Thirteen

When it came to the starting line up for the national tournament, Megumi had some ideas.

Aomine would definitely be a starter. He was good at scoring points and looked like he enjoyed himself while playing, two of both the captain and the coach's favorite things.

The next obvious choice was Akashi who was by far the best point guard on the team. Megumi noticed as slowly but surely the second and third year point guards were switched out more and more often for Akashi which did nothing to alleviate the pressure on the red haired boy from the resentment of his seniors.

Ever since returning from training camp, Megumi had quietly watched Akashi's back even though he had reassured her that he was unbothered. The more she became aware of the discontent of their senpais, the more she felt that she had to protect Akashi. She supposed that once he's on the starting line up for the upcoming tournament, the anger of the upperclassmen would grow even more, and she gritted her teeth thinking about what she was going to do to keep their foul moods out of Akashi's face because the boy didn't ask for this.

As for Murasakibara and Midorima, they were good at scoring points as well (and in the case of Murasakibara, also good at stopping others' points), but there was definitely a slight attitude problem with the two of them. Murasakibara consistently chose to conserve his energy once he's sized up an opposing team and decided they weren't worth his effort while Midorima had a habit of running a one-man show when he felt especially good about his chances.

Momoi had made a crazy, mad wish of a full five-man team of first years, but judging from the reality of the club in the weeks before official matches, Megumi was starting to believe that it wouldn't be too ridiculous to think the Teiko basketball team might actually arrive at the national tournament with half its roster composed of first years.

The only first year that had not been under Megumi's consideration was Haizaki, but that was about to change as Megumi found herself arriving early to club activities one afternoon and walking in on said boy playing a pick up game with some of the upperclassmen in the club.

Between often being overshadowed by Aomine as a small forward and the fact that he'd ditched most of training camp in favor of sleeping in, Megumi had never gotten a chance to see Haizaki play for real.

She made a face as she watched him steal the ball from a third year player and successfully—albeit forcefully—break through the guard of another as he penetrated the inside of their formation while both his opponents and his own teammates could hardly keep up. … Damn, he's actually pretty good.

A second year center tried to block Haizaki, but the gray haired boy easily skittered around him and tossed the ball up where it hit the backboard and bounced into the basket.

He wasn't like Aomine or Akashi who were polished and nimble, but he could probably beat Murasakibara when the purple giant was bored and could definitely take Midorima one-on-one. His promotion to first string wasn't a fluke—that much was for sure—and nothing pissed Megumi off more than when someone's personality didn't match up with their lot in life.

Nijimura-senpai hates him. He hardly shows up to practice. He hasn't even played that much with his teammates. No matter how good he is, there's no way in hell he's even getting on the bench.

At least that was what Megumi told herself to get to sleep at night.

The small forward who had been defeated by Haizaki while the gray haired boy had pushed into the area under the hoop took a step forward, but he stumbled and hardly managed to catch himself before he could trip.

Megumi's gaze narrowed at his left foot as he experimentally put weight on it. That injury wasn't there before.

At the same time that the suspicion crossed Megumi's mind, it also seemed to occur to the injured third year, and he whirled on Haizaki, gritting his teeth as he spoke, "Oi, that was on purpose."

"Huh? I don't know what you're talking about," Haizaki shrugged, but the triumphant smile that had cut across his face since he'd scored didn't disappear.

"Don't get cocky, brat," the player with the injured leg spat, "You've been trying to step on my leg for the last five minutes!"

"Did I now?" Haizaki drawled as he sauntered up to him, a dangerous light entering his eyes. Stopping directly in front of the upperclassman, his grin widened, and he leaned down so their gazes were level. "Why don't you prove it?"

"Enough, Haizaki," Megumi growled, appearing beside the third year and giving the gray haired boy a shove on the shoulder before he could lay a hand on their senpai. "If you didn't do it, just say so."

At Megumi's sudden presence, the goading look on his face seemed to become even more twisted. "Oh, you again. Little bitch who always swoops in like a hero, huh?"

"Get off your high horse, Haizaki," Megumi snapped. "I do not 'swoop in like a hero' because no one's fucking scared of you in the first place."

As if to emphasize her point, she made a show of turning her back to him and bent down to examine the ankle of the third year who had been injured.

The bruise that was forming there didn't look natural at all and further fuelled Megumi's belief that Haizaki had really injured the upperclassman on purpose.

"I'll get some ice, senpai," the teal haired girl muttered, turning to go but a rough hand caught her arm, jerking her back.

