Home Made Basket Ball Love

Season: Winter

One

It was the oddest thing I've ever seen. He was just simply flinging the basketball at the net, no formation, no calculating, and no etiquette of thinking at all. And even odder the ball would go through ever time, he never missed.

His expression held such a deep dispassion, and yet his dark eyes had such a desperate longing that I did not know. Sometimes he'd get into it and dribble the ball while running along the court, laying up, doing formless shots and random dunks until an unknown hope seemingly left his eyes-and he'd continue to fling the ball.

When he was tired of flinging the ball he held it in his hands and stared at it. His eyes were wishing or maybe hoping for something. He was pondering over a question or perhaps some kind of uncertain resolution.

He seemed utterly lost. He closed his eyes in an internal defeat and sighed-his breath created a large foggy cloud into the cold air. I didn't mean to stare for so long, but I was in such awe-I didn't even know what to think.

I knew he was more than just talented-perhaps a genius when it came to this sport. Yet I couldn't understand why he had such distaste for it. An icy breeze brushed past the basketball court, sweeping up dusts of white and tossing it back into the air. He let the ball fall from his grasp, watching it bounce off the concrete court-till it rolled away. He stuffed his hands deep into his coat pockets and left without a word.

"Oh, you must've saw Aomine" my closest friend, Tetsu, said before taking another sip from the Styrofoam cup holding his hot coco. We were walking home from school together, since our homes are not too far apart, and I had told him of the odd scene I had witnessed yesterday.

"I'm surprised he was attempting to practice…since he never does" Tetsu looked at me, his ice blue eyes were sympathetic. His matching hair blew lightly in the cold wind.

"What you saw was incredibly rare"

"Rare?" he sipped some more hot coco before talking.

"He's one of the Generation of Miracles. He has this love and hate relationship with basketball, and lately, he's kind of hating it more and more" I averted my gaze.

"Is that so…" well, that explains the lost look in Aomine's eyes.

"Sometimes, he even misses games" we stopped at the intersection that would take us our separate ways. The street was eerily deserted; the grey sky gave everything monotonous dark colors. Another breeze swept by, stronger than the last-I had pulled my knitted hat past my ears.

"I forgot to ask…What High School are you attending next year?" Tetsu said; this was our third and last year in middle school. I don't know why he bothered asking, he knew what my answer would be.

"I'll go wherever you go Tetsu" He smiled at my comment.

"Well, I'm going to Seirin High"

"Seirin?" Seirin wasn't a big name school like Touou, Yousen or Rakuzan. In terms of basketball the school was still in the lower status. Why he wanted to attend there was not really my business. And I've promised myself that wherever he goes, I will surely be there.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then, Mana" Tetsu said,

"Yeah…Tomorrow" We went our separate ways.

The town house that I lived in was a few blocks from the intersection. The moment I stepped onto the welcome mat in front of the entrance a ball of fur instantly began rubbing against my leg, purring. I smiled and kneeled to pick up the fluffy mess -that will only respond to Prince- and cradled him in my arms. His dark grey fur was as thick as ever, and his yellow moonstone eyes stared merrily at me. He meowed politely.

"I know I know" I carried the spoiled cat to the kitchen and placed him on the counter while opening a cabinet for a can of tuna. Of course, clumsy me accidentally dropped it on the ground when I tried using the can opener. As I bent to pick it up, I thought of that boy at the basketball court, when he had dropped the ball on the ground. His name was Aomine.

"Hm"

The next morning I waited for Tetsu at the intersection, so we could walk to school together. I hated our uniforms-specifically the girl uniforms. I hated that we still had to wear skirts, even though it was cold as hell. I wore leggings, but it wasn't enough to keep my teeth from chattering.

"Gosh, I should've just worn the thermals"

"Yeah, you should've" I turned around in surprise-usually I was used to Tetsu's ghostly presence, but sometimes he still manages to scare the skin color out of me.

"Jeez, Tetsu, you're such a transparent" as lame as it sounds the nickname had always been around. When we got to Teiko middle Tetsu walked me to homeroom-he never fails to be a gentleman, even to girls he doesn't date.

I sat at my seat in next to the window fourth from first the desk. As the class filled with students, it got louder. Groups of girls giggled and conversed over the latest things, groups of guys talked about sports; as for me I didn't really get along with everyone.

I'm not really sure what I've done, other than being dark skinned and having a slim and strong cliché curvaceous figure due to my Kenyan heritage-though those were the only inherited genes, every other feature of my body was soulfully Japanese. I knew certain girls, didn't like me due to my record-breaking speed. Basically, other than Tetsu, I had no friends.

I spent most of my time with either alone or with Tetsu. And its not that I don't want to get to know people, for some odd reason that just can't accept me. The teacher eventually walked in and demanded everyone take his or her seat. After attendance school officially began.

My first class was gym. I hated the gym school uniforms so I bought baggy sweatpants and a t-shirt to wear-I don't have a big butt -its actually quite nicely shaped and full- but the last time I wore shorts or spandex guys couldn't stop staring at me and girls started calling me a slut.

Today we were playing dodge ball, pretty simple. As the teachers brought out the balls, I noticed they were different than the usual cushy pale yellow balls we use. These balls were bigger than my head and blood shot red.

