At Touou…

"Aomine! Where have you been?! You can't just skip practice for no reason! You're coming to practice this afternoon, right?"

"Ha… you can't be serious. Oi Sakurai, give me some of that lunch. It looks gooood~"

"B-but…"

"Sakurai don't give him that! "

"Shut up Wakamatsu… I can skip practice as long as I have a reason, right? They said they would confiscate my Horikita Mai photo book if I left it here. I just came to get this."

Wakamatsu is furious as he watched Aomine jump off the stage at the front of the gym. Angry beyond reason, he runs after Aomine and grabs his collar.

"I said wait! Enough already, I'm telling you to go practice!"

Immediately, the mood dropped as Aomine's face darkens.

"… I'll forgive you once. Let me go."

He kicks Wakamatsu right in the abdomen. Without a care, he walks away from the rest of the team who is having lunch. Putting down his Horikita Mai photo book, he picks up a basketball that's just lying around the court.

"Practice? Don't make me laugh. Ryo, how many points did I score at our last game?"

"U-uh… 82 points…"

Aomine runs for a lay-up and to everyone's shock, rips the hoop right off the back board as he slams a dunk.

"Whoops… I did it again…" Aomine chuckles while everyone stares at him on the other side of the court, some with concern, some with fear.

"I don't think you can practice with this thing. Let's see… what was I trying to say? Oh right. You can talk after you perform better than me…

Not that you ever will. "

The captain walks over to Wakamatsu as Aomine exits the gym.

"Are you okay? Sorry about that."

"Dammit! Why are you apologizing Captain?!"

"You're not wrong… but don't say anything else to Aomine. In the world of sports… sometimes when a player is too strong, they change the rules. They're not common, but they really do exist. They're unfairly strong… like monsters. Aomine is just one of them."

"B-but-"

"It'll do you no good, worrying about him like that."

"W-who said I was worried?!"

"Just leave him be, as long as he shows up to the games, I got no complaints."

Wakamatsu couldn't say anything in return. He could only wonder if Aomine will ever show up to their practices on his own.

Meanwhile at Seirin, Haruka just finished distributing the sheet with the names of all the schools appearing in the championship league as Riko talked.

"As you can all see, A block is us, B block is Touou Academy, C block is Meisei, and D block is Senshinkan. These four schools will compete to represent our region."

Hyuuga took a good look at the names and was a little impressed.

"This is a fresh league chart… until last year, the championship league always included the thre kings Shutoku, Seiho and Senshinkan…"

Koganei chimed in with his own funny thought as well, " I've been thinking… we beat two of those teams right? Do you think this year… we could make it all the way?!"

Everyone was beyond shocked to see him voice the thought that's filled everyone's minds. Seeing the reactions, it prompted him to continue.

"Even if we lose to Momoi-chan and Aomine, if we beat the others…!"

Riko sighed… "Those two did not go to Senshinkan… they chose Touou!"

"WHAT?!" That shocked everyone… except for Kuroko and Haruka. No one thought members of the Generation of Miracles would pick something other than well-known schools with a strong basketball team. However, facts don't lie. Momoi and Aomine did something out of everyone's expectations. Riko continue to tell everyone on her findings.

"Their history isn't impressive, but they've been putting energy into their scouting efforts recently, recruiting promising athletes from all over the country. Surely enough, in the last few years they've gained power rapidly, and this years line up can even be compared to shutoku's."

While everyone is a little dejected, Kagami enters the gym late.

"Sorry! Cleaning up took longer than expected! Haruka you ditched us!"

"Sorry, I did tell the other person about it and they were okay with it. I had to go print these papers for Riko-senpai." Haruka nonchalantly waved the print outs she just handed out.

"You asked the other person and didn't tell me?!"

"I knew you won't mind…" Haruka's voice faded out when she noticed a very angry Riko staring at Kagami.

"Kagami-kun…. Did you play basketball?! Your numbers are even worse than before!"

"N-no…. well I… just a little….!"

Riko screamed before giving Kagami a beating on how he never listens to her. This new information only made Haruka cringe. "Taiga-chan don't tell me you…" …played Daiki the day we were all at the pool?

Riko made Kagami walk on his hands to go get a cooling pad from the nurse's office and sit out of practice. Other than Haruka, no one noticed a certain phantom following Kagami as he exited the gym on his hands. "I'll just let Tetsuya handle this…" Haruka sighed as she sits down on the side of the stage.

Riko has calmed down a bit, but her eyebrows were still tense.

"I can't believe him! Going about on his own without a care, when our first game is against Touou Academy!"