"Leaving so quickly?" Haizaki growled, his fingers digging into Megumi's sleeve and tightening to a vice grip when she violently tried to shake him off. Yanking her towards him, he gazed down at her with a disturbingly amused look in his eyes. "You know, there's nothing more of an eyesore than someone without any real power butting in and acting tough."

Despite the dangerous situation, Megumi somehow still couldn't keep her mouth shut, "There's also nothing more pathetic than someone who resorts to violence because things didn't go his way. What are you, four? Get your hand off of me, or I will obliterate you."

"How? By kicking my shins?"

"I'm not like you, you fucker—"

"Haizaki."

Cutting off at the sound of a familiar voice, Megumi's head whipped around to look for its source. "Nijimura-senpai!"

Fire burned in the black haired captain's eyes as he marched into the gym, the veins in his forearms already bulging.

"Shit," Haizaki made a noise of agitation with his tongue and roughly let go of Megumi who quickly took several steps away from him. His glaring eyes flitted behind him as if hesitating about what his best option at this point was.

"Still not running, huh?" Nijimura drawled and stopped in front of him, cracking his knuckles while smiling. "That's brave."

Evidently, the previous beating Haizaki took from the captain hadn't stuck because the gray haired boy actually gritted his teeth, conflicted, as he tensed for a fight.

In the blink of an eye, however, one of Nijimura's hands swung out and as Haizaki moved to dodge, the captain caught his ear in an iron grip with the other and dragged him in front of Megumi. "First, apologize to Akechi for grabbing her, and maybe I'll go easy on your punishment later."

Frankly, Megumi didn't want his apology and would prefer that he got the worst retribution Nijimura had to offer, but kept quiet and her face turned away from the gray haired boy as he forced a half-assed apology out between flinches from Nijimura's grip.

"Get lost," the captain said afterward, letting go of him. "I'll deal with you later. You're lucky we have a practice match today, so I have more important things to do right now."

"Tch." With Nijimura watching him like a hawk, Haizaki left like a wolf that had just lost his territory to a lion, glad to have made it out alive but eyes still flaming with resentment.

"Thank you, Nijimura-senpai," Megumi said, but before she could bow, he answered.

"No need. More importantly," the captain, a scowl on his face, turned to the second and third years who had stood by and simply watched the whole scene, "what were you all doing just standing there? Man up and help a girl when she's clearly outmatched and in danger."

Megumi blanched, "Outmatched—"

"And you," he regarded her with a glare then, brows drawn together in annoyance, "quit provoking Haizaki dammit. What are you, an idiot?"

"I am not an idiot, Nijimura-senpai," Megumi answered adamantly, and then cringed on the inside as she couldn't believe he had gotten her to make such a stupid statement.

Nijimura snorted, rolling his eyes, "If you have to clarify that you're not an idiot, you probably are an idiot, idiot."

Possessing no dignified retort to that, Megumi reluctantly kept her mouth shut, and Nijimura seemed satisfied, moving on to disperse the players around them.

"Get to warming up. If you're already warm, start on your drills. Where's Momoi, by the way?" he asked, eyes searching around the gym for her. "She's usually here by now."

"I haven't seen her yet," Megumi replied, gaze following that third year whose injury she still hasn't treated, "and I haven't heard anything about her needing to miss today or come in late."

"Well, if she doesn't show today, you're going to have to put out all the chairs for the practice game, Akechi."

"H-Huh?" Megumi's voice rose two octaves in response to that information.

"Hurry up, our opponents will be here soon."

"Momoi, where have you been?"

The pink haired girl stumbled into the gym twenty minutes later than usual and doubled over with her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. In her left hand was a stack of papers. "Sorry, Megu-chan. I had to run to the library to do some printing."

"At least tell me next time," Megumi said, unfolding the last of the compactable chairs that made up the bench along the side of the basketball court. So I can conveniently show up twenty minutes late too. "What were you printing anyways?"

At that, Momoi perked up like a flower and held the papers in her hand to her chest excitedly, "I'm glad you asked, Megu-chan. You see, over the weekend, I saw something interesting—"

"Momoi!" Nijimura, noticing that the pink haired girl had arrived, called her probably to inquire as to why she was late.

"Sorry I'm late!" she bowed a few times at him before grabbing Megumi's hand and bouncing over to the captain while holding out the stack of papers she had been clutching, "Nijimura-san, please take a look at this."

"Hm?" Nijimura stopped drinking from his water bottle and took the stack of papers curiously while Momoi beamed next to him. He glanced over the contents—which Megumi was still unaware of—before raising an eyebrow in pleasant surprise, "I see you went scouting, Momoi. This data is arranged very well. Did Sanada-san ask you to do this?"

