Lesson 10. "Sleeping is so hard when you can't stop thinking about someone." – Unknown

"Watch out where you're going, nerd!"

Rio kneeled down in the middle of the main hall and the books she had dropped when one of the upperclassmen bumped into her. She sighed resignedly, her tired gaze drifting from one cast-off coursebook to another as she collected them into a neat pile. There was only one workbook left on the floor but before her slender fingers could even brush the worn-out spine, someone picked it up and gave it back to her.

She looked at the cover first, her puzzled gaze gliding from the medium-sized male hand holding the book, through the lean arm hidden under the uniform's blazer, stopping only after her dark brown eyes met the black orbs.

She furrowed her brows when her hands reached out for the object, mumbling a quiet thank you under her breath. She wasn't the one to hold grudges for long, but what she had told Aomine the other day in the music classroom was true. She just didn't feel comfortable near Souta. Regardless of the fact that was not known to the boy, he smiled and ruffled her hair affectionately, causing her body temperature to rise, while her muscles tensed.

"S-Souta-san," yelped she in surprise, her big eyes getting even bigger, the tips of her ears becoming as red as a ripe tomato when he held out his hand in front of her face and poked her cheek with his index finger.

"Sorry, you're so cute I couldn't help it." His laugh was subtle yet cheerful and sincere. Rio, however, looked away, visibly embarrassed by his bold behavior. "U-zu-ta~ni-chan!"

"H-huh?"

She stiffened, blinking in astonishment to his sudden shamelessness, her mind processing slowly what exactly had just happened there. And when she thought that her brain would explode from the data overload, the rescue came from her only female friend.

"Ri-chan!" Hearing the bubbly manager's voice, she stood up and turned around, only to find the pink-haired girl among the crowd, walking in her direction with her right hand outstretched, waving to get her attention. She waved back, suddenly relieved at her sight.

"I'm sorry, Souta-san, I have to go." She faced him for a brief second and bowed her head before she took off. She met Momoi halfway through the corridor, trying to shake off Souta's strange behavior of her mind.

"Ri-chan!" Pink-head addressed her once more, a carefree smile on her face. "I wanted to ask you if Dai-chan had asked you if you'd like to go with us to the practice match this Friday."

Uzutani stared at her for a while dumbfounded, the gears in her brain revolving intensely in order to convert the unusually long sentence into something she was able to assimilate. When it finally sank in she looked away, her cheeks once again painted with the stains of embarrassment. But this time, it wasn't as furious red color as before. It was rosy pink that made her look innocent and pure. Momoi smiled at her seeing her awkwardness, her woman's intuition prompting her what was behind that blush.

"Well… I wouldn't call it asking, but yes, I heard about it."

"Uh-oh, was Dai-chan rude to you?" Satsuki cocked her head to the side, a worried expression on her beautiful face as she grabbed Rio's hand in her palms.

"No, no, nothing like that… He just informed me I'm going to see him win."

"Yup, sounds like the Ore-sama we know."

Rio tried to smile in response to Momoi's chuckle, but she was too occupied by her thoughts to actually pull it off. The pinkette didn't falter to notice, the idea of her friend being down and Momoi not doing anything about it truly disheartening. Since Aomine was absent from school due to the team's visit to the sports medicine physician, it was her duty to try and cheer Rio up, or at least help her clear her head out. She didn't mind. Although she was quite popular and had a lot of colleagues, she had never made any female friends in high school as most of them had the ulterior motive in befriending her – being close to the basketball team and handsome boys with whom Momoi spent most of her time. Rio was different than them.

"Are you fine, Ri-chan?"

"Yeah, I just wonder… Would it really be okay? I mean… it's a school day, after all, and he's already absent today. Plus, the exams are really soon..."

"I see. That's what's troubling you." Momoi brushed her hair aside, averting her gaze from the orange-haired girl. They stopped in front of Rio's locker and Satsuki immediately offered to help her, reaching out hands to take over the textbooks and enable her friend decoding the lock. "You're afraid he won't score enough on the maths exam."

