“Achoo!” Ame sneezed for the nth time as soon as she stepped in the gym provided by Riko for their mountain training before the Winter Cup. They have exactly one month to prepare for their upcoming match against Touou Academy. Kyo looked at her sister worriedly and held her head.

“Are you okay? You’ve been sneezing since at the springs” Kyo asked her worriedly, pulling her hand back.

“Yeah, I… HUH?!” Ame’s usual expression changed from bored and blunt to surprised and annoyed. She pointed at the man waiting for them at the gym, as if he was the most hated person of her life and started to yell at him. “YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!”

“Ame-ne?”

“Ame-san?”

“Amei-chan?”

“Senpai?”

“Huh?” Kagetora gave her a bored expression that turn to surprise when he saw her and pointed a finger. “Shicchan and Yoitan’s daughter!” he realized the child of his former teammates. Everyone watched at them curiously, not knowing what was happening between them and just looked at Kagetora and Ame back and forth.

“You two know each other?” Riko questioned his father, raising an eyebrow and glanced at Ame who flinched and wore a sour look on her face again. Kagetora sighed seeing the resemblance Ame inherited from her mother and the physical features she gained from her father then answered his daughter.

“Well, she’s the daughter of my former teammates, Araki Toshi and Araki Kei Yoite”

Ame flinched before corrected him: “No, just the daughter of Araki Toshi. And I’m not the only one you old jeezer!” she pulled Kyo’s long hair and showed her sister to the old man. “She and two other girls are daughters of Toshi, understand? No Yoite involved”

“Whatever, let’s just get this started already” Kagetora ignored her and proceeded to introduce himself. “Oi, brats, line up in front of me”

The players flinched hearing his orders and obeyed his demands. “H-HAI!”

.           .           .

“T-tch, stupid jeezer…” Ame grumbled grumpily, crossing her arms before letting out another sneeze. She wiped her nose and curled herself in the jersey jacket Teppei had given her.

“Are you still mad about him mentioning oka-san and oto-san?” Kyo asked, concerned.

“Shut up, I don’t want to talk about it Kyo” Ame sneered, looking away from her sister.

“But—”

“I’m going to buy coffee outside” Ame headed to the gym door and exited, leaving her teammates staring at her.

“Is Ame-senpai okay?” Tetsuya asked Kyo, suddenly appearing behind her.

“EH! Uh, d-don’t worry, she’s just thinking about stuff” was Kyo’s response, hiding her surprise, and sighed internally.

Kagetora looked at the door and sighed at Ame’s behaviour, understanding why Ame’s cranky when mentioned about her parents. His former teammates from Team Japan. “So then, Cutie-kun, pass me the ball, four eyes come here” he passed the ball to Shun then placed himself at the court where Junpei followed him.

“Wait, Kagetora-san plays basketball?” Furihata wondered.

“Well, you can say that. He used to be in the national team” Teppei mentioned which made Koganei realize something. “Wait, national team? So his teammates were Ame-san’s parents?”

“Uh, really?” Tsuchida joined in, growing curious about it.

“Araki Toshi and Araki Kei Yoite, Kei Yoite” Fukuda mentioned the names, but only recognized Ame’s father’s name. “I recognize Araki Toshi, but I don’t know Kei Yoite”

“Well then—”

“Oi brats, what are you chattering about there? Get your butts out and play cops and robbers outside!”

“Hai!”

.           .           .

“Tch, where the hell to they sell coffee?!” Ame hollered in frustration after getting lost at the town where the training camp was located at. Apparently, Ame’s navigational skills are as low as ever as she tried to wander around, getting lost even more. “That’s it, I give up” Ame sighed closing her eyes and sat on a bench, right next to—“Wait, a shop?” she opened her eyes to look at the sign saying it was the convenience store. She reached it without even realizing it. ‘I’m really bad in navigation’ she pitied herself and entered.

