Takao stopped at the red light, when he heard a scream. Both he and Himuro Tatsuya looked at the direction the yelling came from, only to see a girl lose her balance as a car nearly hit her. She jumped out of the way just in time, but dropped all bags she was carrying, all of which ended up under the vehicles' wheels. The car didn't stop and it looked like its driver didn't have any intention of checking if the person he almost got hurt - or killed - was alright.

Realizing that no one else saw what happened, the boys abandoned the rickshaw and ran up to her, wanting to make sure that she was not hurt.

"Miss! Miss, are you alright?" cried Himuro, dropping to his knees in front of her.

"Honestly, what are these drivers thinking?" added Takao. "You're not hurt are you?"

The girl looked up at them slowly. Takao and Himuro were both surprised to see a very foreign face - she was clearly not Asian, with her pale skin, bushy brown hair and round eyes - but also startled to see that the girl was very definitely crying.

"Y...Yeah," she rasped, not very convincely, but she spoke Japanese like a native. "I'm fine. Really. Thanks, but you don't need to worry about me."

"But you're not fine, miss," Himuro said gently. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she was breathing a little bit too fast. She was panicking. "Miss, I need you to breathe with me. Can you do that?."

The girl did not answer, but started shaking.

"I'm fine," she was saying like a mantra, eyes closed tightly. "I'm fine. I'm fine." But she wasn't. If anything, she was getting more and more panicked.

Takao, who's never encountered a person with a panic attack before, was really starting to worry now. Himuro hid his own emotions not wanting to be anything but supportive and calm, for both Takao and the girl's sake.

"Miss, can I take your hand?" Yosen's shooting guard asked. Takao was amazed by his calmness.

The girl nodded. Himuro smiled at her.

"Thank you," he said, taking her hand in his, gently. "What is your name, miss?"

"Nina," she replied softly. "Nina Lisowa."

Himuro's smile widened.

"A beautiful name for a beautiful lady like yourself," he complimented. Nina blushed a bit and a tiny smile appeared on her face, which was a good sign.

"So, Nina," Himuro continued. "Are you hurt anywhere?

Takao noticed that the more Himuro was talking, the more Nina was calming down, slowly, but surely.

"No, I don't think so," she said, her voice small and uncertain. "But my... I was shopping... Is all of it lost?

The boys turned around to see two plastic bags lying on the streat and indeed were they both crushed.

"Yeah," they said in union.

Nina, still a little shaken, sighed.

"There goes my dinner and tomorrow's lunch then," she mumbled. "Perfect."

Himuro offered Nina another smile.

"I'm sure your parents won't mind after you tell them what happened," he tried to reassure her.

Nina snorted.

"My mom went back to Poland for a week. She's not in Japan and won't be for another five days. And I don't have a dad."

Her answer worried Himuro and Takao. Especially since just a few minutes ago, Nina could've been seriously hurt and her mother wouldn't be there for her. In fact, she wouldn't know that anything was wrong until it was too late. Besides, Himuro was aghast that this girl, who couldn't possibly be older than fifteen or sixteen at most, was left completely alone in a foreign country.

"That's too bad," Himuro said. "So you're from Poland? It's in Europe, correct?"

Nina nodded.

"Yeah. From Glinno, a small village in the mountains. Southern Poland. I loved it there. It was always peaceful and quiet. But now I'm in freaking Tokyo and I hate it here! Big cities are not for me. Especially since I don't know anyone here, obviously have a knack at getting into trouble and don't have anything to fill my fridge with. As you can probably tell, I'm royally screwed."

Himuro was glad to see that Nina was not panicking anymore. Her breathing evened and she stopped shaking. But he still didn't want to leave her alone yet. Upon learning that Nina was all alone until her mom gets back from Poland, Himuro was not keen on letting this girl walk around without anyone to protect her. Maybe it was his brotherly instincts kicking in. After seeing her almost getting hit by a car and then consumed with panic, Himuro had a need to protect her, as long as he was in Tokyo.

"Well if you're hungry, we were actually coming for my brother's friend's birthday party, so why don't you come with us for the evening and then we will walk you home?" Himuro offered.

