IX. Like a Tree

It was during the team briefing that Hinata found out about the names of the two he met earlier. A serious second year player told the team the information he had collected in the past few days, pointing the opponent's players while telling the name, position, and notable skills.

"Kozume Kenma, 2nd year regular. A setter who doesn't move much during the game, but he's good at his job. He knows how to create openings and take advantage of it.

"That one is Kuroo Tetsurou, 3rd year regular. Middle Blocker, also the captain of Nekoma's team. Be careful, he's one sly bastard. I saw in one of the videos that he angered the opponent's team into making a foul, so don't listen to what he says."

Kozume Kenma, the Dead Cat Eyes, and Kuroo Tetsurou, the scary, irritating Snake Man.

Hinata's heart screamed in joy at the thought of pounding Snake Man to the ground for insulting his height.

Oh, wait… Kuroo Tetsurou would be Snake Man II. The name 'Snake Man I' belonged to a scary basketball player he met in the Championships… Hanamiya something. That player had tried to trip him when he was doing his Cartwheel Dribble multiple times, the sneaky bastard.

Nonetheless, Snake Men are Snake Men. He would pound them one way or another.

"Hey, do you think playing volleyball will get you closer to me?" the voice asked, down, down below, in the other pair of huge double doors. Hinata sat on the clear water surface, looking at the shadow figure inside the door below. "Do you think that you will be able to go under the water's surface?"

"I don't know," Hinata answered the boy, "but they smell strong."

"That's what you said too, before the Basketball Championship," the voice said, "but there have been no notable improvements in you, not ever since the first practice match when you opened the first door and came to the place you are now."

"Heyyy…" Hinata whined, "The senpai-tachi are just that strong. They kept on attacking and attacking and attacking that the opponents don't even want to fight back anymore. There's no challenge, no fun. It feels like the senpai-tachi have solutions for every problem."

"So, without the senpai-tachi here, do you think you can improve? Do you think you can come closer to me?"

"Maybe," Hinata hummed, "Perhaps…"

"Alright! Teikou! Assemble! The game is starting!"

Hinata snapped back to reality and joined in with the captain.

.o0o.o0o.

Hinata's position in this game was a libero. Hinata grumbled in annoyance about how unfair it was to just assign him the position of libero just because he was short, even though Hinata knew his physical abilities far exceeded theirs.

Hinata wanted the wing spiker position; it's cool, and he got to score some points with cool and flashy moves and insanely high jumps, but that was a dream he needed to work for the next time.
For now, he was in a battle field.

Hinata slid his body across the wooden tiles, his hand reaching for the incoming ball. The ball bounced off his hand and into the air. The setter of the team came and directed the ball into one of the wing spikers.

When the next ball came, it was going to land in a spot too far for his reach, and his teammates weren't quick enough to react.

Hinata did a somersault.

And then the next ball came into the hands of a second year wing spiker, and the ball went awry, so Hinata did a cartwheel to prevent the ball from touching the grounds outside the court, smacking the ball high before the net for the wing spiker to hit.

Current score was 3-5, with Nekoma on the lead.

"Oya, oya," a familiar voice said, "What do we have here? A little acrobatic monkey?"

Hinata's eyebrow twitched. Snake Man II was smirking from the other side of the net. Hinata glared at him before he switched positions with a middle blocker.

The game continued that way, and Hinata itched for a chance to spike the ball but he couldn't because hitting the ball twice is considered a foul, and most of his hits were spent on receiving impossible balls as libero.

Then there was a chance – a free ball – last touched by the opponent's team.

Hinata darted forward, legs bending and springing upwards, fingers touching the ball, smacking it downwards, slightly to the side, not bothering with the hands of the opponent's blockers who went up high and towering…

The next thing he knew, the whistle blew, and a point was given to Teikou.

Hinata smiled as he looked at his hand, a feeling of satisfaction – similar to when he managed to score in basketball – bubbled in the pit of his stomach.

