The cherry blossom petals scatter in the sky as the school's bell rung, it was lunch break. Mikan grabbed her lunch box as she walked out of the classroom and to see a familiar girl outside, waiting for her.

"Satsuki-san?" she said.

The pink haired girl looked up at the moment her name was called, she smiled and waved at her.

"Hello Sakura-san, want to eat lunch together?" Satsuki asked.

Mikan has always been eating lunch by herself at the park, it was her first to be actually eating with someone. Giving her more reasons not to refuse her offer.

"Sure!" she smiled.

♛♛♛

    They sat on a bench at the park as they opened their lunch box and started to eat it while chatting.

    "Whoa, your lunch box is so cute, Sakura-san! Did you made it?"

   "Yes, I made it last night and had my Mom heat it for me at morning."

   "You can make your own lunch box?!"

    "Of course. Want to have a bite?" Mikan asked as she used her chopsticks and picked up a chicken.

    Satsuki took the chicken from her chopsticks with her teeth as she began chewing it and then swallowed aftermath.

    "How does it taste?"

   "It's delicious! Now that reminds me, I made Dai-chan a lunch before and he didn't even ate at least one piece! I made it with my whole heart in it!" Satsuki sulked.

   "Why didn't he ate it?"

   "I don't know...I'm no longer confident about my cooking, he probably thinks it's disgusting."

   Mikan picked up a sushi from Satsuki's lunch box and plopped it in her mouth as she began to chew it.

   "How does it taste?! I made that lunch earlier!" Satsuki beamed.

   She swallowed the small portion of food and smiled at Satsuki.

   "It's delicious." she smiled.

   "Really? Thank you! Your words are very encouraging!" Satsuki said.

   Mikan just smiled as she turned her head to the side and covered her mouth, stopping herself from puking the food that she just ate.

   Resist it, me! For Satsuki-san's sake...resist it!

    "Ouch."

    Mikan turned around to see a bruise on Satsuki's hand, it was small but it was also bright violet.

    "What's wrong?" she asked.

    "I bumped into a bike yesterday..." Satsuki answered.

   "Are you okay? It must've been hurt. If you can't hold the chopsticks, then I'll feed you."

   "Thank you, but I can manage to feed myself."

   "I see..."

    "But...you're right...it'll be hard during club activities. I might need your help."

   Then a flowery background appeared on Mikan as she smiled happily, she was able to help someone.

   "Sure! Sure! What club are you anyways?"

   "Basketball club."

   "I see...I can replace you and do all of your club activities since I know how to play basketball! For the meantime, you can take a rest—"

   "No, you got it all wrong. I'm not a player, I'm a manager."

    "What?"

♛♛♛

    "Everyone, gather up!" the captain of the basketball team said as all of the members gathered up as requested.

   "Satsuki is injured. As our only manager, it would be hard for her. So today, a temporary manager will be with us for awhile." he said.

   "I'm Sakura Mikan, I'll do my best. It's a pleasure to meet you all!" she smiled as she introduced herself.

   "What a cute girl!"

   "She's so small!"

   "I want to hug her!"

   Mikan blushed after hearing some of the boys whisper their comments about her, she was worried of how they think about her. About first impressions.

   "I'm Nijimura Shuzo, a third year and the basketball team's captain. Nice to meet you, Sakura." the tall dark haired male said.

   "It's nice to meet you, Nijimura-senpai." she said.

   "Sakura-chii? What are you doing here?!"

   Mikan turned around to see Kise wearing a plain t-shirt, shorts and rubber shoes.

   "Kise-kun?" she said as she walked towards him.

   "Saku-chin? Why?" she turned around to see Murasakibara.

   "Murasakibara-kun?" she gasped to see two of her classmates here in the gym.

   "Satsuki-san is injured, that's why I decided to help her with her work. What about you two?" she asked.

   "I'm in the basketball club." the plum haired boy lazily said.

   "Me, too. Though I just joined." the blonde said.

   "I see...good luck, you two." she smiled at them.

    "Kise, Murasakibara, what are you two doing? We have to practice." a tall green haired boy walked towards them.

   "I don't wanna...it's too tiring."

    "What's with that orange your holding, Midorima-chii?"

    The tall green haired boy pushed his glasses up and held high the orange that he was holding in his hand.

   "It's my lucky item, nanodayo."

    Then he turned to see a new face in the basketball club, Mikan met his gaze as he was staring at her.

    "Who is this?" he asked.

    "Weren't you listening earlier? She is our temporary manager since Momoi-chii is injured, it'll be hard for her since she is our only manager."

    "Saku-chin is our classmate, we seat beside her in class."

    "U-Um...I'm Sakura Mikan, it's nice to meet you." Mikan introduced herself to the green haired boy.

    "I'm Midorima Shintaro, it's also nice to meet you." he said as he pushed up his glasses once again, a habit of his.

