Meyer pulled her jersey off in a swift motion, scurnching it into a ball and throwing it into her opened bag. Jo was sitting on the bench beside her, rubbing her calves and wincing slightly. Although towards the end of the match she didn't move around too much (Ishimura and Shira did a good job in keeping the ball away from the hoop), she'd already pushed herself pretty hard.
"You going to be all right?" Meyer questioned, looking to Jo out the corner of her eye as she picked up deoderant. She shook the can around as Jo looked up to her, shrugging her shoulders.
"I think so, it's going to be a pain to walk though."
"I can carry you," Meyer shrugged. She sprayed the deoderant all over herself before throwing it to Jo. The centre caught it easily, taking her own jersey off before promptly spraying herself. Ishimura was getting changed on the otherside of the locker room, Shira only having ducked in to get her stuff before running out, explaining her mum needed her at work and she couldn't be late. Takami mentioned how Shira was having to help her mum out a lot more, but she was only greeted with grunts indicating they had heard her speak.
"Hey, what do you think was bothering Shira?" Ishimura questionned, looking over her shoulder as she pulled a shirt over her head. She spun on her heels, not really bothered to switch out of her trainers and shorts, frowning. Takami looked around the otherside of the lockers, tapping her chin as she walked around. Meyer always wondered how she managed to get changed so quickly out of her on court uniform and her tracksuit.
"As I said before, she's helping her mum out a lot, more than usual anyway."
"You think something might be up there?" Meyer asked, grabbing her school shirt and pulling it on. Takami shrugged whilst Ishimura grabbed her jacket, hastily pulling it on.
"I'll call Arisu, find out if something's wrong. It does get busier for them in winter anyway." Ishimura pulled her phone out of her pocket, dialling Arisu's number. Jo groaned, resting her face in her hands as she knew what would be coming if Arisu was getting busy. She had a habit of drawing the team in to work for her during the busier seasons, although Meyer didn't really seem to have a problem the work cutting into their training. After all, they were building up strength they otherwise wouldn't.
"I really do not feel like going home smelling like rice," Takami grumbled, scratching the side of her head before slumping down onto the bench beside Jo. Despite their protests to working for Arisu, they all did enjoy their time there. It was fun, being bale to joke around with their friends and Arisu had promised that she would give them all great references if they ever needed it.
"Hi Oba, it's Yuki. I was wondering if you needed any help at the re... oh, really? Yeah no problem, I'll pass on the message. Okay yeah, I'll see you Wednesday, bye." Ishimura closed her phone before turning on her heels, her cheeks slightly red. She crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head. "Arisu told me she's hired some new people so it's all right, and Shira hasn't needed to work there since we got back."
"But she said in training that..."
"Yeah," Ishimura interrupted Takami, "but I'm more interested in what Shira's getting up to."
...
"Can't you find a different court to play on?" Shira grinned slightly as she heard the familiar baratone voice behind her. She looked over her shoulder, shrugging her shoulders at a scowling Aomine, before turning and shooting a point. She jumped into the air and punched it happily, grinning before racing forward to pick the ball up. Aomine was faster, he bolted past her and picked the ball up before she even got close, holding it behind his back. "Because seriously, coming here all the time is starting to piss me off."
"I like this court."
"Why can't you like another court?"
"Got good ground," Shira shrugged, kicking at the asphalt. Aomine rolled his eyes, pulling the ball from his bakc and shooting a careless hoop. Shira rolled her eyes, going to collect the ball but Aomine's arm shot out, right in front of her face, making her stop quickly.
"I'm being serious, you piss me off."
"It's not my intention, I swear." Aomine sniffed, obviously not believing her. She didn't blame him, because that was the main reason she came to this court. He amused the hell out of her and she couldn't help it. The fact that she'd said it with a cheesy grin on her face and her voice going softer than usual probably didn't help either.
"Go find another court."
"Oh I'm sorry, am I putting a strain you beating yourself?"
"Go to hell."
"I've been, they didn't like me much." Shira ducked under his arm and picked up her ball, turning but Aomine had followed her. He was right in front of her, so close that they were almost touching and Shira frowned. If he was trying the intimidation factor it would have worked a lot more if his cheeks hadn't turn a slight shade of rose.
"Seriously, fuck off."
"You really think you can make me?"
