"Got to admit Kazu-Kun, you were very generous talking about us," Shira commented as skipped alongside Ishimura, looking back over her shoulder to Kazuki. Meyer shook her head crossing her arms over her chest as she looked to the side. She was displeased about the episode earlier in Maji, though Shira didn't know why. Meyer had no problem with people knowing they were good - as Kazuki had put it exceptional - so why was she getting irritated?
"You should have least told them that only one of the three-point shooters can play them continuously," Meyer muttered under her breath. Kazuki didn't hear her, he was distracted by a car driving past, but both Ishimura and Shira had heard her. Ishimura looked up to Shira as if to say 'that must be why' before they both turned to look ahead. They weren't sure if Meyer wanted them to hear what she had said or not, so feigning they hadn't would be best for now.
If there was one thing that the duo had learned from their years - and there were quite a few of them - was that Meyer hated it when any of them talked themselves up more than they could accomplish. True, Kazuki hadn't lied as such when he'd told Kagami and Kuroko that there were three of them capable of making a shot from the centre line, but in Meyer's mind the fact he hadn't added that Takami was the only shooter who could keep making shots like that relentlessly wasn't much better.
"So why the sudden change of heart for playing at the court any way?" Jo shouted over her shoulder. She could see Meyer easily and the shorter girl was scowling at something or other. Jo almost laughed, when wasn't Meyer scowling recently? Looking ahead, she saw Saka was already waiting at the entrance of the court, looking at whoever was already playing.
Jo strained to get a look at who ever had caught Saka's interest, and the air sucked in between her teeth as she caught sight of the man running around by himself on the court. He didn't look like he was overly enjoying himself, wincing every now and then but continuing to play none the less. Oh, this should be ineteresting.
"H-h-h-he's been here for a w-w-while," Saka whimpered when they were within earshot, her eyes not leaving his form. Her cheeks were already flushed and Jo would have laughed, if it weren't for the face Saka was clearly quite nervous. Ishimura was already muttering angrily underneath her breath, her eye narrowed and her head tilted down slightly. She was never happy when she saw him because of how he played. "H-h-hey, Meyer!"
Meyer began walking towards him, completely unfazed by the fact he looked more than just slightly irritated. He probably hadn't seen them yet, well he may have seen Saka while she was waiting but Jo couldn't have been sure. He looked very serious about playing just then. Nonetheless, when Meyer was within three metres of him he pulled the ball down instead of taking his shot, his dark navy eyes sliding to look at the girl before him.
Meyer was probably a surprise for him. She wasn't particularly tall, standing almost a foot underneath his looming height, and her features were rather delicate. Although she had grown up in Japan, she had no heritage that belonged to the place and had a rather western appearance. Most days if she walked somewhere she wasn't used to, she would be mistaken for a tourist.
"Yo," Aomine Daiki said slowly, looking at Meyer with confusion and holding the ball between both hands, turning the leather sphere around gently. Meyer flicked her gaze from his face to the ball, to the hoop, then back to his face.
"We were going to practice on the court." Aomine raised one eyebrow at the tiny girl in front of him, although to be fair she was taller than Satsuki. Taking the ball in his right hand, he held it a little higher than his own head, smirking slightly. She amused him, if nothing more, by asking - no telling - him to get off the court. Yeah right.
"I'll get off, if you can knock the ball..." Aomine didn't finish. She bent her knees until she was almost crouching and suddenly straightened herself up, jumping through the air with a surprising amount of height. Her right hand began reaching for the ball, but Aomine couldn't lose this easily and he pulled the ball to the right, only for the leather to leave his palm. When she landed on the ground again, Aomine could see she had grabbed the basketball with her left hand instead. Clever girl.
"I never did say you had to get off the court."
"Tch," was all Aomine managed before he yanked his ball back. He didn't like her, whoever the hell she was, but part of him was interested in sticking around to watch their 'practice'. His eyes slid to the fence, expecting to see more girls like her, but what he saw almost made him step back. One of the girls was leaning against the fence, but he could already tell that she would have been taller than he was, whilst another would have made a close height. The girl standing in front of them would have been the shortest of them all. Was she their manager?
"Do you want play with us? Three on three?"
"Huh?"
"I'm Meyer."
"Aomine."
"So, three on three Aomine?" Meyer pressed again. She reached out suddenly, snatching the ball from his hands and spinning it on her middle finger. Her eyes didn't shift of his face though and he let out a sigh, rubbing his neck. Momoi had been pretty certain that he shouldn't be playing intensive basketball and he did feel as though her owed her after making her cry and all, but these girls wouldn't be that intense right?
"How about one on five?"
"Stick with the three on three and see how you go," Meyer laughed but there was a hint of irritation in her tone. By this time the rest of her team - and Kazuki - had made their way over to the pair. Ishimura looked more than just slightly annoyed now as she had picked up where this was going. Jo was looking at Meyer out the corner of her eye, one eyebrow raised as she tried to the think of what Meyer may possibly be trying to do by asking Aomine to join them. Then again, he had been instrumental in the defeat of Seirin.
