.

A Childhood Friend Kind of Sweet

Momoi woke up to find herself in bed inside the nurse's office, although not quite sure why she was in the first place. Her head was slightly throbbing as she pushed herself up to sit, but ended up groaning and falling back. A shock had surged through somewhere in her lower body, and she realized that her ankle was in tremendous pain.

"Please don't push yourself," Came a voice. Momoi surveyed the room and saw the familiar face of the school nurse. She was coming towards her with a look of caution.

"What happened?" Momoi asked earnestly. The woman didn't reply. Instead she had turned back and ushered someone in from behind the curtains. "Aomine-kun?" Hands shoved in his pockets, Aomine looked down at Momoi and just stared at her. "Aomine-kun…" She said again, worried as the blue-haired teen replied nothing.

"Pff…Ku-ha-ha-ha…!"

Bursts of laughter erupted throughout the room, and Momoi was flabbergasted at the sight of Aomine laughing himself to tears. "Ah geez, Satsuki…" He trailed off, trying to calm himself down. He took a few breathes in. "Oh wow, aren't you a klutz! You never did change since childhood."

Momoi frowned and turned away. She was kinda of upset (mostly annoyed) at Aomine. And to think that he actually cared. Did he come here just to insult her? "Thanks a lot…"

"My bad, my bad. You wanna know what really happened though? You slipped over some piece of paper, fell five steps from the stairs, twisted your ankle and got knocked out."

She quickly snapped her head towards him with a look of disbelief. "I what?!" Momoi honestly couldn't believe what she had just heard. She knew she was a tad bit clumsy at times, but not to that extent. And on a piece of paper?

"It was my fault, I guess…" Aomine began. He scratched the sides of his arms, looking down guiltily. "I wasn't able to catch you on time so…"

Momoi sighed as she sensed Aomine's sincerity, and smiled at him. "You suck. But I forgive you."

"Really? Okay good, 'cuz we the nurse is kicking us out and we have to leave," he announced. Aomine also added that she'd been out for a good three hours and that it had been passed dismissal ages ago. In fact, it was already sundown.

"That long?" Aomine nodded. "Okay, let me just get up…" But Momoi couldn't. The pain of her injury wouldn't let her move her whole leg, let alone have her get up on her feet. Momoi winced. "It hurts…"

Aomine watched at Momoi's attempt. He rolled his eyes. "You're hopeless."

Momoi, of course, heard this and shot a glare at him. She was also about to tell him off, but was cut when an arm went around her waist. Just like that, she was over Aomine's shoulder.

"H-hey wait, Aomine-kun! What are you doing?!"

"Carrying you, obviously."

"But I don't need to be carried around!" Momoi protested, pounding on Aomine's back like a child.

"If you wanna walk home with that broken ankle of yours', then be my guest. And quit that."

Momoi did stop, although reluctantly. "Okay, I get it. But you could at least carry me properly."

Aomine snorted. "You're no princess."

"But I'm wearing a skirt!" Momoi countered.

"You're wearing tights."

"You could see?!" Momoi was surprised. Even more so when Aomine stated it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You weigh a ton, Satsuki."

"That's so mean! And don't try to divert from the subject!"

And with that, the two walked off into the sunset…which was seen through the windows of the school corridors. This would've been quite romantic, actually... If they didn't find it gross. Ah yes, childhood friends. Aren't they the sweetest?

A Tsundere Kind of Sweet

"Begin!" The teacher prompted. Everyone immediately passed over the stack of papers from one student to the other, immediately filling out the required information once they had their own. "You have an hour and thirty minutes to complete the test. Please answer carefully."

Momoi stared down at her paper with dread. Oh, how she disliked quizzes. Especially quizzes from this Spartan of a teacher who gave them as if they were entrance examinations.

Sighing, she began on the first page, shading the appropriate circle for the corresponding answer. Momoi continued on each number, reading and understanding each question carefully. It wasn't long until she was almost through. With twenty-five numbers to go and forty-five minutes to spare, she'd got to hand it to herself. She wasn't doing bad—considering how she studied all night for this.

