"talking" - talking in Japanese
'talking' - thought.
"talking" - talking in English
When the ball reached its highest peak, Atsuma jumped first, he had almost touched the ball when another hand appeared and slapped the ball away.
'Such jumping power.', Aomine thought in suprise, getting to see from up close.
Yamada received the ball and immediately passed it to Goro in front who then passed it to Kenma.
"Hibiya-kun!", Kenma shouted then threw the ball high up toward the ring.
Hibiya jumped from under the ring and slammed the ball in.
It all happened so quick, in no more than ten seconds. No one had expected them to start with a quick offensive, not even the kisekis had expected it.
To tell the truth, the spectators there had known from the beginning that the first years had no chance against the seniors. They lost so far in term of skills, there was no way they could stand a chance. And they would not even dare to try since they themselves seemed to have no confidence in themselves.
So for them to actually dare to pull out that quick offense really surprised everyone who was watching them.
'W-We did it!', the four first years thought in surprise themselves. They thought back to the small discussion they did before the match started.
"So... This is yours match, so I will not meddle too much. I am only helping you guys with the first ball.", Kagami started. "I will handle the jump ball and rest assured, I would absolutely get the ball.", Kagami said with so much conviction that the first years subconsciously believed that he would really get it. "When you get the ball just pass to your teammates."
Kagami looked at the tallest one in the team, "Hibiya, you are the tallest here so I will leave it to you to score the first ball."
"The first ball?", Hibiya repeated in uncertainty. "Are you sure we will get the first ball, Sensei?" 'We are facing the seniors here!', he continued in his mind.
"Of course.", Kagami answered without hesitation. "They thought you are afraid of them so none of them would expect any of you to take on offense."
"But Sensei...", Goro mumbled. 'What they think is not wrong.'
Kagami smiled at Goro warmly, ruffling his hair, "Don't think of anything. The three of you, just pass the ball once you get it and as for Hibiya, score once you get the ball."
"Are you sure it's going to work, Sensei?", Kenma asked, hesitant.
"Whether it works or not, it's up to you guys.", Kagami grinned. "But if you ask my opinion alone, I think you guys can do it."
'W-We did it!', the four of them looked back at the same time to where their teacher was standing under their ring, pointing his thumb up.
"Good job, everyone! Now we have got the lead!", Kagami said the last sentence in purpose for Atsuma's team to hear.
"Only two points, they just caught us off guard. I will get it back for us! Taro! Give me the ball!", Seiki shouted toward his teammates, waving his hand.
Taro passed the ball to Seiki and moved forward to the other team's ring.
"Uh?", Taro looked backward and saw none of the first years moved back to defense, they were all staying behind the mid-court line.
'Are they crazy?! Don't tell me-!', Taro looked forward. 'They are letting Sensei defense alone!'
Yamada and the first years thought back to the rest of their discussion.
"After you score the first ball, I will leave the rest to you guys.", Kagami said. "You have to utilize what you guys have, know your own weakness and strength, work with each other and try to break through their defense."
"I know you might think it's hard.", Kagami added after he saw their expression. "So to ease your mind, you can leave the defense to me. You guys only need to focus on how to score, okay?"
"A-Are you sure, Sensei?", Yamada asked. "Just you alone to defense against Senpai-tachi?"
Kagami chuckled, "Why do you think I applied the rule of scoring with lay-up and dunk only?", Kagami ruffled Yamada's hair. "I am not invisible but if it's under the ring, I could try to hold them back."
"But even so...", Kenma murmured. "It will not be easy for us to score."
"Yes, it is not easy.", Kagami nodded. "That's why you must think, work together.", Kagami smiled at his students. "The key point here is to not stop trying. Don't be hasty though.", Kagami pointed to his own head. "Keep this cool."
"Remember this. The purpose of these practice matches I arranged is for all of you to practice."
"I don't ask you guys to win this practice match, I only want you guys to learn something from this and improve yourself. That's all."
