Me: Okay, time to work on the fanfic that I decided to write for some reason.

Also me: But shouldn't I be studying for finals? Finals are next week. I should study.

Still me: What about practicing piano? If I want to pass the exam next year, I'd better practice.

Again, me: And that book I started a few weeks ago. When am I going to finish that?

Yet again, me: ...Wow. I have so many important things that I need to be doing. Oh well. Let's write fanfiction.

(As you can see, I am really good at prioritizing)


Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! The reviews inspire me to continue the story, so thanks!

First part of Kaijou vs. Seirin match. I'm kind of bad at writing extended action sequences, but I tried best at it. Hopefully it's enjoyable.


Tetsuna looked at her new partner in amusement. There were dark circles under his eyes and he appeared to be exhausted. Apparently, he hadn't slept at all since he was so excited for today's match against Kaijou.

"You're like a kid getting excited for a field trip," she commented.

"What'd you say?" Kagami demanded, glaring. Before he could follow up on that, Kise's excited voice interrupted them.

"Hey, guys!" he cried out, running towards them with a large smile on his face. He immediately ran over to Tetsuna and enveloped her in a hug, which she allowed for five seconds before shoving him off. "Tetsunacchi's so mean," he whined.

"Kise, what are you doing here?" Kagami asked, already irritated.

"This place is so big, so I thought I'd come get you."

He then turned his attention back to Tetsuna.

"Tetsunacchi, ever since you turned down my invitation to join us, I've been crying into my pillow every night!"

Tetsuna sighed deeply. This part of Kise hadn't changed since they first met. Even in their middle school days, Kise would whine about small things and continuously cling to Tetsuna. She'd tolerated it for the most part, though sometimes the blonde got to be too much for her.

"What's wrong with him?" she heard Hyuuga ask.

"Just show us the way," Kagami snapped.

"Not even a girl has turned me down before," Kise continued, completely ignoring Kagami.

"Ryou-chan," Tetsuna said, exasperated. "Asking me to join your basketball team and a love confession are two completely different things. And honestly, I would say 'no' to both. Would you stop already?"

Kise grinned at her and turned to Kagami. "I'm interested to know more about the guy who's making Tetsunacchi say these things. I don't care much about being called the Generation of Miracles, but I can't ignore such an obvious challenge. I'm not mature enough to let it slide."

"Very true," Tetsuna muttered, though no one heard her.

"Sorry, but I'm going to crush you with everything I have."

Kagami, as expected, grinned. "Sounds interesting."


"This is it," Kise announced when they arrived in the large gymnasium. It was much larger than the gym they had at Seirin. People were already running around the court, playing a practice game.

There was a large net dividing the court in half, confusing Tetsuna and her teammates.

"We're playing on half a court?" Riko questioned. "The other side's being used for practice?"

They walked further into the gym and were greeted by Kaijou's coach, a heavyset man who appeared to be in his late thirties. "You're here. Welcome. I'm Coach Takeuchi. Which one of you is the coach?"

"That's me," Riko informed him.

Takeuchi was shocked by that declaration. "You?" he asked, pointing at her. "You're not the manager?"

Riko looked slightly annoyed by that question. Tetsuna completely understood how she felt. After all, she had been mistaken for Teiko's manager multiple times. It wasn't until after her teammates were dubbed the Generation of Miracles did everyone else finally realize that she was actually a player.

Riko stepped forward and introduced herself. "We look forward to playing with you today!" she concluded, bowing.

"Uh, yeah," Takeuchi replied hesitantly.

"So, um, this is…?"

"Exactly what it looks like," Takeuchi informed them. "We've only made simple arrangements for today's game."

"Arrangements?"

"There won't be enough to learn from this game to make it worth watching for the guys sitting out."

Riko was now obviously annoyed. "I see," she said through gritted teeth.

"We're having the other players practice as usual so we don't waste time," Takeuchi continued. He consulted his clipboard. "Despite the arrangements, you'll be playing our regulars. I hope you won't let us triple your score."