"You're Aomine Daiki," Shira beamed, stepping forward and quite close in his personal space. Meyer tilted her head, wondering if she was trying to intimidate him or attempting to flirt. Most likely it was going to be a bit of both. She was just under his height as well, so she was looking him straight in the eye by lifting her heels of the ground slightly. "We caught the game where you played Seirin, it was an interesting game. Not as intense as Kaijo though."
Aomine seemed to raise his head as he heard her words, his eyes seeming to brighten up as he thought of those two games. The emotion was fleeting though and before long he expression returned to boredom. Ishimura clicked her tongue unimpressed with the teen in front of her and tilted her head, pulling Shira back with her glower. Shira did step back, but whether she succeeded in whatever she had been attempting to accomplish was only known to her.
"Three on three. Kida, Annaisha and Kiko, you guys play against Aomine, Yuki and Tamiko. Katsuo and I'll ref," Meyer smiled, throwing the ball back to Aomine. Although they had brought their own, she had already been holding his so it was obvious she intended to play with it. If Aomine was against that idea he didn't say anything, just bounced the ball twice before looking around. He had absolutely no idea who he was playing with or against, but the girl who was almost his height, and her grumpy looking shorter friend, walked over to them. The shorter of the two was fixing her long fringe into a red bandana that had previously been around her wrist, and when she caught Aomine's eye she curled her lip up slightly.
"Ishimura, and don't think you can just run and gun by yourself," Ishimura spat unhappily. Shira hit her head and shook her own before smiling at Aomine. She wasn't sure whether she was please to be playing with him or irritated she wasn't going to get a chance to play against him, but she was probably on this side to make sure Ishimura didn't hit him with the ball on 'accident'.
"Ignore Yuki-Chan, she gets cranky easily. I'm Shira Tamiko. You'll be starting, considering you have the ball and all," Shira laughed before she looked to the other three. Jo was, unsurprisingly, watching Meyer walk over to Kazuki with an irritated look on her face. Saka looked downright terrified, her eyes as big as saucers as she stared at the hulking figure of Aomine, someone she was about to go up against. Her cheeks were even redder than before and the colouring was starting to spread up to her ears as well. Takami had her phone out, her fingers punching in the buttons at amazing speed.
"First to fifteen wins!" Kazuki called from the side of the court and he blew his whistle. Aomine stayed where he was as Ishimura pulled back, preparing for a defensive play if necessary. Shira moved to the left side of the court, scrutinizing where Jo, Saka and Takami were standing. Jo was back, standing just outside of the three point line to the left, whilst Saka was standing right in front of the three point line. Takami hadn't moved, her fingers still working the key pad furiously. This should be interesting.
"You have half an hour otherwise," Meyer added before Kazuki blew the whistle again. Aomine started dribbling the ball, watching the three in front of him before he broke forward. Saka matched his movement but he easily avoided her, dribbling to the right. Shira almost smacked her hand to her forward when Takami didn't even look up from her phone, only making a half assed attempt to reach out and get the ball from Aomine. Saka had managed to recover though and was chasing the tanned bluenette down the court, but by the time she managed to catch up to him he was already in the three point line. Jo was standing in front of him, her arms out wide and not letting him get any closer to the net. She towered over him and he couldn't seem to break past her.
"Aomine, here!" Shira shouted, attempting to get his attention. He didn't even look her way, instead pulling back from Jo, taking three steps before making a shot. Shira wanted to hit him, there was no way that was getting past Jo. With ease Jo leapt into the air, her fingers snatching the ball up. While she was still in the air she passed the ball to Saka, but Aomine was already on the move.
Shira heard Saka shriek as she saw Aomine running towards her and she turned tail and ran, dribbling the ball fast. She managed to make it to the center line before Aomine was in front of her. Saka made some sort of frightened noise before bouncing the ball backwards between her legs, catching Aomine completely off guard. Jo was close enough behind Saka to scoop the ball up. Pushing forward, she focused her eyes on the basket at the end of the court. Aomine flicked his eyes to Jo, ready to cover her when Shira jumped in front of her. Stretching up high with her left arm and stretching out with her right, Shira didn't take her eyes of Jo's hands.
"Aomine, stay on Saka." She heard a grunt of a reply and she looked, only for a moment, to him, ready to snap at him to play properly.
"Shira, damnit!" Ishimura shouted from the three point line, Shira looked back to see Jo jumping, her hand position moving to take a shot. Shit, if she takes a three pointer already they're screwed. Shira shot up through the air, her hands in front of the ball as best as she could manage. Jo shifted her gaze to Shira, smirked and looked back to the hoop.
