Disclaimer: All canon characters and canon events belong to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.
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SPARK
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The day of Seirin's practice match with Kaijo came fast with everyone's anticipation. The team, all pumped up and ready, were well on their way to Kanagawa to face one of the famed Generation of Miracles.
Not to mention that the Kaijo basketball team itself was on a national level—Seirin was going to have a challenging time, but that was what they trained so hard for these few days.
"Wow, look guys, I'm shaking in excitement!" Koganei said, turning to his team mates to show his point, but his cat-like grin showed a pinch of nervousness.
"Koganei-kun, I think you're shaking in fear," Kuroko commented out of nowhere, earning a loud 'eeeep!' from Riko and startled gasps from the rest of the guys.
Kagami, who barely had any sleep last night from the tension and eager building up to meet Kise Ryouta again, took the scare harder than anyone else. His eyes ticked, "Oi, I need to put a damn bell on you," his large hand came down on the blue haired boy's head.
"I wouldn't like that, Kagami-kun."
"Then stop sneaking on people all the time!"
"But I've been here the entire time. You just didn't notice me."
"You're hard to notice!"
A headache was starting to form in Riko's head by merely watching the two argue back and forth—or more like Kagami yelling unnecessarily loud and Kuroko giving blank stares and even blanker responses that gets the redhead more riled up.
The rest of the team could feel the dark aura serpentine around their coach in a menacing manner, and they smartly inched a few steps back.
And Kagami looks like he hasn't slept in days... that baka. He better give a good performance today.
"Quiet, idiots!" she bellowed with authority. It successfully got the impulsive redhead to shut his mouth, and with the speedy cooperation she seemed to mellow out immediately. "Alright guys, we're heading to Kaijo now! Is everybody here?"
There were a few head-nods before Mitobe hastily signalled something.
"Eh? Okuma-chan disappeared!"
Riko whipped her head left and right to see that the perky team manager was indeed not present. She should have figured—there would've been even more chatter if the salmon eyed girl was here. "Where is she?" she demanded, though her voice was laced with worry.
"Okuma-san said that she will catch up to us in a little bit." Kuroko held his phone up for all to see. It was a text message from Tomoko stating that she will be at Kaijo by the time the game starts since she had to take care of something else right now.
"Ah, that girl..." Riko sighed in relief. Her ears perked suddenly as she shot a glare at the guys who were not-too-silently complaining in envy about how Kuroko was able to get a cute girl's number. "Get yourselves together, idiots! Kaijo won't disappoint us so we have to do our best!"
"Sir yes sir!" the team chorused with some intimidation from the coach. They even threw in a hand-salute.
"We'll meet Okuma-chan at Kaijo, so let get going," she told the guys and they marched forth along with her. She was a bit worried, since Tomoko wasn't travelling together with them, but she figured that the girl will be fine by herself. "Kaijo's not hard to find. She won't get lost."
"Heh... I think I might be lost..." Tomoko chuckled to herself with embarrassment.
The time was glaring back at her, yelling at her to get her herself together to her team. In less than ten minutes the practice match will be starting, and she didn't think she was anywhere near Kaijo High.
The last thing she wanted to do would be to call Riko and try to explain why she was currently lost in Kanagawa... Though Tomoko may seem carefree and unaffected by most things, the coach could be very scary when she wanted to be and even Tomoko didn't want to get on her bad side.
So she tried to call Kuroko instead. The phone dialled dully in her ear for a few seconds before the other end picked up.
"Kuroko-kun!" she shouted into the cell with despair.
"O-Oi, you're so loud!"
Tomoko blinked. That was not Kuroko's voice on the other end; it sounded more like...
"Ka-kun?"
"Why aren't you here yet, brat? We're at Kaijo already!"
"I'm lost Ka-kun!" Tomoko pouted, looking around the alien street signs. "All I know is that I'm in front of Miyaki Sushi... can you come get me?"
"Ha?! I gotta get ready for the game, brat, come here yourself! Kaijo's just a street down from that sushi place, we passed it before we got here."
