I'm sick, my friends are sick, everyone's sick!
Stay healthy everyone~
The words or phrases with [*] mean that they will be explained at the end.
Constructive criticism will be greatly appreciated.
Two.
"Kiyoshi convinced me to play basketball again, with his relentless pestering throughout our first year. I never wanted to play again, after losing every single game with practice for hours in junior high, I refused to touch a basketball ever again. But he did it, and somehow, I was also nominated as captain of the team.
"And we got into the Interhigh finals preliminaries... It was then that Kiyoshi got hurt. We knew that Kirisaki Daiichi was strong, we acknowledged it from the start. But it was easy... We didn't think it was 'too easy', we just thought that we were strong. In the last quarter, with us leading the game in a ten point difference, he came to play. We don't know why he came in so late, but Hanamiya Makoto seemed regular, nice, even. But then, with a snap of his fingers, Kiyoshi's leg was absolutely crushed.
"We ended up winning, and going to the nationals, but there, we lost. Hanamiya didn't care about a victory at that point, all he wanted was to get revenge. He riled us up until the end, but we left before I managed to get a hit on him. Kiyoshi told us it was only a sprain, but I knew he was lying. He needed surgery, as well as rehabilitation.
"And after that, without Kiyoshi, we were crushed by the three kings of Tokyo."*
Temari was rather small, and didn't really have the build for any sports. It was obvious he didn't play any, with his lanky body and even with his relaxed face throughout gambling situations. Despite lacking any physical charms, he was both analytical and creative, and any team would be lucky to call him their manager. Such was the case for Kirisaki Daiichi.
A little tick mark formed on his head when he heard screaming on one side of the court about porn and Horikito Mai, or whatever her name was, and more from the other side about how stupid models were and "Hidoiyo!"'s. Hara came over to the bench with a big bubble nearly covering his entire face. "What's wrong, Temari-chan?"
"Don't call me that, Hara-san."
"Call me Kazuya, Temari-chan. Is it because of those Miracles up there? Hm? They sure are noisy," He said, completely disregarding his last remark.
He grunted in annoyance, before looking over to Seirin's side. "They seem awfully bloodthirsty today," Temari said, eyes half lidded with chin resting on his forefingers as his legs crossed and back hunched over. "Why of course, it's us after all."
From across the court, it was obvious that the Seirin's captain was doing horribly at shooting in practice, and Temari snorted lightly when he saw Hanamiya pick up the ball and held it out to Teppei. "Is this yours?"
"Thanks."
"You're welcome... Hey, you seem to be feeling well."
"Yeah, all thanks to you."
As Hanamiya turned, the Hyuuga called out, "Hey, wait! You better not have forgotten what you did last year."
Without even an innocent look in place, he replied, "Calm down, you still think I did something? I don't know what you're talking about, he hurt himself, remember?" And with that, he snapped his fingers.
"Teme!"
"Hm, you called?"
Kagami and Kuroko both stood behind the shooting guard, ready to stop him from lashing out anymore, but another boy stood behind Hanamiya. "I thought you were talking to me."
"You!"
Kagami, as it was his first time seeing this boy, stared at him. He had rather long, light chestnut colored hair that reached his back bone, a dozen shades lighter than Kiyoshi's own, and hazel gold eyes. He was short, and didn't wear a team jacket, but a school uniform instead. He had a close eyed grin on his face that almost reminded the redhead of Imayoshi Shouichi from Touou (Bad memories, bad, bad memories).
Hanamiya, however, was close to him and rubbed his head, almost affectionately, and messed up his hair. "Ah, Temari, not you, they were just cursing me out."
"How assertive, when you can't even prove anything."
"I agree, you see, I heard about your little first year duo from our manager here; you should be careful. I hope nothing happens."
"Good luck~"
They turned around, walking towards their own team, when once again, they were interrupted. "Kiyoshi-san."
"Hm?" He turned, eyes open to reveal them glittering with mischief.
"We won't lose," Kuroko declared blue eyes fierce with determination.
He chuckled, "I look forward to it, Tetsuya-kun."
...
"Who was that?"
"You're not very bright, are you Kagami-kun?"
