Chapter 3: Asshole

Now I'm thinking maybe, I was stoned

I felt my feet lift off the ground

And my heart was screaming

At my bones

I need you closer

-Closer by The Tiny

She looked the same.

The harder he stared the more he was sure of it. She looked completely the same. Not in the sense that she hadn't aged, hadn't seemed older—more distant—or different.

She was just… the same.

There was an air of familiarity that struck him when he saw her. Like when one saw fireworks for the first time, then saw it again and somehow retained their childish wonder towards them. It was similar and unforgettable. The initial awe that had left was there once again.

Her eyes sparked memories and he marvelled at the explosion of lights that proceeded after.

Sure her hair was completely different now—shorter than the last time they'd seen each other, her clothes were a lot darker or maybe this was just an off day for her?

And sure, she seemed more grown up.

But there was something that was the same about her, something similar and something that suggested that she wasn't completely different.

She was Naoki, after all.

The same old Naoki

The car ride was over and she felt exhausted at the whole ordeal, annoyed at the fact that she had to face Aomine Daiki of all people and exasperated that they had to ride a police car like a bunch of criminals.

During the ride, she was seething. Arms folded, eyes staring up nowhere in particular and mind everywhere.

It was such a relief to scamper out of the police car. She felt like a wild animal caged and trapped. But it was as if someone had intentionally put her in a bigger animal's cage to see her squirm.

She didn't want to give them the satisfaction.

His fellow police officer was, as of the moment, indisposed.

"Sumimaisen, sumimaisen, sumimaisen—", It was the magical chant he had always heard from the brunette. This time it was directed to the neighbour.

What was her name again? Muzutani? Muzu-something?

It was useless. He couldn't remember her name even if he tried.

Naoki was staring at him. Not even subtly, she simply stared and if he didn't do the same so often, he would have told her to piss off and called her rude.

While the neighbour and his fellow officer were in the midst of a one sided battle that consisted of one apologizing and the other ranting on about how late it was, he stared at one of his shoes—damn those police shoes—then turned to talk to her.

It was a mistake.

When he turned, the first thing he saw was those eyes; grey eyes that were as cold as the winter snow, but warm like summer. They had green around the edges and a few to the centre of her eyes. They were like trees, steady and calming, like when the sea stirred up, waking with a storm for those lonely men nowhere near land.

They were the same eyes he met in high school on the first day of class.

Those eyes that were not quite like summer or fall… They were the colour of winter, but the sight was as refreshing at spring.

"It's been a long time… Naoki." he muttered lamely, lamenting on whether he shouldn't have called her by her name. After all, she had basically forbidden it during their interaction at the police station, but maybe it was just because she didn't want to seem so familiar in front of so many.

If that were the case, then he understood. Satsuki had told him the exact same thing so many times. As a police woman, it annoyed her that others thought there were dating. It irked her to the point where she had to stop calling him Dai-chan.

Whatever. It wasn't like he wanted to be mocked and called police officer Dai-chan for the rest of his life.

"It has." Was Naoki's short reply. It had snapped him back, ending his daydream abruptly. It was night though and he wondered if they were still daydreams. He was staring at his shoe again. Whether or not he wanted to, he had to look at her again.

Glance.

'Damn it. Grey eyes still.' He almost said it aloud, but caught himself and instead he hoped and clung to what was familiar. The words glided out of his mouth so effortlessly, for a moment he really did think they were the right ones, but after they left a bitter taste was all that was left in his mouth.

"You still haven't changed."

She wanted to rip him apart.

Of all the things he could have said, he said that she hadn't changed. It had struck something within her that she did not want awakened. A retort so haughty and fierce almost left her tongue. Her lips were twitchy and her legs jumpy.

If she could bite of an ear, then she'd be contented, but she settled for a small scathing remark "You too, you haven't changed at all."

Aomine glanced at her, tilting his head a bit and moving his eyes towards her, and then back in front of him where there was nothing but a wall and a lamp post beside them.

The silence was biting and chilling from both of them and it was Aomine who first uttered something. "You cut your hair."

It wasn't exactly what she had been expecting. For a fraction of a second—and she was glad that Aomine hadn't caught it, her eyes widened and she was off guard.

"Well, yeah, it's been, what, ten years since we last saw each other? I'm bound to get a haircut at some point."

The tension had left and Naoki felt confused.

What the hell was he playing at?

He didn't want to tell her that he liked her better with long hair. It just… suited her.

Of course he had almost forgotten that it had almost been a lifetime ago when they last saw each other. She had really long hair then. He couldn't remember if it was longer than Satsuki's, but he knew it was long back then.

He liked her hair. It was long and smooth even towards the end. Satsuki had always complained to him that girls were constantly battling split-ends or whatever.

But hers was just… nice.

Now it was just short. Too short that it didn't even reach her shoulder, rather it just stuck right under her chin.

He scratched his head with one hand and proceeded to shove both hands in his pocket refusing to look at her fully. Just quick glances and almost stares was what he gave her.

"You should know that screaming over tripping on paper is totally lame." His eyes were staring up, not wanting to look at her, but knowing that she would be annoyed. Not in the bad way.

She rolled her eyes, tired and more that a bit annoyed.

He turned around fully, his body facing the opposite way completely. "Oi!" He called out and received a "Hai!". Aomine touched his neck and continued to rub it. "We're going."

He looked back at her, smirking "Next time, don't be so careless falling over paper."

'You might as well fall for me' he thought while he started walking. "Asshole." She muttered lowly probably thinking he wouldn't hear it.

Aomine's smirk grew wider.

Or maybe she was different.

Different wasn't so bad.

Author's note: Merry Christmas, although it's a few days late. So, happy holidays to everyone and I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays so far. I apologize for a really long hiatus. But, finals have been tough D: Gahhhh. Anyway, enough about university, back to the story. I would like to thank everyone and anyone who reads this story, has put it on their favourite list, is following it and/or has reviewed. My thoughts are more organized that normal, but I wish there was more than this. I feel like this is becoming a slew of word vomit and I hope it's just paranoia. Again, thank you to everyone who reads this. If there are any errors, mistakes or whatever, let me know. Also, the other grey eyes, anyone want to guess who he is? This chapter has less angst than I originally wanted, but I think the two need a little bit of a break from all the angst. But just for this chapter. Who knows what will happen next?