Tomoko pouted. "Please? I spent all this time making these delicious cookies for you guys... I won't be able to give it to you if I don't know where the school is..." she baited, knowing that the redhead was keen on food.
"...Fine. Stay where you are!"
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three
kaijo, meet your match!
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As soon as Tomoko spotted the tall basketball player appearing around the corner, she sprinted towards him with a bright smile on her face.
"Ka-kun, you came!" she beamed up at him happily.
"D-Don't get used to it," Kagami tried to pry the smaller girl away from his body, a small embarrassed blush colouring his cheeks. "And I told you to stop calling me that, it's s—hmurfm!"
Tomoko successfully shut the boy up by stuffing his mouth with one of her freshly baked white chocolate chip cookies. She may not be good at many things, but baking was her strong point and she can see that Kagami was enjoying the sweet.
"That still does not excuse how troublesome you are, brat," he mumbled afterwards.
"It's not nice to call people 'brat,' Ka-kun," she, in turn, chided him.
"You're the one calling me with a pansy nickname!"
Tomoko blew a raspberry at the tall basketball player. "Then, should I call you Ka-chan?" she stifled a laugh, but the murderous look on his face was all it took for her to retract her words. "H-How about Gami-kun?"
"No."
"...Taiga-chan?"
"No!"
"There you guys are! Kuroko-cchi told me you left and I got worried!"
Kise, dressed in a sleeveless black shirt and orange shorts, jogged up to them when they walked through the gates of Kaijo. The handsome model greeted them with a bright smile. Even though he was slightly sweating, he still looked stunning.
"I'll take you two to the gym, everyone's waiting~" he said, grabbing a hold of Tomoko's hand. "Ne, your scary declaration still makes me cry at night!"
"Just show us the way," Kagami said with irritation.
"No girl has said anything like that to me before, so I was shocked!" Kise seemingly ignored the redhead as he chattered on. His golden eyes landed on the bag of cookies the girl was holding. "Oh my, are these for me~?"
"Maybe~" Tomoko blinked before smiling. "Taiga-chan is a big eater!"
"H-Hey! Let's just get to the gym!" Kagami growled, annoyed that he was repeatedly ignored by the two. "I was pumped up all night knowing that I'll be going against one of the Generation of Miracles!"
"Ah!" Tomoko suddenly cried in realization, "That's why your face looks even more scarier than usual!"
"S-Shut up ya brat!"
Kise chuckled and a smirk grew across his cheerful expression.
"Like I told Kuroko-cchi, I don't care 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," he turned to face Kagami, his expression darkening.
He's becoming serious... Tomoko regarded the blonde model in a neutral manner.
"Sorry, but I'm going to crush you with everything I have."
Kagami felt himself getting fired up all over again upon hearing that. His grin matched his opponent's expression. "Sounds good."
This will be one hell of a practice match!
The squeaks of sneakers could be heard in the courts even as the three were coming up outside of the gymnasium. When the door opened, they saw what the rest of Seirin saw with a shocked frown marring their faces.
"—So um, what is this?" Tomoko and Kagami heard the confused tone from their coach echoing across the court.
The gym was divided into two sides by a giant transparent net. On one half, a bunch of players from Kaijo were dribbling basketballs and doing warm ups, and the other half was set up like a game.
"Why is the court split?" Tomoko whispered loudly.
Their attention was drawn to the short and stocky Kaijo basketball coach, Takeuchi Genta, who was talking to Riko about his 'arrangements.' "It's exactly what it looks like," he explained with an off-handed tone, "There won't be enough to learn from today's game to make it worth watching for the guys sitting out, so we're letting the other players practice as usual to not waste time."
If he did see the pissed looks on the Seirin member's faces, he chose to ignore it. Tomoko could see that Riko was just a second away from bursting in flames and giving the middle-aged man a piece of her mind, but she held back with a small, fake smile.
"Despite the arrangements, you'll be playing our regulars. I hope you won't let us triple your score," Takeuchi finished and walked away.
