Tetsuya wasn't quite sure what to do when a blonde woman jumped at him and pulled him into a large hug. He would've panicked, but then he realized… This was Taiga's mentor. For some reason out in the middle of New York City.
"Oh my gosh, Taiga's little friend!" Alex called out, holding him close and ignoring the glares of Annie and Tetsumi. "What brings you to New York?"
"My twin sister, Garcia-san." Tetsuya replied with a sigh. "What about you?"
"I was visiting to grab some limited-time offers for my boys! You know how those two can be." She let out a sigh and turned to look at the girls. "Aw...aren't you all just so cute…!"
"How do you know my brother?" Tetsumi asked, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.
"She's my son's friend!" Alex replied. "I thought that was obvious when I called him Taiga's little friend…"
"Well, I was just about to ask him an important question, so can you wait?" Sasha asked, taking a step forward, only for Tetsuya to pull Alex a step back. He didn't want her kissing one of the girls.
"What's the question about?" Alex asked, a smile on her face.
"It's about basketball." Sasha replied. "A lady like you wouldn't know."
Tetsuya saw something shift gears in Alex in that moment. Apparently it wasn't smart to assume she didn't know basketball.
"Sweetie…" Alex's voice was way too sweet. "I've probably been playing basketball longer than the amount of time you've walked! I think I know a thing or two about basketball."
"Just because you played casually doesn't mean you know it well." Levy mumbled and Alex laughed.
"Good thing I was a professional, huh~?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "So I probably actually know more than you do!"
"No way…" Sasha paled a little. "I didn't know you played professionally,"
"Oh well! Looks like you got dunked on!" Alex made finger guns and laughed before turning to Tetsuya. "I really should go, though. Have fun with your playdate!"
"That was rude." Levy mumbled when the blonde was out of sight.
"Not really. Himuro-kun would react worse if you told him he didn't know anything about basketball."
"Well she was still rude!" Annie huffed, hands on her hips.
"You've all obviously never met Haizaki-kun or Hanamiya on the court…" Tetsuya mumbled to himself.
"Huh? What was that?" Tetsumi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing, nothing." Tetsuya replied, waving a hand in the air. "Let's just...let Brown-san ask her question."
"Oh yeah!" Sasha stood up straight. "Tell me about Daiki Aomine, the power forward!"
"Aomine-kun…?" Tetsuya thought for a moment. "Well, some would say he's nasty, but I don't agree. He just...wants a challenge. He obviously really does care for people under it all, you know? He and Momoi-san are close friends… He's my close friend… He's been more personable since he met Kagami-kun, too. He's fun to play with or against, he just keeps getting better…"
Tetsuya trailed off, a small smile on his face. For all the bad they'd gone through...There was a lot of good too. He liked Daiki, he liked him a lot. He was a good friend.
"I see…" Sasha grinned. "I'd love to face off against him sometime…!"
"Well then, you'd just have to come to Japan sometime." Tetsuya replied with a shrug.
"I just might have to…" Sasha smiled. "This pumps me up some…Tetsumi! Let's go for a run."
"Alright…" Tetsumi sighed. "Let's go, Sasha."
Before Tetsuya could say anything else, the two had taken off. Maybe he would try and actually hold a conversation with Nico, instead…
He walked slowly to the redhead, who seemed to be talking quietly with Mavis. Were those two close? How nice…
"Am I interrupting something?" He asked, making both jump a bit. Looked like not even his twin could get them fully used to a lack of presence.
"I would say no if you hadn't scared me so badly!" Nico replied, crossing her arms. "You should apologize."
"I don't apologize for things I can't control and I can't control my lack of presence." Tetsuya replied. "I'm sorry you were so scared, but that's just how it is."
"That doesn't mean you can't say sorry!" Nico replied, turning to face him. "Now apologize!"
"I'm sorry." Tetsuya said. He didn't mean it, really. He didn't like being told to say sorry for something that was natural.
"You better have meant that, or-"
"Nico...You need to calm down." Mavis placed a hand on the shorter's shoulder. "Walk away from this…"
"Mavis, you don't need to mother me-"
"Step away, go take a walk and I'll talk to him." Mavis said, her voice still soft as if she didn't see this as an argument. "Please…"
"Fine...Levy!" The other girl's head turned at her name. "We're going for a walk, come on."