"WHAT?!"
"He's Kirisaki Daiichi's manager, Kiyoshi Temari. In other words, Kiyoshi's brother."
"EH?! But wait, isn't Temari a girl's name?"
"Of course it is, Kagami-kun."
"And he's so short... while Kiyoshi-senpai is..."
"Bakagami! Don't you know not to tease a girl about her height?!"
"HE'S A GIRL?"
"NO! IT'S A JOKE!"
"Maa, maa, stop making fun of my brother."
Back on the other side of the court, the regulars of Kirisaki Daiichi were lazing about around their bench area. "They're so annoying over there, it's making me dizzy," the lilac haired power forward said.
Temari, as per his usual reply, hummed with his head thrown back and hands on the bench. "BOTH OF YOU ARE TOO RELAXED! THE GAME'S STARTING! WAKE UP!" Hiroshi Yamazaki, shooting guard, screamed.
With one eye open, Temari peered over at the redhead who was smacking the center, saying, "It's alright for us, though."
"He's not a starter, so it's fine," Kazuya commented.
"Leave him alone," Furuhashi added. "It's sad though, isn't it? The harder they try, the more brutal the outcome."
The manager didn't have any expression on his face, as the coach and captain smirked widely at the implication.
"The game between Seirin High School and Kirisaki Daiichi High School will now commence! Bow!"
"Thank you for the game!"
...
Seirin got the ball first, and made the first basket, and while Hiroshi was correct in saying that they were all individually powerful, that didn't matter to either Hanamiya or Temari.
"It doesn't matter whether they're geniuses or prodigies-"
"I don't care if they're geniuses or prodigies-"
"If they can't do anything, they're useless."
"Break them, and they're all just trash."
Hanamiya dribbled the ball for a while before passing to Furuhashi. Furuhashi moved quickly, with Hara screening Hyuuga with a rough brush of a shoulder.
Furuhashi jumped, throwing the ball towards the hoop, but quickly noticed that it was low, commenting blandly, "Oh? Maybe I relaxed too much."
With it rebounded, Kagami attempted to move but found his foot trapped under Hara's, who unknowingly had stepped on it. Temari smiled, even chuckled behind his clipboard, not bothered by his teammate's play. Hara jumped then, grabbing the ball in the process and as he descended, his elbow just so happened to swing backwards.
"Sorry, sorry!" Hara waved, walking away.
"That bastard!"
"Calm down, Kagami. But are they really going to be this obvious with their attacks?"
Back at the bench, Koganei, Tsuchida, and Mitobe looked at Kirisaki Daiichi's game statistics, staring at the paper with horrified faces. "Is this for real? Every team that's played against Kirisaki Daiichi has had injuries."
"Their aces and star players are always taken out!"
"They were just another strong school until last year. Since Hanamiya-kun and their regulars became their leading force, they've had a abrupt increase. What he did to Teppei last year... Hanamiya couldn't have been more deceitful."
They stared over to the opponent's bench, where one other player, a few other first string players, and the manager sat. The manager, was covering his mouth, but it was obvious from the side that he was giggling.
"They're awful, that's what they all are."
They turned just in time to see Hara elbowing Kagami's side, grabbing the ball and making a basket. Kagami, in a stroke of anger, brought his arm back with a fist, Hara simply standing there, when Kuroko tripped his teammate.
"I'm mad, too, but hitting them isn't how we should be playing for the upperclassmen, we are going to win with basketball."
As the first quarter ended and the next began, Temari raised his brows at his brother's antics. Going in all on your own? I wonder, are you selfless or selfish, Teppei?
Hyuuga had missed, once again, and Kagami, in a haste to make a shot, had elbowed Hara quite roughly.
"Charging, White, No. 10!"
Hara simply fell to the floor, despite the pain it must have caused him, and blew his bubble gum.
"Pay more attention to your surroundings, Izuki was open," Kiyoshi advised, patting Kagami's head, "We should play our own way."
"You're one to talk; you're on the verge of becoming trash."