He walked away, leaving Tetsuna and her team staring after him with pissed looks. But Tetsuna felt that perhaps it was good that he was underestimating them. It would make beating his team all the more pleasurable.

"They think we suck," Kagami said in a low voice. "They're treating this like a sideshow to their practice."

"Just listen to him speak," Hyuuga said. He was glaring at Takeuchi who was currently telling Kise that he wouldn't be playing since it wouldn't be a game if he did.

"I haven't been this pissed in a while," Izuki added.

Kise ran over to them then, apologizing. Then, he cupped a hand around his mouth and stage-whispered, "If you give his guys a beating, he'll probably put me in. Besides," he said, an arrogant look crossing over his face, "if you can't force him to put me in, you shouldn't go around saying you'll beat the Generation of Miracles."

Tetsuna snuck a glance at Kagami, since the comment was obviously directed at him. He looked outright pissed at Kise's words. She then looked back to Kise, and the arrogant air that hung around him. She couldn't help but think of the old Kise, who could still be arrogant at times but not to the point where his attitude annoyed her.

Tetsuna smiled. She, Kagami, and Seirin were going to beat him. Then, she might be able to see the old Kise again. And if she beat the other Miracles, maybe things could go back to the way they used to be.

"Hey," Takeuchi called out. "Show the Seirin guys to the locker room."

"It's fine," Tetsuna said as her team began to file out. "Please warm up. We don't have time to wait."


"Let the practice game between Seirin High and Kaijou High begin."

Five members from each team lined up and faced each other. The referee looked over both teams, looking confused when he saw Seirin's line-up. "Um, we're about to get started, so Seirin hurry up and have your five line up."

"Um," Tetsuna said, getting the referee's attention. "There are five of us."

"Huh?!" the referee and Kaijou's team exclaimed.

Tetsuna sighed at their reaction. Even though she had gotten used to people not noticing her due to her lack of presence, it was still irritating to see them react like that. Especially since she was standing right next to the referee. And of course there was the matter of people being even further surprised since she was a girl.

"A girl? A girl is one of their starters? Is Seirin serious?"

"She was right in front of me and I didn't even notice," Kaijou's number 8, Kobori said. "What about you, Kasamatsu?"

"Me neither," Kaijou's captain replied, glancing at Tetsuna.

Finally, the whistle was blown and the match began.

The referee threw the ball in the air, and Kobori and Kagami jumped up to fight for it. Kobori got to it first, and quickly passed it towards Kasamatsu.

"All right," he said whilst dribbling. "One. Let's keep it up."

Since he was speaking, he wasn't paying attention to the ball. Tetsuna took advantage of this and snuck up behind him, stealing the ball away from him.

"What?" Kasamatsu exclaimed in shock.

Tetsuna grinned a little as she ran away from him, dribbling the ball. But Kasamatsu caught up to her quickly, smirking as he moved to block her. Tetsuna however, brushed her hand back, passing the ball off to Kagami who had suddenly appeared behind her. He ran forward with the ball and jumped, ripping the hoop off of the backboard as he dunked the ball.

Kagami turned towards her and grinned. Tetsuna kept her expression blank, though she really felt surprised. She and Kagami had been training together for a while now, so she supposed that they should have some coordination worked out. But Kagami had gotten to that pass so smoothly, had received and made use of it with such ease. She also thought back on how quickly Kagami got used to her passes during their weeks of training. Even when she was playing back on the team at Teiko, it had taken longer for her teammates to learn to catch and make use of her passes. The only one who had been able to catch her passes immediately had been…

Daiki.

He, like Kagami, seemed to have a knack for being able to get to her passes, for knowing how her mind worked and anticipating her next move. The coordination between the two of them had been near perfect, her passing and him receiving, the two of them scoring more goals together than the rest of the team. But after their partnership ended, Tetsuna didn't think that she'd ever be able to work with someone else like that again.

But then there was Kagami, who seemed to just as good as Daiki when it came to receiving her passes.

At the moment, she honestly didn't know how she felt that.

"What's up with that face, Kuroko?" Kagami said, still grinning like an idiot.

