AN: Here continues this story. Sorry it took so long I had finals at school so focused on that more than this. I hope you enjoy that chapter. I've been rewatching the show to remember certain events that happened and tweaking them to fit my charters perspective. I see new people have followed and/or favorited the story, thanks guys. Like I said before enjoy this new chapter.

Chapter 3

Inter-High Begins

Ryuto woke up the next mooring quite lively, yesterdays game had him pumped up for the next opponents. I remember my cousin and Satsuki's friend being strong, but so was this guy. I wonder how the others will be? Ryuto asked himself. As he walked out of his apartment to head over to school, he felt his cellphone ring in his pocket. Ryuto looked at the screen to find a name he was not expecting. He took a deep breath and answered it.

"It's been awhile hasn't it Seijūrō?" Ryuto answered. "It has Ryuto." Seijūrō responded.

Once Ryuto arrived at school all he could think about was his phone call with his cousin, Seijūro Akashi. His tone of voice was what pissed him off the most. He walked into first period and saw that both Taiga and Kuroko were fast asleep. Ryuto shrugged and ignored them both, his mind was too preoccupied with what his cousin talked about. Ryuto gritted his teeth his cousin was a real sly bastard. His mind raced around what he was talking about. I don't expect your team to make it very far in Inter-High so try to at least make it past the preliminary tournament. Even with you on the team they can't compare to us those words raced through Ryuto's mind. Ryuto always knew that Seijūrō middle school team was strong, but using that to gloat really pissed Ryuto off. Eventually the bell for lunch rung and the basketball team gathered in front of the library.

"So you want us to get bread?" Kagami asked. "Yep its a sandwich that is really good the school only serves it on the 27th of each month." the coach said. She continued to describe how the sandwich looked.

"We beat Kaijo, and practice is going well. We're asking you to buy this to keep spirits up." Hyūga said. "However we aren't the only ones who want it. It tends to be a bit busier than usual." the coach said. "So all we have to get is bread? It'll be easy ma'am." Kagami said with a smirk. "Here the seconds years will be paying for this. Buy some for everyone while your at it. If you fail your training will be doubled" Hyūga said handing them an envelope.

Four of the six first years started to shutter. It was Hyūga's face what really scared them.

"I'll pass I have some stuff I need to take care of. Plus I brought my own lunch." Ryuto said walking away.

The whole team looked surprised as he walked away. Ryuto no longer had his usual cheerful expression it was now cold and unhappy.

"Is something wrong with him Kagami?" the coach asked. "I don't know to be honest. I've never seen him like that." Kagami said concerned.

On his way to his next class Ryuto passed by his fellow basketball first years. Their clothed looked very unkept, except for Kuroko.

"You guys all right?" Ryuto asked. "You made a good call not joining us to grab these. It was cray out there." Furihata replied. "We're going to the roof to meet the second years, wanna come with?" Fukuda asked. "No thanks." Ryuto said as he turned to away from them.

"Something's really wrong with him." Kawahara commented. The five first years all nodded in agreement.

When the school day finished, Ryuto headed for the court for practice. HIs mood had not changed since the morning, HIs cousins words still ringed his head. I came to play basketball in Japan to knock some sense into you and one more person Ryuto thought to himself. He walked into the gym for practice to begin. At sunset the team gather to discuss how Inter-High worked. It was a tournament and only the top 1% made it into the finals.

"The school that we need to watch out for the most is Shutoku. Just like Kaijo they acquired a member of the Generation of Miracles." Hyūga commented.

The whole team gasped, the only word Ryuto was concerned about was Shutoku, it was the school Takao was going to. Kuoko explained to everyone that, like Kise, the member at Shutoku most defiantly improved since middle school. Ryuto already knew it was not either of his cousins, they went to Tōō and Rakuzan respectively.

"By the way where is the coach?" Tsuchida asked. "She went to observe our first opponent's practice game." Hyūga said.

Once he finished the door to the gym opened and out walked the coach.

"I'm back." she announced. "She was skipping before the Kaijo game, but she's not skipping today." Kawahara commented.

