*Rises from the ashes like a phoenix* Yo! I'm sorry for the gigantically long wait, but I moved out of my parents house into the adult world and hey... it kicked my booty. Anyway, still alive and kicking! I bring you part one of the Shutoku game! I also apologize because man it's been a long time since I got to write and this chapter is not up to my standards, but it is complete. Furthermore, I've begun editing the first chapters so expect to see some grammar alterations. Finally, THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH. YOU ALL ROCK. 3

Warnings: Bad language, violence, and bad editing (so much bad editing)

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke


Acknowledgement

Part I

Sometimes life just doesn't go your way.

Her head was throbbing, but Hana was not leaving. During the break between games, she'd been approached by each of her team members urging her to go get it checked out. She declined. Repeatedly. Finally, it was down to Riko who ended up giving her an ultimatum. Either get the injury looked at or go home.

Screw that.

"I don't think—" Furihata got cut off by Hana snatching the shirt out of his hand, "Imamura-san—"

"It'll work," Hana insisted, eyeing the white tee-shirt. She was not going home, no way. Screw the rules of head injuries. I've handled worse. Glaring down at the future wrap, Hana lifted the sleeve and ripped. "See, it works. Now hand me the ice, please."

He did so warily, watching the manager's progress. Furihata heard his friends talking behind him, but his attention focused on the poor shirt's remains gradually fluttering to the ground. He really, really hoped Kagami didn't notice the disappearance. Sparing another glance at Hana, Furihata sweat dropped.

Skillfully ignoring the judgement and looping the temporary bandage around her head twice, Hana grabbed the ice and laid it against her forehead. Another loop of the thoroughly stretched shirt and she tied the edges together in an improvised bow underneath her ponytail. Giving her partner in crime an inquiring glance, Hana motioned toward her face, "How do I look?"

Unbeknownst to Hana, her makeshift bandage wasn't the masterpiece she'd hoped for. Instead of a neat and pristine job, the tee-shirt managed to snag several of her hairs, causing her ponytail to be riddled with random fluffs of tangled strands. Not only that, but the icepack she'd placed on her forehead had already started to condensate, leaving a large wet spot in its place.

"…" thinking honesty wasn't the best policy in this case, Furihata offered her a shaky smile, "It looks great, Imamura-san."

"We need to work on your poker face," ignoring the way he blanched at the we, Hana continued, "But thanks for trying to be a gentleman," she flicked her eyes toward the sleeping form of Kagami, "You're better than some assholes I've met."

Like promised, Kagami retrieved some pain medication. The little plastic bottle had been tossed in her direction, but when Hana caught it, she was left to gape at the item in disbelief. Obviously, that idiot couldn't read or he was just too tired from the last game to pay attention. Anyway, he'd, oh so helpfully, handed her a bottle of antacid, leading her to her current predicament of avoiding medical assistance.

Thanks, Kagami.

His mistake had nothing to do with her choice of tee-shirt, oh no. She definitely didn't steal Kagami's out of spite. It was more like… compensation, per say.

Meanwhile, Furihata cautiously watched as the manager's glower grew, "Uhm… we?"

"Yeah, we," adjusting her new headpiece one last time, Hana gave the freshman a charming smile. The darkness from moments ago vanished into an array of innocence, "I like you, Furihata-kun. You remind me of my friend. Maybe you'll end up like him."

"That's… that's good, right?"

"Sure," Hana paused before scrunching her nose up, "Well, Uoya might disagree with my methods, but I think it was a good thing. He really learned a lot through our little lessons."

It may have been her imagination, but she was pretty sure her teammate whimpered, "… lessons?"

"Yup," popping the last syllable, Hana glanced over Furihata's shoulder at the rest of the freshmen trio. They were obviously eavesdropping, but she decided not to call them out on it. Besides, why have one when I could have three? "In fact, I think I could teach all you guys some cool stuff—"

Her sentence was cut off by a hand landing on top of her head. At first thought, Hana assumed the perpetrator was Kagami, but she was proven wrong with a glance above. In this case though, she may have preferred the grumpy redhead, because instead, her captain stood threateningly above her, eyes squinted into a menacing smile.

She'd become pretty familiar with that look. Seemed everyone was wearing a variation of it these days.

