Chapter 6 -

"Unfortunately, besides baseball and golf there are no games on and I am not much into them. I'll watch them, but not my cup of tea." Jo sighed and began to climb the stairs up to her apartment. "Oh but football training season has started. They will be broadcasting a lot of upcoming players and such."

Kagami laughed.

"What?"

"I was just thinking that you are not the way a typical girl acts in high school."

As she unlocked her door she looked at him sideways. "How should high school girls act?"

Kagami rolled his eyes, "you know like enjoying fashion, gossiping, shopping, wooing over boys. You know like they were with Kise. That's what I usually think of when you say girl."

"I like shopping… to a degree."

"Let me guess. Sporting goods store and fan shops right?" He chuckled.

Jo punched him in the shoulder, "Shut it! Look I am tired and sore. I am going to go get out of my uniform and get ready for bed. Make yourself at home. I think left the ESPN channel on before I left for school this morning."

Kagami flopped onto the couch and reached for the remote. Once it turned on, Jo went to her bedroom. The room was nice and cool. She flipped on the light switch. The bright light flooded the room. Her bed was unmade but the room otherwise was clean. She undressed from her uniform. Being careful with her wound on her head, she slipped on a Spurs jersey over head to make it easier in the morning to get dressed for school. She slipped on some men's black basketball shorts because most of the women's shorts were like mini shorts for her height.

She heavy sighed from being in comfortable clothes. She really wanted to take a shower, but with her stitches she has to wait until at least tomorrow evening.

"Hey Jo, you got anything to drink?" Kagami asked as he knocked on her bedroom door.

She opened the door and it seemed to startle Kagami. She guessed he didn't think she would've opened the door.

"Yeah, soda or sports drink?" Jo passed him in the hall way as he stood there.

"Uh, let me have a soda. They are airing a couple segments about some rookies in the NFL. Also they are talking about some injuries." He said as he hurried back to the couch.

Jo heard the tv ESPN on English on from the living room. She grabbed two sodas and headed back to the couch. She sat down and handed him a can. He took it and nodded to her then looked back at the tv.

"Do you prefer English or Japanese?" Jo asked Kagami in English.

He shrugged as he chugged a couple gulps of the soda. He responded in English, "No preference I guess. I was in both countries in pretty equal amounts of time in my life. I prefer this ESPN because I think their sports are more… I dunno…"

"Interesting?" She offered as a word.

"Sure I guess you could say that."

Jo took a swig of soda and felt a burp come up. Not putting much thought into it, she let out a belch.

Kagami burst out in laugher. He held out his fist and waited for a return fist bump. Jo smirked and returned the fist bump.

"Granted I can burp louder, but that's the loudest I've ever heard a girl bump."

About 30 min pass of espn on and a little comment every once and a while between the two of them.

Kagami's point of view for a moment: "Ok, now I think the Seahawks have a decent chance of returning to the play…" Kagami looked over to see Jo curled up on end of the couch. She held her soda in her lap and snored a little as she slept. Her head lulled to one side. She looked almost cute.

Oh hell no Kagami you are not thinking like that. No, no, no… hell no. She is a teammate. She is odd. She is just… weird. She is nothing but trouble. Right. That's settled. You do not, I repeat do not like her… right?

Return to Jo's point of view:

"Jo. Not again, Jo! You are the same size I am so I can't carry you girl. Wake up!"

Jo heard Kagami's voice muffled at first and blinked her eyes awake.

"Huh? What?" Jo rubbed her neck and looked at Kagami.

"You need to head to bed. You've been asleep for a good hour. It's about 9 at night."

Kagami stood up and stretched then turned off the tv.

"Oh I think your mother tried to call you, but I thought it best you would sleep."

Jo heavy sighed at the thought of how to tell her mother what happened. She was going to have to tell her at some point. When she came home with a new scar, it would be worse than telling her thousands miles away.

"Great… Just what I wanted to do. Tell my mother that I got stitches and a concussion before even the season started." She reached for her phone and unlocked it. As the phone rang, Kagami went to his bag. He pulled out a manga book and began to read as she begin to talk to her mother in English.

"Hello mom, how are you? Me? Well, ok I guess. You see…" once she explained what happened in a non violent way. She left out passing out and riding in an ambulance.

"Yes mom, I am really fine. No! I don't need to come home. No I don't need you to come here. I promise I'll rest."

Kagami flipped through his book as she talked.

"Oh you sent my teammates shoes yesterday?" Jo looked over at Kagami who's head popped up at that comment. He mouthed "When will they be here?"

"Awesome mom! Thank you so much. Can I ask the eta on that?" Jo asked as she stifled back a chuckle at the giddiness that Kagami had suddenly.

"Next Friday? Thank you! That will be enough time for our first game."

Kagami punched the air and grinned from ear to ear.

"OK, I'll let you get back to work. Love you too."

Jo hung up and looked at Kagami. "Happy are we?"

Kagami sat back said, "Of course!"

Jo punched him in the shoulder and stood up.

