Disclaimer: I don't own anything in Kuroko no Basket
Note: Thank you for the reviews! I didn't expect such a quick response. I was nervous about the reactions to this fic since I literally only started watching KnB less than a month ago. Seriously. I just had to write this fic after noticing nobody tried something like this.
Also, I made some embarrassing mistakes that one of the reviews pointed out. (Thanks, truly. I wouldn't have noticed otherwise)
So if it isn't too much to ask, please ignore my mistakes and act like you didn't see anything. It'll make my life a lot easier.
Also, someone had asked in one review whether there will be slash. As I've said to that person in my PM, no. This fic is completely GEN and will not focus too much on romance. A few canon popular pairings will be implied, though not too much into detail. Purely FRIENDSHIP all the way.
Chapter 2
"Alright you brats. Same time tomorrow for practice or I'll hunt you down myself. I know where you all live, so don't you dare try something funny!"
The players gave long, suffering groans as their muscles ached from the whims of their demonic basketball coach, Kagami Taiga. The man might be in a wheelchair, but his merciless, almost sadistic attitude lost any pity points from the basketball team a long time ago.
Kagami watched them go, rolling his eyes when he listened to their complaints.
Good grief. If Riko was here, she would have a field day with this bunch. Hellish didn't even begin to describe what she thought was 'training.' Hyuuga Junpei, her husband, could attest to that.
Kagami shuddered at the thought and rolled his way around the gym to see if there was anything those lazy kids missed while cleaning up.
Sure enough, there was a lone basketball at the far corner, making Kagami sigh. Slowly going there, he screeched to a halt in front of the orange ball and leaned foward to lightly push the ball towards the wall with the tip of his fingers. Following the object until it thumped against the wall, Kagami hit the object with his unmoving foot to make it bounce against the surface, giving it enough momentum for Kagami to catch it in the air.
Smiling in triumph at his small accomplishment, he just put the ball on his lap before he felt his phone vibrate in his hoodie's front pocket. Taking out the device, the smile turned into a full blown grin when he saw the name 'Kuroko' flash brightly on the screen.
Touching the touch screen phone on the blinking green 'Answer' box, he put the phone to his ear.
"Yo Kuroko! It's been a while since you've called."
"Kagami-kun." even through the receiver, Kagami could hear the warmth in his shadow's voice. "I apologize for taking so long. I've been busy with the kindergarteners these days. They are quite a handful."
"Yeah, I can imagine. I've visited you plenty of times, remember?" Kagami thought back with amusement to how the kids had prodded at his chair and asked him how fast he could go. Kuroko had been mortified. "And don't apologize you idiot. Geesh, I thought you got rid of that habit."
"I'm sor-... Very well Kagami-kun."
Kagami could hear a 'Oi Tetsu, stop hogging the phone a damn second!' that sounded suspiciously like Aomine in the background. Kuroko's response of, 'This is my phone to begin with Aomine-kun.' confirmed his guess.
"What are you doing with that bastard?"
Kuroko ignored the squawk of indignation behind him and spoke with that monotone voice of his. "We are eating at Magi Burger. We bought you takeaway so you could eat later."
"Ah, thanks. I've been busy all day with those brats so I forgot to eat."
In his high school years, what he just said would've been unheard of. But because of the fact he couldn't walk anymore, he had become more careful in his diet so he wouldn't become fat due to the lack of exercise that was limited for him. Not to mention he was thirty years old and not that young anymore.
Kagami narrowed his eyes.
"Kuroko, you're not just drinking another vanilla milkshake, are you?"
The guilty silence that followed afterwards was enough answer for him.
Kagami pinched the bridge of his nose. "Kuroko, we've talked about this. You can't eat so little for a meal! You need actual substance or else you're gonna stay skinny and girly looking forever!"
"I do not look girly." was Kuroko's sullen retort.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that."
"I will only listen if you go to Midorima-kun's appointments. I've heard you've been skipping out for several weeks."
Kagami winced at the accusing tone and looked down. Fifteen years and the shadow still knew how to guilt trip him like no one else.
"I've been busy. The checkups will have to wait until the Winter Cup." Kagami's eyes burned with resolve. "I won't settle for anything except the top."
There was a pause on the other line. "You're pushing yourself too hard." Kuroko said softly. "I won't stop you, but please be careful."
Sensing the fearful undertone his partner was using, Kagami sighed and closed his eyes.
"Okay, okay. I'll go to the next one in a few days." Kagami scratched his nose. "Besides, Midorima might actually kill me if I don't."
"Thank you Kagami-kun." the red head slightly blushed at the warm tone Kuroko was using. From the way he was talking, it was like Kagami was doing something for him, not the other way around.
"Sh-Shut up! God, you always have to make things all weird whenever we talk! If you keep doing that, I'm hanging up!" Kagami managed to fluster out. He could hear the blue haired man actually chuckle when he said this.
"Alright Kagami-kun. Aomine-kun and I will stop by the school to pick you up. Don't be late."
"Fine. I'm guessing the guy is going to drive my car to my house when you get here?"
"Yes."
Kagami nodded to himself. "Got it. Make sure to tell that bastard he better not scratch my car like last time when he does."
"It was one time!" he heard Aomine exclaim loudly enough for him to hear. One end of his lips twitched as he listened to Kuroko scold him for drawing attention on them. Kagami hung up.
Stuffing the phone back in his pocket, he glanced down then up from the basketball to the basket, a niggling urge slowly taking root.
'Just one basket and I'll leave.' he thought, starting to back away to give himself some distance from the basket. He took position, tension building, and made the shot from the free throw line.
SWISH!
The sound brought a brilliant grin on the former power foward's face.
Before he knew it, he got the ball again and took another shot. It got in without hitting the rim.
