One

"He looks like a frog," she thought when she first saw him.

Standing in front of her was a smartly dressed boy whose green hair became ingrained in her mind like the multiplication table she had to memorize last week. And Reina Watanabe didn't want this. She had planned to spend this visit as brief as possible and pass it off as a fleeting memory before returning home where she could organize her lucky charm collection. Instead, she was stuck greeting with her mom the new next door neighbors.

"Welcome to the neighborhood," her mother was speaking in a voice Reina could gag. "I want to be the first to welcome you! Here are some fresh vegetables!"

Reina knew hospitality was not her mother's intentions. The reason why the house next to hers was ever empty was due to her mother's hot headedness and tendency to bond with others. If a person ignored her long enough, a fuse inside of her could be set off. It was annoying but seven year old Reina learned to cope with it.

The problem as of now was not her mother's temperament but the frog boy.

"Watanabe Reina," she held her hand out like how her mother taught her. "Please to meet you."

Frog boy stared at her hand for a while, with those slant eyes of his. His mother with matching green hair but bright sky blue eyes urged her son to say a word. The action ticked Reina off a bit. She didn't want to be here as much as he did yet she tried her best at being polite.

"Midorima Shintaro," came his stiff reply. He didn't say another word, not even taking her offering hand.

The frog boy simply stared at his feet, pushing his glasses up his nose while a tense silence made its way between the young children. Reina still had her arm out, feeling peeved when her mother finally took notice of this and patted her daughter.

"Now, now Reina," she cooed, "why don't you play with Midorima-kun while his mother and I chat indoors?"

"But," Reina started to protest but frog boy's mother agreed quickly, leaving no other option for the girl who wanted to go home more than anything. Five minutes after, she found herself stuck with frog boy while the adult females went into the comfort of an AC house.

"He doesn't even seem to be any fun," Reina muttered as she sat two feet away from frog boy on his front lawn. "I could be at home…"

A light bulb idea flashed in her head and she got up, calling to capture the boy's attention. "Hey, frog boy!"

The boy who had been analyzing the soles of his sneakers looked up, a cross expression clouding his face. "…frog boy? I have a name you know."

"Yeah, what was it? Shin? Mido? Rina? Well, I'm really bad with names you see—"

"—Midorima Shintaro."

"Right, Mido-san," Reina nodded, "anyways, since we're supposed to 'play,' you want to come to my room?"

"Midorima-san," he corrected again. "And what benefits come from entering your room?"

"Wah, you sure use big words for a seven year old," Reina said in faux amazement. "Do you also have fun like an adult too if you use big words like an adult? Staring at grass must be really fun then."

The boy remained silent, causing Reina to regret what she had said. Did she hurt his feelings? All she wanted was to be with her lucky charms collection.

"Look, Mi-midorima-san," Reina tried again, hoping she got his name correct. "It's really hot here and we're not doing anything. I'll show you something special in my room. Okay?"

He gave her a look which told her he doubted her tastes which didn't really bother Reina. Instead, she took this as a chance to walk ahead, opening the backdoor to her house which was always kept unlocked. Staring back at where they sat before, Reina found that the boy still stayed put. In any other situation, she would have just left him there. But she didn't know whether or not he was going to tattle to her mom.

"Please Midorima-san?" she called out again, "I'll…uhm…even…let you have a ball!"

Boys liked balls, right?

Frog boy stared at her in surprise, before covering his mouth and making a strange noise. Reina became a bit worried by this, wondering if she was going to get tattled anyways. But then the boy got up and appeared beside her.

"I was just feeling hot," he said simply, "it's not like I'm eager to look at what you have to offer or anything."

"Yeah, like I'm doing this to please you," Reina silently thought before putting on her sweetest hostess smile. She opened the door revealing a quaint kitchen and gestured. "Welcome to my humble abode!"

There wasn't much to show besides the dining room, living room, bathroom and closet. The two children navigated their way with Reina making commentary on the worthwhile sights while Midorima simply followed. Then, when they were finished, Reina led them up the stairs where their final destination was.

"Where's your father?" Midorima asked casually as they reached the second floor. Her hand which had been reaching for the knob of her bedroom door stopped and hung in the air for the briefest second before twisting the door open. "Just…nowhere."

She left him no room for a response when the sight of her bedroom instilled fear. "Oh no!"

"What's...going on?" Midorima asked uncertainly as he watched the girl walk in and out with a large bundle of tissues at lightning speed.

