Rena Fujimoto stood in front of her mirror, inspecting her appearence. She wore the school's uniform, and made sure her hair was perfectly brushed, and that she had the right ammount of makeup on. She took a deep breath, assuring herself that she looked perfect. With one last glance at the mirror she left the safeness of her room and closed the light, closing the door as well.

She walked down the stairs where her younger sister, Amaya, was cooking breakfast. "What's for breakfast?" She asked and her sister tensed, as if fearing Rena's reply. After a few moments, she continued. "French toast." Rena's navy blue eyes widened and her nose scrunched up. "I can't eat that! The extra sugar isn't good for my complexion or for my body!" She scolded her sister whose back was still facing the second year.

"I'm sorry. I didn't have time in between my job and homework." Amaya stated, turning around. Her navy blue eyes met her sister's; the only thing that the two and Amaya's twin, Kumi, had in common were their dark blue eyes. Rena sighed and trailed her gaze to the ground. "It's fine; I wasn't that hungry anyways." She stated before she walked out of the door to walk towards school.

The three sisters' parents had died when Rena was fourteen, and their aunt was supposed to look after them, but she was always traveling because of her job. She owned the house and paid the bills and she did call every night that she was away, but she'd only talk to Amaya. The other two didn't want to.

Amaya was the most mature and responsible one out of all of them, so she had a job, did all the household chores and had to work on school on top of that. The other two always relied on her for everything, and Amaya was undoubtedly the strongest one out of all of them.

Amaya sighed and put two pieces of the cooked bread on a plate, putting some syrup on top. "Kumi, breakfast is ready." Her twin appeared a few seconds later from the hallway and the two ate in silence.

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Rena took a seat near the window, waving and smiling at those who did that. Her stomach grumbled quietly, and she winced but continued doing what she had previously been doing. She'd just have to wait until lunch to eat.

She saw her sister's blue head pop into the door of her classroom. She waved her hand over, trying to beckon her older sister. Rena slowly stood up and walked towards the door, and followed her younger sister into the hallway. Amaya handed her sister a transparent cup with thick pink liquide inside, the logo 'Hoshi Sumuji'. Her eyes widened as she stared at the blue haired girl in shock. "If I don't look after you, who will?" She said before she looked at her watch.

"Oh! I'm going to be late! Bye, Rena!" She shouted before speed walking down the hallways. A delicated smile formed on her face as she sipped the drink. "Thanks..... Amaya....." She whispered.

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"Renaaaaaaaaaa-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" The said girl turned around at the sound of her name. Her best friend, Hisa Nenmo ran down the hallway, charging towards the girl who was about to leave. "Ah, Hisa-chan." She said in slight shock. Hisa held up a finger as she panted, one hand on her knee.

"Rena-chan, you've got to come see!" She shouted, her eyes glimmering. Rena tilted her head to the side. "See what?" She questioned and Hisa bounced up and down. "One of Seirin's basketball games, of course! I finally managed to get my hands on tickets!" Truth be told, Rena wasn't all that interested in basketball, but she feared her 'reputation' would go down if she denied a request to support a school team event.

She nodded and gave off a smile. They hardly meant anything anymore; her smiles. She always made them, wether she was happy or not. "Come on! We're going to miss it!" Hisa shouted, dragging the pink haired girl by the hand.

The two girls arrived at a small stadium, probably only hosting one small court. "It's the preliminairies of the Winter Cup, and I'm so excited! I can hardly wait!" Hisa exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Hisa had known Rena since they were children, before she became too obsessed with becoming 'perfect'. She'd accepted the pink haired girl before, so Rena felt like she could be a bit more herself around her brown haired friend.

They were sitting in the fourth row, so they had a really good view. "Who are they facing?" Rena asked as they took their seats. "They're facing Josei High." Hisa stated, but she was already starting to enter a daze. Hisa was a big fan of basketball, even though she couldn't play. Oddly Rena found herself getting absorbed in the match. It was the first time she'd seen her school team play, but after a while, it seemed painfully boring to watch. It was obvious that Seirin had the advantage and would win.

"I'm going to the restroom; I'll be right back." Rena muttured quietly, but she doubted her friend could hear her. She stood up and discretely made her way out of the stands and made her way towards the bahtroom, hoping to draw the least ammount of attention towards herself. She heard the buzzer signifying the end of the game as she finally found what she was looking for.

About seven minutes later she was heading back towards the stadium, a drink in hand. She guessed that Hisa would be busy writing down every detail of the game for her 'article'. Hisa adored writing articles about basketball, but she was too nervous to submit her work anywhere. Rena had tried to get her to join the school paper so she could get free tickets to games, but that proved to be too 'embarassing' for the brunette.

However when the pink haired girl arrived, no one was there anymore, only the people cleaning the floor. She found that strange; she hadn't been gone that long. She was furthermore confused when she glanced at a clock. It was over fourty-five minutes since she'd left. How had that happened? She started to head towards the door where she thought that she could find Hisa. She'd forgotten her phone in her bag, which Hisa most likely had.

However, as she was walking, she bumped into something and she looked up, seeing a tall boy with black hair and eyes looking down at her with a shocked expression. "O-Oh! I'm sorry!" She bowed but he simply smiled at her and shook his head, pointing at himself. She tilted her head to the side, wondering why he wasn't talking. Before anything else could unfold, a shorter boy, probably shorter than Rena, call out to him.

