A/N: I finally. finished. Attack on Titan. Like, okay, so I watched season 1 before but lost interest halfway, but for the past 4-5 days I binged all three seasons and I just finished being updated with the manga recently and can I just say it took me on such a rollercoaster like I was this close to crying on certain chapters lmao.

Anyways, now that I'm done with AoT, all I have left to really focus on are my online classes (optional, but I'm taking them anyways because I crave productivity), so I found some time to write!

OK ALSO: Google said there are typically 31-40 students per class in a Japanese middle school, and I'm assuming Teiko would have like idk 3-5 classes per grade level so uhh that's around 200 students max per grade level. I'll be applying this to Teiko for the fanfic.

AND I kinda clowned myself. Second year will start next chapter, so sorry for raising your hopes up last chapter that Kise was gonna have an appearance :c My initial plans got derailed.

Hope you like the chapter and the omake c: (actually considering an AoT omake rn ngl)

Disclaimer: I don't own Avengers: Endgame. If I did, Tony Stark would have lived to be with Pepper and his daughter and his son (Spiderman beC CMON HE WAS MORE OF A DAD TO PETER :C) and Captain America would have been the one to use the Infinity Gauntlet.

(This is an unedited chapter but I updated anyways so you guys can have some more chapters c: will probs edit after a bit)

"Seijuuro talking"

Seijuuro thinking

The voice talking

Group chat username (date, time of when message was sent)

Individual PM username (date, time of when message was sent)

"Person on the other end of the phone/vid call talking"

Chapter 21

Shougo pushed past the crowd gathered in front of the bulletin boards, dragging Seijuuro with him. He let out a grin when they made it to the front. "Heh, thirty-ninth. Not bad!"

"You did a good job. I guess the study sessions helped, then?"

"Eh, that, and probably you and Shuuzo forcing me to study," Shougo admitted as his eyes darted to the top left. "Number one again, I see."

Seijuuro shrugged but allowed herself a proud smile. She really did work hard to get to that point. Sure, being mentally older had helped, but there were still some material that confused her, so she spent hours trying to master those topics.

Although, as mentioned, the study sessions did help. For the most part, it was the usual thing where Shuuzo and Shougo would come over and they'd spend their day revising. In the absence of distractions, they were able to focus and accomplish a lot. There was one instance, though, where Seijuuro, Shuuzo, and Shougo had studied with the other first-string members at Midorima's house.

It started when Murasakibara messaged the group chat, asking a question that caused Seijuuro and Midorima to debate on what the answer should be. One thing led to another and Seijuuro found herself in front of Midorima's house to study.

Shougo whistled as he stood outside the gates of Midorima's house. It was a modern-looking house that was rather large. "He seems loaded."

"I'm not surprised. His family is full of doctors, and they own a hospital, too," Seijuuro said as she rang the doorbell once.

"Damn."

It took a few seconds of waiting for Midorima to open the gate for them, allowing them inside his home. "Nijimura-senpai didn't come?"

"Shuuzo's embarrassed about studying with his kouhais," Shougo laughed as he glanced around. To his right was the living room, where Murasakibara, Aomine, and Momoi were gathered around the wooden table. Murasakibara and Aomine were sitting on the floor, wearing a confused expression on their faces as they stared at their notebooks. Momoi was sitting on the livid colored couch, leaning on a white pillow as she flipped through her notes.

"He prefers studying alone," Seijuuro said as she lightly smacked the back of Shougo's shoulder for his comment. "It helps him concentrate more."

"Not when you invite us to study at your place," Shougo muttered, dodging Seijuuro's hand when she attempted to smack his shoulder again.

Midorima didn't seem bothered by Shuuzo's absence, anyways, so he simply directed them to the couch as he went to the kitchen, presumably to get them all some snacks.

"Oh? Akashi-chan! Haizaki-kun!" Momoi smiled at them when she noticed their presence, giving them a wave.

"You made it!" Aomine grinned at them.

Murasakibara just grunted at them before returning to scowling at his notebook.

Seijuuro took a seat next to Momoi while Haizaki sat down on the floor next to Seijuuro, digging his things out of his notebook. Midorima then came back with a plate of biscuits and placed it on the table. At Midorima's nod to the purple-haired giant who had been staring at the biscuits, Murasakibara immediately grabbed two and ate them in a single bite.

"Thank you for the biscuits," Seijuuro said as she took one and ate it. The others gave their own thanks as they focused on their work. Seijuuro brought out her phone and opened her reviewers, which she had stored in her phone.

The day turned out to be quite productive, even if Seijuuro, Midorima, and Momoi had ended up helping the others understand their material an hour before everyone left. Seijuuro decided to be the one to assist Aomine, partly so that Shougo could be assisted by Momoi (she wondered if having someone else try to explain it to him would work better for him) and partly because she wanted to get to know the blue-haired boy more.

Aomine was surprisingly easy to work with since he was really eager to understand what was frustrating him. Sure, he still made lots of mistakes when she tried reviewing him on what they discussed, but most were just careless errors, so both were pretty satisfied with his performance. Shougo and Murasakibara also seemed to be doing fine with Momoi and Midorima respectively, so everyone was pretty confident about how exams would go.

It was quite the experience for Seijuuro to study with a larger group of people, but she had been introduced to Midorima and Momoi's study techniques, which had helped her study, too, so having another study session like that in the future was something she wasn't opposed to.

"Well, we won't have to worry about being in trouble then," Seijuuro said as she and Shougo moved away from the bulletin board. "If we weren't in the top 100 students, we would have put our positions as first string players at risk."

"True," Shougo nodded, placing his hands behind his head as they walked towards the cafeteria. "I wonder how the others did."

Kaa-san (Monday, 8:05 AM): How did you guys do?

Goin NBA (Monday, 8:06 AM): I got eighty-second! I expected worse 'cos the Math portion was really hard, but I bet my Japanese History made up for it

Nerunerunerune (Monday, 8:06 AM): Forty-fifth

Goin NBA (Monday, 8:06 AM): WTF

Goin NBA (Monday, 8:07 AM): You told me you found everything but Physics was hard for you!