"Don't think of beating your senpais. The one you have to overcome is your own self."
" And don't be afraid to try because I will be watching yours back."
Sure, there was still some anxiety and hesitation in their eyes but determination was starting to show in their eyes now that their goal was clear.
'Senpai-tachi are stronger and more experienced, it's too early for us to hope for winning against them.', Yamada thought.
'But we can start it step by step.', Kenma thought.
'Start from one ball, two ball, we would get in as many balls as we could.', Hibiya thought.
'If the first doesn't go in, we will go for the second, third.', Goro thought.
"Just wait for my ball.", Kagami said with a smirk. "I will definitely pass you the ball."
"Hah. Don't you think you are too conceited, Sensei?", Seiki laughed while dribbling the ball lightly. "No matter how good you are, you can't possibly defense against five persons at the same time."
Kagami smirked and lowered his waist a bit, spreading his arms to the side, his ruby eyes never leaving his prey. "Try me."
Seiki tensed and unconsciously took a step back. 'Woah. Why did I suddenly tense up?'
"Seiki, pass the ball here!", Dante shouted impatiently.
Seiki passed him the ball, Dante wasted no time and ran forward, directly went for a lay-up.
"Not so easy.", Kagami jumped and tapped the ball lightly to slightly change its course, when his feet touched the ground again, he jumped up again to snatch the ball.
Kagami dribbled the ball lightly, getting pass Dante easily to find a free spot and threw the ball high up, "Kenma!"
"Tsk.", Atsuma and the other third years immediately ran back but it was already too late.
B team 4 - A team 0
Kagami chuckled to the seniors, "I suggest you guys leave someone to guard your ring."
Dante narrowed his eyes, "Then maybe we should learn from you, Sensei."
A team let Atsuma alone guarding their ring after that.
"So arrogant.", Kagami chuckled, "You have underestimated your juniors' capabilities."
"As do you, Sensei.", Dante answered without missing a beat, catching the ball that Taro passed and passed it to Matsushi who passed it back to Taro. They were passing the ball in and out to diverse Kagami's attention.
"I don't underestimate you guys though.", Kagami smiled. "But the main stars here are you guys, I am only filling up the number here.", Kagami winked at Dante then ran past Dante to intercept another pass from Taro, earning shouts from Taro and Seiki.
Kagami laughed and threw the ball to Yamada, he then turned to regard the seniors with a smirk, "Come on, step up your games, boys!"
"Heh, you are on, Sensei!", Seiki shouted full of spirit. Dante narrowed his eyes and hmph-ed.
Meanwhile...
"Yes, I am on my way to Teikou High School.", someone was conversing through his phone while driving his black BMW, following the directions that his GPS was showing.
"He knows you are going there?"
"No. He told me to wait at home but he hasn't come back for an hour so I am worried."
There was first a short silence at the other side of the phone.
"He hasn't come back, you said?"
"Yeah, don't worry. I have checked the GPS I put in his phone. He is at school."
"*sigh* I am still worried. I would quickly finish my job over here and fly back to Japan as quick as I can.*chuckle* He won't be happy that we are doting on him so much."
"It is better than him hiding things from us and go and endanger himself."
"We are still not sure whether the rumors we heard are true or not. He did not reply to my messages since two hours ago."
"I have arrived, talk to you later, Juno."
"Oh, okay, I will count on you, Dio."
Dio, the tan-skinned man with light silver hair and a pair of emerald eyes , parked his car outside of the school ground and stepped out, putting on a pair of sunglasses.
"Sorry Sir, who are you and what business do you have here?"
Dio took a business card from his jacket and gave it to the security, "I am looking for Kagami Taiga, he is a teacher here.", he said in perfect Japanese.
"Oh, then please go in, Sir."
"Thank you. Could you give me the direction to the school's basketball gym?"
"Sure."
