A/N: I'm sorry for the very late update! It's been over a month since I've updated…but I promise that it wasn't intentional at all. Hopefully, this will make up for it? This is also sort of to fulfill patrengkee's request for a "classic argument." I don't think I did a very good job of incorporating that here, but I hope it will suffice lol.

title: in which aomine and momoi didn't start out as childhood friends
rating: t
themes: non-childhood friend au

Aomine somehow always felt that there was something missing from his life. That exact thought never failed to cross his mind whenever he found himself browsing the shelves of a sports store or eating at Maji Burger all by his lonesome. He usually convinced himself that he didn't care, but often times, his thoughts won out.

Of course, he had Kuroko and Kise, and all the other Miragen members. They gave him plenty of company, and although he would never admit it verbally, he truly enjoyed being around them. However, they had their own lives and important people, and they would probably never be enough to completely fill the empty chasm in his life.

000

"This is Momoi Satsuki. She'll be a new manager from now on. Treat her with respect," Akashi said strictly, crossing his arms. He looked over at the pink-haired girl, with a stare that prodded her to introduce herself.

"I hope we can get along in the future," Momoi told the basketball team standing in front of her. She bowed down before looking back up and beaming at them. A majority of the boys were rendered silent, and many hushed whispers of, "she's totally hot," and "wow," were soon distributed here and there.

"Now that that's established, get back to practice," the red head captain commanded sternly. "Third string, you're going to the weight room again," Akashi told them before walking off with the said group.

Meanwhile, Aomine had busied himself by intently observing the new, pink-haired manager. She gently brushed some hair behind her ear as she glanced down at the clipboard she was clutching onto. He stared thoughtlessly at her throughout that motion, mesmerized. Her body was small, and supple, and sinuous, and her chest—

He let out a low hum of approval before a grin worked its way onto his face. Aomine eagerly nudged the petite, blue-haired boy next to him, who looked up with a questioning expression.

"Tetsu, that girl is definitely my type."

000

"Tetsu, that girl is definitely not my type," Aomine grit out as he stomped towards him, wiping the sweat off the back of his neck with a small towel. Kuroko looked up at him tiredly, suppressing a sigh.

After a couple months of getting to know each other, Aomine realized that Momoi was a pain to deal with. Even though she looked humble, sweet and lovable, he had found that she was possibly the most annoying girl he had ever associated himself with.

"She literally does nothing but nag," the basketball ace complained as he took a seat next to Kuroko on the bench. He sighed heavily as he leaned back and spread the towel over his eyes.

Slacking off was one of Aomine's greatest hobbies. It was his core principal in life to slack off. However, the pink-haired girl would not hear any of that. Whenever the ace skipped practice to snooze on the rooftop, she would show up, quite viciously demanding that he go to practice. The first few times, he had angrily refused, and she had stomped off with an irritated huff. But lately, he found that she was quickly becoming more and more resistant to his excuses.

Aomine had various places around the school where he liked to sleep during lunch and practice. Yet somehow, the girl knew every single one of them, all lodged into that ridiculous data base of hers.

When he thought that he could trick her by napping in an entirely different place (somewhere in the science building, where he hardly ever stepped foot), she had still managed to find him. He realized at that time that she could easily predict someone's actions, and not only when it came to basketball, apparently.

He had been pissed off beyond belief. He heavily suspected that Akashi had some hand in the matter, but that still didn't excuse the fact that he greatly despised the pink-haired girl. And although it was obvious that Momoi had a love for the sport of basketball, that didn't make her appear any less annoying in his eyes.

"Momoi-san is a very admirable person," Kuroko commented, glancing over at Aomine, who snapped his gaze over to him, glaring.

"Admirable my ass," he hissed as he stood up and stomped off into the court. He easily spotted the girl standing next to Akashi, discussing the plans for the upcoming game. He clicked his tongue in irritation.

"Satsuki, have you finished the predictions for our next opponents?" Aomine heard Akashi question as he strolled by. The girl flipped a few pages on her clipboard to check something before briefly shaking her head and replying apologetically, "Almost. There are still a few I need to finish."

"Then please finish them as soon as possible, Satsuki," Akashi said calmly and professionally before walking off towards the clubroom. Aomine scoffed.

"Yeah, Satsuki," Aomine said teasingly as he brushed passed her. The girl tensed up before whipping around, glaring at him.

"Don't call me that," she told him, almost whining. The last thing she wanted was for someone like him to start familiarizing himself with her. He blinked before looking back at her. A small grin spread out across his face as he realized that he had finally found something that he could freely use to pester her.

"What was that, Satsuki?" He asked, casually stuffing his hands into his pockets. He watched in mild amusement as she puffed her cheeks out. "Stop that, Aomine-kun," she said, trying her best to keep calm.

He turned around again and waved a hand at her. "Don't forget to finish your work, Satsuki," Aomine told her with a smirk. "Mou…" She whispered, glowering at his back profile. There was no way she was going to let him walk away just like that. She sucked in a quick breath.