Nerunerunerune (Monday, 8:07 AM): It was

Goin NBA (Monday 8:08 AM): sorry dai-chan's in shock right now! but congrats Nerunerunerune and Kaa-san! i know you got first, akashi-chan hehe - Momoi

Kaa-san (Monday, 8:08 AM): Thank you, Momoi-san. Congratulations on getting twenty-second. I suppose I'll be seeing you in 2-A in a few weeks.

Goin NBA (Monday, 8:09 AM): i hope so!

Kaa-san (Monday, 8:09 AM): Also, Momoi-san, why aren't you in this group chat? You're more than welcome to be a part of it.

Goin NBA (Monday, 8:09 AM): dai-chan didn't want me joining the chat with 'his boys' hehe but that's fine i totally respect that

Kaa-san (Monday, 8:09 AM): Ah.

Glasses (Monday, 8:09 AM): I am at second place.

Goin NBA (Monday, 8:10 AM): wOAH good job Glasses! Glasses is midorima-kun, right?

Glasses (Monday, 8:10 AM): Yes. Good job, as well, Momoi-san.

Ramen (Monday, 8:10 AM): I got thirty-ninth

Ramen (Monday, 8:10 AM): Tou-san got sixteenth btw, Kaa-san

Kaa-san (Monday, 8:13 AM): Noted.

Kaa-san (Monday, 8:14 AM): Good job, Tou-san.

"Pardon?"

"I'm afraid your father is quite insistent on it, Seijuuro-sama," Flora said with a bow.

"He's aware that I'm studying with Shuuzo and Shougo right now."

"Yes, but because of how close the date of the business party is, he would prefer this to be done now."

"Of course, he would," Seijuuro drawled as she reluctantly stood up, staring at her almost completed essay as Shuuzo and Shougo looked at her.

Two seconds of silence passed before Shougo laughed out loud.

Seijuuro sent him a dry look as she gestured for Flora to allow the visitor in. The man who entered wore formal clothes as he gave a nod to Seijuuro.

"Good day, Akashi-san. My name is Yamamoto Kensuke. I will be spending the next hour instructing you on dances that may be chosen for your event."

"I see," Seijuuro said, ignoring the fact that Shougo was still snickering and that Shuuzo even looked amused by the situation. "The instruction can take place here. I might as well get used to having an audience."

To be fair, the dances weren't so hard, and Seijuuro found herself easily recalling what she had to do. The only problem was actually dancing with someone. She would have had Yamamoto-san as a partner, but he was, as Shougo laughingly pointed out, too tall for her.

Seijuuro inwardly groaned as she recalled that Akashi had been one of the smallest in the GoM. She was doomed to be surrounded by giants.

"Ano, Yamamoto-san!"

"Yes...?"

"Shuuzo can partner up with her!" Shougo grinned mischievously. "I know his kaa-san taught him the steps too so you don't have to waste your time teaching him!"

"How the fuck did you know that?"

"Your sister told me about it," Shuuzo said as he leaned back on his chair, crossing his arms as a smirk appeared on his face. "I saw her at a convenience store once so I told her I'd walk her home and she told me so much about you."

Shuuzo scowled but stood up anyways, approaching Seijuuro, who seemed to be surprised.

"I wasn't aware of that," Seijuuro told him as Yamamoto-san set up the music.

"No one was supposed to be," Shuuzo huffed, holding out his hand for her to take. "Let's get this over with."

Seijuuro nodded, placing her right hand on his. His right hand rested itself on her waist and her left hand placed itself on his shoulder. When the music played, they began moving in sync with it.

It felt natural for some reason, dancing with Shuuzo. Seijuuro let him twirl her around at random points, and she found herself smiling at how he just added those in when he felt like it. Still, it wasn't as if she had been taken aback by the additions. They just seemed to make it more lively.

Eventually, the music came to a stop and they prepared for another dance.

All the while, Shougo stared at them with a knowing glint in his eyes.

"He's taking a while," Shougo noted, running his fingers down an imaginary beard. "That's minus five points for tardiness."

"Have you looked outside? The roads are quite congested since they had to close two roads for construction," Seijuuro said with an exasperated sigh. The two boys made sure she was sitting in between them, leaving the space across the table for Kouki.

When Seijuuro had finally gotten around to talking about the business party with them, explaining what was happening and why, the boys took it calmly but demanded to meet Furihata Kouki beforehand. No amount of scowling, or telling them nothing they do would change the fact that he waa going to be her date anyways, stopped them, which is why she found herself at Maji Burger, sipping on a milkshake as she waited for Kouki to arrive.

She was surprised he had easily agreed to meeting her friends, but she hoped he was prepared for whatever those two were planning.

Kouki arrived a few minutes later, an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry for the delay. The cars were barely moving outside."

"It's fine," Seijuuro told him, sending an 'i told you so' look to the boys beside her.

Kouki sat down across them after ordering a milkshake of his own, nervously glancing at the two boys beside her. "So, you're the best friends Sei's been telling me about. I'm Furihata Kouki, and well, I guess you already know about me."

"Unfortunately," Shougo scowled at him, ignoring Seijuuro's glare. "Look, let's get some things straight. First of all, she doesn't like you like that, so don't get your hopes up or anything. She only chose you 'cos you were her friend. And on that note, don't you even consider doing anything bad to her or you'll have us and our other friend to answer to."

"We're aware that the business party's probably going to be a publicity stunt of some sort, too, so both of you will be in some articles the day after, so if you do anything that paints her in a bad light, you're dead, got that?" Shuuzo added. He remembered his own classmates' reactions when the school paper covered the first string's practice matches and how a few of them were casting doubts on Seijuuro's ability. It was offending, considering Teiko had done so well in their matches in the Winter Tournament so far, and Seijuuro had definitely done her part in getting Teiko to where it was right now.

"I know we don't know each other very well, Haizaki-san, Nijimura-san," Kouki cleared his throat but looked at them with a serious gaze, "but I can assure you that those are things I would never do to Sei. She's been a good friend of mine since we were kids, and I know I'm not close to her the way you are with her, but she's one of the few quality friends I have, and I'm not going to ruin that."

