Chapter Eleven:

Another gruelling training session with Akashi later, and my legs were slightly more shaky than usual as I made my way to the front gate. He'd been particularly punishing this afternoon, forcing me to run at him again and again in an attempt to get around him. At one point, I had tried for another three, and the ball was completely snatched from my hands.

"Don't go for any more three's," he said, calmly clutching the ball as I stood there struggling to breathe. "Just try and get around me. We'll work on your shooting later."

So, for the remaining hour I attempted to dribble my way around him, only succeeding once – after which he again prevented me from shooting. In all honesty, I was becoming annoyed with my lack of improvement. At this rate, I felt there was little chance I was going to win against Chinami.

"Hey, Setsuna-chan!"

I glanced up to see Eisuke waving at me from the front gate and shook my head, putting this afternoon's events out of my head. When I caught up to him, he grinned down at me. "About time! I was beginning to suspect he'd worked you to death and dragged your body off somewhere."

"Who says he hasn't?" I grumbled. "I could be a ghost, and he might be burying my body as we speak."

Eisuke cocked his head. "Hmmm. Well you're certainly pale enough, but…" He suddenly reached forward and pinched my cheek. "Nope, thought not. Your natural complexion is just ghost-like."

I rubbed my cheek and glared at him. "How many times do I have to tell you, don't treat me so familiarly."

For a moment, I thought something strange flashed in his eyes, but then he laughed aloud and ruffled my hair. "You're so mean, Setsuna-chan!" He stood back, avoiding the swipe I made at his arm, and chuckled again. "Come on, let's go stuff our faces with delicious, heavenly dumplings."

I was about to agree when a black car pulled up in front of us. I barely registered Akashi's presence before he was walking past me to the car and pulling open the door. He glanced back at us.

"Eisuke, don't forget that trials are being held in a few months; if you're not in shape, I won't accept you on the team."

Eisuke stiffened. "I know that."

"Good." With that, Akashi folded himself into the car and shut the door behind him.

"Well, that's something you don't see everyday."

"What is it?" I murmured distractedly as my eyes wandered over the multitude of restaurants lining the street.

He pointed. "That." I followed his finger. A black-haired boy was just pulling up on a bike, a cart attached to the back, inside of which was another boy. With green hair.

Eisuke squinted and leaned forward. "Hey, isn't that –"

"Eisuke-san," I said suddenly. His head whipped around and he blinked in surprise from me using his given name. "Would you mind going ahead and picking a restaurant? There's a shop up ahead that I want to check out."

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

"No," I replied, and then quickly added, "It's girl stuff."

He blushed. "Oh. I'll… go on ahead then…"

At my nod, he crossed the street and entered a small café. Once he was inside I made my way into the shop I'd seen Midorima disappear into moments earlier.

The store had strange items hanging from the ceiling and decorating the shelves, from grotesque figures to dream-catchers to random colourful objects. I quickly made my way along the aisles, eyes scanning for a flash of green.

"Midorima-san!"

I saw his back tense before he slightly turned his head, green eyes narrowing as he saw me waving. "Can I help you?"

I blinked in surprise at his remark. "It's me. Koizumi Setsuna?"

"Sorry, but I don't know you."

"B-But…" Completely caught off guard for a moment, I was at a loss of what to say.

"Hey! Setsuna, right?" I turned to see Midorima's friend waving at me – whose name I had completely forgotten.

"Oh… Hello."

His eyes narrowed with suspicion as he neared us. "Is Midorima being mean? Don't let it get to you; he's unpleasant to everyone."

I shook my head. "Um, no it's fine; he says he doesn't remember me, that's all…"

"Oh," he laughed. He waltzed over to Midorima and threw his arm over his neck. "This guy likes to do that when he finds someone he doesn't wanna talk to. He's not very good at communicating." He squeezed his friend's neck. "You're such a rotten liar, Shin-chan. You've been worrying over Suna-chan for the last two days!"

I stiffened. 'Suna-chan'?

"Get your arm off me, baka," Midorima grumbled, shrugging his friend's arm off. "You're over-exaggerating."