There was a short while of silence, as Uzutani hid the textbooks in her locker and closed its door, leaning against it with a heavy sigh.

"Are you not?"

"Not really. He might not show it, but he's determined." Of course, even Rio knew that. In the end, the basketball was at stake, and now that he finally had a reason to continue playing, his love for it fully recovered, he just couldn't afford to lose it again. "Besides, if anyone could help him, it's you, Ri-chan. He actually listens to you."

"He listens to you too, Momoi-san."

"It's completely different." She looked up at her, catching her surprised expression as she laughed subtly. "I've never been able to make him study, but he has been studying with you daily for the last week, not to mention your tutoring sessions started in November, plus he skips a lot fewer lessons since befriending you. Sure, he'll still whine about school and having to learn to be a nuisance, but with your help, he'll give it his best. After all, there's an obvious advantage you've got over me."

"Huh? An advantage?"

Momoi laughed wholeheartedly, linking their arms together and dragging her towards the staircase. The break was nearing its' end, as the first bell announced the very same second, and their classrooms were on the second floor.

"Yes, yes… But I won't tell, you have to figure it out yourself!" Rio felt baffled, having absolutely no idea of what was hidden behind Momoi's words. Seeing this clearly on her face, another laugh escaped the pink-haired girl's lips, and it only deepened Uzutani's confusion. "It's pretty obvious, though. I'm surprised you haven't realized it yet, Ri-chan! Or, have you? Maybe you're just afraid to embrace it and take responsibility, huh?"

"I... I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Momoi-san."

"Don't worry, don't worry! You'll figure it out soon enough, I'm sure! You both will!" They stopped in front of Rio's classroom, Satsuki's face enlightened with a big grin. "And don't worry about Friday's match, too! We've got our coach's permission to bring you with us, so you'll be pardoned from school. I'll see you later!" She waved at her before turning around and walking away as Rio was opening her mouth to inform her she wouldn't be able to make it. However, before she could make a sound, Momoi stopped after taking just a few steps and faced Rio again with the same enthusiastic mimics. "After the match, there will be a party at our friend's house! Isn't it cool? You'll come too, of course, right?"

"About the Friday, Momoi-san… Thank you for your invitation, but I've already told Aomine-kun I have to decline. I have a meeting with the biology and chemistry teachers scheduled, so I can't really skip… But I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for the team!"

"Oh… I see." Momoi was a little disheartened, but it lasted only a little while before she beamed with joy once again, waving at Rio just before she took off to her own classroom, skipping. "Then come to my house at six pm, we will get ready for the party together!"

"B-but…"

"No buts! I won't let you off the hook so easily, Ri-chan!"

"S-sure…" Rio didn't feel strong enough to object anymore. After all, it would be pointless – Momoi would just badger her for the rest of the week and drag her with her eventually, regardless of her answer. Besides, it was not like she could use Friday night to tutor Aomine, as he was probably going to be at the party as well, his attendance just as much voluntary as hers should they both decide to skip the party.

'Sorry, need to cancel today.'

'Is everything alright?'

'Yes, it's just something urgent came up.'

'Oh, okay, I'll go to work early then – but we'll have to cover twice as much ground tomorrow, hope you're aware :)'

'Yeah, I know... See you at school?'

'Sure. Have a nice afternoon!'

'You too.'

Aomine flicked his phone shut and slipped it inside his parka's pocket, taking a deep breath. He would much rather spend the afternoon with the girl he just bailed out on through text message, even if it had to involve learning. Especially that it was the first day in what seemed like forever he didn't actually get to see her since he had to skip school and go for a medical checkup alongside the rest of the team. As ridiculous as it sounded, he was actually longing for their meeting in the school library… But it was taken from him when he had received the message from Kagami, asking him to meet at the latter's apartment. Of course, he could've declined, but the curiosity got the best of him. He wanted answers and it was a high time to finally receive them.

He knocked, and the door opened almost instantly as if the other boy was waiting for him expectantly just on the other side.

