A shrieking sound echoed through Meyer's head and she opened one eye, certain she had heard the noise before. She sat up on her elbow, rubbing her eyes with her other hand and blinking twice. Shira flew past her, time seeming to slow down as Shira stared at her. So, this was the reason for the noise all of a sudden. Meyer barely registered Aomine lunging forward into view, trying desperately to get a grip on Shira's arm. She let out another shriek and then they were gone out the back door. Meyer decided not to question why Aomine looked to be soaked to the bone.
Instead she slumped back against the cushions of the lounge, staring forward. Meyer remembered almost everything of the night, she had decided not to drink. She had been awake to the wee hours of the morning talking and she looked over her shoulder to see the person who had preoccuppied all of her time.
For some reason Seirin had also appeared, Hyuuga dragging along a rather sulky looking Riko who looked like she was ready to bash in the head of the Iwozuka team, namely Shira and Ishimura who were louder and more in your face than usual. All Meyer knew about the agreement between Seirin and their coach on condition of attending was they weren't allowed to drink a single drop of alcohol. Riko couldn't deny Shira a thank you for keeping Aomine away from Kagami, the two almost bursting into a fight since Aomine was fuelled by alcohol. Meyer could only guess what Shir ahad done to get herself into the position of running away shrieking. She knew Shira didn't feel like she was in danger, there was a difference between her shriek and her scream.
"Did someone try and murder a cat or something?" Kagami yawned, running a hand through his hair before snuggling his face deeper into the pillow that he had stolen for the night. Meyer's pillow. They had ended up in a fight about who got to use it (Kagami completely disregarding that it was actually Meyer's) and that lead to them talking most of the night. Surprisingly he didn't only talk about basketball, he knew a lot about cooking as well.
"Aomine's going to kill Tamiko," Meyer yawned back, sounding like a kitten meowing more than anything. Kagami laughed at her but the sound was muffled by the pillow. Meyer readjusted how she was lying, using his back as a rest and closing her eyes. It was way to early for her to be up considering she and Kagami had been the last to fall asleep. Admittedly, she had been a little disappointed when Kiyoshi had taken a rather drunken Koganei home but she knew that his knee was acting up a little. "Huh? You better not be drooling on my pillow."
"I said," Kagami mumbled as he lifted his head from the fabric, looking at her with lazy eyes, "why is Aomine going to kill her Shira?"
"She was probably being mean to him. She's not particularly kind to boys like him," Meyer replied, her head jostling as Kagami's shoulder moved up. He didn't stuff his head back into the pillow, so she presumed that meant they were going to be talking again. She took this chance, pulling off his shoulder and sticking her head underneath his arm, face planting into her pillow. It smelt different but at least he hadn't slobbered all over the damn thing.
"What do you mean 'boys like him'? Idiot, now who's drooling all over the pillow." Meyer lifted her head up, looking at him out the corner of her eye with a small smile.
"Aomine's not enough. Too soft."
"Huh?"
"I don't know, Tamiko's weird," Meyer yawned again, letting her face fall into the pillow. Kagami seemed to be mulling over what she said. Meyer had long ago given up trying to understand what Shira meant whenever she mentioned that a boy was too soft. Ishimura was the only who seemed to understand, because whenever Shira brought it up she would get a swift hand to the back of her head and deathly glare. Meyer felt herself shrugging to her thoughts, she was sure she'd find out some day.
"If he's too soft, why doesn't she just harden him up?"
"Was that an innuendo?" Meyer questioned, lifting her head off the pillow enough so that he could hear. Kagami was silent before letting out a deep, throaty laugh. Clearly it wasn't meant to be. Meyer groaned again, rolling onto her side so she could at least see him out the corner of her eye. It was weird talking to someone she couldn't see. "Because innuendon't."
"You don't, that was terrible," Kagami groaned, rolling his eyes at the terrible pun. Meyer let out a laugh.
"They're meant to be bad. That's what makes them good."
"I think that's a lie people say to make themselves feel better."
"Don't get shitty because you didn't think of it first," Meyer laughed which turned into another yawn. Kagami caught it, yawning back and then blinking sheepishly. His earlier energy dissipated and he groaned. Meyer frowned and then let out a small laugh as he rest his forehead in the crook of her neck, his morning stubble tickling her a little. "You looked like a little lion."