That earned a gasp from everyone in the gym. However, Haruka's mind was elsewhere. "The old light against the new… it definitely didn't go well… I hope Kagami won't be too bother by this." Haruka knew Aomine loved basketball more than anyone and has been a basketball junkie for the longest time. He practiced harder than anyone else. While none of the Generation of Miracles started off as extraordinary players, Aomine was the first to bloom… so sudden and so much sooner than everyone else. At the time in middle school, no one could stop him. He alone can destroy the opponent. Although this happened after Haruka left, she cared about him enough to have people find out more about him during the last two years at Teiko.

"He started skipping practice more and more… just so he won't get even better, so that he can still have competition. I don't blame him though… if it were up to me, I would be scared too."

"What are you scared about?" Riko must've heard a murmur from her, because she sat down next to Haruka with concern over her face.

"It's nothing important, really… it's just… Are we really in the condition to face Touou right now…?"

It was Riko's first time seeing Haruka show concern about the team, but it's not as though she doesn't understand where she's coming from.

"I know it seems far fetched to think we stand a chance against Aomine when we all know what a monster he is, but we've come so far, we can't just let one person affect our performance. I've chosen to look at the bright side of this, even if we lose against him, it will only make our resolve stronger. We just gotta do our very best!"

"Senpai…" Haruka swallowed her worries and smiled. "You're right, there's no reason to give up now… as a manager I can only do my best to support them… But as someone who knew Da- Aomine for a while, I really hope Seirin and Tetsuya can bring back his love for the sport…"

Riko knew there was more to her worries than it seems, but she opted to focus on the current events for now. She believes that Haruka will open up once she's ready to talk.

After practice, Riko made sure to remind everyone to have a good night's rest, especially Kagami. Everyone is tense, knowing they need to be at their best condition for the game that is coming up very soon.

(-)

On the day of the game, Haruka woke up extra early so that she can look her best. Reason? To not lose against Momoi, at least on looks.

"I swear I normally don't care about these things…" As she plugs in her curling iron and applied some natural looking make up on her face. Putting on a song she recently released on her website, she hums as she gets ready to leave the house. Not long after she is satisfied with her appearance, she receives a text message.

"Kise? What does he want now?" When she opens her messages, she lit up in a smile.

Kise Ryouta 8:15am

"Big day today! Have fun and good luck!"

Shibasaki Haruka 8:16am

"Thanks. Are you coming to watch?"

"With the team, I mean?"

Kise Ryouta 8:17am

"I don't know… but does that mean you want me to be there?! :D"

Shibasaki Haruka 8:19am

"I don't particularly care. You don't have to though."

Kise Ryouta 8:19am

"Don't be so mean~ I'll definitely come if I can!"

Kise Ryouta 8:21am

"Haru-chii are you ignoring me…?"

" :'( "

"Haru-chiiiiiiiiiiiii~~~~"

Haruka chuckled to herself as she got ready to leave the house after having a very filling breakfast. Although the championship league doesn't start until evening, she decided to not go to school today in order to prepare herself for what's coming tonight. However, she finished all her errands way sooner than expected.

"hmmm what should I do for the next few hours?" Haruka wandered the streets in her sports jersey and bag full of snacks, including honey soaked lemons that she made for the team.

"Maybe I'll ask Riko if she wants me to bring any drinks. It's cheaper to buy it in bulk rather than at the vending machine after all."

While she was distracted by her thoughts, she bumped into a passer by and had dropped some of her bagged snacks she was carrying in her hands while the stranger's coffee spilled all over his shirt.

"I'm very sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Haruka immediately bowed to apologize for her carelessness, but the man she ran into stopped her and had picked up all her things before she realized it.

"Please don't apologize, I was also at fault…!" When the man stopped mid-sentence, Haruka curiously looked up at him. It was a man she has never seen before, but somehow felt familiar to her. It felt a little awkward after he stopped talking to look at her, and Haruka felt slightly uncomfortable, but can't bring herself to look away because she knew she's seen this man somewhere before.

"Um… even if you say that… I bumped into you and spoiled your shirt… please let me pay for dry-cleaning." Haruka bowed deeply once again. The man appeared to be a little flustered.

"P-please stop apologizing, we were equally at fault… I was on the way over to meet my girlfriend, I can just stop by her place to change. It's close by anyways, so please don't worry about it."

Haruka was touched by how nice and calm he was at handling this situation. However, before she could say anything else…

"Takashi-kun?"

The man turned to look behind her and his face lit up. It must be the girlfriend he's meeting up with… but that voice…

Haruka hesitantly turned around. When her eyes met the owner of the voice, they both dropped a jaw.