"Bakagami."

"Ahomine."

After a short staring contest between the two tall males, Kagami moved aside and let Daiki into his apartment, closing the door behind him. When his guest had taken off his shoes and his parka, he led him to the living room. Aomine immediately sat down on the couch, his posture saying nothing more than let's get it over with, although in reality, he had been nervously anticipating explanation to Taiga's earlier texts, the meeting request and – what was the most important – the incident on the New Year's Eve. He had way too many questions and not enough answers. Tetsuya was nowhere to be seen, though, so he intended to make the best out of the situation.

"So, uhh… Want something to drink?" Kagami scratched the back of his neck, not feeling entirely free in Aomine's company, regardless of them being on his territory. Up until then, the only relationship they had was the rivalry on basketball-court and a few meetings with Kuroko or other members of the Generation of Miracles that usually ended with a basketball play. They weren't enemies, but they were not friends either.

"No, thanks. Let's just cut to the chase." Aomine proposed and Kagami sat down in the armchair on his right side. "And let's start with the part about: what the fuck did you need Rio's photo for?"

"That's basically starting from the end… And what's with the hostility? It's not like I'm trying to steal her away from you!"

"Don't even for one fucking second think that you can," Aomine's tone matched the threat and determination in his eyes, his aura giving off the vibe of a black panther preparing for an attack on its' prey – the same vibe he had been giving off whenever Kagami had faced him on the court, especially in the first round of the Winter Cup, "but I'm not telling nor giving you anything else without you stating your reasons. And they better be damn good."

"I'll tell you everything, just calm down!"

"I'm all ears, Bakagami."

The urge to retort was almost unbearable, but Taiga knew better than to engage in a discussion with Daiki, especially with his mood this foul. The dark blue-haired teenager was an irritably strong opponent both in and out of the basketball court. Kagami might have won against him that one time, but it was only by a hair's breadth and he had neither time nor strength for pointless bantering that would surely drag for half the night. There were more pressing matters at hand that needed to be addressed, even if – or particularly because – they were also sensitive.

"I…", he took a deep breath, searching for the right words that suddenly didn't want to come to him, "… don't know where to start."

Tch, was Aomine's response, as he leaned forth and propped his elbows on his knees, his unamused stare targeting Kagami, the sigh that came out of his mouth exaggerated on purpose.

"I've already thrown you a lifeline. Be nice and don't make me repeat myself."

"You surely are over-protective, you know… as for a friend. Or has something changed that Kuroko doesn't know about?"

"Don't change the subject. Now spill it."

"Fine… I needed it to show it to my dad."

"Can't see how it's supposed to be a damn good reason, Bakagami."

"Trust me, it is good," he combed his hair through with his hand, "but before I tell you anything else, I need you to answer my questions honestly, okay?" A nod was all he got in retort, so he continued. "What do you know about Uzutani's family?"

"She lives with her grandparents and has an older brother."

"What about her parents?"

"Not exactly your business, now is it?"

Under different circumstances, Kagami would find the way Aomine got so worked up and overprotective over the orange-haired girl really amusing and would gladly tease him about it some more. At the moment, however, it had been more unnerving and unhelpful than anything else. He gasped in exasperation. His initial plan was to get as much intel out of Aomine as he could before showing his own hand, just in case he was wrong all along. Aomine put up quite a resistance, though, making Kagami budge in his resolution. He needed to come at the problem from another angle, and there was only one way that he could think of at the moment. He swallowed hard, mentally preparing for the inevitable feeling of dull pain hitting the center of his chest.

"It may be my business, just… Let me show you something."

Kagami took the remote from the coffee table and turned the TV on. It took a few clicks more to turn on a video dated somewhere around ten years before, showing a scene that looked like Kagami's first day of elementary school. The camera was focused on a six-year-old boy who was anxiously talking to someone on the other side of the device, presumably his father, about Kagami's fear that he wouldn't find any friends in the new school because of his inability to speak English. Aomine didn't know what the point of him watching that movie was – his face contorted in incomprehension showed just as much. But then, Kagami's father said something wise about learning and the help of his childhood friend and new classmate, Matilda.