"Hmm," was all Shuuzo said but he dropped his intimidating aura and settled for munching on a burger.

Only Shougo was left giving Kouki the evil eye. "You better mean that as a friend."

When Shougo resumed eating, Kouki let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. Seijuuro's friends turned out to be really intimidating, but he could understand. She was probably like a sister to them, so he could see why they would be protective over her.

"I apologize if they were too harsh on you," Seijuuro said, giving the two beside her subtle but half-hearted glares. "I told them you could be trusted, but they didn't want to believe it until they spoke to you. I'm sure they're aware now, yes?"

"Yeah, yeah," Shougo waved his hand dismissively.

"We'll see," Shuuzo shrugged, causing Seijuuro to sigh.

"Well, as you can see, they're stubborn idiots," she scowled before letting out a small smile, "but they're my idiots."

In front of her, Furihata Kouki simply smiled. It was nice to see that she had such a close relationship with her friends. It made him wonder if he could ever had such a thing with his friends, too, but at the moment, he couldn't see his middle school friends having such a bond with him. He was a little jealous of what he was seeing, to be honest, but he decided to just be happy that his friend had such a thing, at least.

"It's a full moon," Kouki commented as he gazed out the limousine's window. He and his father had worked out today's arrangement: Kouki would be going over to Seijuuro's mansion to pick her up and then they would arrive at the venue together. It was an easier way of getting the message across because paparazzi would no doubt be swarming them the moment they step foot outside of the vehicle. Seijuuro didn't mind either way. She was just content with the knowledge that Kouki would be with her.

"It's said to be a symbol of enlightenment," Seijuuro said from the seat across him.

"I'll need some of that," Kouki said wryly. "How would you want to announce the betrothal?"

"You can take the lead for that, if you'd like, answering the reporters' questions and all. I'm sure at least two of them will catch on quickly and ask the right questions," Seijuuro said as she leaned back on her seat.

"M-me?" Kouki stuttered as he looked at his lap. "I—"

"I trust you."

And it seemed those three words gave him a confidence boost because a determined look entered his eyes as he nodded.

The rest of the ride continued in silence, although it wasn't as awkward as it would have been if they weren't friends. Seijuuro frowned slightly as her fingers ghosted over her black gown's empty pocket. If she just had her cellphone with her, she and Kouki could have occupied themselves with that billards game she had downloaded the night before.

Eventually, they reached their venue, one of the hotels the Ichinose Group was willing to loan for the event. The Ichinose Group was ranked seventh in the most powerful corporations in Japan, so Seijuuro had a feeling it was a move to try and increase their appeal.

As predicted, the paparazzi were, in fact, there, filled to the brim with excitement over the juicy details surrounding Japan's wealthiest people. They did keep to their designated areas, though, so they were still relatively orderly.

The limousine stopped and Kouki cleared his throat. "This is it."

He seemed nervous, and in response, Seijuuro placed a hand on his shoulder. "Think of it as a basketball game, but we have the information they need to win."

"Right," Kouki nodded as his driver opened the door. He stepped outside and put on a facade, acting confident and in control. He held out a hand for Seijuuro to hold and he guided her out the limousine.

And that was when the reporters and cameramen exploded.

"The heirs of the Akashi and Furihata Groups?!"

"Didn't Akashi Seijuuro—"

"—heard that Furihata Kouki—"

"—showed up together!"

Kouki held out his arm for Seijuuro to hold as they walked down the wide aisle, only stopping when a reporter shouted, "Please tell us! Is there a betrothal contract between you two?"

"Told you someone would piece it together," Seijuuro told him quietly before allowing Kouki to step forward slightly.

"Yes. Our fathers have been in agreement with each other for quite some time."

"How long have you known each other, Furihata-san?"

"Sei and I have known each other since we were kids," Kouki said, letting out a fond smile as he remembered how he used to be a bundle of nerves and emotions around her.

"Why announce it only now, Furihata-san, Akashi-san?" another reporter asked.

Kouki glanced at Seijuuro, her cue to gaze at the reporter and reply, "The betrothal was only finalized quite recently. Although we considered scheduling a press conference or a private interview to formally announce it, the party seemed to be the most convenient place to let the information be known."

"Will this influence where you will both be attending high school?"

Both Seijuuro and Kouki blinked, looking at each other. They never spoke about that because they never even considered that the betrothal would have that much of an influence on their daily lives. Seeing how Kouki was struggling to come up with a reply, Seijuuro answered, "As we are still both in our first year in middle school, the topic hasn't come up yet, but we hope to be able to attend the schools we see ourselves thriving in. We may not end up attending the same high school, but I don't see how that should matter in the end as long as we end up growing from the experience. Thank you for your questions, but our fathers are still waiting for us."

With that, she steered Kouki inside the hotel, where a bespectacled man in a suit greeted them. "Akashi-san and Furihata-san? Your fathers are awaiting you in the function room. Please follow me."

They were led to a spacious room that contained many circular tables spread out across the area, and a long stage at the front. The tables were covered in white cloth and so were the chairs, although there were light blue colored accents to liven things up. Their designated table was located towards the center, where their fathers were already seated with two other people. Their fathers and another man were engaged in conversation while the other person beside the man just looked around the room.

As Kouki and Seijuuro approached, they gained the table's attention, and their fathers sent them nods.

"You've made it," Furihata Kouji noted as he turned to their companions. "Fukui-san, Fukui-kun, may I introduce you to my son and his betrothed? Furihata Kouki and Akashi Seijuuro."

"Ah, so the rumors about the Akashi heiress being betrothed had truth in them," the man called Fukui noted as he stood and gave a brief bow to the pair. The person beside him stood and bowed as well. "My name is Fukui Hanzo. This is my son, Kensuke."

Well, what are the odds?