"I'm not little," Kagami mumbled, his lips brushing against her skin and she let out another laugh. Kagami moved his arm to cover his face, mostly to block out the light that was streaming in through the window but also partly to hide his blush. The last girl who had been this close to him had been Alex and that didn't really count for anything.
Meyer let out another laugh, prompting Kagami to look up at her. She was grinning mischeviously and then she looked like she was going to yawn, but as she did so she let out a noise that sounded like a little tiger. She laughed again, prodding him in the chest.
"That was you."
"I do not yawn like that."
"Yes you do."
"No I don't."
"Yeah, you do," Meyer grinned back, speaking in English. Kagami tilted his head, once again dragging his stubble along her skin. Meyer bit her tongue to stop the laughter but it managed to escape slightly. The last thing she wanted Kagami to know was that she was ticklish.
"I am not an adorable little lion. I am a man."
"Oh yes, the manliest man that ever did man." Meyer was laughing again and even Kagami cracked a smile. The night before they held most of their conversation in English, mostly because Kagami didn't want everyone else to hear. He could understand now why the other girls looked up to Meyer as both a coach and a captain, she had a way of making people feel very comfortable around her. Was that why she was such a devastating player on the court?
"You make it sound so childish and stupid."
"Well, you are."
"Am what?"
"Never mind," Meyer grinned. She turned her face back into the pillow, snuggling into it and effectively taking away the spot Kagami was resting his head on. He let out a small whine, letting his head rest on her back between her shoulder blades. She had done the same last night and Kagami hadn't thought much about it, but he was taller than she was and, because he was losing the head of the lounge, he was forced to bring his legs up so his feet wouldn't dangle off the edge of the lounge. "Little lion man."
"Huh?"
"You can be the Little Lion Man, like the song."
"Please stop talking," Kagami whined, pushing her head back into the pillow and he felt her shake as she was laughing. He forced himself to hold back the laugh that she was going to make him release, instead coughing it back down before closing his eyes, he yawned, feeling really tired. Without even thinking about it, he nuzzled his cheek against Meyer's back and wrapped his arm around her like he did with his pillows. As soon as he realised what he had done it felt like his whole body froze. He most certainly did not want to come across as a sleaze to Meyer, he had discovered she was actually pretty nice when she wasn't in a training mood, and he was immediately struck with not knowing what to do. Should he pull his arm away or should he just remain how he is? Kagami closed his eyes, not moving a muscle. He lay there, too afraid to move and he managed to keep his breathing steady. He started to droop back into sleep when someone woke them up.
"Hey Meyer, I was just..." Katsumi walked into the room and stopped, her voice trailing off. Kagami didn't open his eyes to see her reaction, mostly because Meyer didn't react to Katsumi coming into the lounge room reither. Kagami heard her walk towards the lounge and heard her clothes stretch as she either leant or stretched down. "I know you're awake moron."
Kagami felt Meyer move slightly under him but he was too afraid to stir. Meyer breathed deeply, making his head rise with her back before she settled back comfortably. He heard one of them 'tsk' and wondered if it was Meyer.
"Sorry about Tamiko, she doesn't know how to be quiet," Meyer whispered, returning to speaking Japanese.
"I think everyone's fallen back asleep. I looked out the window, Aomine's sitting out there alone." There was a few minutes of silence and Kagami focused on keeping his breath steady. His palms were beginning to get sweaty as he felt incredibly nervous. Meyer hadn't said anything to him and he doubted she would have just let him do whatever the fuck he wanted because he was bigger than she was. "Are you all right here?"
"I'm fine. He's not that heavy."
"I should know better than to question you by now."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm talking about Tachi Rei." Kagami felt Meyer's back muscles spasm slightly at the name and he was very curious about who this Tachi Rei was. Meyer just grunted and he felt her move again, no doubt sticky her face back into the pillow. Katsumi sighed but Kagami heard her walking out of the lounge, the door shutting quietly behind her.
"Ugh, boobs," Meyer muttered into the pillow and she rolled over onto her back. Kagami jolted, sitting up and blinking around looking rather confused. He let out a yawn and settled his head on her stomach, closing his eyes. Meyer smiled ruefully, wondering if she mentioned that she knew he hadn't been asleep but she decided against it. The poor boy seemed to blush at everything and plus he looked adorable.
