Author's Note: Hi everyone, thanks for the feedback on the previous chapter and also thanks to everyone who has voted on the poll so far, I'm going to leave it up for a while longer before I show the results. I hope you all enjoy this next chapter and as always, many apologies for typos and grammar errors.

Important: I would like to address my stories that were once here, but have been taken down. First and foremost, I did not like the concept of how things had started going in either stories, so I decided to put them on hold for a bit to see if I could salvage them. I am very sorry if you liked the stories I took down, but if I do not like them myself I will not force myself to write them, henceforth when I found them un-salvagable in my own opinion, I took them down. Secondly, I do want to put my main focus on Shadow Play. Thirdly, I will write other Kuroko no Basuke fictions in the future. Currently, I am working on one now to make up for my Midorima and Takao story I had previously. Fourthly, I appreciate everyone who did like those stories and I really am sorry that I took them down, and I hope that doesn't discourage you from reading my newest story that will be coming out in a couple of weeks. If it does, well there isn't much I can do about that. Either way I hope you can understand, thank you for reading and supporting my works. I hope you are not angry/disappointed.


REQUEST

Tetsumi stared at the calendar date marked on her phone. Three days ago, Seirin had defeated Shutoku High School by three points. It was one of the most talked about games that happened over the weekend. The underdog team had brought two kings to their knees. Everyone was now recognizing Seirin as a threat, but before they could truly earn such a title they'd have to win the Inter-High. Tetsumi wasn't afraid, she knew her team had it in them. They had a fighting spirit and strong determination to win.

She snapped her blue phone shut and stuffed it into her pocket. Practice was about to begin for the day, but Riko had told both Tetsumi and Kagami to sit out for a few days until their injuries healed. The redhead hated it, wanting nothing more than to play. Tetsumi chuckled at his anxiousness to play. He was in many ways like the Aomine she had met in her first year of middle school. Kagami dribbled a ball as he sat on the bench, looking completely bored while Riko had the rest of the team running drills.

Kagami stopped dribbling the ball and yawned. Tetsumi looked at him for a moment before looking back at the rest of the team. She watched them as they practiced their passing. Riko told them that they had to get better at it; she wanted it to be seamless. Tetsumi couldn't argue with that, seamless passing among a team meant less steals and turnovers in a game. Seirin didn't particularly suffer from either, but it was still a risk they didn't need to take.

"They're releasing the teams tomorrow," Tetsumi said as she leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees. "We'll find out who our next opponent will be for the championship league." She turned her attention to Kagami as he spun a basketball on the tip of his finger. He pushed it up and changed it to spin on another finger before stopping it entirely to look at her.

"Where did the other Generation of Miracles go?" Kagami asked suddenly, completely changing the subject.

"Is that all you think about?" Tetsumi retorted with a snort. The redhead looked away and shrugged his shoulders as he rolled the basketball back and forth on the back of his hand. "There's only one other in Tokyo, the rest went elsewhere." Tetsumi brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and watched the team practicing lay-ups.

"So that means that one of them will most likely be in the championship league for the Inter-High," Kagami deduced with a thoughtful look. He found it hard to believe that they wouldn't be semifinals, but he wasn't sure what team they'd be on. As it was both Kise and Midorima were going to well known schools, so Kagami assumed the next one would probably go to a popular school as well.

"His name is Aomine Daiki," Tetsumi revealed.

"And what's his great gift?" Kagami asked curiously.

"He's like you," Tetsumi said, turning to look at Kagami. The redhead's brows furrowed together as he stared back at her. "He's the ace of the Generation of Miracles, the first to find his hidden talents out of them all."

"What's he like?" Kagami asked.

"Lazy, hardheaded, kind of an ass, but I like him anyways," Tetsumi listed with a laugh. She hadn't seen or heard from him since the kiss outside the cafe before the Shutoku game. It somewhat annoyed her, but it wasn't like she had really reached out to him either. Although, Tetsumi felt that since she asked him what he wanted it was up to him to make the next move. The ball was essentially in his court, but if she waited on him things may never happen. "Overall, he's really one hell of a player. He used to eat, sleep, and breathe basketball then things changed."

"How?" Kagami pressed.

"He just did," Tetsumi answered with a halfhearted shrug. Kagami could tell it wasn't that simple, he refused to believe it was that simple. Of course, if Tetsumi didn't want to tell him he would have to hold his tongue. It was a sensitive topic to her, so he could understand her reluctance. "Sometimes I think it's my fault that they changed."

Kagami raised a brow at her. That was a crazy thought; Tetsumi was such a nice girl and hardly caused any trouble at all. He couldn't imagine any of those guys changing because of her. She loved basketball and wanted everyone she played with to love it too. Kagami shook his head and snorted, telling her there was no possible way it was her fault.