"H-Haruka-chan?"

"… Miyuki…"

Both girls were too shocked about this coincidence to say another word, but the man, Takashi, seemed to have read the situation.

"Hey Miyuki… I'm going to quickly grab a shirt from the store to change into. Since you two… know each other, why not catch up a little? I'll be back in 10 minutes!" He gently pats her head understandingly, give Haruka a quick nod, and walks off in the direction of the closest clothing store. When the girls are finally alone, Miyuki smiled, although it looks a little forced.

"I… I haven't seen you in a while… how have you been?"

"Well… it's a little busy right now, but I'm managing."

"…"

"You know… I knew I've seen him somewhere before, but it was him, wasn't it? The man I saw at the park with you before."

"… yeah, Takashi-kun has been… really good to me… How's…"

"Kise? Well, he's currently focusing a lot more on basketball, from what I've heard from him and Yukio-senpai."

"Haruka-chan… do you… do you hate me for what happened?"

When Miyuki dropped the question they both knew would come, Haruka was silent in thought. Did she blame him? She couldn't. She had nothing to do with their relationship… although she did blame herself for suggesting such a bizarre idea to become the fake girlfriend to cover up the scandal.

"Do you want to grab something to drink at that café while we wait for your boyfriend?"

"Um.. okay…"

Haruka decided to go somewhere more relaxing first. She could tell Miyuki was nervous about seeing her right now. After they got their drinks and sat down, Haruka speaks up.

"I don't blame you. I don't blame him for walking away that night either."

"You knew what happened then…"

"I got a call from him, must've been right after he walked away… I have never seen myself as a mother figure before but I definitely felt like one that night." Haruka chuckled lightly.

"I'm sorry for dumping our problem on you…"

"Miyuki… it's okay. No matter what happens, I still see you two as my good friends. It's only right for me to stand by you guys if you reach out for help, right?"

Miyuki was visibly touched by her words and she sheds a few tears. "Thank you, Haruka-chan… That night… what Ryouta-kun saw… was actually after me and Takashi-kun talked about how we feel for each other. I actually tried to call Ryouta-kun a few times so we can talk, the two of us… but I guess he was still at work so he didn't answer. I should've talked to him sooner… Yukio-kun also spoke to me about this, but I was too scared to say anything. Ryouta-kun was nothing but nice to me, I didn't know how to bring it up…"

"That just shows that you really did care about him, Miyuki. But I do agree with Yukio-senpai. If you had talked to Kise sooner, maybe this bad blood could be avoided… but what's done is done. Whether the two of you reconcile as friends or not is completely up to the two of you. I think Kise saw it as a betrayal, he definitely trusted you to the very end. As both of your friend, I really want you to realize that."

"I… I know. I really want to talk to him again and apologize… but he's been ignoring my messages and calls since that night… I don't want to make him more upset by just showing up unannounced…"

"Well, you two go to the same school so it shouldn't be hard to pin him down…"

"He turns the other way when he sees me…"

"Sigh… what a brat."

"D-don't say that!"

"But he is… But if you are going to talk to him, please make sure it's not nights before any big games. As Seirin's basketball team manager, I have come to realize how important it is for the players to have a good and calm night before any games."

"Thank you for the suggestion Haruka-chan… By the way, you look like you are preparing for a game, is it the championship leagues already?"

"Yeah, Seirin is playing against Kise's old teammate tonight. I'm just making sure I have everything I needed to support them. Speaking of which, why are you in Tokyo?"

"I actually came down to visit Takashi-kun. He has a piano recital tonight and I really want to see him play on stage!"

"You're such a good girlfriend." Haruka smiled. Thank goodness we are able to talk normally now.

"D-don't say that… it's so embarrassing…"

"Well then, I hope I didn't interrupt your date with him."

"Oh no not at all! We were actually just about to meet up and walk around Tokyo before the recital. It doesn't start until later tonight so we have plenty of time! If anything, I'm glad we ran into each other. I'm so relieved that we can still be friends!"

Both girls smiled at each other as they finish their drinks.

"By the way Haruka-chan… Are you and Ryouta-kun still… fake dating?"

"Yeah… honestly it's because I don't know how to break things off. If we were really dating then we can just break up but…"

"That's true… But… do you want to date him for real…?"

"…! This coming from you is kind of weird…"

"Oh is it…?"

"Yeah… but no, I don't… think I should be dating him for real…"

"What, why?! Even when we were dating, I've always thought you two looked really good together… I was even jealous of you guys!" Miyuki looked backed at the past and giggled.

"W-what…" Haruka on the other hand, was speechless.