In front of Seijuuro was Fukui Kensuke. As in, the one who would playing in the Yosen team. His face was set in a barely restrained scowl as he shook hands with her and Seijuuro.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Fukui-san, Fukui-san," Kouki said and Seijuuro added her own pleasantries. Kouki took his sit next to his father and Seijuuro sat in between him and her own father. This led her to sit across Fukui Kensuke.

Immediately, the adults continued the conversation they were having before they were arrived, causing the teenagers to feel the awkward silence forming.

"So," Kouki started with a nervous chuckle, "have Nijimura-san and Haizaki-san calmed down yet?"

"They knew you were coming to get me and I sent them a message a while ago before we left," Seijuuro said. "It's a shame I had to leave my cellphone behind, though. Shougo would have already left me dozens of messages, I assume."

"It's nice you have friends like them, though," Kouki smiled.

"Just wait 'til they challenge you to a basketball match," Seijuuro let out her own smile. "Shougo would be pretty hyped for that."

"Yes, I'm sure he has the motivation already," Kouki said as he remembered Shougo's death glare.

"Seijuuro, Kouki, we will be heading over to another table to speak with the Akiyamas and the Minamis with Fukui-san," Masaomi informed them as he left with the other adults in their table. Seijuuro nodded in response before frowning as she glanced around the room.

"We weren't too late, were we, Kouki?"

"No? Why?"

"I don't see the point of this party, is all," Seijuuro said. "Is there even a program for this or are people just going to use this to form or strengthen alliances?"

"That or use this as an opportunity to brag," Fukui said, the first words he'd uttered since they arrived at the table. "It's not as if they have an excuse to directly brag to their competitors about their achievements, so they're probably using this as their chance to do so."

He was rather straightforward and blunt, especially to people he had just met, so it had stunned Seijuuro for a few moments.

"Point," she nodded at him.

"These parties do have a program, though. They'll probably start with remarks from the Ichinoses and then they'll let a neutral host lead the program. The bragging starts there since every company will have the opportunity to give a five minute talk about their progress and after all that, there'll be a formal dance and then just enjoying the rest of the night."

"You know a lot, so you've been to these parties before, Fukui-san?" Kouki asked him shyly.

"Aa," Fukui said. "Your fathers must have planned for this party to be your first, huh? Especially because of the betrothal. I suppose congratulations are in order."

Seijuuro didn't stop the amused smile that appeared on her face. His bluntness was rather refreshing, and so was his sarcasm. "Who knows what goes on in my father's head? If he did plan this, though, then it was smart of him."

"Yeah, since everyone wants some sort of connection to Akashi Group," Fukui snorted. "Wonder how they'll react now that it'll be confirmed that you and Furihata-san are betrothed."

"Well, I look forward to their reactions," Seijuuro said with a smirk.

As Fukui had explained, their parents did indeed eventually return to their table for the program to start. Ichinose Tobio had a concise speech about the party and how he was looking forward to hear the achievements of the other companies. A neutral host was indeed chosen to continue the program and one by one, the companies waxed poetic about their work and what kind of impact it would have both nationally and internationally. Seijuuro found herself sharing smirks with Fukui whenever they both noticed how someone would say something that totally contradicted what they previously said, both holding in the urge to call the person out on it.

When it was Masaomi's turn to do his announcements, Seijuuro noticed that everyone aside from their table was staring at Masaomi with a greedy glint in their eyes, only for their hopes to be dashed when he announced Akashi Group's partnership with Furihata Group, and that Akashi Seijuuro was indeed betrothed to Furihata Kouki.

Seijuuro noted the disappointed scowls on the faces of men on the other tables and she drowned out the rest of the speeches until Kouki nudged her elbow. It was time for the dance.

In between the stage and the tables was empty space where the attendees could participate in the dance. Seijuuro chuckled when Fukui found himself with a rather clingy girl. "I feel bad for him."

"Shame he didn't have a friend here," Kouki laughed with her as he held her hand and placed his hand on her waist. They danced to the music and their steps were flawless throughout.

Later on, in his limousine, Seijuuro and Kouki would snigger about how dull the party was, and when they quieted down, Seijuuro would recall the dance they had and wonder why it felt so different dancing with Shuuzo. She would stare at her hand and think about how much more comfortable she had been when it had been him she was dancing with, how much more natural it felt when it was with him.

Maybe it's because we're close friends?, she would wonder, only for the voice to tell her, I didn't think you were this dumb.

(Contains spoilers to Avengers: Endgame so if you haven't watched it, skip the next few parts until you see bold text saying 'End of spoiler')

A few days after the end of the Winter Tournament and a week before second year began, it had been decided that the everyone in the Generation of Miracles' group chat, plus Momoi, would be having a sleepover at Murasakibara's place. Momoi had pitched the idea to Aomine without intending for herself to be a part of it, but Seijuuro had invited her to go along and she accepted the offer. Murasakibara's place was chosen simply because the purple haired giant was too lazy to move, which is why everyone was currently in his living room, huddled together as they watched Avengers: Endgame.

Murasakibara's house was quite large, both in terms of width and height. It accounted for the heights of everyone in the Murasakibara family, who towered over all of the middle schoolers. Murasakibara had four siblings in total, three older brothers, including Aki, and an older sister. Three siblings and their parents were currently out of the house, leaving only Aki to 'babysit'. Aki, having recognized Seijuuro, greeted her familiarly before shutting himself in his room to play video games with his friend, who was also going to be sleeping over.

Seijuuro was seated on the couch, in between Momoi and Shuuzo. Murasakibara was lounging on another couch by himself and the other remaining seat was taken by Midorima. Shougo and Aomine lounged on the carpeted floor as they watched.

Seijuuro loved all the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She wasn't super obsessed with the franchise, to the point that she knew all the minute details about each character, but she appreciated the movies and the plots, so she wasn't surprised to find herself tearing up when Tony Stark snapped his fingers.

As the movie ended, Shuuzo watched how the kouhais seemed sad about the movie's ending. Murasakibara and Midorima didn't look to be as bothered, but Aomine and Shougo were bawling their eyes out and even Momoi was crying. Shuuzo blinked before glancing at the red-haired girl next to him, who wasn't bothering to wipe away the few tears that escaped her eyes.