Again and again he made countless throws, sweat pouring down his arms and chest until he forgoned the notion to keep score. He lost track of time as he got lost in the repetitive exercise, lost in the sport he had never stopped loving even after the use of his legs were stolen from him. The heartbreaking smile only grew at ever shot, despite how draining the game was.
Watching the last basket he flicked go through, he noticed how his arms were shaking from the exertion he put on them. It's been far too long since he last played.
Wiping off the sweat with his now wet t-shirt since he had taken the hoodie off a while ago, he saw that the ball was dribbling away from him.
He heaved himself to go forward, pushing his arms to wheel himself over as they quivered. The sweat, however, kept making his hands slip off the rubber, making him growl in frustration. Finally, he grabbed for the hoodie and used the fabric to keep his grip on the tires, slowly making his way to the orange ball.
When he did manage to make it there, he slapped his forehead at the realization he was going to have to bounce the ball against the wall in order to be able to hold it. At the moment, he was way too tired for that.
Ignoring this fact, he stubbornly leaned toward the ball to try to somehow get it and was failing miserably at the task. After a few futile efforts, he finally had to laugh at himself derisively at the situation he was in.
"This is pathetic..." he muttered to himself, feeling the old wistfulness for his legs return.
"Indeed. This is honestly the saddest thing I have ever come to witness. And trust me, I've seen a lot in my lifetime."
Kagami's eyes widened at the voice that came out of nowhere. He had locked the doors. He was sure of it.
He turned around.
-A-
"Oi, Midorima."
"What is it?"
Kagami twitched and pointed at him accusingly. "Don't you have people you'd rather hang out with other than me?"
The shooting guard paused when he took out his bento, brows furrowed in confusion.
"What brought this issue on?" Midorima's eyes shifted into something a bit darker. "Do you not want me here?"
Kagami raised an eyebrow. Midorima had always lacked in the social interactions department. The underlying tone of accusation and a hint of edginess gave away how much Kagami's answer meant to him.
The red head knew that the shooter was cautious when it came to others. Being called odd and abnormal does some damage to a person's self-esteem, no matter how well the Miracle was able to hide it behind his indifferent poker face.
"No. I just thought you'd rather hang out with your other friends more."
He didn't need to voice out who those 'friends' were. Really, the fact that Midorima was here at all was nothing but a small miracle itself. For the past two week, the shooting guard had been eating lunch with him every day without fail at the same courtyard as last time.
True to Midorima's prediction, the cherry blossoms did bloom. The pink flowers were eye-catching and beautiful, a sight Kagami had missed while he had been away in America. It felt like forever since he had come back to Japan, making him appreciate some of the aspects of the country he hadn't noticed before.
Again, living his life again put a lot of things in perspective for him.
As for Midorima, he was a bit suspicious despite himself of Midorima's choice to hang out – though the stubborn mule would probably never phrase it in such a way and make abstract excuses if ever accused of it – with him. He could tell that Midorima wasn't bothered by his presence, yet the guy never did anything without a reason. For all he knew, he could just be doing this because Akashi ordered him to.
Something in Kagami's gut though told him otherwise. He didn't act as reluctant if that was the case and Kagami didn't sense anything wrong when he was around him. He sheepishly thought to himself to give Midorima a break.
Besides, it was way too much work to figure out the superstitious shooter's motives. He sure as hell hadn't been able to with his older self.
Midorima took an almost dainty bite out of his sandwich before speaking. "I'm eating here because I choose to. I would probably go insane if I'm with those imbeciles during my every free time."
Ah.
"So basically… I'm you're scapegoat." Kagami reasoned bluntly.
Midorima scowled.
"I wouldn't word it like that. Besides," the green haired man pushed up his glasses superiorly. "I do not mind your company. You're not as annoying as the rest of the student body."
"Gee, thanks." Kagami said dryly.
"You're welcome."
At his response, Kagami honestly didn't know whether the guy actually knew he was being sarcastic from how solemnly he spoke.
"So, do they at least know where you are right now?"
Midorima sighed, looking more and more aggravated from the questioning.
"What I do is my own business." Midorima said evenly. "I did tell them at practice I won't be attending lunch with them for a while. I do not know if they know of my activities, but I'm highly confident that they do, especially with Momoi in the equation. They can be annoyingly nosy that way."
Kagami stifled a snicker at the long suffering look the usually composed teenager had on. "They sound like a handful."
"Indeed." The teenager almost sounded forlorn when agreeing.
Kagami, while still amused by his green haired companion's reaction, was feeling relieved.
During the whole time he first made acquaintance with Midorima, funny enough, he hadn't encountered anyone else from the Generation of Miracles and it had started to become unnerving. With Akashi's sure curiousity over him (he had no doubt that what Midorima said about Momoi was true), he had expected a direct confrontation soon after his first lunch with Midorima.
However, nothing seemed to have happened yet, which kept Kagami on his toes.
As for his relationship with Midorima, it was going definitely smoother than the first time he had met him in the previous timeline. The tsundere was acting, dare he say it, positively friendly.
Probably because he wasn't acting like a hot tempered idiot this time around. It made him wonder what could've happened if he hadn't made such terrible first impressions on the Generation of Miracles.
Well, except Aomine. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get along with him even now at all.
Watching Midorima as he ate his lunch, he suddenly was reminded of something.
"Ah!" he thumped his fist onto the palm of his hand as he inwardly berated himself for forgetting. He turned away from Midorima's questioning look and started to rummage through his large shopping bag that held his lunch for today. "I almost forgot!"
Midorima gave him a weird look at the sudden action and viewed him with narrowed eyes.
"What?"
Kagami turned to him with the quirk of an eyebrow. "You don't have a drink with you today, right?"
Midorima's eyes flickered in surprise.
