Thank you all for waiting. As always, follows, favorites, and reviews make me happy. Hope you like this new chapter.

Chapter six starts now!

Five months passed since Haruko found out about the Track club's meets and tournaments. It was now the end of August, nearing the end of summer. Today wasn't just an ordinary day however; it was the day of the basketball Nationals.

Though there was something that she had been told the day before and it left her bewildered.

Today was also-

"Happy birthday Aomine-kun!"

Aomine's birthday.

Momoi, the girl who Aomine introduced her to a few months prior, was planning on celebrating it but since he didn't really befriend anyone aside from Haruko, their options were cut rather short.

"Well how about after the game, surely you'd want some cake right?" Momoi chirps from beside him, her tied up ponytail swaying in the morning breeze with each step she took.

"Nah, I'm a be tired after the game. I'd rather go home and read some magazines." He answers her, not even thinking for a moment about her question.

Haruko stares at the two from Aomine's left side. Since Momoi had informed her about his birthday rather late, she didn't have time to buy nor make a gift for him. "You're broke again aren't you?" She asks, watching as a sheepish grin appears on his face.

"You bought too many magazines again, didn't you?!" Momoi angrily states, hands clenched into fists by her sides as she fumed at him.

"You shouldn't shout so early in the morning," He begins, holding his right ear. "You're going to disturb the other players."

Ah yes, the trio was currently making their way to the huge stadium where the Nationals was going to be held. Many teams were gathered there, all who looked pretty fit and well-shaped.

"See ya' after the game Kobayama-san!" Aomine waves at said girl, running off to find the lockers with his fellow teammates. He was the last one to arrive due to waking up late.

Momoi sighs at her childhood friend with her knuckles on her hips. "Geez, he never learns. Anyways," Turning her body to focus on the taller girl beside her she stares up, "Where's your friend? Is he coming to watch, Koba-chan?"

Haruko felt a cold sweat form on the back of her neck. "He's actually busy today and won't be able to make it." She answers smoothly. After all, she couldn't say that he tried out for the basketball team and didn't even make it in the second string. Of course Kuroko wouldn't want to come and watch, he said he was going to practice anyways.

"Are you sure you'll be fine by yourself? Since I'm the manager, I won't be able to sit beside you in the stands." She asks with an unsure voice, brows furrowed and frown etched on her face.

The girl in question only shakes her head. "No it's fine. You have your team to take care of. We'll just meet out here. Thank you Momoi-san but really, there's no need to worry about me." She finishes with a small smile to reassure the girl.

Though with a worried face, her frown turns into a smile. "Fine but make sure not to get lost, just come straight out here." Just as she turned her body, she suddenly stopped because she remembered something. "Almost forgot to give you your ticket, here." She tells her, handing the small white and orange stripped paper to her. With a smile and a wave, she walked off to find the basketball boys.

She noticed how people, mainly the players, were staring at her. Since it was rather hot out, she went with a long pair of orange sport shorts and a rather tight white shirt that Momoi forced her to wear. She had her cream colored sweater wrapped around her waist while her hair was up in a neat bun.

I suppose I shouldn't be complaining, I mean I did make her my own personnel hair doll. One of Haruko's hobbies consisted of hair styling; she's had an obsession over it since she was able to read her mom's fashion magazines. With Momoi being the only girl who let her do whatever she pleased with her hair, she experiments on it whenever she has the chance. Yumi had only let her tie her hair up into two twin tails but after Akihito started laughing and calling her cute, she forbid her to do anything else that included the involvement of her hair.

So here she was, walking calmly to the stands where the fans were supposed to be as constant stares were directed at her. She and Momoi's chest features were on par with each other. Aomine had blandly stated that fact one time while reading one of his magazines during lunch which earned him a smack in the head by Momoi who deemed it embarrassing and ungentlemanly like of him.

Walking into the large stadium, she found even more people gathered inside. Sticking close to the wall, she avoids the couples and other parties of people. Just as she made it pass the large crowds, a new problem arose. It was figuring out where exactly her seat was. Yes she was taller than most girls her age but that didn't mean she was taller than a lot of men. Looking down at the ticket in her hand, she noticed the number written on it was twenty-six. For sure she knew it was in the front row but on which side.