From behind me, I heard the door to the shop swing open. "Actually Midorima-san, I –"

"Setsuna-chan! What're you doing?" I spun around to find Eisuke standing there, watching the two boys suspiciously. "Are these guys bothering you?"

"What? No!" Midorima's brow twitched in anger, and I hurriedly introduced them before he got the wrong idea. "Oshiro-san, this is Midorima Shintarou, and his friend…" I trailed off. There was an awkward pause, during which Midorima shot me a curious glance. I deliberately avoided eye contact.

Eisuke purposely cleared his throat. "And… you are?"

The boy blinked at me. "I'm Takao. Suna-chan, why didn't you introduce me as well?"

"Because," Midorima explained as he adjusted his glasses, "She doesn't remember your name."

Takao blanched as though he'd been stabbed. "Huh?!"

"And as for the other night; I was concerned for your physical wellbeing at the time. That is all," he concluded, then turned and picked an item from the shelf. His stubborn aloofness kind of reminded me of Akashi. Without acknowledging me, he turned and said to Takao, "I'm done here."

A feeling of urgency suddenly gripped me; I wanted to learn more about Akashi, about his past and what he'd been like before I had met him. He wouldn't tell me anything himself, and my one chance at obtaining that information was quickly walking away from me… As soon as the thought entered my mind, my eyes narrowed, and I felt my natural desire to acquire success rise within me.

No way was I, Setsuna Koizumi, going to let an opportunity like this pass me by – not if there was something I could do about it.

Before I could process it, I found myself in front of Midorima, blocking his path. His intense green eyes found mine and narrowed in displeasure. "What are you doing?"

"I still want to thank you for the other night," I explained, the words falling out of my mouth. "Would you let me buy you some dumplings?"

"Huh? Dumplings?" Takao exclaimed excitedly, my earlier transgression completely forgotten. "Count us in!"

Midorima closed his eyes for a moment, adjusting his glasses. "No. We have to get back to school for training."

Takao rolled his eyes. "No we don't. Basketball season hasn't even started, Shin-chan. Geez, you really are a terrible liar…"

"Shut up, baka," he replied, glaring down at him. "We're going."

Takao stubbornly shook his head. "I'm not peddling one more wheel until I eat some dumplings. I need energy!"

"The offer wasn't made to you," Midorima pointed out, crossing his arms. When Takao pouted, I quickly intervened.

"I'll buy you some as well, Takao-san, since you were also there to help me. And also as an apology for being so rude earlier."

He pumped his fist once. "Yes! It's settled then – lead the way, Suna-chan!"

Five minutes later, I learned that having three extremely large boys and a small girl crammed in one booth was not a pleasant situation.

Sandwiched between Takao – who was stuffing dumplings in his mouth at an astounding rate – and Eisuke – who was staring at barely-concealed awe at Midorima – I found it difficult to direct conversation to Akashi, let alone maintain a conversation at all. Especially since the green-haired basketball genius himself pointedly avoided looking at our table.

Despite the fact that I'd introduced Eisuke to the two players, he seemed to be having trouble formulating a coherent sentence; at regular intervals his mouth opened, and then closed with a snap.

Just as I was about to shove a dumpling into it, he abruptly blurted, "You're the legendary shooter from the Generation of Miracles."

Midorima's deep green eyes met Eisuke's across the table, but he didn't reply.

"You play for Shutoku High, right?" Eisuke looked like an eager puppy.

"Is there a point to your questions?"

"Yeah," he replied, a fierce grin suddenly transforming his face. "I'm going to be the ace of Rakuzan High. I want to make sure you remember me, because I'm definitely going to beat you at the Inter-High next season."

I barely refrained from face-palming myself.

Beside me, Takao choked on his food, but Midorima didn't spare him a glance. He looked at Eisuke with contempt and replied, "Did you expect that little exclamation to have an effect on me?"

"Selection processes haven't even started yet," Takao pointed out when he finally gained his breath.

Eisuke shook his head. "I'm going to make the team, no matter what. I'll win the Inter-High and restore Rakuzan's former glory by taking the Winter Cup as well."

"Eisuke!" I hissed, glaring at him.