"Don't share shitty habits with your classmates," The grip on her head twisted, snagging the edges of her wrap, and Hana was turned toward the exit, "Go to the nurse already."

"I fixed it! See! I'm fine—"

Fingers slackening mercifully, Hyuuga pushed her forward with a tiny grin, "Stop being so stubborn, idiot. Go."

"You just don't appreciate my genius," Hana brought a hand to her head before shooting the bipolar captain a baleful glare, "But, fine. I'll go, your majesty."

She didn't wait for his reply and instead wisely vacated the danger zone. Even without seeing it, she could already imagine Hyuuga's face losing its smile and his hands twitching to lash out at her. With a pout, Hana tugged at her wrap. Why'd she even bother to do this if they were still going to send her off? Couldn't their worry wait until later? Sure, everyone, herself included, was tired and grumpy, but still.

She wanted to watch the game. Not only that, but she needed to be there, dammit.

Despite her nonchalance about the whole debacle, her heart was pounding at the thought of finally facing Midorima. Her team needed her help. Other than Kuroko, she was the only one who had any experience with the grumpy shooter. It might be tinted with her own biases, but it was better than nothing.

Dodging around the group of her teammates, Hana mumbled mutinously under her breath, "Stupid head injury. Stupid nurse. Stupid human body."

How can I help when they're sending me away? One foot paused. Wait…

Marching toward the dressing room exit, Hana's irritation slowly melted into something a bit more devious. She'd gotten a one up on Kise's team, no matter how petty it was, so shouldn't Midorima deserve the same? Besides, it wasn't like she'd be doing anything really bad. It was simply… information gathering.

Can't get in trouble for doing my job... hopefully.

With a soft swoosh, the door closed behind her. Yeah, everything would be okay as long as she came back before the game began. She could even find an aspirin along the way.

"…" plan forming, Hana glanced around the empty corridor, "No one needs to know the technicalities."

xXxXxXx

The past tends to repeat itself.

Too often in her experience.

Despite her plan, Hana hadn't had the easiest time of finding out which dressing room Shutoku used. Time was counting down and with each glance at her phone's screen, she'd slowly began to doubt the feasibility of her adventure. That had been when fate stepped in and gifted her with the magnificent sight of orange. An orange jumpsuit to be correct.

Following the Shutoku player had to be the easiest thing she'd ever done. The florescent color was like a guiding light and with it, Hana found her current hiding spot.

Reminiscent of her first personal encounter with Kise, Hana had fallen back to her roots and stood beneath an air vent. She'd been doing this since her first year as a manager and it never failed her, but now… now she wasn't so sure.

At first, she'd been lucky. The dressing room beside Shutoku's had been unlocked and her mystery guide hadn't noticed her creeping presence. The air conditioner was even off, so she didn't have to deal with interference. Everything was working in her favor.

Unfortunately, her luck ran out.

Hana hissed, "Who's bright idea was it to make these things so damn high?"

She could hear the other team talking, the voices undistinguishable from the vent near the ceiling, but she figured she could fix that issue. If only she could get up there! Eyeing the dressing room, Hana's scowl deepened into something fierce. Did they really have to nail down the benches? Who the hell did they think would steal them?

"I don't have time for this," pulling her phone back out, she glanced down at the time. Thirteen minutes until we need to head back. Her foot promptly kicked into the silver locker in frustration, making the door swing open with a slow creak.

Okay then. Hana blinked down at the space, "That could work."

Reaching a hand out, she moved the bottom door out of the way before turning toward the locker above it. Without a combination lock, the new metal door opened easily enough. A few seconds later, the final result consisted of two open lockers and the piece of metal that separated them. Taking a step back, Hana tilted her head to survey the work.

Well… at least it looked strong enough to hold her.

"Please don't break," she muttered under her breath before stepping forward and swinging her foot up. The next one followed after a moment's hesitation, "Please, please, please."

I don't have Murasakibara to catch me now, her thoughts spewed the words out mockingly. Stupid heights.

Trying to ignore the soft press of fear, Hana continued her climb by bringing her arms to the top. The metal structure let out a threatening groan and her body tightened in anticipation of her untimely doom. When it didn't fall apart immediately, Hana huffed out a low curse before pulling her whole body up into the space between the ceiling and the top of the locker.

Green eyes peered over the side and she blanched, making her headache resurface with a vengeance, "How the hell am I going to get down?"