"Your mom ok?" He seriously asked her as she headed down the hallway.

"Yeah, she took it about as well as I thought she did. She wanted me to come home."

"That would've sucked." Kagami crossed his arms.

"What? Would you miss me?" Jo arched an eyebrow and smiled.

"Nah, I wouldn't ever be able to earn another pair of sneakers." He laughed.

She threw a towel at his face.

"Whatever dick. Anyways I am heading to bed, but you can take a shower if you want. I'll bring a pillow and blanket out in a min."

She went to her room and took an extra blanket and pillow out of her closet. She returned to the living room. Kagami read his manga book and didn't even acknowledge her. Jo held the stuff above his head and let them fall on top of him.

Kagami sighed from under the pile. "Mature Jo. Real mature."

"I thought so" Jo walked back to her bedroom with a smug look on her face.

She closed the door and looked out the little window that was next to her bed. It over looked the park, but with it being 9:00 at night all she could see was a couple street lights shine on the sidewalk and a large one lighting up the basketball court.

When she laid down her head stung a little, but she gritted though the pain. Jo closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep. She tossed and turned for a bit. She looked over at the clock and winced to read the time. 9:32 pm. She heavy sighed, moaned softly in pain and rolled over once more. As she closed her eyes then heard a soft knock at her door followed by a whisper of her name.

"Huh?" Jo pushed up on her elbows and looked at the door. "Kagami?"

"Yeah, can I come in?" He asked in a hoarse voice.

"Sure I guess." She mumbled and sat all the way up and held hand to her head.

Kagami entered in a sleeveless shirt and some baggy shorts. He held something in his hand but it was too dark to tell what it was.

"Whats up Kagami?" Jo asked as she let go of her head.

"I could hear you moan from the other room. Here, the doctor suggested an icepack tonight if it got bad." He handed her an icepack wrapping in a towel. "Also here is some medication I found in your bathroom that say they'll help with pain. He offered her a couple pills and handed her glass of water from her bedside.

She looked at the pills. They were some she brought from the US. She swallowed them and thanked Kagami for the help.

"You didn't have to do this. Thanks." She said when she drank the last of her water. He held out his hand for the glass. She guess he was silently offering her a refill. She gave him the glass. As he walked to the kitchen, he called back.

"If hadn't you would've been tossing and turning all night and I would've not got any sleep. Mr. Wig said I fell asleep in class one more time I'd get detention and miss a practice. So all in all I am doing BOTH of us a favor."

Jo rolled her eyes, but smiled in his attempt to hide his helpfulness.

He returned the water and started to walk out of the room. "Thank you Kagami for staying here tonight."

He shrugged. "You may be a pain in the ass, but you have your benefits too. I mean you can't make someone grow tall on command and at that you can't make them want to play basketball."

She pinched the bridge of her nose, held back ad laugh and pointed to the door, "Out!" she firmly told him.

He shrugged and closed the door behind him.

Soon the icepack helped the pain and she was able to drift to sleep.

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ

"Ugh!" Jo flung her hand towards her alarm clock. She heavy sighed and saw it read 5:00 am. She pushed up and felt the throb of pain in her head. It jolted her awake. The day before came flooding back. She began to get ready when a snore came from the living room. That sound reminded her that Kagami was in the living room. She didn't think he would have an alarm on, so she thought it best for her to go wake him up.

As walked into the living room and saw a very funny sight. Kagami was half on half off the couch while he layed on his back. One foot flung onto of the top and one draped to the floor. His mouth was gaped open with a little drool on his cheek. His red hair looked as if he had gone through a wind tunnel. All this was accompanied with the light snore. It was so funny it was cute. She got the bright idea of taking a picture for future blackmail. She ran and got her phone. Took a couple pictures then put her phone in her pocket.

"Kagami. Hey Kagami get up dude."

A snort and grumble came from the couch. He went to roll more and ended up on the floor with a thud.

"What the fuck?" He stammered and groaned. He lifted his head and looked around then looked at Jo. A light bulb seemed to go off in his head as if he remembered where he was.

"You alright man?" She bit back a laugh and looked over the table at him.

He sneered in annoyance and stood up. "Yeah, yeah, I am fine, but damn that couch is small and not very comfy." He stretched and complained at the same time.

"Whatever, thanks for staying anyways. Do you want breakfast?"

He stopped mid stretch. "Breakfast? Like what? Do you cook?" He asked with a hint of excitement. Her guess was that he didn't know how cook.

"Sure, I can cook. I can make what I usually make for myself and add a little more for ya." She looked in the fridge and brought out a couple ingredients.

"Well, that would make up for the small couch. Let me take a quick shower while you are getting that ready." Kagami grabbed his bag and headed to the bathroom.

About 20 minutes passed when she called out that it was ready. She could have sworn he ran to the table. There were two plates. One plate had, Egg whites, cottage cheese with peach jam, and a handful of almonds, an apple and a small piece of bacon. The other plate had a small stack of pancakes, scrambled eggs, couple strips of bacon, hash browns and a couple slices of toast.