Momoi shook her head, "No, Dai-chan and I actually went to a street ball tournament this weekend, and I noticed a couple of our potential opponents were participating so I just made some notes. It was no problem at all."

Without taking his eyes off of the stats, Nijimura smiled and absently reached over to pat Momoi on the head, making the pink haired girl glow. "I see. Nice work, Momoi. I'll look over this carefully when I go home. Do you have extra copies?"

"There should be three copies of the information in that stack. Let me know if anything needs clarification, Nijimura-san," Momoi smiled brightly before giving him one more polite bow and turning away to run to the girl's room, probably in order to change out of her sweating uniform.

Looking up from the papers, Nijimura seemed to notice Megumi standing nearby for the first time, and their eyes met in an exchange which lasted just long enough that Megumi squirmed, a great need to defend herself rising up in her chest.

"Please don't look at me like that, Nijimura-senpai," Megumi made the effort to keep her facial expression in check because she was speaking to the captain, but an unimpressed dullness still leaked into her eyes as she said that.

"Hm? Look at you like what?" Evidently, the faint judgement in his gaze was so subconscious that he wasn't even aware of it which soured Megumi's mood even more.

"Like Momoi is your shining first born and I'm the disappointing second child."

Nijimura's eyes widened in realization, and he appeared thoughtful for a moment as if reflecting on his thoughts for the past few seconds. After a purposeful beat of silence, he put his hands on his hips and tilted his head at her as if mildly fascinated, "You're actually pretty sharp, Akechi."

He didn't even deny it! Internally, Megumi's spirit left her body and floated away.

"Don't worry about it," Nijimura continued nonchalantly, completely unaware that Megumi's soul was no longer present. "I don't expect you to go the extra mile like that. It just seems like part of Momoi's personality to go above and beyond her role as a manager."

Megumi sulkily turned away from him, signalling that she was done with this conversation, "Good because 'going the extra mile' isn't a part of mine."

The next day—a Tuesday—was the day of the starting line up announcement.

The tension in the air was palpable as the club members warmed up while waiting for Coach Sanada to arrive with the line up roster. Usually, warm up was sprinkled throughout with laughter and many conversations between players, but the gym was strangely quiet that day. As if all of their anxieties from the past few days were suddenly catching up to them, most of the players jogged across the gym wearing strained expressions, and it got even worse when Sanada showed up holding the sheet of paper that contained the prides of all the first string players.

"I will now be announcing this team's starting line up for the national tournament," the coach declared to the jittery crowd of players that had gathered and purposefully unfolded the roster. "#4, Nijimura Shuuzou, power forward."

Several people startled at how quickly the coach was getting into it, but beginning the line up with a player that was expected seemed to break the ice a bit and polite applause followed the announcement.

"#9, Akashi Seijuro, point guard."

Less applause and more whispering this time, so Megumi made it a point to clap louder herself.

"#10, Aomine Daiki, small forward."

Although Aomine was well liked in the club, that made two starter positions already taken by first years. The rest of the team began to stir restlessly at the state of the roster and only the announcement of #15 Kitagawa Sadahige, a third year shooting guard, and #17 Nakamura Shun, a third year center, filling up the starting roster seemed to prevent explicit objections from breaking out.

"Next I will be announcing substitute players. First, #11 Midorima Shintaro, shooting guard. #12, Murasakibara Atsushi, center. #18, Narumiya Hoshiro, point guard. #29, Suwabe Yasutomo, small forward. #30, Okamoto Terao, power forward. #34, Haizaki Shogo, small forward."

It was going so well... Megumi sighed, hiding her face in one of her hands.

"That is all," Sanada folded the roster back up, and ignored the disappointed groans of the players that were not selected. "The rest of you will be in the stands with 2nd and 3rd string. Cheer loudly for your teammates."

"Yes!"

"With that settled, we're taking measurements for the national tournament pamphlet today," Nijimura announced as Coach Sanada transferred authority over to him. "Anyone who's a starter or on the bench will gather on this side of the court for measurements. The rest of you, proceed with practice as usual."

"Measurements…?" Megumi muttered as the crowd slowly dispersed.

"It refers to things like height, weight, maximum reach, and wingspan, nanodayo," Midorima said as he walked past her to follow the rest of the starters and bench warmers.

"Spectators like looking at that kind of stuff," Aomine added with a smile. "It makes watching games more fun."

"Sounds like it's just so the spectators can judge the players like goddamn Pokemon," Megumi replied flatly.