"Yes. What does this have to do with anything?" he asked slowly.
Kagami smirked and brought out a beverage from the depth of the bag proudly. Right on the label of the can in big, Japanese letters was 'Red Bean Soup!' on the top, making Midorima's eyes go wide.
Seeing the look on his face, Kagami's smirk grew bigger.
"I noticed you were constantly drinking this during every lunch time for the past week, so I was surprised to see you didn't bring it today. When I was passing through the halls, I saw this in one of the vending machine so I bought one for you. You've been helping me a lot, so I thought I could buy this as a way of saying thanks." he added, completely sincere. He really was grateful for Midorima's efforts since it was so out of character for him.
Well, maybe not really out of character. After all, he was the definition of a tsundere to the point of hilarity. Hell, the amount of times Takao had retold him of Midorima Shintarou's peculiar habits and actions were too many to-
Stop. He halted his line of thoughts that was going into dangerous territory and fought down the memories that had been resurfacing.
He inwardly scolded himself when he noticed he was comparing Midorima to his older self again. It wasn't fair on the teen if he kept thinking like this. Besides, it was unhealthy to be this nostalgic over the past.
A bitter laugh almost escaped him. He must really be getting old from how much he's been strolling along memory lane lately. Being mentally thirty one years old was catching up to him.
Dragging himself back to the present, he noted with amusement at how the teenager actually spluttered at his words, face turning away as his cheeks turned a slight pink. Without directly looking at him, Midorima snatched the can out of his hand, movement hasty.
Eyeing him briefly, the shooting guard's back straightened as if facing an enemy on court. With no hesitation, he looked directly into Kagami's red eyes and stiffly nodded.
"I will pay you back later." he said resolutely, face warning him not to argue.
Kagami didn't know whether to snigger or sigh in defeat from Midorima's stubbornness.
Yup. Definitely a tsundere.
Shaking his head in vexation, he took a finishing bite off his fifth pizza. Seriously, why were the pizzas so small here? This was nowhere near enough to last him till dinner.
"So," Kagami started, wanting to keep talking. "Are you and the team training hard these days? I heard there's a match against Tohoku Middle School next week."
If Midorima was surprised that Kagami knew that, he didn't show it.
Instead, so fast that anyone else would've missed it, a frown flittered across the shooting guard's features before it turned neutral again.
"Akashi is training us to the fullest. I have confidence we will have no trouble at the match."
Kagami narrowed his eyes. There was something wrong with the way the teen had worded it. Before all this time travel business, he always had trouble deciphering Midorima's cool mask. But this version wasn't as adept to the skill which made some of his attempts look flimsy at best compared to before. Or later, if one viewed it in that pretense.
Curious and deciding to poke the almost nervous undertone in the teen's voice, he called him out.
"But there's still trouble, right?"
The red head ignored how Midorima went rimrod straight at the bullseye call out. Midorima looked at him with all previous embarrassment gone, green eyes hard and guarded. Completely unfazed, Kagami calmly stared back with piercing blood red.
"I don't know what you're talking abo-"
"Do you know what I absolutely hate about this school?"
The question was so abrupt that Midorima automatically shut down his heated response without thinking. Kagami's red eyes were scorching and went through him like an arrow, unflinching.
"Its policy." Midorima's eyebrows shot to the hairline but he didn't speak. Kagami continued. "'Winning is everything.' The mentality behind such a statement is flawed. The message is too prideful, too overboard. To polish students to the point where they think showing weakness is unacceptable is too heavy for one to bear. Imagine having that weighed on your chest every second, every day. Where asking for advice makes one look inept at solving his or her problems. The pressure and need to be perfect must be overwhelming."
Taking a deep breath, he noted how Midorima stared at him intently, lunch forgotten, as he listened to every word he was spurting out.
"I don't know anything about your team, but I do know one thing. Hiding a weakness in fear of being called losers and to keep a good reputation is all handy dandy, but it's stupid not to admit it if it's serious. Problems could be solved so much quicker if people just ask for help. Ignoring it isn't going to make it better. It'll just make things worse. Problems don't go away if it's never addressed. It just grows into a bigger pain in the ass."
He paused. "Hey, what do you think of me?"
This question occurred to him when he said the last part about asking for help. He meant what he said, but had momentarily forgotten that no, they were not close enough to be called friends yet and yes, he had lectured Midorima like one of his players when he was still a coach. Ergo, like a ten year old.
He hadn't meant to rant, but he felt kinda good after doing so. He really had needed to vent about the school's poisonous way of thinking. That thinking alone had made him almost reconsider not going to Teiko, but his loyalty to his friends had stopped him from running away. Oh the things he went through for those idiots.
Midorima's blank look looked rather stupid on him as he tried to follow Kagami's sudden change of topic.
"What?"
Kagami couldn't help but remember how Midorima had the exact same reaction to when he had given his opinion on Midorima's horoscopes. It wasn't any less funny then the first time.
"You don't trust me yet, do you? I'm asking because I just realized we may not be close enough for you to spill out all your angsty problems on me-"
"I do not angst!" Midorima snapped, causing Kagami to smirk. Midorima sighed and pushed his glasses up with one of his taped fingers. There was a trace of uncertainty at the action, yet Kagami could already sense what his answer would be.
"As for your question, I will not answer it. Aren't you embarrassed to ask something like that so straightfowardly? Normal people don't do that."
"And you're the epitome of normal I'm guessing?" Kagami shot back, ignoring how Midorima basically avoided his question. He watched with barely restrained snickers at how displeased Midorima looked with his face all twisted up like that. Turning his head away with a hmph with indignant childishness, the previously unknown tension dissapeared like a whiff of smoke.
