Chapter Three

The practice match against Kaijo wasn't going as wall as they first thought. Kuroko was now unconscious on a bench behind Akira, Riko and the other team members on the bench.

When they first arrived in Kaijo they were all in high spirits but after Kise accidently injured Kuroko, the team could no longer cover the point gap. With Kagami on defense, so that Kise won't copy his moves and with the second-years on offence Seirin could barely keep up with Kaijo and there was still a minute and a half in the first quarter.

'This is bad. Without Kagami and Kuroko on offence we can barely keep up and if we lose this practice match, everyone will be down and our chances of entering the Inter High will decrease!' thought Akira, biting her nails nervously.

"Everyone is getting tired. Coach what should we do?" asked Kawahara-san.

"If only we had Kuroko-kun" muttered Riko troubled.

"Very well" Kuroko was heard from behind them.

Everyone stood and stared at him. His eye, from the side he had been injured, was closed and he looked like he had just woken up.

"Good morning" he said with a faint smile.

"I'll be going then" he announced and started walking towards the court.

"Oii wait! You can't play in that condition!" screamed Riko, stopping him.

"Riko! Let him play! If he can walk, he can play. You said it yourself... we need him" answered Akira

'Or at least I think he can'she thought, doubting what she has just said.

"Fine..." said Riko and she nodded, looking at the ground.

"But if you're not feeling well, I'm switching you out" she reminded him.

When Kuroko was subbed back into the game, the first year duo of him and Kagami helped the team close the point gap and by the fourth quarter Seirin and Kaijo were tied at 82 points.

But then suddenly Kise starting playing even more intense than he was before and Kaijo took the lead once again.

'How much stronger can this guy get?'thought Akira.

'I wonder how the other members of the Generation of Miracles will be'she thought and a smirk appeared on her lips. She felt excited at the idea of defeating them all, like Kagami had said.

Even though Kise was now more focused, the teamed didn't give up and so they were tied once again at 98 points but this time, less than a minute remained and Kaijo had the ball.

Everyone was focusing on defense. They couldn't afford to let Kaijo score.

"You can't just defend! Get the ball" screamed Riko and that was when Kagami stopped Kasamatsu's shooting and took the ball.

The ball then went to Kuroko, who made the shot.

'Kuroko made the shot? But he can't shoot!' thought Akira surprised. But then she noticed that Kagami was running towards the ball.

'Oh...It's an alley-oop' she thought and smiled.

She was certain that Kagami would score.

And he did.

And so the match ended with Seirin's victory. (100 – 98)

"Yooosh" screamed Kagami.

"I can't believe we won" screamed Hyuuga.

Kagami and Kuroko walked over to Akira.

"Thanks for persuading the coach on letting me play in the 4th quarter, Akira" explained Kuroko. Kagami just nodded and put his arm around Akira's neck.

"No Problem Kuroko-kun...and umm...Kagami" she said while she was slowly trying to set herself free from Kagami's hand, which led to him being confused.

"What?" he asked with a confused expression.

At first, when he talked to her he'd always place his arm around her neck and tease her for her height, since she's quite short, but after a while it became a habit and now when he's around her he always does it. 'So why is she pulling away now?'he thought confused.

"No hugs for stinky guys" she explained with a flirtatious smirk.

Kagami rolled his eyes and patted her head as to say "You Idiot" and then walked towards Kaijo for the final handshake.

After the two teams thanked each other for the match and vowed to play again at Inter High, the Seirin team left Kaijo and after realizing they have no money, they ordered a 4kg steak each, at the Steak Bomb Restaurant.

After eating as much as she could, Akira couldn't take any more.

"Guys...I give up" she announced.

She was sitting back on her chair, her head leaning back. Her eyes were closed and her expression gave away that she was suffering from over-stuffing.

After a while almost everyone had given up and looked like they'd throw up.

"Ne-san...your idea was brilliant! Now we'll have to pay 10000yen each...or we would, if we actually had it" shouted Akira with a feint, sick-sounding voice, her eyes still closed.

Riko just looked at the ground with a guilty smile on her face.

"That was great! Thanks for the food" uttered Kagami in a satisfied tone.

'He ate it all? What the hell is he?' thought Akira when she saw Kagami's empty plate in front of him.

"You're not going to eat these, guys?" he asked when he realized that all the others' plates were still full.