After getting the direction, Dio thanked the man and walked there. He actually knew the way already but he thought to avoid suspicion, it might be better if he asked for direction himself.
"I got you!", he heard someone shouting from inside the building.
"Ah, his voice.", Dio stepped into the gymnasium and immediately found the one he was looking for. 'He is playing basketball, huh.'
"Hohh, 16-8. I think you guys should change yours strategies.", Kagami kindly suggested though the smirk he had on his face might suggest otherwise.
Atsuma frowned from his position then he made a decision and raised his hand, "Sensei, can we have a time-out?"
"Oh, sure!", Kagami grinned. "Only for… three minutes okay?"
Atsuma nodded then gestured for his teammates to gather up.
"Hey~ You guys, come here too!", Kagami shouted for Yamada and the co to gather too.
"You guys have done well!", Kagami ruffled their head one by one, making some of them blushed in embarrassment.
"W-We are only lucky.", Hibiya said.
Kenma nodded as he looked at Kagami in admiration, "We can only manage it because they are putting their attention on you, Sensei."
"And there's only Atsuma-senpai alone that is guarding us so it's easier for us to score."
Kagami shook his head, "No, you guys are not entirely right."
"Uh? What do you mean, Sensei?", Yamada asked.
"Well, actually if you look at it carefully, aren't we both side in the same condition?", Kagami asked.
"I am guarding against the four of them, Atsuma is also guarding against the four of you. Let's assume that I am better than the four of them combined, but so is Atsuma to you guys.", Kagami explained. "So why do you think that you guys manage to score 16 points while they just managed to score 8 points?", Kagami asked.
"Uhm… Because you are better than Atsuma-senpai?", Kenma guessed.
"Nah.", Kagami waved his hand. "I have been watching from my position, Atsuma has been doing very well. Actually, I dare say that out of the five of them, Atsuma has performed the best so far.", Kagami smirked, glancing at where Atsuma's team were gathering.
"And don't forget that it is not about who is better between me and Atsuma.", Kagami looked back at them and smiled. "No matter who is better, it still doesn't change the fact that Atsuma is actually better than the four of you but the four of you manage to play well against him, so why?"
The four of them looked at each other in silence, "Are you meaning to say that the problem lay in their offense, Sensei?", Yamada asked.
"Yeah, that's right.", Kagami grinned. "It's simple actually, what they lack that you guys have is… teamwork."
"It's like a horde of ant to an elephant, alone, an ant stood no chance but then they worked with each other and beat the elephant.", Kagami gestured with his hands. "But even so, in my opinion, numbers do not always decide the outcome. You would also need planning, a well-executed plan."
"Atsuma has done the right thing to ask for a time-out, he probably realize the problem they are having.", Kagami looked back to Atsuma's team and coincidentally they were also looking his way. "If they really intend to change the flow of this game, they would need to adapt and try to let go of what Teikou has engraved deep into all of you and that is... pride."
Kagami winked at the third years, intentionally annoying them, and looked back to the group of first years, "Not that pride is a bad thing though but people need to adapt. Uhm, are you guys listening?"
"Ah.", the four of them flinched and nodded quickly. "W-We are listening."
"Then why are you looking at me as if I am some kind of alien?", Kagami chuckled in amusement.
The four of them looked at each other then back to Kagami.
"W-We are just surprised, Sensei.", Kenma said.
"What you said actually sounds… quite right.", Hibiya said.
Kagami chuckled, "Don't be surprised. You better prepare yourselves. After this, the seniors are going to up their game for sure. Remember,-", Kagami's words were cut off by Yamada.
"The purpose of this match is to practice and improve ourselves.", Yamada said.
"So even if we fail once, we should just keep trying and trying and trying and trying.", Goro said, "Right, Sensei?"
Kagami blinked in surprise and chuckled, "Yes, and winning-…", he was once again cut by Yamada.
"Winning doesn't matter here.", Yamada said, "Right, Sensei?"