Confidently, Momoi raced to finish the last items as quickly as possible. But alas, for she had heard a snap and the next thing she knew her pencil led had broken. Momoi took out her pen case, alarmed as she was, and searched for a pencil. Momoi was shocked to see that there were no pencils.

No spare pencils? She thought dumbly, until everything suddenly clicked. NO SPARE PENCILS!? WHY!?

She had pens, but there was another reason why she didn't like her teacher. He didn't allow the usage of pens. Momoi zipped her pen case and furiously looked around the room in search for someone...anyone who might offer her a pencil. Unfortunately, everyone seemed to be busy. With that, Momoi was left with no choice but to wait until somebody she could ask was done.

Each passing second made Momoi grow impatient. Nobody was done and if she waited any longer, she wouldn't be able to finish her own paper.

But amidst her frustration, hope seemed to have graced her, as from the corner of her eye on the third seat on the right of the front row, a desk away from hers', was Midorima. He was stretching. And Momoi couldn't help but think that the greenhead was done. Trying her luck, she broke a small portion of her eraser and threw it to Midorima. It bounced off of his head and fell onto his lap.

Brows furrowed, Midorima turned back to the source.

'Can I borrow your pencil?' Momoi mouthed. She did her best to act subtle so as not to get caught by the teacher.

'No.'

'Please?'

'I am not done.' Momoi made a face and Midorima sighed. It seems that she didn't understand what he had said. 'I am not done,' he repeated again, but Momoi still gave him that same reply. "I said I am not done!"

"Yes, Midorima-kun?"

Midorima swallowed nervously and croaked, "N-nothing..." Once he was sure of being safe from the teacher's gaze, Midorima quickly turned back to Momoi, only to see that now she was looking at him with pleading eyes, hands clasped together. He shook his head and went back to his paper.

Momoi had sunken on her desk. With that kind of reaction, she doubted Midorima would still help her. But hope was willing to shine down upon her once again as she felt something hit on her head and land on the table. A pencil.

'Make it quick,' was what Midorima told her when she looked at him. She beamed and shaded circles like she has never shaded before.

"Ten more minutes..."

After hearing the abrupt announcement, Momoi sneaked a glance toward Midorima again. He was piercing though her.

'Well?'

Momoi put a hand up, 'Almost!'

"Five minutes…"

'Momoi?'

'Waaiit!'

"Three more minutes…"

"MOMOI!" It came out as a yell, and Midorima quickly apologized for it. Just in time, came his pencil flying back towards him. He caught it perfectly like he would've caught a basket ball, and he quickly proceeded to his paper. Ten more questions. It was like getting a buzzer beater the way Midorima was working and all. He was going through everything so fast there were almost trails of blaze on his paper.

"Three… Two…"

"Done!"

"And that ends today's quiz. Thank you for your hard work. The results will come out tomorrow."

Midorima put down the pencil and leaned back on his seat, heaving as sigh of relief, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see Momoi smiling down at him. "Thanks for the pencil, Midorin. I honestly wouldn't know what I'd do!"

Midorima, as he always did, pushed his glass above the bridge of his nose. "I was not able to answer the last few questions properly. My grade falls in your hands, Momoi."

That must be the tsundere way of saying 'You're Welcome', Momoi thought, cheekily.

"What is funny?"

"A-ah! Nothing!"

A Huge Kind of Sweet

Even when she was already on her tip-toes, Momoi still couldn't reach for the shuttle-cock that went stuck on a stupid tree branch. And even with her arms stretched as far as they could go, it didn't help the least bit. It was just straining.

And it had been such a good game, too.

"Satsuki-chan!" Momoi's friend called out.

She turned around to see that she was giving her a hopeful look, but in contrast to that, Momoi looked the opposite—glum, dejected, failed. "I'm sorry, Rin-chan, but it's too high up."

"Aw," she replied. But after having been struck with an idea, she quickly dropped the badminton racket on the ground and ran towards Momoi, saying enthusiastically, "Let me climb it then! I love a little bit of challenge!"

"But it's dangerous!" Momoi said as she held down the ends of her friend's blouse to pull her down. "Maybe we should just wait for it to fall down or something."