Now, if only he could get another chance like that…

"Hinata!" the volleyball captain shouted, "what are you doing? Get back here, you're a libero!"

And the moment was destroyed. Hinata scowled as he returned to his position.

But no matter what, just standing back was just not enough.

.o0o.o0o.

It was a pity, Kuroo mused.

Kuroo could see Hinata's natural physical abilities were a gem, but it was already sharpened by someone, and the gem became even more precious. But Kuroo could also see that Hinata was not at all trained in volleyball. In fact, during the whole game, Hinata kept up with only his physical abilities and reaction time, his movements mostly from gymnastics.

Kuroo was sure a half hearted team like that could never sharpen a gem. He had a suspicion that Hinata came from another club, who was tasked with the job of helping the volleyball club to gain name and fame. He knew about Teikou's ideology.

But Teikou's volleyball team was filled with such idiots. He could clearly see the fire of ambition in Hinata's eyes. Hinata was clearly suited for offense, but they placed him in the back, as libero, a defense oriented position. Not that Teikou will be winning against Nekoma anytime soon, but

Teikou's chances would be higher with Hinata on the offense.

Kuroo wouldn't lie, that first and only spike Hinata had managed to hit in the match had sent shivers down his spine. It was like his only focus was to win.

But the same idiotic team mates had broken Hinata's concentration, and he was back defending as a libero, that single minded focus replaced by irritation. Kuroo shook his head at their inability to appreciate good skills, followed by their inability to put that good skill to use.

Hinata was an offensive player, no matter what. For all his good defending during the game, Hinata's heart yearned to prove himself against the opponent.

Their practice match was over with Nekoma's close win, and most of the players were cooling down. Kuroo himself had finished resting up, and he was discussing the game with the other players, but the player he wanted to speak with the most wasn't on the court. Kuroo excused himself from the group, saying that he wanted to go to the toilet, while in reality, he wanted to search for the orange haired shrimp.

And Kuroo found the shrimp in the basketball court, playing against some high school students and winning.

"There you are. We're discussing about the match earlier."

"Ah!" the tiny orange boy exclaimed at the new arrival, "Snake Man II!"

"Wait, what are you here for? A practice match?" one of the seniors asked, "Does our junior high basketball team have a practice match today? How does Nekoma junior high basketball fare against Teikou's, huh?"

"Nah," another senior answered, "There's no match, I'm sure."

"Ne, ne," Hinata called out, catching the senior's attention, "I'm here for volleyball, actually. Nekoma's volley is strong. Don't know about basketball, though."

"Dang!" the senior whistled, "Ya beat us brat. Maybe we should call for Teikou middle school's basketball team to go against us. I got a feeling we'll be having a beating of our lives."

"You're part of the basketball club?" Kuroo asked the smallest boy in the room. "Is it any strong?"

"Our basketball club won the Middle School Championship twice in a row," Hinata said, "I joined as a regular in the second championship. So I guess we are pretty strong. No seniors in our school had managed to beat us. And we kept winning our practice matches. Not to mention we won by a landslide. Captain was thinking on calling for highschoolers to play against us instead."

"And did you join the gymnastic club too? I notice you often use gymnastic moves," Kuroo commented.

"Yup," Hinata grinned, "I'm going to win the Gymnastic Middle School Championship too! If I don't, Matsuri-senpai might skin me alive! She might try to break my bones too…"

Kuroo choked, finally realizing just how strong Hinata's physical capabilities are. No wonder he wasn't even winded after the match, going as far as searching for another, more challenging match with high school students even though he was practically the one who exerted the , gymnastics, and volleyball in one go. Kuroo would have fainted by the end of the week.

Basketball is considered the most intense sport, where the court is small enough for all 5 players to go against all 5 face-to-face. Volley required the haste which other sports don't have. They only have ever so little time until the ball touches the ground, and the movements after each serves were blurry at best. Gymnastics is probably one of the most meticulous exercises – the complete opposite of basketball and volley.

