Imperfect match // Daiki Aomine (Kuroko no Basuke)

5. Being an idiot

It's been a few weeks since term started and the routine has settled.

Walking around campus on her way to the gym, she hears someone running behind her, Kise appearing next to her out of breath.

"H... h... hey. How are you?"

"Good." She knows he's trying to get close but she's not interested. She keeps it short not to be rude but to clearly state her point of view.

"How's your day going?"

"Fine."

"So there's a party on Saturday at my house, do you wanna come?"

"I'm busy Saturday." She's not lying but she also doesn't like University parties. She doesn't like drunk students. She always ends up being the one taking her friends home because she doesn't drink as much as they do.

"Oh? What are you up to?"

"Dinner with friends."

"How about you join us afterwards with your friends. The more, the merrier."

"I'll see. Might be too late."

They step into the gym and he shouts on his way to the changing rooms.

"Great! See you Saturday night then!!"

There was no need to shout so loudly. She knows he was just trying to show off that he had a date on Saturday night but she doesn't even want to go.

Scanning the room she sees Aomine practice jump shots and hopes he didn't hear. Why does it matter though?

Why did Kise have to shout making it sound like he had a date with her? Why does he need to show off? It's annoying and who cares anyway?

Feeling tired because of her noisy neighbours stopping her from getting proper sleep when she's been studying hard as she's catching up on a module that she failed last year, she feels short tempered today.

Practice is hard. She has no energy and finds it difficult to keep up, it's as though her muscles were on a strike. With exams around the corner, she rushes around a lot, doesn't get enough rest and trains twice as hard with Jordan. She thinks her body my be aching because she's probably not stretching properly but continues to push herself.

On her way out of the gymnasium, she notices her laces undone and drops her now really heavy bag to the floor before crouching. Her laces neatly done, she starts standing up and unexpectedly feels lightheaded. Looking at her surroundings everything seems unstable and blurry and she passes out, collapsing to the floor, her head falling onto her soft bag.

From where he is, Aomine saw her falling in slow motion and his body rushed to her without even realising it.

He is the first one close to her, kneeling on the floor and notices that she is unconscious. Checking her pulse, he feels it beating weakly, but is it because his is rushing? The gasps around him as the volleyball team hurries over annoy him. This is not productive.

He firmly picks her up easily off the floor, even though she's not a lightweight, being tall and athletic, and is about to walk out, when he feels his arm caught.

"What are you doing?" Her captain asks, not knowing why this guy is taking charge.

"Taking her to the infirmary."

"Oh! Thanks. But I'm not sure we're supposed to move her."

"She's breathing but she knocked her head. We need to be quick and by the time an ambulance arrives it may be too late."

"Okay then. Just go. We'll join you once we've told what happened to our coach."

Rushing towards the medical centre situated at the next block, not paying attention to anything else but taking her to safety, he hasn't noticed that Kise is following them.