Chapter 11: Touo Versus Seirin

Kagome had baked more mini strawberry cheesecakes, having the feeling that she would be encountering the tall male. She had cut up lemons and placed them in the honey marinate. She had a few other things made. She was in her basketball uniform and sweat suit. Her bag was packed with a few medical supplies, including ice packs, the lemons, the cheesecake and some other things that help with energy and recovery. Her doorbell rang. She threw her bag over her shoulder and ran to the front door. She opened it to see Daiki and Satsuki. She pulled on her shoes and screamed into the house.

"I'm going now, mama! I'll be home later." She didn't wait for a reply before closing the door and leaving. Daiki's arm came around her and she wrapped her own arm around his waist. Satsuki was surprised but smiled. She walked next to them as they seemed to blend in with the rest of the basketball team at their usual split point. They seemed surprised by the change as well, but didn't say anything. They made it to the train station and got on, getting off once they reached the stop that would take them to the game. They made it to the large building. She could see the large male from Friday. He was with his friend.

"Mine-chin, Gome-chin," he greeted. He was eating snacks.

"Hello, Atsushi-kun," Kagome greeted. "I had a feeling I would see you today." She placed her bag on the floor before opening it and rummaging through it. She found what she was looking for and pulled it out before zipping up her bag. She stood and held out the container to him. He took it from her and looked inside it to see the cheesecakes and some other desserts that looked delicious. He added it to his snacks.

"Thanks, Gome-chin." He ruffled her hair. She hadn't put it up in a ponytail yet.

"You're welcome." She smiled at him. "We have to get to our locker room now." He nodded. "I'll see you guys later." They headed into the building and found the locker room with their name on it. They placed their bags down. Coach was already there. He was looking at them, and they were talking. Kagome grabbed a comb and a few hair ties from her bag. She pulled her hair into a high ponytail before braiding it. She had wrist bands on. "Satsuki, can you take my bag out when we play?" She nodded, not sure why Kagome would want her bag out there.

"We are facing Seirin today," Coach said. "We lost to them once before, but have been practicing hard. Let's show them how much we have improved." They nodded. "We have thirty minutes until our warm up. They are not expecting you, Kagome, so take it easy on the warm up. We don't want them to know what you can do until the game starts." She nodded. She just moved to a corner.

"Give me a few moments," she said before taking a meditative pose. She closed her eyes and slowed her heart and breathing. They talked quietly, not sure why she was doing this. Aomine flopped across a bench, closing his eyes. Satsuki looked around the room. Daiki was actually on time, and probably will always be since Kagome joined the team. She knew the dynamic with the two had changed. She was fine with that. She was happy for him.

They sat in the locker room. Kiyoshi had gotten better and so came back to the team. They were stoked to have their first game of the interhigh, even if it was against Touo. They knew it was going to be a good game. They were excited, especially Kagami. He wanted his rematch against the blue haired male. They were not prepared to face a girl.

The ten-minute warm up came quickly. Both teams were out in their basketball uniform.

"Touo got a new member," Hyuga pointed out. Aida was looking at her. She couldn't really read her stats, which made her nervous. She was taking simple shots and wasn't doing anything impressive. She wasn't sure what to think. They did know that Touo had unusually more people in the stands from the signs. Most of them were holding signs for number 8. The girl had the number on her jersey. It was weird. The ten minutes passed and they returned to their locker rooms.

"Could you pick anything up from her, Riko?" Teppei asked.

"No." She shook her head. "She wasn't doing anything special. She could be there just as a backup."

"I couldn't help but notice she had several fans in the stands," Kuroko pointed out.

"We beat them last time with Teppei," Hyuga pointed out. "We should be able to beat them again."

"Kuroko won't be as affective," Kagami pointed out.

"We should be fine," Kuroko said. "I have been improving my game." They nodded. Their mascot was sitting on the floor, wagging his tail.

"We will just have to see." She looked serious. The girl looked familiar to her.

The game came and they headed out, bowing to each other before returning to the benches. They pulled off their sweats. This would be there last chance to warm-up. Kagome was observing the opposing team, taking in the feel of their aura. It would come in handy during the game if she knew the feel of each member. She was already used to the feel of her team's aura. She could hear the screams for her team, even though the game hadn't even started. She stretched and concentrated before taking a few shots. The jumpers were called forward and Aomine came forward. She was sitting on the bench. She had told the coach she would come in during the second quarter so that she could see how the other team played. It was a bit fast paced and Daiki easily handled the red-haired male with a bad attitude. The light blue-haired male was able to pass around them, but she knew why right away.

The game was close when the first quarter ended. Seirin was up five points. She stood and took off her sweat suit. Sakurai was told to take a seat. He didn't apologize, and instead wished her luck. The light blue-haired male sat out this time. She concentrated and steadied her heart.

"Shall we show them what we are capable of?" She was smiling. They nodded and came back out with a smirk before getting serious.

"Now you shall see what our captain in capable of." Imayoshi said with a smirk.

"We thought you were the captain," Hyuga said.

"I am turning over the reins to Higurashi," He said with a smirk.