A reflective look replaced Midorima's irritation. Kagami could almost see the mental picture of Midorima weighing the pros and cons of taking up his suggestion. After what felt like an eternity later, Midorima shifted on the grass before he finally spoke while still not looking at him.
"The ace of the team, Aomine, is growing quite frustrated with no one able to challenge him. Yesterday, he came close to going physical while telling off one of the second string opponents for not being fast enough to block him. It's putting a strain on everyone and is making people anxious, especially to his 'shadow', Kuroko."
Kagami nodded in understanding. He could perfectly understand where Aomine was coming from. When he had first come to Japan in his previous life in 9th grade, he too had become short tempered over the conclusion that Japan didn't have any good players. If he thought about it, he had been very much like Aomine before he met Seirin and learned under Kuroko and his senpais' guidance. For that, he was truly relieved he had met them before he turned into someone like the future, arrogant Aomine.
"So what are you doing about it?"
Midorima looked puzzled.
"Doing about it?" he repeated questioningly.
Kagami raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Well, obviously this can't continue. If what you're saying is true, then he's not really acting like a proper teammate. Whether anyone is weaker than him or not, he shouldn't be taking it out on the team. That's not right. It's not like those players he's going up against aren't trying their best. He shouldn't be letting his own personal issues get involved in his play. He's your best player, so of course he has the responsibility to watch himself. After all, everyone is looking up to him, right?"
Midorima looked speechless. It's as if he never about it from this angle before.
Kagami resisted the urge to scoff. Geniuses or not, the Miracles completely sucked at social behavior and thought too highly of themselves for their own good, even now.
He could see why that man wanted to change the Generation of Miracles. He was starting to see how flawed their way of thinking was and just how far back it went. It was starting to get ridiculous.
"What do you suggest should be done?"
Kagami cocked his head.
"Well, to be honest, the best way to go about this is disciplining him. Otherwise, he's just going to keep acting up."
"Like what?" Midorima demanded. His eyes were attentive and serious. Clearly, this has been bothering him lately.
Kagami thought about it before finally speaking.
"Don't let him play."
Midorima's eyes widened, not expecting such a solution. Seeing the doubt in his eyes, Kagami hurriedly explained.
"His lack of sportsmanship and belittlement to the other players is unacceptable. If he's going to act like a bitching little kid, take him out of matches. In fact, ban him all together until he learns his lesson." Kagami narrowed his eyes. "But make sure he doesn't skip. Have him do a hundred laps or something so he's at least not lazying around. But most importantly, support him. He sounds like a bastard to me, but he must be going through a pretty hard time. Talk to him. Let him know he's not alone. Having your captain and that kid Kuroko be burdened by everything isn't right either.
Kagami shut his mouth at the last of his tirade. Damn. He's saying way too much today.
He grew self-conscious from the unreadable way Midorima was looking at him. For a second, he thought he imagined the glimmer of respect in the shooter's bright green eyes. Unable to take the silence much longer, he coughed.
"So, uh, that's what I think, but you don't have to listen if you don't want to." He quickly reassured him. He really didn't want to get on Midorima's bad side after getting along with him so freakishly well.
To his utter relief, Midorima sighed, pushing his glasses up.
"You're argument was surprising good up until the last part." the end of his lip unmistakably curled upwards as he closed his eyes. "However, I have to say your logic is sound. I'll talk to Akashi about this at practice."
A little astounded but pleased over this development, Kagami nodded. "Sure. And tell me how it goes when you do. Aomine sounds like a piece of work."
Midorima snorted. "You have no idea."
Kagami smirked.
If he only knew.
-A-
Akashi put his pencil down and fought back the impulse to slump in his chair. Completing all his homework and extra paperwork from the basketball club was tiring, the latter giving more labor than the previous. It was astounding how after only two weeks, the lull of school was already too familiar to his liking.
Rolling his shoulders, he heard the cracking of unused muscles audible in the silent, lonely classroom. He normally didn't act this lax, but the temptation to just give himself a moment to let up finally had gotten through to him. It wasn't good to be so stressed so early in the year.
A pensive grimace briefly shadowed his features as he thought back to some of his more stressful subjects lately.
Daiki had once again caused a ruckus during practice and it was worrying him. As the captain, he should be trying to find a solution, yet he couldn't find one. Him, Akashi Seijuro, was stumped.
The very thought was quite displeasing.
Ever since the second championship, he had somewhat naively hoped that the problem would somehow solve itself, that maybe things would get better. After the incident that happened the other day, however, he could no longer hope for that.
The issue might've been resolved if Coach Shirogane was here, but he wasn't. The man had gotten sick at the worst time and wasn't even planning on coming back.
Of course he didn't blame the man. The coach did everything he could and had even pulled their ace out of his slump at their last championship, something Akashi admired. The man undeniably cared about the team and Akashi knew that he wouldn't have left if his situation hadn't been so dire.
However, intentional or not, that left the new Head Coach Sanada and him to take responsibility of the team themselves. And so far, they weren't doing such a good job about it.
So buried in his thoughts, he was uncharacteristically startled when he felt someone lay a hand on his shoulder. His first reaction was to demand the person to not do so before red met subtlety concerned green eyes.
Akashi blinked in genuine surprise.
"Shintarou? What are you doing here?"
It was a good question. The shooting guard had gone missing during lunch ever since the transfer student had come to Teiko Middle School. Akashi was still tempted to approach the student but had resisted till now. It was Shintarou's business and he wasn't too interested in the new student just yet.
Shintarou, caustic and unwavering Shintarou, actually averted his eyes and took off his glasses to rub them clean against his uniform shirt, as if trying to delay his answer.
The very action triggered alarms in Akashi's head.
Finished with wiping his glasses clean and putting them in place, the teen finally looked at Akashi right in the eyes and spoke.