Furihata asked if she was going to skip, to which she responded with an angry glare. Hyūga then explained to them thats he would not act like that over an official game.

"Are they good?" Hyūga asked. "We shouldn't worry about Shutoku, looks like our first opponent isn't going to be easy." the coach explained. "What do you mean?" Hyūga asked. "One of their players might give us some trouble. You can see the video later right now just look at this picture." the coach said somberly.

After finding the first picture which was quite adorable, Hyūga pressed a button and another picture appeared. The team gasped at the picture, the person was huge.

"His name is Papa Mbaye Siki, he's an exchange student form Senegal. He's two meters tall and weighs 87 kilograms" the coach said.

The team gasped and started to comment on everything they just heard. Ryuto scoffed just be cause he was tall does not mean he was good.

"He's just tall." Kagami commented.

The team stayed silent for a few moments, they were still processing the information they just heard. Ryuto turned away from the team and grabbed a ball and started to shoot. His mind was not with the team at the moment so he did not care what they were talking about.

"Do you have any input Ryuto? You quite out of it if you ask me." the coach said to him.

Ryuto shot the ball and let it bounce as it went through the net. Right then turned to his team.

"There's only one thing I'm thinking about right now, and it doesn't concern a tall African dude." Ryuto said.

The team back away from him, his mood defiantly changed from the previous day.

"Hey man chill. Whats got you so worked up?" Kagami asked. "It's not what, it's who. If all we're going to do is sit around and talk about our how difficult out first opponent is going to be then I'm leaving." Ryuto said as he stormed out.

Everyone was taken back at how Ryuto acted nobody expected him to do what he just did.

"Someone needs to talk to him." the coach said.

Everyone froze, after what just transpired nobody wanted to get close to Ryuto. Even if it meant cheering him up.

"Somethings obviously putting him into a foul mood. He's never normally like this." the coach said. "I'll do it." Kuroko said. "Thanks Kuroko." the coach said.

Ryuto was walking out of the schools entrance when he felt a hand placed on his shoulder. He turned to see Kuroko staring at him, studying him. Ryuto still had the same facial expression he had when he stormed out of the gym.

"What's wrong Ryuto-kun?" Kuroko asked. "Family stuff thats all." Ryuto said as he turned his back. "I can tell its not that." Kuroko said. "It doesn't concern you, so butt out!" Ryuto yelled. "It concerns the team, everyone is worried about you. They've never seen you like this." Kuroko said.

Ryuto sighed, he did have a point. He never really wanted to make anyone worry about him. Ryuto turned back to face Kuroko. The two were silent for a few moments they just stared at each other.

"I'll tell you whats wrong." Ryuto said. "Thank you, I hope to be able to understand." Kuroko said concerned. "This morning I got a phone call from my cousin. I think you know him, Seijūrō Akashi." Ryuto explained. Kuroko's eyes widened in surprise. "You two are related?" Kuroko asked. "Yeah but not by blood. He's a distant cousin, but nonetheless still family." Ryuto explained. "What did he say?" Kuroko asked. "He taunted me like if he was above everyone else. It what pissed me off thinking he's on top of everyone. Thats one of the reasons I play basketball here in Japan, to knock some sense into him and one more person." Ryuto explained. "I see you could have just said that." Kuroko said. "My mind was still clouded by his taunting I wan't thinking straight." Ryuto said. "So then shall we return to the team they are waiting for us?" Kuroko asked. "I'll apologize tomorrow, I can't show my face yet I could see that they were scared of me." Ryuto answered. "Very well then see you tomorrow." Kuroko said as he turned to he head back to the gym. "Kuroko thanks, I needed to let it out." Ryuto said. "No problem." Kuroko said.

The next day during practice Ryuto looked through the window of the gym. He sighed as he watched the practice. He had to apologize but he had no idea how to do it. Ryuto heard the whistle blow signaling a water break. Ryuto took a deep breath and opened the door to the gym, he looked up to find everyone staring at him. There was silence between all of them no one said a word.