"I'll be going then, senpai," Hinata waved the high-schoolers goodbye as he returned to the volleyball court, Kuroo following behind.

Damn… given time, Hinata would be a dangerous volleyball opponent.
And Kuroo was all for getting him in Nekoma for high school.

.o0o.o0o.

"You lost," Captain stated the next day when Hinata came for his tutoring sessions. Hinata groaned into his hands.

"You were not put in offense," Akashi stated once more, before scoffing, "Such fools."

Tutoring lessons continued as usual, with Akashi stating that since Hinata was his student, he was unwilling to accept anything under 100 from Hinata, even on the other subjects. He started giving Hinata things that he didn't study in class, things that actually came from high school and college.

But on the next volleyball meeting, the position of wing spiker was given to him, and Hinata had a feeling that Captain had a hand in this.

Captain's talks were rather scary…

.o0o.o0o.

Teikou's volleyball had been getting even stronger lately. They still lost, but it still made up for what they won.

There's no semblance of teamwork. All they need to do was set the ball for their smallest player to spike and kept the ball from touching the ground. The seniors' jealousy was thick in the air, using reasons such as 'it's my third year', or 'I'm more experienced' to sit Hinata on the bench, even though Hinata was clearly essential in winning the match, even though it was clear that only Hinata placed extra effort in practice and matches.

It was… a mess. Probably the most twisted team in Teikou. They relied on the youngest and smallest regular, and yet they kept on sabotaging his practice. No physical violence had been involved yet, just verbal lashing and underhanded things, but it was just a matter of time before it went to that point.

Akashi was not worried about that, however. He believes Hinata's physical abilities are more than enough to handle those volleyball savages. What he was worried for, was the detention Hinata might get. It would decrease Hinata's tutoring sessions when he was planning to increase Hinata's work load.

That was why he gave Hinata the key to the basketball gym so that he can practice alone, with Momoi supervising. And Momoi could ask volleyball club members, well, more like flirted, for the newest gossip in the volleyball.

No teamwork, but Hinata was fine with that. He still had his basketball club.

"Gorilla King! Come suffer with me!" Hinata shouted as he went on with his push-ups and jumps, somewhere in the 200th count. "Weakling! Can't handle Captain's new training menu, can you?"
"Oi! What the heck was that, shrimp?" Aomine hollered back from his lying position on the bench, "I can handle it! I just don't feel like practicing. Akashi isn't here, so I'm out."

And with that, Aomine packed his bag and exited the gym. A few moments later, Akashi came in and quirked his eyebrow. "Where is Aomine?"

Hinata gasped for breath as he continued his training, the rest of the basketball club not in a better condition than him.

"HE. DITCHED. US!" Hinata said in the same rhythm as his exercise. "That. Gorilla. King!"

"It is… idiotic," Midorima said as he did the same exercise as Hinata, "Man proposes… God disposes."

Akashi scowled, placing his bag on one of the benches before darting out of the door, returning few moments later with a traumatized Aomine in tow.

Akashi sent out one of his famous smirks. "That is what will happen to you if you ditch practice another time, understand?"

Aomine flinched and looked away, muttering a quiet yes.

"And if any of you dared to do the same thing as Aomine," Akashi said, red eyes glinting, adding Akashi's scary demon point, "Watch out."

Aomine's training was tripled for that evening.

.o0o.o0o.

With no extremely super-powered senpai inside Teikou volleyball club, the Volleyball Middle School Championship was more challenging in a way. The only one they can really rely on is Hinata, who scored crazily quick after getting used to volleyball movements, even going as far as mixing in the more complicated gymnastic movements.

But it wasn't enough.

They lost when there were 8 teams remaining, Nekoma lost too, and Hinata went along with Nekoma's team to celebrate their losses, while the other Teikou members returned to their homes.

At least, Hinata's objective in achieving the scholarship succeeded, and Hinata's mother was ecstatic in hearing the news.

