The Generation of Miracles Reincarnated
Chapter 28
Kuroko heard rustling in the temporary bed beside his where his redheaded captain slept on. More rustling. Sighing, he broke the silence, "Akashi-kun, you can't sleep either?"
Akashi-kun turned to face Kuroko. "Yeah. I don't know what will happen tomorrow. It's going to start tomorrow… I can't wait but yet I feel slightly nervous. You can't sleep either?"
"Yeah. That's normal. It's what everyone feels. Wait till you see Kagami-kun tomorrow," Kuroko replied.
"Taiga?"
"Yeah. You'll see."
They paused for a while, absorbed in their own thoughts.
"Tetsuya, can I sleep in your bed with you? I really can't sleep," Akashi-kun asked softly, unsure if the bluenette had already slept.
Kuroko blushed but agreed.
"And one more thing, Tetsuya. I've been calling you by your first name for so long, so I want you to call me by my first name too."
"No. Akashi-kun is fine. It's more polite."
"Do you want to call me Sei instead of Seijūrō?"
"No. I'll stick with this."
"Yes, it's an order."
"No, I don't want to comply with that."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes, or no more vanilla milkshakes for you."
A pause.
"Fine. Seijūrō-kun."
Kuroko could see Aka–Seijūrō-kun smile slightly before settling down in his bed. Not long after, the two drifted off into the land of sleep, content with the other's warmth.
The whole swarm of people around the gymnasium was like ten times the normal swarm during the Winter Cup. "Whoah whoah! Look! Look at them! Look at the teams! We're screwed!" Hayama-kun shouted, excitement in his voice.
"Shut up! Don't curse us, Hayama!" Mibuchi-kun yelled.
A loud and long burp rang through the area, stopping the surrounding people in their tracks. "NEBUYA!" Mibuchi-kun yelled once again. The others who had arrived sighed at their antics.
Just then, the tallest redhead in the group appeared, eyes red and wide. He looked like a monster.
"KAGAMI/KAGAMICCHI/BAKAGAMI/TAIGA! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!" everyone except for Kuroko yelled simultaneously.
"Are you still a kid?" Kuroko asked.
"Oi. Shut it. I was just excited, alright?" Kagami-kun growled. Everyone laughed, with Aomine-kun slapping his knee in laughter.
"Excited about what?" Aomine-kun said between laughs. Kuroko did not really get the joke but some others whacked his head really hard.
Sighing, Akashi-kun shushed the group, ordering them to get into the gymnasium by the back door to avoid paparazzi and fans. They were fortunate that they were quite early so the place was not too crowded. Another fortunate point was that they were only seventeen, which was a rare age for Olympic basketball players. Most people just assumed they were school students coming to watch the games.
They still had about an hour before the opening would start, so Momoi-san decided to go through the plans. They were going to reserve the Generation of Miracles until a need arises. Meanwhile, they were going to use the second team, including Mayuzumi-kun at times.
Aomine-kun then asked a deadly question. "Oi, Satsuki, you didn't make lemons, did you?"
Momoi-san smiled almost too brightly. "I did! Here!" She brought out a blue lunchbox and opened it to reveal… Rotten sliced lemons. "I was so excited I made it a week ago! I even cut them!" Everyone visibly gulped.
"Oh god…" Aomine-kun silently cursed. "Hey, anyone made lemons?! Someone save us!"
The rest shrunk back from the food, having tasted Momoi-san's cooking in the past year of being on the same team. Kagami-kun sighed and brought out his own lunchbox. The players for that day cheered.
"Ahh, Kagamin has lemons? Ah then you others can eat mine!" Momoi-san suggested.
Kuroko quickly refused her offer, saying that they did not need lemons since they were not going to be subbed out today anyway. Pouting, Momoi-san just kept the lunchbox.
The opening ceremony, in Kuroko's opinion, was quite boring, though he noticed that there were sixteen teams. And most of them were so tall. The emcee there even had to repeat the speech in so many languages that he himself started fidgeting. Thanks to his learning English, he could pick out a few words and terms used.
He looked up into the seats but there were so many people he could barely recgonise anyone, until his vision saw rows of similarly clothed people. Glancing through, he saw the red, black and white of the Seirin basketball uniform. He smiled to himself, glad that his own team had come to support them.
After what seemed like an eternity of boringness, the games could finally start. They were going to play a game everyday for six days straight, and if they were to advance to the semifinals, which Aka–Seijūrō-kun was sure they would or he will slit their throats, they would have to continue on the eleventh and thirteenth day. Their first opponent was Senegal at six thirty in the evening, so they could waste some time until then.
It was ironic, as Seirin's second Inter-High's first round was against the tall Papa, or as Kuroko dubbed him, 'Otō-san', from Senegal. The group stared at the players from Senegal. Just like Otō-san was, their average height was taller than Kuroko by miles.
"They are just like Otō-san," Kuroko muttered. Unfortunately, Aomine-kun heard that and guffawed.
"TETSU, YOUR DAD IS IN THE SENEGAL TEAM?!" he yelled.
"Shhhhh. No that's—"
"IT'S TRUE?"
"No—"
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AOMINE YOU ARE SUCH AN AHOMINE!" Kagami-kun laughed. Of course, since he was against Otō-san before, he knew who Kuroko was referring to, unlike a certain dark-skinned bluenette.
"Oi, don't call me that!" Aomine-kun yelled.
Sighing, Kuroko just explained to them who Otō-san was. Now Aomine-kun was face-walling in the locker room, feeling very dumb. "Alright. The first games between Poland and Philippines will start. We will go watch all possible games to get a grasp on what our opponents would be like, since we had very little information as they are not from Japan. Bring whatever you need and let's go," Seijūrō instructed.
As the exited the locker rooms, they bumped into other teams. Namely, the Senegal team. "Regardez ! Ils sont si petits !" one of them said in French, pointing at their team.
"What did they say, Seijūrō-kun?" Kuroko mumbled.
In Japanese, Seijūrō-kun recited, "They said that we are small." You could practically feel the killer intent from the redhead. Out of all of them, Kuroko and Seijūrō-kun never, I repeat, NEVER, liked being called small. The rest who were taller, though, fumed in anger, as they were already considered tall.
"We will beat them," all of them silently vowed before storming off to find available seats.