"I may have a solution to Aomine's behavior as of late." the green haired teen said stiffly.
Niggling suspicion took root in the red head's sharp, intellectual mind as he raised one elegant eyebrow up.
"Oh? And what solution would that be?"
Shintarou narrowed his eyes.
"Don't let him play in the match against Tohoku next week."
Akashi stared at him cooly, folding his fingers together as he leaned back on his chair. Seeing that Akashi wasn't going to comment, Shintarou continued.
"I'm not saying this because of my own thoughts, but for the team. His actions are compromising the team's performances and he is acting disrespectful. This cannot continue. He needs to know that even with his own personal problems, he cannot act like this during practice. What if he does this during a match? It'll make Teiko look bad and make the rest of the team look just as arrogant. Along with the reputation of being the best middle school basketball team, comes malicious opinions from the media who is against us. We can't let that happen."
Akashi stared at Shintarou, admittedly stunned. This was the most the green haired teen ever spoken to him. It was almost surreal to hear something so passionate come out of the usually uncaring but caring teen's mouth. Such a change was awfully sudden and he had suspicions as to what caused this.
Tilting his head, red orbs turned to slits.
"Did Kagami Taiga tell you to tell me this?" he asked almost serenely.
Shintarou's eye twitched.
Bingo.
"What does he have to do with this conversation?" Shintarou's voice turned to steel as he eyed him mistrustfully. It almost made him smirk at how paranoid the teen sounded from that one sentence. He sounded almost… protective.
How fascinating.
"Everything." he smiled. "After all, it isn't like you at all to burst into speeches that don't involve your lucky items or 'fate'. Not only that, you're the last person I would've expected to get yourself involved in this. I thought team business isn't your problem to solve."
Shintarou clenched his fists but didn't deny anything he just said. All of it was true. He wasn't the type to interfere. It's what made this situation all the more curious in Akashi's opinion.
Since there was nothing that could've changed Shintarou's mind except for the new student, it hadn't been a far off guess. Not only that, Shintarou had been in a awefully good mood these days, no matter how much he denied it.
Which just raised the question: who exactly was Kagami Taiga?
Shintarou scowled and gripped tighter on the green marker that Akashi concluded to be his lucky item for the day.
"That is not the point Akashi. The point is, will you do it?" Shintarou demanded, bypassing all awkwardness as his request hung in the air.
Akashi hummed. The suggestion was rational and better than anything he had come up with for the past weeks. It'll take some convincing to the principal, and he could already picture Sanada agreeing to this solution. So in the end, he nodded. He noticed how the green haired teen had huffed at his response, his shoulders loosening barely in relief. That was going to change pretty soon.
"I do have one condition however."
Shintarou's moment of alleviation was all too short as he immediately turned rigid again to Akashi's sadistic glee.
"What is it?"
Akashi smirked and he could almost see how much that one action seemed to aggravate the teen. "I want you to bring Kagami Taiga to the gym on Thursday after school. It's about time I met this new 'friend' of yours."
"I don't know his schedule. He may have something planned."
"Then have him cancel it. I'm sure he'll listen like how you've listened to him." Akashi said innocently.
Shintarou looked close to strangling something. Instead, his shoulders slumped in submission.
This wasn't a suggestion. This was an order.
"Fine." the green haired teen's teeth gritted together before he whirled around and pompously left the room. As if on cue, the rest of the students came in through the door back from lunch, completely oblivious to the fact that another member of the Generation of Miracles had been there.
Akashi ignored them as he went back to his pondering thoughts, though they had shifted into a different route.
The transfer student he had at first dismissed after listening to some of Momoi's data was definitely starting something. To have one of the most stubborn, most prideful person alive to actually come to him in order to give advice was as unnatural as Atsushi not eating sweets for a week.
Smiling to himself, he rested his chin on his fist and looked to the window.
"Kagami Taiga." he said the name quietly to himself in the now bustling room, the name unheard from under his breathe. "You're becoming more interesting by the minute."
Maybe when he had the time and wasn't too wrapped up in other current issues would he check on this Kagami Taiga more from Momoi. He was sure she had more info by now.
-A-
"What the hell are you talking about Akashi?!"
Everyone in the gym turned around to the player that dared to yell at their captain. Everybody, even the third strings who rarely even came to the first string gym, was aware of the silent warnings to never piss off the captain.
So seeing Aomine Daiki looking close to murdering the calm red head was somewhat of a shock. The rest of the Generation of Miracles were just as alarmed, nobody noticing how Midorima closed his eyes in resignition to the reaction.
Akashi narrowed his eyes at his teammate, composed expression never faltering.
"You heard me Daiki. Because of the stunt you pulled yesterday, I'm pulling you off the team until I decide to bring you back. Ever since you've come back this year, you have been a volatile presence and have been disrupting practice for the whole team. Therefore, I am putting you on the bench starting today."
The power forward's hands clenched his fists close to the point of leaving crescent mark scars on his palm, not caring at all that they had spectators watching the scene.
"The first match is in a week." Aomine hissed. "You've gotta let me play!"
"Then you should've thought of that beforehand when you yelled at that second string player."
At Akashi's sharp retort, Aomine's face twisted ferociously.
"It's not my fault everyone in this club is so damn weak!" he snarled, causing Akashi's face to immediately darken. The change of demeanor marked as a warning in Aomine's head, but he ignored it. He was too enraged to care.
"Oh?" Akashi's voice became very soft, so soft that everyone had to strain their ears to hear his next words. "You do know that every person here is training to the best of their ability, including the Generation of Miracles, right? Then I don't have to tell you that from your comment, you make it sound like the rest of the regulars, including myself, are also weak?"
Aomine's eyes widened as he realized what he just instigated, mentally backtracking as to not create a bigger hole for himself. This was not good. An angry Akashi was never good.