"But when's that going to be?"

"Oi, Sa-chin!" A familiar drawled voice had interrupted the girls' conversation.

"Muk-kun!"

"Mine-chin is looking for you. He says he needs a favor," he informed, finishing the last bite of cookie he had been eating.

"Tell him I'm busy."

Murasakibara tore open a bag of chips, munched on a few pieces, swallowed and spoke again. "What are you doing?" Momoi pointed an index finger up.

"We can't reach."

"That's because Sa-chin is too small," Murasakibara said in between munches, which caused Momoi to feel slightly offended. He was just too tall.

"I know that—h-hey!" Without any warning, Momoi felt something go in between her legs (it's not what you think, okay?) and before she could even process what was going on, she realized that she was ten times higher. The view from where she was had certainly been different from her usual. She could see much farther, much fuller. She could easily spot any person she wanted to look for. So this was Muk-kun's point of view.

When Momoi stretched out her arm once again, she was finally able to get a hold of that shuttle-cock. Once she did, Momoi felt the ground under her feet again. She turned to her friend who looked just as gleeful as her, then turned to Murasakibara.

"Thanks a lot, Muk-kun!" But by then, Murasakibara was already walking away.

"Wow..." said Rin, practically gaping with astonishment as she watched Murasakibara's retreating figure. "He's huge!"

Momoi giggled. "Isn't he? He's the basketball team's center, after all."

An Akashi Kind of Sweet

The stock room was dark and creepy as Momoi cautiously made her way inside. She sighed in frustration and thought how, among all the students in class, she had to be the 'lucky' (note the sarcasm) one to go and fetch the baseball equipment. There were actually boys in her class more suitable for this. And besides, who knew what kinds of things lurked around here. How would she be able to protect herself if something suddenly attacked her?

Momoi's face showed displeasure as she looked for the light switch.

"Where is it?"

When she finally found it, she was surprised to feel something touch her own fingers. And when the lights had finally gone on, Momoi was already on the other end of the room.

"Don't come near me! I know karate!"

"Satsuki,"

Momoi put her defenses down as the familiar voice resounded in her head. "Akashi-kun?" He looked at her blankly. "Why are you here?"

"Sensei asked me to offer you assistance."

"He did?" Akashi nodded, and a big grin had made its way onto Momoi's lips. "That's great!"

The two began un-stocking boxes as they searched for a specific one which contained the baseball equipment. As they did, dust started whirring all over the place, causing Momoi to sneeze every time a particle found its way to her nose. Tears from her eyes became prominent from all the sneezing.

"When was the last time the cleaned in here?" Momoi said in between sniffs. "It's killing my nasal cavity."

"Here, take it."

"What?" Momoi turned to see that Akashi had his arms stretched out to offer her a handkerchief. It had a red base color with black scissor patterns. Before taking it in her hand, Momoi asked, "Is it really okay?" and when Akashi nodded in approval, she immediately covered her nose with it in time for another sneeze. "I promise you, I will wash this."

The next few minutes were silent, until Momoi flippin' screamed into Akashi's ear (they were standing close), and the redhead almost dropped the heavy box on his own foot.

"What is wrong, Satsuki?" Akashi inquired with a twitching eyebrow.

"A-Akashi-kun, there's a cockroa—GYAAH!" Momoi screamed again before she could finish and stared up in horror. It was flying. "Good lord, it's flying! Akashi-kun kill it! For the love of Teikou, KILL IT!"

And so Akashi did.

But to Momoi's unbelievable shock, he had killed it with his bare palms as easily as if the thing had been a mosquito. At this point, Momoi didn't know which was worse; flying bugs or Akashi's ruthless sense of killing.

Akashi's ruthless sense of killing. Definitely.

"It is dead now," Akashi announced and looked down at his hands, not even bothered the slightest at the sight of a squished specimen oozing out some kind of colored blood. Momoi could only nod, still in post-horror to reply. "I shall wash my hands. Will you be okay by yourself for a few minutes?" Momoi nodded again. "Very well."

After Momoi saw Akashi's figure disappear out the doors, she quickly hurried to find the box they needed.

