Kagami was annoyed.

For a week and a half he'd been forced to put up with the actions of young cadets while he slept in the bunkers. He wasn't an official pilot so he'd have to sleep there for awhile.

"It's only until we find another pilot that's sure to be compatible with you." Kuroko stated answering his silent question when they arrived in front of the door.

At the beginning he'd been completely okay with it, really it was to be kind of expected. Kagami was the designated newbie and he wasn't going to get special treatment. Only pilots got actual rooms, and obviously the redhead was not one.

But ever since the cadets found out that he previously was stationed in California they'd made it a habit to continuously ask him questions about America. Kagami had been fine with it at first since he understood they'd never been to the states, until he started to lose sleep over it.

They would sit up in their beds, and the ones in the higher bunks would climb down to the floor to listen to what the redhead had to say. The questions could range from what the people acted, how the food tasted or something completely ridiculous like what the bathrooms looked like.

On top of that he'd been under tight lock and key. When Kuroko had given him somewhat a mini tour he pointed out the many places he was not authorized to be in. Which left Kagami very few places to go and very few things to do. He honestly felt like a dog on a tight leash.

He didn't like dogs.

So on his way to the cafeteria for lunch that evening, he made up his mind. He'd go exploring on his own and hopefully find something to do.

When he sat at a table in the far corner by himself it took a lot not to snap at the people who seemed to couldn't keep their eyes to themselves. They even looked like they didn't notice their own blatantly obvious gawking. Their mouths were dropped open and their eyes were wide.

Kagami knew that he ate a lot. It wasn't a secret. But he didn't think it was much of a big deal. Though apparently it was because of the looks of disbelief written across their faces.

He pursed his lips into a line and his eyes narrowed into a glare. He locked eyes with a few of them to let them know I see you and afterwards they almost immediately went back to what they were doing before; though they continued to glance at him every chance they assumed he wasn't looking.

"Stop looking at them like that or they'll faint." A voice snapped him out his glaring and he looked across him to see a black haired man a year or two older than him. He dropped his tray onto the table and pushed his glasses up his nose. "It's also very rude."

The redhead puffed air through his nose irritably. "It's also rude to stare." He rolled his eyes. "Tell them something before you come to me Hyuuga."

They'd become quite familiar with each other for the past week, along with another man named Kiyoshi. They often sat together in the cafeteria. Apparently they were interested in knowing who the rookie with a large appetite was and introduced themselves the first chance they got.

Hyuuga eyed the massive stack of food on his tray with a look of distaste. He muttered a barely audible "where does it all go?" as he shoveled a forkful of rice in his mouth.

Kagami snorted in return and continued on with his meal.

By the time he was finished Hyuuga had already left to return to whatever his job was and the cafeteria was mostly empty. So he picked up his tray and dropped it on top of the growing stack at the end of the food counter with the others. He waved dismissively to the person picking them up and made his way out.

His hands were tucked into his pockets as he walked to avoid accidentally touching someone from how people rushed back and forth through the halls. He didn't have a clue where he planned on going considering he didn't know much about the layout of the shatterdome in the first place but he just kept walking, taking turns occasionally.

It could've been minutes or hours before he stopped aimlessly wandering and Kagami had no doubt that he was lost.

He was about ready to head back the way he came but he froze when he heard the sounds of shoes squeaking against the floor and a slow repetitive thump follow after.

It had been coming from the double doors at the end of the hallway that Kagami had deemed uninteresting when he first glanced at them. Out of general curiosity that suddenly sparked to life at the familiar sounds he pulled one of the doors open just enough to peek inside.

His eyes roamed the room cautiously taking in everything that was inside. When they landed on a rack filled with familiar orange balls an overwhelming feelings flooded his veins.

How long had it been since he felt the familiar roughness of a basketball?

Not since-

"Yo."

Aomine didn't know what to expect when Momoi barged in on his off day like it was completely normal. She had a look of such excitement he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at it. Usually she only got that look when he's found some new information or when they were given the rare permission to leave the shatterdome.

He highly doubted that look was connected to either of those possible scenarios.

So when he semi-sat up in his bed with his back resting against the wall he crossed his arms looking at her expectedly he gave her a dark look. Because what could honestly be so important that she had to come in and bother him on an off day of all days?

Frankly as much as he wanted to tell her to just go away and to leave him the hell alone he knew it would only go through one ear and come out the other because this was Satsuki. The one who was hellbent on bothering the hell out of him all day everyday.

"Dai-chan I have news that you'd love to hear!"

He didn't really care to actually put effort into listening into what she had to say that moment but when the words "possible" and "pilot" left her mouth he found himself freezing while he dug in his ear with his pinkie. He sat silent for a few long moments after that and dropped his hands to his lap to look at them.