And he reached up to the 4 best in the Middle School Gymnastic Championship. Akashi drilled him for the upcoming end of year test, Hinata passing with wonderful scores (but Akashi was still not satisfied, so Midorima made him that Lucky Pencil to help him out), joined street basketball or any sport competition over the school break and then entering his second year of middle school.

Life had been good, perfect even…

That was why Hinata didn't expect his life to be tumbling down in one of his basketball practices.

.o0o.o0o.

Practice started normally, the Head Coach was sick, and had been replaced by Assistant Coach Sanada who was taking over the other string members. A few hundred push-ups, then sit-ups, followed by jumping jacks, and then running laps, a few drills (Hinata finally made a dunk few days ago. There was a celebration.) and finally the practice match.

Aomine was not present today. He had been trying to ditch practice sometimes, and actually succeeded on some occasions.

Akashi had carefully divided the team, but Murasakibara complained at Akashi's orders to move.
"Why should I listen to you anyways?" Murasakibara said at the seething red head, "You're weaker than me."

All the regulars that were present were silenced by shock and disbelief at what they heard. Hinata bit his lip at the tense air. Akashi was their captain, no matter what. Even if their physical capabilities far suppressed Akashi's, Akashi had always been on par with them – if only because of his deep insight. He was the one who nurtured them to what they are now, and Murasakibara had no right to talk about Akashi in that way.

"Even with no practice, we can already win! If Aomine doesn't come to practice, then I don't want to either!"

"Muraskibara!" Akashi reprimanded. "You have no right to say that! Our opponents all play at different strengths!"

"You say that because you are weak."

Akashi stared at Murasakibara, eyes intense, burning with fire that Hinata had never seen before, and Hinata could feel goose bumps running up his spine.

"Murasakibara Atsushi," Akashi started, "I challenge you on a one-on-one. The one who scored 5 balls wins."

The court was cleared, and the game began.

Akashi was immensely over powered by Muraskibara. Murasakibara's average statistics had always been the highest if he actually put his mind to it. He was the tallest, the quickest – rivaled by Aomine and Hinata - , the strongest and the sturdiest. Hinata took the best in flexibility and stamina, while Aomine's ball handling was on par with Akashi. Midorima secured the spot with the best accuracy. Kise the best all rounder.

While Akashi has the best insight, which he used to create tactics and take care of the team.
And Akashi's famous insight cannot be used on a one on one against Murasakibara.
The score was 4-0, in Murasakibara's favor. Akashi was losing badly.
And then Hinata could feel the air snap.

"I do not care if you are my parent, my teacher, or my teammate," Akashi started, "I will win. If you oppose me, I'll kill you, no matter what."

A step, a dribble, a small odd feint…

And Murasakibara fell into a ground, eyes wide, uncomprehending of the situation. Akashi dribbled the ball to the ring and took a shot.

It was his first point in the game.

But the tenseness in the air never subsided. Hinata watched as Akashi gained power over Murasakibara, awe and fear mixed all into one.

Didn't this feel like...

…like that dark place, with unreachable doors? That place with clear water surface that Hinata can't seem to break through?

But it was so… sinister…

… like a cornered beast with no other way out, lashing at everything and anything.

Was this even his captain? Was this even Akashi?

Akashi had never felt this way. He was like a lion and they are his cubs. He nurtured them and cared for them. He was the lion who leads the pack…

… but now, Akashi felt like a lion who had abandoned his pack.

And then Akashi gained the 5th point, and the game was over. Murasakibara stood rooted to the ground.

"Victory… is a given for me."

Akashi had always said that line as a joke to the ones who challenged him. He always won, but he appreciated his opponents' skills and what he learned from them.

… but now, it feels like he actually meant it…

Hinata ignored the shivers, and darted to Akashi.

Because Akashi was warmth, protection, light, and assurance. He led them. No matter what, he was their captain.

"Captain!" Hinata shouted with a grin as he ran into Akashi's space. "You beat Giant-san!"
Akashi faced him, a smile painted on his face even though there was no warmth, and he patted Hinata's unruly mess of orange hair.