Kagami blinked again and then laughed, lightly hitting Yamada's head, "Actually, I was going to say that if you manage to win against yourself than no matter what the result of the match is, it still counts as a victory nonetheless."
The four of them looked at each other then laughed at the same time, "Sensei, you really sound like a motivator.", Kenma said.
"Ah.", Kagami rubbed his neck in embarrassment then lightly ruffled each their head, "Geez, cheeky brats. Let's enjoy the rest of the match, okay?"
"Yes, Sir!", they all grinned, making Kagami laughed. "That's the spirit."
Kagami turned to Atsuma's team who seemed to finish their discussion. "Okay, time's up. Let's continue the match.", Kagami threw the ball to Atsuma. "Your team's ball.", Kagami smirked.
"Oh?", Kagami was surprised when only Dante, Taro and Seiki went for the offense, leaving Atsuma and Matsushi for defense.
'Ahh~ They finally get it, huh?', Kagami smiled. This was not a competition to see who get to be cooler, you don't have to force yourself to follow whatever cool moves your opponents did. Everyone had their own styles. Kagami defended alone did not mean they had to do the same thing.
Inside, Kagami was smiling but outside, he intentionally let out a provocation, "Are you sure you are only going to attack by three persons?"
"Hm! Your provocation won't work this time, Sensei!", Seiki huffed.
'Ah~ So they also realize that I have been intentionally provoking them since the beginning of the match, huh. Not to all of them though, only Seiki and Dante, their power forward and small forward.', Kagami smirked. "Oh? Then let's see what the three of you can do."
"Don't underestimate us, Sensei!", Taro shouted, dribbling the ball.
Kagami chuckled, "How many times do I need to say that I am not but whatever, come on, time is ticking, boys."
Taro dribbled the ball then for the first time since the match, he went under the basket by himself. He tried to use force to break through Kagami's guard but could not, he kept trying to push Kagami backward and when Kagami was about to take a step back, he realized he could not, he looked behind and saw Dante right behind him.
'Ah, they decided to team up to guard me, huh.', Kagami thought in amusement.
"Seiki!", Taro shouted, throwing the ball high for Seiki to slam into the ring.
"Hah! See that, Sensei?", Seiki proclaimed proudly but he was too happy that he did not watch where he landed and ended up falling onto Taro who could not kept his balance and fell onto Kagami.
Kagami knew Dante was still behind him so he put one hand on the court to hold himself so he did not crush the smaller boy behind him.
"*hiss", Kagami winced slightly when Taro's elbow accidentally jabbed the wound in his abdomen.
"Woah! Sorry, sorry! I did not watch where I land!", Seiki kept bowing down, apologizing.
"Idiot Seiki! Be careful!", Taro scolded him, followed by Atsuma's scold from the other side of the court.
Kagami stood up and lent a hand for Dante to get up, "Are you okay, Dante?"
Dante nodded then Kagami made sure that both Taro and Seiki were also unharmed, "Geez, that's dangerous, Seiki. Next time, be more careful.", Kagami scolded him. "But…", Kagami grinned and patted their heads. "Good job, the three of you."
After that, the match continued. Now with two people working together to defense, it was harder for Yamada and the team to score, they had only managed to score three points since the time-out.
As for Dante's side, they were now scoring more since they had started to cooperate with each other properly. Kagami had break through their two-men defense during their fourth try and after that, the three of them would come at him with another play and keeping on.
Only two minutes left, the score was 19-16, still Yamada's team lead.
Kagami laughed, even though his abdomen hurt whenever he jumped or guard against them closely but he was totally enjoying this.
"Ha!", Kagami managed to slip through and tapped the ball in the air away from its original course. Kagami winced and slipped a bit when he landed but he still try to chase after the ball but it was already taken by Taro who take advantage of Kagami's position outside the inner circle to immediately passed the ball to Dante who immediately dunked it in.
Kagami leaned onto his knees and wiped some of his sweats, 'Shit, my injury is hindering me.'