"I mean, you both were super good looking and I hate to admit it even now, but I think Ryouta-kun was really able to show his true self when he was around you. You also looked more… smiley and happy."

"I did?" Haruka went from speechless to startled. Meeting with Miyuki certainly didn't go the way she thought it will.

"Yeah. I actually know that Yukio-kun told you not to develop feelings for him out of concern for me, but if you really like him, I think you should go for it! It is weird coming from me, but I really owed it to you before, for covering up for me. I really want the two of you to be happy."

"Thanks for thinking about us, really. I think I'm good for now though. We are both focusing on basketball in our own ways, I think it will be hard to push for a relationship for the both of us right now…" Haruka looked down at her empty cup, and her attention immediately went to her phone that's been signaling non- stop for a while now. When she opened her phone, she noticed plenty of missed calls from Hyuuga, Kuroko, and Kagami, most likely to question her about not being in school.

"Wow look at the time… we haven't really been here for long, but it feels like we talked forever!" Miyuki also checked her phone to see if she received any texts from Takashi. "He's been shopping while waiting for me for a while now… I hope he didn't spend a lot of money…" Miyuki is concerned that Takashi is buying things as he waits for them to finish their conversation but is warmed by the fact that he is giving them time to talk about this.

"It looks like he is a really good man." Haruka was relieved that Takashi is giving her time to talk about this. "I should get going, I've taken enough of your time together. Also, your boyfriend is refusing to let me pay for dry cleaning so I'll at least pay for your drink."

"Oh you don't have to-"

"Please. If you don't let me I'll never speak to you again." Haruka joked.

"N-no… fine you can pay!"

"I'm just kidding about that… but you have truly found yourself a gentleman."

"I feel very lucky to have him too… also Ryouta-kun as well."

"… I suppose Kise is also a good guy…"

"Haha, it's okay to admit the truth. He may be childish and unreasonable at times but under all that, he is a great guy wo really cares about his friends and people he loves."

"I suppose I'll agree with you on that." Haruka's blush didn't go unnoticed.

"Anyways, you should probably get going Haruka-chan, you don't want to keep your team waiting!" Miyuki got up to leave, and Takashi walks into the café at the same time to pick her up. "I'll see you around! Hope we can meet up again soon!"

"Have fun you two." Haruka waved the couple goodbye with a smile on her face. It felt weird to see Miyuki with another man, but she was happy for her from the bottom of her heart. Her cheerfulness didn't last long, however, as Akashi suddenly popped into her head.

"I wonder if Seijuro and I could've been this happy if he never played basketball…"

Thoughts of what could've happened run wild as Haruka imagine what it would be like to go to high school together, go on dates, enjoy family gatherings together, and possibly be engaged already…

"Wait what am I thinking… Anyways all that is impossible now… he probably doesn't even remember who I am anymore… I wonder how his school is doing in the inter-high competitions?"

Haruka pulls out her phone but stops mid-way. "… Sigh, why do I even bother checking… with him on the team, it's impossible for them to lose."

Putting her thoughts about Akashi aside, she takes all her stuff and exits the café. She still has about one and a half hour to kill before school ends. Haruka decides to spend her time at a karaoke place, and so she ended up renting a room all by herself.

"I wonder if anyone is free to join me right now…"

Haruka tries to call her cousin Wataru, and sure enough, the working man pops in 10 minutes after they end the call.

"I can't believe you actually called ME to karaoke! It's been so long Haruka~"

Her cousin, Wataru, is a professional make-up artist who has his own salon. His is one of the high end salons that celebrities would make appointments for, including Kise. He has always wanted to do Haruka's make up but it never happened because she's refused to go to all the parties held by their family. Out of all the cousins, Wataru is the closest to Haruka. When he basically bursts into the karaoke room, he hugged Haruka in a super tight embrace.

"W-Wataru… you know one day you're going to kill me."

"You know I won't! So what's this all about? Don't you have school?"

"I skipped. There's a really important basketball match tonight and I spent all afternoon getting things ready. I ended up here only because I finished sooner than expected and had nothing better to do."

The two chit-chatted as they pick out the first song. Wataru snatched the mic away from Haruka, after deciding he is going to sing a song that has been trending everywhere in the past week. He reluctantly gave Haruka the mic after singing three songs but looks at her with expectations because he knew just how goo she is at singing.

"I can't believe I am getting my own, personal concert from the biggest online sensation ever!"

"You are really exaggerating now. But yes, you are one lucky man to be able to get a one-on-one live from me." Haruka laughed as she gets ready to sing. What the duo didn't know is that in the next room, a certain producer from a big record label is also singing his sorrows away. Haruka didn't hold back, as she performs a song that was covered by AKB48 (A/N: I totally made this up haha).