    "Hey, you three! What do you think you're doing?! Time to practice!" Nijumura yelled.

   "Hai, Nijimura-san!" Kise yelled back.

   "You heard him, Sakura-chii. We'll be going now, talk to you later." the blonde said.

   "It's too tiring...I don't want to play basketball..." the violet haired boy groaned.

   "Enough, Murasakibara. We have to practice in order to win." the green haired boy said.

    The three male started practice as Sakura was left alone.

    "Sakura?" she turned around to see Aomine who just entered the gym.

    "Oh, hello Aomine-kun. Good luck with your practice." she told him.

    Aomine blushed as he immediately looked away so she wouldn't see him blushing, then he turned to her.

    "What are you doing here?" he asked.

    "Satsuki-san is injured, that's why I'll be helping her with her job as a manager." she said.

    "What? Satsuki is injured?" he said, surprised.

    "Yes, she bumped into a bike yesterday." she answered.

    "Is she okay?" he asked again.

    "I think so...?" Mikan said, unsure.

    "I'll go and practice now, talk to you later." Aomine said as she nodded, he went to the changing room to change his clothes.

♛♛♛

    "First, fill these squeeze bottles with tea, then carry them over there. All members should always be hydrated." Satsuki said.

   "Okay, I got it!" Mikan said.

    She filled the squeeze bottles with tea and carried them all over the table as instructed, she ran through the sidelines of the court to avoid getting hit by a basketball.

    Suddenly, a ball came flying towards her direction. Then someone grabbed the basketball and saved her.

    "I'm so sorry, Akashi-chii!" she heard Kise's voice.

    "You're apologizing to the wrong person, Kise-kun." another voice said.

    Huh...?

    Mikan looked at the basketball that was being held by a guy, she looked up to see a boy with blazing red hair and fiery red eyes.

    "Are you okay?" his creamy, deep voice laced with concern asked her.

    "Yes. I didn't hit me." she answered right away.

    The boy smiled gently as she felt her heart skip a beat.

    "That's good." he said.

    For some reasons, Mikan can't advert her eyes from this guy. He had such a huge presence from someone who has a short height. He was a little bit taller than her.

    "Sakura-chii! I'm so sorry!" someone came running towards them, it was Kise who was crying.

    "It's fine, Kise-kun." she smiled at him as he slowly smiled back.

   "Good thing that your alright." he said as he was relieved.

   "Be careful next time, Kise." the red haired boy said as he run towards the court while dribbling the ball.

    The red haired boy played against his teammates as he went past through their defense and shoot the ball in the ring without breaking a sweat.

    He was calm and collected, he was able to successfully make shoots without trying hard. He was amazing in her eyes.

   "Hey Kise-kun, who is he?" Mikan asked the blonde.

   "He is Akashi Seijuro, the vice-captain. He is a second year just like us." Kise said.

    "I see...his a vice-captain of the basketball team, how cool..." she muttered.

   "What's this? Have you fallen head-over-heels for Akashi-chii?" Kise lightly teased.

    "W-What? No! It's n-nothing like that!" Mikan stuttered, blushing furiously.

    "Then why do you keep staring at him? Hmm?" he grinned.

    "N-No...I wasn't staring at him! You've got the wrong idea!" she said, completely embarrassed.

   Kise looked at her quietly, he was serious all of the sudden. Then he leaned down, getting in her personal bubble as he whispered in her ear.

   "It makes me a little bit jealous."

   He leaned back and smiled at her for the last time before running back to the court as he began to practice, leaving Mikan, who was in a mess.

♛♛♛

    The sun goes down as the stars go up and the moon shone on the dark skies, it was night time and they started to wrap up.

   Mikan was fixing the things and returning them to the storage room, then she saw Satsuki and Aomine, talking.

   "Hey Satsuki, how's your hand?"

   "W-What are you talking about? There is nothing wrong with my hand...."

   "Stop acting tough. Sakura told me that you bumped into a bike yesterday."

   "I-It's fine, Dai-chan...it's no biggie. Anyways, I didn't see Tetsu-kun today."

   "Tetsu? Oh, don't worry. He had something else to do today so he wasn't able to come at practice."

   Tetsu? Who's that? Anyway, I should go and finish my work. I feel bad for eavesdropping...

    Mikan carried the net filled of basketballs and was about to put them away when she stopped after hearing their conversation.

    "Hey Dai-chan, I haven't seen the towel you've been always using. The blue one."

   A blue towel...? The one with me was also a blue towel.

   "Oh, that? I gave it to someone."

   The net that she was holding tightly escaped her hands as the basketballs began to roll out. She covered her mouth to avoid attracting attention, she couldn't believe what she just heard.

    Then.....the person who saved me and left the towel was actually Aomine-kun?!