"A or B, what does that mean?" She wasn't used to such names as this would be her first time actually being invited somewhere.

"You're Sa-chin's friend."

She jumps at the sudden voice behind her. Since the pitch was rather high, she assumed it belonged to a grade school student. "No I'm sorry. I don't know any-" She stopped mid-sentence at who her eyes landed on. What was one of Teiko's players doing here? He was the tallest one out of all of them, what does he want with me?

"She told me to help you find your seat." He answers, letting his voice drawl out.

Haruko stares up at him trying to figure out who exactly he was talking about. Sa-chin, Sa-chin, wasn't Momoi's first name Sa-Satsuki? "Momoi-san sent you?"

With a nod, he begins to walk, forming an open path as all the people moved to the sides, gaping at his height. After walking for a few more minutes, they had finally made it to their destination.

"Thank you Mura…Murasakibara-kun?" She said cautiously, unsure if that was actually his name.

He says nothing but before he's about to leave, he catches her taking a pink packet out of her sweater pocket. He watches her as she takes her seat, paying him no heed. That is until; she turns her head and finds him standing in the same position as he was when he first helped her.

Haruko having no idea what to do in this situation pulls out one of her gum pieces, holding it out to him. She noticed that his eyes widened only a fraction as he eyed the piece of candy in her hand. Immediately he takes it from her hand and slowly unravels it before placing it in his mouth. She stares up at him, watching as he chews it with a bored look but his eyes shining. Just as she places her own piece in her mouth, a hand rests on her head. Was Murasakibara actually patting her head right now?

"Koba-chin is nice."

His voice was so flat, she had no idea whether he actually meant it or was just saying it. Her face heats up at the soft pat and compliment, when had he learned her name? No, when had he decided on a nickname for me? Her light orange eyes follow him as he lifts his hand off her head and walks over to where his team was gathered. Not knowing what to do for another twenty minutes, she pulls out her small flip phone.

"Look at that Yumi-chan, they're already practicing on the court!"

"Shut up, your voice is too loud."

She recognizes those voices. Why would they be here of all places? Turning her head slowly, orange locks onto teal.

"Ah look at that, even our little prodigy made it." He exclaims happily.

"Don't go that far, the year hasn't even finished. What did I say about keeping your voice down?" Yumi asks him with her brows furrowed and a frown on her face.

Haruko decides to try to pull their attention away from each other before they get kicked out for causing a ruckus. "What are you both doing here?"

Akihito's face beams at her question. "Shuzo-kun invited us. Yumi was being too uptight with training as usual, it's a miracle that we were able to make it."

"I'm not that mean as a coach. It's the Nationals, we need to be here to support him." Yumi says with such a childlike voice that it caused Akihito to do a double take before a huge grin appeared on his face. Yumi, having caught his shit-eating smile, brought her hands up to wave in front of her. "From captain to captain I mean, shit." She tells us with a light red overtaking her face by the second.

"Yumi-senpai, I don't think you should try to cover it up."

Akihito and Yumi both turn their gazes to focus on the younger girl whose voice came out of nowhere. Yumi had a small frown on her face while Akihito had a smile.

"Yeah, you shouldn't lie." He jokes, trying to hold in his laughter.

The shorter girl was reaching the end of her limit and becoming angrier by the second. "You're really not so bright at all!"[1] She yells at him before turning her attention back to Haruko. "And you, I wasn't trying to cover it up."

"You were. I mean it's fine right? You both are really good friends with Nijimura-senpai, of course you'd want to come and support him. Because you both like him as a dear friend." She finishes with her hands holding her phone, as if it were something precious.

The duo stares at her content face for a few seconds before making eye contact with each other and shrugging their shoulders. She was right for the most part but that's not what Yumi was trying to hide at all and the other boy knew that.

"Ladies and gentlemen," The announcer's voice pulls the three's attention away from each other and to the tournament floor, where the announcer was speaking into a microphone. "The match between Teiko Junior High and Kazami Junior High will now begin." [2] He finishes, voice resounding around the room.