"Okay…" Levy sighed, but followed behind the redhead as she was told. She wasn't as obedient as Mavis seemed, so why?
Maybe her paranoia kept her from just letting the other go alone and saying no. That fact she used shears the threaten people made that seem likely.
"Sorry about Nico…" Mavis mumbled. "She's usually pretty okay."
Tetsuya wasn't sure he could believe that when he heard cackling in the distance, but he wasn't going to try and argue. That would just be rude at that point.
"I see...Good to know." Tetsuya finally replied with a small smile. "You two seem...close."
"I've known her since we were kids…" Mavis let a little smile come to her face. Looked like this was something that actually got an emotion out of her. "I worry about her sometimes..."
"I see, that's natural to do with friends you've known a long time…" Tetsuya thought for a moment. It was the same with Satsuki and Daiki, Taiga and Tatsuya, and…himself and Shigehiro. "I do that with Ogiwara-kun."
"Who's that?" Mavis raised an eyebrow.
"My childhood friend. He's part of the reason I love basketball so much." Tetsuya said. He was also part of the most heartbreaking part of middle school. That wasn't his fault though, no.
"Ah." It seemed Mavis has lost all interest at that point.
Tetsuya sighed. Apparently it was hard to keep the interest of that girl… Fair enough. Most people didn't find him that interesting, anyway.
"Tetsuya!" Annie exclaimed. Oh, yeah, she was still there, huh? "What're you doing~?"
"I was talking to Ackerman-san, why?" Tetsuya turned to look at Annie, brow furrowed.
"Who was that Ogiwara-kun? I just barely heard his name." Annie replied, tilting her head to the side in curiosity.
"A precious friend, that's all you need to know." Tetsuya replied with a small smile. "You likely won't meet him, so don't worry."
"Alright…" Annie gave a pout. "Whatever you say, Tetsuya… I only trust you because you're soooo cute, y'know?"
"Of course." Tetsuya sighed. Could the others come back soon? Annie wasn't too bad, but he couldn't handle her on her own…
Luckily for him, the other four seemed to be coming back from their runs and walks respectively. In the moment Annie was distracted, he decided to pull out his phone and take a peek at a photo.
Seeing these girls get along made him want to look, if just for a second. He wanted to see the picture from his birthday, he and his friends getting along.
"What are you looking at, Tetsuya?" Tetsumi asked when she noticed her twin looking at his phone with a smile.
"A photo of myself and my old teammates." Tetsuya shrugged. "It's from my birthday…"
"Awww!" Annie jumped up a bit. "That's so cute, Tetsuya!"
"We need to get a picture with you before you leave, then." Nico said, crossing her arms. "It'll be better than that picture, I'm sure!"
"Sure…" Tetsuya replied, not really believing it. Not much could top a birthday photo, really.
"For now how about you just point your friends out to us…" Tetsumi said, trying to keep this from getting bad.
"Oh sure…" Tetsuya turned to where the girls could see the phone. "There's Aomine-kun, and Kise-kun…" He pointed to the two respectively.
"Oh! Ryouta's kinda cute…" Annie gasped. "Not as cute as you but-"
"You'd still make a cute couple!" Sasha exclaimed with a grin. "That Daiki guy, though… He looks worth a fight…"
"Uh-huh…" Tetsuya went back to the photo. "That's Midorima-kun and that's Momoi-san…"
"He looks weird…" Levy mumbled, looking at Shintarou. "Are you sure he liked Oha Asa?"
"I'm sure." Tetsumi said, studying the pink haired girl in the photo. "I don't see how she's a threat if she gathers your data."
"You only say that because she hasn't gathered yours." Tetsuya gave her a small smile. "Now… That's Murasakibara-kun and that's Akashi-kun."
"Oh…" Mavis didn't seem to care too much. "He's tall…"
"He doesn't look that bad!" Nico turned up her nose at the sight of Seijuurou.
"That's because it's not the other Akashi-kun. The other Akashi-kun is a little scarier." Tetsuya replied, shrugging his shoulders.
Looking at his picture as the girls began chattering he realized something. He was going to have to tell his friends about his...adventures in America. That could prove interesting.