She stood there, staring blankly, for the longest of times. She didn't even know how long she'd just been there, gaping at nothing in particular.

Did it even matter?

How could anything even matter in wake of the heartbreak she had just endured?

Momoi Satsuki wasn't a girl who easily fell in love.

Maybe it was due to the fact that she was surrounded by boys all the time. Or it could be the fact that it took a lot to impress her. Still, it was the truth. The only person she had ever fallen in love with before—really fallen in love with—had been Tetsu-kun. That hadn't worked out very well for her, but she hadn't expected it to either. So it had been okay.

In her second year of high school, though, Satsuki found herself falling in love with her upperclassman from the advanced statistics class she was attending. He was a scholar, a very serious kind of individual. He was smart, observant and he was an incredibly attractive man. He seemed a bit standoffish but when she'd asked him for his help, he'd been quick to offer it. He explained things to her in a way that was easy to understand.

For months, he had acted as though he was interested in starting something with her. They'd gone on a few dates and spent so much time together. It had given her courage. Courage to tell him outright how she felt, that this wasn't something that happened to her every day and she cherished the time they spent together. She wanted to be with him more.

He had smiled and asked her for some time to think about her words. She'd felt a jab of insecurity but she had quickly quelled it. Her senpai was a serious person, so she knew she should instead be flattered that he was taking her words so much to heart to give her confession all his undivided attention and consideration.

She knew he'd enjoyed their time together, too. So she felt certain that there was no way this could end unwell.

How come she was the only one staring dumbfounded into space now, heartbroken and unfeeling?

Why had it come to this?

Why?

"Momoi, I—" he began, but his words refused to come out. So he paused and collected his thoughts before he continued. "I'm ready to give you my answer. To what you said to me the other day."

Satsuki's heart swelled and leapt in her throat at his words. She bit her lower lip in excitement, her hands clasped in front of her. She felt thrilled and nervous in a good way, but how come her beloved looked somewhat… morose?

"You made me really happy, with what you said. And the way you feel toward me." Her grin widened, heart aflutter. "I also feel the same way to you."

She might as well have died in that moment. She was so happy it wouldn't have mattered if she did.

"But—" he started and her she felt her heart sink. Her happy world where confessions came true and relationships started didn't have any room for 'but'. "I know that I can't be the most important person to you. I tried—I really did—not to let it bother me. But, I can't pretend and you deserve better. I don't know if he is better, but I can't compete. I'm sorry, Momoi."

That's what he'd said. She had stood there as she had listened, in that same place, and she hadn't moved a muscle since then.

Senpai's words really hit a nerve. They struck a painful chord, all the while rending her heart into tiny little pieces.

'I can't compete. I'm sorry, Momoi.'

For some reason, she couldn't even bring herself to cry, despite the grief induced by the words that replayed over and over in her mind. She was sad, but no tears came.

While she stared blankly for the longest time, the sky darkened overhead. Soon, it started drizzling. However, not even the soft raindrops seemed enough to bring her out of her stupor.

She was so sad and angry. She felt so frustrated and dejected. Again someone had misunderstood her relationship with that guy. He was her best friend, she had known him forever and she loved him dearly on any other day, but by the gods, she really hated his guts right now.

Why?

Why was it so impossible for people to see that he was just a friend? She had no feelings for him and if she did, would she really bother trying to hook up with other guys instead of just directly going after him? Come on. Were boys just that dumb? And she thought senpai was supposed to be a smart one…

'I can't compete. I'm sorry, Momoi.'

Men were such idiotic creatures sometimes. Compete? Compete with what exactly, dumbass? And why compete to begin with? What kind of competition was it anyway? Better yet, what are the criteria?

What's the prize?

It's not a fucking competition, you moron!

Her hands clenched into tight fists next to her sides. Her finely filed nails dug deeply into the flesh of her palms. The sting of the pain brought some sense of reality back to her being.

Stupid, stupid Idiot-mine! It was his entire fault! All of this! She had told him how she felt about senpai and that the basketball freak should at least try to tone down his usual invasion of her personal space at least as long as senpai was around. She had begged him to do it. She had even bribed him into it, and he really had toned it down a lot.

Still, their fame probably preceded them by far. She knew it because she had lived through it all through middle school as well. Stupid teenagers and their stupid inability to believe that there could be nothing but friendship between two people if they weren't of the same sex.

Stupid, stupid Idiot-mine and his "Satsuki this, Satsuki that". Stupid idiot and his imperious commandeering tone, telling everyone what and when to do. Stupid high-maintenance bastard who can't even come to goddamn school on time if she didn't call to wake him in the morning, come drag him out of the house and practically shove him into the classroom at the start of class lest he should escape and play hooky.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

'But… I know that I can't be the most important person to you.'

So what if she did care for the navy-haired moron? Wasn't she allowed to care and worry for her best friend of seventeen years?!

Aomine could be many things—too many to list properly, in fact—but at least he always stayed.

There was a myriad of reasons behind it, of course; she knew that! But the fact remained that regardless of what happened, what she said to him, what she did to him—regardless whether she hurt him, insulted him, chased him off or whatever, he always stayed.