"N-No, that's not what I'm trying to-"
"No Daiki." Akashi cut off like a knife, making the taller teen wince. Crossing his arms, Akashi eyed Aomine coldly. "My words are final. Even the coach has agreed to this arrangement, so you cannot have any more complaints. If you don't like it, then quit. A player unwilling to listen is a useless one."
Aomine flinched at the harsh reprimand and looked down to the floor. After a moment of contemplation over the red head's words, he finally turned away with a 'tch!' and started to walk toward the door that led outside. Before he could even reach there however, Akashi's voice cut through the air again.
"Also, if you're planning on skipping practice all together, don't even think about it." He ignored how the power forward twisted around to stare at him in outrage. "Whether you're playing or not, you're still in this team and under my jurisdiction. So as of now, start doing twenty laps around the gym and I'll give you more to do after you're done."
An ugly expression took over Aomine's features before he squeezed his eyes shut, boiling anger still evident even without his furious blue eyes. All watched with baited breath before finally, the dark skinned teen kicked the ground and started to run around the gym, feet stomping hard as if the ground had somehow offended him. The stifling air the players hadn't known was actually there vanished, making many to sigh in relief.
Kise was one of them as he laid a hand dramatically over his heart.
"Man, that was intense! For a moment there, I really though Aomine-cchi was going to kill Akashi-cchi!"
"Kise-kun, please don't say something so impossible." Although his face was completely blank, nobody can mistake the slight disapproval in Kuroko's sky blue eyes. "If Akashi-kun hears you, it'll be on your head."
"So mean!"
Murasakibara idly dribbled the ball and glanced toward Midorima who had started to shoot baskets the moment the heated argument between the two Miracles had been over.
"Neh, Mido-chin." The childish drawl perked Kise and Kuroko's interest as they watched the lumbering giant stumble his way to Midorima. Midorima twitched and glared sharply up at the player with barely held impatience.
"What is it?"
Murasakibara, completely unaffected by the unwelcoming tone, pointed blatantly to a still coolly pissed off Akashi who was watching with hawk eyes at Aomine's running figure.
"Why's Aka-chin so mad?" he probed, sounding completely disinterested at the answer. Kise blinked and whirled around to the suddenly pensive looking shooter attentively.
"Wait, do you know why? Do you? Do you?" Kise badgered, leaning in closer to the green haired teen's proximity without restraint. Midorima looked even more aggravated than humanly possible, hands jerking as he held the basketball as if he wanted nothing more than to throw it at the blonde's head.
"How should I know? I don't know what goes on in his head as much as anyone else." he snapped, finally pushing the blonde's head that was right next to his shoulder away. Kise comically fell down, windmill arms swinging and all as he landed on his back in a spectacular heap. Instantly getting up again and long used to the abuse, he pouted angrily and turned his attention to Kuroko.
"Kuroko-cchi! Don't you think Midorima-cchi is too much?"
"No. Not really."
"Kise-chin is annoying."
"Why is everyone ganging up on me!"
The rest of the first strings players ignored them as they practiced. The Miracles bickering amongst themselves was nothing new. Many thought it was quite astounding how other schools thought that the Generation of Miracles was a 'united unit' or something preposterous like that.
To the Teiko basketball club, they were just a bunch of colorful, batshit crazy geniuses who had enough weird habits to throw around in spades.
And that included the terrifying captain Akashi Seijuro.
-A-
Kise sighed as he swung his bag back and forth sluggishly while strolling down the sidewalk.
After practice, their plan on eating ice cream together was halted when Aomine had walked out on them, claiming he didn't have time today. Pretty much everyone knew that he was still angry over Akashi's decision and didn't want to deal with any of them in his current bad mood. Momoi had chased after him and left them in the dust as well.
Midorima was the next to leave as he too had to deal with something at home. Murasakibara silently departed with an empty bag that had previously held a mountain of snacks. Kise suspected he was going to head to the convenience store to buy some more, abandoning them in the process.
When Kise turned around to see if Kuroko was still going with the original plan, he found that the phantom player had already disappeared.
Sulking, he was now stalking alone towards home, wondering to himself what he was going to do when he got there. The realization that he was completely bored and didn't have particularly anything to do wasn't new to him. However, the reason behind it was quite startling.
The solitude he was feeling was pretty strange. He had gotten used being accompanied with at least one of the Miracles. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he was ever by himself this past year.
Before he had gotten into basketball, he had been used to the sense of aloneness. Sure he was surrounded by people who adored him, but it wasn't like they really knew him. They were all just sheep, trailing behind him as he left a trail of sparkles and charm in his wake. Girls fan-girled over him, boys were green with envy. It was a repetitive cycle he cynically viewed as something to be expected. In this world, looks and talent is what got people to places.
That is, until he met other people who can certainly match up to him in both departments.
Suddenly, he wasn't so perfect.
And that thought made him happier than anything in a very long time.
He was used to being alone, but now that there were people who could stand his presence without looking at him in awe and jealousy in his life, the hollow, desolate feeling was ten times harder to ignore this time.
Maybe it's because of his mood that he had managed to notice he was near the basketball court that was quite close to his house. He rarely ever played there due to the fact that Teiko was only a fifteen minute walk from where he lived. Besides, the school gyms were clean and better facilitated.
So it was startling to see that someone was occupying the usually unused court.
He cocked his head as he watched the player steadily dribble the ball, back facing Kise so he could only see the tense shoulders and uncommon bright red hair that was a darker shade to Akashi's. It was like he was in a stalemate with an invented enemy in front of him, crouching with bunched up muscles that were ready to spring.
He moved.
