Note: Kombu – dried kelp
Tonkatsu – pork cutlet
A/N: Thank you all for your faves and follows! Also, thanks to all those who sent their condolences! Taichou is very happy about that.
Note: (1) Taichou is still grieving, but she (me too) loves all of you so we decided that I (Nightmare) will continue writing this story until she's back to her chipper self. It's very strange writing without Taichou so I hope that you'll enjoy this!
Note(2): We had forgotten to state this in the first chapter, so I'll say it now, 'RimFire' is request by Shiranai Atsune. If it were up to us, we'd never write about these wonderful boys together.
Enjoy!
Chapter 7
As Tanaka made his way downstairs, he massaged his back as carrying Kotarou into Tetsuya and Kazunari's room was one hell of a task. Add to that, he had to lift Shouichi out of the chair onto Tetsuya's bed...that was not simple at all. He then took off his jacket and headed into the kitchen, preparing dinner for his boys when they woke up.
He opened the fridge and took out the ingredients that he needed after which he searched for the utensils. In a saucepan, he had poured water and placed the kombu in it. He then set it on the stove, over a medium heat.
While that was heating, he then cut the tonkatsu into strips and then set it aside on the counter. He reached for a small bowl, cracked the eggs and began to beat them until they were smooth. When that was done, he set it beside the tonkatsu strips and proceeded to wash the rice. Within a minute or two, the rice was ready and he placed it in a pot and set it on the stove to steam.
By now, the water just started to boil, and Tanaka then removed the kombu from it. He took up a packet of bonito flakes and placed it in the pot, allowing the water to come to a rapid simmer. With a smile, he allowed it to simmer for about a minute. When that was done, he removed the pan from the heat and made it steep for an additional five minutes.
While that steeping, in a frying pan, he added soy sauce, sugar, Sake, and mirin. He looked at the rice and saw that it was not yet ready. He then strained the broth, pouring it into the frying pan.
He was in the process of chopping the vegetables, while the meat was left in a bowl with seasonings. He hummed an upbeat tune as he did so, seeming to be going in a rhythm.
As the sweet aroma floated upwards into the boys' rooms, their eyes flew open. Kotarou had bolted upright, and swung his feet off the bed. Shouichi had already gotten up and had opened the door. Across from them, Yukio had opened the door, allowing Kazunari and Tetsuya to exit before him. Without a word to each other. they flew downstairs, and sat swiftly in their seats. Tanaka was oblivious to what was happening behind him as they made absolutely no sound.
"Oh right, the boys are sleeping." he said in realization. "I'll just go ―" he broke off as he saw the five boys sitting around the table. "―wake them up?"
"Hello Tanaka-san," they chorused, sounding a bit too chirpy for their own good.
"Weren't you just sleeping?" the landlord was beginning to wonder just what are these boys.
"Yes, but the smell from your amazing cooking has woken us from our deep slumber!" Kazunari started. Tanaka looked at the boys with disbelief. He was able to move Shouichi and Kotarou from one room to another without either of them even stirring but now they've woken up just because they smelt his cooking?
Unbelievable. He thought. But he was then taken out of his thoughts by Kotarou.
"I thank you my Liege." the blond said with a nod of his head. "We shall accept this feast with empty stomachs."
A chuckle escaped his lips, after which he then returned to the kitchen and couple minutes had arrived with their dinner. He had made a katsudon for them.
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"So how was the Preliminaries?" Tanaka then asked the boys after dinner.
"It was alright." the boys answered in unison. They then laughed out loud seeing that they came out with the same response.
"Well, Aomine destroyed our opponents. All we ever did was get the ball to him and defend." Shouichi sighed. "Frankly, it was Aomine versus Jouzen. I don't know what I'm going to do with him."
"Well, same here." Yukio said. "We made it through our first round with ease. Kise was quite helpful as well." he then chuckled. "He's learning to trust us and pass."
"Aint that good?" Kazunari smirked. "Shin-chan was his usual tsundere self and well, since Oha-Asa had ranked Cancer number one today, we had nothing to fear."
"My team as well. Even Dad gave us a somewhat difficult time, but Kagami-kun kept him at bay." Tetsuya joined in.
"Your naming sense never ceases to amaze me." Shouichi chuckled.
"Tsch, I envy you all." Kotarou said with a saddened expression. "My basketball life is quite sad, you see. Akashi is just...Akashi. I can't even describe his behaviour."