Before Aomine could respond, Momoi flew into Megumi's line of sight and slammed into the blue haired boy's back, hugging him with an excited squeal, "Dai-chan, congratulations! You too, Akashi-kun, Mu-kun, Midorin! You're all really amazing; I'm so proud. I still can't believe it!"

Megumi sighed, feeling her own energy drain around Momoi's excitement, but she felt it was only appropriate for her to say something as well since she did predict most of the line up correctly, "With a thorough appraisal of the facts and a sliver of perspicacity, anyone would be disinclined to imagine any denouement other than this one."

When she finished talking, Murasakibara and Aomine just stared at her blankly.

"Mu-kun, Dai-chan, Megu-chan used a lot of fancy words but she's basically saying she believed in you guys and is congratulating you on a job well done."

"Die, Momoi—"

"Ehh? Is that true, Gumi-chin?"

"For real, Akechi?" Aomine, his expression brightening into a beaming smile, threw an arm around her before she could move to murder Momoi. "You know, you can be pretty cute sometimes."

"...!" Megumi, virtually sinking under the weight of the boy leaning on her and the crippling embarrassment of what he had just, tried to shove his arm off without much success and practically screeched, "Aomine—"

As all heads in the gym turned to the source of the ruckus, Momoi clamped a hand over Megumi's mouth, abruptly cutting off her rage as the girl continued to silently struggle in Aomine's hold.

It was only when Megumi noticed Nijimura giving the three of them an unimpressed glare that her flailing stopped, and they realized the other members of the tournament line up were waiting for them.

After straightening herself up with comical haste, a pink faced Megumi instinctively hid behind Murasakibara as they joined the rest of the players gathered for measurements.

Taking height, weight, and other body measurements was more or less uneventful, but there was one measurement that created so much anticipation and excitement that even the club members who had not made it onto the tournament roster paused in their practice to observe—maximum vertical reach.

Anyone could tell that just from his sheer height and arm length alone, Murasakibara was probably going to have the highest reach, but that didn't stop curiosity and speculation about how the other players will rank in this self-induced competition.

Accompanied by cheers, Aomine made his jump, smacking chalk covered fingers on the glass backboard of their basketball hoop. Momoi and Megumi hadn't even gotten the exact measurement yet, but just from eyeballing it, it was clear that with over half the team having already had their turn, Aomine was in first place.

Next and second to last was Murasakibara, but the giant of a boy didn't look the least bit aware of the pressure on him as the tallest of the players and yawned widely as he was instructed on where to start his approach.

Sensing his disinterest and worried for his reputation, Megumi fidgetted a bit before quietly giving the purple haired boy some encouragement, "Murasakibara, do your best, okay?"

"Hmm…?" his sleepy eyes widened just a bit at her unexpected words, but he didn't seem to dwell on it as he responded in his usual dull but strangely reassuring tone, "Oh, all right, Gumi-chin..."

Right hand coated with a layer of chalk, Murasakibara waited for Momoi to get out of the way and then made a running approach to the basketball hoop before jumping. Unsurprisingly, his reach far exceeded anyone else on the team thus far, and the purple haired boy was rewarded with some polite applause as Momoi went up to measure the exact height.

"330 cm," she announced when she finished.

Having been instantly dethroned and by quite a margin, Aomine clutched his head distraughtly before turning to the boy who had beaten him, "Oi, I'm not losing next time, ya hear, Murasakibara?"

Rather anticlimactically, Murasakibara just gave a bored grunt in response and looked like he was simply happy he was finally done.

"Murasakibara is over ten centimeters taller than you, what did you expect?" Megumi sighed as she wrote down Murasakibara's measurement and shook her head at the blue haired boy as if disappointed by his delusion but not surprised.

The excited noise in the gym quickly died down to whispers as Akashi—the only person who hadn't been measured yet—took some chalk on his fingers and looked toward the hoop that towered in the distance.

Honestly, it was hard to imagine Akashi even being able to reach the backboard much less leave chalk somewhere on the glass but despite the pressure, the point guard's face was relaxed as he took a deep breath and prepared to make his running approach.

The entire gym held its breath as Akashi neared the hoop and jumped, and Megumi's eyes flew open impossibly wide—wider than she ever remembered them being—as the sound of his hand hitting the transparent backboard echoed throughout the gym.

An awed silence filled the room as all gazes glued to the faint white marks left on the glass after Akashi's landing.

Momoi climbed up the step ladder with her measuring tape, her hands shaking a bit as she measured from the bottom edge of the backboard to the top of the white hand print on the glass. "... 303 centimeters."

It wasn't nearly the tallest among the starters, but in terms of ratio to his height, Akashi was one of the best.