"But it is," Tetsumi muttered sadly, and Kagami frowned. He bumped her with his shoulder and she looked at him. The redhead shook his head and told her firmly that whatever happened couldn't possibly be her fault. "They changed after this," she pointed to her braced leg and Kagami blinked.

"Munchkin," he said firmly, reaching for her face so she would look at him. "You didn't tell them to change, you didn't force them to change, and you getting injured is certainly not your fault. Things happen, people change, there's nothing we can do about that." He let go of her face and smiled weakly before standing up.

Riko blew her whistle twice and the boys on the court nearly collapsed from exhaustion. The coach told everyone they had done good work today and that they should head home and get some rest. It was a welcomed suggestion as the boys tried to catch their breaths. Sweat rolled down their face, their shirts were stained with sweat, and they all looked like zombies in Tetsumi's opinion. Perhaps having a mild injury wasn't that bad after all.

"Listen the game is in eight days!" Riko announced and everyone looked at her. "We won't know our opponent until tomorrow afternoon, but the date of the game is set." The coach placed her hands on her hips and turned around to look at Kagami and Tetsumi. "I know you both probably want to practice too, but we can't risk it. We'll need you both to be pictures of health at the championship league kick off."

"I'm actually enjoying the bench," Tetsumi joked lightly while Kagami started off on a rampage about how he was perfectly fine and Riko was worried for no reason and a whole bunch of other things. As the redhead continued to rant and rave, Tetsumi could see Riko was starting to get annoyed. Before Riko got to the point of no return and beat Kagami senseless, Tetsumi gently pushed the toe of her foot at the bend of Kagami's knee. He yelped as he flailed his arms trying to keep from falling.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" Kagami growled as he whipped around, glaring daggers at Tetsumi.

"I know you wanna play, Kagami-kun, but you're more vital in the games than practice. Listen to the coach," Tetsumi said calmly, hoping that Kagami would hush before he said something stupid. The redhead pouted a bit as he slowly and reluctantly sat back down on the bench beside Tetsumi. "Very good," Tetsumi said with a smile and looked back to Riko.

"Bakagami!" Riko snapped and said redhead flinched at the sharpness. "Do not play basketball at all until I tell you too!" She pointed at him accusingly, and Tetsumi chuckled a bit. Asking Kagami not to play basketball was like asking a hungry lion not to eat a mangled animal carcass.

"Fine," Kagami muttered bitterly.

"That goes for you, Tetsumi-chan," Riko smiled, her words more friendly and motherly. Kagami rolled his eyes as Tetsumi nodded in agreement, assuring Riko she wouldn't do anything reckless. "Good, I'll see you two tomorrow at practice." The coach waved to them as she walked away, leaving Kagami and Tetsumi alone in the gym.

"This sucks," Kagami grumbled as he started gathering up his belongings. "My legs are fine."

"Oh stop," Tetsumi chided, waving a finger at him as she stood up and gathered her things as well. She slung her bag's strap onto her shoulder and smiled at him, seeing he was very restless. "Riko-chan is just looking out for you, besides if you tear a muscle you'll probably have to sit out the rest of the championships. Just roll with it for now." Tetsumi patted his arm in a comforting manner and started walking towards the door with Kagami following after her.

"So if you found me playing basketball somewhere would you say anything to the coach?" Kagami asked curiously as they both exited the gym together. The air was humid and the skies were grey. The wind picked up a bit and the smell of air filled their nostrils.

"I don't think I'd have to tell her, that girl has the eyes of a predatory bird," Tetsumi laughed as she looked up at Kagami. "She'd probably figure out you played basketball before you even walked in the door. To answer your question though, if I saw you playing basketball while you shouldn't I'd either join you or kick your ass for Riko-chan," Tetsumi answered with a sly smile, which caused Kagami to sputter.

"You kick my ass?" Kagami asked comically. "I've swatted flies bigger than you," he teased, placing a hand on her head. Tetsumi sighed and slapped his hand away, she hated when people ruffled her hair. Murasakibara did it all the time and if he wasn't such a good player and she wouldn't be thrown in prison, she probably would have hacked both his arms off.

"I know how to handle you tall ones," Tetsumi shot back with a smirk and playfully kicked Kagami in the knee. He stumbled a bit and she stuck her tongue out at him. "You go for their knees."

Kagami shook his head. "Well at least I know you're scrappy," he told her.

"Look at these guns," Tetsumi deadpanned as she lifted her arms, and Kagami's head fell between his shoulders.

"Just don't go picking fights with anyone," Kagami told her, causing the girl to chuckle. "Want to go to Maji Burger?" he asked when they reached the front entrance of the school.