Her attention turn on his legs awkwardly curled up on the couch. She tilted her head, realising he was a good foot down from the head of the lounge and she let out a small chuckle. She tugged gently on a peace of his hair, quietly saying his name to waken him. It took a few minutes, but he turned his face towards her, his crimson eyes hazy again.
"Mmm?"
"Come on, use the pillow, you're about to cut off your circulation," Meyer laughed, shuffling to the side and pulling him upwards with a heave. Kagami wriggled up but he looked slightly disappointed. He closed his eyes and let his head rest on the pillow, his chest still facing in her direction. Meyer shrugged, weaving her arms around his neck and pulling him close, burying her face against his collar bone. She could feel the heat that was rising on his face as it stretched down his neck but he managed to bring himself to wrap his arms around her, holding her close. "You're adorable Kagami."
"What happened to manliest man?" Kagami questioned sleepily, burying his face in her loose hair. The movement made her laugh again, closing her eyes as she wondered what happened to the girls during the night. She lost track of Ishimura shortly after Shira had challenged Takao to beer pong and promptly destroyed the poor boy, remembering Ishimura muttering something about Takao being incredibly pretty and that she wanted to prove something. It was around that time that Kiyoshi was taking Koganei home, asking Meyer to distract Riko so he could get the drunken Seirin player out.
Meyer had done as he asked, finding Riko scolding Kagami for losing sight of Kuroko in the mass of party goers and mentioned that she had seen Hyuuga talking to one of the girls from Shutoku, an upperclassman. She mentioned how she had seen her trying to give Hyuuga a drink and Riko was immediately gone. Meyer figured that would cause her attention to be preoccupied for a while, but didn't realise that Kagami would then be left standing awkwardly alone, trying to ignore the Shutoku players who were blatantly saying (probably in their minds) what they would do to him if they got him alone.
Meyer hadn't taken pity on Kagami, she was worried for his safety. So without warning she grabbed his hand and dragged him the house after her, searching for Ishimura (to find out if she knew the names of the girls so she could inform Katsumi that her team mates blatantly talking about their kinks and kinds of things they wanted to do in front of said person who was clearly extremely uncomfortable was all sorts of inappropriate and if Meyer found them ever doing it again she would not hesitate to let Ishimura show such in a manner that didn't involve words) only to find the latter completely disappeared into thin air.
Shira charged past, shouting 'Yuki' with an Aomine hot on her heels, growling and muttering about something or other she had said, both drunk and tension swirling between them. Meyer decided to leave them be, Shira was more than capable of handling herself and she doubted Aomine would be able to do anything she wouldn't be able to return tenfold. Meyer dragged Kagami into the kitchen, where Miyaji and Otsubo were sitting red faced, a beer in either of their hands, laughing at something.
"Hey Miyaji, did you see where Takao went?"
"Huh? Oh, hey Meyer," Miyaji laughed, reaching out and lacing his fingers around her wrist, pulling her closer. "We need another game of truth or dare soon, Midorima was all fuddled for a week afterwards!"
"Not answering the question Miyaji," Meyer scolded, unwrapping his fingers and ruffling his hair. He hummed, pushing his head to meet her touch and she looked to Otsubo.
"I don't know about Ta - hic - kao, but Midorima was - hic - yelling something about a dress as he - hic - went up the stairs!" Otsubo smiled back. Meyer nodded, leaning forward and prying the drink from his hands. Otsubo let out a whine, trying to grab it back but Meyer put her hand on his chest.
"No, I think you've had enough. Miyaji, anyone offers Otsubo any drinks you tell them that Katsumi says no, okay?"
"Okie-dokie," Miyaji grinned. Meyer shook her head, turning to Kagami. He was staring at Miyaji and Otsubo in confusion and Meyer wondered what he was going to think the next time he faced Shutoku in a match. Probably the same kind of thing that Meyer was going to think the next time she did as well. "Stay here, I'll be back in a moment."