"What happened this time?" Tanaka asked. Apart from Yukio, he was also known for his complaints about the redhead.
"Well, I didn't get to play just because I told Akashi not to look down on our opponents."
The table fell into silence. Yukio had the most pissed off face they'd ever seen, Shouichi could only manage a smile, but everyone there could see that the smile was giving off a different message. Kazunari seemed to have been frozen in shock, while Tetsuya almost choked on his food.
"Well, this is how it went..." Kotarou started.
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"Our opponents are nothing to be worked up about. As a matter of fact, you can take it easy. There's no need to play at your best."
"You? Aren't you playing Sei-chan?" Mibuchi asked.
"Of course not. It's not to my liking, and plus, our opponents aren't worth it."
"Akashi!" Kotarou said. "You can't belittle our opponents like that! You don't know what surprise they can ―"
"Do you want to be benched?"
"No...but, it's blatant disrespect to look down on our opponents!"
"Excuse me, Kotarou?" Akashi said as he made a step towards him. "For you to be worrying about our opponents, it seems that you aren't training hard enough." he then turned to another player. "Hideki, you're starting in Kotarou's place."
"What?" the blond shouted. "Coach! Do something!"
"Akashi knows what he's doing." Shirogane simply replied. "You may get to play in the second half."
"Tsch," Kotarou huffed as he folded his arms. He then sat down on the bench, seething with discontent.
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"That Akashi needs his ass to be kicked." Kazunari then said. "I can't believe that you didn't play just because of that!"
"Talk about petty." Yukio said as he rolled his eyes. "And that coach, what is he getting paid for? To let some first year brat take charge of his team? This is unbelievable."
"Wow, just wow." Tanaka could only manage. "Then, what did the other players say?"
"Nothing! They just stood there! Like, it pissed them off as well, but you know...they aren't going to say anything 'cause they don't wanna be benched."
Tetsuya sighed. "The other Akashi-kun has gotten worse."
"Other?" they asked.
"Yes, he has a split personality...and it's the one in control now. The Akashi-kun that I knew at first wasn't like that."
"Good grief." Shouichi shivered while gripping the shirt at his chest. "I need to stop complaining about Aomine then. Akashi is the worst."
"Tell me about it. I'll continue to suffer with Kise. At least he's starting to come around." Yukio sighed. His eyes then brightened. "Sine you have a problem and apparently nothing's going to be done about it, why don't you just transfer schools? You could always go to Shutoku with Kazunari."
"Hmm? Why didn't you say Kaijou?" Shouichi asked with a smirk.
"Him and Kise at the same time, in the place, all day, everyday…" he said with a raised brow, "Hell no."
Everyone laughed at their exchange.
"I would gladly transfer, if it was up to me." Kotarou sighed. "My Dad isn't going to allow me to. He'll say 'the Hayama family should always get the best of the best' and blah blah." he then turned to Kazunari. "You know what Dad is like."
"Totally," Kazunari sighed exasperatedly. "That transfer is not going to happen. Ever."
"Well you may never know." Tanaka said trying to cheer them up. He then realized that they hadn't mention anything about streetball. He then leaned forwards and placed his chin in his palm. "Boys, how's streetball going?" he then asked. "Have you hear anything about any competition?"
"Ah, we haven't seen any posters." Kotarou sighed. "I guess because it's Inter-High season. Many people, like us, have to participate. So I guess that's why they've decided to hold off until all this is over."
"That makes sense." Yukio said. "Even though I really miss playing with you guys."
"In due time." Shouichi said with a smirk. "Just store up everything so when we do get to play again, we'll feel much better when we're done."
"On that note, I have good news for you." Tanaka smiled.
"Good news?"
"I can get the uniforms made for you." the moment he said this, their eyes brightened, Kotarou and Kazunari lunged at the man, causing him to stumble backwards almost falling.
"Thank you!" they shouted.
"I only need to know how the colour of your jersey, and the pattern you plan to use."
The boys looked at each other and then they huddled together. "So what should it be?" Tetsuya asked. "White? Black? Blue?" he then looked in Kazunari's direction. "Definitely not orange."
"So mean, Tetsu-chan!" the raven haired boy pouted.
"For real, Shutoku's jersey is abominable." Kotarou said, twisting his face in disgust. "I wouldn't want to be caught dead in bright orange."
