“H-Hana!” Eikichi beamed when he saw her childhood friend again. He’s the only one who hasn’t seen her recently, being left out by Kotaro and Reo.

Ame smiled walking over to him, giving a hug. “Eikkun! Recchan! Kota—” she paused when she was about to face Kotaro who didn’t even bother to look at her. ‘Kotan…’

“Hotaru-san, what’s going on?” Riko questioned Hotaru who had her palm covering her face after the two teams met up at the doujo lobby.

“Ah, sorry about that Riko-san, the schedule must’ve been messed up since four teams had requested to use our doujo today” Hotaru explained removing her hand from her face, turning to Riko. “Don’t worry, we’ve got extra rooms where each team could train privately, Kyo, you know the way around, don’t you?”

“Ah, yes, I’m quite familiar around here” Kyo replied, smiling at her step-sister.

“Thank god, would you please assist your team to your area?” Hotaru requested as she approached the champion team of the Inter-High.

“Ah, h-hai! Got it!” the youngest Araki nodded her head, turning her body to her own team, feeling the tension between her sister and her three childhood friends. “E-Everyone, please follow me!”

“Wait a minute, Kyo” Reo suddenly spoke up making Kyo even more nervous, and Ame flinching.

‘What does he want?’ Ame frowned with a distress look. Reo remained poker faced until he was in front of Ame after he walked closer to her. “Hana” he called her name, his eyes luring down to Ame. He suddenly gave a playful smile. “You’re right, you did improve. I can tell you’re not a cup A anymore!” Everybody’s jaw dropped when he said that, even Ame. The Rakuzan captain even had his mouth slightly open after hearing his teammate say that to his childhood friend.

Reo acted like it was normal so Ame huffed at him, remembering how this is their normal routine. “I told you already I’m a cup C” she stated crossing her arms, bravado on her tone.

“I can see that” Reo smiled, making Eikichi’s jaw almost break.

“OI REO! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?! DO YOU STARE AT HER BOOBS ALL THE TIME?!” he hollered, embarrassed for his friend that he was able to say things like that normally.

“Eh? It’s not like that” the feminine shooting guard of Rakuzan sang, tilting his head to the side to act cute. “I’m just proud of Hana”

“Don’t mind him Eikkun, we do this all the time, remember?” Ame reacted calmly. She was obviously covering her chest.

“But that was during grade school! Now is different!!” he protested, his face all red. Ame tried to hide her blush, placing herself behind Teppei whose face was as red as the other boys in the room. (Excluding some of course; Tetsuya, Seijuro and the Rakuzan coach)

“Damn you Recchan…” Ame cursed under her breath, purple lines appearing around her. “Was I that flat when I was 12?!”

“A-Amei-chan…” Teppei stammered looking behind him, catching Eikichi’s attention as their gazes met. Each of them, recognize each other. They remember each other from a middle school match where Teppei’s school won, beating Eikichi’s. Since then, the Rakuzan centre player had seen him as a rival. Not only in basketball but also in other things such as… “Amei-chan?”

“Now, now that’s enough Nebuya, Mibuchi. Hotaru, could you lead us to our area now, please?” Eiji, the Rakuzan coach interrupted the little reunion, grabbing everyone’s attention to him.

“Ah, will do, Eiji-san” Hotaru bowed then gave Kyo a nod signalling to lead Seirin to their area.

The two teams parted ways, Ame bidding her two friends goodbye except for one orange-blonde. Kotaro. They didn’t even look at each other. Although Teppei could see Kotaro stealing glances at her.

Seirin went to their area of the large land owned by the Shou’s. They stared at their part of the doujo and thought that it was a nice terrain for footwork training and stamina improvement. Everyone set their bags at one side, doing stretches for the upcoming training Riko planned for them. The Seirin coach approached Ame, consulting about the new regimen she came up with for the team. Ame scanned the whole papers that were handed to her before giving it back to Riko.

“Well?”

“I think it’s great. It’s a good way to improve every muscle in their body”

“You know you’re supposed to be helping with these things. I was planning to ask you to come over at my house last night, but for some reason…” Riko eyed Ame suspiciously making the girl twitch and her voice all shaky.

“W-What are you talking about Riko-chan~?” Ame’s sparkly smile gave the coach the creeps.

‘Riko-chan…?’ Riko shivered not used to be called with a ‘-chan’. She composed herself before inquiring Ame. “Were you with Teppei last night?”

That question made Ame flinch and feel uneasy. Sequence of events suddenly flashed back to her mind, and what happened at the Kiyoshi residence. It made her face turn red all of a sudden, and like Teppei, her faced steamed. “A-Ame-san?”

“R-R-R-Riko-chan is so funny! Why would you think that I was with Teppei-kun?” Ame using honorifics made Riko even more weirded out.

“Nothing… it’s just, are you two together already?—ow!”

“So funny, Riko-chan~”

“Why did you hit me for?!”