I half-expected Midorima to laugh out loud, but his expression only grew more contemptuous. "Akashi would never allow someone so weak on his team."

His palms hit the table and he abruptly stood. "Yeah? Why don't we step outside and show you just how weak I am by beating your ass – AH!"

"That's enough," I rumbled menacingly, dragging Eisuke back into his seat by his ear. When he was seated, I smiled apologetically at Midorima. "So, what did you buy at the store today, Midorima-san?"

He ignored Eisuke glowering at him and replied, "A notebook."

"It's his lucky item for our exam tomorrow," Takao chirped.

"Oh, I hope you do well –"

"How does Akashi determine who's fit to get a first-string position?" Eisuke interrupted. "You'd know, wouldn't you? What with both of you being a member of the Generation of Miracles." I blinked up at him, astounded by his rudeness, and had to control the urge to hit him over the head.

"It's not a test of fitness," Midorima calmly explained. "It's a test of potential."

Eisuke made a small sound of irritation. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Akashi has always had the ability to see the hidden talents of other players, isolate that talent, and enhance it to its maximum potential."

Excitement surged within me as Midorima spoke. At last, I was discovering more about Akashi than I'd ever hoped to learn, and from a reliable primary source. "He can do that? How?"

"Isshh 'is eyesh," Takao chimed in, his words slightly muffled from the multitude of dumplings in his mouth. "He usesh 'is Empheror Eye."

"Don't talk with your mouth full!" Midorima snapped.

I barely allowed Takao to get in a mumbled "Shorry" before I asked, "What's an Emperor Eye?"

Midorima sighed, closing his eyes and pushing up his glasses. "It's an ability that Akashi alone possesses, what made him the captain of the Generation of Miracles. I suppose the only way to describe it is he is able to predict the movements his opponent is going to make before he makes them."

Well, this is news.

Eisuke leaned back and crossed his arms. "How does this have anything to do with him picking the good players?"

"He uses this concept to assess someone's strengths, and to determine the maximum potential of his or her abilities," he explained, gazing at Eisuke with apparent dislike. "Which inherently means you're out of luck."

"He did this with each member of the Generation of Miracles?" I asked before Eisuke could form a retort. Eagerness had me leaning forward slightly.

Midorima's eyes narrowed suspiciously on me, and I immediately glanced away, trying not to look too interested. "Is there a reason you want to know all this?"

"Nope," I replied casually. "Just curious, that's all."

He surveyed my profile for a moment, and then reluctantly replied, "Akashi never had to use this ability on the five members; our talents were almost at their full potential. However, he was solely responsible for the development of the abilities of our sixth member."

The name triggered something in my memory. I thought back to the research I'd conducted on each member of the Generation of Miracles. "Kuroko Tetsuya? The Phantom Sixth Man?" Midorima nodded.

Eisuke crossed his arms. "But he's on the team that defeated Rakuzan in this season's Winter Cup. Seirin High."

"That's right. Akashi observed Kuroko during middle school, and realised that his lack of presence was in fact a hidden strength that could be harnessed into an effective weapon. He helped Kuroko to develop this talent, but he later used it to help defeat Akashi in the Winter Cup."

For some reason, Midorima's words troubled me. To have trained someone to recognise their strengths, only to have them use it against you… I recalled Akashi's words from over a week ago.

'Surely you've heard of the Phantom Sixth Man? He wasn't a starter, but he may as well have been. He was always there if we needed him, otherwise fading into the background…'

Eisuke's words echoed my thoughts. "That's a bit cold. Who does this Kuroko kid think he is?"

"On the contrary, it wasn't cold at all."

I frowned up at Midorima. "What do you mean?"

"Kuroko took up basketball at Seirin High with the intent to prove Akashi's ideals on basketball false by defeating him." The miracle shooter pushed at his glasses. "He did this by matching them against his own ideals. When Akashi lost the Winter Cup, he was forced to acknowledge the stronger opponent."

I tapped the table, thinking hard on what I knew about him already. "Akashi's ideals… You mean how he believes victory is the only important part of basketball?"