"How about a jersey with black, red and blue stripes?" Yukio suggested. "I mean, the black, red and blue would be from our jerseys. You know, since our name will basically be in orange mostly since it's on fire. But I don't know which colour to choose for the overall uniform. White or black?"
"Not a bad idea." Shouichi said tapping his chin in contemplation. "Then to make the effects stand out more, why don't we make the uniform black? Tetsuya's design would stand out more that way." he then looked to Yukio, "And no, it's not because my jersey is already black."
"I didn't say anything, Shou."
"But you would have, Yuki."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because I've known you since we were eight."
"But that doesn't say anything."
"Oh really?"
"Yes really."
"Mom, Dad could you please stop the bickering in front of us? It's not good for us especially Tetsuya to see his parents arguing." Kotarou joked with a straight face. Kazunari turned his face away from them, doubling his lips, trying to fight down the laughter. He wanted to laugh but he knew that the two would kill him. Tetsuya, being the master of control that he is, kept his face straight, not even smiling. But deep down, Kazunari and Kotarou knew that he was using all his willpower to not bust out laughing.
However, Yukio and Shouichi looked as though they were about to murder Kotarou.
"Mom?" Yukio asked, his eyebrow twitching as well.
"Dad?" Shouichi said as he pushed up his glasses. The glare from the light made his face look scary but that was what he was aiming for.
The two boys then made a lunge for the blond, swiftly, he ducked away from them. He then dashed up the back door and out in the yard with the two hot on his tail. Busting with laughter, Kazunari then ran to the front door and into the garage for the ricksaw. He then pushed it out onto the round, at this time, he saw Kotarou, Shouichi and Yukio coming from the backyard.
"Ko-chan! Your get-a-away car is here! Hurry!"
"Shit!" the two captains shouted. Yukio then made a dive at the boy, and sadly, he only managed to catch his jacket, causing him to stumble backwards a little bit. Shouichi then managed to grab the boy but then a basketball crashed into head and then blond slithered out of his jacket and made it safely towards the ricksaw.
Without hitch, Kazunari sped off, heading down the road.
"Damn, they escaped." Yukio hissed as helped up Shouichi.
"Maa," he grinned deviously as he dust the dirt off his clothes. "They have to return home at some point right?" Yukio grinned at this. "We'll just ambush them then."
All while this was happening, Tetsuya watched with amusement at their antics, Tanaka on the other hand, saw this as a golden moment, so he took out his phone and videoed.
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The rest of the Preliminaries went on without hitch for the boys, their respective teams making it through the rounds.
For Seirin, after they had won against Shinkyo Academy in the first round, they had to play Jitsuzen High in the second. Tetsuya had been benched the whole game, and they still managed to beat them 118 to 51. Their third game was against Kinga, who was in the top sixteen last year. Even though they had a good balance of offense and defense, that still couldn't stop Seirin. They had beaten them 92 to 51. Everything went smoothly for them, but all the while, Riko could see Tetsuya twitching from a lack of participation.
Their fourth game was against Meijo Academy, and seeing the players, Tetsuya couldn't help but grin. He had nudged Kagami in the side to show him who they were up against. It was the same group of thugs that they along with Kise had beaten on the street ball court in Kanagawa. Tetsuya inwardly chuckled at their misfortune.
They destroyed them 108 to 41; Tetsuya not showing an ounce of mercy.
Winning against Tokyo Gakuen, Shutoku had made it through the first round of the Inter-High Preliminaries. Their second game was against Kokusai High who they crushed 118 to 36. For their third game, they played Shinjuku High school, who, yet again, they had beaten 102 to 55. Their fourth game was against Yamabuki High and Shutoku made them know just why they were called 'Kings'. Yamabuki were beaten, Shutoku tripling their score.
What was even worse for their opponents, Midorima didn't even play for the entirety of their matches. He only played for the first half but if his luck was bad, he'd only play in the first quarter. Kazunari played for their entire games, showing off just how good of a point guard he can be. After all, playing with RimFire in the summer and on weekends sharpened his skills even further.
For Touou, after they (Aomine) destroyed Jouzen, their next opponent was Kaisei High. Once again, they destroyed them 153 to 46. Their third game had them facing against Nishimachi Gakuen, and with what seemed to be a routine, they tripled their score. Their fourth game was against Joshibi and just like their previous matches, they tripled their score.