When the song ended, Wataru was cheering super loudly while hitting the wall really hard with his hands.

"That was amazing! But you know… I don't think I've ever heard you sing a fast beat song or a happy song before."

"Well, every singer has different styles. Mine just so happen to be a style that doesn't sing happy or fast beat songs." Haruka hid the mic away from her cousin. While he pouted, she chose her second song.

"Since I paid for this room, it's only fair that I get to sing more. You also already sang three times."

'You are acting like a 10 year old kid who is very defensive about his toy…"

"Well, I am still a teenager while you are basically an old man. You need to be nicer."

"I'm not even that old! I'm only 25!" Wataru practically wailed and that made Haruka laugh.

"I'm just joking." Haruka looked back at the screen and ignored all of his protests as she waited for her song to play.

"Oh you're finally singing one of your own songs!"

"If I don't get a perfect score on this I think I'm going to need to re-evaluate myself."

Haruka was never one to care about the karaoke score system, but she had some expectations when it comes to her own songs. Surely the machine will realize that the voices are the same and give me a perfect score…

However…

"The machine must be broken."

"Bahahahahaha~ I can't believe this…"

"I'm going to do it again."

"THIRTY SIX! Hahahahahaha! You didn't even pass in the eyes of the karaoke god!" Wataru was rolling on the couch laughing, with tears coming out. Haruka on the other hand, was not impressed with it at all.

"This place needs to upgrade their machines. I sang this perfectly. I'm going to go get a drink. Do you want one?"

"I'll have iced tea!"

Wataru waited in the room while Haruka went downstairs to the front to buy drinks. He decides to pick a song while he waits for her to come back. Just as he was about to start singing, the door to their room bursts open.

"Oh I didn't think you would be this quick-"

"WHO WAS THE ONE WHO SANG THE LAST SONG?!"

"…What?"

A man in his thirties busted into the room and ran up to Wataru. Wataru is not stupid. He knew immediately that this guy came here for Haruka.

"W-what do you want from her?"

"I am a producer from XX label and when I heard her song, I KNEW she was HAL the online sensation! I need to see her! I have so many things to ask her and I just really want to make her famous and-"

"Woah woah woah… slow down… actually…" Wataru fumbles around to make up an excuse. "She… just left! She was really mad that the karaoke machine gave her a score of 36 our of 100 so she left! I was just going to chill around a bit before leaving… haha but I think I'm going to leave now…"

Wataru inches closer to the exit in hopes to ditch the producer, but not before he was caught by the man and had a business card shoved to his face.

"Please make sure she knows about me! I really want to work with her so please pass this business card to her! I'll be waiting for her call!" The producer dashed out the room without containing his excitement, and Wataru sighed in relief.

"Man… I'm glad it was me he ran into… But I think I should give this to Haruka so at least she knows there's a creepy old man out to get her…"

Haruka certainly didn't expect Wataru to drag her out of the karaoke place. He was acting suspiciously cautious as they walked out of the store.

"What's up with you?"

"I'll walk you to the stadium. The streets are unsafe for a pretty lady like you."

"Are you going crazy?"

"No! Ugh listen to me. While you went to grab a drink…." Wataru wasted no time to fill her in on the events that took place while she was out of the room. It took Haruka a while before she fully absorbed this new and crazy information.

"So you're saying… someone who looks sketchy, is saying he is a producer, gave you his 'card' and ran out like a mad man because he heard me sing and wants to meet me?"

"Yeah! You better be careful around 30 year old men with black hair wearing red glasses from now on. He could be following you around everywhere until you say you'll talk to him!"
"Wataru, thank you for your concern but I think your imagination is getting to you. I'm busy enough as it is and becoming famous is not even at the back of my mind right now."

"But… it could change your life. You won't be bored anymore! Isn't that what you want?"

"Yes but you see, after I became the manager of the basketball team, things have never been boring. I am enjoying my life more than I used to, and I think it's because of all the friendships I've made through this sport. Being famous can be really annoying you know… with the media following you around."

"That's true… every time Kise Ryouta comes by, he would always complain about how he's never left alone. You know that guy right? I mean you should, you're dating him…"

"Um… yeah, right." Haruka sweat dropped as her fake relationship is brought up. "Anyways, lets head to the stadium now. It should be about time everyone heads over."

"Maybe I'll stay and watch the game. Your team is playing right?"

"Well yeah, why else would I be going to the stadium with all these snacks?"

"You're so mean~"

Calm before the storm~