"Sei, you—"

She blinked at him, only now noticing the tears before hurriedly wiping them away. "Sorry. It's the movie. Why'd he have to die?"

Shuuzo didn't say anything since he wasn't as invested in the franchise but he patted her head to comfort her.

(End of spoiler)

After the others had calmed down, the boys had taken it upon themselves to play Blackjack, with Shougo and Aomine accusing the others of cheating whenever they lost. (Midorima was counting the cards, but he wasn't going to admit that out loud.)

The girls had opted out of the game as they settled in the kitchen to eat ice cream.

"So," Momoi said, breaking the silence, "how are you and the boys doing?"

"What do you mean, Momoi-san?"

"I mean, you know, outside of practice. I know that you sometimes go to the convenience store for ice cream after practice, but Dai-chan doesn't really tell me a lot."

"Oh, well, we also ask each other questions about school. Homework help, I suppose you could call it. Or we'd just bother each other about trivial things," Seijuuro replied.

"That's good to hear," Momoi smiled. "I'm happy Dai-chan has other close friends now, too! I was worried he wouldn't be close to you guys, but I'm glad I'm wrong."

Seijuuro hummed before asking, "Momoi-san, does it bother you that Aomine's been excluding you from… this?"

Momoi blinked in surprise. "Eh? What do you mean, Akashi-chan?"

"You're childhood friends, right? That means you'd be really close, so I wasn't sure if you were really okay with not being a part of the group chat, for instance," Seijuuro said.

"It's fine, really!" Momoi insisted, but Seijuuro had a feeling it really wasn't.

"We should have more study sessions with the boys," Seijuuro said. "I think the study session we had before the exams really helped."

"It helped me a lot, too!" Momoi said, a bright smile entering her face, a contrast to how she seemed previously. "I used your tips for making reviewers, and it really lessened the amount of paper I used."

"That's good to hear," Seijuuro smiled. "I made use of your tip for reviewing for Japanese History. It helped me study for the exam."

"That's great!" Momoi cheered.

The girls chatted a bit more, with Seijuuro telling Momoi that the girl could call her Sei if she wanted, and Momoi telling her to call her Satsuki in exchange. It was a step forward for Seijuuro, since she still wasn't used to being friends with girls. (Ami would have counted but she lost contact with the girl after grade school.)

After they finished their ice cream and cleaned the bowls and spoons they used, they found futons on the living room, along with blankets. The boys were still playing card games — they had switched to Go Fish — when the girls went back to their original seats.

The girls shared an amused look as Aomine whined when he lost again to Murasakibara and entertained themselves by watching the boys play.

Eventually, they all became sleepy. The boys settled in the futons while the girls got the wide couches all to themselves.

. . .

Satsuki woke up rather early, stifling a yawn as she sat up and blinked the sleepiness away. She was used to waking up early because she liked starting her day early, though, as she glanced at the sleeping people in the living room, she concluded that the others must have been night owls. She recalled that she had started feeling sleepy around 11:58 PM but she was pretty sure the others had slept later than that because they were still bickering by the time she drifted off to dreamland.

She glanced at the couch next to hers, but blinked again when she saw that the redhead that should have been there wasn't. Did she use the washroom?

Humming softly to herself, she made to stand up to get a glass of water, only to be surprised when she saw the missing redhead on Nijimura's futon, cuddling the normally scowling senpai as if he were a stuffed toy.

(long-ish A/N coming up)

A/N: Oh, yeah, Sei, you and Shuuzo are just cLosE fRieNds. ANYWAYS some of you may be wondering where the omake is. The omake is going to be after my replies to reviews because I realized just how much effort I put into the omake and it's pretty long AHAHA and I don't want to like flood readers who may just want to see the A/Ns or review replies, so ye.

Some explanations:

( 1 ) Aomine's in Teiko and even if he had terrible grades, they couldn't have been that bad since Teiko's known for their academics and sports so the way I see Teiko! Aomine is that he's still eager to learn and cares about his grades, but after his skills blossom, he doesn't show much concern for his grades probs cos he knows how good he is and Teiko wouldn't want to lose an asset like him regardless of his grades. Just a thought.

( 2 ) Furihata. After a few years of being shaped to be the heir, I feel like his confidence would have improved somewhat, but he'd still be the adorable, easily nervous Furihata we all know and love. I do think, though, that if he were to put up a facade in front of a large group of people, he'd seem like the heir his father expected him to be. But, as seen with Fukui, when it was just the three of them at the table, he'd kinda revert to his shy personality.

( 3 ) Ok so next chapter's gonna be the start of second year! Definitely Kise and (?) Kuroko (?) showing up!

( 4 ) I didn't focus much on the championships or matches for their first year, partly because I wasn't sure if I'd pull it off, but also because I don't think they would have had much of an impact on the story yet, and I really wanted to focus on the developing friendships of the GoM. Since Interhigh and Winter Cup are high school tournaments, I'm gonna call the middle school ones as Summer Tournament and Winter Tournament, and I'll probably gloss over what happened in the Winter Tournament next chapter via an article for Teiko's school paper. I'm planning to have much more basketball action second year onwards, but we'll see where it goes.

The part where Shuuzo mentioned the Winter Tournament implies that they haven't played in the semifinals or finals yet, and these are the ones I plan to talk about through the school paper.

( 5 ) Shougo-Sei sibling bond because I just KNOW they have to have one ;-; and this is something I'm still toying around with considering Akashi did kick Haizaki out of the team so like let's see how it goes :'c

( 6 ) Honestly at this point I think Sei has a bit of a crush on Shuuzo but she doesn't realize it because she thinks it's just comfortable companionship / just being close friends and all. (I mean honestly I would be confused too c":)

( 7 ) Added Fukui in because why NOT and it would be so funny when he and Himuro met and they'd realize they had a mutual friend

( 8 ) Momoi. Wasn't really sure how to add her to the GoM's dynamic since all my close friends are guys but I might make her closer to them in the future. Right now, she's just close to Aomine, and she can't really make friends with the other girls since well, jealousy over her looks, so I feel like she would have felt a little sad over the fact that Aomine's keeping his friendship with the GoM separate from his friendship with her. So, I wanted to remedy that with Sei making the first move to include Momoi. This isn't a slight on Aomine at all, since I have guy friends who have convos with just 'the boys' and a separate convo w me and their other girl friends in it, so like I get where Aomine's coming from. But like yeah you get me right HAHA

Anyways, hoped you liked this see y'all next update!