"No way, that's only three centimeters behind me!"

"Is he some kind of monster…?"

"He practically flew…"

As if he'd just witnessed something supernatural, Aomine laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head, "Just a couple centimeters more and he'd be able to touch the rim, what the hell?"

Megumi nodded at Momoi to signal that she's recorded the height, and the pinked haired girl wiped the chalk marks away before beginning to descend the step ladder.

"Is that everyone then?" Nijimura asked, looking over the table that Megumi had filled out with all of the players' measurements. "Good work. Tomorrow before practice, a photographer will be here to get your official portraits. Make sure to wash your jerseys and look presentable..."

"Yes!"

With that, practice ended, and the club members began to clean up the gym for the night.

As Megumi was putting away the chalk and measuring tools in the equipment storage room, out of the corner of her eyes she noticed the third year club member whose leg had been injured by Haizaki the day before. Suwabe Yasutomo-senpai.

He had made the bench—Megumi remembered taking his measurements—but judging from the fact that Haizaki had made it too, the third year hadn't reported the first year's foul play to the coach or captain.

The entire reason Megumi didn't report it herself was because she was sure that he would do it on his own, but that evidently wasn't the case. In fact, the bruise that was on his leg seemed to be purposely covered by tall socks.

Why… Absorbed in her thoughts, Megumi accidently knocked something off of a tall shelf as she was putting the chalk box back, "Shit…!"

Just as Megumi's scrambling fingers missed it, someone else's hand shot out and caught the object—which happened to be another open box of chalk dust—and a cloud of white particles sprang into their faces from the box in a mild explosion from the impact. "Akechi—"

Judging from the voice, it was Akashi but in the cloudiness that followed, neither of them could say a word as they coughed while the dust slowly settled revealing that their hair and faces had been covered in a thin layer of the stuff.

In silence, they just looked at each other and then at the container that Akashi had so skillfully caught, about half of the powder still in the box after that disaster.

Megumi broke the silence with a monotonous comment, "That could have been worse…"

Akashi smiled at her dry joke, and Megumi came to the jarring realization that she was smiling too and not even sure why.

Perhaps it was the irony that even after catching the box so skillfully, they still couldn't avoid the mess. Or it was just the look in Akashi's eyes when the chalk exploded in his face, the brief innocent surprise on his face when the dust cleared. Or maybe it was just the sight of Akashi—usually the picture of dignity and fine control—delicately shaking chalk dust out of his hair.

Doing her best to control her expression, Megumi distracted herself by looking down at the mess they'd created, "We need to clean this up before Nijimura-senpai sees and murders me."

Akashi nodded though he didn't look nearly as worried about that as he grabbed a broom nearby and gave Megumi a reassuring smile, "It was partly my fault. If Nijimura-san sees, let's get scolded together."

"Should I do the talking, or you?"

"I will, if you tell me what distracted you so much that you knocked over that chalk."

Megumi paused in her task of trying to return as much chalk into the box as possible before slowly turning her gaze up towards him. So he noticed...

"It's unlike you to be so clumsy," he continued, his tone lowering as worry entered his voice. "Are you all right, Akechi?"

If she had brushed his concern off with a flippant response, Megumi doubted he would push much, but her conscience had far too much respect for Akashi to do that to him, especially when he sounded genuinely concerned, and with a sigh, Megumi replied, "Has Suwabe-senpai said anything to you, the captain, or the coach about an injury?"

Despite the seemly unrelated topic she'd just brought up, Akashi didn't appear the least bit confused about its relevance and perhaps that was what Megumi liked about him; he's sharp enough to make connections himself or he simply trusts that what Megumi is saying is relevant. "Not that I am aware of."

"I see," Megumi thought for a moment about what more she ought to reveal to him (this dealt with someone else's privacy more than her own after all) but came to the conclusion that if there was anyone who could give her some reliable advice, it was Akashi. She hesitated before lowering her voice and saying, "It's hard to tell, but Suwabe-senpai is injured. I saw it happen yesterday; Haizaki stepped on his leg during a pick up game."

At this disturbing information, Akashi's eyes narrowed but he didn't interrupt her.

"I'm just wondered why Suwabe-senpai hasn't told anyone about his leg yet," Megumi continued, crossing her arms over her chest with an exasperated sigh. "Do you think I should tell the coach for him?"

Red eyes drifted to the side in calculation for several seconds before the red-haired boy met Megumi's gaze, "... No, I don't think that would be wise."