"Your pet didn't listen," Jo murmured. Shira frowned before she watched Jo's hand suddenly shift to facing to the right. Flicking her fingers the ball soared down, right into Saka's hands and she was already gunning for the three point line. I am going to kill him, Shira thought as the pair landed. Aomine was chasing after Saka, but the moment she reached Ishimura she leapt in the air. Throwing the ball to the far left of the court, where suddenly Takami was standing, phone out of the way and already in position.
Shira groaned deep in her throat. This game was already over and she knew it. As soon as the ball was in Takami's hands she was in the air, releasing the ball merely seconds later. In a perfect arch the ball soared, landing with a nice swoosh into the basket and Kazuki let out a short, sharp whistle.
"Nah, fuck that! Fuck this! I'm not playing any more! He's a dumbass!" Ishimura roared. She was stomping towards Kazuki and Meyer, leaving the five on the court staring at her. Saka gently picked up the ball from where it had rolled off, trotting over to Aomine with her head down. Takami was right back on her phone, texting god knows who, and was slowly making her way to Meyer. Ishimura's outburst definitely killed whatever mood they were playing with and Shira had to admit she was disappointed.
"Y-y-your ball, A-aomine-Sama," Saka stuttered, holding Aomine's ball up to him. He turned to her, raising one eyebrow and murmuring a 'hmm' before taking it from her. Saka all but scurried away from him, her face beet red and her head still down. Maybe one day she'll be able to look a guy properly in the eye when she isn't focused on basketball. Jo was still standing beside Shira, looking down at her as though waiting for Shira to walk over first. They shared a glance that ended with Jo leaving, her hands behind her head.
"Ah, sorry about Yuki-Chan, she's, well, you're not exactly a team player," Shira wasn't sure if she was apologising or accusing Aomine. A bit of both probably. Aomine managed a 'tch' sound before turning, taking a shot at the basket. "And I can see that her outburst is hurting your feelings, truly."
Shira returned to the group. Kazuki looked genuinely disappointed the game was over already, but Ishimura looked like she was about to blow a casket so he didn't dare say anything. Meyer was watching Aomine playing by himself, her expression completely blank. Something was nagging in the back of Jo's mind, telling her that the small game that included Aomine had nothing to do with training the girls at all.
"Guess we should get going then," Kazuki offered, smiling at the group of girls with a sunny beam. Ishimura scowled, shoving passed him and stomping down the street. Shira quickly feel into step next to her friend, neither looking back at their team. They never did, and they never needed to. Their good byes were silent, simple glances at each other.
Takami nodded to the group curtly and left the court, crossing the street and disappearing down an alleyway. Kazuki watched her go before looking down to Saka. The girl's face had finally calmed down after speaking to Aomine, but the red flared up again when he elbowed her gently in the arm.
"Come on Ki-Chan, I'll walk you home." Saka nodded curtly, following after him as he walked out onto the street, turning left and walking away. Jo saw that he bumped his arm against hers a few times, a cheeky grin plastered on his face as Saka's ears were growing redder.
"He'll kill her doing that one day," Jo commented as she and Meyer began walking down the street. Although they were going the same way as Shira and Ishimura, the duo had turned down the first street and would have disappeared completely from sight by now. Jo and Meyer walked in silence, Jo digging her hands into her sleeveless jumper and looking up to the sky, whilst Meyer looked straight ahead. "Are you going to tell me what that was about?"
"What?"
"That game," Jo sighed, stopping on the sidewalk and waiting for Meyer to do the same. She didn't stop until she was three strides away, then looked over her shoulder, half her face in a shadow. "It wasn't about us, was it? You wanted to see how Aomine would match up against only three of us."
"Did I?"
"Cut the bull shit Meyer, I know you too well. Are you going to explain what the hell is going on, or are you going to keep me guessing?"
"If Kagami Taiga wasn't injured, the outcome could have been completely different in their match," Meyer replied after minutes of silence. Jo smacked her palm to her forehead, rubbing at where the mark would be incessantly. Of course, she's thinking about the match that she didn't even attend. She didn't even go to Seirin's matches after that and she wouldn't tell any of them why.
"And we care about that why?"
"Because at the Winter Cup, the outcome will be different."
"How do you know?"
"Because they'll want to win more than now," Meyer shrugged her shoulders before turning to look ahead. She began walking again, leaving Jo standing where she was. The taller teen growled before letting out a sigh. Meyer had been acting weird all year, actually she'd been acting weird since the beginning of the year before. During their last year in middle school, she had been training Saka outside of practice and wouldn't tell Jo what was going on. Hell, Meyer had only played in two quarters of each game since their second year of middle school with no apparent reason, and then this year she missed their first game completely.
"What the hell is going on with you?" Jo muttered under her breath, watching her friend walk away. This feeling was beginning to unsettle Jo. She felt as though she was constantly standing in one place, watching as Meyer walked on ahead and away. It made her uneasy.