Think about it later. Looking away from the threatening floor below, Hana turned her attention back to her prize. Now that she was directly beside it the voices became comprehensible. Some of them were familiar, and Hana could recognize the captain, but she didn't hear Midorima or Takao. If I risked this shit for nothing— an influx of noise abruptly cut her off.

"Ten minutes left!"

Pressing her ear into the cold metal, Hana listened to the change in activity. The first voice that spoke was clearly Shutoku's captain and it spoke again when most of the noise died off, "Midorima…"

"Sorry," Midorima's voice sounded closer than the captains, almost like he was right beneath the vent, "Go on ahead."

Holding her breath, Hana pushed her ear even closer to the vent. She wasn't sure what she was expecting, but she shouldn't have been surprised when nothing happened. Of course Midorima wouldn't give me anything useful. Another flash of silence passed before Hana let out a disappointed breath and began the careful descent off the locker.

Well, half of it was a descent. The other half was a fall and a thoroughly sore knee, but she'd take those losses. At least it was a mildly quiet fall and hey, the pain in her knee kind of distracted her from the headache. Which was, kind of, sort of, a plus… sort of.

Now standing, and thanking the universe for sparing her miserable life, Hana shoved her fingers into her pocket and deftly pulled out her phone. Eight minutes.

"Shit," she frowned at the phone screen before pocketing it and moving toward the exit. Her fingers twitched against the cool metal as she pushed the door open, "That was completely freaking pointless—"

Nope! Nope to the hell nope!

With a silent eep, Hana froze with the door widened by a crack. She didn't dare move, scared to draw the attention of the two orange jumpsuits leaning directly to the left of her door. Holy shit. They freaking scared me.

Her heart stuttered back to action and Hana let out a tremoring breath. You've got to be kidding me. This never happens in the movies!

"The upper classmen have already left," Takao's teasing voice cut across the empty space between them and Hana promptly cursed her luck to the pits of hell, "You took a while."

"There was no need to rush," the familiar tone of Midorima responded and she sucked in a dry breath.

They were seriously way too freaking close. Takao may have been nice to her earlier, but there was no way he'd appreciate this. The whole scenario made her feel like an unwilling witness to a murder or something more devious, especially with the serious undertone of their conversation. Do all basketball players have this intense alter personality? I thought it was just a Hyuuga and Akashi thing—

"You're so positive," Takao's voice dipped into playful sarcasm, but there was a knowing edge underneath his words, "I ran into Kuroko-kun in the bathroom. He's a pretty nice guy, ya' know."

"Keep an eye on him," Midorima retorted, voice swift and firm. His shadowed body moved away from Takao's, taking a few steps forward before continuing, "He's a strong opponent despite his foolish choice of school."

"Still worked up about that, huh?" Takao hummed in return, "You worry too much, Shin-chan."

Hana heard Midorima's footsteps pause and she assumed he turned back toward Takao, but couldn't tell from her limited view. If only I could see their damn faces.

The shooter spoke after a moment's hesitation, "I'm not worried, Takao. Just keep your eyes on him."

Pursing her lips, Hana glanced down at the ground. She didn't exactly like the tone Midorima was using, but she couldn't put her finger on why. It was like… he was hinting at something, but what? She repeated the words thoughtfully. Keep your eyes— eyes! Yeah! Takao's freaky eyes!

"What about Imamura-chan?" Takao interrupted the silence, eyes flashing in the low florescent lighting, "Think she'll be able to make it?"

"…" Midorima paused before a sharp scoff escaped his mouth, "She doesn't concern me."

Hana didn't even have to see him to know Takao wore a shit eating grin. His mirth practically saturated the air, "If you say so~"

In any other moment, Hana might have had some choice words about his tone. She decided to keep them to herself for now. It was the smart thing to do after all. Besides, that was a tricky path to walk down; if she admitted to being annoyed with Midorima's attitude, then she'd second-handily be admitting that she cared.

Which she didn't, obviously.

Meanwhile in the background, soft squeaks echoed against the floor and Hana lifted her gaze, assuming they'd walked away.

Only to regret it immediately.

Instead of the shadowed hallway she'd been expecting, Hana was greeted with a much more frightening sight. Green eyes connected with sparkling grey and the world ceased to function. With a startled shriek, Hana jumped away from her spying spot and into the freezing floor. And there goes five more years off my life span.