They game started and the ball was passed to the female, chants for Touo being heard. She easily dribbled the ball showing some good handling as she moved down the court, easily passing by the other players. She saw the tall center and smirked before going around him. She faked a left before going up for a shot. It went in with no issues. They were surprised by her game play. She wasn't going that fast, but her maneuvering was different than what they were expecting. They passed to Teppei, who did a cross court pass towards Kagami, but it had been intercepted by the female, who was able to jump higher than anticipated. She easily passed the ball to Daiki. He moved down the court easily, Kagami chasing after him. Kagome got into position and he passed to her, before she took the shot in the three-point area. They were surprised by the lack of arc, even though it still went in. The game was tied.

"I wasn't anticipating her," Aida said as she looked over the female. Her numbers were fluctuating, not allowing her to get an accurate reading. She was proving to be impressive. How were they going to handle the female? Aomine already gave them issues.

Izuki went to take her on with his eagle eye. He made to attack but she seemed to see through him. She moved the ball quicker, even though the rest of her body stayed the same speed. She dodged around Hyuga and passed to Aomine as he leapt through the air, the red-haired male trying to stop him. Aomine smirked and passed the ball down to Kagome who easily put it into the basket.

"They are showing a cohesiveness with her," Kuroko said. "I did not think him possible of being a team player."

The scores were still close, but Touo was up by seven at half time. They sat on the benches and Kagome grabbed a container from her bag, opening it. The team passed it around, taking a few slices before giving it to the next person. Kagome ate a few slices and looked them over. She approached Aomine, seeing the stress in his knees. She knelt in front of him and massaged his knees, sending her healing energy into his knees before wrapping them. She patted his knee and he sent her a smirk. She went back to looking them over. The others seemed fine, just in need of energy recovery. She pulled out another container and a stack of disposable cups. She poured the drink from the thermos and handed it out. They were confused, but drank it. They felt revitalized.

"This is a bit tough," Teppei admitted.

"You are doing great," Riko told him. "You are covering the center just fine."

"I don't think they have given us everything," Kuroko said, looking over to the Touo bench. He could see number 8 taking care of the others. She had been massaging Aomine's knees before wrapping his knees. They were eating lemon and took a drink of something. "She doesn't seem tired," he pointed out. "And the others have already regained their breath." They looked to the Touo bench. They seemed fine and re-energized.

The break period ended and they stood from the bench, heading towards the court. "Shall we take it up a knotch?" They smirked and nodded. Seirin passed in the ball and the game started. It was passed to Kagami. He moved down the court, dodging around Touo players until he approached Kagome. He smirked, thinking he could easily pass her and score. She smirked, and in a precise move, stole the ball from him. She was down the court in seconds. She shot the ball and Teppei tried to block, only to miss. He couldn't understand her shots. They didn't arc nearly as much as a regular shot.

They threw the ball down court to Kagami, who was looking to do his meteor jam. Aomine smirked and managed to block the shot. Kagome got the rebound and moved down court. She could feel Seirin trying to catch up. She took her shot at half court. They looked shocked as the ball went through the hoop without touching anything. Teppei passed the ball to Hyuga. He wanted to slow down the pace. Touo was not having it. Imayoshi had stolen the ball from him, passing it to Wakamatsu, who was able to score. It went on, Seririn barely scoring as Touo's score started to climb.

The fourth quarter started up. Kagami had gone into the zone, as did Aomine. It was a sight to see. Kagome sighed and centered herself. Her eyes closed slightly and she followed after the two at an incredible and increasing speed. Both were slamming the ball in. She could see the difference in play and the other teammates stayed to the side. She breathed deeper and could feel her reaching her perfect form. She moved quicker than them, stealing the ball from Kagami before shooting the ball from further than half court. It went in and Kagami was back on the attack. He didn't get far before the ball was stolen again. She moved quickly, giving Aomine the opportunity to move down court unhindered.

"She's in the zone," Riko said. They were scared to be facing two players in the zone. Kuroko was barely having an effect on the game.

Kagome was easily scoring from further distances. They were trying their best to keep the scores close, but by the end of it Touo had won with a score of 136 to 95. They couldn't understand it. Kagome had kept up the advanced game play for the whole last quarter, which was unheard of.

"That isn't the zone," Aomine said, hearing Hyuga's comment on her being in the zone. "That is her perfect form." He smirked. "It can be sustained longer than the zone." He wrapped his arm around Kagome's shoulder and pulled her to the group. "This is Higurashi Kagome, team captain and my girlfriend." His team figured as much. "They are Kuroko Tetsuya, Kagami Taiga, Hyuga Junpei, Kiyoshi Teppei, Izuki Shun. They have more players on their bench."

"Nice to meet you." She bowed slightly. "Good game."

"You were great, Gome," Aomine said. He smirked.

"You were as well. You played longer too." She looked him over. "You over did it again, Dai-kun." She scowled at him.

"Hn. I got into the game."

"If you don't take better care of yourself, you will end up hurting yourself."

"Hn. It was your idea to go harder."

"Not that hard." She moved him towards the locker room after a short wave goodbye. Satsuki had her bag. She wanted to look over them. She had Daiki sit down and she started to massage his legs. She sent healing energy into his knees before wrapping them. "Ice your knees when you get home, Dai-kun." He nodded as she looked over the others. She was feeling fine. They left the building in a good mood.