"Sensei? What are you doing there? It's your team's ball.", Dante asked, picking up the ball.
"Oh, uhm. Yeah.", Kagami straightened up and caught the ball Dante threw with one hand then threw it far to Kenma.
"You tired already, Sensei?", Dante asked but not with a mocking tone, he was looking at Kagami with doubtful eyes, as if he did not believe his teacher would get tired just from these.
Kagami chuckled and confessed, "A bit.", he take a short glance at his watch, 'Just another one minute.'
Near the entrance, Dio was frowning, 'He is injured.', he thought in certainty as he watched Kagami.
He had known the red-haired since he was a kid so he knew it when the boy was hurt and tried to hide it. And looking at him now, it reminded him of that match the red-haired had during his senior-high school.
'Is it his old injury?', Dio looked down to Kagami's knee. 'He seems to be jumping less, reacting slower...'
Then Dio saw the quick glance that Kagami threw to his abdomen before he looked up again, 'Abdomen?'
Dio's expression darkened and he walked toward the court right on the time when Kagami blew the whistle and announced the match ended.
23-21, the team Kagami was in lost and the other team that won was celebrating their little victory with lots of high-five, one of them being exceptionally excited.
Kagami was standing alone at the other side, having his back to the eyes of the rest of them.
"Young master.", Dio called in a quiet voice since he knew the red-haired would not like to be heard by the others.
Kagami flinched visibly and immediately turned around in surprise, "Dio!", aside from being surprised, he was still happy to see him and he showed it by hugging the man with one arm, "Long time no see!", Kagami had not met him for half a year already.
Dio wasted no time for chit chat and went and touched Kagami's abdomen, making Kagami winced and let go. "It's a bandage, right? You are injured.", it's a statement, not a question.
"Oh, that, uhm...", Kagami noticed that his students were looking their way. "Can we talk later? They are waiting for me."
Dio frowned, "Five minutes. More than that, I am dragging you out of here whether you like it or not."
Kagami chuckled nervously, "Give me ten!", he jogged away before waiting for the other's reply.
Kagami jogged to where Yamada's team and Atsuma's team were lining up and announced the result of the match, "23-21! A team's victory! Well played, you guys!"
"Thanks for the match!", both sides bowed and yelled out at the same time, then they shook hands with each other.
"You have advantage with your height. Make good use of it.", Atsuma told Hibiya.
Hibiya's eyes widened and he stuttered out, "T-Thank you so much, Senpai!"
"You are not that bad, good job!", Taro suddenly went and hit Yamada's back lightly, surprising the younger boy.
Yamada blinked, "U-Uh? T-Thank you, Senpai!", Yamada bowed to his senior.
"Sensei.", Dante called.
"Yes?"
Dante narrowed his eyes, "Next time when you have the time, please play one on one with me, Sensei.", he said with determined eyes.
Kagami blinked and chuckled, ruffling Dante's brownish hair. "No promises but we will see."
"Sen-!", Dante was about to argue but Kagami went on and blew his whistle. "Line up, everyone!", everyone from second string got up directly and lined up properly.
"First of all, all of you have done well today. Give applause to yourselves.", Kagami started clapping his hands.
The second strings looked at each other in confusion before they followed their teacher and clapped.
"Okay, so we will end today's practices here. Since it's already late, we would save the reviews about the practice today on Monday."
Some of them were relieved to hear that but they groaned when Kagami continued saying, "I will give you homework to do during your weekend."
"Seriously, Sensei?", Seiki had this are-you-serious look on his face.
"I don't know that we also got homework for playing basketball.", Fukiya complained.
Kagami chuckled, "My roof, my rule.", making more of them groaning and Kagami chuckled more.
It also amused some of the miracles there.
"So I want you guys to think of what you have learnt from today's practice, from the beginning right to the end of the practice, review on it and write it down on a piece of paper. I will collect it on Monday."
