Midorima moment, but she just acted out on her own. I love you're rambles, so don't worry. Thank you for another awesome, spectacular review!

Volley-14-nerd: Glad to hear it, laughter's the best medicine! Thank you!

Corralinne: Tsun's are always adorable and two is definitely better than one! No, thank you for your review!

JeyaMendoza: The best one in the fandom?! Oh man, that's some high praise! Thank you! Sooo, you nailed the Kagami and Hana sibling bond! Your review is what inspired me to include that little moment. But, yes! Everyone should listen to Izuki! Takao will be interesting, I'm kind of thinking of making a little Scorpio club between Hana, Takao and another surprise person! But all the little rainbow nuggets are adorable, I totally agree! Awwwhhh, your review is so detailed and hilarious. Thank you so much!

Pinkdoughtnuts: Thank you! Awh, I'm glad it was cute!

Xxjaelee: Thank you so so so much! Akashi and Hana meeting will be exciting and I'm can hardly wait to write it. As for who likes her, well, that's a good question hahah. Again, thank you for taking the time to review! It was wonderful to hear it!

ArchimedesAckermann: YAY SHIPS, SO MANY SHIPS. AHHHHH! Thank you for the review, friend!

Anime1Freak: Thank you!

MarvelGeek13: Ahhh, thank you thank you!

Imbue-Numinous: OJASHAKSHKADH SO MUCH FLUFF LAST CHAPTER, GLAD YOU LIKED IT! WOO HOO! Thanks for the review, you awesome person!

Saltqueen: I love favorites. Do not apologize, it's wonderful and you are amazing. Thank you!

Mikohoshina: Awhhh, I'm glad you like him. Makes me all smiley inside! Thank you for the review and the support!

Frizzlechicken: Thank youuuuuu! Ahhh! You write everything so elegantly and your reviews always put such a huge grin on my face. Thank you for the wonderful support and the long reviews. It's just— oh my gosh, thank you! I can't even form a reply they make me so happy.

Red Raspberries: Awhh, that's so sweet. And yes, friendship! Yay! Beautiful though? I'm grinning so big. Thank you for the review!

Animegal1998: I WILL TRY NOT TO MAKE THEM SHORTER, PROMISE FRIEND.

TheParadoxicalOxymoron: Thank you for the support! I promise I won't force myself and I'll take it easy, thank you for caring though, seriously! And yes, more Kagami torture coming your way. Thank you and best of luck to you as well!

Guest: Thank you for your review and thank you for reading! Great to hear from you, friend!