Akashi usually ruffled his hair into a bigger mess.

"Of course, I will always win."

There was no feedback on how Murasakibara fared against him, while Akashi usually told them how to improve even further.

"Come on, let's get back to practice. Assemble all the others, Shouyou." Akashi said as he walked past Hinata, "We've wasted enough time as it is."

But Akashi always respected personal spaces. He had never called Hinata with that name.

.o0o.o0o.

"Midorima-kun, don't you think Akashi is… different?"

"Hnn? He is. But that has nothing to do with me. Stay away, Kuroko. I've told you multiple times Aquarius and Cancers never went along well."

"Hinata-kun, what do you think?"

"Yes, Ghost-senpai?"

"About Akashi's change."

"… Akashi is still the same."

"Huh?"

No matter what, Akashi was still Captain.

.o0o.o0o.

Hinata started noticing things he'd never noticed.

There were tons of practice match requests for Teikou, but the regulars never played together in practice matches because it would be simply too overpowering.

Hinata never found out why would being too strong be a problem. He strived to get stronger, to surpass his senpai-tachi, to take the ace position from right under Aomine's nose, to enjoy the feel of victory and relish in it…

But there was… a problem that Hinata never noticed until all Teikou regulars got too strong.

Those eyes

The eyes of his opponents when the difference in points was too large… They were dead, lifeless husks. There was no fighting will inside their hearts not anymore.

He first noticed it when he was sent to Kitagawa Daiichi, somewhere in Miyagi Prefecture, near his old hometown, so he volunteered. Another reason was because Momoi said that Kitagawa Junior High's volleyball club was the favorite, the likely champion candidate.

The game started with good spirit. The competition was healthy, and Hinata kept on scoring and scoring, occasionally passing to the other first strings and second strings so that they have more experience.

And without realizing, Teiko scored 47 points to Kitagawa's 26.

Those eyes started appearing in his opponents' faces.

At first Hinata wondered, why, just why would they stay rooted in place when he dribbled past, but then other Teikou players were stopped when they did the same thing.

And then he remembered Aomine's complaints back in the championship when Hinata was still a first year.

"They don't fight anymore. They've lost their hope to win. It's a bore to play with them."

Why would anyone lose their hope to win? If it was up to Hinata, as long as he was on the court, as long as there was still even 1 second left, as long as the ball was still on the court, even if the opponent's score was ridiculously high, he would keep on playing, he would keep on fighting to win.

As long as the players stand, their hope to win was never 0.

Then there was a player who roared in frustration, bulldozed his way through Teikou's defense, and slammed the ball harshly on the board, scoring a point.

"Waoo!" Hinata looked at the player in admiration. "That looked soooo cool! You went Ba-BAM! I want to do it too! Pass me the ball!"

When the ball was passed to him, Hinata easily bulldozed his way to the opponent's ring. He jumped, and slammed the ball into the board – very much like the original player had did – only to have the ball bounce back off the board with a loud slam and hit his head.

There were panicked cries from both Teikou and his opponents. But Hinata assured them that yes, he was fine, that he has a stone head, and that it was common for him to hit his head. After a brief inspection, Hinata was back in action.

"Hey, you!" Hinata pointed at the player who did that SLAM-Ba-BAM thingie, "I will complete that move. And then you will go 'WAOOO! You're soo cool' at me, got that?"

The whole court chuckled in amusement.

But the spirit of the game after that incident became good. The fire returned to their eyes. And Hinata was glad for that.

.o0o.o0o.

"Hey, hey, have you heard it?"

"Yeah, the basketball club, heard they were having a practice match with one of them."

Kageyama Tobio grunted in annoyance. Those people had been noisy even though it was volleyball practice. They should focus on their training rather than gossiping about other clubs.

He threw the ball in the air and slammed it, serving it to the other side of the court. He scowled, realizing that the power was not enough, even though the ball had a good spin.