Cheers from the crowds were heard from both sides. Haruko had to cover her ears while Yumi and Akihito conversed about the game since they were already used to such loud noise. The buzzer goes off and the whole stadium, even the trio suddenly becomes quiet.

"It's the tip-off." Yumi whispers, eyeing the two players.

Haruko was secretly glad that her captain had said what the teams were doing. She's no fan of basketball nor did she ever give the T.V Broadcasts the time of day. The only things about basketball that she knew prior to today was dribbling and shooting. Now it seems Tip-off is a new word for her basketball vocabulary. Her eyes focus on some random Teiko player who got the ball first. Their speed and coordination are excellent and pretty much flawless but to a newbie like me, I must be amazed by everything they do. Even a simple pass could have me out of my seat.

"Shuzo-kun isn't letting anyone score." Akihito whispers slyly.

It's true. Nijimura had complete control under the net; the opposing team had no idea how to handle him. Whenever his opponent moved, he followed. He has quick reflexes, it's no wonder he's Teiko's basketball captain. Now that I think about it, how long do basketball games usually take?

The buzzer goes off after two quarters, signaling the fifteen minute break that both teams deserved. The score was forty-nine to thirty-six, in favor of Teiko. At the sound of people removing themselves from their seats, Haruko turns her head.

"We're going to go see if he needs anything." Yumi whispers, sliding pass her.

"Yeah right, you just wanna ask him if he's alright."

And so the two of them walked out of the spectator's seats to Teiko's lockers, bickering all the way. She wonders if she should go and check on Aomine, since he was playing as well. While Nijimura had her attention during the first quarter, Aomine had certainly caught hers during the second. They-No the whole Teiko team looked exhausted yet, amazing.

Taking out another piece of gum, she eyes the people who rise from their seats. They all have at least two or more people with them.

"Hey Koba-chin, another."

Haruko knew exactly who it was. There's only one person that voice belongs to and only one person who's called her by that nickname. "Okay." She says, handing him the last piece of her pack.

He doesn't say anything as he takes the gum; he takes a seat beside her where Yumi was previously sitting. The silence that ensues isn't something she's not used too. She's experienced it many times with Kuroko either at school or on the way to their houses.

"Are you alright Koba-chan? Do you need any-" Momoi stops when she notices Murasakibara sitting beside Haruko. "Muk-kun?" Since when did they know each other? No scratch that, when did he leave the lockers?

"Momoi-san, thank you for telling Murasakibara-kun to help me find my seat." She says with a small nod. "I still would've been lost if you hadn't sent help."

"No problem, no problem but I'm going to have to steal him. The team's talking about strategies and we need him for a bit." She laughs, waving her off while pulling Murasakibara out of his seat.

"But I was having fun."

"Stop whining, we're in the middle of a game."

She watches as Momoi pushes him forward while he's pouting like a child.

Ah, I'm alone again. Laying her head against the back of the seat, she immediately feels the softness of the fabric. Before she knew it, her eyes were beginning to drift close. I'll just wait until they come back. They will wake me up before the game ends, I'm sure of it.

And so, she falls asleep.

"Aomine-kun keep your voice down, you're going to wake her."

"She's a heavy sleeper Satsuki. Not like she'll wake up from just a few voices."

"You better hope you're right. Anyways, she must have been tired."

"You did invite her last minute and made her get up even earlier than she was supposed to."

"You were the one who told me it would've made her open up more if we took her out. You also told me to wake her up at six in the morning."

Haruko's ears twitch at the sound of hushed voices. What were they talking about and they sound awfully familiar. Squinting, she opens one eye before opening her other. The bright sunlight has her blind for a few seconds. After about thirty seconds, she lifts her head from whatever she was laying on and looks around, trying to figure out where she was.

"Finally awake huh?"

Trying to locate where the voice had come from, she looks left to right before finally settling down on something in front of her face.

"You were asleep for a while Koba-chan. Aomine-kun had to carry you all the way from the stadium." Momoi chirps from beside them.