"And what if we do not complete it, Sensei?", Fukiya asked, already making plan to skip on it.
Kagami blinked and then showed them an innocent smile, "Oh, you would not want to find out.", Kagami made it a point to look at them one by one.
"Okay.", Kagami clapped his hands once. "You can tidy up the court then go home. As for Atsuma and Yamada's team, please don't forget to stretch.", he received a nod from Atsuma and Yamada. "Okay, dismiss."
"Thank you, Sir!", Atsuma shouted then bowed his upper body.
"Thank you, Sir!", all of the other second strings followed after him.
"Yeah, yeah.", Kagami laughed, "Thank you too, you guys. I have fun today, see you on Monday, okay?"
Kagami turned and saw the kisekis still there. "Oh? You guys haven't left?"
"Thank you for your hard work, Kagami-sensei.", Kuroko said politely.
Kagami ruffled Kuroko's light blue hair in response.
"Sensei~ You played very well-ssu! Let's play with me now! I am going to win this time!", Kise shouted loudly, reaching Dante's ears.
'I am going to win this time? Does that mean Sensei has played with him before and win?', Dante thought.
Kagami felt a stare and looked behind to see Dante staring at him with something akin to a glare.
'Oops. I sense another Aomine coming.', Kagami sweat-dropped.
"Hello~? Kagamicchi-sensei, did you hear me?", Kise pouted.
Kagami turned his attention to Kise and shook his head, "I can't, Kise.", he gestured to Dio who was waiting for him at the entrance, clearly looking not happy, "Someone is waiting for me."
"Who is that, Sensei?", Kise asked. "He looks kind of... angry."
"He is my relatives and well, he is angry at me. Haha.", Kagami laughed and patted Kise's head lightly, "Sorry, Kise. You want to ask me to go to Maji Burger, right? I can't today."
"Then what about tomorrow, Sensei?"
Kagami blinked and chuckled, "You look so eager for someone who lost his bet."
Aomine grunted from behind, "He is an idiot.", earning a scold from Momoi.
"So, Sensei?", Kise asked again, not letting Kagami go.
"I don't know yet.", he saw Kise deflated, obviously disappointed so he took out his phone,"Give me your number, I will call you if I can."
Kise practically beamed in happiness and took out his phone, exchanging numbers with Kagami.
"Hello, Sensei! . It's me, your handsomest student ! ;D" - Kise Ryouta
"Got it." - Kagami Taiga
"Okay, then see you guys on Monday!", Kagami waved his hand shortly.
"Bye-bye, Sensei~!", Kise waved his hands around.
"Good bye, Sensei.", while as Kuroko was more quiet.
Kise looked at the contact now saved in his phone under the name 'Kagamicchi-sensei' and grinned.
"Sensei is amazing, right?", Kise asked the kisekis as they walked out from the gym.
"I don't understand.", Murasakibara suddenly said. "Kise-chin has been saying that a lot but I see there's nothing special.", the giant shrugged. "If it's me, I would not have let them have the chance to score at all. Besides they lost in the end."
"That's because it has never been Sensei's intention for them to win the match, Atsushi.", Akashi said.
Momoi hummed, putting both hands behind her back as she looked up to the sky, "If B team had won with the help of Sensei, it would not have changed anything. Everyone, even the players from B team itself, would probably think they only win because Sensei is there."
"But if B team lost even when Sensei was in their team, first, it would further prove that the stronger ones always get to win. Second, the morals of B team's players would probably get lower. Third, Sensei would lose their respect.", Momoi inspected one by one.
Akashi nodded. "But B team lost, yet none of what should have happened happen. Why so?", Akashi asked.
They were all quiet and so Akashi offered an answer for them, "All of that just because of Sensei's one simple move.", Akashi could not deny it, what his teacher done in the practice, whether it was intentional or not, had truly amazed him.
"Sensei knows that if the freshmen win with his help then nothing would change, that's why he position himself on the defense.", Akashi continued.