Tetsuna sighed. For now, she would focus on this match. There would come a time later where she could think on her new partnership.

"Idiot," she muttered. "Just what are you doing?" She looked over towards the benches and saw Riko apologizing to Coach Takeuchi.

Kagami turned to Coach Takeuchi. "Sorry about that," he said cheekily. "But since the hoop is broken, can we play on a full court?"

Takeuchi looked furious. He glared up at the redhead ad clenched his hands into fists. Yet, he had no choice but to open up the game to a full court.

"Now that's what you call a beating," Kise chuckled the court was being prepared. I've never seen the coach like that before."

That seemed to piss Kagami off. "You should tell him that's what he gets for underestimating us!"

Tetsuna blinked at him. "And just how much do you think a replacement hoop is going to cost?"

"Huh?" Kagami said. "We have to pay for that?"

"You really are an idiot, Kagami-kun," Tetsuna deadpanned. "It makes perfect sense that the person who broke the hoop should have to pay for it."

Kagami gaped at her as if the thought of having to compensate for the broken hoop had never occurred to him. Tetsuna nodded over to where Takeuchi stood, still glaring at them.

"You should go discuss payment methods now," she told him and turned away.

"Hey! Kuroko!"

He really is an idiot, Tetsuna thought, amused.


"Now," the referee said once the gym was fully prepared, "let's resume the match."

The players all stepped onto the court, and this time Kise was playing.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," he said seriously.

Kagami looked pleased at the turn of events. "You're finally in," he said, placing his hands on his hips.

"You're way too intense for a model when you're on," Hyuuga commented, looking over his opponent.

"He's not just putting on a show," Tetsuna told her teammates.

"Tetsunacchi! Let's have a good game!" Kise said to her, grinning.

Tetsuna only nodded in response. She then turned to Riko and watched as her coach evaluated Kise. She couldn't even begin to imagine what Riko saw while looking at Kise's stats. It was going to be an interesting game.

The sound of cheering caught Tetsuna's attention, and she looked towards the entrance of the gym where a large crowd of girls had gathered, just like they had on that day when Kise had come to Seirin.

"Kise-kun!" they called out, waving.

Kise waved back to them with a silly smile. Before Tetsuna could make a comment on his behavior, Kasamatsu ran up and kicked Kise in the back, send the blonde sprawling forward.

"Quit waving to them!" the captain ordered. "I'll hit you!"

This sent a now crying Kise over to Tetsuna. "Tetsunacchi!" he exclaimed clinging onto her arm. "Kasamatsu-senpai hit me!"

"What do you want me to do about it?" she asked, bewildered.

"Hey!" Kagami said, looking royally pissed at Kise's immaturity. "What do you think you're doing?"

Kasamatsu was also less than pleased with him. He stormed over and hauled Kise away.

It was going to be a very interesting game.


Sometime into the match, Seirin called a time out.

They discussed plans and when Tetsuna told her team about the time limit on her misdirection, she found that Riko was staring at her as if she'd grown a second head. Tetsuna looked back at her coach confused.

"Coach," she started. "What's—"

"Why didn't you tell us something so important sooner?" Riko suddenly exclaimed. She took Tetsuna by the shoulders and shook her.

"Sorry," Tetsuna replied awkwardly. "You didn't ask, so—"

"Do you not say anything unless you're asked?" Riko seemed even more annoyed now.

"Sorry," Tetsuna said again when Riko released her.

Before anything else could be said, a whistle was blown signaling the end of the time out.

"Anyways," Riko started as the players headed back on court. "Switch from man-to-man to zone defense. Keep it tight inside and move in to help stop Kise quickly. Stopping Kise is your first priority. Also, slow down your pace, Tetsuna-chan. Just don't let the gap get too big. Can you do that?"

"I'll try," Tetsuna said. Though it's going to be hard with Kise on the other team. And I don't know how much longer my misdirection will hold up. If we want to win, then we need to start getting points fast.


Despite switching to zone defense, Kaijou continued to score, widening the gap. However, Kagami soon got possession of the ball and prepared to dunk it. He was stopped by Kise, who jumped up and knocked the ball away.

