MiRACLE (KnB Fanfic)

7.

Their first meeting was strange. Aomine was entirely convinced he was rude, Momoi feared a street brawl, and Aisaka actually lost.

"This is bullshit," he spits, breathing so heavily he can't make a proper vowel.

Aomine laughs, "you're weak!" he teases, spinning the basketball on his finger as he crouches down beside the shorter boy.

"I'm not!" Aisaka argues sharply, "you play rough!"

"You just don't hold the ball strong enough," Aomine makes a swinging motion with his hand, "I can hit the ball right outta your hand, easy."

"I thought my fingers were going to rip off!"

"You exaggerate."

"At some point I think I was just running away and you were cackling like a vampire."

"I was not!"

"Yes you were!"

"Was not!"

"Was too!"

That continued for a while. They bark each other's heads off until both were simply gasping for breath at the sheer stupidity of the situation.

They sit down, Aisaka on the bench and Aomine beside it on the ground.

That was too much yelling for the rest of his life, Aisaka decides. He actually manages to laugh at it.

"So, what's your name?" Aisaka asks finally once he's caught his breath. He sees Aomine and his sweat-drenched state, so he pulls a fresh towel from his bag and tosses it at the boy.

"Me? I'm Aomine," he says, then adds a second later, "Daiki."

He contemplates returning the towel, but uses it with a soft word of gratitude because it's already touched him. Giving it back now would be nasty.

"And I'm Momoi Satsuki," suddenly the girl is there again, and Aisaka realizes she's been gone for a second. She holds two cans of Pocari in their direction, and that smile suggests he take it. "Here, I bought drinks."

"Ah, thanks, Satsuki," Aomine takes one without even thinking, but Aisaka freezes.

When the girl nudges it further in his direction, Aisaka blurts, "me too?"

Momoi giggles, pushing it into Aisaka's hands before he can ask again, "of course! Thanks for playing with Dai-chan. Not many people like playing with him cause he gets way too into it sometimes."

Aisaka looks at the Pocari like it's a blessing from the gods above.

"They just get tired way too easily," Aomine scoffs, taking a big, refreshing gulp, "I haven't been this exhausted in ages! What are you made of?"

Aisaka shifts, offended, "I'm normal, thank you very much, you're just a monster," he says, "ah, and, I'm Aisaka! Aisaka Hiroto. Nice to meet you two."

That was probably when things really began.

-

Aisaka meets Kuroko every few days before his classes, and he finds Aomine on every other day. For some reason or the other, they never meet, not even by coincidence. Aisaka tries to tell Kuroko about his other friend, but conversations would get interrupted somehow.

It was like some divine power was at work, so Aisaka stopped trying. They'll meet soon, anyways. Might as well not try to speed it up.

Aisaka knows that soon, he'll have to go to school each day. The empty, nonchalant days of just running and playing basketball would soon end, and he'll churn back into the hell of daily schooling. He isn't sure if he's happy about that, but at this point everything beats this dullness.