"Seriously, how did they fare against those monsters?"

"My friend who was watching texted me earlier. In the 3rd quarter, the score is 83 to 41."

"Whoa, scary… guess the rumors were true then."

"Yeah. They are strong. No one can hope to beat those kinds of geniuses."

Unbeatable genius? Even though it wasn't volleyball, the word 'genius' still caught Kageyama's interest.

"Kindaichi, what are they talking about?" Kageyama asked one of his year mates, a spiky haired boy who was currently resting after a particular heavy drill. It was supposed to be break, the coach had given time, but Kageyama needed to perfect his serves, the quicker the better.

"Huh? About the basketball club's practice match?" Kindaichi asked.

"Yeah."

"Teikou came for a basketball practice match against our school. Their current regulars are monsters – geniuses who kept on winning by landslide ever since their first years, and rumors started running around that they are the Generation of Miracles. One of those regulars is here, so we are pretty much curious about how well will our school fare." Kindaichi shrugged. "Hearing those lazy asses though, it looks like we're losing badly."

Kageyama spun the ball in his hands. "Get ready. You still need to practice spiking the balls I set."
"Huh? Are you insane? This is break!"

"I don't care. Move it."

And Kageyama tossed the ball to the air – lightning quick, his full tossing capabilities – and watched as Kindaichi slammed the ball with his hand, only for the ball to serve weirdly.

"Damn, that's too quick, Kageyama!"

"You need to be faster. Again."

This was repeated for a few more times, Kindaichi cursing Kageyama and his willfulness under his breath. Kageyama's tosses were too quick, and the times that he managed to hit the ball, the ball always swerved in a weird direction, power and speed decreased.

During one of Kageyama's tosses, there was a sudden blur, and the next thing Kageyama realized was that the ball he had tossed hit the other side of the court with a huge slam. Kageyama stared at the new boy, an extremely short boy, currently testing his fingers, wriggling them as if remembering his earliest toss.

"Good toss," the new orange haired boy commented, "Light and fast. Now if only my team's setter can do it like you do…"

Behind the new boy, Kindaichi gaped in disbelief that someone actually managed to spike Kageyama's toss, not to mention the height of the boy.

"But I guess there's too much power?" the boy rubbed his thumb on his red fingers. "Yep, too much power."

The boy certainly wasn't in the volleyball club. Kageyama remembered faces very well, he would have recognized him if he was. Someone with such a short height who could handle his tosses and jump that high up wasn't someone Kageyama could forget. And Kageyama couldn't gain anything from the clothes the boy wore. It was a plain white t-shirt with a light blue and white sport shorts.

"Oi," Kageyama called, "Your name."

"Ah?" the boy tilted his head, before he grinned and offered his hand. "I'm Hinata Shouyou! Nice to meet you!"

Kageyama completed the handshake. "Kageyama Tobio. Kitagawa Daichi's setter. What's your position?"

"Uh…" the boy scratched his cheek, "You mean in volleyball?"

Kageyama scoffed. "What else?"

"I'm a wing spiker. But I used to be a libero."

"Wing spiker?" Kageyama quirked his eyebrow, "Spike my ball."

Kageyama tossed his quickest toss. The next moment he knew, there was a slam and Kageyama knew the ball was already on the other side of the court. There was a feeling bubbling inside him – happiness – because he finally found someone who can handle his tosses.

"Oi! Don't just suddenly tozz the ball!" Hinata whined, "I wasn't even ready! And OWW! Reduce the power of your toss! That hurts a lot!"

Kageyama abruptly grabbed the shorter boy's shoulder and narrowed his eyes at him. "Where? Where have you been all these years? Someone with that kind of spiking skills would have been well known in the volleyball world."

"Uh…" Hinata stared wide eyed at Kageyama's sudden weirdness, not really understanding just what Kageyama was asking. "I'm right here?"

Kageyama let go of Hinata and ran his fingers down his hair.

