Aomine walked slowly, hands shoved in his pockets. Satsuki had organised a practice match with Seirin, and he was already ten minutes late. Grumbling, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. There was nothing worse than having to wake up early during the holidays. Finally, he found the court they were playing on. He looked around, frowning a little. Kuroko was there, Kagami too, this was going to be good. He stepped closer to the court, only to freeze. Sitting in the grass alongside the court, was the girl who haunted his every thought. Why on earth was she here? He watched her for a moment, a small smile forming on her lips. She looked happy, at least for the moment. His eyebrow twitched a little as the orange haired girl spoke to Kagami, handing him the ball he'd dropped. He stomped closer to the courts. He was going to defeat that bastard if it was the last thing he did. Throwing his bag and jacket down, he stretched his arms in front of him. "Slacking off are we?" he stated plainly, voice loud enough to catch everyone's attention.

"You're the one who's late, Ahomine!" Kagami spat at him, walking over with a grin. "Thought you'd chickened out."

"In your dreams, Bakagami." He laughed, shoving him a little. His eyes trailed over to the girls sitting on the grass. "You got yourself some groupies?"

"The little ones the Captain's sister, the other one, I think she's from my class, must be her friend." He shrugged. "Why? You jealous?"

"You wish." He shoved the red-haired male lightly, before snatching the ball in his hands. "Let's get this started."

Ivy stared at the court. A large, lithe man with dark skin and hair had appeared out of nowhere. There was something about his voice that had made her stare. It was him, it had to be. Shaking her head, she decided that she was dreaming, why on earth would a man that looked like that, help her out? The way he spoke instantly put her on edge, he was arrogant. Pulling her knees to her chest, she watched the game closely. As it raged on, the two aces stripped their singlets, playing skin on skin.

Blinking, Ivy looked down to Kimi. "You can't tell me, seeing two men who look like that doesn't interest you?"

"They're the only ones still playing, it's turned into a one-on-one." Kimi stated boredly, looking over to the rest of the team. "Looks like their getting ready to go home, guess I should keep up with them." She jumped up, smiling at her friend. "Are you coming?"

"I think I'm gonna stay and watch this." She answered, watching the two teens squabble over the ball.

Hours passed, and the sun began to set. Ivy watched closely as the game finally died. Both men flopping onto the court exhausted. She walked a little closer, holding two water bottles she had purchased. "U-uhm…" she cleared her throat, stumbling over what to say. "You look thirsty, I-I got you water."

Kagami looked up at her with an awkward smile. "Thanks." He took the bottle she offered, taking a large gulp. "You're from my grade, right?"

"Yeah, I'm in the class above you though. Better grades and all." She teased. "Kimi asked me to come, but once you two started fighting, I couldn't stop watching." She stated, looking at the dark skinned man.

"You hear that, Ahomine, she likes how we play." Kagami kicked the bluette lightly.

Aomine looked up, eyes holding an air of boredom. He took the water slowly, before moving to sit up. "Yeah." He looked away from her. Ivy frowned a little, feeling slightly rejected. She wanted to try talking to the blue haired man, even if it was just to find out whether he'd seen her jump or if he'd found her afterwards. Sighing, she turned slowly.

"I guess you guys are all done now, I should go."

"Wait." The words left his mouth before he could stop them. Surprising himself. Aomine looked at her, then Kagami, very seriously. "You go, she can stay."

Kagami looked at him, frowning a little. "Seriously?"

"Yes. Seriously. Go away." Aomine practically spat at his friend. Standing slowly, he looked down at the amber-haired woman next to him. "You…I want to talk to."

"Really?" her eyes flashed a little, though she looked extremely nervous. There was something hidden in those dark green orbs that made him want to get to know her.

"Yeah. I need to talk to you." He scratched the back of his head, looking at Kagami as he stomped off. Once they were finally alone, he huffed, walking over and flopping down in the grass. "You jumped off a cliff."

"I-I…" she sat next to him, pulling her knees to her chest. "Yeah."

"Why?" Aomine looked up at her. "Why the fuck would you jump off a cliff?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you."