"You don't want to know what I could do to you," Aomine growled, his eyes flickering to lower on her face before glaring back at her eyes. Shira's lip curled, letting the ball rest on her hip as she put her palm over her mouth, letting out a loud yawn and rolling her eyes.
"Please, I'm terrified, you're so scary, don't do that," Shira bit back her laugh as she replied in her best 'Kuroko voice'. It was a habit she and Jo had picked up lately, whenever they wanted to be completely passive they would speak in a completey monotonous voice and keep their eyes kind of blank. The amount of times Ishimura had hit the back of their heads because of it was astounding.
"Aominechii!"
"Fuck what was that screech?" Shira winced, rubbing her ear as Aomine winced. They both looked to the entrance of the court in time to see a golden hair teen sprinting towards them. Aomine groaned, stepping out of the way just as the teen launched himself, sending him into Shira. Shira put her right foot back, taking the impact before shoving him back hard, sending him to the ground.
"Wah, so mean!" he started sulking and Shira crossed her arms over her chest, one eyebrow raised. Scratch that, this guy wasn't a teenager, he was a toddler in disguise. Hell, he was acting like Satoshi for goodness sake.
"What do you want Kise?"
"I saw you two playing and I wanted to join in," Kise sulked as he stood before getting a good look at Shira. His mouth dropped open and he pointed to her, chattering excitedly as he look to Aomine. "IsawherplaytodaytheywerereallygoodAominechiiyouhavetoletmeplay!"
"Does he stop to take a breath?" Shira questioned, leaning in close to Aomine so the blonde puppy wouldn't hear. He was still chattering, talking about the game Shira had played earlier against Touou girls and he even started adding a few motions into his story. Aomine looked like he was in hell as he stepped back, away from the pair.
"Kise! What are you doing! I told you to wait outside the..." Shira looked up to see someone running towards them. She frowned before realising exactly who it was and her cheeks grew slightly red when she recognized him. She stepped back, looking him up and down before scratching the back of her head. When he caught sight of her his voice trailed off as his own cheeks grew red and he looked to Kise incredibly irritated. Kasamatsu Yukio, captain of Kaijo and - wait this meant that it was Kise Ryouta. Shira almost smacked herself on the forehead when she realised that she was standing in front of two miracle and an extremely gifted point guard. Hell, how much had both Saka and Meyer gone on and on about his skills?
"Sempai," Kise whined only to be kicked in the side. Shira wanted to cheer but she just stuck her hands deep into the pockets of her tracksuit. She felt very overwhelmed by Kasamatsu's presence and she didn't quite know how to handle it. "Wah, that hurt. But look, it's the power forward from Iwozuka!"
"My name's Shira Tamiko," Shira growled, irritated that she had been referred to by her position. Kise picked up on her irritation and delivered a smile her way. It only made her more agitated and she fought the urge to smack him around the head like she would have if it had been Ishimura or Jo.
"Ah, so nice to meet you! I'm Kise Ryouta and this is..."
"Kasamatsu Yukio, yeah I know," Shira interrupted, holding up her hand to shut Kise up. His voice seemed to grate against her brain and she was starting to lose her politeness. She had been hanging around Ishimura for far too long. Kasamatsu on the other hand looked to her, slightly embarassed if his red cheeks were anything to go by. Shira tilted her head as he started to lose his overwhelming presence on her. "Meyer and Saka are pretty big fans of yours."
"Saka? Kazuki's girlfriend?" Kise questionned as he scratched the back of his head. Shira looked to him, her eyes slightly wide and her breath caught in her throat. What the fuck was he talking about?
"Kazuki's what now?"
"We m-met them a-a-at the court and they l-looked pretty close," Kasamatsu answer in Kise's place. Shira frowned at him, she was pretty certain he didn't normally stutter and wait - was he shaking? She leant back, slightly worried he was going to be sick but she didn't comment on it in any way. After years with Saka she knew mentioning it in any way, even after it had settled, could and most likely would make it all the worse.
"Well yeah knew that much, but they're not going out."
"Are you sure? Because they looked - ow!" Kise whined when Shira boxed him on the ear. She didn't even do it that hard but by the look on his face it looked like she had ripped his damn ear off. She was about to tell him off when he looked to Aomine, who had been hovering around enjoying Shira getting irritated with Kise. "Aominechii, you're girlfriend's so mean!"