REPLIES TO REVIEWS

hope i typed your usernames right

tigerlilyroars1: oh, yeah, that happens to my friend too no biggie! c:

Girl-luvs-manga: sAME i'm so hyped for when they're in high school but i'd need to layout some groundwork first in middle school to make sure high school arc's good hehe

LADY-P-R-I-S-M: Yup! Sei doing what I can't do right now (aka play the piano again) HAHA :'c I did a lot of thinking and I already have like an endgame for how the betrothal's gonna play out i just hope it's a GOOD endgame hehe and as for the omakes, i do like making them, since i tend to type them at like 3 or 4 AM before i fall asleep around 5 AM (my body clock's WACK) and i seem to invest more time in the omakes for some reason HAHA

Evilshallprevail: i played that piano game too if we're thinking about the same game HAHA that's actually how i found out about the song

Omake: in which our favorite foursome (Sei, Shuuzo, Shougo, and Kazuya) are reborn in the Harry Potter world.

(Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I'd dedicate like a chapter or two for Draco's post-war redemption :'c and maybe Draco-Harry bonding because c'mon, Drarry.)

(If people like this, I'll consider a continuation but I'll be continuing my Free! omake first after refreshing myself on the anime HAHA)

(This is 3.5K words wtf am i doing HAHA)

There was something strange about Harry Potter. No, it didn't have anything to do with the rumors spreading in Privet Drive that he was a delinquent who liked picking on Dudley. If you asked any Privet Drive resident about anything off about Harry Potter, it would be his grey eyes.

It was an uncommon color, something strange, something abnormal. So, Petunia Dursley took it upon herself to make sure the boy was too busy to spread the disease to other perfectly normal people. She gave him daily chores that took up a lot of his time, but she did wonder why he never complained.

Little did she know that Harry was simply using it as a way to work out from a young age. He couldn't do any of the exercises he had done once upon a time in another life as of the moment, so he would at least try to make the chores worth his while.

Besides, it would keep him relatively more fit compared to his cousin, who was slowly starting to resemble a whale.

The day his Hogwarts letter arrived, his aunt and uncle tried their best to keep the letter from him, but he found an opportunity one morning when his aunt was occupied with a phone call and he had to open the door for the milkman. Between the bottles of milk was a letter addressed to him, identical to the ones his aunt and uncle had already hid. Sneakily, he shoved the letter inside his cupboard before continuing breakfast.

He was able to steal a sheet of paper from Dudley's room while his cousin was out playing with his friends, and he wrote a short reply to the letter. Once he was finished, he stepped outside, intent on going to the post office before he realized he had neither the money nor the time to slip out and send the letter. His worried were resolved, however, by a brown owl that swooped by and held its leg out to him.

Harry blinked before realizing that, attached to the owl's leg, was a small, round compartment where the letter would fit in. He felt a little idiotic, wondering if this was actually happening, but he trusted his gut and rolled his letter, slipping it in the compartment and securing it before the owl took flight.

A few days later, a response to his letter came in the form of Rubeus Hagrid. Threats were exchanged between Hagrid and his relatives before it was decided that Harry would be going to Hogwarts and would spend the summer with his relatives.

The revelation that he was a wizard had surprised him, but he took it in stride, filled with want to know wizarding history and culture.

Hagrid brought him to Diagon Alley — it was somewhere in London, behind a pub called the Leaky Cauldron, where strangers had flocked to him and thanked him for reasons he didn't currently know —and their first stop was Gringotts. He found it odd that Hagrid had his Gringotts key, so he made sure to ask the man for it afterwards, intent on getting more information regarding his finances at a later date once he was alone.

After purchasing most of his supplies for school, Hagrid brought him to Madam Malkin's to purchase his robes — and now that he thought about it, maybe he could buy some casual wear, as well — while the giant did some business elsewhere.

Madam Malkin, however, was currently busy with another customer who was standing on a stool, so Harry chose to wait for his turn by the wall. His eyes roamed around the shop before he looked back at Madam Malkin and her customer.

She was attending to a girl with pale blonde hair, getting the girl's final measurements before nodding. "I'll be back shortly with your first set of robes, Miss Malfoy. The other set will be finished in an hour."

The blonde girl nodded before getting off of the stool. Madam Malkin went through a door behind the counter in the shop, and the girl chose to sit on the stool, presumably to patiently wait the way Harry was currently doing.

And then their eyes met and Harry's eyes widened when grey met red.

. . .

Dorea Narcissa Malfoy was an heiress Lucius could be proud of. He had disappointed both himself and his father, Abraxas, when she had been born, both men hoping for a male heir to the Malfoy family.

But Dorea had the two men wrapped around her finger the moment her eyes opened. They were red, a color that hadn't been associated with the Malfoy line for centuries. Lucius took this as a positive sign and named her as his heir in the Malfoy family register.

As little Dorea grew, Lucius and Narcissa noticed the intelligence in their child. The first sign was when Narcissa had cooed at Dorea, asking if she wanted her blanky, and Dorea had nodded as if she had understood the question. Narcissa and Lucius had brushed it off as a fluke but when it happened a few more times, they just knew their daughter was special.

There was also the fact that by the time Dorea was five, she had begun reading newspapers, especially on the sections that talked about wizarding Britain's economy and international relations.

And, of course, the two parents couldn't forget the time when she was seven, when they found her in the library, nose buried in a book about the companies that had been established and were still existing in contemporary times.

