Coach Ukyou strode into the locker room, much to the relief of his team. Akashi's maniac tirade had dragged on long enough and those that weren't familiar with Teikō's captain and his 'encouraging' pep-talks were shaking in their basketball shoes. "Thank you, Akashi, for the…er…yeah, thanks. I'll be taking over now, so…" Ukyou was flustered, a pair of heterochromatic eyes boring into his skull, still gleaming with a spark of insanity.
"Yes, sorry, coach." Akashi answered, civil enough, save for the ferocious glint in his emperor's eye.
A shudder ran through Kuroko, who was pressed against his lover awkwardly. His least favorite part about Akashi was his tendency towards insanity, so Akashi's current ranting was testing even his nerves. Well, at least Kuroko wasn't Kise or Midorima. They'd be getting…he didn't want to think about it.
"Okay, We're going to go out hard. Tokyo has done some recruiting this year, and we're not gonna take this likely. From what I've gathered, their assistant managers designed this team especially to defeat us. I'm not letting a couple of kids look down on our program, so we're going to win with everything we have. Starting line-up is Eiji, Aomine, Murasakibara, Midorima and Giichi."
Kise started, gaze shifting between Ukyou, Kuroko, and Akashi. "Whaaaaa? I'm not starting!?" the model cried, glaring accusingly at his coach. "You're benching me, Akashi, and Kuroko? Why?"
Ukyou shut the blond up with a hard glare. "That's my decision. You're friends are lucky that they're even starting, considering their lackluster performance at practice, along with their underclassmen status. Most kids don't get to start until their third years."
"But…" The breath whooshed from Kise's lungs as Midorima's elbow dug into his ribs. Kise coughed violently, body shaking as he gasped for air.
"Look, I want you 'Miracles' to get this through your heads. You aren't the best anymore. This is college, one step from the pros. It's pretty presumptuous of you to expect to start. Especially with the half-assed way you've been practicing. Am I clear?"
Voice hard, Akashi grit out, "Crystal."
The boys strode out to the bench, sitting down as the starters got to practicing. Kise sat, seething inwardly, even while Kuroko stared calmly at the players lining up. Akashi's eye scanned Tokyo, cataloguing the various flaws he already knew and noting new quirks.
"Tokyo's got 4 first-years starting. This is bullshit. I can't believe he benched me. I can understand Kurokocchi and even Akashicchi, but me? I'm a main scorer. I'm super important. Whaaaah, I'm not a newbie…"
Kuroko's palm collided with Kise's forehead. "Kise-kun, please be quiet. You're kind of making me angry.
Kise attempted to protest, but Akashi interjected before he could. "Ryōta, please do silence yourself. I'm trying to find counterattacks to Satsuki's data. Be annoying elsewhere."
"I can't go anywhere else, Akashicchi! And the game's going to start in a minute!"
A whistle pierced the air not a second after Kise's observation and the starter's rushed forward, Nebuya and Murasakibara both rushing to grab the ball. Murasakibara's palm made contact first, and he sent it spinning into Aomine's waiting hands.
Like a ganguro bullet, Aomine shot towards the opposition's net, body coiling as he avoided all three defenders, one by one. With cat-like grace, Aomine spun flashily before dunking the ball through the hoop, muscles flexing as he held onto the basket and dangled for a second longer than was necessary. "Take that, Bakagami!" He shouted, smirking at the American in an obvious challenge.
Kagami's eye ticked for a second before he too was grinning at the darker male. "You're gonna wish you'd never said that, Ahomine."
Aomine only smiled wider before flinging the ball at Kagami, hard. "I'll give you an advantage, take it or leave it."
"You…" Kagami shook, anger burrowing itself beneath his skin. His bisected eyebrows furrowed as he turned the ball in his hands, musing upon his choices.
"Hey, idiot, start moving or pass. You've only got a second." Haizaki shouted, silver head ducking in and out of Kagami's vision as Eiji blocked the delinquent religiously.
The rude shout wrenched Kagami from his indecision, his arms moving of their own accord to toss the ball towards Takao. Fingers pushed the ball, only to have it snatched from his hands. The green-haired shooting guard slipped into position, letting the ball fly before Kagami could react. The basketball swished through the hoop, all net. "Hm, it seems that your advantage was no help, Aomine." Emerald eyes blazed as they turned towards the darker player. "Also, don't ever do that again. It's distasteful. No underestimating our opponents. Fight with everything you have from the start."
"Tch, stop worrying. These guys are good, but we're all together again. There's no way we'll lose to these idiots."
Akashi watched as Nebuya muscled his way past Murasakibara, gaining the rebound. Instantaneously, he threw the ball into Takao's waiting hands. The point guard out-maneuvered Giichi, but was blocked by a determined Midorima. The two traded jibes before Takao ducked out of the confrontation with a pass to Himuro. Face blank, he shot, ball finding its way to the net flawlessly.
Kuroko turned, as did Kise, when Akashi tensed visibly, teeth clacking together loudly. "Akashi-kun, is something wrong?"
Gut still roiling with a sense of unease, Akashi replied. "This game is going to be harder than we thought. They have a trick up their sleeve." Mismatched eyes followed an unusually-subdued Haizaki, calculations running beneath their heterochromatic gaze. "If we aren't careful, this game's tide will turn at any moment."
A/N Hehe, don't kill me. I value my life, so don't get mad. There's been a lot of shit (mostly in the form of schoolwork and college applications) recently, so I haven't written this in a while. Also, I've written this damn chapter three times already (Literally, I've written the entire fucking thing, read it, and deleted it again.) So…yeah. I'm sorry. If it helps, I still love you all *laughs shakily*