Megumi had asked for an answer, but she didn't expect Akashi of all people to favor the choice that broke protocol. "Why not?" she asked, trying not to sound too whiny. "It looks like he's trying to hide it and still play. That's unbelievably dangerous."

"Think about it this way, Akechi. He's a third year; this is one of his last chances to play on this team, and he just made the bench probably for the first time. If the coach finds out about his injury now, he'll definitely be replaced."

"You think that's why he's not telling anyone?"

Akashi nodded, "I think that's most likely. If his conviction to play is that strong, you can't expect backup from him when you report Haizaki's misconduct and without Suwabe-san's support, it's impossible to prove anything against Haizaki."

Frankly, Megumi couldn't relate to any of the third year's motives—they sounded like they belonged to someone who just needed to get his priorities straight—but she could understand the logic of Akashi's argument and as a fellow athlete, Akashi should understand the third year's mentality better than her. One thing still didn't sit well with Megumi however, "But his injury will..."

For a moment, Akashi's jaw set coldly and his eyes darkened as they seemed to gaze at something far away, "I do not like ignoring his injury or allowing Haizaki to stay on the bench either, but this is Suwabe-san's choice."

With her thoughts a swirling mess in her mind, Megumi must have imagined the chilliness in his expression because when she glance at him closely again, his expression had become gentle perhaps in an attempt to reassure her as he said, "Spare your credibility and his pride, Akechi. I think that is the best choice."

What he was suggesting went against all of Megumi's instincts but simply because it was Akashi, she seriously considered it as she watched him sweep up the last of the chalk on the floor and toss it into a nearby trash can.

"But," Akashi spoke one more time as he went to put the cleaning supplies back, his warm gaze resigned, "I cannot force you to take my advice. If you still decide to tell the coach and Nijimura-san... I will vouch for you."

E-eh? Megumi's jaw went slack as her gaze followed him because that changed everything. Not only would she be risking her own credibility but also Akashi's if things didn't go well. Becoming quiet with thought, she put the box she had knocked down back where it belonged. "... You would help me even if I make a choice you don't agree with?" Without turning to face him, she waited for a response which came without a beat of hesitation.

"Yes."

It sounded so easy for him, and Megumi felt like a piece of shit because she knew that if anyone had asked her the same question, she would have hesitated.

The two of them straightened up a few last things in the equipment room and when Megumi finished, she sighed loudly enough to catch Akashi's attention and muttered reluctantly, "I won't say anything to the Coach Sanada and Nijimura-san… but thank you for your support."

Without turning around to look at her, Akashi smiled, "You're welcome."

"Now to sneak to the bathrooms and change before Nijimura-senpai sees us."

The next day, Momoi arrived at their lunch table in a flurry of commotion.

"Please don't pant on my food, Momoi," Megumi deadpanned as she watched the pink haired girl breathe heavily after having just burst into the lunchroom holding an important looking sheet of paper.

"Basketball Monthly wants an interview with you all!" Momoi announced, placing the paper she was holding on the table.

Upon closer inspection, it was a printed copy of an email sent to Coach Sanada from a representative from the magazine.

"Basketball Monthly covers Teiko every year, nanodayo," Midorima informed calmly. "We are a powerhouse school after all."

"No, Midorin!" Momoi's protested, "This is a cover story about the five first years that made it onto Teiko's national team! It's going to be a big deal, so the coach wanted me to let you all know to be ready to answer some questions from an interviewer next week."

"Five first years…?" Megumi muttered, her eyes darting around the table and only counting four boys before narrowing in realization. "That means—"

"So Zaki-chin is going to be invited too?" Murasakibara supplied and much more calmly than if Megumi had vocalized it.

As if his name drew on his presence (like the goddamn devil), a tall shadow fell over Momoi and Megumi, and the amused voice that followed signalled Haizaki's arrival at their lunch table. "Gossipping about me?"

How the hell did this leech find us? Megumi's looked around accusingly at the crowded lunchroom that should have been a good cover.

"What do you want, Haizaki?" Aomine said, pausing in his eating to glare at the gray haired boy.

Seeing as Haizaki didn't say anything to the other first years while they were taking measurements yesterday, Megumi had hoped he would just leave them alone, but it turns out he was just waiting for an opportunity to approach them while Nijimura wasn't around.

"I heard my name, so I just got a bit curious," was Haizaki's nonchalant response delivered with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I thought it would be a good chance to introduce myself since we're going to be playing together a lot more from now on."

Despite his insincerity, no one would deny what he'd said, so Megumi and most of her friends stayed silent until Akashi finally responded if only to satisfy Haizaki's curiosity.

