Soga dribbled the ball before passing it to Kuroko, who passed it to Kagami, who shot and made a perfect basket.
Soga cheered, which in turn made both boys blush. Teppei eyed them, becoming more than a bit jealous.
"Alright. Lets get started." Riko called, holding the basketball up so that both teams could see it. "Alright?!" She smiled towards Kuroko and toward Hyuuga. The teams looked at each other for a while before Teppei and Kagami began to step forward.
Soga stopped Kagami. "Can I do this?" She asked, looking up to him. Kagami's mouth fell agape at the request.
"I know what I'm doing, trust me?" She said, smiling up at him. He couldn't help but comply. "Okay." He grumbled.
Soga stepped forward and her eyes met Teppei's, but to the others shock, he didn't seem surprised.
"Alright!" Riko looked to both players before she threw the ball up into the air, unannounced.
On instinct Teppei jumped instantly, his large hands already at the ball and Kagami mentally cursed himself for allowing Soga to start.
Did everyone think she was such a weakling?
Soga jumped straight up, her unusually large hands sliding up between Teppei's and smacking the ball away, back towards her team. She landed just after and broke away, passed Hyuuga and Izuki making it to the other side. Teppei was still in the air when the ball fell into Kagami's hands, unexpected. It took him just a second to collect himself before he was dribbling down the court.
Due to earlier shock, Hyuuga and Izuki were alert now and blocked his path. There was a flash of blue from the corner of his eye, and out of some sort of impulse he tossed the ball towards it.
But it wasn't Kuroko who caught the ball. Soga went down the edge of the court, making sure she was in bounds, searching for one of her teammates. A small flash appeared and Izuki was in front of her. She did the best she could to fake and managed to make it passed him only to be caught but Hyuuga.
There was a familiar sound from behind her and she pivoted so she could see Izuki and Kagami racing up toward her. She didn't plan on passing to him, her eyes flicking, searching for a blue flash.
There was a glint from just outside of her view and she turned the opposite direction to throw Hyuuga off. Her hand went back and passed the ball in the direction Kuroko was in, knowing he would end up catching it.
Hyuuga was still frazzled by the fake and Soga split around him going after her two teammates, towards the basket.
"Shoot it." Soga called, seeing as Kuroko was ahead of both of them.
"Ah! He can't shoot!" Kagami mentally slapped himself.
"Really?" Soga giggled, picking up her pace a bit. She took long strides to keep up with Kuroko, who seemed a bit awkward now, dribbling the ball.
"You alright?" She said, startling his concentration. He nodded, switching hands as to pass her the ball.
"No no. I want you to shoot." She waved her hands and began to pull back he stride, giggling at Kuroko's blind panic.
She slowed an then completely stopped feeling Kagami zoom passed her. "What are you doing?" he grumbled, continuing to run.
Kuroko was getting close to the basket and he was more than a little confused. He couldn't make a shot. He couldn't.
From behind him he heard footsteps pounding on the court and heavy breathing, but behind all that he heard a voice.
"Kuroko-kun! Shoot already!" Soga called, giggling as the three other boys zoomed passed her, Teppei stopping to block her.
"Well you're being quite useless, Teppei." She said, uninterested and he frowned.
"You're such a downer." He grumbled, his eyes becoming sad as he watched her.
"You're such a child." She said, looking around him to see Kuroko struggling with the ball. He kept passing it wrong and Kagami kept retrieving it from the other two. Must be nervous. She thought.
She giggled when Kagami basically stopped to scold Kuroko and Kuroko scolded back.
"Those two..." She trailed off, looking up at Teppei before faking passed him to join the others. For a long time Teppei didn't move. His heart was hurting. Not physically, but emotionally, which resulted in a physical pain. He groaned. Why did she have to be so mean?
He jogged off down the court where Soga, Kagami and Kuroko were all passing the ball in a large triangle around the other two.
"Come on Teppei~ We're waiting for you!" Soga called, giving him a smile. She must've noticed how saddened he seemed. He immediately perked up and joined them. The ball landing in Kuroko's hands. No one moved.
"Shoot." Soga whispered, reminding them they were still playing a game.
Kuroko made a face and throw the ball up towards the basket. It bounced off the rim and towards Teppei who was ready to rebound when he felt a soft feathery feeling graze the front of his hand. He glanced down at the blur in front of him and mentally groaned. There was really nothing he could do to stop her from stealing the ball from him. He couldn't grab her once she landed and he knew that if she didn't allow him, he wouldn't be able to catch up with her.
The blur disappeared and, not feeling the impact of the ball, Teppei dropped his hand and landed heavily. From the corner of his eyes, he could see Soga moving back beyond the free throw line and turning around to shoot. His feet moved to jump again and he lifted his hand to block. But Soga moved even farther, flying back.
Fade away.
Damn.
He didn't have to look to know the ball went it and neither did Soga, who landed lightly and backed up to get ready to block.
Five minutes in, Teppei was beginning to get worried. His team had only made four baskets while Soga's team had made twelve. He glared over at Kagami and Soga high-fiving each other. Those two were dynamic, and with Kuroko, they were a power house.
Teppei wiped his face with his shirt and huffed. She couldn't win. He wouldn't let her. For gods sake he'd known her for a long while now and he'd be damned if they weren't even remotely friends.
He panted, watching as she talked nonchalantly to the others. She was never like that with him. He frowned turning back to Hyuuga.
"We can't let them win." He grumbled waiting for the other two to nod in agreement.
"Easier said then done. They're on fire." Hyuuga huffed, fixing his glasses.
"She's tough." Izuki said, placing a hand on Hyuuga's shoulder, agreeing with him completely.
Soga gave a laugh and the two boys looked at her oddly.
"You play just like you..." She stopped herself mid-sentence. "...like someone I know." She finished, ruffling his hair. "Good job, Kuroko-ne. You too, Kagami-haya." She smiled at him. He gave a nod, more confused about her sudden use of the suffix -haya then anything else.
"You not so bad yourself. You really surprised us there." He grumbled, rubbing the back of his head.
"Ha. Sorry about that." She smiled again bouncing the ball around.
"Good job, Kuroko. Soga." Kagami said ruffling Kuroko's hair, a smile crossing his face.
"You guys are so compatible. Are you two...?" She gestured to both of them and before she knew Kagami was outwardly denying it.
"Of course we are not!" His face flushed scarlet and Soga giggle at how frustrated he was. Kuroko also had a slight blush over his cheeks but he hadn't made such a big deal about it.
"Are you saying you wouldn't want to be in a relationship with me, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko said, turning emotionless eyes towards his larger partner.
"Sh-shut up Kuroko!" Kagami gave him a slight shove, his cheeks burning. By this time Kuroko was laughing along with Soga and Riko, who had heard most of the conversation had walked over onto the court and said, "Let's get back to the game, shall we?" Riko smiled.