A bell rung as soon as she stepped inside and she headed for her target beloved coffee and saw the fridge filled with energy drinks. She stared at it for a while and shrugged. ‘Might as well buy them these. I bet they’re exhausted from all of Kagetora’s raining’ she put tons of energy drinks into the basket provided at the store and last put her coffee. “There” she tried to carry it but due to it’s heavy weight, she failed.

“Damn it” she cursed and tried to lift it once more until her face turned purple ending her exhausted, failing to carry it to the register.

“Need help?” a voice spoke behind her as she turned around to see an acquaintance of hers from Akita.

“Oh, Tatsuya, it’s you” Ame remembered him even if she only met him two times. Today is the third time they talked to each other. “What are you doing here? Other than that, why are you in this area? And you’re still in Tokyo”

“Ah, well, I’ll explain later, first…” Tatsuya looked at the basket Ame was trying to carry and carried it for her, not feeling the slightest weight. “Are you planning to buy all of these?”

“It’s for my teammates” Ame explained as they walked to the register.

“Muro-chin, did you get your drink already?” Tatsuya’s purple head teammate approached him, tons of snacks in his arms. Ame had to look up to see his face and stared at him in awe.

“Wow, you’re tall” she marvelled making Tatsuya chuckled.

“Hai, I got it already”

“Huh? Muro-chin, is she your girlfriend?”

Ame flinched before frowning at the wrong assumption Tatsuya’s teammate did. Tatsuya chuckled and shook his head. “She’s just a friend, Atsushi” he corrected and placed the basket on the counter.

“Wait, what are you—” before she knew it, Tatsuya already paid for the drinks and coffee she took making her pout. “You didn’t have to do that”

“No, it’s my pleasure. Besides, you don’t seem to have brought money with you” he noticed she didn’t bring anything with her.

Ame flinched and looked away, crossing her arms stubbornly, huffing. “I’ll pay you later”

“No need”

“No, I’ll pay”

“I already told you—”

“I’ll pay you, done. Thank you for the treat but I’ll still pay you” Ame took the plastic bags filled with the drinks and headed for the exit. She took one last stop and turned to Tatsuya. “I’ll pay you” she repeated with a stern look and tone before going back to the training camp.

“She kinda reminds me of our coach” Atsushi commented on Ame’s behaviour towards Tatsuya before putting a chip into his mouth.

“Well, yeah. Masako-san and Ame are related after all” Tatsuya agreed, smiling at the prodigy.

“Eh, they are?”

“Yeah. We should go back to our training too, Atsushi”

“Mmm… Muro-chin, I want to eat more snacks”

“There’s no time for that, we have to train”

.           .           .

“Wait, where am I?” Again, Ame lost her way going back to the camp. “I’m pretty sure this is the route I passed by earlier…” … “Or was it that way?” she rubbed her chin, thinking about her pervious way and shivered. “Man, it’s really cold out here; I want to go back already…” then she felt a vibration in the jacket’s pocket and saw Teppei’s phone receiving a call. “It’s coach…” Ame answered the call. “Hello?”

“You’re lost again, aren’t you?” Riko’s voice sounded doubtless that Ame was indeed lost.

“Well, I managed to find the store… I just lost track of my way back…” Ame replied sheepishly and heard Riko sigh.

“Go back to the convenience store, if you can” Riko mumbled the last part, ordering her. “I’ll go get Teppei to fetch you”

‘Teme…?’

“Fine, if I can” Ame muttered and ended the call. Fortunately, she was able to go back to the store and sat on the bench where she was earlier. Impatiently waiting for Teppei, she pulled out her PSP and played NBA games on it, until her fetcher arrived.

“Amei-chan” Teppei panted, stopping in front of Ame from running.

“Oh, you’re here, took you a while” Ame turned off her PSP and put it back in her pocket. She noticed how sweaty Teppei is, and handed him a sports drink. ‘Kagetora must’ve used fartlek’ she thought and looked at the visible mountains. ‘Well, this is the perfect place for that’

“Arigato” Teppei took the sports drink and gulped, refreshing himself.

