H I S
S P A R K

"How unfortunate."

Mel mumbled to herself, as there was nobody else to direct her statement to in the awfully empty hallway.

For the first time that week, and the sixth counting the last week, her classroom was still locked when she arrived. It was getting rather tiresome, always being the first person to clock in at Tōō. There were even times when the security guard wasn't even on actual duty around the time she came. The fact itself was amusing. But the whole getting-here-too-early-so-she-is-locked-up situation? It was anything but amusing. If Mel wasn't good at one thing, then it'll be waiting. Impatience is her.. strong point, it seems.

"Dee, you should take over my job one day," Came a voice from the end of the hallway. There stood one of Tōō’s guards, Hachi. She knew the school's guards, all-in-all. Some of the workers too, yes. Being way too pristine’s got a few perks.

"It's Mel, Hachi-san, and no, I haven't planned my future so far yet to take up that offer of yours." She pinched the bridge of her nose, having to correct him for not using her proper name.

Apparently, to him, and the other guards, she was nicknamed ‘Dee’. A shorter term for Birdie, they insisted on renaming it as Dee, since Die would be, let's say, misunderstood. Wouldn't want people randomly hearing the word die. And it's coming from the expression, early bird. She thinks it's cheesy. Really.

"But you already know how being a guard works, anyway."

"Yeah, and that makes the job even more boring."

"You've got a real gun on you at all times — where's the boring?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that you don't even use it," Sighing she leaned back on the wall, gesturing to the locked door, "Also, this door looks like it needs to be opened."

"Alright, Dee. Stop being jealous because I can own a gun and you can't," Hachi chuckled and put the keys back, "Door's all good. Don't drop out yet kid, study well."

"Not jealous of anything, and as a matter of fact, I study."

Hachi's faint chortle of disbelief faded through the hallways as he left, now leaving Mel with her own thoughts and the subtle wisp of mist as she breathes.

Perhaps it was time to start the day.

She's been there all the time as the classroom fills in with more students one at a time. Although when that happens, she's either stuck in her own world with books, or cursing mentally while gaming.

Never once had she been a little, just a little, nervous of a certain someone gracing them with his mere presence.

Sure, he'd never be the one to memorize other people's faces, much less that of a stranger's. Maybe not really strangers, anyway. They were classmates and neighbors, of sorts of course. Though she never pegged him to be the type of person to socialize a lot and concern himself with things that aren't really any of his personal business. One thing she also liked about him: he kept his hands to himself. Yes; sometimes he shares his unwanted — at least according to others — opinion, but she honestly thinks it was necessary. No biggie, but she was a fan of unpopular and logical opinions. At least he didn't go around getting too nosy.

And, Mel thanked the Gods that time, or whoever was up there, because Aomine just sat down without any haste and buried his face on his desk.

Now she just had to wait for the day to finish without any superfluous plot twists. And the first thing to do was drone out the noise and focus on her recent book.

Recent was actually not fitting. Mel had just been rereading the whole book over again. It was something fascinating and there was just something that made her want to relive the scenes over and over.

... Or not. Or maybe she just ran out of books to read, so ‘hey, let's just read this one’. Totally. Running a free hand over the spine, she waited for her name to be called. It was just about time.

"Shinatobe, Mella."

And then, she snapped her book shut.

"Present."

Little did she know as she shut her book and she graced the room with her voice, someone's own blue irises snapped open.

- - -

Aomine couldn't care less about the roll call after he was mentioned. But, just then, someone spoke up and he swore — there was no mistaking it.

He's heard that voice before.

And as he turned his eyes to look at the voice's owner, he also knew — he's seen that face before too. And it wasn't at school.

That was all there is to that, though. The only thing he could remember was them meeting at some random bookstore a few blocks away from Tōō and that she was the girl who took his precious magazine from his hands. He was getting to the good part that time. One of his favorite gravure idols was featured right in the next page and she had to go and grab it.

He was, no doubt, upset of that fact, but what can he do? Maybe opening enclosed books and magazines at bookstores wasn't really a welcomed action.