The Generation of Miracles Kind of Sweet

"Momoicchi's feeling down today," Kise began with a look of concern, glancing at each of his teammates as if waiting for any ideas from them on the subject. "She's not even with us for dismissal. I wonder what happened."

Aomine took a juice box out of the refrigerator, and without looking, replied "She's been at this for awhile and she won't even tell me why." He sounded bothered as he put the juice box back in place, realizing he hated the flavor.

"I noticed, too," Murasakibara said, adding one more bag of chips to his over-flowing basket of goodies.

Everyone suddenly turned to Midorima, who had intentionally cleared his throat to grab their attention. "She didn't get her mark."

"Huh?"

Midorima pushed his glasses, eyebrows slightly furrowed at everyone's slow comprehension. "We took a quiz the other day, and apparently she got a 92. She complained about it with a group of classmates which was probably louder than expected considering how I was able to hear it from the halls."

"Wow, Midorimacchi's observation skills are amazing."

"That goes without saying."

Aomine rolled his eyes at Midorima's ever-growing ego and sought to bring the subject matter back in hand. "And she got this over?"

"150 items."

"Even for someone like Sa-chin who did well in studies..."

"She," Midorima paused. "We were time pressured."

"What can we do?" Kise asked.

Just in time, Kuroko entered the scene after having come back from the counter. No one noticed him at first, but when Kise elbowed an arm, freaked out a little, and ran behind Murasakibara, they knew he was there.

"Kurokocchi! Don't do that!" Kise cried.

"Oi, Tetsu! What took you so long?"

"I apologize. It was the line," Kuroko replied. "I've gotten everything I need. Shall we take our leave?"

"Testu," Aomine said again, staring gravely at him. "Help us out. I'm sure you've noticed that Satsuki's feeling a bit down..."

"And we want to help her cheer up!" Kise added enthusiastically.

There was a brief silence as they waited for Kuroko's reply. His eyes didn't light up with an idea, as they were always a blank stare, but somehow they could tell that he had one. And it didn't really take long for Kuroko to actually share this idea of his'.

A smug grin had then spread on Murasakibara's face. "I like what Kuro-chin is think."

Kise flailed his arms up in disapproval. "That's too much! I'm on a strict diet and manager's gunna kill me!"

"Don't be a wuss, Kise," Aomine said and smacked him on the forehead.

"Ouch!"

Midorima remained silent, although he didn't seem to reject the idea. And with that, the boys had left the convenience store, each with a box of frozen popsicles in hand. Later on, they had settled in a nearby park, filling the seats of the benches.

Kuroko turned to each of them. "Let's do our best, everyone."

"Let's go!"

It was going to be a long night of eating.

The next day, Momoi was surprised to see Popsicle sticks inside her shoe-locker. She was infuriated with the thought of how someone could throw junk in there. That was definitely rude and not nice. But Momoi noticed something odd about the sticks. And she examined one. And another, and everything else.

'WINNER'

"Cheer up! (^v^)" – Kise

"I have sweets for you, Sa-chin." – Muk-kun

"Do your best next time." – Midorima Shintarou

"You can call me Dai-chan. BUT ONLY ONCE!"– Daiki

"We're here to support you." – Kuroko Tetsuya

". . ." – Akashi Seijuurou

Momoi smiled. "They really are the sweetest."

. .

(The previous night)

"I can't do this anymore!" Kise wailed, forcing another bite down his throat. He swallowed it successfully, but threatened for him to throw up.

"I can do this some more," Murasakibara said happily and took Kise's box.

"Midorima-kun, should we inform Akashi-kun about this?" Kuroko turned to Midorima, who was somehow already looking as green as his hair.

Midorima nodded. "He should go through what we are going through as well."

From the side, Aomine was looking cheerful as he finished a stick with the awaited outcome. "Yes! I found one! Finally!" But unfortunately, he ended up snapping it in two and thus leading him to grudgingly sit back on the bench, mumble some curses, and open another pack of the frozen treat.

I don't know how to describe Akashi's 'Kind of Sweet' so I stuck with his name.

Which did you guys find the sweetest?