“Hehe”

TIMESKIP~

Ame’s POV

“All right, everyone, take a break” Coach blew her whistle ordering every exhausted player to take a rest. After that, the Seirin players went to their respected bags, getting their water bottles while Kyo handed fresh towels for them. I on the other hand just sat there watching them. Well until Kyo popped a vein.

“Hand them towels will you?” she gave me a ‘look’.

I flinched following her instructions. “Yes, ma’am” I grabbed some towels from her arms and distributed it to the tired Seirin dudes. “Here”

“Thank you, Ame-chan~” I blinked when the players thanked me simultaneously with happy faces on. Weird. It’s not like they call me with a ‘-chan’. They usually use the honorific ‘-san’. I just smiled at them rather than giving a glare. “Welcome” by now, every single one of them (excluding some) was crowding in front of me.

“Ame-chan, I never knew you could be so cute~!” Shinji marvelled shoving his face in front of mine.

“Ame-chan would you ditch Kiyoshi and date me instead?” O-Oi Satoshi… I thought he was dating someone?

“Ame-chan can I see you wearing my glasses?” J-Junpei?! I can see an angered Riko from behind.

Good thing Rinnosuke stood there quietly, just blushing and the three freshmen trio brats stared at me with admiration. “Ame-chan-senpai is so kawaiii~” I sweat dropped.

“Riko-chan~! Everyone is so close to me, I’m suffocating” I acted cute to make the guys swoon over even more. But not to look cute. I did that so Riko would even more mad and beat their ass harder. What? They should be disciplined.

Riko hit them all one by one, leaving large bumps on their heads as it steamed. Shun was far away as possible since I know he digs Hotaru while Tetsuya and Taiga stay put. Of course they do, Taiga likes Kyo and Tetsuya… well I think he doesn’t need a girl.

Teppei sighed looking at his teammates and went over to me, draping his arm around my shoulder. “Sorry everyone, but Amei-chan is already taken so I suggest you give up on your dreams in dating her” he smiled as if it wasn’t a big deal.

“It’s ironic hearing that from a person who always encourage us to reach for our dreams” Shun commented before sipping another mouthful of water from his bottle.

“Well some dreams really can’t come true you know” I added with a shrug. Riko and Shun smirked at me, and then laughed at the boys who were down on the ground after their coach beat them up.

“Anyway, it’s already lunch time so you guys should pull out your bentos and eat” Riko ordered placing her hands on her hips.  Everyone muttered a ‘hai’ while Teppei pulled out two bentos from his bag and gave one to me.

“Here you go” he smiled putting the lunch box on top of my palms, my hands wide open.

“You made some for me too?” T-Teppei cooks?! o///o he could make a great husband!!!! “Thank youuuuu!” I gave hugged him but all I could reach is until his waist so I had to tiptoe to give him a kiss on the cheek.

It seemed to annoy Taiga because he sneered at us after that peck on the cheek. “Senpai, could you do your flirting privately?” well someone single and lonely.

“Hey just because they’re sweet, doesn’t mean you have to be bitter” Kyo defended before I could reply to Taiga. The tiger ace flinched when Kyo snarled at him like that as he glanced at her receiving a glare. “You’re just jealous because you’re single, Kagami-kun! No need to be cranky about it!”

I and Teppei started to eat our bentos just watching the two.

“Well whose fault is that—?!” the two started to argue with each other but good thing some people suddenly joined us making the two stop. “Reo-nee, Eikichi-nee…”

My eyes widened before turning around to see two of my childhood friends crossing the area of our team.

Reo smiled at me. “You look cute as always, Hana”

I blinked noticing that I still had my chopsticks in my mouth when I swallowed one of the eggrolls. It made every guy blush, except for some (Taiga, Tetsuya and Shun)  making the coach pull out her paper stick again.

“You never changed, Recchan” I sighed.

“May we join you for lunch?” he requested. He already sat beside so I had no choice but to say “yes” to him. Eikichi sat next to him while awkwardly unpacking his lunch.

I gulped another eggroll into my mouth then proceeded in shoving tons of rice, staining my mouth. The Seirin team stared at them like they were aliens so I introduced them to each other.

“You never did change” Reo chuckled wiping my mouth with the tissue he brought with him. “Only kids stain their mouth Hana”

“I know that!” I pouted then turned to Teppei who looks like he’s constipated—or just feel awkward. “By the way, Teppei, this is Reo and Eikichi, you two morons, this is Teppei”

“M-Morons?!” Eikichi exclaimed getting offended that I call him that. Wtf? I mean, I always call him that.

I laughed at the two and smiled before it faded when I noticed one of them is missing. “Where’s… Kotaro?” I asked tensing up. Teppei must’ve felt it and immediately squeezed my hand, easing me down. I gave him a smile. “Thank you” I whispered to him.