"I'm sorry about yesterday." Ryuto said breaking the silence. "Care to explain why so seemed to angry?" the coach asked. "Family troubles, mainly with one of my cousins. His personality leaves something to be desired." Ryuto answered.

He looked up to see everyone was still staring at him. Many thoughts raced through his head, most of them involved if they would welcome him back.

"If you would have told us that before we could have understood better." Hyūga said. "I was blinded by anger I couldn't think straight, I'm sorry for anything I may have caused." Ryuto said bowing. "All right then pick yourself up and come practice, we got a tough game and we're going to need you?" Hyūga said. "Yes sir." Ryuto said as he went to get changed.

Practice continued like normal for the day leading up to their first official game of Inter-High. The coach created specific training regimens for some people and practices are always intense. As the days passed Ryuto began to forget what his cousin had said to him, he decided to turn what he said into a challenge. Just you wait Seijūrō you'll just how strong this team is Ryuto thought to himself. The training did not stop until the day before the game where the team went over strategies. Ryuto smiled if they won they would be one step closer to being at the top. The day of the first game arrived everyone was pumped, even though Ryuto noticed Taiga's lack of sleep. They entered the court and started to practice some simple jump shots and layups. Ryuto looked at his jersey he wore number 14. The team was wondering where the player from Senegal was, who was nicknamed "Dad." A few moments later a metal thud was heard, everyone looked back to find the player form Senegal. Dang this guy is pretty tall Ryuto thought to himself.

"Ryuto come over here for a sec." the coach called to him. "Whats up?" Ryuto asked. "Today Mitobe is going to start we need the extra height." the coach said. "OK sure. Whenever you feel like you need to put me in do so." Ryuto said as he wasted back to practice.

After a few more minutes the game began. After "Dad" made his first point Kagami locked him down for the rest of the quarter. Thanks to Kuroko the team was able to get the drop on their opponents scoring play after play. Eventually the first quarter ended with Seirin in the lead 23-8.

"Good work you guys. Kuroko in order to preserve your ability sit out for a bit. Ryuto your going to sub him." the coach said. "Got it." Ryuto said. "Don't let them catch up, but that all depends on how well Kagami can guard "Dad." the coach said.

The the second quarter started. Without Kuroko Shinkyo started to get some more points. The team did not seem worried as Kagami was able to shut down "Dad" once again. But to Ryuto, and the coach too, something seemed off. He's trying too hard to block him Ryuto thought. The game continued with Seirin with the advantage the whole game. When Ryuto got the ball he never had to use any of his moves, but to show off a little bit he used another move he had not shown yet a drive that he went down the court at full speed, no one was able to stop it. With five minutes left in the fourth Kuroko was put back in for Ryuto. Even with him out of the game Seirin still had the advantage. With only a few more seconds left to play Kagami was able to finally block "Dad," and when the ball when out of bounds the final buzzer rung. Seirin had won their first game of Inter-High 79-67. The next game against Jitsuzen was won smoothly and neither Kuroko or Ryuto played the game and Seirin won with a score 118-58. The next game went smoothly as well, the coach was a bit surprised at this. Ryuto looked to his side to find Kuroko getting a bit restless.

"You want to play don't you?" Ryuto asked. "Yes, I do." Kuroko responded. "You'll get your chance, we both will." Ryuto said with a smile.

The next opponent was the bullies form after the Kaijo game, but they were so sacred of Kuroko and Kagami that they did not play very well. Another smooth victory, 108-41. Everyone seemed to be excited on how well the team was doing, even Ryuto had to admit they were doing well. Hyūga went on to explain how three team always made it the farthest, those teams were Senshinkan High, Seiho High, and Shutoku High. He continued by saying that Shutoku had the Generation of Miracles member Midorima Shintaro. Everyone gasped at how they managed to get a player like him on their team. Kawahara tried to cheer them up by saying that they got far last year but it did not work as Hyūga went to to say that they did not stand a chance. The team stayed quite for a few moments, when they started to hear murmurs around them. Ryuto looked up and smiled it was his friend, plus his team. Ryuto stood up to greet him.