Lowering his clipboard, Temari also narrowed his eyes when he saw that Kiyoshi was not as fazed with those words as he should have been. He frowned, both at the actions of his teammates and opponents. He briefly made eye contact with Furuhashi's 'dead fish eyes', nodding at the other before glancing at the other team, knowing the Bad Boy's patience was wearing thin.
"I'm so sick of this. If you want to die so badly, die," Hanamiya muttered darkly, before snapping his fingers.
Hara's forearm fell downwards along with his body, crashing straight into Kiyoshi's forehead and eye area. Temari made a strangled noise and covered his eyes, unable to contain his anxiety when he realized that the end result of what had happened was not just a small bruise. But after moments of silence, he heard muscles cracking and a deep voice speaking.
"...That's why I decided..." Temari looked over at the court, peering behind his files.
"...If they're ever about to break, I'll be their splint..." Kiyoshi was on his hands and knees.
"...If they're ever in danger, I'll be their shield..." He stumbled to get to his feet.
"...I'll always put myself on the line to protect the members of Seirin!" Temari's eyes were wide as Teppei spread his arms out, on his feet, with blood pouring down from a dark patch under his head.
"That's what I came back for!"
"Seirin is ahead by 5 points," Temari commented aloud to himself as Hanamiya was walking back for the half time break.
"Wait, please."
He looked over, seeing Kuroko stopping Hanamiya to ask, "Why do you play in such underhanded ways? Do you really enjoy winning like that?"
Temari immediately turned to the other players, knowing that Hanamiya's little act of innocence was only going to further annoy him after the phantom's very stupid question.
"They say that the misfortune of others tastes like honey, don't get the wrong idea, little do gooder," Hanamiya shook his head, "I don't care about winning; I want to see players who work hard and devote everything for basketball and end up crying and grinding their teeth when they lose." Hanamiya leaned close to Tetsuya, "Do I enjoy it? Yeah, of course I do. What I did to you seniors last year was a masterpiece."
"Bastard!"
"Makoto senpai."
"Hah! I hope you don't think that's the end of it. You're only just starting to grind your teeth."
...
In Seirin's locker room, Kagami was angrily kicking the bench, vexed by the unfair play. "Damn it! Those bastards!" Riko smacked him with her clipboard saying, "Don't just take your anger out on equipment!"
They saw the bruises on Kiyoshi's body, almost too many to count.
With frustration, Kagami yelled, "Damn it, I'm so angry!"
"You shouldn't take your anger out on things."
"Shut up! I know that. Besides, I can't believe you're so calm-" The redhead looked over at his teammate and paused when he saw Kuroko's irritation.
"I can't believe he's letting them play like that... How could he?"
The Kirisaki Daiichi team also walked back to their locker room, where Temari passed out water and homemade honey lemons out to the players. "Seriously?!"*
He turned his head as he was just about to pass the container to Furuhashi.
"Yeah, I figured out the trick behind Number Eleven's drive. Misdirection's a trick of misleading someone's line of sight, right? In that case, that means he's good at detecting the movement of the human eye. Meaning, this is the answer."
"What?! Eyes?"
"I agree with Ha- Kazuya-senpai, but... Tetsuya-kun isn't as easy to figure out as you might think, especially when he gets creative."
"If he can put down that obnoxious drive, then I'll let him do it. Our web... it's almost ready anyways."
Temari looked towards the door, and turned to the team. "I'm going to check what Makoto-senpai is doing."
Before anyone could reply, he was already out the door. Furuhashi looked down at the manager's notes, muttering, "Ah, he's also into the game."
...
"-wish you'd tell me how exactly I could lose."
Temari heard Hanamiya's deep voice in the bathroom, and was about to step in when he also heard another baritone voice, this one more lazier.
"It's not about whether or not I'm underestimating you. It's just that you've made Tetsu really angry. That's all."
Daiki-kun.
With narrowed eyes, he walked back down the hallway, not bothering to look back.
TBC
Anecdote: I paraphrased Hyuuga's background story about how the team got together, and the after story.
Homemade: The classic Kuroko no Basuke joke that women can't cook but the men can.
A few lines were taken from episode 9 and 10 of season 2 of Kuroko no Basuke. I take no credit for those.
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