When the balls were divided amongst two teams, the game begun. I'm pathetically non-violent, so all I could do was dodge balls-I couldn't stomach actually hitting someone. The balls zoomed past me, and as I avoided them flawlessly my eyes caught sight of familiar dark blue hair, and the same pair of lost eyes. His dark olive-toned skin was glistening sweat as he tagged student after student as if it were second nature to him. His movements were so perfectly agile and graceful; it was like watching someone dance. I had lost all focus in the game, and a ball hit me right on the head-it was an instant knock out.

Innocent eyes stared at a pool of blood, two bodies lye there motionless and awfully pale. I tried calling out to them, but they didn't respond. I even got on my knees, soaking my white dress in their blood, and tried to shake them awake. But they wouldn't wake up.
"Please" I cried,

"Please don't leave me"

I woke with a startled gasp reaching out for the closest thing to me, which happened to be a clump of hair.

"Um…ow" I was staring straight at Aomine, and he was looking at my hand waiting for me to let go.

"S-sorry" I released my grip. He ruffled his hair,

"Feel better?" that's right I got hit in the head by a ball…awkward….

"You brought here me?" he nodded,

"Thank you for staying as well"
"Well you wouldn't let me leave" my eyes widened a little and my cheeks felt tingly. Aomine stared down at me, baring his dark eyes.

"You kept crying out don't leave me…so I stayed"

The last school bell of the day rang, echoing throughout hallways and classrooms, as waves of students flooded out of the building. I met Tetsu at our usual spot, under the cherry-blossom tree near the entrance gates.
"How'd your day go?" Tetsu always asked, sometimes I feel he worries about me too much.

"I got hit in the head with a ball and had to be taken to the nurse" he nodded his head,

"But your okay now?"

"Yeah, Aomine carried me there" Tetsu's eyes brightened, and a smile crept on his lips.

"Oh really" he said it, kind of smug-like. I gave him a cautious look,

"Whatever you're thinking in that transparent brain of yours, don't say it" I said while poking him in the chest. He rolled his eyes.

"Come to basketball practice with me" I lifted a brow. Tetsu never openly invited me to one of his practices before-I thought the coach was strongly and boldly against visitors.

"Why?" Tetsu shrugged his shoulders,

"It's not like you have anything better to do…other than track practice" I shivered from that word, track…I definitely wasn't going there.

"Alright you win" I followed Tetsu to the school gym. It was filled with boys that towered over me-making me feel like an ant just waiting to be crushed.

"Tell the coach you're here to help out, and he'll let you stay" Tetsu said before walking off and leaving me with all of these hormonal colossal beasts. I felt a lot of eyes on me, and I knew exactly why. Ignored the stares and found the coach-an old man wearing the coaches' symbol, a whistle- talking with a petite girl with long pinkish hair and stern but bubbly pink eyes.

"Excuse me" the coach glanced my way,

"What" he said calmly. He towered over me as well and his powerful stare wasn't making me feel any better.

"I'm here to help out" the coach glared at me for a few more minutes. Then a small grin formed on his strong jaw.

"Good! You can help Momoi-" he pointed to the pink-haired girl, who smiled politely at me.

"-Out" Momoi reached out her hand, which I took, and was taken by surprise when she pulled me to her and hugged me tightly.

"Yay! I have a female buddy!"

The basketball club had over a hundred members -due to this school's reputation for talented basketball players. The team was divided into three strings. The third string being for complete beginners, the second string for potential first-string players, and the first string were the members that played in all the games.

Momoi and I would be working with the first string, and I was happy to see Tetsu with them. He was apart of the Generation of Miracles as well. The coach gave a short lecture to the guys and then patted Momoi on the shoulder,

"They're all yours," he said before walking away. Momoi flashed him a cocky smile. She took the whistle around her neck and blew into it lightly.

"I'm mainly the manager of the team, but every now and then the coach has me lead some of the workouts," she said to me. All eyes were on her as she explained the routine for today.

I examined the male students before me, in total there were only five-including Tetsu. The boy on the far right had crimson hair that was neat and stopped at his ears-his bangs were longer and stopped at the edges of his eyes. His eyes were oddly different colors, one plainly red and the other a pale yellow-a lot like my cat's eyes. He was pretty short compared to Tetsu and didn't seem intimidating at all-but I knew there'd be more of him to see.

The next guy to his left was incredibly tall-like skyscraper tall. His hair was a deep purple and stopped at his shoulders. His expression was bored and lanky. The next person beside him was a blonde with short hair and cute light brown eyes. He looked ready to do anything that was thrown at him. The person beside him had green hair that was also short and his light green eyes were hidden behind square glasses. I noted that his fingers were taped. Beside him was Kuroko. I counted them all together. Shouldn't there be six?

"I'm surprised he was attempting to practice…since he never does"

So Aomine was the one missing.

"Before we begin the workout, I'd like to introduce our dear pal…" Momoi paused for a moment, looking to a random space in the air. Then leaned close to me whispering,

"Oh God I don't know your name"

"Mana-" I swiftly said.

"-Our dear pal Mana. She'll be helping us out." I saw Kuroko smile at me.