"Ryuto where are you going?" Izuki asked. "Going to say hi to a friend." Ryuto said as walked towards Shutoku.

"Hey Tao whats up buddy?" Ryuto said as he walked over to his friend. "No way Ryu-chan I did not expect to find you here." Tao said as he fist bumped his friend. "So this is your team right?" Ryuto asked. "Yep this is it." Tao said with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you all Tao has told me a lot about you guys." Ryuto said. "And he's said a lot about you, Ryuto Rishihara." a tall with pointed up brown hair. "You didn't call me by my last name?" Ryuto asked puzzled. "I told that if they ever meet you to call you by your first name." Tao said. "Thanks bud." Ryuto said. "I'm Ōtsubo the captain of this team, and is it true you considered coming to Shutoku." Ōtusbo asked. "Pleasure to meet you, and yes I did, but I ended up going to Seirin 'cause it was closer to my house." Ryuto said. "Well it was nice meeting you, hope to meet you on the court." Ōtsubo said. "Like wise." Ryuto responded.

The team walked away leaving only Takao and Ryuto and a tall person with green hair and glasses.

"So uhh tall, dark, and green who are you?" Ryuto asked. "Midorima Shintaro." Midorima answered. "Well then its good to meet you, so your the interesting player Tao was talking about." Ryuto said. "I must be." Midorima responded as he walked away. "Chatty guy." Ryuto said. "Well it was nice to see you again, I'm sure we'll meet on the court." Tao said. "Yeah defiantly." Ryuto said as he walked back to his team.

Seirin headed to the stands to spectate Shutoku's game. When they all quickly realized that Shutoku was not going to loose. Ryuto looked at both his friend and Midorima. Takao has become a solid point guard and so far Midorima had not done anything impressive. But all them were thrown for a loop when Midorima shot a three with an incredibly high arc. Ryuto knew it was going in and he already had a counter for that type of shot.

"That shot has to be impossible to counter." Furihata commented. "It's really not." Ryuto said. Everyone gasped and looked at Ryuto. "How so?" the coach asked. "I have to try it out to be sure." Ryuto said not taking his eyes away from the game.

The game ended with Shutoku's win, not that anyone was surprised. As Mirdorima walked back to his bench he looked up towards Seirin, obviously looking at Kuroko. Then Takao followed waving and smiling to which Ryuto waved and smiled back. The team walked out into the hall with Hyūga saying it's time to head home.

"You idiot! We still have one game left!" the coach yelled. "I know I was saying that to lighten the mood." Hyūga said defensively. "We have another game?" Kagami asked. Ryuto the swatted him on the back of the head. "Yes we do did you even see the bracket." Ryuto said handing him the paper. "We don't play either of the kings until next round, which we play the semifinals and finals in a row." Kagami said.

Everyone seemed to groan at the thought of playing to games in a row, saying that it was tiring. The first years tried to get Kuroko and Ryuto on their side to no avail.

"I'm actually excited that we get to play two games in a row." Kuroko said. "Same here, it's times like these where your spirit gets pushed to the limit." Ryuto said. "Didn't our middle school coach say that?" Kagami asked. "Yeah he did, but you didn't have to say that, the rest don't know that." Ryuto said.

The rest of the team laughed. Ryuto thought about playing two tough teams in a row. One of those teams was Tao's team and they looked really good. Tomorrow was going to be a tough one for sure Ryuto thought to himself.

AN: And here comes to a close this chapter. I dragged out two episodes of the show to make another non-game chapter. Lets be honest the only important games of the Inter-High prelims are the last two. This chapter also showcased the OC's relationship with Akashi more and friendship with Takao. I'll get to Aomine soon enough. Remember to follow, review, and/or favorite. IF you have any ideas write them in the reviews or send me a PM I'll try to incorporate it into the story. One thing about that though, if it's a paring I don't do that I feel that hinders my writing cuz I have to focus on that sometimes more than the actual story, I'll most likely drop romantic interests here and there but nothing of that is going to actually happen. Sorry if that pisses anyone off but thats the way I write. Stay tuned for the next chapter.