"A-all right." Meyer nodded before she disappeared out of the kitchen. She raced up the stairs, intent on finding Ishimura but was slightly worried about whatever she was going to find. Aomine and Shira were arguing in front of a barely open door and Meyer let them be, hearing Ishimura laughing quite hard from the first room on her right. Taking a deep breath she promised herself that she had seen whatever might possibly be happening in there before as she gripped the handle and gave it a sharp turn.
To say she lost her shit would have been a lie. In fact she almost collapsed because she was laughing so hard. She pulled the door shut again, hearing Takao protesting that he wasn't pretty and that Ishimura had screwed it all up, whilst Ishimura just continued to laugh loudly through the wood. Meyer managed to get her breath back, fully prepared to walk back down the stairs when she heard a loud 'thud' come from the other end of the hall.
"Holy shit," she gasped, looking up to where Aomine and Shira had been standing. Shira was gripping Aomine's collar so tight her knuckles were white, her eyebrows furrowed in a fury. Aomine's hand was in her blue-fade-to-green hair, his other on her waist and holding her close to him tightly. Meyer would have ripped them apart, worried for her friend if Aomine wasn't the one shoved up against the wall, literally up. His feet were barely touching the ground anymore. "For fuck's sake Shira at least go in the room!"
Shira obliged, kicking the door open with her foot and dragging Aomine in after her. Meyer scratched the back of her head, feeling a little sorry for poor Aomine. She hoped he didn't expect anything to happen after that night. Meyer sighed and stomped back down the stairs, intent on making her way back to the kitchen when she spotted Kazuki mixed in with the crowd.
He was standing in the corner, talking quite intently with Saka who was playing with his collar lightly. Meyer stopped for a moment, grinning and giving Saka the thumbs up when her underclassman looked her way. Saka looked slightly confused and Meyer just shook her head, figuring that Kazuki hadn't said anything yet. She ducked and weaved through the crowd, seeing Jo sitting on the chair, talking to a well built blonde guy who was quite loud but Meyer could see Jo was enjoying herself, beer in hand.
She walked into the kitchen and found that Otsubo sitting at the table with his head resting on crossed arms and Miyaji attempting to aim a pineapple at his head. Meyer rushed forward, yanking the pineapple of Miyaji who let out a whine. When he saw it was Meyer he grinned happily, ruffling her hair.
"Meyer! We need another game of truth or dare!"
"Miyaji where do you keep getting pineapples from?"
"I found it!" Miyaji then looked down to Otsubo, frowning. He prodded the back of Otsubo's head, pouting slightly. "Hey, wake up! You can't fall asleep!"
"Miyaji, look at me, where did Kagami go?"
"Huh?"
"Kagami, you know, Seirin's ace? I left him here with you!"
"Oh yeah, he went outside." Meyer was about to put the pineapple back on the table then thought better about it, holding it tightly as she walked out the back. She didn't want Otsubo to have a concussion in the weeks before his game against Seirin. Meyer let out a sigh, hiding the pineapple in the small garden beside the back door and looked around for Kagami. Seriously how could he be hard to spot, he was - oh shit.
The girls from earlied surrounded him, either completely oblivious to the fact he didn't want to talk to them or not caring. One was holding a glass of dark liquid out to him, trying to make him take it but his hands remained deep in his pockets. He continued to look around and when he caught Meyer's eye he didn't look away. Stupid moron, why couldn't he be a jerk and tell them to fuck off?
"Hey Kagami!" Meyer shouted loudly, making her presence known. The other girls caught sight of her, sneering slightly. They recognised her as friends with Katsumi and Meyer did her best to try and memorise their faces as she grabbed Kagami's wrist, pulling his hand out of his pocket. "Come on, I told you to stay in the kitchen."
"Sorry," Kagami mumbled and Meyer just shook her head.
"This is your fault, those upperclassmen have been talking about you all night."
"I heard."
"Stay away from them, they don't look safe."
"I didn't realise I gave them any hint of me wanting them near me."
"Hey Meyer." Meyer was drawn out from her memories of last night, looking up to Kagami. She couldn't see his face very well, just the underside of his jaw and she saw that he was clenching his teeth together.
"Mmm?"
"Thank you, last night. Thanks for, um, saving me." Meyer laughed, stretching and kissing Kagami's neck lightly before nuzzling against the crook of his shoulder and neck. She definitely felt the need to sleep a little more before going home.