"Mitobe!" He called and the pink haired girl took notice of the Seirin basketball uniforms they wore. Her eyes widened in shock at her realization. "Renaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-chaaaaaaaaaaaaan!" She turned at the sound of her name being called just in time to be tackled to the ground by her bubbly brunnette friend.

Tears were comically falling from her eyes as she rubbed her face against Rena's as if the blue eyed girl was a child. "Hisa-chan...." She grumbled and the green eyed girl jumped up pointing an accusing finger at her. "Why did you leave for so long?! I was so worried! I was running around the entire building yelling your name at the top of my lungs!" She shouted and Rena flinched at her loud tone.

Hisa stood up and dusted off her uniform skirt pushing a stray lock of brown hair behind her ear. The one who'd run up to Rinnosuke – the one known as Mitobe – stared at her and blinked one time. She's so..... pretty! He thought, taking a step towards the bubbly girl. "P-P-Please go out with me!" He shouted and she screamed, diving behind Rena's back.

"R-R-R-Rena-chan! A stranger is talking to me!" She cried but then noticed their jerseys. Her eyes widened and she stepped out from behind Rena, seemingly in a daze.

"She's fallen for my good looks. See, I told you, Mitobe." The boy whispered to his friend who sweatdropped. Hisa started jumping up and down on the spot. Her eyes shone, sparkles seen in them. "You two are on the basketball team!" She declared and Shinji Koganei stopped in his tracks, looking at the girl in question.

She put her hands to her cheeks and wringing her torso around as steam escaped her nose. "OH YOU GUYS ARE SO COOL!" She shouted and Rena giggled lightly at her friend's reaction, trying to stifle it with the back of her hand. The green eyed girl rummaged through her bag, and her beam fell as it turned to sheer horror.

"Hisa-chan?" She called and the brunette's green eyes looked over at her in panic. "R-Rena-chan..... my notebook..... It's not in my bag." She said and Rena tilted her head when realization dawned on her. "Oh, no!" She gasped and Hisa's eyes welled with tears. "I-I have to find it!" She exclaimed and started frantically searching the hall.

Shinji slapped Rinnosuke's shoulder and the taller male looked over at him. "Well, we've got to help Nenmo-chan find her notebook!" He shouted and he nodded. "T-Thank you, Koganei-san." She stuttured and the four split up and agreed to meet back at the entrance of the stadium thirty minutes later.

Rena ended up crossing paths with Rinnosuke, and they carried on their search in the last hall on the side they'd taken.

Rena sighed and put her hand on her cheek in dissapointment. It felt very calming being around Rinnosuke; it was almost awkward how naturally she felt relaxed around him. It was as if he couldn't judge her, and whenever she tripped or something, a small smile would be on his face, but his eyes held nothing close to what others would give her.

Soon the two arrived at the entrance just as Shinji followed by Hisa stepped towards them. "Any luck?" He asked and the two shook their heads. Hisa burried her face in her hands. "I don't know what I'll do if I can't find it." She said, desperation clawing at her voice.

"Ne, Hisa-chan, can you give me your bag?" Rena asked and the brunette nodded, handing it over. Rena rummaged through it and opened a small pocket from the inside, pulling out the old, brown leatherbound book. Hisa instantly grabbed it, holding it tightly to her chest. "Thank goodness." She closed her eyes and smiled.

"What's in there, anyway?" He asked and she gave him a childish glare. "I'm never telling you." She pouted and he squinted, dumbfounded. "Why?! We've all been looking for it for at least an hour!" He exclaimed and the girl's pout deepened. "It's a momento from my dad. But that's all I'm telling you." She stuck her tongue out and he crossed his arms and huffed, looking away. "Whatever."

Rena suddenly got an idea. Her friend had always secretely wanted to be the team's strategist, but, like sending in her work, it was out of the question. She felt comfortable enough with Rinnosuke and Shinji, and she gathered up her courage since she didn't know them all that well. She was helping her best-friend, and in return the brunette would help her if anything went wrong. "Hey, H-Hisa-chan. You wanted to be a team strategist, right?" She asked and Hisa froze in her tracks, looking up at Rena in pure horror.

"Rena-chan! You promised you wouldn't tell! You're embarassing me!" She shouted and Rena simply looked away, feeling her phobia kick into place as she saw the three look at her. She looked into their eyes, and her panic slowly ebbed away; they didn't hold a single ounce of judgement in their eyes.

Hisa eyed her friend evilly. "If I ask to be the strategist, you have to become the manager!" She exclaimed and Rena turned to look at her with wide eyes. "What?" Shinji laughed and Rinnosuke's shoulders shook with silent laughter. The two girls looked at them in confusion. "Y-You guys are really hilarious. We'll give in good word to you for Riko, won't we, Mitobe?" He asked and the black haired boy nodded.

Hisa squished the shorter brown haired boy wiggling in delight. "Thank you Koga-kun!" She exclaimed causing the boy to blush and look away while she stood there oblivious. "I-It's fine...." He mumbled and Rena smiled in thanks. She didn't know what it was, but the two hadn't triggered her phobia fully at all, and it was surprisingly comfortable. She just hoped that it'd last.

A/N: I started writing this, like, half a year ago.... And, in those months I feel I've improved, so you may notice some changes in my writing style from the first chapters to the last (which is to be expected, I suppose). Anyway, this story isn't edited, and I recently remembered I had it, and I quite enjoy it, even though it can be considered slow at the beginning. Have fun, and I hope you enjoy!