"In people's eyes, Sensei might be simply wanting to share the freshmen's burden by helping them on their defense and left them for offense, helping them by diverting Senpai's attention. But I believe behind that seemingly simple move, there were a lot of motives hidden in it.", Akashi smiled as his respect for the red-haired teacher grew for a little bit more.
"First, to the B team, by holding their fort for them, Sensei was giving them the assurance and courage for them to try anything they want. If your opponent don't score, you won't lose. But if you only defend and not taking any scores yourself, you also will not win. Sensei probably want them to realize that point by themselves."
"To achieve victory by their own hands.", Midorima murmured.
"Exactly.", Akashi nodded. "Second, he want everyone to watch their efforts and the fruit that come with it so whether they lose or win, people would not overlook it."
Momoi hummed and nodded, "I saw Senpai talking to the freshmen after the match, it seems like they were encouraging them."
"Yes.", Akashi smiled, "Sensei probably realized that the seniors were not taking the freshmen seriously so he set up the condition as to raise their fighting spirit and get them to actually see their juniors as their opponent." 'And everything play out as Sensei intend it to be.'
Momoi nodded again, "Sensei set the standard as to not too hard for the seniors but not too easy so the seniors would feel challenged."
"And Atsushi...", Akashi glanced at the giant, "I do think that Sensei could have shut them off completely, if he had wanted to."
Murasakibara was silently taking it in, he knew that Akashi was never wrong so he was probably right about it. 'Sensei is that good?', he wondered.
"But...", Kuroko suddenly spoke up, "I think there is one other thing, a very important thing, that Kagami-sensei want to show to everyone, not just to those who were playing in the court but also to everyone watching it."
"It's probably Kagami-sensei's real intention.", Kuroko whispered as he took a glance at the silent Aomine who had his eyes furrowed more than usual and he knew his light had noticed it too.
The other kisekis and Momoi all looked at Kuroko in silence, none of them asked him to explain what he meant. Each of them actually had the feeling that they knew what it was that their shadow was talking about but none of them made a move to acknowledge it, all except a certain blonde.
Kise sent a knowing smile to Kuroko and chuckled, "It's actually simple, right?", he asked.
At first, that match should have been one that ended with the freshmen being crushed completely by the seniors, no one had doubted the obvious results of the match. And yet, out of their expectation, the supposedly to be devastating match had turned out to be... interesting. They could not guess who was going to win until the last second. And unknown to them watching, they were unconsciously getting dragged into the pace of the match, some of them were even cheering for them, Kise had seen. By the end of the match, they seemed to disregard the fact who had won and who had lost.
Actually, Kise had been secretly putting some attention to the second string during the practice today, well mostly at the red-haired teacher, but still, Kise was watching them and he had noticed that there was something different with the second string.
They did not suddenly become super good, no, they did not. They also did not suddenly become close with each other, no. What they did was not that different from what the first string was doing, or Kise thought so at first until he knew that Kagami had applied some restriction for them to follow on their practice matches.
So Kise had been thinking to himself what exactly that himself think was different from them?
And Kise had found his answer when he was looking at them having their last match.
It was the atmosphere around them.
Everyone probably knew that second string meant you were just back-up and with them, the Generation of Miracles, in the first string, the second string most likely won't have any chance to play in actual match. It was a fact that all second string had acknowledged so whenever they were having practice, almost none of them was actually taking it with much enthusiasm.
But today, Kise noticed that the dull atmosphere around the second string had somehow become livelier, and it was probably because of the red-haired teacher leading them.
Kise thought back again to the one-on-one that he had with that certain red-haired teacher, he knew exactly what the red-haired teacher intended to tell everyone through that match.
"Kagamicchi-sensei just want everyone to enjoy the match." he said with a small smile as his respect for the man grew up even more. "Right?", Kise and Kuroko shared a look and both nodded in agreement.
-To be continued-
Thanks for reading :)