"We just received news that a basketball magazine is interested in interviewing the first years on Teiko's national tournament roster," the red haired boy said, regarding Haizaki with an even expression only he can make when interacting with such a character. "That's when your name came up. That is all."

"Heh… that's right, we're teammates for the national tournament now," Haizaki brought his thumb to his mouth and licked it as his eyes roamed around to all of their faces. Although his words were innocent enough, something in his gaze made it seem like he was making fun of them rather than trying to act friendly. "That means I can call you all by your first names, right, Atsushi?"

"I don't care," Murasakibara shrugged, his tone bored.

Dammit, he went for the weak one first! If this bastard calls me Megumi I'm going to—

"Megumi, you made this sushi didn't you?" he leaned in closer to look at the couple of rolls of sushi Megumi had shared with Momoi. "I heard rumors that your cooking is good. I'll just take one, all right, Satsuki—"

"Don't call her that."

Almost comically, Aomine and Megumi exchanged glances as they'd both ended up saying that at the same time, but their attention quickly returned to Haizaki who'd just tossed the sushi he'd stolen from Momoi into his mouth.

If possible, Haizaki's smile widened even more after he finished chewing as if there was something funny about Aomine and Megumi's agitation, "Why not? We're teammates now, aren't we?"

I don't even call her Satsuki and you think you can call her Satsuki?! Thankfully, Megumi managed to clamp her mouth up in time to avoid voicing something so embarrassing.

"I don't care what you call the rest of us, but you're making Satsuki uncomfortable, so stop," Aomine replied, "and if you're hungry, get your own food."

"It's not that I'm hungry," Haizaki chuckled as he turned like he was finally going to leave but not before swiping a grape from Midorima's lunch box and popping it into his mouth without a care in the world. "Don't you know that food tastes better when it's someone else's?"

"Do not touch my food, nanodayo," was Midorima's dry reply.

"Saying that just makes your food even more appetizing," Haizaki laughed, his back already turned to them and one hand raised in a flippant wave, leaving as unpredictably as he had come.

When he left, the atmosphere at the table loosened considerably but it was still evident that Haizaki had been there. Aomine looked like he had lost his appetite while Momoi didn't wear as cheerful of an expression as she did before, and Midorima and Megumi emitted matching irritability as they continued eating.

"If I started a petition to get him kicked off the team, would you all sign it?" Megumi spoke quickly, a determination in her voice that suggested this idea wasn't so hypothetical at all.

"I do not like him," Midorima responded briskly, "But I doubt a petition from us would be enough to eject him from the club."

"Midorima is right," Akashi sighed, a small frown forming between his brows as he looked around at all of them. "Despite all of his misdemeanors up until this point, he still hasn't been ejected or even demoted. Nijimura-san and the coach do not particularly like him either, so I think there is some other force keeping him on the team. There is no doubt that Haizaki is good at scoring points, so I wonder if the captain and coach are being pressured to accommodate him."

"By who? The administration?" Megumi replied.

"Or sponsors," Akashi nodded, "but this is all just speculation. Something still tells me however, that Haizaki cannot be forced out of the team by the whim of others at the present time. If he is to leave, it will be by his choice."

"That guy… I don't think he even likes basketball, and he's my substitute," Aomine spoke quietly, poking his food with disinterest.

"Dai-chan…"

For the first time since Haizaki left, Murasakibara made a thoughtful noise before saying, "To be honest, isn't the only bright side of this that he's Mine-chin's substitute which means he'll probably never actually get put in?"

"That's... true," Midorima said, closing his eyes and pushing up his glasses with a finger. "His play style is crude, and it throws the rest of us off. It would be fine if Aomine simply stayed on the court the entire time."

"L-Let's not put that kind of pressure on Dai-chan—"

"It's fine, Satsuki," Aomine said, giving up on eating and putting his chopsticks down. "I'll just play like I normally do. Basketball is still basketball, right? As long as I can play, I'm happy." He flashed a smile, but it seemed more like an attempt to cheer the rest of them up than an expression of true joy.

"In any case, lunch period is almost over, nanodayo," the bespectacled boy began to stand, taking his empty tray with him, "and I need to speak to my literature teacher before classes start again."

"Aka-chin and I should go back to the classroom too," Murasakibara announced as he ate the last of the ice cream bar he had purchased. "You coming, Sa-chin?"

"No thanks, Mu-kun, I actually have some more things I need to talk to Megu-chan about."

"All right then. Bye, Mine-chin, Gumi-chin~"

As the Megumi and Momoi waved good-bye to the three as they left, Aomine began to stand too. "I guess I'll see you back in the classroom, Akechi—"

"Wait, Dai-chan! You should stay for this too," Momoi grabbed his sleeve before he could leave the table. "Megu-chan, I have a favor to ask."