Aomine didn't want to risk getting his hopes up for something that was most likely not to happen. But he couldn't help his general curiosity. Aomine was like a cat. He was lazy and he didn't like being around people much, but when something caught his attention, it caught his attention.

"Satsuki can you repeat that? I wasn't listening."

The pink haired woman pouted in response dragging out a "Dai-channnnnn" in a way that made her sound like she did when they were kids.

He snorted. "Women your age shouldn't pout.

"You're so mean!" She huffed turning away but she glanced at him through the corner of her eye carefully. "And what I said before was that Aka- the General has brought valuable person to join our ranks in this shatterdome recently and he's a returnee from America isn't that exciting? They also don't have a drift partner and after further speculating at his stat numbers and past occurrences with other people who drift there's a really high chance he can drift with you."

Satsuki turned back to face him with a careful expression. "This could be it, this could be your actual chance to show what you got in an actual jaeger. Do you know how exciting that is?"

The dark male didn't answer at first, he was still in the process of actually digesting the information. It hadn't fully synced in yet and honestly he didn't think it would.

So he proceeded to get off his bed and slipped on a pair of sneakers that laid by the door. He didn't spare a glance at his childhood friend that stayed in his room, looking after him with a sad face.

"It's such a shame." She whispered to herself and shook her head. "Someone with such incredible talent no longer has a will to drive forward anymore because they simply think they're already just too far ahead for anyone else to catch up."

Aomine found himself in the basketball court that no one besides the rest of his circle used. They came here often to play games just like they did in junior high every blue moon or so. But Aomine discovered that his feet would move on their own like his body was in auto-pilot whenever he felt an extreme wash of emotions.

It was like his body telling him it's time to blow off some steam.

He didn't know what to make of the news he heard from Satsuki. He already knew he had strong feelings about it, je just wasn't sure if they were positive or negative.

He wouldn't allow himself to give him a false hope of becoming a pilot. There had been many "possible" applicants to be his partner along his journey into the jaeger program but they either ended up in the infirmary because of the overpowering on his part or flat out he kicked their asses in the kwoon room.

A drift is like a fragile seesaw. Too much weight on one side and the other just shoots right up at an alarming - sometimes dangerous rate towards the sky. That's what drifting with Aomine was like. And every single damn time the other was too lightweight to handle his power and ended up with whiplash from the speed.

The balance would always end up uneven, Aomine has acknowledged that.

But as he dribbled the orange ball between his legs there was no need for a balance. It was just Aomine and the court. And to him that's all that mattered.

Whenever he played he found himself getting lost in the action whether it was just himself or he had his friends (more like acquaintances) with him. So he didn't really hear when the door opened a little and it creaked while it did so.

But he definitely heard when footsteps moved into the court. His head snapped towards the sound and his eyes landed on a redhead that he'd never seen before.

Who could he be? Wait.

Satsuki's voice drifted into his ears. "Aka- the General has brought valuable person to join our ranks in this shatterdome recently and he's a returnee from America isn't that exciting?."

Oh so then- oh.

His body instantly reacted at the sound of a deep smooth voice and he froze like a deer in headlights. When he looked up his eyes landed on a tanned male with navy blue hair and eyes of the same color. Which were incredibly narrowed in a way that said the man was definitely sizing him up.

Kagami crossed his arms in a way that he knew would make his muscles more defined as a clear warning.

Do not try me. It was an unspoken sentence that hung in the air and when the man smirked in a way that meant nothing but trouble Kagami felt himself starting to grow irritated.

While he was lost in his thoughts he didn't notice the other man trying to talk to him.

"What?"

The man rolled his eyes and lightly threw the ball in his hand in the air, Kagami couldn't help it and watched in very little fascination as it fell on his pointer finger and spun perfectly. The male caught the redhead's sudden attention swap and his eyes twinkled with silent mischief.

"Wanna have a game?"

Kuroko was walking with Satsuki hearing her rant about how Aomine when they passed by the basketball court doors and heard the sounds of shoes squeaking against the floor. They stopped and looked at each other in confusion.

Confused because they knew Aomine was in there but the question was who was he with?

They sneakily made their ways inside and hid behind a stack of balls watching what was going on in the court with a silent fascination.

Kagami and Aomine were playing just a regular game of basketball but something about watching their basketball was something that left the two spectators enchanted. It was like dance of two vastly different but so similar species. Something like a tiger and a panther.

They were evenly matched, something that left Satsuki to cover her mouth with a silent gasp and Kuroko's eyes widening only a fracture than they naturally were.

Kuroko couldn't help but wonder what their drift would be like.