Wait, Aomine had to carry me? I'm not touching the floor which means, he's still holding me up. "Its fine I can walk now. Thank you Aomine-kun." She lets out, voice drowsy from just being woken up.

Stopping in his tracks, he lets go of her legs. He doesn't bother to bend down since she's taller than most girls and could reach the floor without him helping. Once he feels the weight off his back, he cracks his neck before continuing their walk. "You didn't even wake up when the buzzer went off. Oh we won by the way."

That doesn't make the situation any better. I fell asleep during a game that you played on your birthday. Her eyes widen a bit because of what she remembered. "Today's your birthday."

"Yeah, and?" He questions her wondering why that came out of her mouth like a statement.

Scratching her forehead with her index finger, she decides to ask them something. "Do any of you know where the nearest convenience store is?"

Momoi and Aomine stop at her words, thinking about her question.

"There's one at the end of this street. It's where I buy all my magazines-

"No one wants to know that!" Momoi yells from beside him, causing him to hold his ear.

"Why? Are you going to buy something?" He asks her with raised brows.

"Something like that."

They walked in silence, or that's how it seemed for Haruko. Her two friends beside her were talking about today's game, the one where she couldn't even stay up and watch. It would've been better if Kuroko was here but he did say he had some things to do. We already spend time together at school, its fine I guess.

"We're here," Momoi says from her right, "Are you going to go in?" She asks, pointing at the mini store.

Nodding, she shakily walks inside. Just go in, buy it and get out. Your two friends are waiting outside for you so don't take up too much time. Taking a deep breath, she begins to walk to the magazine section. So far all the books she saw was about models and teenage life. Turning to her right, she noticed the men gathered at the end of the section. Gulping, she walks down the row, the walk being eerily slow and quiet. Not paying attention to the surprised stares and flushed faces of the people beside her, she scans all the names of the models, trying to find the one Aomine kept on talking about.

"Mei or Mai? It was one of those I believe." Haruko whispers, eyeing the two magazines in front of her. Deciding not to dwell on it for too long, she pulls the one on the right, Mai. She briskly passes the men, holding the item against her leg, trying to hide the cover. Once she made it to the register, she mentally sighed. No one was waiting in line so it was completely empty.

"Is that all?"

Haruko nods at the clerk while pulling out her wallet. This is going to cost me a few packs of gum but at least I still have my secret stash in my drawer. She waits for her change before pulling the bag off the counter and walking straight outside.

"Ah Koba-chan, what did you buy?" Momoi cheerfully asks.

Holding out the bag, she waits for Aomine to take it. He stares questionably down at it. "It's a gift to make up for today and because it's your birthday. So happy birthday." She says voice practically void of any emotion. This has to be one of the most embarrassing gifts in the history of gifts.

A smile appears on his face as he takes it from her hand. "Thanks!" He happily exclaims. "Satsuki usually waits till later to-" He stops, shocked at what he had pulled out.

"What is it? Let me see what Koba-chan bought you." Unlike Aomine, she finishes her sentence but a light blush appears on her face.

"This is my favorite model."

"Why'd you decide to buy this?" Momoi asks in a high pitched whisper.

"I found out about his birthday too late and there was nothing else I could buy." Haruko answers, fixing her bun.

"It's the latest issue."

"Even so, for a girl to buy this."

"I know. It was pretty embarrassing." Haruko comments, gulping.

"Look, her poses are even better in this one." Aomine's voice is loud as he flips through the pages rapidly.

"Read that at home, not here!"

Haruko smiles at the two who were bickering. They remind me of Yumi and Akihito, always fighting over small things.

"Anyways, we're going to go eat cake at a small place near my house. Want to come?" Momoi steers the conversation into another direction.

"No sorry. I need to go home, thanks for the offer." Unfortunately, Haruko declines.

"Really? Alright then. Get home safe." Momoi waves at Haruko, walking ahead of Aomine.

Smiling he puts a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks Kobayama, I'll return the favor when it's your birthday." He finishes, jogging to where Momoi was standing, waiting for him.