Oh, and, didn't she say her name was Mel?

- - -

The rest of the day, Mel spent her free time under the sakura tree just behind their classroom on the far right.

It was already an hour after dismissal and she was stuck in a situation she always found herself in. Alone with her doubts. With her rumination of endless woe. As no one visited the tree by far in her first and current year, she ambiguously proclaimed it as her own simple fort. A fort of insurgent emotions; where her peace of mind dwells. And there was only one reason why she chose to indulge in the idea of a place where an intake of fresh air would suffice.

Because growing up was hard.

The comfort your parents gave you was gone, your tears would get you to sleep in place of lullabies, the answer to ‘how are you’s were now always an empty lie, and stress was only a matter of subjective homeworks until you feel that everything now takes a toll on you more than it ever should.

Hope becomes expectation. Choice becomes obligation. Water becomes liquor. Normal pills become drugs.

Children become adults.

She missed the nights where all it took was a small story with a happily ever after ending it profusely to make her fall asleep. Because now, she had to deal with something more than pigs building their own fortress to protect themselves from wolves, more than a princess withering by an apple bite, and more than a beauty learning to love a beast. Before drifting off to a dreamless sleep — her smile fades, her mind overthinks and her tired soul concedes.

If only resting was as easy as fairy tales make them to be.

Finally deciding to go to Koko’s — the bookstore where she worked — she gathered her books beside her and threw her litter of chocolate milk by the trash bin without a glance.

Luckily, this time, she didn't encounter any signs of middle schoolers who were cornering people inferior to them by terms of physical build. Because she honestly couldn't take another injured kid to work.

Koko’s Crew, the official name of the bookstore, was closed when she got there. But the sign of ‘closed’ wasn't the only thing she found upon arriving. There was a rather tall guy with a dark complexion and blue hair standing in front of the closed bookstore, wearing Tōō’s uniform. Oh, and she knew who this was.

"Aomine?"

She suddenly regretted blurting out his name when he turned his head to look at the speaker. There was a hint of recognition passing by his dark blue irises.

"Couldn't be more right, honey." He answered with a wink.

Oh.

Fuck.

"Before anything, yes, I do know Mella is Latin and it means Honey," He grinned, "Is that why you told me your name was Mel? Aren't ya cute."

"I prefer Mel over Mella," She replied, masking the disgust of her given name's meaning. It was true; what he said, that is. Mella meant Honey when translated from Latin — and well, she said Mel partially because Mella sounded too feminine, "And how exactly did you conclude that my name meant that so quickly?"

"History is a nice subject, and most of history has Latin and all that, yeah," Shrugging and taking a bite of his Teriyaki burger, he waved the question off, "and I'm just that knowledgeable."

It was faint, but Mel swore she saw a peculiar spark behind his eyes. They weren't typical blue, as she always described them. It looked like the ocean in the middle of the night, engulfed in darkness yet still able to shine.

"Right. And you're at Koko’s. Why's that?"

"More magazines." Mel threw him a curious look, "It's a passion I call collecting."

"Sure," She drawled out, keeping her opinion that he was a pervert to herself, "I'll leave you with your.. collecting."

Just as she turned to leave, he catched up with merely two steps.

"I'll go with ya then. Where's your house?"

She almost scoffed, "We're neighbors."

Aomine paused, pondering. They both halted as he recalled who his neighbors were; at least that's what it looked like. A blank look sprawled around his expression, so she wasn't really able to tell.

"Oh. You live in that big ass house, dunno, was it color white?"

"Speak for yourself. Your house is big as well."

"Hm, I guess. How come I've never noticed ya before?"

A look of disbelief made its way to her face, "I didn't really expect you to be this dense. Anyway, I didn't make an effort to be noticed plus I always leave the house early. Nothing new."

"Then maybe I should walk with you from now on then, honey?"

"Stop calling me honey."

"It's your name though," He snickered, "And you didn't deny my offer. I'm now your neighbor and walkmate."

There was a pause.

"What's a walkmate?"

"No idea."

And right there the gleam in his eyes returned again.