He stayed and still called her "Satsuki" with that air of calm familiarity and he was just… just there.

What was wrong with caring a lot for the person who is always there for you?

What was wrong with not feeling romantically interested in such a person?

Why couldn't anyone just understand that?

While her mind reeled and she stood standing behind the school building, the rain intensified. Her clothes were completely soaked and clinging to her frame. Their mind-numbing coldness drained her of all the warmth her body produced and left her shivering.

Still, she didn't move. She couldn't. All she could do was stand and gape. Gape at the humongous hole left in her heart in wake of senpai's response to her confession, gape at the stupidity of mankind and at the unfairness of it all.

Was she going to live with this curse forever? By the looks of it, she was already getting a feeling at what the answer was. And she didn't like it. Not one bit.

Did she have to stop associating with Daiki in order to be able to get any romantic love in her life? Was that it? She was feeling so spiteful that she was almost tempted to do just that.

Then again, why should she have to change because men were stupid, dumb animals who felt the need to act possessive and territorial over everything?

"Come on, Dai-chan! I'm not asking that much! Just stop dropping by every day—at least on the days I'm spending with senpai! He'll definitely misunderstand!" She looked at the growing sourness of Daiki's expression and heaved a sigh. "Really now, try to put yourself in my position a bit! I really care for senpai and I don't want him to misunderstand about us."

"Why should I have to change the way I live my life just because you decided to start courting some bookworm?" he drawled irritably, rubbing the back of his neck as he closed the magazine he'd been reading.

Satsuki threw him a scathing glare. She didn't appreciate the demeaning attitude he had for her chosen one, but she decided to let it slide for now.

"You should because this so-called 'way you live your life' is too invasive towards mine. Got it? Now get some of your stuff out of here—it's too obvious that half the things in this room aren't mine!"

He griped and grumbled for a while, but he did start collecting some of his magazines, clothes and other junk that cluttered her room.

She blamed them for being stupid, but she was, too. She'd even gone as far as making Dai-chan do weird things for her sake. For that bastard's sake. Just so he wouldn't misunderstand.

What was the point if he misunderstood anyway?

Satsuki didn't even notice when she was no longer standing there alone. It didn't even register in her mind that the rain was no longer falling on her and refreshing the bone-chilling coldness of her clothes.

She didn't see him standing with an umbrella over her form until he moved to stand in front of her.

He peered curiously at her at first. He wondered why she hadn't responded when he'd called her name repeatedly from afar.

Now that he stood in front of her, looking at her face, Aomine got a good notion of why that was.

Satsuki had donned on an expression he'd never seen before in his life. It looked so vacuous, so devoid of her usual spunk that he decided immediately he hated it.

"Satsuki. What are you doing out here in the rain?"

The question reached her ears, but not her mind. Her eyes slowly focused on the lines of his face—the note of slight worry in his tone and in the crease of his brows expertly veiled. She blinked several times as they just continued staring at each other.

"Oi, Satsuki—do you even hear what I'm saying to you, hey?" He waved the hand that wasn't holding the umbrella in front of her face. She didn't even bat her eyes at the movement.

His worry for her was starting to become more pronounced the more time went on and the only sound that filled the silence between them being the pelt of the rain on the fabric of the umbrella.

'I'm sorry, Momoi.'

She opened her mouth to say something. No words came out. How did one talk again?

Daiki raised his brows expectantly, urging her on.

"He—" she started and wondered if this was really her voice coming out of her mouth. She didn't remember it being so croaky or haunted. "He said he was sorry."

Daiki's eyes widened a fraction as understanding dawned on him. Then the chill of the cold rain became just slightly more pronounced to him as he wondered what he was supposed to say in this situation.

They had been together through thick and thin their entirely lives. This, however, was an unprecedented moment in their seventeen-year-old bond.

"He said…" she spoke again, pulling him out of his reverie. "He said he can't compete. So he won't try."

Daiki's brows furrowed in slightly vexed confusion.

"What?" He honestly didn't get what that was supposed to even mean. Was that senpai of hers really as smart as she'd made him out to be?

He was starting to doubt it with what she was telling him.

Only after his barked out response did she finally shift her head to gaze up into his face. Her eyes held a very intense look, which almost made him flinch back. Scorn, grief and hopelessness burned in her orbs as she held his gaze.

Something about the expression on her face, her soaked clothes and the look in her eyes made a jab of guilt spear him.

"I hate you," she told him at length in a deadpan tone. "I hate you so much…"

Her voice broke along with the proverbial dam. Looking at his dumbstruck face at this kind of time had really struck a painful nerve and she couldn't hold it any longer.

She started crying.

"I hate you so, so much, you bastard."

Daiki stared wide-eyed at her, shifting his weight to his other foot and his eyes away from her. He couldn't stand looking at her form racked by sobs.

Somehow, her words had been clue enough to what had happened between that guy and her earlier. She'd been so happy after she had confessed to him she had been practically prancing the whole week. She'd been very hopeful about the reply.

It seemed none of that happiness was left within her anymore.