Tetsumi was about to say she could use a vanilla shake, but a black car rolled up across the street. She recognized the car very well, and she was surprised to see it. Kagami didn't seem to notice anything at all.

"I can't today, but how about tomorrow?" Tetsumi asked, ripping her eyes off of the black car.

"Yeah sure," Kagami agreed with a single nod, but noticed Tetsumi's eyes kept flicking over to a car parked near the end of the block. "You okay? You keep looking at that car." He nodded towards the black car, and Tetsumi opened her mouth to speak, but just shook her head.

"I have to go, see you tomorrow in class okay," she said with a smile and ran towards the car. Kagami wanted to protest, not understanding why she was running to a car that seemed to scare her moments ago. "Remember! Don't play any basketball!" she hollered and waved to him as the car door opened and a redhead stepped out. Tetsumi turned around and looked at the redhead, who said something to her. He got back into the car and Tetsumi looked back at Kagami.

Her teammate watched as she got into the car and shut the door. As the car slowly drove passed him, Kagami watched until it went around a corner. The redhead in the car wasn't very tall maybe a little more that Tetsumi. He had been dressed in a school uniform that he didn't recognize and there was something about him. Kagami had never felt intimidated by someone standing across a road. He wondered how Tetsumi knew someone like him, but then it dawned on him.

"Maybe he was one of them," Kagami mused as he made his way towards Maji Burger to get something to eat.

Tetsumi watched as Akashi's driver drove them down the road. She wasn't sure where Akashi had told him to take them. When Akashi had gotten out of the car, he had asked her if Kagami was her teammate. She told him that he was, and Akashi got back into the car. Now they were both just rode in silence, sitting side by side in the back seat of the car. Tetsumi debated if she should speak first, but Akashi seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"How's your knee?" Akashi asked.

"What?"

"I saw the game against Shutoku," Akashi stated simply, and Tetsumi's mouth opened slightly. She didn't expect him to come to Tokyo to watch that, but then again his team could have been playing at some point over the weekend. "You stumbled at one of your lay-ups and that final shot, you were very stiff after you landed." Akashi crossed one leg over the other and looked at Tetsumi with a small smile.

"I'm fine," Tetsumi said. "You don't have to worry about me." She looked into his unique eyes and smiled weakly. Akashi may have been cruel and unusual sometimes, but he took care of his friends. He wasn't always cold when she first met him; he was actually surprisingly a warm-hearted person. It wasn't until after her injury and the Generation of Miracles bloomed that he became the person sitting beside her.

"First Shintaro tells me you and Daiki had reconciled and seemed to be getting close," Akashi began and Tetsumi sighed, knowing exactly where he was going, "Shuzo then proceeds to tell me that he saw you two kissing outside a café the day of the game."

Tetsumi closed her eyes and cursed Nijimura inwardly. She was sure he didn't know anything and probably meant no harm, but Akashi wasn't reasonable about this at all. When she saw Midorima next, she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

"You and Rima-kun still talk?" Tetsumi said, trying to change the subject.

"Don't change the subject," Akashi commanded, and Tetsumi sighed dejectedly. "If you will not listen to me, then you leave me no choice."

"Sei-kun," Tetsumi groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Whatever it is, I'm saying no. Dai-kun and I, or whomever I see is not for you to decide." She dropped her hands into her lap and looked at him.

"Very well then," Akashi replied.

"What?" Tetsumi asked with her mouth falling open. That was almost too easy; she already had a whole speech ready to give him. "Are you serious?"

"Yes," Akashi replied softly with a single nod. "But I have one request."

"Of course," Tetsumi stifled a laugh with rolled her pretty eyes. "There's always a catch." She shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. He couldn't just be happy for her and let it go, he had to have some form of control. Sometimes she really wanted to tell him what she really thought of him. Unlike the others, Tetsumi wasn't really afraid of him. He was intimidating and harsh, but he wouldn't hurt her or any of the Generation of Miracles.

"When the game with Daiki comes up, you will not play," Akashi stated firmly.

"Excuse me? No way!" Tetsumi snapped, officially pissed off that Akashi would dare tell her to sit out of a game.

"If you get hurt in a game because of Daiki he will never forgive himself, Tetsumi," Akashi stated firmly, causing the girl to fall silent. He was right Daiki would be crushed. "He will play you at his full potential, I know that much is true. However, if you get hurt because of that, then what you want to do will never happen."

Tetsumi looked at Akashi with wide eyes. "What I want to do?" she repeated.

"You want to make us love basketball again, do you not?" Akashi inquired.

"And if I decide to play against Dai-kun anyways?"