It was mostly Aomine who scored the most points, while the others could only either defend, steal or get rebounds. Sakurai had made couple shots as well. Shouichi looked at his team and shook his head. The way they played was a stark contrast to how he played with RimFire.
Like Touou, Rakuzan were just as dominating as Touou whenever they played. Their second game was against Kizu High school; they destroyed them by tripling their score. Kotarou was still peeved from what had happened in the first round against Amino, he decided to ignore Akashi at all cost. Whenever the redhead spoke, he'd tune him out, unless it was a pep talk for their match. Their third match was against Kyoto Prefectural, and strangely, this time, Kotarou had opted not to play. He had feigned an illness, and luckily, it worked out. Their fourth game was against Kyoei Gakuen, and as always there were no surprises. They crushed them, tripling their score.
But apart from this, whenever the boys reached home from their matches, they'd usually eat dinner with Tanaka (the man preparing it for them as according to him 'my boys need all their nutrients') and talk to him about their matches. Afterwards, they'd do their homework, after which they'd usually head to the street court to play two-on-twos (since it was during the week, Kotarou wouldn't be there). They had decided to let Tanaka choose the teams, and with a smirk, he decided to mix it. He placed Kazunari and Shouichi on the same team, Yukio and Tetsuya on the other. He had gone to watch their little match, acting as some sort of referee.
When it was Friday evening, Kotarou had come over (like always) and he'd tell them all about Rakuzan and Akashi's behaviour. He complained, to add to it, he used dramatics ― hand gestures, facial expressions, voice mockery and all sorts of things. On Saturday, they'd call Tatsuya and told him about their journey in the Preliminaries. This made the raven haired boy itching to return to Japan.
Over the weekend, they'd visit the street court and play two-on-twos, Kazunari and Kotarou on one team and Yukio and Shouichi on the other. Tetsuya was the only one not on a team, instead, he passed the ball to whichever team he felt like, he stole the ball from whoever he felt like. It was fun, even though neither of the boys knew when they could trust Tetsuya.
Then, it was yet again time for their fifth match of the Preliminaries.
Seirin had just finished beating Shoin High and the team had sat on their bench after the game, rehydrating themselves. Tetsuya kept thinking about how the others were doing, but he remembered that Kazunari was supposed to have a match...he then looked at his clock and saw the time. His match should begin soon. He then looked up and noticed that Shutoku hasn't arrived yet. He then shrugged his shoulders, knowing that with a team such as that, there's no way they'd lose. He was then taken out his thoughts by Furihata,
"We're doing well," the brunet started, "at this rate; we'll easily make it through the preliminaries and all the way to the Championship league."
"How naïve." He heard Izuki say.
"It must be nice being so young and carefree." Koganei added. Mitobe nodded in agreement. He then heard Hyuuga started talking.
"For the last ten years, the same three schools have moved on to the championship league from Tokyo ― King of the East Shutoku, King of the West Senshinkan, and King of the North Seiho." He said. "They're evenly matched so the top team changes every year, but they never let anyone else get better than fourth place. They're the three immobile Kings of Tokyo." He continued, "After our fifth match are the finals and semi-finals. In the finals we'll most likely come up against the King of the East Shutoku that acquired Midorima Shintarou of the Generation of Miracles."
Tetsuya didn't say anything, instead, he nodded his head. After all, he was Midorima's teammate for three years, plus Kazunari talks about him everyday at home, he knows what sort of monster they'd be going up against either way.
"But you guys made it to the championship league last year didn't you?" Kawahara asked,
"Yeah, but we didn't stand a chance." Hyuuga replied.
Tetsuya's eyes widen at that statement. But before he could say anything, he heard a chant resounding in the gym. Looking at the entrance, Seirin saw the team marching in all their orange glory.
The Kings of East Tokyo, Shutoku.
"Looks like they came." Hyuuga started without taking his eyes off them.
""It's better to see something for yourself than to hear about it." Riko said. She then stood up with a smile on her face, "First years, prepare yourselves! You're going to see something amazing today. They're supposed to be even more amazing this year."
Kagami smirked. "I'm gonna go say hi." he then got up and marched over to Shutoku.
"Sure," Hyuuga agreed, however, he was distracted. But when he realized what Kagami had said, he tried to stop the boy, but he was left ignored.
Tetsuya sighed. Having a feeling of what's going to happen between the two, he followed the redhead. But, he wanted to say hi to Kazunari as well.