“You okay?” Ame asked with a monotone voice, watching him catch his breath.

“Y-Yeah” Teppei straightened up and smiled at her. “You’re wearing my jersey jacket” he noticed, a blush creeping on his cheeks.

Ame flinched and looked away from him with a frown. “You gave it to me, so it’s mine now” she scoffed and looked back at him. “It’s really cold out here, so it’ll be stupid if I didn’t have a jacket on”

“I get it” Teppei concluded while beaming and took the plastic bag from Ame’s hand, carrying it for her. “Let’s go back before we catch a cold” she looked surprised at first as they started to walk.

“I won’t get a cold, you will”

“Eh, why’s that?”

“Because—achoo!—I have a… a… achoo!—a jacket a-and you don’t!” Ame stuttered in between sneezes as her nose started to redden. ‘Damn it…’ she cursed mentally with a frown.

“You have a jacket because you need one”

“I don’t—achoo!”

“See”

“S-Shut up—achoo!”

“Here” Teppei took out a handkerchief from his jacket’s pocket and gave it to Ame who raised her eyebrow. “Where did that came from?” she questioned taking the cloth from him, and wiped her nose. “I always kept one in my jacket” he answered and looked at the plastic bag. “Did you buy these energy drinks for the team?”

“Yeah, but the coffee’s mine!” Ame reminded him.

“I got it. The coffee’s yours” Teppei nodded as they find themselves back at the gym. “We’re back” he announced when they stepped in the gym, closing the door behind them.

“Ame-ne! Stop getting lost all the time!” Ame received a scold from Kyo making her back away and hide behind Teppei, grabbing onto his shirt. “And don’t use Kiyoshi-senpai as a human shield!”

“S-Shut up Kyo! I wouldn’t be using him as a shield if only you weren’t so threatening!” Ame exclaimed, pulling Teppei in front of her, feeling his warmth. ‘His body feels warm…’

“Amei-chan, if you keep pulling, I’ll drop the drinks” Teppei told her but she kept tugging his shirt.

“No, stay here, shield me from Kyo” she ordered stubbornly. “Also, your body feels warm…” Ame mumbled which Teppei didn’t hear.

“What was that?” he asked making her flinch.

“N-Nothing! Ignore me!” she stammered sheepishly and ran away from him, and sat at the corner of the gym.

Kagetora sighed at her behaviour, remembering how her mother was like that during the International competition, when they were teammates. ‘Yoite was actually the same towards Toshi. Tch, kid’s got her mother’s personality and traits’ they had a short break before the old man made the player’s run around the mountain again, leaving him with the two Araki’s and her daughter.

“It’s weird” he snapped then glanced at Ame, catching Kyo and Riko’s attention. “You look exactly like your father, but whenever I look at you, I can’t help but remember your mother’s cold stare”

“Uh” Ame’s eyes widened and so did Kyo’s.

“Ame-ne…”

“You and Yoite got the same attitude, personality and coldness, it’s creepy how you’re like the replica of her, putting aside the physical features though” he told Ame about her resemblance from her mother.

“Shut up already you old jeezer” Ame snapped out of annoyance. “Like you said, I’ve got my father’s features… no… ALL of us got his features. There’s not a single Yoite on our faces, so stop with the resemblance crap already” she stood up, and walked out the gym.

“Papa, what are you talking about now?” Riko raised an eyebrow at her father who shrugs it off.

“Nothing” he waves it off and sighed mentally. ‘Exactly like Yoite…’ 

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So this chapter's is titled like this because it's shown/mentioned that Ame acts like her mother when she was in Team Japan~Yes, she was teammates with Kagetora-san together with her father~ 

It was mentioned that Ame and Kyo's father was a basketball player before so if you still remember that, it'll make sense ^_^

Anyway, hope you like this chapter! XD Vote and comment <3