"Yes you do." Aomine felt a tick in the back of his mind. No, she didn't have to tell him what was going on in her head, but he deserved to know why he had to jump into the ocean after her, didn't he? He kept his eyes on her as her face darkened. She looked much more like she had on that cliff now. He wanted to reach out and touch her, calm her down. She looked like she was about to cry again.

"Why did you save me?" she turned on him, green eyes ablaze, the whites of her eyes tinted with red. Tears rolling down her face slowly. "How dare you?!" she hit his chest hard. She hit him, again and again. "What gave you the right?!" she shook his shoulders roughly, banging him against the grass.

Aomine growled a little, grabbing her roughly, flipping her over so he was above her. He pinned her to the grass, glaring into her eyes. "I saved you, because I didn't think you should die." He held her roughly as she fought against him. "You're much too beautiful to die this young."

Soon, she calmed down enough for him to let her go. The wound on her head was visible now, though it had been hidden under her hair earlier, it looked much better. He gently cupped her face. "Tell me why you jumped."

Ivy panted lightly, looking up at him with angry eyes. How dare he save her life? Who was he to decide it wasn't her time? "I jumped…because no one wants me. My mother and father couldn't wait to get me out, my grandparents are only sending me money so I don't try to live with them, my only friend never has enough time for me… I… I just…" she started to cry again, hot tears burning their way down her face. She tried to turn away, rubbing her face lightly. "I need to go, please." She struggled to get out from under him, breathing heavily now. She needed to get away from him. There was something about him that made her want to talk about her feelings, something that made her feel that she was safe. Safe wasn't good. She needed to get away, be by herself, trusting people only caused heartache. Finally, he let her up, laying on his back, lazily staring up at the sky.

"You need to trust someone." He sat up, sighing a little.

She barely heard him as she ran, clinging to her bag for dear life. Nothing was ever as simple as it sounded in a deep manly voice. Trust, she hadn't trusted anyone since she was a young child. Since her parents had been so demeaning, manipulative and abusive, she had learnt at a young age that trust was for the weak. She ran onto the train just as the doors were closing, taking a deep breath.

Aomine watched as the ball swished through the basket again, huffing. School had started again, meaning he was able to use the school gym during rainy days. Listening to the rain bounce off of the roof soothed him. He was still a little bruised from that girl's attack on him. For a small woman, she had one hell of a punch. He rubbed his chest lightly, going to retrieve the ball. He hoped that she was alright. He didn't even really know her, but that didn't matter. She was all he thought about. Something in her life had gone wrong, she had lost hope. He knew how that felt, he had lost his love for basketball, and his friends, all very suddenly. He wanted to help her, but Kuroko refused to tell him anything about her. The small bluette was keeping an eye on her though. The way he spoke about her confused Aomine, at school, she came across as a happy, popular girl. Lots of friends, good grades, the works. He shot the ball again, frowning. Her front was a little different to his, where he acted like an arrogant arsehole, she acted like a happy princess.

Rolling the ball around in his hands, he sighed. He wanted to see her again, but he didn't want to risk getting beaten up by a girl again. Closing his eyes, he remembered how she had felt pinned below him, squirming for freedom. A smirk formed on his lips, throwing the ball over his shoulder into the basket again. If he could gain her trust, maybe he could help her through whatever troubles she was having, and maybe she'd pay him back for beating on him, in a nice way. He closed his eyes, thinking about the way her lips moved as she talked, they had been nice and plump, lips that were made for kissing. He walked a little way from the court, reaching for his jacket and bag, looking out at the rain as it poured. He sighed, looking back at the court as he flicked the lights off. "I really need to invest in an umbrella."

Ivy twirled her hair around her finger, looking at the team as they practiced. Kimi leant on her, blabbering about the coach of the team being a total babe, but completely off limits because she was dating her brother. "I swear, she's like a devil woman, look at how she's pushing them." Kimi tugged Ivy's arm. "Are you even listening to me?"

"Oh, sorry." Ivy smiled at her friend, moving to pull her jacket around her tighter. She had begun wearing Kagami's basketball jacket in recent days, having gotten closer to the tall redheaded Ace. She tore her eyes away from the basketball to smile brighter at her friend. "You were saying how attractive the coach is, yes?"

"You're so spacy lately, what's going on with you?"