Takao and Nina were both surprised at his words.

"I don't know." Nina clearly wasn't looking forward to going anywhere with two strangers, not that Takao could blame her.

Himuro sighed.

"I understand where you're coming from," he said. "Believe me, I get it. You don't know us, we don't know you. There is little trust between us. It's understandable and very mature that you won't just agree to go somewhere with a stranger. So why don't I introduce us to you?"

Nina continued to look at Himuro suspiciously, but didn't object. Her eyes seemed to be scanning him, looking for any trace of a lie, but clearly didn't find any. She liked to think she was good at judging people's characters and these two boys didn't smell of danger. A little mischief, maybe. But not danger. And this very beautiful teenager kneeling before her did in fact talk her out of a panic attack after a car nearly hit her. Not to mention that they were the only ones who went to check on her, despite not knowing her. Perhaps it wasn't a bad idea to trust them. After all, she was still new to Japan and didn't have any friends here. It seemed like a good opportunity to make some.

She took a deep breath, before answering.

"Alright," she said.

Himuro smiled widely at her.

"I'm glad. My name is Himuro Tatsuya, but feel free to call me Tatsuya. I myself am a returnee from America, so being on a first name basis with people doesn't bother me." Nina nodded at that and returned his smile. "And my friend here is. Takao Kazunari."

Takao nodded with a toothy grin of his own.

"You know, Himuro, you don't need to introduce me, 'cuz I can do it myself," he said teasingly. "But yeah, Takao Kazunari is my name. I actually live nearby and go to Shutoku High School. It's a pleasure to meet you, lovely lady Nina of the distant land of Poland.

Nina giggled at his antics, but then blinked as something occurred to her. She seemed to be thinking about something for a few seconds, before her face suddenly lit up and she smiled so brightly it was breathtaking. 

Himuro hoped that it wouldn't be the last time Nina smiled like that.

"I know of Shutoku!" she exclaimed. "That's the school I'm gonna be enrolled in!

Takao and Himuro were shocked.

"For real?" they asked.

Nina nodded rapidly.

"Yes! After the winter break ends!"

Takao burst out laughing at the funny way the fate seemed to be making things happen.

First he met Himuro, who was lost in one of the biggest cities in the country, because apparently his brother was terrible at giving directions, and there were two reasons why he came here all the way from Akita in the first place. Kuroko's birthday party and, as he told Takao just before they met Nina, a practice match Yosen and Rakuzan were having in Tokyo. But as far as Himuro was concerned, the match was nothing more than an arrangement that Akashi somehow managed to make for Murasakibara to have no choice but to come to the capital city for Generation of Miracles' gathering. Since Himuro was clearly struggling with finding a way to his brother's place, Takao has offered to help him out.

Then, after not more than three or five minutes, they met Nina, who was not only a foreigner, but also a future Shutoku student. 

"Well, look at that," Himuro commented. "What a funny coincidence."

Nina chuckled and stood up, having enough of sitting on the pavement. Himuro also stood up. He took his phone out of his jacket's pocket and checked the time.

"We're gonna be late if we don't hurry," he infrormed Takao, then turning to look at Nina. "Will you accept our invitation to the party, then?

"Sure," Nina replied with more confidence now, probably because of Takao, with whom she was going to be at the same school in a month. "It sounds like fun."

"Excellent!" Himuro exclaimed, clapping his hands.

"Yeah, just wait until you meet everyone! I'm betting my spot on Shutoku's basketball team that they're gonna love you!" Takao added, grinning.

Nina gasped.

"You play basketball?" she asked.

"We both do," Himuro replied for Takao. "Why?"

Nina grinned at both of them widely.

"Because I do too! I love basketball! In fact, I'm a pretty decent shooting guard and was hoping to join Shutoku's team, since I know they have one of the best in Tokyo."

Takao, once again laughed loudly, as they were making their way to his rickshaw. Himuro was looking surprised, before the widest of smiles appeared on his face.

"Lady Nina," Takao said happily, "I think that we are going to be the best of friends!"