The name caught Aomine's attention, but it was only after the camera glided over to an orange-haired man, a boy holding his hand and a girl in his arms, who were heading towards Kagami and his father when Aomine's muscles tensed and a shiver run down his spine. At first, he saw only the back of the female child head, but when she was put down and run up to Kagami, almost throwing herself onto the boy and hugging his neck, their cheeks glued together, the girl smiling widely… It was as if the lightning struck Aomine's body. The orange locks, although short and way curlier than they were now, were hugging the childish yet familiar face, her big round onyx eyes looking at him with happiness only innocent kids could experience, her smile wide and the dimples in her slightly plump cheeks deep.

"How are you feeling on your first day of school, Tillie?"

"Good! I'm a big girl now and soon will be as big as Leo!"

"Not gonna happen, you'll always be three years younger than me."

"Leon, you meanie!"

"Don't fight now, kids."

"Sorry, daddy… Uncle Yu, daddy promised to take me and Leo for ice-cream after school! Will you and Tai-Tai go with us, uncle? Pretty, pretty please?"

The video stopped, once again showing the face of the girl whose resemblance to Rio was unmistakable, although both of them were around ten years apart. Still, he had seen the face of the child already. He also recognized the boy named Leon in the video, his brain making an instant connection to the photos that were hung up on the walls of Rio's apartment. Aomine rubbed his face, feeling at a loss.

"What does it all mean?" He finally asked after a while, not even for a second turning his gaze away from the TV screen. Kagami sighed, his fingers clenched on the remote.

"The girl in the video is Matilda Swan. She was my childhood friend, although we lived halfway around the world up till the moment I moved with my dad to the USA. Our fathers were business partners but also very good and old friends, so we got to spend a lot of time together. Whenever her dad would fly to Japan, he would take Tillie and Leon with him, so they could expand their horizons or something like that… That's part of the reason they both were bilingual."

"Only a part?"

"Aah," the red-head nodded, "their mother spent most of her life in the States, but she was born here in Japan. She taught them."

"What happened that you've lost touch?"

The TV remote got almost deformed under the crush of his fingers. Reminiscing was hard and painful, even after all those years he'd been trying to make his peace with the past and the sudden loss of his best friend. The fact that he might have found her was still overshadowed by the doubts and the promise of not getting his hopes up he made to his father after he had shown the picture of Aomine's tutor to him (well, Aomine's tutor and Aomine). In the end, what were the odds she was still alive and well after all this time? But then, what were the odds she would know his name if it wasn't, in fact, Matilda?

He sighed. As much as he'd like it all to be so simple and transparent – the puzzles still weren't complete. Not without information Aomine could provide him with, since his friend didn't remember him at all, aside from calling his name once before getting a migraine. For all he knew, everything could be just one big coincidence and a misunderstanding. Still, he wanted to believe his eyes, his gut, and his heart. He wanted nothing more than for Rio to be Matilda and that was why he needed to remind himself every now and then that the reasons behind the events of the New Year's Eve could have been numerous and far from what he wished them to be. In the end, the girl was friends with Aomine, Momoi, and Kuroko, so his name would have to come up at least a few times. As for the migraines, he was told that she used to suffer from them a lot in the past, but they got scarce eventually – a piece of information he owed to Kuroko, who learned about it from Momoi.

"Kagami?"

Aomine's voice brought him back to reality. It took him another few seconds to collect his thoughts and overcome the tightness in his throat, which made it even harder to speak about the events from his childhood that left a gaping hole in the lives of so many people close to Matilda and Leon Swan. Still, when he finally managed to make a sound, the words just rolled off his tongue finally finding an outlet after all those years.