If Megumi was to be honest with herself, she'd already done a lot of favors for Momoi—many of which the pink haired girl hadn't even requested and probably wasn't even aware of, favors of such high magnitude that she really had no right asking for another one—but nevertheless Megumi just hummed quietly around the straw she was drinking from to show she was listening.

The mess hall bustled around them as students began to rush back to classrooms in anticipation for the bell that would signal the end of lunch time, and Megumi realized too late that Momoi had tactically chosen this timing so Megumi would have the hardest time refusing her request.

"Can you please tutor Dai-chan before midterms?"

"What?" Aomine demanded while Megumi abruptly choked on the milk she was drinking and started coughing loudly. "Satsuki—"

"No, Dai-chan, you listen to me! Midterm exams take place right before the national tournament and the grades come out while the tournament is happening," Momoi said, standing up and towering over the seated Aomine to establish her authority. "You just made the starting line up on the team, but you could lose it in the blink of an eye if your grades fall during the tournament. I've seen the math quizzes you hide at the bottom of your backpack."

Meanwhile, Megumi tried to say something, probably to firmly assert herself in this three way argument, but another bout of coughs caused her to double over before she could get a single word out.

At the mention of his math quizzes, Aomine's mouth shut quickly, and his gaze drifted to the side in distraction.

"I'll let you look at my notes as usual, but you're practically teetering on the edge of passing or not passing in algebra right now and that's just not reassuring at all," Momoi crossed her arms as she looked down at Aomine. "If there's time, you should also work on your English with Megu-chan. Her grade in that class is really good too."

"No." Megumi finally finished coughing and managed to get that one word out before she realized how poor the timing was and quickly backtracked. "No—my English grade is good, but I meant no, I refuse—to tutor."

"Please, Megu-chan? Please!" Momoi had grabbed Megumi's arm, hugging it to keep the teal haired girl from running.

"Why can't you do it?"

"You know my English isn't that good, and I'm already helping Dai-chan in classes like literature and history," Momoi clapped her hands together in a begging motion with her arms still locked around Megumi's. "Please, just for a week, Megu-chan!"

Because she couldn't free her arm from Momoi's grip, Megumi settled with just turning her face away from the pink haired girl stubbornly. "No, I have other shit to do. Now let go or I'm going to be late to class."

"B-but," suddenly, Momoi's voice softened, "if Dai-chan ends up not being able to play because of his grades, Haizaki-kun will definitely take his place…"

Megumi stiffened, eyes widening as she heard that, and for a long moment she kept quiet, still refusing to meet Momoi's eyes. But slowly, her unimpressed gaze slid back over to the other girl, and she growled, "Oi, do you really think I can be manipulated that easily?"

Judging by the surprised "eh?" that escaped Momoi's mouth, that was totally what she was thinking.

"Hey, you."

Aomine jerked in his seat as Megumi suddenly addressed him.

"Meet me in the empty classroom next to our homeroom on Thursday at lunch. I'll whip you into shape."

"Geh?" the blue haired boy blanched at her sudden change of heart.

"Wow…! Thanks so much, Megu-chan!" Momoi cheered and latched on to her in a hug while the teal haired girl just stood there like a post and waited to be let go of.

When the bubbly girl just kept holding her, Megumi finally sighed and gently forced her away, "All right, all right, I need to go. Aomine, we have history in two minutes."

"Don't remind me," Aomine groaned in defeat as he stood up with his half eaten lunch. As if he knew he had no chance of winning this argument now that Momoi had won over Megumi, Aomine didn't say any more about the tutoring issue.

Victorious again, Momoi beamed happily as she watched the two of them head back to their classroom together.

A/N: Thanks for reading! This chapter was lots of fun to write huhu ^u^ Ahh, but I feel like I'm always trying to squeeze too much into one chapter (this chapter is almost 8,000 words long wtf), what do you all think of this pacing? Reminder that reviews actually add years onto my life and make me a writing machine!

For anyone who noticed this teeny tiny detail, I just want to clarify that yes, I know Aomine is a power forward. But as far as I know, there is no record of what Aomine or any of the GoM's positions were in their first year of middle school, so I imagine that Aomine began as a small forward (he has the versatility for this position), and became a power forward after Nijimura's departure which let Kise eventually take over the small forward position in second year.

Next time: Tutoring time with Megumi! How will Aomine survive? Interview request from Basketball Monthly? Off to the national tournament we go~