"Hey, you're Midorima Shintarou aren't you?" the redhead had asked as he walked up to the green-haired shooter.
"Yes but who are you?" he asked holding his lucky item gingerly in his left hand. Behind him, Kazunari laughed. You know who he is. Why are you so proud? He thought.
Kagami then extended his left hand, offering Midorima to shake it.
"You want to shake hands?"
Kagami didn't answer.
Midorima then sighed, and gave Kagami his left hand. He then took out a marker from God knows where and wrote 'Seirin Number 10, Kagami Taiga' in Midorima's palm. The green haired boy was alarmed at the action.
"You look like the kind of guy who'd claim he doesn't remember me even if I'd introduced myself normally." He then continued with a more serious look, "I want the guy who I'm about to get revenge on for my seniors to remember me."
"Hmph." Midorima said as he pushed up his glasses. "Revenge? You're rather reckless aren't you?"
"Huh?"
Kazunari couldn't help it, he bust with laughter and made his way to Tetsuya. He then threw an arm around Tetsuya's shoulder and looked at Midorima with a grin. "It seems like you've got the ace's number, Shin-chan. Good going," he winked teasingly at him.
"Takao!" he shouted in embarrassment.
"That was a good one Kazunari-kun." Tetsuya chuckled.
"I know right!"
Seeing this exchange, Midorima and Kagami raised an eyebrow.
"Oi, Kuroko," Kagami started. "Do you know this guy?"
"Of course, Kagami-kun." Tetsuya answered. "I live with him."
"He's my dear Tetsu-chan!" Kazunari grinned.
"What?!" the two aces roared.
"You live with Kaijou's captain, now someone from Shutoku?!" Kagami shouted in shock.
"Someone?" Kazunari huffed, pretending to be hurt. "I'm Takao Kazunari, and I'm the point guard for this illustrious team!"
Midorima stood there gaping at the two boys. He would have never in his wildest dreams thought that Kazunari and Tetsuya would know each other in such a way. In comparison to Tetsuya's mature behaviour and way of thinking, he found it hard to see how they get along with each other. He, himself, found Kazunari's imbecilic behaviour quite repulsive. He was taken back to reality when he heard Kazunari calling him.
"Shin-chan! Earth to Shin-chan!"
"What?" he snapped.
"You were spacing out there." he snickered. Midorima narrowed his eyes at him, he hated how much Kazunari seemed to be enjoying this. And strangely, Tetsuya seemed to be enjoying this as well. The two boys then moved off from the aces, seeming to be engaged in a conversation. Kagami and the rest of Seirin could only look on with surprise. Even though the rest of them hadn't heard their conversation with the aces, they were starting to wonder the reason behind those two being so friendly.
Kagami had then retreated back to the bench, all the while looking at the two boys who were chatting away.
"Kagami-kun," Riko started. "Who's that Kuroko-kun's talking to?"
"Oh, him. Not only is he Shutoku's point guard, he lives with Kuroko as well." Kagami responded. "He even calls him 'Tetsu-chan'."
"Ehh?!" came the unison screech.
"He lives with Shutoku's point guard as well?! What's going on?!" Izuki said. "Man, Kuroko sure has some skilled players living with."
"Yeah, Kaijou's captain and point guard, and now Shutoku's." Hyuuga said in amazement. "Who's next?" he added jokingly.
"I wouldn't be surprised if he lived with another school's ace as well." Koganei said with a shrug. "In a dormitory, it is possible."
"How long are you going to keep talking?!" a loud gruff voice said, gaining their attention. It was the captain of Shutoku, Otsubo Taisuke. "Get ready!"
"Okay!" Kazunari said. "See you in the finals Tetsu-chan!"
"Sure! I'll even cheer you up when you lose!" he chuckled.
"Are you sure it be the other way around?"
"We'll just wait and see."
Before Midorima could reach his bench, he then looked at Tetsuya and addressed him. "Kuroko, I will show you just how naïve your thinking is."
Kazunari heard the exchange and shook his head. If only you knew, Shin-chan.
While Shutoku got ready, Seirin had retreated up to the stands to watch their match. When both teams were ready, they had lined up at the centre, and bowed to each other as is customary. The referee then threw the ball up in the air for the tip-off, Otsubo and Kinga's centre faced off for it.
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Shutoku was on thirty-eight while Kinga was at eight. So far, it was a one-sided match, Shutoku dominating completely. Midorima made threes as much as he had gotten the ball, which, sadly for Kinga, was often.