"There has been an accident…"

Daiki rolled over in his bed for a hundredth time, annoyed by the fact that the sleep wouldn't come when he needed it the most. He needed his brain to shut up. He needed it to stop analyzing everything he had learned, sentence by sentence, word by word because he himself was not able to force it. He tried distracting himself with video-games, then he tried to watch some stupid sit-coms on the TV, and finally ended up mindlessly scrolling through his social-media wall, but every single stab he took at drawing his attention from Kagami's story turned out to be futile. Every single time his mind wandered back to the video and Matilda, and Rio, and the burning questions of whether Rio was Matilda, and what was the limit of bad things that could happen to one person, and what to do with his freshly-obtained knowledge, should he talk about it all with Uzutani, or Momoi, or Kuroko, or should he just let Kagami and his father take care of things and wait for all the dots to be connected, for the situation to unfold, and…

He groaned and rolled over yet again, this time pushing his face into the pillow to muffle the croaky curses he'd most gladly scream out at the top of his lungs. He would if it weren't for his parents sleeping in the room across from his. Their attention was the last thing he needed, especially that his father just came back home after a long three months at the sea and Aomine didn't fancy a piece of fatherly advice from a man whose homesickness was yet to be cured. Whenever he returned, he'd fuss over every little thing he had missed in his teenage son's life due to the military service and try to make up for the time lost – at least for a few days. Then, Daiki would usually screw something up so badly that it demanded from his father to act like a strict lieutenant commander rather than an overloving father, and so – the homesickness would be gone and the balance restored, making it possible for them to interact normally until the next time his father would have to leave, restarting the same old cycle he'd grown up in.

Stop whining, you asshole, he reprimanded himself, suddenly feeling bad when his thoughts circled back around to a certain orange-head, at least you have a father who provides you with everything you need.

He sat up and rubbed his tired eyes. The room was dark, except for the light of a crescent moon sipping through the apertures in drawn blinds. The alarm clock on his bedside chimed three in the morning as he had thrown himself back on the bed. He felt his head was about to explode due to the throng of thoughts constantly occupying his mind, Rio being the center of it all. It wasn't the first time he lied awake at night thinking about her, but never before has the background of it been this serious. He snatched his phone from the bedside, unplugging the charger and flipping it open in one swift motion.

'You asleep?', he typed equally fast, before he could talk himself out of it. Daiki knew she probably wouldn't answer since it was the middle of the night, but he had to try and get rid of at least the smallest weight off his chest. Maybe that would silence his conscience and help him relax enough to slip into the most awaited sleep. Or maybe he just wanted to hear her voice after a whole long day – the first one in a week – of not seeing her, the only contact they had, being a few sporadic texts exchanged between them throughout the day.

The buzzing of the phone startled him. As much as he wanted it, he didn't expect she would answer him so soon at this hour, yet there it was – a notification about a new text message received from Rio. He opened it without delay, immediately answering.

'No, just came back home from work.'

'It's like 3 am.'

'I stayed longer today... Why aren't you sleeping?'

'Just… can't. Too much on my mind.'

This time, the seconds passed and there was no reply. A resigned sigh escaped his mouth as he was pondering whether he should write something else to engage her in a conversation, or just simply call her. He wasn't really sure what was his goal in talking to her – just a late-night exchange about the weather and the day they had to get his daily dose of Rio, or spilling everything he talked about with Kagami and disturbing her peace of mind filling her head with things that might not have been true, or both since the two subjects were tightly connected. In the end, he decided against it and put his phone down, staring blankly at the ceiling. That night, one insomniac would have to suffice.

His phone came alive and started buzzing once, twice, and then again. He looked at the photo of Rio and him that showed up on the screen and – feeling warmth spreading throughout his chest – pressed the answer button.

"Hey…"

"Hey… Are you okay?"

Both of them were whispering not to wake up any of their home dwellers, but those few words she said in her small, slightly hoarse voice seemed to soothe his nerves in an instant. He took a deep breath, closing eyes for a second.

"Yeah, I am now…"

"You don't sound convincing at all… First, you canceled our lesson, now you can't sleep… If you need to talk about something, anything..."