So when their daughter brought up blood purity and a Muggle concept called genetics to them, they took her seriously and listened to her theory on the connection between inbreeding and magical potential. Once she had finished her explanation on it, Lucius had to admit that her reasoning was sound, even if she had used Muggle knowledge to justify her view on it. Narcissa was just proud of her daughter, but also considered deep down that perhaps it was time to stop looking down on Muggles, considering the vast scientific knowledge they had uncovered without magic.

And little Dorea simply shrugged their praises off before finding another book to read. It was this calm demeanor of hers that curbed any potential accidental magic from happening. In fact, Narcissa couldn't recall any situation where Dorea had used accidental magic, so she bluntly asked her daughter about it, only to be surprised when her daughter wordlessly and wandlessly summoned a book towards her.

"I've been able to do it for a while, but the books I've read said that it was something rare for most wizards and witches, so I thought I'd read up on it more before informing you and Father. Are you angry with me?"

Narcissa shook her head before hugging her daughter. No, she couldn't be mad with her precious girl. And Lucius, upon being informed, had looked positively delightful at the revelation.

Which is why, when she received her Hogwarts letter, Lucius had gone off to surprise Dorea with a broomstick. Narcissa, who had been accompanying her daughter, left Dorea at Madam Malkin's because she too wanted to give her daughter a present.

Narcissa did tell Dorea to meet her at Fortescue's in an hour, leaving the girl a pouch full of Galleons and sickles for her spending pleasures.

So Dorea decided to have two sets of clothes: one for school and one for more casual attire. Both, of course, would be made from the highest quality of cloth that Madam Malkin had to offer.

Being measured for her clothes didn't take as long as she had initially expected, so by the time Madam Malkin was almost done measuring her, there was already another customer in the room.

Once Madam Malkin had finished, Dorea decided to sit down as she waited for the first set of clothes, curiously glancing at the waiting customer before freezing.

The barely concealed lightning bolt scar was already a giveaway. Harry Potter, Savior of the Wizarding World, was in front of her right now, but that wasn't what shocked her.

No, it was the familiar set of grey eyes that made her world stop.

. . .

Ron Weasley was born as the sixth son in the family, so there was a lot to live up to, but Ron didn't seem to feel the pressure.

He spent his days annoying his little sister, Ginny, for fun and joining his twin brothers, Fred and George, in their pranks. This earned him the ire of his older brother, Percy, but Ron didn't care much for Percy. He was content with hanging around the twins, although he preferred the company of his eldest brothers, Bill and Charlie, when they were free.

Bill, as the Weasley heir, took his role seriously so when he wasn't studying, he could sometimes be found reading up on books about business and politics. Charlie, on the other hand, was much more laid back, choosing to spend his time exercising or reading about dragons.

Ron eagerly joined Charlie whenever the latter chose to jog around Ottery St. Catchpole, and Charlie was surprised that Ron didn't seem to have trouble with pacing himself.

But that was just one odd thing about Ron.

Ron was also the only Weasley child with eyes that resembled the Black family's eyes. Bill was sure that those eyes had come from Cedrella Black, who had married into the Weasley family. It was something that separated Ron from his siblings, but Ron didn't really mind.

"My eyes are like a Black's, big fucking deal, now can you pass me the chicken, Charlie? I'm hungry."

The language earned him a smack on the head from his mother, who demanded to know where he learned such vulgar language from. None of the brothers fessed up to it because none of them remembered ever saying that word in the house.

Of course, there was also that time when they introduced Ron to Quidditch. He had been gradually getting better at the game until Fred and George decided they needed to give him a challenge. Fred pulled a maneuver that caused Ron to drop the Quaffle into George's waiting arms. After the twins scored, Ron had flawlessly copied what Fred had done, causing Fred to drop the Quaffle into Bill's outstretched hands before he scored.

Fred couldn't seem to pull the same trick on Ron or anyone afterwards.

Because of his skill in Quidditch, Bill decided to take Ron to Diagon Alley earlier than planned — their mother nagged at them, of course, but relented when Bill told her the plan he and his other brothers had. He wanted to surprise his little brother with a pet of his own, something Ron probably wouldn't be expecting, but Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George had saved enough money to buy him one.

So, Bill had Ron head off to Fortescue's for an ice cream, a sufficient way to distract Ron for a bit while he bought a pet.

Ron, of course, was oblivious to his brother's plan so he happily took the sickles his brother handed him and went to Fortescue's. There, he waited in line before purchasing a strawberry ice cream. He then looked around to check for any free seats and found one on a table where a blonde haired girl and a black haired boy were talking to each other.

Ron scrunched his nose at the sight, partly irritated and partly disgusted because the girl and the boy seemed sickeningly sweet with each other, but he didn't want to eat standing up, so he took a deep breath before marching over to the two.

"Hey, do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full," he told them.

"Go ahead," the boy drawled, gesturing to the empty seat.

"I'm Ron. Ron Weasley," he said.

"N— Harry Potter," the boy said.

"Dorea Malfoy," the girl said before Ron could start choking about how he was sitting with Harry Potter and a Malfoy — oh how his mother would nag at him if she found out about him 'consorting' with a Malfoy. Only when he met the eyes of the Malfoy girl did he forget how to breathe.

And that's when Ron forgot about his melting ice cream, about his mother's future nagging, about everyone else in his surroundings.

He just focused on the two people in front of him with eyes filled with hesitant hope.

. . .

Conor Finnegan was in shock when his wife admitted that she was a witch. An actual, wand-waving, abra-kadabra-speaking witch. His eyes lowered from his wife's guilty face to her bulging stomach.

It was possible, then, that their son would be a witch, er, wizard, like her. And what did he feel about it? He wasn't sure, but he loved Natalia, so he could eventually come to accept this information overload.

And he did. He took everything in stride, and he was happy because she was happy and now the dishes were washing themselves and eggs were cooking on their own and he had more time to spend with his wife.

When their son, Seamus, was born, Conor was happy to hold him in his arms. He would love his son to death.

Years later, though, Conor sighed for the nth time as he stared at Seamus' face. Rather, what little he could still see of Seamus' face.

"You really have no plans of cutting those bangs of yours?"

"Nope," his son answered, making the 'p' pop.

"...May I know why?"