"I think his guilt will be more than enough punishment," Akashi said simply, causing Tetsumi to glare at him. "You may not get hurt, but the probability of that is very low. I'm taking your advice, Tetsumi," the redhead told her with a small smile. "I'm not telling you this as your old captain, I'm telling you this as a friend."

Tetsumi felt the car stop moving and realized Akashi had brought her to her house. She looked out the window for a moment and licked her lips before looking back to him. He nodded to her, telling her to think about it. She wasn't sure what to do. Aomine would certainly never forgive her if she backed out because of Akashi. By the same token though, he could be understanding. Tetsumi snorted at that thought, Aomine would be furious. She also couldn't let her team go against him alone, she wanted to help them, and she wanted to play Aomine honestly.

"Thank you, Sei-kun," Tetsumi said as she opened the car door and climbed out. She ducked her head back inside the car and looked at him. "You almost remind me of the you I met my first week at Teiko. I miss that guy," she admitted with a smile and shut the door before stepping back.

Akashi looked at Tetsumi through the window and smirked. He told his driver to take him back to his hotel. As they drove away, Akashi watched as Tetsumi waved to them.

Once Akashi was gone, Tetsumi let her hand fall back to her side. She muttered a few cursed under her breath and turned on her heels. As always, Akashi gave her a lot to think about. Of course, back then he just bullied her into it. He was never mean, but he always seemed to be pushing her in some direction. Tetsumi made her way up the stairs to her floor.

"Oh Tetsumi-chan! Just the girl I was looking for," a woman cheerily said, causing Tetsumi to look up. She quickly smiled when she realized it was her neighbor. "I have a favor to ask you." The woman was in her late twenties and married to a very fancy businessman. Tetsumi remembered when they first moved in five years ago, her father and the woman's husband talked for hours.

"Good afternoon, Akimoto-san," Tetsumi said with a smile as she jogged up the stairs, meeting the caramel haired woman. "How can I help?" she asked politely, looking into the woman's bright hazel eyes.

"My husband I have to go to a company party on Friday, unfortunately my mother is on vacation and can't watch my daughter," Akimoto explained, looking very hopeful that Tetsumi would be available to babysit. "Could you possibly babysit her that evening?"

"Yeah, absolutely," Tetsumi agreed with a bright smile. "I don't have a game and I'm not working, so I'd be happy to look after her for you."

Akimoto's daughter was a new born when they first moved in. She was the cutest little baby. Tetsumi had been babysitting her since she was two years old. They would go to the park in the summer to play at the playground and swim at the public pool. She had the cutest spiral curls that her mother always put in cute pigtails. Her smile was so sweet and innocent, but she was a little diva from time to time. Sometimes, Tetsumi liked to think of the little girl as the little sister she never had.

"That's great! Kimi-chan will be so happy," Akimoto exclaimed as she clapped her hands together. "The party is at six, so I'll bring her by around 5:30 and hopefully we'll be back around ten."

"Sure, I can't wait to see her," Tetsumi agreed. The woman thanked her one last time before she made her way down the stairs. With a smile, Tetsumi plucked her keys from her bag and got to her door. She unlocked the door and dropped her bag onto the floor when she came in. When she pushed the door closed, she kicked of her shoes off and decided to make something to eat.

As Tetsumi entered her kitchen, she yelped when she saw Aomine sitting at the table. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at her. The arctic haired teen huffed and shook her head. Aomine had a really bad habit of breaking and entering her house. Of course, was it really breaking and entering when he had a key? Tetsumi had sworn she took it away from him though after the last time he came in asking her to go to his school.

"What are you doing here?" Tetsumi finally asked once she got over the initial shock of finding Aomine in her house.

"I wanted to take you to dinner tonight," Aomine explained as he stood up. Tetsumi blinked a few times and noticed he wasn't wearing his school uniform. He actually looked very handsome in some dark washed jeans and a tight fitting t-shirt that showed off his muscles. "So I hope you're hungry."

"What if I said I wasn't?" Tetsumi teased as she walked towards him, placing her hands on her hips. She looked up at him and Aomine smirked as he looked down at her. He had to try his hardest to not grab her and kiss her. The desire was boiling inside though as he looked at her beautiful face.

"Then you can just watch me eat," he replied with a smirk as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. Tetsumi blushed very slightly and shook her head, pushing him away from her. "You can't lie to me though, I know you eat like a baby dinosaur."

Tetsumi's cheeks puffed up and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I do not!" she snapped, sticking her tongue out at him.

"I'm not judging," Aomine laughed as he held his hands up to swear his innocence. Tetsumi rolled her eyes at him and smiled as she shook her head. "Go get dressed."