"But I really am better now, that I've heard your voice." She chuckled awkwardly and he imagined her playing with her hair, looking down as if she wanted to avoid his gaze. He was sure she blushed at his words, just like he certainly did.

"Glad I could be of help… But really, did something happen at the checkup?"

"No, no, I can play, I'll kick those losers asses on Friday. Too bad you won't see that."

"Sorry about that… I really want to be there, but this Friday…"

"I know, don't sweat it, there will be other matches. But you'll still come to the party, right?"

"I don't think Sa-chan would let me skip it."

"Sa-chan?"

"Yeah, we went a little shopping after school, and she just… Well, I don't want to say she forced me to call her by her first name but… you know her better than I do."

"If you don't like it…"

"No, no, I don't mind! It's just… It's been ages since I was on a first-name basis with someone other than Shino, so it's a little weird for me, but… nice."

"You can call me by my first name too," he blurted out in a sulky tone, his mood suddenly dropping down. If truth be told, he didn't really fancy the idea of Satsuki getting so close to the orange-head, because that would mean having to share Rio, and sharing Rio with anyone – be it his childhood friend, or that jerk Souta, or anyone else – meant that he wouldn't be able to see her as much as he'd like. And he needed her more than anyone – for studying purposes, obviously.

"B-but…"

"Just say it."

"But people will be talking if I start addressing you by your first name!"

"People will always talk, plus I've been calling you Rio for quite a while now, no? Now c'mon, it's just a name."

For a while, he heard nothing but a weak whimper and the rustling of sheets. He imagined she was so embarrassed she instinctively hid under the covers, as if it was going to shield her from his voice, and he snorted at the thought, drawing another sound of protest from her throat.

"No way I'm going to do this now!"

"It's just a name, silly. And I don't know why you're getting so worked up over this, you've already called me Daiki before."

"I'm sure I haven't!"

"It was on New Year's Eve, just before the migraine-episode so you don't remember, but it's true."

"Liar," she mumbled under her breath. "You've never mentioned it!"

"Well, I'm mentioning it now. It's the truth!"

"Don't believe you!"

"Not my problem!"

Their amused bantering dragged on for a couple of minutes more before the subject started changing naturally and fluidly time after time and again, from school to work, from work to their lessons, and then to basketball, and the art school, and his father, and suddenly he found himself asking her a question that had been nagging at the back of his head ever since he had left Kagami's apartment – the question of: "Have you ever thought about your biological parents?"

"Well, of course… I wondered why would they give me and Reo away, who they were… But the people who adopted us showered us with so much love that I've just come to terms with my past."

"And if you had the chance… would you want to meet them?"

"I guess? I don't know… What if I found something I don't like? Maybe it's better not to know? Anyway, right now we should worry about our exams rather than anything else. Your score on the Maths exam comes first."

"Yeah…"

Silence crept upon them as he was trying desperately to think of something to say that would divert the mood which became heavy due to his question. As much as she was trying to make her voice sound light and cheerful, he could tell the subject of her biological parents he brought up was troubling her more than she would let on.

"Hey…" In the end, it was Rio who broke the silence with her voice small, soft and tender and hearing her, his skin tingled with a rush of electricity. "I also really wanted to hear it. I mean, your voice. Not seeing you for a whole day… It felt empty and cold, somehow."

"Glad I could be of help." He joked, smiling to himself feeling restless with happiness that washed his body over with its warm waves as her quiet, tired chuckle filled his ear with the most beautiful sound.

"Yeah, me too… But I ha-ave to go," she yawned, "or I'll fall asleep in the middle of the call. Sorry…"

"I should be sorry for keeping you awake so long. It's like… what, four am? Shit," he cursed under his breath and rubbed his eyes, but the time on the alarm clock wouldn't change. "Didn't realize we talked for so long. Go to sleep. Goodnight."

"Goodnight… Daiki."

And with the beep of a finished call, as his heart pirouetted inside his ribcage with a furiously loud ba-dump, there went his sleep.