"Be quiet, Dai-chan!" Momoi called out. At that, Aomine froze before whipping around, gritting his teeth. "You…what kind of stupid nickname is that?" He demanded, walking back towards her. She smiled playfully at his response.

"Hmm…isn't it cute though, Dai-chan?" She questioned, innocently swinging her arms behind her. He scoffed gruffly.

"You're seriously annoying," Aomine told her as he reached up, pinching her cheeks before stretching her face out, causing her to go into a fit of, "Stupid Dai-chan, stupid Dai-chan, stupid Dai-chan."

Ever since that day, he found himself willingly going to practice more often.

000

"Oi, Satsuki. Go with me to buy new basketball shoes today," Aomine said, displaying his recently broken shoe. After he had started calling her by her first name as a joke, he found that he couldn't really address her by anything else. Likewise, she had become accustomed to calling him "Dai-chan."

"No, I'm busy," she replied shortly, not even sparing him a glance from her clipboard. He watched as she hastily jotted some things down onto a chart. She certainly looked quite busy, but that wasn't even to stop Aomine.

"But you know my shoe size and favorite brand, don't you? And don't you know which stores sell my type?" He demanded, frowning. She sighed in response before finally looking up at him.

"I do, but I'm sure you can do it yourself. Here, I'll just write down which stores you should go to"—

"Go with me," Aomine interrupted, grabbing onto her wrist before she could write anything else down. He glared directly into her defiant eyes for nearly a minute before she finally caved. He grinned, knowing that somewhere in her mind, she just couldn't leave him alone.

Buying the basketball shoes had taken nearly no time at all, which could be attributed to the fact that the pink-haired girl was with him. After purchasing the shoes, they went to Maji Burger, since he had started to complain about his hunger. They ate their meal through pointless arguments and short conversations. But still, Aomine couldn't help but feel that he enjoyed her company.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask this for a while, but why did you decide to become manager of the basketball club anyway?" Aomine inquired as he effortlessly swung the bag of basketball shoes over his shoulder. He walked along the sidewalk slowly, awaiting her answer.

"I feel like if I tell you, you'll laugh at me," Momoi replied reluctantly, pouting slightly. He scoffed. "I probably won't care either way," he pointed out, glancing down at her. He found that under the dim lights of the street lights, her eyes emitted a bright, pink glow. His gaze hastily fixed back onto the darkened path ahead of them. She was quiet for a few minutes before finally speaking again.

"There was…someone I admired a lot," she admitted hesitantly before looking up fondly at the star littered night sky. Aomine rose an eyebrow at her reply.

"Was it Tetsu? I'd be surprised if you even noticed that he was on the team," Aomine told her, tilting his head to the side. To his surprise, she lightly shook her head. He realized that their walking pace was beginning to slow down even more, but he couldn't be bothered to wonder why.

"No, but I do think that Tetsu-kun is really cool," Momoi said with a smile. He let out a short, confused hum.

"Then it must've been Kise. Don't tell me you're just another freaking fan girl," Aomine sighed in disappointment, glowering over at her. Her eyes flickered dangerously over to him, offended.

"No, it's wasn't because of Ki-chan," Momoi snapped, slightly irritated. He looked up, pondering.

"Then, Akashi?"

"Nope."

"…Murasakibara?"

"Still wrong."

"Don't tell me you joined because of that damn, creepy four-eyes"—

"It wasn't because of Midorin either," the pink-haired girl huffed out loudly. "I can't believe you haven't realized it yet…" She whispered, and he was beginning to wonder why her voice had suddenly become so hushed. When he looked down at her, he was astonished to see that her cheeks were tinted with a shy, red color.

"Oi…" He muttered.

"There's still one person you haven't mentioned," Momoi informed, refusing to look at him. He gave her a questioning stare.

"Wait, what…" Aomine murmured. At that moment, a thought crossed his mind, and his eyes widened in stark realization. He stopped walking, and she stopped beside him. His throat was dry from the shock, but he still found himself speaking.

"You thought that I was cool?" The basketball ace demanded in disbelief. He watched as she timidly nodded back. "So…you really are just a fan girl," he joked, causing her to look up at him with a short whine of, "Dai-channn."

"What'd you like about me? My ass?" Aomine continued teasing her. She glared at him before admitting, "Everything." She turned her face away from him, suddenly embarrassed.

Aomine hadn't realized until that time that he had been blushing. He scratched the back of his head, muttering a short, "Damn…" He took in a deep breath, but the heat on his face didn't disappear.

He finally sighed, gazing at her back profile. It was evident by the way her shoulders were tensed up that she was also quietly blushing. He lightly tapped the back of her head with his fist, vaguely thinking that she was more trouble than she was worth.

"…Idiot."

A/N: Please don't kill me for being late hahaha. I have no idea when my next update will be, but hopefully it won't as late as this one was!

Thanks for reading!