Kise's jaw dropped at the speed in which the player faked to the side before power-forwarding to the other imaginary player's right. With confidence that was almost awe-inspiring, the guy charged and leaped up in the air to impossible heights before slamming an earthshattering dunk that convinced Kise that the shaking of his own body was because of the sheer power of that one move.
Watching this with half denial, he felt a strong sense of déjà vu. The buzzing feeling that refused to leave him was familiar to him, as if he had felt this feeling before. Shivers crawled up his spine before it dawned on him.
It was like watching Aomine Daiki on that once unimportant day all over again. The day where he had impulsively checked out the basketball practice and saw Aomine defeat the other players as if it was nothing.
And seeing something so incredible again after so long made him take action before he really thought about it beforehand because damn it, all that was ringing in his head was holy shit this guy is insane!
"Hey you!"
His voice shattered through the suddenly silent court, causing the red headed player to immediately freeze in place with his back still turned. Kise ignored this reaction and grinned good-naturedly, even though the guy couldn't see it.
"Man oh man! That was an awesome dunk! Where did you learn to do that?" he asked, unable to keep the trace of wonder he was still feeling at the moment.
The player straightened at the compliment and Kise could hear the red head take a deep, shuttering breath before turning around to look at him. Kise was met with piercing, crimson eyes and a scowl that could rival Midorima on a bad day. The fierceness in his expression took him momentarily aback before he determinedly stared back at him. There was no way he was going to get scared off this easily.
Something flickered in those red eyes before it narrowed with clear suspicion.
This reaction somewhat surprised Kise. Most people that looked at him dismissed him as someone harmless before playing against him. This guy didn't seem to buy Kise's pretty face and that instantly intrigued the blonde.
The player grunted. "My teacher."
Encouraged by the fact that scary looking teen actually answered, Kise brightened before openly skipping towards him. The guy twitched at how Kise looked excitedly at him like a puppy and sighed.
Kise, extremely amused by the red head's aggravation at this point, jotted out a hand eagerly in front of the teen and beamed.
"My name is Kise Ryouta! Nice to meet you red-san!"
The player looked at him blankly for a full ten seconds before turning around to get the ball that had rolled away during their 'conversation.' Kise spluttered at being so blatantly ignored and skidded over to the teen who was picking up the basketball and turning to leave the court.
"Wait wait wait!" Kise called out, baffled. "You're just going to leave like that? I don't even know your name!"
"I don't even know you." The red head shot back shortly. "Besides, don't you think giving your name so carelessly to me is safe? For all you know, I could be some punk who's planning to steal your wallet. Think next time baka."
Kise deflated at the reprimand before perking up again. "But if you tell me your name, we're not strangers anymore."
The teen had a flat look in response to Kise's logic, causing Kise to inwardly smirk in glee. He at first talked to him because of his apparent skills in basketball. The more and more he chatted with the red head however, the more interesting the teen was making himself out to be. And if there was one thing about Kise Ryouta one had to look out for, was his tenacity at chasing after things that interested him.
Anybody can attest to this from how obsessed he was over the phantom sixth man.
"No."
"Oh come on!" Kise whined. He half wondered why the guy hadn't left yet when he was clearly fed up with Kise's behavior. Though he could see the obvious annoyance on his face, there was some unknown emotion that was present while they conversed. Something that not even Copy Cat Kise can unravel with his sharp eyes.
Suddenly, a brilliant idea came to him.
Giving a sly look to the instantly wary looking teen who had caught the expression, he pointed to himself with an arrogant smirk.
"Then how about I win that name out of you?" he challenged.
The red head's gleaming red eyes widened a fraction before quickly narrowing dangerously. The intensity of his stare was slightly unnerving, as if he could see right through Kise's act and knew exactly what he was playing at. Finally, the red head slowly began to shake his head, red locks shifting at the motion.
"No." the teen said quietly. "Sorry, but I won't play a game against you just yet." The heavy atmosphere increased as the crimson orbs turned to fire that could rage across the world thrice over and still won't burn out. "Maybe next time. As of the moment, I don't think it would be such a good idea."
Suddenly, the red head gave a ferocious grin that could put a wild tiger to shame. "I will promise this though. I'll definitely kick your ass when it happens. Mark my words." There was a playfulness Kise never would've expected from the red head in his eyes. "And don't think I'm running away, Kise the Copy Cat. I just want to have a good game in a more proper setting."
Kise's eyes bulged unattractively in shock at the nickname before a startled laugh blew out of him. Quickly getting over the fact the teen knew who he was, he grinned back. Meeting the challenging gaze, golden eyes narrowed with equal aggressiveness.
"I'll keep that in mind." He simply said, stalemate clear. The pressuring atmosphere dissipated at the agreement, the two basketball players up to the task. The instant the message was sent, Kise scratched the back of his head and pouted.
"Mah, I guess I'm not going to get that name anytime soon huh?" he sighed.
The red head smirked and shrugged unapologetic.
"Well, actually, I think you're going to figure out pretty soon who I am later." The red head admitted, making Kise squawk.
"What? Then why can't you tell me now!" Kise whined. The teen rolled his eyes.
"I'm not just going to give you the answer on a silver platter baka. Figure it out."
"I don't wanna!"
"Idiot," the teen snorted and passed him by the shoulder, giving him a sideways look on the way. "Just ask Midorima. That's the only hint I'm giving you."
Before Kise can question or retort, the red head was already striding away, leaving a very clueless Kise Ryouta behind as he did.
Kise stared at his back for a long moment. Running a hand through his soft, blonde hair, he chuckled.
"Well, I'm looking forward to the challenge, red-san."
The feeling of boredom and loneliness had all but vanished at the face of someone who could prove to be a threat to even him, a Miracle.
-A-
"Midorima-cchi! Midorima-cchi! Hey, are you listening to me?"