"Hmm, cos I don't feel like it."

"...Alright."

His son's taste in hairstyle wasn't what he expected, but he thought the little oddities would end there. Of course, Conor had to jinx himself as he stared at the small fire in front of him.

Somehow, Seamus had managed to get his hands on oil and a match as he stared at the flame in front of him with fascination. Conor felt rather alarmed, hovering by the side to pull Seamus' fingers away from the fire if they came too close, but the younger Finnegan seemed content with watching the fire dance.

There was also the time that Seamus had somehow made a water balloon explode and catch fire. Conor turned to his wife with a raised eyebrow before she shrugged.

"Could still be accidental magic," she said, "though I've never exploded five different objects in the past three days out of joy."

Which was why Conor was wary about letting Seamus wander off on his own in Diagon Alley. Not only was it because the area was still a new environment for him and Seamus, but it was also because the area was magical, so one small explosion from Seamus could probably cause a larger one in return.

Natalia called him a worrywart and gave Seamus a smile and a request to meet them back at Gringotts in a hour, so his son happily scampered off while his wife explained wizard currency and exchange rates to him.

Seamus continued observing his surroundings, looking around for a candy store when his eyes landed on a group of three kids walking together. He did wonder why they were an odd sight. It wasn't because they all had different hair colors, but people who passed by them seemed surprised by something.

So Seamus did what he did with anything that caught his interest: go closer to the source of interest and observe, which is why he ended up right in front of them.

"Why have you been staring at us?" one of the three, a redhead, asked him bluntly with a scowl.

He shrugged before glancing at the three, eyebrows furrowing when he noticed something odd.

That was when the sole girl among them gasped lightly and said, "Kazuya?"

. . .

When Hagrid returned, he was surprised at the friends Harry had made. He was proud that Harry befriended one of the Weasley kids and a half-blood such as himself. It meant Harry was still firmly on the Light, just as Dumbledore wanted, but the Malfoy girl... It was bad enough she was a Malfoy, but she also had red eyes, and he knew for a fact that Voldemort himself possessed red eyes. The Malfoy girl was bound to be trouble, and he told Harry about this later on when they settled at the Leaky Cauldron for a meal. He told Harry about Voldemort and Death Eaters and the role the Malfoys played in the war.

Harry took it all in stride, so Hagrid added in his own opinion of the Hogwarts Houses, emphasizing that Voldemort and the Death Eaters had come from Slytherin. And the Malfoys were always Slytherins.

This was when Harry surprised him by scowling and looking at him in the eye, saying, "I appreciate the concern, Hagrid, but I can choose my friends on my own, thanks."

Hagrid was torn between being pleased at the show of loyalty and being uncomfortable with the fact that Harry was adamant about staying friends with the Malfoy girl. It was something to tell Dumbledore, for sure.

. . .

When Bill found Ron surrounded by two boys and a girl, he was pleased that Ron had made friends already, although he only found out exactly who they were once they reached the Burrow.

"What."

"The Irish boy's Seamus Finnegan, the other boy was Harry Potter, and the girl was Dorea Malfoy."

"What."

"Goddamit, that's the third time you've asked that Bill. The fuck?" Ron scowled before heading up to his room.

But Bill still couldn't wrap his head around the idea that Ron had befriended Harry bloody Potter. He knew Ron had grown up hearing the stories about Harry Potter. Hell, Ginny herself was fantasizing about what it would be like to marry the last Potter, and here Ron was, easily befriending the boy and being casual about it.

And then there was the matter of the Malfoy girl. He had nothing against Malfoys. He just particularly disliked Lucius Malfoy for always putting his dad down, but that was a matter of personality, so he had nothing against Narcissa Malfoy.

He knew Lucius had a spawn. His father would sometimes tell the siblings some stories about work during family dinners, and he had mentioned a few times that Lucius enjoyed bragging about his genius daughter, who had invested in the Nimbus company early on and was now reaping profits. But he had never met the girl personally so he was a little wary about that.

Still, he decided to trust Ron's take on this and if he was going to stay friends with the Malfoy girl, then he would support Ron when the family eventually found out about it, provided that Bill got to meet the girl one day.

. . .

Lucius Malfoy tried not to scowl as his daughter told him about her new friends. Two of the boys she had mentioned were from Light families, after all. Still, he supposed he could be contented that she had not befriended a Muggleborn. Sure, he understood Dorea's point of introducing Magical Studies so that Muggleborns can get a better understanding of their culture, but they were still low class to him.

But the deeper problem was that her new friends were all boys. Let it be known that Lucius Abraxas Malfoy was not an overprotective father. He simply... preferred for Dorea to make more female friends her age, like the Parkinson's daughter or the Greengrass' eldest. It wasn't because he had thoughts that boys would corrupt his innocent little Dorea's mind with their foolishness. Definitely not.

Narcissa would disagree.

She smiled amusedly as her husband started another rant on the benefits of Dorea having female friends. She personally didn't have any complaints about Dorea's choice in friends, although she would have to meet the Weasley boy in person to ensure that he wasn't as horrid as his mother.

"Lucius, dear, you know how Dorea is. She's always buried in books and it's not as if she's ever willingly approached any other child her age until now. Perhaps these boys will be good for Dorea."

"Good friends? We'll see," Lucius sneered at the thought of one of those boys becoming more than a friend.

. . .

Conor Finnegan honestly didn't care about blood status. He was a Muggle, after all, so he was just happy Seamus had made some friends.

His wife was the one looking concerned, though. "The Malfoys are a Dark family, not to mention the girl's mother is a Black. And Seamus goes and befriends her along with Harry Potter and a Weasley boy? The Potters and Weasleys are Light families! How do they even get along? How—"

"Natalia," he sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I may not know much of what went on during your war, but the sins of the father should never be the son's. Whatever the Malfoys had done... Dorea hasn't done it. Have some faith in Seamus' choice in friends, hmm?"

"I'm sorry," Natalia let out. "It's just... hard to comprehend."

"Just try to keep an open mind. You never know. They might be good for him."

"I certainly hope so."

End