Takao was once again pulling the rickshaw, in which there were now two people instead of just one. Himuro Tatsuya of Yosen High School in Akita and lovely Nina of Poland, his future schoolmate and - quite possibly - a teammate.

Himuro told him that the party was starting no sooner than at seven p.m., but since there was still much to do in the matter of preparation, the boy was supposed to be there early. And he was already running late before their totally unexpected meeting with Nina, but now he was really late. Takao assured Himuro that there was no need to be worried, because their destination was only seven minutes away. Nina, who felt responsible for them being deleted, was worried also, but they both told her that it was in no way her fault.

"Besides," Takao said, panting. "If anything, it's that stupid crazy driver's fault for almost hitting you. What in the world was he thinking? He could've killed you or seriously hurt you. What were we supposed to do? Nothing? Not a chance!"

Himuro fully agreed with Takao.

"I'm glad we stopped to check on you." He said it without any trace of a lie. "Between being late to some birthday party and you ending up seriously hurt, I prefer the former. And you had a panic attack. Obviously, it's better that you were not alone. So don't worry about it."

Nina nodded with a faint smile.

The rest of the way they passed without talking. After not a full ten minutes they found themselves in front of the building Himuro's brother lived in. Takao got off his bike, while Himuro helped Nina out of the rickshaw.

"Thank you!" she said happily. Her smile was beautiful and Himuro was glad that she was getting more and more relaxed with them.

"Don't mention it," he said. "Now, let's not make Taiga wait any longer."

The trio made their way to Kagami Taiga's apartment, a rickshaw left near the building's entrance. 

Once they found themselves standing at Himuro's brother's apartment's door, they heard a loud voice coming from inside.

"That's amazing, captain!"

Himuro and Takao both snorted.

"He's rather loud, isn't he?" Takao said.

"Yes, he is," Himuro agreed, chuckling.

Nina looked back and forth between them with confusion on her face.

"Was that your... brother?" Nina asked Himuro.

"Yup!" he said. "That's my little Taiga for you."

Takao cocked his eyebrows, snorting.

"Not so little anymore. The bloke is taller than you!" he pointed out with a dazzling grin.

Himuro decided to ignore Takao's comment and just called the intercon. A few moments later the door was opened by who Nina assumed was this Kagami Taiga. He was indeed taller than Himuro, had fiery red hair and split eyebrows.

"Hey!" Himuro said.

"Tatsuya!" the guy exclaimed, looking both happy and relieved. "You were so late I got kinda worried!"

"Well, I wouldn't have been if you gave better directions," Himuro pointed out not unkindly. "Fortunately for me, a mutual friend came to my rescue," he said standing aside so Takao was now in Kagami's eyesight.

"Jo, jo!" he greeted.

"What? Takao?" A puzzlement mixed with shock at seeing Takao was written on Kagami's face so plainly, it almost made Nina laugh.

"Your lost child has been delivered to you free of charge," Takao said teasingly. Kagami now looked even more puzzled than before.

"What do you mean "delivered"?" he asked, not certain what the blackhaired guy was talking about. Then something occurred to him. "Oh. Oh!" Suddenly he remembered about the strange rickshaw Takao was always pulling with grumpy Midorima sitting in it. "Oh."

Takao smirked.

"Since he's here, would it be alright if he joined us?" Himuro asked.

"Sure. Come on in, I guess," Kagami said to Takao, though he didn't look very happy about letting him participate in the party.

Takao, who didn't really mind Kagami's lack of enthusiasm, being used to Midorima's grumpy attitude, grinned at the invitation.

"Sweet!" he exclaimed and eagerly came in. "Don't mind if I do!"

When he was inside, Kagami turned around to his brother and only then noticed an unfamiliar face. A foreing, female's face.

"Eh? And who are you supposed to be?" he asked in English, not aware of Nina's capability to speak his language.

Himuro and Nina chuckled.

"Jestem Nina i znam japoński, "podwójna brewko"," she said in Polish.

"What the hell?" Kagami yelped. Himuro was now outright laughing. His brother's confusion added to his usual lack of ability to talk with girls was ever so entertaining, though he didn't have any idea what Nina just said, too.

"I speak your language," Nina repeated, switching back to Japanese, smirking at the taller boy mischievously.

"Oh, that's good, I guess. It'll make contact a lot easier," Kagami said.

"My name is Nina, by the way," she informed him.

"And I invited her to the party as well," Himuro cut in.