The man's really done it this time... Tomoko sighed as the atmosphere around the Seirin team darken drastically. No one was pleased with coach Takeuchi's blatant insults, but it fueled their determination to show their revenge on the court.
"They think we suck."
Kuroko and Tomoko looked up to their team's ace to see that he had a dark, angry grin on his face. And if the whole 'split-court' wasn't insulting enough, the stocky coach walked up to Kise and told him to sit out.
He was really underestimating Seirin's ability—they will just have to prove their worth and make the Kaijo coach eat his words.
"Come on, I believe in you guys!" As a team manager, Tomoko was going to make sure that she does everything she can to cheer her precious team up. She wasn't going to make them feel like they're insignificant in any way, because they were so much more. Pumping her fists in the air, she grinned, "We'll let Kaijo see that we are not sideshows!"
"I'm sorry! Seriously sorry!" Kise ran up to them with an apologetic frown. He didn't like his coach's decision any more than Seirin, but he could do nothing about it. Secretly, he pointed to his team, "If you give these guys a beating, I'm sure he'll put me in. Besides..."
That look in his eyes... Tomoko watched his expression change. He's looking down on Seirin again.
"If you can't force him to put me in, you shouldn't go around saying you'll beat the Generation of Miracles."
Why does he think that he's unbeatable?
"Please warm up then, Kise-kun," Kuroko said blankly, but anyone could see the emotion in his eyes as he locked gazes with the Generation of Miracle. He was confident. "We don't have time to wait."
He left Kise momentarily stunned before the team disappeared into the locker room to change. Tomoko stayed behind since it wasn't necessary for her to go with the team.
"Why do you play basketball, Kise-kun?" she asked the blonde seriously.
Kise looked down at the girl, being a good few inches taller than her, and gave her a small pout. "What kind of question is that? I play because I like to win~"
"But playing only for the sake of winning," Tomoko took an assertive step towards the male. "Doesn't it feel empty?"
"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean," Kise shrugged.
Only a smile ghosted over the salmon eyed girl's lips. She was confident that she will be able to change his way of thinking by the end of this.
The game was finally starting; the referee blew the whistle and the ball was thrown into the air.
This doesn't look good; I can't see everything through their clothes, but their numbers are way higher than average. Our numbers are way behind, Riko narrowed her chocolate eyes in thought. Its honestly not surprising for a nationally strong team... We've got Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun, but how far can they take us?
"Did you see that, Riko-san? The referee and the other team was totally surprised to see Kuroko-kun! It's like they saw a ghost!" Tomoko giggled from the sidelines as she stood next to the Seirin coach, cheering her team on.
She knocked on the girl's head playfully. "You do that too. We all do; Kuroko Tetsuya's presence is undetectable if you're not expecting him, that's what makes him a great support player." As she said that, Kaijo's number 4, otherwise known as the team captain Kasamatsu Yukio, got the ball smacked out of his hands by none other that Kuroko. "But Kaijo is strong even without Kise Ryouta playing."
"We'll be fine!"
Watching the basketball team practice everyday, Tomoko could really see the improvements they made and how much better they've become. Especially Kuroko and Kagam, who's coordination are really matching up nicely. They looked unstoppable on the court.
Uwahhh, they look so cool!
She saw that the ball was passed to Kagami from behind and the boy grabbed it with one hand and jumped towards the net.
DUNK!
The sheer force shook the entire length of the basketball apparatus. Kagami had successfully dunked the ball into the net, surprising the opponent team. However, when he landed back on his feet, everyone's jaw's dropped.
In Kagami's hand was the rim of the basketball net.
"Wow!"
"He destroyed the net!"
"You're kidding!"
While the Kaijo team and Takeuchi was shocked beyond comprehension, Kagami seemed wildly amused with the hoop in his hand. Izuki commented about the rusted bolts that caused the break, but to be able to knock the screw off entirely was almost an inhuman feat.
Riko was immediately by coach Takeuchi's side, apologizing profusely to the middle aged man. Following her example was Kuroko, with Kagami grinning stupidly with satisfactory.