"Jam!" was the explanation Reina gave before stopping. "Phew, thank goodness not everything was ruined."

"What happened?" Midorima asked again albeit more impatient this time. He had stood as a spectator so she couldn't really blame him. Gesturing to the box she was thoroughly cleaning, she said, "My lucky charm collection!"

The boy peered in the purple stained cardboard box, his eyes widening at its contents. Reina couldn't help but feel a bit giddy by his reaction, having thought she would be made fun of as usual. Instead, she watched frog boy look at her trinkets—down from a yellow sock to a pack of mint to an empty tube of toothpaste. His eyes finally stopped at a piece of paper jutting out in the middle of random knick knacks.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Oh this?" She pulled out the paper, revealing it as a magazine. "It's Oha Asa Horoscope magazine! It's actually a television show but if you subscribe you can get a magazine version. I bought it so I can stay on top of getting the lucky item of the day."

"Isn't that pretty useless?" He inquired. "What's the point in luck? It's just chance that may or may not work."

"Then why don't you just leave?" Reina sarcastically muttered but bit her tongue when realizing what she had just said. "I mean...increasing your chance by even one percent makes a difference. The thing about one percent chance is that it's not zero. "

He seemed to have listened intently to what she said, remaining quiet as he leaned against the wall. Reina grew tensed by the ticking second, wondering if she said something wrong again. Looking for an answer, Reina glanced out the window and saw the basketball hoop in her backyard.

"Basketball," she blurted, startling the boy. "You wanna play?"

And so, Reina and Midorima climbed back down to her backyard, Reina grabbing a slippery orange ball from her closet on their way. She practiced her dribbling before turning to Midorima.

"You know how to play?"

"I don't engage in physical activities much."

Figured. Judging from his porcelain white skin, she assumed he had never step foot from his house in his life. It was kind of enviable since her mother would never shut up about the darkness of her own skin.

Hey, it wasn't her fault she liked shooting hoops.

"It's fine, I don't either," she reassured him.

"Really? Why even have a hoop if you don't have a clue how to play the game?"

A vein popped on her forehead as Reina restrained herself from punching the boy. Just as she thought he was turning alright, he made an obnoxious comment like that. Well, two could play at that game.

"Well I just said play," Reina countered, taking steps back until she reached halfway in her drive way and a few feet away from the basket and Midorima. "I could still shoot which is something, unlike some people."

The boy rolled at her obvious hint and was going to retort when Reina didn't let him. She threw the ball, at an angle not quite impossible to reach but not quite easy for a girl her age to throw, which soared until it landed its way to the ground, crashing through the net perfectly.

Whoosh!

"See?" Reina said smugly to the boy. "How about that—"

"Amazing," Midorima murmured in a hushed, amazed manner. "That was amazing." When he noticed Reina staring at him weirdly, he strangely blushed and coughed. "W-well, it's not like I'm amazed by you. I'm actually amazed by...by...the ball for going through the hoop."

The ball going through the hoop? Could his cover up be any lamer than that? Reina felt like sneering, that if he didn't like her shooting he could just leave when something clicked.

"Ah, so that is his personality," Reina nodded as she observed the green haired boy avoiding eye contact as much as possible now. "The type to deny things while meaning the opposite." She tried searching in her mind for the character term used often in the mangas she read. "...tsundere?"

"Excuse me?" The green haired boy snapped her, irritation evident. Reina blinked back before realizing she had said her last thought aloud.

"Uhm..." She searched for an excuse, a response, anything that would exempt her from facing his wrath (or so she assumed he would have one since the tsunderes in her mangas always had one). She stepped forward a bit but felt her feet touch something.

The basketball.

She picked it up, hoping it would be her ticket to freedom. "Want me to teach you?"

—

Later that night as she rid the last of the jelly stains, she picked up the horoscope magazine.

"Watch out, Taurus! You may bump into that special someone whether you admit it or not! But be careful of how your relationship will turn out since it can easily turn out horrendous. Your lucky item of the day is a green frog plushie."

As Reina set down the magazine, she gaped at the opened container of jelly.

"Wait...so I got my lucky item wrong?! And above all, it's a green frog plushie?!"

Word count: 1807

A/N: Hi everyone! I'm pretty inexperienced with writing KnB characters but I hope this chapter has done Midorima's character justice. I had lots of fun writing this and hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as well. Hope to have your love and support! Thanks for reading you guys! (: