You have no idea how happy I am to know how much my readers appreciate original scene I wrote! So I am going to stay on track LOL
I want to write something original for match against Papa but Nah... it's not that interesting so I just write simple stuff that's only a bit different but the next chapter would be completely original! XD
WARNING: UNBETAED! SO GO AWAY fOR NOW GRAMMAR NAZI!
update 15-10-12 fixing typo
Tenth Quarter: You're pissing off the wrong kid.
"This is the JAPANESE LUNCH TIME RUSH!" Was Kagami's epic reaction from being shoved out of the crowd which he likened to getting in to a crowded train in a rush hour. Kagami's middle school and high school was pretty close from his apartment thus he never experienced the worst of rush hour in Japan, he had heard the rumors though.
"If you're quite done with your culture shock Kagami-kun." Kuroko muttered as leaning against the wall across the cafeteria, "Get on with it, it's been twenty minutes and none of you get the sandwich yet... we only have half an hour left of lunch break."
Kagami and the freshmen trio turned to their instructor, then gaped at the sight of neatly wrapped sandwich and a carton of milk on his hand. "When did you get that?!" Kagami asked in disbelief then corrected his question, "On second thought who cares, how did you get your hands on that?!"
Kuroko unwrapped the sandwich, "Well... I let myself carried by the stream of the crowd, ended up in the front, took a sandwich and left the money." The phantom player listed on how he bought the sandwich step by step.
They stared at him in disbelief, as expected of the sixth phantom player of the Generation of Miracles!ōHe took a bite of the sandwich. "It's delicious..."
The freshmen gaped, "This is the first time we see you so happy!" Was the sandwich that awesome?!
Kuroko took a sip of the vanilla flavored milk, "By the way... I am not going to help you guys to buy it."
"Damn it!" Kagami cursed his luck then looked at the crowd, wondering if he could get carried by the stream like Kuroko before quickly forgetting the idea. That was too bizarre to hope a 190cms tall guy like him to get carried by crown like 170cm guy like Kuroko, not to mention the latter was extremely light. According to their coach Kuroko's weight barely scratch ideal weight, and he ate like a rabbit.
"UWOOOOO!" The freshmen trio once again was thrown out of the crowd to the air dramatically.
It seemed they need more training on their stance and footing, Kuroko thought coach's idea to incorporate judo stance on their defense would be good. It would be harder to push them, Kiyoshi himself also did the same with lowering his hips so he could lower his center of gravity. This kind of method won't work for Kuroko though, to his eternal shame he was just not suitable for this kind of technique.
"I will buy that sandwich even if it kills me!" Kagami vowed.
"Do your best." Kuroko said as he took another blissful bite of the heavenly sandwich.
Kagami frowned at the list of training Izuki handed his schedule of training for the day, Kuroko was nowhere in sight was unsurprising but if Izuki handed him a list meant the invisible boy was really not around. He raised an eyebrow at the Point Guard, silently asking the whereabouts of the phantom player.
Izuki shrugged, "His off day, and to make sure he is not doing any training today coach bring him along for scouting our first opponent's practice match. Shinkyō Academy is having a practice match nearby..."
Kagami sweat-dropped at that, "If I didn't know I would think you guys are going overboard, but that Kuroko really overwork himself as much as he could... " Last week Kagami caught Kuroko practicing his dribbling in the middle of the night in his off day, and by the next day the phantom player was scolded by their seniors as if he had just committed a horrible crime. It was a little after that Kagami found out how crazy Kuroko's practice schedule was, even normal player would keel over with that menu but to Kuroko his weak body was more reason to train harder.
"True... and to tell you the truth overseeing you guys also taking a toll on him instead of giving him more time relaxing to teach." Izuki sighed as he combed through his silky hair with his fingers, "I never thought he'll make the lost time up with joining you, never mind his extra practice he did until he dropped dead." Kuroko was found more often than not sleeping in the middle of the court than on bed until he was reprimanded harshly for worrying the nice elderly couple he stayed with.
"He is such a troublesome guy sometimes..."Kagami mumbled. "But he is reliable..." Like his surrogate brother, who always know how to smooth things out to terrifying degree.
Shinkyō Academy
Icy blue eyes watched every movement of players on the court, eyes that used to watch fast moving player like his former teammates felt like watching a slow motion movie. They were not bad players, average at best and nothing special. His eyes trailed after the fastest player on the team, one with tanned skin and obvious foreigner feature. He was by far the tallest player, thick lips, rough nose and long face. Papa Mbaye Shiki, the exchange student from Senegal.
"Papa Mbaye Shiki. Two meters tall. Weigh, 87 kilograms. He's a foreign student from Senegal." Riko read out the notes she wrote down beforehand, "How typical of player who relies on height... " The teenage coach rolled her eyes, "If we pit Mitobe-kun who is a pressure defense specialist against him, it would be no problem..." She shook her head, "Hum... but in term of power we should use a powerhouse like Kagami-kun, but will that guy be ready by the first round on preliminaries?" She wondered out loud.
Kuroko leaned against the wall as the buzzer rang through the court, signaling the end of the match. "We will make him ready."
Riko grinned at that, "Of course! Do you mind to have Mitobe-kun take Kagami-kun off of your hand for a while?"
"I don't mind... Kagami-kun is bored of my training for sure, he needs some fresh air." Kuroko muttered, eyes never left the lining up players.
Riko flipped open her phone and snap a picture when Papa Mbaye Shiki drowsily turned to their direction, blissfully unaware someone had taken a picture of him. "Hm... he would be bored even more with Mitobe-kun."
"Exactly." Kuroko replied coolly.
Riko scoffed, "Sadist."
"I learned from the best." Was his smooth reply.
Rakuzan High School
One of The three uncrowned generals of Rakuzan, Reo Mibuchi walked to approach their newly crowned captain. Who was folding his arms on his chest as watching the first string players doing stretching. "Sei-chan, about the training for second string. Shouldn't you cut them some slack? At this rate they're going to keel over before their next practice match. I hope we can let them have a light training before their big day, what do you think?"
Hayama Kotaro nodded in agreement, "Reo-nee is right, we don't want them to die before the match!" He laughed out loud while Eikichi Nebuya grumbled something about the lower strings should eat more meat.
The room fell silent as they awaited his response. Akashi unfolded his arms and opened his mouth, but instead of giving an answer he promptly sneezed behind one hand. He sniffed, one crimson eyebrow raised in mild surprise.
Mibuchi Reo froze on the spot, the other uncrowned generals were equally astounded. Akashi Seijūrō had sneezed. It was an event unheard of, a rare display of public weakness in the eyes of many, and something equally miraculous as Generation of Miracles themselves. But now they were at a loss. This was Akashi Seijūrō they were talking about, the feared captain of the Generation of Miracles. Should they bless him with a timid 'odaiji ni,' or let the sneeze pass unnoticed?
"..."
"..."
Akashi however managed to sneeze in dignified fashion, and fished out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face elegantly as if he just finished eating a luxurious meal. "I guess I will take your suggestion to consideration Reo."
Reo nodded numbly, "Thank you." He didn't know since when he was holding his breath nor why he felt relieved Akashi was not as concerned as they were about his sneeze. He wondered who was talking about Sei-chan that the red head sneezed like that.
Seirin High School
"The Preliminaries of Inter High start as a tournament." Hyūga explained to the freshmen as Izuki handed a copy of tournament list of each block to the rest of their team. It was a very long list of schools and just by looking the freshmen trio could feel their guts shrunk. "If we lose, we're out. We can't let our guard down for even a single game." He stated the main point to emphasize that losing was not an option.
Kagami stared at his list, somewhere on the back on his mind regretting for not asking which school the Generation of Miracles went to Kuroko. He squinted his eyes, glaring at the list as if if he glared hard enough the name of school they went would jump and scream at him. The freshmen trio inched away from Kagami, since it seemed his red eyes would set anything it glares at on fire. "Kagami is already on fire." Koganei couldn't help but commented, everyone at this point inched away since they could feel heat coming from Kagami already.
"Tokyo has blocks A through D." Hyūga continued, ignoring his team that trying to get away from Kagami who was on fire. Kagami turned to pay attention to his captain raptly, "The winner of each block goes to the championship league. The top three winners from the championship league participate in the Inter High. Only three schools are chosen out of 300 participating schools. Only the chosen 1% will stand on the court of their dreams. That's the Inter High."
"I sort of get the picture," Kagami said with determined voice "But they're not chosen. They win it, sir." He added.
The seniors of Seirin smiled at this, they couldn't be more than agree with Kagami. "Well said." Izuki praised the red head, "They win the chance to stand on the court." As one all attention turned to Kagami and Izuki.
Hyūga snorted at the PG who took the spotlight off of him, "We got three weeks until the Inter High preliminaries." Hyūga drew attention back to him. "As you know we lost in Championship League, just one step from Inter High... Of course we'll be facing a lot of strong schools, but our biggest hurdle is going to be the Shūtoku High." Kagami raised an eyebrow when he saw some spark on their seniors' eyes.
"Last year, they were in the nation's top eight. On top of that... " Hyūga trailed off, his eyes landed on Kagami who blinked owlishly. "Just like Kaijō, this year... " Hyūga could tell that fiery eyes were waiting for him to finish the information the red head was waiting for. "They got one of the Generation of Miracles, Midorima Shintarō... the SG of Generation of Miracles known as the number one shooter of the team."
Kagami grinned at that, on his mind he went through the list of the member of the legendary team he knew of. Kuroko Tetsuya, the sixth phantom player, Kise Ryōta, the Copycat player and Midorima Shintarō, the number one shooter. Looking at Kagami who was grinning like a Cheshire cat Seirin team took mental note to smack Kagami if he dared to grin like that in public. "Captain, Kuroko know this Midorima, doesn't he?" Kagami asked curiously.
Hyūga raised an eyebrow, followed by the seniors then the juniors. "He sort of know since they were in the same team for about... three years?" No harm intended but Kagami asking the obvious should be corrected sometimes.
The red head blushed a deep red, "Sorry..."
The captain sighed, "Never mind... by the way, speaking of Kuroko... Coach and him should be back soon."
"We're back." Riko said tiredly as she stepped to the court followed by Kuroko.
"She was skipping when we're going to play against Kaijo, but she's not skipping today." Kawahara commented when he saw Riko walked to them calmly.
"Coach, are you going to... "Furuhata didn't finish his sentence since Koganei was quick enough to save the cute junior from certain trauma when it comes to Riko's temper and official match.
Riko placed her bag on the floor, "Our first opponent is Shinkyō Academy... they're best described as mediocre team in regional level however... " She trailed off, "One of their players might give us trouble. You can watch the video later." She said as she handed her cellphone to Hyūga who flipped open the phone and the rest of the team crowded around their captain to take a peek. "Take a look at this picture."
Mew~ Manly men or not Seirin team proofed weak against fluffy cute animal such as one on the screen, and white brown kitten looking back at them with doe eyes. "I-It's cute, but…" Hyūga stuttered, his manliness partially dying at the sight.
"Sorry, it's the next one." Riko facepalmed, waving her hand as a gesture to get the captain to snap to his senses.
"The next one?" Hyūga and the rest of Seirin changed demeanor at the sight that nowhere as cute as the kitten they saw. On the screen was a tanned boy and just one look they could tell he was an African or any dark skinned race out there, not that their main concern."Who is this?"
"His name's Papa Mbaye Shiki. Two meters tall. Weight, 87 kilograms. He's a foreign student from Senegal." Riko recited the basic information of the exchange student.
The seniors blinked owlishly while the juniors bar Kuroko and Kagami paled when they heard the height of the foreigner that scream trouble for their team. "He's just big." Kagami stated, not really concerned since to him 2 meters was tall but not that amazing to freak him out. There were NBA players much taller than this guy, and Kagami played quite often with African-American descend.
"This Papa Maye… What was it?" Hyūga asked, he could feel his Japanese tongue squirm to pronounce the foreign name.
"Papanpa?" Tsuchida muttered, only catching the first word of the name.
"It's Papa Ganbaruba." Koganei said cheerily, how Mbaye became Ganbaruba was anyone's guess.
Kuroko sighed, "It's Papa Mbaye Shiki... " He pronounced perfectly. Actually the only word that hard to pronounce was the middle name, and the weird combination of name was hard for Japanese to memorize or the seniors just acting stupid.
"Parpa Buy E?" Koganei tried again.
Kuroko was about to tell them that there was no need to pronounce the full name correctly and just settle on calling this Guy Papa or Shiki which should be easy enough for them to pronounce but Riko beat him to it. "Think of a nickname so we can get this over with... they're in joking mood."
Kuroko sighed then used the easiest and simplest solution, "How about Tou-san then." He said in an almost serious tone.
"What kind of naming sense is that?" Koganei sounded like he was protesting but his face said he agreed wholeheartedly for the hilarity.
Izuki felt a struck of inspiration and quickly wrote it down, "Tou-san no kan..."
Riko didn't let him finish, as lame as Izuki's pun could be it bound to make her team to goof longer. "PAY ATTENTION!"As one the team straightened their back like a squad of soldiers that just heard an order from their superior. "He's not just tall. His arms and legs are long too... his wingspan is simply beyond reach of anyone in our team... " She stopped at that and let the implication sink in. "But nothing we can't handle of course, height is an important factor and big advantage in basketball but not everything... there are many ways to deal with height difference... for example Kuroko easily could vanish from players that tall enough that he was not in their line of sight." Riko explained, going all out to boost her team morale. "He is in advantage because he is short!"
"I would appreciate it if you didn't say it in my vicinity, Coach." Kuroko said politely, "And not out loud."
The female coach grinned sheepishly, "Sorry Kuroko-kun, I am carried away..."
Koganei piped in, "Can they even do this? I mean... this guy obviously become exchange student because Inter High is about to begin!"
The brunette rolled her eyes, "More and more schools are inviting students from aboard to increase their power... it's not fair or unfair matter since any school with enough resource could do the same beside..." She trailed off then looked at Kuroko who shrugged, "Generation of Miracles." A title which explained a lot about why so many high schools were desperate for increasing their power. "Can you blame them?"
They shook their head in negative, "No, we can't." They had seen what Kuroko and Kise were capable of and they had heard most school that unable to scout Generation of Miracles was desperate not to win but at least to gain enough power that they wouldn't lose so badly at the very least.
Riko nodded, satisfied her team at last could understand the situation. "And as for the Shinkyō Academy... I peeled them off perfectly but don't let our guard down. Remember... even if our opponents are babies in diapers don't! In this team looking down on your opponent is one of the biggest taboo... don't let victory against Kaijō get in to your head..." Riko glared at the juniors including Kagami, "Your performance in the 'buying sandwich' ritual is barely passable!"
"You made us trying to get through a line consist of sumo players, rugby team, judo club and wrestling team!" Kagami roared, "We almost died trying to buy that wretched sandwich!"
The trio nodded in agreement, "No amount of trai... " They stopped, the 'ning' was already on the tip of their mouth. They could guess what Riko and Kuroko would do if they dared to say they didn't have enough training to buy sandwich.
Riko smiled mischievously, it seemed the freshmen trio was learning how things running in this team. "At any rate speaking of training~ Kagami-kun~" Kagami shuddered, when coach called him like that he knew it meant she was planning something bad for him. "How about changing your instructor for a while?"
May 14th 2012
"Were you talking about me few weeks ago?" Was the first thing Akashi asked the moment he came out from Kyoto train station.
The phantom player raised an eyebrow at the red head, "Why you ask?"
"Nothing." Akashi shrugged, "At any rate... I am glad you fulfilled the end of our bargain."
Kuroko narrowed his eyes, "Coming to visit when you want is hardly something you should include in our agreement, you should just ask me... "
"And then it won't be a priority to you." Akashi replied smoothly as he beckoned the shorter teen to follow him through the crowded pedestrian way.
Kuroko facepalmed, "Akashi-kun... "
Getting stuck in a fancy Japanese restaurant together with Akashi in company of the least favorite cousin was not in his plan to spend his whole day in Kyoto. Kuroko glared at Akashi when the said cousin went outside because of a call from hospital, leaving them alone in the room. "This is not my idea of spending the day in Kyoto."
"Not my idea either Tetsuya... " Akashi hissed. "But I would rather not dealing with him on my own and I probably would commit a murder."
Kuroko sighed at that, "Point... but I am not happy we have to sit through the lecture he kept giving us since we graduated elementary school." He added, "Again."
"What else is new?" Akashi wondered out loud, "Ren is always... " They paused, their ears picked up the sound of footsteps in the corridor.
The man who stepped inside was young, in his late twenties and a very good looking one. His hair was black with reddish sheen with a pair of narrow steel grey eyes that shone in amusement as he sat down before the two teens. "Maa... Tetsuya, Seijūrō did you guys have a good chitchat?"
Someone, anyone... They thought furiously on their mind, make another call so this man would leave them alone! "The good news is... your cousin Kei, the most beloved brother of mine have handle everything in hospital with admirable efficiency so no worries!"
"I am glad to hear that." Akashi lied through his teeth.
"As expected of Kei." Kuroko in the other hand chose another approach.
Ren waved his hand in dismissive gesture, "On the brighter note, you guys are free to leave and have fun in town."
"..."
"... What?"
Ren laughed at bewildered look Akashi had, "Dear cousin, you and Tetsuya are free to leave. I am sure you guys are on the verge of puking in my presence."
There was a reason why Akashi thought this particular cousin of his as dangerous and unpleasant. Ren was shrewd, well mannered and intelligent person. A perfect doctor in every sense but in the same time he was the worst kind of politician in their family. He just like any other well educated member of the family was good in understanding human nature and manipulating those around him, Akashi however disliked one thing about Ren more than anything that set him apart from the rest of the family. Ren had absolutely no tact in pursuing his interest and know well how much in control he was to a point he could flaunt it in front of his enemy.
Kuroko in the other hand while respected Ren to a degree but would like nothing than not crossing way with the older man. He stood up followed by Akashi to leave, silently agreeing that none of them wished to spend more time in company of the older man.
"One thing before you leave... Tetsuya." Kuroko paused before he opened the shoji door. "Ichinose-sensei said we have no worries about your condition." Kuroko tensed at that, "I am glad to hear that... very... " The grey eyed doctor said in a voice that sent chill to their spine. "So tell me, when you guys are going to stop playing around in this basketball game and start to focus your time in a more serious game."
Contrary to Kuroko who froze on his place Akashi snorted, stepped forward so he was between Kuroko and Ren. "That's none of your business, we're doing what we want... we always win."
Ren snorted, "Like I said many times Sei... I don't think you should set shogi and equestrianism aside for basketball."
"Winner has the privilege to choose." Akashi replied, an argument he knew was absolute in the family. "And I win everything... you have no right to interfere. Know your place Ren..." He warned the doctor testily.
The older man sighed then laughed as raised both hand in resignation, "I guess I can't argue with you on that one, it's a losing battle." Much to Akashi's ire the man admitted defeat so willingly that it felt like he won because Ren let him. "But you Tetsuya..."
Kuroko stiffened but didn't back down. "My case is none of your business either Ren. I made my choice and regardless what you and other peoples think... it's beneath me to care... " Kuroko hated the way he talked but this was how it could work, the only way it would.
"You're fine with being the black sheep of the family forever?" Ren asked in amused manner, "Is it beneath you too?"
Kuroko sighed, "I was prepared to face the consequences of decision I made three years ago."
Ren snorted then his eyes narrowed coldly at the teal haired boy, "A foolish decision I should say... for someone like you... a winner who willingly left his throne, no... you crushed that throne before our very eyes..." The older man hissed venomously, "What a mockery of our family you've done Tetsuya... "
"..."
"You're special... you've always been." Ren recited the line Kuroko had been told since he was born, one he was sick of. "Go back to America Tetsuya... go back to Florida." Kuroko could feel something pulling his heart that it felt so suffocating. "At this point you still could right what you've wronged."
That does it! "I have wronged nothing!" The teal haired boy snapped.
Akashi once again stepped forward and placed himself in between, "We're going now, arguing with you is a waste of time Ren. I thought we're done with you for the day? You should go back to Kobe."
Ren snorted at that, "I guess... but it puzzles me."
"What puzzles you is none of my concern." Akashi said coolly.
"That someone who raised with winner mentality like you approve what Tetsuya has done."
Silence... If a pin was dropped at that moment the sound could be heard loud and clear.
Akashi didn't answer instead he opened the shoji door and ushered the speechless Kuroko out and slide the door close with a venomous smile on his face, tugging on Kuroko's hand since the teal haired boy had yet gathered his bearing. On the way out of the restaurant Akashi politely greeted one of the maiko who asked if Kuroko was okay since the boy looked pretty pale. Akashi smiled gentlemanly and assured the maiko that his friend was okay, just a little dizzy and made his exit gracefully even as he dragged the absentminded Kuroko along.
It was only after they made it to the car and told the driver to drive to other nearest restaurant that Akashi started a conversation, which snapped Kuroko back to his sense. "It's an understatement that everyone... including me were disappointed in you." Kuroko stayed still on his seat, his face was perfect mask of calmness. "Back then, you're our pride and you threw everything away as if it was a mere trash... even I who have long lost the sense of victory wouldn't do such thing. I can't... but you... "
"You know I am not going to say sorry... " Kuroko muttered in a voice that barely above whisper, "I don't want to be forgiven... because I've never regretted what I have done."
Akashi sighed at that, "You still so courageous to not mince your word... and to tell you the truth that part of yours is the only thing that never changed."
"..."
"I... respect the old you." Kuroko was still quiet, not even a soft breathing sound escaped his mouth. "I respect the present you, but deep down I can't help but wonder if it's worth it?" Akashi wondered out loud.
Kuroko looked down, "I m not sure either, to me... but I have realize that completely rejecting who I was is a cowardly thing to do and I learn it's also part of me I would never able to discard completely. But I can't and won't go back to who I used to be..." He admitted with determined voice. "That's all."
The rest of the trip was spent in silence.
May 15th 2012
It was a familiar feeling, alone in the court with an opponent who was looking at him in bewilderment, exhaustion and more than anything, fear... in his eyes that's something he was never tired of. How pathetic, so easily dancing to his whim as the game went on. Come on, entertain him a little more, put a fight more...
"I can't do this anymore..." His opponent said in a whimper.
Game over, luckily for his opponent this was just a practice match so they could forfeit... in official match however they would play until they break, there was no escape.
Regardless he won...
"Tetsuya! Great game!"
That's not what he thought, it was just... another victory, how monotone.
"MONSTER!"
Kuroko woke up in cold sweat, his breath was heavy as he combed his fingers through his sweaty locks. The phantom player rose and exited his room, then carefully watch his step so he won't wake the elderly couple he lived with. Kuroko arrived in his destination, turned the light on and entered the bathroom. He turned on the sink and washed his face with cold water. He looked at his reflection in the mirror, his face was wet because of water and his hair was damp. It was the least of his concern as he carefully examined his eyes, teal blue eyes that wide open in anxiety. He touched the mirror, relieved to see he was still Kuroko Tetsuya he knew for the last three years.
"I am still me... "He felt stupidly thankful for that one fact. He was not that monster any longer...
May 16th 2012
In the end he couldn't sleep well and he could feel how sluggish he walked, Coach had told him they may need him later as a starting member but at this rate he was not going to perform well. Izuki who walked by his side looked at him worriedly, "Are you okay Kuroko? We can get you to start in second half instead and put Koganei in your stead if you're not feeling well."
Kuroko shook his head, "No... a pump of adrenaline in court will wake me up."
Riko sighed at that, "If you say so... but the moment I deem you unfit to play, you're out of the court. Understood?" She asked sternly.
The phantom player nodded, "Yes coach."
The clutch shooter sighed, "By the way... we have another guy didn't sleep well last night." He said as pointed at Kagami whose eyes were red. "He is too excited again."
Riko rolled her eyes, "Someone... get him to stop this habit... "
The gymnasium was medium size, as expected to held a not so important first round. Kuroko recalled back in Teikō they always used their own gym for preliminaries since their school had the largest sport facility in Tokyo. He could imagine his former teammates comparing their current school with Teikō, aside from Rakuzan other schools were pale in comparison of Teikō. Kuroko couldn't help but elated to see familiar setting of staff running all over the place to make sure the gym was fit for use, the first round it might be but the staff in charge of preliminaries had pride to make sure the game progressed smoothly.
The Seirin captain glanced at the Shinkyō team who was in the middle of warming up. "Tou-san doesn't seem to be here." The captain commented when he spotted no one with tanned skin and two meters tall.
Izuki paused from his shooting practice. "Now that you mention it…" He trailed off, looking around even though he knew it was impossible to miss a two meters foreigner.
There was a crashing sound coming from the entrance, followed by a voice groaning in pain. As one all attention was drawn to the entrance of a gym, Papa Mbaye Shiki had just banged his forehead against the door frame which made Seirin team wonder how hard the guy banged his head or how stupid he was for not bending down. God knows most of the doors in Japan usually barely tall enough for a guy like him and by now Papa should have learned to bend down. Or he had hit his head too many times before he could learn. Regardless, his height was really attention grabbing, a female staff who walked pass him was startled to see the towering giant stood in his full height after he entered the gym.
"Everything is so short in Japan," He rubbed the back of his head, and Kuroko noted his Japanese had an accent that made it sounded a bit muffled and childish.
LONG! Was what crossed their mind when they saw the dark skinned foreigner, it was not like Papa was just skin and bone but his height made his not so muscled body looked like a pole.
"What are you doing?" Shinkyō's coach yelled at the transfer student then beckoned him to come near, "Hurry up."
"Sorry I'm late!" He said in perfect Japanese, which made people wonder how many times this guy practiced this one line.
"Why is that the only thing that you can speak fluently?" The captain of Shinkyō asked in amused tone to their Center. He flinched when a basketball rolled to his feet and his fellow captain approached him.
"Oh, sorry." Hyūga apologized, picking up the basketball.
Tanimura Yusuke raised an eyebrow at the clutch shooter. "By the way, I heard you guys beat Kaijō. Is that for real?"
The Seirin captain frowned, what a tone this guy used. And of all things he asked that question in an offending way. "It was just a practice game." Hyūga replied stoically, though to Seirin a game was a game regardless it's official or not.
"Kaijō?" Papa echoed.
"One of the school with Generation of Miracles I told you about." Tanimura snickered at that, "I guess the Generation of Miracles isn't as strong as we thought." The Shinkyō captain said to Papa who walked pass them.
Hyūga narrowed his eyes at his fellow captain, Kuroko who had been a bit dazed in the middle of his warm up snapped awake at the comment. Did these guys just underestimated them?
"The Generation of Miracles lost?" Papa echoed again in heavily accented Japanese, "They brought me here to beat the Generation of Miracle. I'm disappointed if they're so weak."
If the Generation of Miracle are so weak then what are you? Hyūga and the rest of Seirin thought furiously, who they think they are?! Looking down at their opponent so blatantly just because they had a gigantic exchange student! Even thought this was a strategic provocation, they had stepped in a very dangerous landmine. Kuroko narrowed his eyes dangerously and Kagami inched away from the phantom player, the aura he emitted just now could kill for sure! The Phantom player however didn't move from his spot, fully content to leave the retaliation to their captain.
Hyūga smirked at the brunette PG before him, making sure to draw full attention from the Shinkyō players. "And I am disappointed that you guys are such a shallow opponent." His clutch mode was on as he intimidated the opponents before him. "I am sorry... while I could be careless of your opinion of Generation of Miracles, I don't think the implication of us as a weak opponent you don't even have to look in the eye is something I could ignore."
"What the... "
They wanted to play provocation tactic? Let them have it! "I recall... " Hyūga drawled, "That last year... you lost in third round of preliminaries while we made it to championship league. And Kaijō was in top 8 of Inter High..." The 'If we and Kaijō are weak then what are you?' never aired but they didn't have to hear it to understand the implication. Tanimura and the rest of Shinkyō team flushed a deep red at the reminder. "And now... just because of an ape you imported from Senegal you think you can look down on us?" The captain said in incredulous voice.
"Ape?!" Papa squeaked.
"An overgrown ape." Izuki piped in.
"YOU!" Tanimura hissed.
Hyūga sighed, "So in conclusion... when you want to provoke someone with boasting, do boast with things you can back up will ya?" The Seirin captain said with a sneer as he waved them followed by the rest of Seirin. On the background Seirin juniors trio gave their captain a thumbs up.
Papa snorted angrily at the retreating form of Seirin, he would have say something in retort but lacking in Japanese vocabulary to express it, ignoring the fuming teammates of his, Papa walked away to change his clothes and happened to bump on the phantom player who had no intention to move away. Papa blinked when he noticed Kuroko stared back at him with blank blue eyes.
"No, little boy. Children shouldn't be on the court," Papa said then picked up the phantom player as if he was as light as a stuffed toy. It didn't take long for the Senegalese to notice the kid he picked up was wearing the same shirt Seirin's players were wearing. "You're a player?" He asked in disbelief mixed with disdain.
Kuroko stayed still as Papa put him down, "They lost to a team with a kid?" Papa huffed, "Are all Generation of Miracles children?"
"Ha ha maybe!" Tanimura chimed in, he snickered at Seirin as if he just had an upper hand again.
Seirin would have laughed if they dared but none of them uttered a word as the sound of crackling knuckles echoed through the gym, OH SHIT! The Shinkyō team turned around, startled when they felt the temperature suddenly dropped a few degrees and Seirin froze on their spot. Kuroko marched to Riko who had been silence since the start of the whole ordeal, content in watching her team dealing with half-assed provocation campaign Shinkyō tried on them. "Coach... change of plan."
Riko whistled, "Your eyes are bloodshot Kuroko-kun." The female coach pointed out.
The Shikyō team wondered why suddenly Seirin gave them such a pitiful look. Oi, was that Seirin Captain praying for them?
Riko was once again in a very bad mood that they were once again underestimated, her team could only listen to her coaching and hoped they wouldn't be the one who receive the end of her nasty temper. "So basically our plan is...slowly waiting for our prey in trap we've prepared, then... like a sneaky ant lion larvae watching helpless ant falling deeper and deeper to its funnel and then finish them in one swift move... " Riko informed her team with evil grin.
Kagami blinked, "Sorry, but what's antlion larvae?" The resident bookdumb of Seirin asked.
"Doodle bug." Kuroko supplied helpfully.
"That I know." Kagami scoffed, "Why didn't use a more commonly used name."
"Because Doodle bug sounds lame... and I don't want to compare ourselves with something named as lame as doodle bug." Riko said with a huff. "Forget the parable! Kagami-kun!" Kagami gulped, hoping he was not going to receive the end of Riko's temper. "Make sure to torment that imported overgrown ape thoroughly... " She hissed venomously, "Shinkyō will regret provoking us, underestimating us like that... " She let loose a feral growl, underestimated by Kaijō was one thing, they had reputation to back it up and they were respectful too, but Shinkyō had none. NONE whatsoever!
Riko took a deep breath, taking reign of her temper. "At any rate... this team undoubtedly going to focus on Tou-san, that's much is obvious... ." She snorted, "Pathetically so... "
The team nodded in agreement, they had watched the video and while reliance on their new ace was predicted it was almost pathetic the other Shinkyō's players only doing assist for Papa. "Yeah..." Koganei hummed in agreement.
"At first I am thinking to double team Tou-san with Kagami-kun and Mitobe-kun but... " Riko trailed off, "That kind of predictable tactic is bound to tire them needlessly and not effective so Kagami-kun... he is all yours. "
The red haired teen grinned, "Got it."
Riko returned the grin with a cattish grin then turned to Kuroko who sat on the bench beside Kagami. "SO... What do you think? Kuroko-kun?"
Seirin team turned their attention to Kuroko and fell silent as they awaited his response, "It's the best course of action we can take for the time being... but I think we can improvise a bit... " A gleam on Kuroko's teal eyes sent shiver to their spine, it's official the phantom player was pissed Papa dared to insult his friends.
Kagami couldn't help bit commented, "You don't like to lose, do you?" Kagami grinned at raised eyebrow Kuroko had in response, "I guess we should show him how dangerous it is to piss of a kid."
Kuroko was ticked by the last part, "If you repeat that 'kid' comment again I will pull you out from starter line." He said coolly. The rest of Seirin team sweat-dropped, Kagami was so brave or stupid to poke on Kuroko when he was pissed.
The red head grimaced, "That's an abuse of authority!"
Riko snorted, "Whatever... but you agreeing with that ape is the last thing we need!"
"Sorry!"
As expected in the tip off Kagami lost in height, even though he had been told of this Kagami couldn't help but annoyed Kuroko was spot on again. Kagami groaned when he saw Kuroko eyeing him from the bench, he was not going to lose his temper just because of messy lose over a tip off, damn it! Kuroko was benched because they planned to completely dominate the match in second half by full power and for that they at least had to end the first half with ten point difference. While their team put on a tight defense Papa could easily overcome it with height alone, none of Seirin team was really concerned about the first blood Shinkyō had drawn.
The trap had been set.
Izuki caught the ball then turned around, "Don't mind it! Take it back!" He passed the ball to Hyūga who caught it with ease.
"Here it goes!" The clutch shooter shot a three pointer, grinning inwardly when he could tell it would score. His eyes widened by a fraction when Papa jumped and caught the ball with his long arm. Hyūga narrowed his eyes, so at that height it's not going to work. He smirked when he saw Kagami was already hot on Papa's tail, the Senegalese was going to have a fun time with Kagami.
"Huuuu" Takao wheezed as he collapsed against the fence that separated spectators area and court. "We made it in time."
Midorima crossed his arms, "Of course, according to Oha-Asa everything I was planning for today would be on time." The green haired shooter said as he adjusted his glasses.
The hawk-eyed player rolled his eyes, "Shin-chan... would it kill you if you give me credit once in a while for pedaling you all the way from our school?" He wondered out loud.
Tanimura was expecting someone from Seirin to complain like any opponents they faced before, how it was unfair to have a foreigner in team and all that pathetic crap. However none of Seirin players in court and bench had any iota of concern of the disadvantage, in fact they were murmuring discussion among themselves calmly as if the game was progressing smoothly on their favor. One of the players, the kid Papa picked up was a little creepy though especially since those icy eyes were sending daggers on them for some reason.
At any rate the lack of response was disappointing. He wanted to rile them up so they would make mistake in uncontrolled temper or intimidated, "Seirin-san is a hard-working type huh?"
Hyūga who happened to be near to listen Tanimura raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"
"Are you one of those teams?" Tanimura sneered, "We saw a lot of those... " He sighed tiredly, "Guys who complain how unfair it is to have a foreigner in our team."
Hyūga would have not paying too much attention to Tanimura if not for their strategy that purposely put the game in slow pace, who was he to complain if Tanimura was cooperating? An occupied PG trying to talk down their opponent was not a good move. "I don't hear anyone in my team complaining." He answered simply.
"No need to act tough." Tanimura snorted, "But... what you can complain? We're not breaking any rules... "
"Yeah... " The Seirin captain agreed.
"What's wrong with getting strong player?" Hyūga rolled his eyes inwardly, the guy did a good job pointing the obvious. That was what teams with Generation of Miracles did, world of professional sportsmen ran their politic on that. "It's easy." Hyūga raised an eyebrow at his fellow captain, "All we need to do is pass the ball to him and we couldn't help but score."
Hyūga felt his temper flared a little, this guy was a mockery of a captain and a senpai. If all you want to do is passing ball to that overgrown ape, you might as well sign yourself for early retirement, Hyūga thought. "Okaaaay..." Hyūga droned, "I don't know how easy it is to you to watch that ape score for you but... if that's your policy I expect you won't complain either."
"Huh?"
"We are strong... " Hyūga smirked, "All of us... especially them." Then he added, "We didn't invite them though..."
"Kuroko-kun... "
Kuroko nodded, "His wingspan is really impressive." Although compared to Murasakibara he would still look like a dwarf. That reach was still a trouble and to get pass this kind of player Kuroko could think of two ways on the top of his head, Midorima's way or Aomine's. It was either shot with an arc that out of Papa's reach or move faster than the giant. Well... that's the simplest and fastest way though.
Speaking of his former teammates, Kuroko could imagine how Papa would fare against them. Aomine would be too agile for Papa to even react. Midorima would simply shot countless three pointer that was out of Papa's reach. Kise... he was fast enough to achieve the same result as Aomine against Papa and had good sized pool of technique to deal with Papa. Murasakibara was already winning physically so not much imagination needed, and Akashi...
With these kind of prospects Kuroko had to say Shinkyō had a very poor information network if they were this ignorant to think Papa Mbaye Shiki could match the Generation of Miracles.
"They're having a hard time with that long limbs." Riko said.
"It's just about time... "
Koganei nodded, "Kagami didn't go through that hellish training for nothing."
Riko sighed at that, "He is not happy with the job though."
"I wish he will stop complaining." Kuroko said almost wishfully, but fortunately Kagami always get his job done to the best of his ability regardless he liked it or not.
"He missed, REBOUND!" Hyūga shouted to Mitobe who caught the ball with ease, outmaneuvering the players of Shinkyō
That's... easier than they thought. Seirin was used to surprise as in their plan not going smoothly (to their eternal shame) as they wanted but this was beyond smooth. The game just reached half of first quarter but Shinkyō was already overheating themselves.
The clock was in 5:39 and currently Shinkyō was in lead 8-6 but it was obvious which team was controlling the flow, Tanimura had no delusion to think his team was really in lead. Sure the last three shots went in smoothly but it's been two minutes and Papa didn't manage to score at all. The game continued, but their ace was stuck in a slump as none of his shot went in.
'His accuracy suddenly declined.' Tanimura wheezed as he watched Papa was in the same state if not worst. 'What's going on?'
Kuroko had a small smile on his lips, the training with Mitobe-senpai was paid off. Although... 'This is BORING, it's so FRUSTRATING.' It seemed Kagami didn't have fun at all with this arrangement, it was written all over his face, Kuroko noted. That frustration however comically work on Kagami's favor since he was leaking more pressure because of it.
Kagami was chanting what Riko told him for the whole week, it helped his focus but annoyed him more than anything. Don't let him do what he wants to do. Don't let him go where he wants to go. Force him out of his comfort zone. Pressure him so he can't shoot easily.
Papa tried another shoot to the basket, but it was a forced attempt in Papa's part because he didn't shoot in his best stance. Kuroko sighed, while tall player had advantage in basketball they were more vulnerable against pressure defense. Big body meant they need more room to move thus once they felt restricted and out of their comfort zone they had more trouble than smaller player. It was one weakness most people tend to overlook in basketball. And one more thing was coming...
Kuroko could hear the spectators began chattering among themselves.
"He missed again. He's been missing a lot." A teen said to his companion, loud enough to be heard by players in court.
"He can't make any shots. This foreigner's no big deal."
Most basketball player disliked rude spectators who could only talk without really understood what's going on the court. Kuroko could tell the Shinkyō captain,Tanimura was seething inside because of the spectator's comment. 'Shut your mouth!. There's tons of pressure on court! That number ten could almost block him with those jumps.' He thought furiously, glancing at Kagami who blocked Papa's shot with another leap to the air.
Since the very beginning any sportsmen could feel nervous and pressured in any official match, Kuroko mused. However... in basketball the pressure was probably more intense because of the fast pace. And there's one more rule that put a player in a position like Papa in a serious trouble. It seemed no one in Shinkyō noticed yet, they were too absorbed on trying to get Papa to score.
'The intensity of his focus could kill.' Tanimura shuddered at murderous look Kagami had. 'This is some serious pressure!' Tanimura groaned, looking at the clock in which the first quarter was going to end in one minute. His eyes widened when it glanced to another clock near which read 02 second left. "PAPA!"
Too late, the referee blew his whistle and Papa jumped in fright, almost knocking Kagami who was marking him. "Eh? What?!"
"Twenty four seconds, over time!" The referee called out as if answering the Senegalese's question.
Especially the24 second shot clock that more or less forced the pace of the game to be faster than other sport. As soon as a team gets possession of the ball they have 24 seconds to attempt a shot. If they don't, the ball goes to other team. Thus there was no time for the player to take a break and cope with pressure unless the team was willing to request a Time Out which each team only granted the chance twice.
"Eh?! Already?" Papa scowled angrily.
Shinkyō was in a pinch and if anything their team was already on their limit, the stress of their ace kept missing his shot and a 24 seconds violation on the top of that. At the time like this it would be up to the captain to kept his team together, "Don't let it get to you. He's not blocking you. Just pay attention to the time later..." Tanimura told Papa, trying to get the Senebalese out of his slump to no avail. It seemed the Shinkyō's captain really had no flair in verbal tactics.
Papa was seething, "Easy for captain to say... " He mumbled under his breath.
Kagami's left eye was twitching dangerously even though he did a very good job controlling himself to not snap. He was not happy with the strategy because defense was never his forte but more than anything... 'I want to take this Tou-san down more directly! I'll do it! I WILL!'
Kuroko and Riko winced at the look Kagami had on his face, he was planning something and it was going to end well or blew up on their face kind of face.
"Hey, let me tell you two things," said Kagami with a grin. "First, I'll block one of your shots in this game."
Papa huffed. "There's no way you can do that," He said haughtily. "I will not lose to a team with a kid on it."
Kagami scoffed, "If only you know what kind of kid you're messing with... " A kid who happened to be the vice-captain of the legendary team and really pissed the foreigner looked down on his former and current teammates.
"Second…" The redhead shook his head, "Never mind... you will find out soon."
The game continued on, and they were almost at the end of first quarter. The game to oblivious spectators was in stalemate 14-13 but to everyone in court and certain green haired shooter who watched from afar it was in Seirin's favor. Takao who was watching the game beside Midorima whistled, "Wow... these guys are a regional level team? Not to mention formed just last year."
Midorima nodded, "A decent team though nothing special." A team that heavily based on offense style and teamwork, how typical of Kuroko.
Takao snorted at that, Shinchan the Tsundere had no idea how biased he sounded. Takao had a laughing fit of his life when he put two and two together, the green haired shooter keep saying he and his former vice-captain had a bad compatibility and wished to keep anything to do with the guy (and the rest of his old team) at minimum, hence the lack of talking about his former teammates. But later Takao found out that Midorima and probably the rest of the egocentric geniuses on the team were displeased their vice-captain chose a no name team like Seirin. Takao had a hard time to not burst out laughing as he covered his mouth and a single tear escaped from the corner of his eyes.
"They have a good brain on their side though... " Midorima admitted almost reluctantly, which made Takao pause. "The first quarter is going to end in stalemate, but Shinkyō is almost at their limit while Seirin is still in prime condition. Minimal effort to achieve maximum result..."
Takao grinned, "Nah... Once first quarter ended, Shinkyō is going to try to catch their breath." And that means they could still give Seirin a challenge, the game just started after all.
Midorima narrowed his eyes, "I am afraid catching their breath in two minutes is difficult... and knowing someone in Seirin, even that little breath Shinkyō could catch is going to be squeezed out of them." The buzzer that signaled the end of first quarter rang through the court.
"So... it's a stalemate but... "The coach was about to start a lecture, and Shinkyō team flinched when they saw dark aura he had "Are you even motivated?" All the team members gulped but relieved when their coach turned his attention to Papa. "Especially Papa... On top of the fact you overslept, did you also not sleep enough?"
"I wasn't sleeping!" Papa denied in reflex, "No, wait, I did sleep!"
The coach sighed, "It's a stalemate now but it's obvious you guys are tired while Seirin is just doing a warm up in first quarter."
Tanimura nodded reluctantly, "Yeah... they're stronger than we thought."
The coach snorted, "As long as Papa is playing, we'll win the match with his height. Do it like we practiced. Go." He ordered and the buzzer that signaled the start of second quarter went off.
Shinkyō hurried back off onto the court, Tanimura quickly went to approach Papa. "Damn the coach... He's been getting angry easily lately." Especially after he failed to recruit any of the Generation of Miracle, Teikō even didn't entertain him with a chance to interview any of their prodigy because Shinkyō was below their standard. Papa was called from Senegal mainly to ease their Coach's wounded pride and a chance to beat teams with Generation of Miracle members. "If we lose here, the training starting from tomorrow won't be a soft one, you still want to play matches, right?" If they were defeated in first round and not even able to get to next round their coach would murder them.
"I don't want to train! Matches are good! We'll win!" Papa almost wailed at the thought of heavy drills Coach would punish them with if they lose.
The whistle was blown and the ball went to Shinkyō Gakuen, Seirin of course spur to action when Shinkyō went for a quick attack. Kagami was already near the hoop to block Papa but unexpectedly to Kagami, for once Papa scored a dunk over Kagami even though Kagami was on the way. "Ooh! Nice shot!" One of the players said.
Hyūga scoffed. 'He jumped higher than before, it seemed cornered by Kagami make Tou-san show his true color...' Unfortunately to Papa he was not the only one who was starting to show his true color.
"I'm serious now! I won't lose!" Papa gritted his teeth at Kagami.
The red head of course was elated at that, "Ha! Yeah, it's not fun if you don't raise the tension, so bring it on Tou-san!" He challenged back.
The game continued on and the score was stopped at 22-24 in Seirin's favor. Hyūga and Izuki narrowed their eyes, Shinkyō was attacking quite furiously at this quarter and they couldn't afford Shinkyō to overpower them now. They need a slight upper hand in this quarter. And for that they need..."Hyūga!" Izuki shouted as he passed the ball to the Seirin Captain.
"Yosh!" Hyūga caught the ball and was about to shoot when he saw Papa was already on the way of his shot, too bad Papa was going in a bad timing and while he was no Kiyoshi he could still switch from shooting to passing.
Papa and the rest of his team was surprised when Hyūga suddenly shot the ball in a wrong direction, the hoop was right in front of him but Hyūga shot the ball slightly to the left. They thought the ball was free since no Seirin members was in the left side of their territory, a big mistake when Kuroko out of nowhere appeared and tapped the ball back to Hyūga. Shinkyō who was fooled had no time to put back their defense in time and created a perfect defenseless hoop for the clutch shooter to shot.
"Nice Shot!" The score now was 22-27.
This of course set Shinkyō on edge because Seirin started to widen the gap, Papa as the ace went to a more aggressive attack only for Kagami at last successfully blocked his shot with a jump that managed to reach the two meters Senegalese. It repeated several times and until the second quarter ended with 32-24 in Seirin's favor.
Papa glowered at Kagami who smirked in return, "I told you."
The ten minutes break in between felt short as both team could tell their opponent was going to be better and better, in Shinkyō's case however they were in serious disadvantage. It was frustrating but they had to admit now that the average of skill in their team was lower than Seirin, they had Papa but Seirin had Kagami who could block Papa while they had no one to stop Kagami from doing so. They had to double team him.
Unfortunately to Shinkyō, Seirin was expecting them to double team Kagami. The red head paid them no mind as he was used to double team, courtesy of relentless training with Tsuchida and Mitobe. They also considerably weaker than his seniors, added with Papa and him who were towering over them it was easy for them to be intimidated and put so little fight when pushed back. Desperation called for desperate measure as Shinkyō started to attack more aggressively with other players and put Papa on defense. Seirin had to grin when they saw at last Shinkyō for once chose a good tactic against Seirin.
Too bad for Shinkyō though, Seirin was about to show their true color. Suddenly Seirin employed their specialty of Run and Gun which caught Shinkyō off guard, it was an open invitation for Shinkyō to attack them. Shinkyō of course didn't ignore the bait as they ran after Seirin to score a point themselves. Contrary to what happened in first quarter, no one in Shinkyō team really noticed how the game was going but the spectators who watched from afar could. They started murmuring among themselves, "Hey... they're going a bit too fast now... " and the other was, "It's just me or they're running around faster and faster?"
"Oi Oi... "Takao couldn't believe his eyes, what the hell was going on? The pace of the game suddenly became faster and faster. "What the hell Shinkyō is doing? They're already overheating in the first half, at this rate by the fourth quarter they'd be out of gas."
Midorima narrowed his eyes, "I doubt they realized they're wringing their own neck." Then again making people unaware was Kuroko's specialty and Seirin used that well.
"I am not going to lose!" Papa exclaimed.
Kagami snorted, "Just try!" A familiar teal blur behind Papa brought smirk on Kagami's face, "Oh about the second thing I was about to tell you before... " He trailed off. Papa ignored him and was about to turn around to escape Kagami's grasp and before he knew it the familiar weight of ball on his hands was gone.
"Ah!" Papa yelped and turned to Kuroko whose hand was empty. "Kid! Where's the ball?!"
Kuroko was ticked. "In a match you should keep an eye on the ball."
Papa scoffed, "What a kid like you know?" The Senegalese huffed as he turned to walk away, "I will win this game and beat those Generation of Miracles kids!" Papa declared.
The ball was not in Kuroko's possesion which not a surprise to Kagami, the red head could count by finger how many times Kuroko held the ball longer than five second in a match. One of Kuroko's skills as a pass specialist was a good field sense and good decision making skill, which made him akin to second PG to Seirin. He could decide a pass course in a blink of an eyes, it was as if he instinctively knew who to pass the ball to without thinking twice.
"You're pissing off the wrong kid." Kagami said to retreating figure of Papa. Kuroko was part of Generation of Miracles and while Kagami had only met Kise he could tell they were so different in personality but shared one thing in common.
"I would appreciate it if you stop calling me a kid." Kuroko said in annoyed tone when in background Mitobe scored with a simple lay-up.
Kagami sighed, "Dully noted, so how you're going to deal with this guy?" Papa was already on the way of his rampage to Seirin's territory.
"No more ball for him." Kuroko said simply.
"Huh?"
"I said... in the last quarter I will not even let him touch the ball." The phantom player said.
They HATED to lose and more than anything, Kagami could attest it himself how dangerous a pissed off Generation of Miracles was.
And true to what he said, Kuroko was going all out in the last quarter to throw Shinkyō's pass course to disarray. Papa was subjected to embarrassing failures where Kuroko kept stealing the ball from right under his nose. It won't be easy if the Senegalese was in fit condition and using his long limbs, but exhaustion slowed down his reaction. "Damn it!"
"Who the hell is that guy?" Tanimura was frustrated, that kid kept coming after him and Papa. He thought the teal haired boy was no threat, but the boy was definitely dangerous. Tanimura tried to intercept Kuroko's pass many times but the pass was too fast for him or he couldn't tell where the ball would go.
The score now was 62-41 and time was running out. Shinkyō was also running out of the option and Papa was exhausted. This was already a losing battle, chasing twenty points difference in three minutes was impossible at this condition. The only thing that kept Papa on his toes was his pride and frustration. "Stay focused until the end!" Hyūga yelled to his team
Papa ran with the last strength he had and was about to score a dunk but Kagami was ready to block him. "No way! I definitely won't lose!"
Kagami smirked as he jumped higher than Papa did "You've said you're disappointed in the 'Generation of Miracles', but..."Kagami knocked the ball right from his fingertips. Kagami knew his high jump sometimes worked against him because he took longer to land back and Papa had enough time to retrieve the ball. Papa was determined to beat Kagami at least once, completely unaware of the shadow lurking behind him.
"It's my win bastard!"
"Don't be too full of yourself." A monotone voice said and faster than he could react a powerful swing of an arm knocked the ball off of Papa's hands.
Kagami smirked at the shocked face Papa had, "They're strong... definitely."
"End of the match!" The referee shouted as the buzzer went off on the board, the score was 70-45 and an overwhelming victory to Seirin.
"I thought it was going to be a shallow victory." Like how all Seirin's practice matched had ended according to rumors going around the high school basketball circle. "But they won by 25 points difference against a team that stronger than their practice opponents excluding Kaijō of course..." Midorima heard Takao said as he climbed up to the cart.
Midorima huffed, "They're practicing... it's not like they went easy to their previous opponents, but all team with new members have to go through a stage to get used to the new dynamics. Seirin seems like a team that pretty reckless and willing to take high risk... to stabilize their team dynamics through practice matches."
Takao nodded, "Oh... Now I'm really interested by these guys. I hope they keep winning matches."
Midorima sighed and told him. "You're interested in testing your Hawk Eye against Kuroko's misdirection?"
The hawk eyed teen smirked, "Of course! It's like I am fated to be his natural enemy!"
"... I see... " Kuroko was taught the basic of his style by Akashi, someone with exceptional eyes even Takao's couldn't hold a candle to. It would be interesting how Kuroko fare against Takao. "That would be interesting." On second thought... it could be the opposite, how Takao would fare against Kuroko. The phantom player was not part of them for nothing.
"I lost..." Papa admitted with the most sincere voice he could muster. "Do your best for my sake too..." Everyone in Seirin team bar Kagami rolled their eyes inwardly.
Kagami blinked, "Ah, yeah."
Before Kagami could react the Seirin team dragged him away from Papa who started shouting. "LIKE HELL I'D SAY THAT! MORON, IDIOT! I WON'T LOSE NEXT TIME!" Tanimura quickly dragged the Senegalese away, following Seirin's example.
"WHY YOU!" Kagami was about to insult back.
Kuroko narrowed his eyes at Kagami, "The moment you start insulting back you'll sink to a level of sore loser like him."
Kagami closed his mouth in record time.
Few Days Later (Rakuzan High)
Akashi sighed as he took another DVD off of the player, while his former teammates' teams victory were assured it was really boring how little fight the opponents put against them. The level of high school basketball was disappointing, it was indeed a good decision to split up. They didn't want to pulverize the high school basketball world like they did the middle school one.
He had watched Yōzen, Kaijō and Shūtoku and as expected they made their way to Inter High in smooth sailing. Ryōta in particular unexpectedly worked so well with his new team, no doubt he got over the incident in their second year of Middle School. Atsushi was still the same, nailed his feet right below the hoop like he always did. Shintarō was also the same, he still kept hideous lucky item on bench and his new teammates were not happy with him it seemed. Tōō was interesting since while it was blatant none of Daiki's teammates liked him they had faith in his power. The team dynamic ironically created just for players like Daiki, too talented with high sense of individuality. Half of the time Daiki decided to show up, the opponents barely put a fight by third quarter.
Seirin in the other hand was a very interesting team to follow. Tetsuya did a good job guiding this team and even without their ace Kiyoshi Teppei, the team managed to gain overwhelming victory against Jitsuzen High 130 to 42. Even Kinga who was ranked in last year's top 16 didn't stand a chance and Seirin won 112 to 65. While their sailing was as smooth as other team his former teammates were part of, they managed to interest him, especially that Kagami Taiga. Akashi couldn't believe Tetsuya's luck to have an unpolished gem like that landed out of nowhere on his team. Kagami Taiga had potential but he was nowhere near the Generation of Miracles, and he would be an interesting player for sure.
Akashi smirked then picked up his phone from his pocket then chose a familiar name from his contact, it would be a good chance to ease his boredom. "Hello Tetsuya, could you accompany me to Kanagawa?" There was a pause before Akashi could hear a response. "Tomorrow morning, and yes... I know you're up against Meijō and Hakuryō by that time but it's not like your team couldn't deal with those without you. You have complete faith in them like I do my team right?"
"Akashi-kun... that's an underhanded trick." Kuroko said with a sigh of resignation.
Akashi smirked, "It is... but you will see something interesting in Kanagawa, it's about Ryōta's next opponent."
"Kanagawa's preliminaries? I heard Kaijō was always ranked first without fail in the past... " Kuroko said, "I haven't really research on any team aside from Kaijō for Kanagawa district so I don't know." Unlike in Tokyo where rivalry between the three kings was fierce for the last decade in Kanagawa Kaijō had little to none challenge to be dethroned off of their reign over Kanagawa district.
Akashi shrugged, "I won't know either if I didn't check on Ryōta's next opponent out of a whim." Kuroko rolled his eyes inwardly at the 'whim' part, how typical of Akashi. "There's someone interesting in them... it's Shinmaru High School."
"..." That was a school that ranked second in Kanagawa but not a rival to Kaijō since they had not even once beat Kaijō for the last five years. It seemed this year the JBA wanted a change in school ranking that they messed up seeded school like this. Even in Tokyo Seihō and Shūtoku were put in the same block, added Tōō to the mix the shift of power would be inevitable.
"We know someone from that school... it's... "
"..."
Kuroko sighed, "Very well... Akashi-kun. I am coming with you... to Kanagawa."
So hopefully you will like completely original chapter (or so I thought) WHY we watch Kise? Simply because I think it's a good timing with Kaijō VS Seirin in manga now and I think I should make KiKuro fans happier? Even though this fic is no yaoi so I hope non-yaoi lover can read it too!
As suggested by luckyschoolgirl I should introduce at least one family member in the first 15 chapters before I caught up with basketball goodies and forgot LOL They're not OC BTW and not part of Akashi or Kuroko's family as in closely related to have the same surname. So you still can guess how Akashi and Kuroko related and so on LOL. I also gave some hint about Kuroko's past ^^ there're lots of speculating of why Kuroko has weak presence so I can't resist LOL XDDD
Here is the short profile of Kuroko and Akashi's newly introduced relative.
Shinomiya Ren
The third son of Shinomiya family who owned the biggest chain of Hospital in Japan named Shieikai. He is a surgeon specialize in heart surgery and an avid music lover of Beethoven. Cunning and sly, he is disliked by Akashi and Kuroko for his personality even though they respected him to a degree as a person and their elder. He has two older brothers, one younger brother named Kei and a younger sister Kozue. All of them are surgeon but only he and Kei were exceptionally talented.
That's all and review!
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