Ivy winced internally. She still hadn't told Kimi about her problems. Their friendship had been built on her being a happy, outgoing socialite, she was sure the little darkhaired girl didn't know about her true self. That dark swirling that hid inside of her, bubbling away at her psyche, bringing her ever downwards. She forced a big grin, snuggling into the jacket around her shoulders more. "I've been getting pretty close to the guys lately, I'm just super-duper happy." She lied, bumping her friend with her elbow. "I better get going soon, I've got work tonight." She worked at a convenience store, usually only working evenings and nights, she hadn't been able to work since her accident, and she desperately needed the money. Standing up, she carefully took Kagami's jacket off, smiling at him as he looked over to her.

Jogging over to her, he frowned a little. "Are you leaving already?"

"I've gotta get to work, thanks for letting me borrow your jacket while I was here." She patted his arm lightly. "You have gotta be more careful though, Tiger, or people will start thinking we're dating." She threw in his pet-name to throw people off. He'd been overly nice to her since Aomine had forced him to leave them to chat. He never asked her stupid questions about what was going on in her mind, and she was comfortable with that. He and Kuroko spent a lot of time following her around, walking her home, spending time alone in her apartment so that there was someone there all night. They had a good set up, Kuroko and Kagami could be together in every way they wanted, and she could be their scapegoat. She didn't mind, having someone in her home almost all the time forced her away from the bubbling blackness in her mind. She hugged his shoulders lightly. "Go get sweaty, you know where the keys are, I'll be late."

Kimi gasped, tugging her friend's shirt. "Did you just?" she half squealed, bouncing on her seat. "You're totally sleeping with the Ace!"

Ivy rolled her eyes, of course that's what her friends were going to think. It was practically unheard of for a girl to have male friends and not be trying to date them. Forcing an innocent smile, she patted her friend's shoulder. "I'm not sleeping with him." With that, she rushed out, smiling a little.

Aomine sighed grumpily, walking into a convenience store. He'd been out for a drink with Kuroko and Kagami, wanting to find out how his amber-haired minx was. He was pleased to hear that she had been starting to perk up, though he didn't know if that was just how she put herself across to others. Walking towards the magazines, he reached for the latest issue of his favourite model's works. He looked around slowly, before picking up the book. He flipped through the pages, sighing. Ever since he had seen Ivy on the cliff, Mai-Chan just wasn't doing it for him. He didn't know if it was her brown hair, or that she was only two dimensional, there was just something that didn't line up. He huffed, shoving the book back onto the shelf. Rubbing the back of his head slightly, he looked around. The staff seemed to be non-existent. Walking over to the snacks, he reached for a packet of potato chips. He rubbed the back of his head again, yawning loudly, he had pushed himself harder while he was practicing recently, and it wore him out. Without looking, he placed the chips on the counter, reaching for his wallet.

A small sound came from behind the counter, causing him to blink. He looked at the clerk, before jumping back, pointing directly in her face. "What the hell are you doing here?!" He snapped before he could stop himself. Frowning, he tried to regain his composure. She stared up at him with wide green eyes, shock obvious on her face. There was a little anger in her eyes still, but it had dulled since last they spoke. Straightening up, he glared at her. "I've still got a bruise you know."

"I don't know what you're talking about, sir." She spoke quickly, her manager walking past them on their left. "Will that be all?" she pointed to his chips.

"Yeah. That's all." He shoved the money onto the counter, still glaring at her. "When do you get your break?"

"When the store closes." She spat at him quickly, ringing his purchase up on the register. She let out a breath, handing him his change. Their fingers brushed together for a moment, sending a jolt of electricity through him.

"When is that?" he pushed her. That jolt was enough to tell him that he needed to spend more time with this strange woman. The place on his hand where her fingers had brushed still tingled a little. "We need to talk."

"No we don't." She stated plainly. "I have nothing more to say to you, Aomine. You had no right to do that for me." She turned away from him slightly, the slightly different tone of her scarred flesh shone in the light. She was wearing make-up to hide the disfiguration, though it wasn't bad enough that anyone would notice if they weren't looking closely. He sighed, picking up his potato chips, starting to walk out. He leant on the wall outside, deciding that if she didn't want to talk, he'd just wait for her.