"They're already thirty points ahead with four minutes remaining in the second quarter." Riko started, "I'm not surprised." Kagami 'hmph'ed at her statement.
"They're not doing anything that differently from us, but they make it look so easy." Kawahara said. "I wonder why?"
"It's because they don't make mistakes." Hyuuga began, "In basketball, the ball's always moving back and forth at high speeds. Without exception, strong schools always have solid basics like passing, handling and running." He then continued, "they make it look easy because they're fundamentals are so solid. But those are only the fundamentals. Naturally, there's another reason. It's because they have an infallible scorer."
"What an amazing dunk!" Kawahara said after seeing Otsubo.
"Is he really a high schooler?" Furihata said in awe.
"He's gotten even stronger." Riko said to Hyuuga.
"We couldn't do anything about him last year." He said.
"Otsubo on the inside and a normal outside was Shutoku's game last year but this year…" she trailed off.
"He's five out of five so far." Kagami said, looking at Midorima. "Looks like Midorima's playing well."
"Is that so?" Tetsuya said.
"I don't know! Shouldn't you know?"
"For one Midorima-kun doesn't miss," Tetsuya said. And that moment, Midorima took a shot. The ball arched high into the air and all Seirin's eyes were drawn to it.
Seriously? What's with that high arc? Hyuuga thought. Most people won't have any sense of distance shooting like that.
The ball went into the net flawlessly.
"As long as Midorima-kun doesn't lose his form, he makes one hundred percent of his shots."
"Seriously?" Izuki asked.
"That's not fair." Koganei added.
"He's even heading back to defend before he makes his shot." Tsuchida said. "He's impossible to counter." Mitobe nodded in agreement.
"The time until he makes his shot is abnormally long. It really gets you mentally." Riko added.
He really is amazing, but why am I getting a bad feeling about this? Hyuuga thought, Could Midorima be hiding something even more ridiculous?
Tetsuya then sighed. "It gets even worse. In middle school, he could shoot from the centre line."
"What?" Kagami shouted. "Shooting from the centre line in middle school? Just what is he?"
"You Generation of Miracles are something else." Izuki said. "Shooting threes from the centre line in middle school, I've never heard or seen anyone do that before."
"Well, they're monsters." Tetsuya said. "Simple as that."
They then refocused on the match, watching it intently.
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"Okay, let's go home!" Hyuuga said to the team as they opened the door.
"Don't!" Riko shouted as she pushed them. "We've got another game today! Are you stupid? Are you?!"
"I was kidding. The mood just seemed too gloomy." Hyuuga said with something looking like a smile.
"Everyone's checked the tournament bracket." Izuki joined in.
"Huh? We've got another game? Seriously?" Kagami asked.
"Kagami…" Tsuchida started,
"You really are stupid Kagami!" Riko shouted. "Check the bracket! We play two games on the day of our fourth game and the last day! Our fifth game starts at five o'clock!" Kagami then took the paper from Riko.
"Two games in one day is really too much." Koganei said.
"Yeah, even if we get a break, we're still tired." Izuki said.
"The semi-finals and finals are both in one day?" Kagami asked. "Does that mean we're playing a game before we play Shutoku?" he then noticed something on the paper, "Coach, the three kings are Shutoku and…?"
"Seiho and Senshinkan." She answered.
"Isn't this…?"
"On our last day, our opponent will most likely be Seiho. We'll play Shutoku in the finals. We're playing two Kings in a row."
"That's impossible." Furihata said.
"Good schools have strong players and a lot of them." Kawahara said. "Our guys will all need to be benched."
"Ha! Two games in one day and both our opponents are strong. I couldn't ask for more." Kagami grinned.
"But this is too much." Furihata said.
"Who are you trying to impress?" Kawahara asked. "Right Kuroko?"
"I'm actually excited too." He deadpanned.
"What? Did you get Kagami germs too?" Furihata asked.
"What are you talking about?" Kagami asked.
"I hope not."
"The way that you denied that pisses me off," he hissed at the shorter boy.
"But don't difficult situations light a fire in you?"
The expressions of the Seirin team indicated that he had just hit the nail on the head.
"All right! I'm on fire! I'm gonna go practice!" Kagami shouted.
"Don't! You should rest!" Riko barked at him. "You unbelievable basketball head! Bakagami!"
Thank you all for reading! Don't forget to leave a review!