Realistically, it wasn't his fault that the bookworm was a moron. It wasn't Daiki's fault that the idiot had misunderstood. It wasn't his fault that Satsuki was his best friend. It wasn't his fault that he'd known the girl the longest after her own parents, and it most certainly wasn't his fault that she was one of the very, very few people in the world who could tolerate him.

Those were true, so there was no reason for Aomine to feel bad. And yet, he did. He felt guilty for the heartbreak Satsuki had just gone through. He felt guilty for being the reason her feelings hadn't come through to her romantic interest.

And even as he felt responsible and at fault, in the farthest corner of his heart, he also felt relieved.

If Satsuki had started dating that guy, his life would've changed drastically—in many ways. He didn't want that because he liked his life the way it was. It was perfectly fulfilling for him.

Therefore he couldn't understand why it hadn't been as fulfilling for her.

She told him she hated him and yet as he looked at her, shaking as she whimpered and cried and sobbed, how come every single fibre of her being was screaming 'Please don't go!' to him?

They've known each other forever and he's seen her tears plenty of times. A lot of those they had been his direct fault. Other times, it was his indirect involvement that induced them.

And still he was horrid at dealing with her when she was like this.

He didn't know how to comfort her, or what he could say to make this better. He knew she understood how impossible this was for him and how uncomfortable he felt in this situation. This was not his mess to deal with, so he shouldn't have felt obliged to stay. Satsuki was a strong girl, so she would get back on her feet soon enough even if he didn't say or do anything at all.

And yet he stayed, because he just couldn't bring himself to leave her on her own when she was like this. So vulnerable, open and full of raw emotion.

There probably was a right answer to this situation, but he didn't know it. He has never been one much to care about getting things right. He didn't know what to do so he put his free hand on top of her head. The pressure he applied was almost inexistent but the touch was there. He still didn't know what to say so he chose to stay silent instead, looking down at her shaking body in front of him.

"I hate you…" she said, but leaned her forehead against his chest instead of moving away.

She made no move to remove his hand from her head so he made sure to let it stay there. He angled himself so that she'd be closer, the distance between them shrunk as she slumped against him, powerless, drained and almost lifeless.

'I hate you,' she said. But it was 'Don't go' he heard as clear as a cloudless sky.

'I blame you,' she meant with it, and 'So you better make this right' that was implied in her tone.

He sighed deeply, pulling her closer into his towering frame.

"Sorry, Satsuki," he murmured. The rain drowned out his soft-spoken apology. It's a good thing it did because he sucked at apologizing and hated doing it. He never apologized to anyone for anything. But right now, it seemed like the only thing he could do for her.

He had never meant to break her.

"I hate you so much…" she said but her fingers fisted in the front of his vest, clinging to him for dear life.

It was 'I need you, so don't let go' she conveyed instead.

She stood there, crying in her best friend's arms for the longest of times. To his credit, he didn't complain even for a moment as she took her time in trying to recollect her bearings.

When her tears ran dry, her earlier conversation played into her mind's ear again.

'I know I can't be the most important person to you.'

That's right. On the court and off it, the only one who could win against Aomine Daiki, was Aomine Daiki.

Especially when it came to his bond with his best friend.

When she was done crying and she looked and felt like a mess, in Daiki's eyes there was something breathtakingly beautiful about her. It was so unlike the strong Satsuki who was his only equal off the court to allow herself to be seen in such a light. Especially by him. Maybe that was why he felt so drawn into the beauty of her misery then. Or maybe it was just his guilt?

Whatever it was, it made him bend down until his face was level with hers. He pressed a chaste kiss to her lips with his hand on her shoulder holding her steady in his grip.

To Satsuki, his kiss was surprising and clumsy, an almost child-like attempt at cheering her up. If he were better at it, maybe it would have worked, but his inexperience at initiating such acts of intimacy only made it feel silly to her.

Still, she recognized the gesture for what it was. She accepted his wordless apology and his vow to make it up to her.

She still maintained that she wasn't romantically interested in him (not yet) but he was the most important person in her life. He was the only constant in the turmoil of her ever-dynamic surroundings, the only anchor she could rely on to keep her firmly grounded.

So she closed her eyes and kissed him back. It was by no means romantic—not with her clothes clinging so unsightly to her frame, not with the tear tracks spanning the length of her face, not with her tasting like salt and bitter rejection.

Her best friend's kiss was more of a reassuring, a re-establishment of hope that, eventually, things would be all right.

When she looked into his intense navy orbs after they parted, Satsuki knew she would be okay.

They would be okay, come what may.

A/N: Errr… This kind of got away from me? O.o I don't know but I am kind of endlessly proud of it. :D (Also, God might smite me down where I stand for once again writing AoMomo instead of studying. I blame Aomine's awesomeness and irresistibleness if I end up failing an exam. Seriously.)

This pairing is my new fixation. I just, I can't, you guys. I adore them so much, and I didn't even feel that way when I was watching the anime. What is wrong with me, I don't even—

Hope you liked despite the slight long-windedness of it. Drop me a line to let me know your thoughts!

100 Situations, Table One; 007: Friend.

4th February, 2013.