Kagami just stared at the plates with a goofy grin on his face. "Thank you Jo. This looks great." Jo smiled and sat at the smaller plate with the healthy options and began to eat. Kagami sat and began inhale the food.

A few moments in with a mouth full of food, Kagami nodded towards her plate. "So what's with all the healthy crap."

"What? This is what I usually eat for breakfast. Maybe even a little less than this. I have to watch what I eat. I am trying to lose weight in order to become a better player." She continued to eat.

He took a swig of water and then belched. "You worry too much. You are fine the way you are dummy."

Jo stopped the fork that was mid way to her mouth and looked at Kagami.

He continued to eat as if he hadn't realized what he had said. She finished her bite and smiled a little to herself.

After breakfast they both finished getting ready for school. Jo grabbed her gym bag and book bag as she called out to Kagami to hurry it up.

He came around the corner with both of his bags in his hands and grumbled.

He looked at her and nodded towards her head. "You sure you should be without your bandage? Weren't you supposed to keep it on for 24 hours?"

"24 hours give or take a couple hours. I don't need more any attention. I'll be fine." She shouldered her gym bag.

"Uh, why are you taking your gym bag?" Kagami cocked his eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"Oh I guess it was a habit. I guess I won't need this today." Jo sadly put her bag down and opened the door.

"Cheer up Jo, you'll still get to watch someone awesome practice today!" He shoved her though the door and closed it.

"Oh? Who's that? Captain?" She chuckled at the reaction he had with her suggestion.

"Ha Ha, very funny."

They stopped at his apartment to drop off his overnight bag. Then they headed to school.

The school day seemed to drag on forever. No one really noticed her stitches. If they did they didn't say anything to her face.

As the final bell chimed for the end of school, she headed to the locker room. She was still going to join them for practice, she'll just stay in her uniform.

She entered the room and only coach and Hyuga were there. They talked quietly and then looked over towards the opened door.

"Well, look who looks back to semi-normal!" Hyuga smiled and walked towards her. Coach also smiled and hurried towards her.

"Jo, shouldn't you still be bandaged? You could get an infection. Are you always so suborn?"

Jo opened her mouth when a voice boomed from behind her, "Yes to both of those. Especially that second one." Jo looked behind her and saw Kagami behind her and a tired expression on his face.

"I am fine, really. I know I can't practice today…" she sadly sighed, "… but I would like to watch everyone that way I don't miss a new play or something. Let me put my bag up then I'll go to the gym." Jo looked at coach, Kagami and then to Hyuga.

Coach nodded and began to walk to her locker. As Jo put her bag in the locker, the other players came in and looked like they had just woken up from a long winters nap.

"Mr. Chou's class today?" Hyuga smirked as he looked at the players. Jo turned around and saw the messed up hair, glazed over eyes, the dry marks of drool on their cheek, basically the marks of a student that fell asleep.

"Who's Mr. Chou?" Jo asked.

Koichi stretched and scratched his head as he answered. "A man who is so boring that he makes watching paint dry seem exciting!"

"Thank goodness we only have him twice a week." Hiroshi rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah and I enjoy Biology! Biology can be very fun, but he takes all the fun out of it." Fuirhata whined as he crossed his arms in annoyance.

Everyone looked at him in confusion.

"What? It can be fun!"

That made the room laugh and get into a better mood. Jo shut her locker and went to the court. Coach and the others were still in the locker room getting ready for practice. As she grabbed a ball and bounced it to the benches where she was going to view the practice she saw someone that sat on a bench. Jo stopped bouncing the ball and continued to the benches to get a closer look because she couldn't make out who it was.

"Jo!" the young man stood up and Jo saw it was Kise.

"Kise? What are you doing here?" Jo asked.

"I came to check on you." He walked closer and had something behind his back. Jo stopped and smiled.

"Thank you Kise…" Kise continued to walk closer. Jo faintly blushed as he got closer. "I am fine, really."

He stopped really close to her face and eyed the stitches. She could feel his warm breath on her face.

Wow, he is close. It looks like he got cuter than yesterday. I don't think that is a thing... right?

"Stitches huh?" He made a sad face to Jo, still very close to her. "I can't apologize enough for giving you that injury."

Ok this closeness is beginning to feel awkward. What if the guys come out and see us like this. Kagami… I mean everyone will get upset. Yes. Everyone not just Kagami.

Jo took a little step back to give them some room between the two of them. "Injuries happen Kise. It's fine. Really."

Kise filled the gap between them and he again nearly touched her. The silence seemed like hours even though it was mere seconds. Finally he spoke, "You are even prettier the closer I get. When you turned me down to join my team and then I lost my first game yesterday. It seems like my life is going downhill. I knew you really weren't going to join me, but my heart really hoped you would have said yes."

Jo's heart pounded against her chest.

Jo took a step back and said "I am sorry Kise." He then took a step forward and put a gentle hand to her cheek. "Can my heart ask for the reason?"