"Hey, hey, toss me some more balls. I still need want to play! And it's not every day you get a good ball. The seniors in my club always try to sabotage my balls last year, but this year's senpai-tachi are kinder, but they're less skilled. Spiking your balls is easier compared to theirs."

Sabotaging? So he was one such victims? These kinds of things were common in a competitive world such as sport. Many geniuses had fallen victim, and their skills were buried along with the jealousy of their team mates.

Kageyama tossed another ball, this time more speed and less power. Hinata spiked it with a grin…

…only to sway dangerously when he landed, a hand on his head as if he was holding a pounding pain inside. Even Kageyama was alarmed.

"Hinata Shouyou!" A voice shouted from the entrance. A man walked into the court, while the others – certainly students – waited outside the entrance.

"Coach Sanada!" Hinata cried in surprise. "T-this isn't what it looks like! I am not exerting myself! C-certainly not!"

"You have always been a bad liar." The man chastised as he steadied Hinata. "I banned you from the court in the middle of the 4th quarter because you just had to keep on trying to copy that player's jamming moves, only for the ball to bounce back and hit your head for the 7th time today. I'm certain there's a slight concussion, and you are not fit to move just yet. And now you're gallivanting with a volleyball club and playing around? What will Akashi-kun say? You're a regular, for god's sake! Know when you're supposed to be resting!"

Hinata flinched. "I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! It's just Kitagawa's volleyball club is good and I just need to check up on them!"

"We'll drop you first in the hospital, and then we'll see if Akashi is willing to give you permission to rest from the basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball club. And this time, no more fooling around, understand?"

"Yes!" Hinata said with a gulp.

"Say your goodbyes. Your basketball gears have been packed and Jun is holding onto it now. Be quick."

And with that, the man left Hinata with Kitagawa's volleyball club members.

Kageyama glared at the boy. "You're a basketball regular?"

Hinata grinned. "Yup. My name is Hinata Shouyou. Teikou's basketball and volleyball regular, and one of the gymnastics regulars! Nice to meet you!"

"W-wait," Kindaichi exclaimed, "You're one of their regulars? The Generation of Miracles? Someone as short as you?"

"Hey! I resent that! I'm just as good in sports as my sempais are!" Hinata snapped, before sighing. "Well then, hopefully we'll meet in the volleyball championships, Kageyama Tobio."

Kageyama scoffed. "Likewise, Hinata Shouyou."

.o0o.o0o.

Aomine had completely stopped coming to practice, even with Momoi's legendary nagging – Coach Sanada had given the okay to him, Akashi didn't raise his hand in this.

"As long as he brings victory, he can do whatever he wants," Akashi had said.

Midorima kept on practicing, increasing the range of his three point, but that was it. He no longer bothered with Hinata anymore, deeming him strong enough to now stand in court by himself.

Murasakibara came to practice, not because he wanted to, but because Akashi ordered him to. Even then Murasakibara spent his time munching on his snacks rather than training.

Kise's practice time had decreased; he spent more and more of his time in his modeling job.
Akashi had become something akin to a supervisor, watching them like hawk as the others practiced, while Akashi himself rarely practiced with them.

Hinata had taken to practicing in other times. He still kept his regimens, but Hinata avoided the basketball club like crazy, opting to drop in volleyball or gymnastics or some random club to accommodate his own training, which started to diverge to accommodate soccer, tennis, football and kendo.

Now, the only one who trained, really trained for basketball was only Kuroko Tetsuya.

If the paths of the Generation of Miracles were separating, than Hinata was the one who separated the furthest, with Kuroko left behind in their original spot. Like a growing tree, where they are all branches, Hinata a separate trunk, and Kuroko still in the root.

.o0o.o0o

A/N: Follow my art account on Instagran huntress_of_eclipse

Sorry about the earlier format... I didn't notice... it seems my phone worjs differently than my laptop TwT still trying to adjust typing stories with my phone.

I am dissapointed my grand comeback is like this TwT