"Out of bounds!" the referee called out. "White ball."

So close, Tetsuna thought. She looked over to Kagami. Kise had walked over to him and said something that Tetsuna couldn't hear. Whatever it was, Kagami looked extremely annoyed. Tetsuna watched as Kise continued to speak. Then, surprisingly, Kagami began to laugh. Tetsuna moved closer to them so that she could hear their conversation.

"It's been a long time since anyone's said that to me," Kagami was saying. "I heard it all the time over there."

"Over there?" Kise questioned, confused.

"In America."

Kise was very amazed by that one fact. "You lived in America? That's amazing!"

"I thought I jumped the gun coming back here to play. Hearing you say that is encouraging, really. Life really is all about challenges. There's no point in living if there's no one strong to play. It's better if I can't win."

Tetsuna gasped in shock at those words.

'Better if I can't win.'

Hadn't Daiki felt something similar to that? Hadn't he grown so tired of victories that he started to dread them more and more? It was bothering her a little now, how much Kagami reminded her of Daiki. She clenched her fists, thoughts whirling around her mind crazily. She was brought out of her thinking when suddenly a hand was planted on her head.

"What?" she exclaimed in shock. She looked up to see Kagami grinning, hand on her head and facing Kise.

"This girl is your weakness," he declared. He began chuckling, much to Tetsuna's irritation.

"What are you doing?"

Kagami only grinned.


Tetsuna stole the ball from Kise and passed it to Hyuuga, who immediately shot a three-pointer. They were over two minutes into the second quarter and they'd closed the gap down to five points. Kaijou had 39, and Seirin had 34.

"Tetsunacchi," Kise said. He looked annoyed now that the gap had been reduced.

"Ryou-chan, you're strong," she told him honestly. "I'm powerless and Kagami can't stand against you. But when we work together, we have a fighting chance."

And that was what she really had to show him. The power that came from working not as an individual, but as a team who could rely on one another.

Kise was displeased with her words though. "You really have changed, Tetsunacchi. We never played basketball like this at Teiko. But, you still can't stop me. The won who wins will be me. It's true that I can't copy your coordination, but since your misdirection will wear off after 40 minutes, you'll lose this game in the second half!"

Kise started to move, determined. Tetsuna stepped out in front of him and watched as the shock registered on his face. "I never dreamed we'd play together like this, Tetsunachhi," he said once the shock had faded.

"Neither did I," Tetsuna said, staring Kise down.

"I don't know what you're up to, but it's impossible for you to stop me!" Kise declared. He ran around Tetsuna only to be stopped again by Kagami.

"Wrong," Kagami told him. "We're not stopping you. We're taking the ball!"

Tetsuna grinned, and taking advantage of Kise's surprise, she moved quickly and shoved the ball out of Kise's hands.

"It doesn't matter how amazingly you play against us," Kagami said, catching the ball with ease. "Our goal is to let you through!"

They all watched as Seirin another basket.

The ball returned to Kise, who dribbled it while facing Tetsuna. "I just won't run by you then," he decided. "No one said I couldn't shoot a three pointer!"

Tetsuna's eyes widened as Kise jumped up, preparing to shoot. Her eyes widened even more as Kagami once more planted his hand on her head. She felt his weight bear down on her as he propelled himself up and knocked the ball out of Kise's hands.

Success! Tetsuna thought as Kise looked at her and Kagami in shock. As Kise turned to chase after the ball, Tetsuna felt something hard hit her in the forehead (Kise's hand, she realized) and crumpled to the floor.

Her head spun and she was vaguely aware of her name being called and a whistle being blown. Something wet slipped down her face. Was it blood?

"Tetsunacchi!"

Kise's voice, she thought. He was the only one to call her by that nickname. She moved her head and saw his panicked face staring down at her. She stood up unsteadily.

"I'm fine," she mumbled, swaying a bit. "The match is just getting start—"

Everything went black.


This was originally going to be longer, but then I decided to split it into two chapters.