"Help yourself" said a sick-looking Hyuuga.

And so Kagami saved everyone from paying 10.000 yen by eating everyone's leftovers.

The restaurant's owner was so angry that they managed to eat everything that when the team left the restaurant he screamed "Don't ever come again!" but nobody cared since they had a free meal.

When the team was ready to leave, to their surprise, Kuroko was not there so they split up, looking for him.

Akira and Riko stayed together to search but instead of searching they ended up sitting on a bench, waiting for the others to find Kuroko.

"I can't believe we won against Kaijo...we stood no chance to begin with." announced Akira, while staring at the sky with a bored expression on her face.

"You're to blame for that...you didn't help me at all with the practice. It was only natural that we'd be unprepared." Answered Riko with her hands crossed at her chest.

"Well...Kagami-kun saved the day again" Akira exclaimed bored.

The match started flashing in front of her eyes again. Kagami's dunks in order to close the point gap, him playing on defense , trying to support the team and that final alley-oop and when he hugged her at the end of the match.

'Why am I thinking all these?' she thought embarrassed.

"You forgot Kuroko..."said Riko pocking Akira with a teasing smirk.

'What's with that smile on her face? What is she implying?' thought Akira and she could feel her cheeks turning red.

"Well it... its only normal isn't it? I mean umm...with his lack of presence it's only natural that I'd forget about him." answered Akira looking at the ground this time, her cheeks bright red.

'What are you saying? This doesn't sound convincing at all' her inner voice sounded, making her blush even more.

Akira looked like a little girl, with her face hidden between her knees and her eyes shut from embarrassment. She was a terrible liar when it came to her sister. Riko could always read her like an open book, her feelings, her mood, her everything. They usually kept no secrets from each other but this time Akira wasn't sure why she was blushing or why she felt so embarrassed. She couldn't keep a secret she didn't even know she had.

"You like Kagami-kun, don't you?" asked Riko with a caring smile.

'Kagami? Do I really like him?'thought a socked Akira.

Her eyes were now wide open and her face had a serious expression.

Had she really feelings for him? It's true that they've been really close since the start of the school year, being in the same class and also Kagami seemed to be interested in her, or so the other team members said, but was the interest mutual? Did she like him?

She wasn't sure, she may like watching him play basketball or talking to him in class and she sure cared for him but she felt confused.

'How can Riko know me better than myself?'she thought.

"Maybe" she exclaimed looking at her sister.

"I'm not sure"

"You know he likes you, right?" whispered Riko.

"You should think about it" she suggested with a smirk.

'Is she suggesting I go out with him?' Akira thought and smiled.

"You should think about your feelings for Hyuuga-senpai as well" she said looking at her sister teasingly.

"Hyuuga?" asked Riko shocked.

'Don't tell me she has no idea'thought Akira.

"Wh-What does he have to do in this conversation?"Riko asked embarrassed and Akira could see a faint blush on her cheeks.

'Ha! Busted! She likes him too' Akira thought and an exited smile appeared on her lips.

"Come on, we all know he likes you" whispered Akira while poking Riko's leg with her knee.

Riko didn't answer she looked just like Akira did before, with cheeks red as a tomato and her eyes facing the ground.

"Did anyone say my name?" asked Hyuuga, who had just appeared out of nowhere along with Izuki.

"Hyuuga-senpai!Any signs of Kuroko?" asked Akira.

"Nope, we couldn't find him" Izuki answered disappointed.

A few minutes later almost everyone was back but no one had found Kuroko.

'Where the hell did he go?'Akira thought.

And after some more minutes, when everyone had started worrying, Kuroko and Kagami appeared.

"I found him" announced Kagami.

"Kuroko...you idiot you made us all worry" screamed Riko and punched his head.

"Kagami-kun...Help me" said Kuroko in a faint voice, still dizzy from Riko's punch.

'Poor Kuroko' thought Akira but she didn't go back to help since Kagami had put his arm around her neck once more and they just followed the rest of the team back to Seirin , leaving Kuroko behind while he was being "abused" by Riko.

A/N

Thanks for reading this chapter Am I even allowed to post an author's note? *I hope I am ;P * This chapter is a bit shitty but it was kinda boring for me to write since I had to follow the manga but thank you for reading it anyway