Reo and Eikichi turned serious after I asked that and sighed before Reo answered me. “He’s still practicing. We invited him to eat lunch with us but he said he’ll take practice as overtime”

I put my head down. “I see…” He doesn’t want to see me… after what happened…. I guess I should say sorry for slapping him… I mean, it wasn’t necessary, was it?

“Oh Hana is such a cutie~!” Reo suddenly hugged me, pulling me away from Teppei.

Damn this flirty feminine moron!

“Oi Reo!” Eikichi and I screamed simultaneously.

=__= <----- me right now.

THIRD PERSON’S POV

Eikichi glanced at Teppei expecting jealousy would paint over his face but no. Teppei was smiling at his girlfriend who was being cuddled by her childhood friend which somehow made him happy that she was able to be with someone close to her again. Ame saw the smile on his face calming her down from struggling away from Reo’s grip and mirrored her boyfriend’s features.

“So Hana, is Tep-chan your boyfriend now?” Reo’s question made Ame and Teppei flinchedand look at each other. “Nikki-senpai keeps me updated you know~” he put the blame on Ame’s oldest sister.

“Yeah so?! It’s not like I’m not allowed to have a boyfriend you know!” Ame was screaming childishly, and irritated at the same times because of getting trapped into Reo’s arms. Finally, she was able to get freed from his grasp kicking him as revenge before standing up. “I’m going to the restrooms. Reo choked me”

“I won’t mind saving you from choking~”

“Excuse me, I’m still around…”

“Ah, sorry about that Tep-chan~”

“Tep-chan?”

“STOP CALLING HIM TEP-CHAN YOU MORON!” Ame hollered. “Tsk” she stomped into the doujo to go find the restrooms but miserably got lost again. “WHY IS HOTARU’S DOUJO SO BIG!?” was her complain before running around the maze area getting lost even more. Or so she thought.

“Tep-chan, can I ask a favour?” Reo spoke with a stern voice, his face turning serious. He gave Teppei a solemn expression before proceeding to his request. “I understand that you and Hana have something special but I can’t help but worry about her being in a relationship”

“I-I… I understand what you feel. I know that you don’t want Amei-chan to get hurt again…”

“It’s not only that but…” he paused closing his eyes then reopened them. “It’s just that… Hana’s heart is really fragile… it might be the outcome of the things that happened throughout her life. She didn’t have good childhood and she’s lost enough important people in her lives, and we don’t want it to happen again. We don’t want Hana getting left behind…

“And even though we want to be with her always, we can’t, so we’re gonna have to count on you. She’s still our little Hana, take care of her. ”

The Seirin team went silent after hearing that beg from Reo. They understood. They know why he’s asking such responsibility from Teppei. And no doubt he feels the same.

Riko was the first one to speak up. “You don’t need to tell him or us that”

Everyone glanced at her. “Ame-san is already like a family to us, and we don’t need anyone to tell us to take care of her because whether anyone or she likes it or not, we treat her like a family and we’ll always be there for her for better or for worse. We’re a team, we support each other. And Ame-san is one of us”

“Riko…” Teppei gawked staring at her then smiled. “Of course” he looked at Reo sincerely. “I would never leave Amei-chan knowing that I can’t live without her. I’ll take care of Amei-chan. I’ll take care of Amei-chan because she is my rain flower”

Reo looked convinced and smiled. “Thank you”

.           .           .

“WHERE AM I?! WHERE THE HECK IS THE RESTROOMS?!”

“It’s right here…” someone spoke behind her as she jumped in surprised turning around, expecting it to be Tetsuya but…

“KOTARO!?”

“Don’t tell me you still get lost?”

“A-Apparently…” they started get awkward between each other. Kotaro knowing why Ame was silent sighed and just acted like nothing happened between them.

“So are you going to pee or something?”

“A-Ah y-yeah!” Ame stammered, clumsily entering the restroom. She even slipped when she entered landing on her butt.

“You okay in there?” Kotaro checked from outside the door.

“Y-Yeah…” Ame answered back, sitting up and leaning on the door. ‘I wish I was okay inside though…’

“You should hurry, I still have to eat lunch” Kotaro suddenly said catching Ame by surprise. ‘Is he…?’ “You know you’ll get lost on your way back again, I wouldn’t mind waiting for you…”

“Kotaro…” Ame stared at the door eyes widened.

“C’mon hurry up, or I’ll be the one leaving you this time”

“Tsk, shut up and be patient!” Ame punched the door warningly. Kotaro can’t help but smile at the other side of the door.

‘Same old Hana…’ 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HEYYYYYYY~~~ I haven't updated for a week now... 

sorry about that! XD so i guess some people won't remember this so yeah... hahah go Hana or Ame, or just call her Haname... 

oh let's bring back the love~<3 Haname x Kotaro xD No??? are you a loyal Ame x Teppei shipper? :3 well if so, comment your thoughts on ame  and kotaro...

do they get a chance back together or ame just stick to teppei?

vote and comment! :D

Also, check out my page for more updates in my stories! : https://www.facebook.com/theretardedwriter