"I'm not dating this bitch!"
"Do I look desperate!"
"But you look so cute and - ow, don't hit me!" Kise whined when Shira punched him in his side. Kise stepped back so he was behind Kasamatsu, almost as though he was hiding from Shira so she couldn't hit him again. She was more than ready to hit him again but his phone started ringing. All events earlier seemed to disappear as his eyes started to sparkle. "Kurokochii's calling me! Come on Sempai, let's leave the two loves alone!"
Kise grabbed Kasamatsu's arm and started dragging him off the court, but he didn't get far before Shira ditched the ball over the court. It hit him, hard, in the middle of his back between his shoulder blades, making him stumble and almost fall to the ground. She swear she heard him crow 'so mean' and she was tempted to chase after him but instead she just crossed her arms over his chest and letting out a huff.
"You Generation of Miracles are fucking annoying."
"Maybe it's just you."
"Hey, I've met five of you now and I like one."
"Oh yeah, who's that?"
"Kuroko Tetsuya," Shira purposefully drew Kuroko's name out, watching Aomine's reaction carefully. He let out a huff and started jogging forward to pick up Shira's ball. She smirked a little before shaking her head. That had been a lie, mostly. She didn't mind Midorima and Aomine was amusing in his own right, but the purple haired giant had scared the absolute shit out of her when he chased her down the streets of Akita after she accidentally knocked a box of pocky from his hands and then stepped on them. If it hadn't been for that incredibly good looking friend of his...
"I didn't know you'd met Kuroko."
"I'm surprised you haven't questioned the other two."
"I heard you played Shutoku," Aomine shrugged, turning her ball over in his hands. He was surprised at how smooth the leather was, as though Shira practiced continously with this one particular ball. She held out her hand waiting for it back before he looked up at her.
"Yeah and the other one chased me through Akita. I thought he was going to kill me, can you give me my ball back?"
"You shouldn't practice with a bald ball. It's useless now, you should throw it out," Aomine replied, not looking up from the ball in his hands. He turned it around again before looking around, wondering if he could get it in a trash can from where he was. He heard Shira make a strangled noise and looked to her, feeling his chest tighten slightly.
The look on Shira's face was indescribable. She looked like she was about ready to throw a fit but at the same time it looked like she wanted to cry. She snatched the ball out of Aomine's hands, tucking it safely under her arm and she turned away, stomping over to where an Iwozuka ball had sat. Aomine watched her stomp over, wondering what he had said. He didn't care if he pissed her off, but he didn't particularly like the look on her face and it made him feel like whenever he caught Momoi crying.
"I can play with whatever fucking ball I want!" Shira snapped over her shoulder as she carefully put the ball into her bag. Aomine's feet started moving before he gave them permission to and he felt a bit horrible, like when he'd gotten so angry at Momoi keeping him out of the game he'd said things he didn't mean. He'd searched for her for half the night, thanking the stars above him for Kuroko.
"Hey, I didn't mean..."
"You can't just tell someone to throw a ball out because it isn't how you like to play, Ahomine!" Shira snapped, not looking over her shoulder to Aomine. He scratched the back of his head, unsure of how to approach her if she was upset. Momoi he would just pull into a hug and lift her off the ground, refusing to put her back down until she said she forgave him, but he figured Shira would kick the shit out of him if he tried that.
"Shira, I'm..."
"You stupid dumbass of a ganguro!"
"Damn it Shira, I'm trying to say I'm sorry!" Aomine shouted he gripped Shira's arm, whipping her around to face him. He winced backwards, seeing that she had the same steely gaze the day after the party. He let her go, figuring it would be better to let her storm off and have a hissy fit away from him, that way he wouldn't be caught in the firing line.
"Yeah, sorry because you're such an idiot." Shira pulled her bag over her shoulder and stormed off from the court. She felt more insults and swears bubbling up in her throat, but her chest was starting to tighten and her eyes were starting to water. Stupid ass Ahomine Shira growled in her head. She wanted to stay completely and utterly furious at his stupid and hideous suggestion, but as soon as she stepped out of the court she knew that she had no right to go completely off at Aomine like she had. He didn't know, didn't know how much those words had stung her when he'd said them, but he didn't know. Her hands slipped into her bag, running gently along the bald leather and she let out a sigh. He would never know.