He glanced down at me, and there was some hidden emotion in his eyes that I couldn't decipher. "That's right. But, it wasn't always that way." He stopped again, then sighed in resignation when I just stared at him. "Before we – the Generation of Miracles – all went our separate ways, Akashi's basketball changed. Instead of playing basketball for the joy and excitement it brought…" His fingers pushed his glassed further up. "He began to play for no other purpose than to obtain victory. Kuroko didn't agree with his perspective, and so the final game of the Winter Cup was more of a clash of wills than a clash of talent. In the end, Akashi's perception of basketball was defeated by Kuroko's."

"And Kagami's," Takao added. "They're, like, the ultimate duo."

I took a moment to digest what Midorima had said. "You said his basketball changed. What were his ideals on basketball before he only started caring about winning?" In my peripheral vision I saw Eisuke's head turn towards me, and could almost hear his thoughts. Why was I pursuing this subject so tenaciously?

"I never paid attention to trivial matters such as those." My eyes narrowed; he was definitely similar in demeanour to Akashi.

I tried again. "What made him change his basketball so drastically?"

Midorima eyes turned dull, and his attitude became ambiguous. "I don't really know."

This time Eisuke said what we were both thinking. "What do you mean you don't know? Weren't you both on the same team?"

"I thought I knew him. But after his basketball changed, I discovered that he wasn't who I thought he was – that I didn't know anything about Akashi Seijuro, and neither does anyone else." He let out a breath and made to stand.

Takao was just swallowing down the last of his dumplings when Midorima said to him, "Are you done?"

"Yep!" He turned and smiled at me. "Thanks for the dumplings, Suna-chan!"

I snapped out of my haze, and for the first time, took notice of the stack of plates piled in the centre of the table. I had to force a polite smile on my face. "Oh… It was nothing…" Actually, that was almost every last penny of savings I'd managed to accumulate this whole term.

"We should do this again sometime!"

"Sure." Never.

As the two boys left, I realised once again that I was going to lose a very valuable source of information. Turning to Eisuke I muttered, "I'll be right back," and trailed after them as they exited the café.

"Midorima-san!"

He stopped and looked down at me from his overwhelming height. "What is it?"

"Can I ask you one more question?"

"Will it stop you if I say no?" His tone was dry.

"Akashi… What's his basketball now?"

He was silent for a moment, and then his deep green eyes met mine. "I don't know."

"That Midorima guy was a total asshole," Eisuke grumbled as we walked.

"Well, you were being really rude. What was that whole business with your declaration of war?"

He shrugged once, carelessly. "That was just a guy thing. We do that to test each other's mettle." A snigger emerged from him. "Turns out the legendary shooter for the Generation of Miracles is all talk."

I cocked a brow at his absurdity. "I seriously doubt that. He's just too mature to react to your baiting him."

"You were really interested in what he had to say about Akashi," he noted, glancing down at me. I pointedly avoided his searching gaze. "What was with that?"

"I said it before, I'm just curious. I've been training with him for a while, and I wanted to know a little more about his history." It was mostly the truth.

"You wanted to know so badly you paid for six plates of dumplings?"

"No," I groused. "I owed them, that's all."

He shook his head at me. "Pretty sure you got shammed, Setsuna-chan."

"Oh, shut up." I stopped, realising I was at my house already. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Later that night, after I had completed both my chores and my homework – it turned out my aunt really did love Akashi – I lay in my bed unable to sleep. My mind was abuzz with this afternoon's conversation as I fiddled with the horses sewed into my comforter.

Midorima had said that Akashi's ideals on basketball hadn't always been about only obtaining victory… So then, what kind of Akashi had existed before the current one? Did anyone from the Generation of Miracles truly know?

'I thought I knew him. But then I discovered that he wasn't who I thought he was, that I didn't know anything about Akashi Seijuro, and neither does anyone else.'

I sighed, suddenly at a loss. Why did I care anyway? I couldn't figure out myself why this was so important to me. My thirst for knowledge regarding Akashi was downright stalker-like, and in no way healthy. But my curiosity had never been so peaked… What was wrong with me?

My eyed widened.

No. No, no, no. There was no way… no possible way I could… Oh, God.