"I'm sorry that we destroyed your hoop," the blue haired boy bowed. "Since we can't play like this, could we use the full court?"
Though Takeuchi looked pissed, he complied and the Kaijo players that were using the other half of the court cleaned up to make room for the game. He barked out some orders and called for Kise to play in the game, finally.
Tomoko ran around and helped as much as she could since she had nothing else to do. The others didn't seem to mind or care who she was as long as they had an extra person helping. She spotted an abandoned gym bag lying on the side of the court but didn't recognize it as Seirin's. The big bold letters on the side said Kaijo.
"Hi, is this one of your teammate's?" she presented the black bag like a present when she skipped over to the other team, almost close to thrusting it into Kasamatsu's face had she not held on to it.
"U-Uh, yeah. Thanks...!" the captain sputtered nervously. While the third year was normally confident and assertive, he was comically shy and bashful around girls.
"You're welcome!" Tomoko flashed her lopsided smile, causing the captain to flush even more. "You're the Kaijo basketball team's captain, Kasamatsu Yukio, right? I can tell that you're really good, being able to out-jump Taiga-chan and take the ball!"
Kasamatsu blinked at the short girl in front of him. Was she really complimenting her opponent team?
"But your downfall was not noticing Kuroko-kun. You shouldn't underestimate us~" she sang. Kasamatsu looked like he wanted to retort her remark but she suddenly clapped her hands together, making the captain jump. "I'm Okuma Tomoko, by the way; Seirin's team manager. Can I call you Yuki-kun?"
"W-What?" Kasamatsu asked nervously. What an arbitrary request—he just met this girl after all!
"Or maybe Kasa-kun will be a little less informal since we just met?" she wondered, not noticing the flush on the captain's cheeks. She just thought that a nickname would lighten the male up a little, since he seemed to be kind of stiff.
At this time Kaijo's shooting guard, the flirtatious Moriyama Yoshikata, came floating by the two and immediately had his eyes on Tomoko. "Captain, I didn't know you were capable of talking to girls!" he cried in surprise as he inched closer to the salmon eyed girl with flowers blossoming around him. "I found the girl I want to play my game for today~!"
Tomoko grinned at that, not getting the underlying meaning of his words. "Do you always dedicate games to basketball fans? That is very considerate of you!"
"I do, especially for pretty ladies like yourself!" Moriyama looked like he was on cloud nine, floating to paradise.
Kasamatsu scowled and slapped the shooting guard on the side of his head, his confident nature coming back as he scolded his teammate. "There's no time to dote on fangirls! We have a game to play!" He started to pull the flirtatious male away.
"Wait, Kasa-kun!" Tomoko called as she ran behind up behind him. He looked at her expectantly before she stuck out her thumb. "Please do your best against Seirin! I know that Kaijo is amazing, but we will never Seirin-der!"
Though Kasamatsu was blushing from the nickname she gave him, he and Moriyama both almost missed a step with her cheesy pun. Nonetheless, the captain nodded in acknowledgement. "I wasn't planning on it," he said, then tuning back to gather his team before the game starts. Noticing that their star player was slacking at the corner and talking to the opposing team, he called out with command. "Oi Kise, get your ass back here!"
The handsome blonde ran up to his captain obediently, a big smile plastered on his face as he animatedly talked about something, or someone—namely the phantom player of Seirin and his former teammate. Tomoko could see that he truly respected Kuroko as a basketball player and thought of the phantom as a dear friend.
He's actually a pretty friendly person... Tomoko smiled to herself. I can tell that he's a good friend to Kuroko-kun. She watched the two teams get into position; the whistle blew once again and the official practice game started. The screeching of sneakers were like rhythms to a fast-paced song and the players were the singers. Three players in particular stood out the most, like the chorus.
But everyone on this court is spectacular.
It was their time to prove their skill.
"I think Izuki-senpai is so cool! Finally there's someone who share the same type of witty humor as me! I must learn more!"
-Okuma Tomoko
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