The green haired shooter pinched the bridge of his nose.
Why does he deal with this blonde idiot? Oh, right. They were teammates. And teammates don't throttle each other as much as he wanted to at this moment in time. Anyway, he doubted committing a public display of violence was going to change anything other than Kise complaining about the treatment and extending their interaction even further.
So with a resigned air, Midorima nearly snarled when he answered, "What?" in an unpleasant tone.
Kise didn't even seem deterred by it and was nearly hopping from pure elation.
It was at the beginning of the day when most of the students, including Kagami, wasn't here yet. Right then, Midorima was incredibly grateful this time for the red head's tardiness for once. He had no idea what his reaction to Kise would be and didn't want to find out.
He knew it was going to be inevitable since Kagami was going to have to meet Akashi in a couple of days on Thursday, but he wanted to hold off any meetings as much as possible. Kagami may accept his own odd habits, but it didn't guarantee that he wasn't going to sprint away to the hills at first chance when he met the rest of the colorful Miracles.
And as much as it surprised him to admit it, he knew he would be… upset if that happened.
Kagami Taiga was a mass of contradictions. He came to this conclusion the more he spent time with the red headed teen. Kagami was stubborn and had a very large personality, yet the teen didn't mind the peace and quiet when they ate together in the courtyard. He prodded and teased yet never went too far, backing away if Midorima ever got uncomfortable, the consideration for his wellbeing still confusing to him since nobody has ever done that before.
And when Midorima had asked about his horoscope, Kagami didn't even blink at the question and promptly answered Leo.
Since then, Midorima had been mulling over the idea to bring a lucky item for the teen, something he only ever did to people he cared about, including the Generation of Miracles sometimes.
So yes, he didn't want the teen to run off and think he and the Miracles were too weird to handle.
Which was also part of the reason why he didn't tell the red head about the deal that was made between Akashi and him in exchange for his suggestion yet. His reaction was sure to be derogatory.
It still didn't make sense to him even now how helping Akashi meant Midorima owed him a favor and not the other way around.
Then again, Akashi never made sense.
Watching Kise bounce around, Midorima regretted for a rare moment for bringing his lucky item for the day. It was a headband with bunny ears that reminded him all too much of Kise's current behavior.
"So, do you know a really big kid with red hair and scary eyes?"
Kise's question pushed all thoughts of sugar high rabbits out of Midorima's mind.
"What?"
He felt like he was saying that a lot lately.
Kise tapped on Midorima's table as he leaned in on him with both hands on his desk, making him instinctively pull back from the closeness. There was a rare, intelligent look on the blonde's face, calculative and perspective.
"He said that you're the man to turn to if I wanted to know anything about him. I don't even know his name!"
Midorima stared at him dumbly, feeling like he'd been hit over by a sludge hammer.
"You've met him?" he blurted out disbelievingly. "When?"
How in seven hells was it possible for Kise to have already met the red head? Was it fate?
If that was the case, for once, he really wished Kami hadn't interfered in this matter.
"Yesterday after practice. Really impressive guy to be honest." an honest to god smirk graced the blonde's handsome features. "He's interesting."
Just from those two words did he know that Kagami was going to be Kise's new fixation next to Kuroko. He felt a wave of pity for Kagami. To endure the attention of Kise Ryouta made even Kuroko, emotionless as a brick wall, go up the wall.
Knowing Kise wasn't going to leave until he had answers, Midorima inwardly groaned and gave in.
"The person you've just described is the new transfer student, Kagami Taiga." he said solemnly.
He watched with a stoic face plastered on as Kise's jaw unhinged to the floor in flabbergasted astonishment. Backing away as if he had the plague, Kise pointed at him like a drama queen with wide eyes.
"W-W-Wait a second! Are you talking about the guy you're babysitting right now? The same guy who you've been hanging out with since school started?" Kise demanded.
Midorima hmphed and clicked his glasses back into place. "Yes. Happy now?"
Surprisingly, Kise actually looked even more frantic at his response.
"But, you said he's not interested in anything!" Kise pointed out. "That's not true though!"
"What," Midorima said slowly. "are you talking about?"
"He plays basketball!"
Midorima blinked in surprise at this piece of information.
"How do you know?" Midorima queried.
"When I met him, he was playing by himself at a basketball court." Kise shrugged. "I can already tell he's on a whole different level then most players we've played. I may be wrong since I'm not as experienced in basketball as the rest of the Miracles, but I think it's safe to say he's already on par with the Uncrowned Kings."
Midorima quirked up an eyebrow.
This was unexpected. He knew Kagami had been hiding something when he stated he didn't have any interests, but he truthfully hadn't expected this.
"What else happened?"
Kise has calmed down at this point and had taken the time to scrape a chair facing Midorima and sat on it with his legs crossed. Kise sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.
"Well, I uh, actually challenged him to a one on one-"
"You what?" Midorima hissed, cutting off Kise. "Do you have any idea what Akashi would do if he finds out?"
"I didn't get to, okay?" Kise snapped back uncharacteristically. "The guy refused to and promised a match later." he sounded actually irritated at this, a first for the blonde. Kise always had a knack for getting what he wanted through good looks and smiles. To be denied of anything must be frustrating for him.
Unfortunately for Kise, the green haired teen held no sympathy for him.
"Did he say why he wouldn't?"
Kise shook his head.
"Nope. Just said it wasn't the right time yet or something like that."
Midorima hummed at this. Well, it seemed like the red head was up to something. What, though, he had no clue.
As for his reasons for not telling Midorima anything about his apparent adeptness in basketball, he would leave it alone for now. Kagami must have some personal reasons for not doing so and he would respect it.
Anybody who was able to say 'no' to poster boy Kise was good in his books.
Please review on the way out.