Kagami cocked his eyebrows.

"Oh, really?" He looked back and forth between his brother and the girl standing next to him, before sighing. "Well, the more the merrier, as they say. Come in, Nina."

The girl smiled widely. For a second there she was certain that he would not let her in or asked her on what grounds she thought she was supposed to be here.

"Thank you," she said and entered, Himuro going in right after her.

"Hey, Taiga," he said to his brother, raising his hand in which he was holding something. "Here. It's yours. It's Kiritanpo."

Kagami took the gift with appreciation.

Nina took off her coat and shoes, Himuro doing the same, standing beside her. Takao waited for them near the door to the living room. Once they were done, he grinned mischievously and entered the room where a group of boys were busy with preparing decorations for the party.

"Hello, Seirin peps!" Takao greeted them loudly, waving at the puzzled group. "How's it going?"

"Huh, Takao!? What are you...?" Asked one of the boys, before cutting off at the sight of another unexpected person entering the living room. Or rather, two unexpected people.

"'Scuse me," aid Himuro.

"Himuro, too?" asked the boy with glasses, standing up. "It's one surprise after another. But who is that girl? I don't remember ever seeing her."

"Taiga's the one who invited us," Himuro answered. "And this lovely lady standing beside me is Nina Lisowa of Poland. Me and Takao kinda bumped into her and invited her to come too, since she's still new to Japan."

One of the boys jumped up and went to greet Nina, who couldn't shake off the feeling that his face reminded her of an eagle's for some reason.

"It's nice to meet you!" he said, shaking her hand. "My name is Izuki Shun."

"Nina Lisowa," she replied, smiling.

The rest of Seirin's team soon joined Izuki in greeting her, while Himuro went with Kagami to the kitchen. Since Nina was left with a decent bunch of people - as far as Himuro knew - Yosen's shooting guard was in no need to worry about her wellbeing.

"My name is Hyuuga Junpei," a male with glasses said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Nina"

Nina nodded.

"The pleasure's all mine, Hyuuga-san!"

After Hyuga, a few more boys introduced themselves to Nina. Kawahara Koichi, Furihata Koki and Fukuda Hiroshi. Those three were first year students, while Hyuga and Izuki were a year above. The rest of their friends were supposed to come later.

All of the boys were very friendly and welcoming, which really warmed Nina's heart. Not for the first time this evening, Nina was glad she trusted Takao and Himuro.

Wanting to make a good first impression, Nina offered to help out with preparations, but the boys assured her that she doesn't need to, since they are almost done anyway.

Takao and Nina sat next to each other on the floor near the table, which Himuro and Kagami were constantly filling with more and more plates with amazingly looking dishes. Nina was ecstatic upon seeing sushi amongst them. It was her favorite thing to eat, ever since visiting her late grandmother in Kiekrz, where there was a sushi bar like no other. She was really keen on trying this sushi, since it was made by actual Japanese.

She licked her lips.

"It looks delicious," Nina said, feeling hungry at the sight of very yummy looking food.

"I second that," Takao agreed with her, drooling.

Nina beamed at him.

Himuro and Kagami soon came out of the kitchen with the last set of plates. After placing them on the table, they stood next to each other in front of the big window and took their aprons off.

"By the way, how's Alex been?" Himuro asked, looking at Kagami.

Nina had no idea who this Alex was, but by the expression on Kagami's face was one of resignation and exasperation, which was a dead giveaway that this person was a lot to deal with. Nina wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Oh well, she seems to have taken quite the liking to Japan," he said, showing Himuro a photo. Nina couldn't see it from where she was sitting, but by the look on Himuro's face, which turned from calm to puzzled, she guessed it might have been something not that worth seeing.

But Seirin students and Takao apparently thought the opposite.

"Oh man!" Izuki yelled.

"Holly...!" Hyuuga couldn't even finish the sentence.

All six boys, Takao included, surrounded Kagami, whose jaw hung open at the sight of them wanting to see his master's naked body's photo, like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. Himuro looked at the scene with wide eyes, while Nina could only shake her head.

She would never understand the male population.

Looking aside, Nina spotted a few white and colored papers, a glue, a pair of bluish scissors, a pencil and felt-tip pens. Since she didn't have anything to do at the moment - aside from staring at the ridiculous antics of the perverted highschoolers, in which she had absolutely no interest - Nina got up and went for the accessories.

If she was going to participate in the birthday boy's party without his invitation, the least she could do was not be completely empty handed.