She watches them, wondering how anyone could be friends with someone for so long.

"I didn't know you were into gravure models."

Haruko jumps at the soft monotone voice from behind her. "Kuroko-kun? You were here the whole time?" She eyes him as he takes a bite from his peach ice cream. Was he really standing behind her while enjoying his treat?

"Yes. I was behind you at the register." He tells her as if it wasn't a big deal.

Sighing at his answer, she waves him off. "It's not like this never happened before." She wants to notice him more but the way he had no presence just made it impossible for her. Even the teacher marks him absent in class if he doesn't speak up. "I was just about to walk to my house. What about you?"

Kuroko takes another bite from his Popsicle, eyeing the taller girl before him. "I just finished shopping." He answers her, lifting up the bag filled with fruits and vegetables.

"Alright, this means we're walking again." Looking at her watch, she noticed it was barely one in the afternoon. "Or I could walk you to your house this time. It's early anyways." She asks him, voice laced with a tinge of excitement.

Kuroko takes the last bite of his Popsicle and holds the stick out to her. "I'm only dropping these off and going to play basketball afterwards."

"That's fine but," She takes the stick from him, turning it over and wondering why he had given her such a thing, "What are you giving me this for?" She noticed the black writing on the back but what did it mean?

He points towards the convenience store. "Show that to the clerk."

Deciding to listen to him, she holds the stick with the both of her hands in front of her chest. Why would he give me his trash?

Kuroko's POV

Waiting outside the store, I wonder why she hadn't known of such a thing. Has she maybe never tried ice cream before? If I remember correctly, she never ate anything sweet aside from the packets of gum she always seemed to carry. Even when we walk together after school and I ask if we could stop by the convenience store, she only waits outside.

The sound of the automatic doors opening pulls me away from my thoughts.

"Kuroko-kun, they gave me free ice cream. Can you believe that?"

Her orange orbs are wide and look as if they have a new shine within them. Almost as if she had discovered a whole new thing which is probably true. Her hands were holding the Popsicle, it was bubblegum flavor.

"You really do like bubblegum Kobayama-san." I spoke up, watching as her bun bobs up and down from her joyful nodding. I've never seen her hair tied up into that style before either.

"I like the taste of bubblegum in anything. Now I'll be able to see what all the fuss these were about back in grade school. He often talked about them."

'He'? Did she have another friend back in her younger years? "Kobayama-san-"

"We should probably get going. You want to play basketball right?" She cuts me off as if she had said something she was not supposed to.

Looking closely, I noticed how her eyes were looking around at anything but me. She's nervous. Did she not want me to know at all?

"You're coming?" Her voice is still the same as before but again she wasn't paying attention to me but rather to the ice cream in her hand.

The small smile on her face is enough for me to not prod her about what she had let slip earlier. She'll tell me when she's ready.

A/N

And it's done. This was supposed to be a short chapter so why is it longer than all the others? Okay, sorry for any mistakes and/or errors you found. I hope there weren't a lot. I'll be sure to edit this later. This was supposed to be uploaded a few days ago but I kept on playing some game online ahaha my bad.

[1] "You're really not so bright at all!" Yumi is referring to the characters for 'Aki' in Akihito's name.

[2] "…Kazami Junior High." I couldn't find the team Teiko played against in the Nationals so I used a random school I read while looking through the teams they played against. This won't affect the timeline at all. Sorry if I got this wrong.

About POV changes, I'm still not sure. When the GOM and Haruko start high school, that's where I'll be switching to Kuroko's POV a lot since it's basically his time. I'll try my best at alternating but it's really hard for me ahaha. I'm saving the whole bit when she meets Momoi for a chapter when I hit Writer's Block. Yes I will hit it and I'm gonna need something funny to write about.

So who's the mysterious 'He' she keeps mentioning? You'll just have to wait and see.

Inspirational Song – Yuukei Yesterday

Covered by - JubyPhonic-P (Originally sung by Vocaloid IA)

Thanks for reading!

Have a nice day and/or night!

(o ' ▽ ' )o