"Hey, Imamura-chan," Takao held the door open with one hand while his eyes flashed in amusement, "You know, eavesdropping's pretty rude."

Unable to do anything more than gawk, Hana stared up at the taller male. Her heart was lodged inside her throat, removing her source of oxygen. The only noise she managed to create sounded suspiciously like a squeak.

God, her reputation was going up in flames.

"Well," opening the door fully, Takao sauntered into the room. His lively gaze peered down at her before holding out a large hand, "Since we're heading to the same place we should walk together. Don't want to be late~"

He didn't sound surprised at all. He must have known she was there the entire time. That little tidbit didn't settle too well with her. Eyeing her adversary, Hana raised a delicate eyebrow. In return, Takao's grin grew superior. He knew he'd won this round.

Oh hell, Hana narrowed her eyes before fitting her palm into Takao's own. Can't say I didn't try.

With another toothy grin, Takao tugged her to her feet and out the door.

She was getting really tired of running into this guy.

xXxXxXx

"I've got to say, I'm digging the new fashion choice. What's up with it?"

"… Oh you know, just smacking the floor with my face."

"Heh, sorry forgot about that! So, do you always spy on the boy's changing rooms?"

"If you bring that up again— I will kill you."

"Awhh, you even sound like him. You two must have been so cute together."

"For the last damn time, we didn't date."

"Are you sure? Shin-chan never gets that flustered!"

"…"

"Are you blushing? You don't have to be embarrassed! We're friends too—"

"Friends… yeah, no."

"But, Imamura-chan, any friend of Shin-chan's is a friend of mine~"

"Huh, I thought you two were… closer."

"—Wait, what?!"

"Nothing," Hana skittered into the gymnasium, only to spin at the last moment and offer the player a sardonic smile, "Just a taste of your own medicine, friend. Speaking of, thanks for the aspirin!"

"Eurgh?! What?" Takao blinked after the managers back before hesitant eyes traveled down to his gym bag. The smile he'd worn during the interrogation twitched. All the zippers had been undone and the flap gaped out sloppily, "Did she— But I needed those!"

Paddling the cart home was going to be more of a pain than usual.

He groaned, lip jutting out into a small pout. Another point for Imamura-chan.


Seirin versus Shutoku

Currently, saying Hana felt a bit jittery would be an understatement.

Her foot tapped against the shiny floor and shaky fingers drummed over a twitching knee. With her headache fading, she didn't have anything to distract her and the bleakness of her earlier thoughts returned with a vengeance.

That little jaunt with Takao amped up a few of her subtler anxieties. Not only did he bring up old memories of Midorima, when he wasn't such a grump, but he also made Hana realize just what kind of opponents they were facing. Even when he'd caught her spying, Takao hadn't seemed concerned about diminishing their chance of a win.

It wasn't often she felt nervous at the thought of a game, but that was exactly how she felt right now. The differences in skill levels and the painful memories of broken friendships were combining into a steady toxin. As the anxieties took hold, Hana wasn't sure they'd win this. The odds just weren't in their favor.

So, she did what she did best. Ignored the fear with snarky insults and ill placed humor.

No one seemed to appreciate it.

"You're more of a brat than usual," Kagami commented from a few feet ahead, his eyes narrowed on the next games competition. From her point of view, Hana watched his shoulders bunch together in anticipation. Hmm… he needs a distraction too.

Well, angry Kagami is always entertaining.

Bringing her hand up to mask her smirk, Hana leaned forward, "That's funny coming from you."

"What?" Kagami shot his glare toward her, twisting a bit to increase its potency, "What's that mean, Imamura?"

One eyebrow quirked mockingly, "Your brain can't comprehend?"

"Why you—"

"You know, your insults lose their effectiveness when you can't even complete them."

"Can you not be a smartass?"

"Feisty," Hana whistled lowly, "Ten points to you, Kagami. Not very original though."

Kagami took a threatening step toward her, albeit a little too close for comfort, "We aren't playing for points!"

While Hana riled up the bull, her teammates watched in wary fascination. Since the beginning, their ace and their manager had never seen eye to eye. It was better recently, but the showdown right now seemed more heated than usual. Again, Hana barked out another mocking insult, forcing a low growl out of Kagami's chest.

"Uhm," Koganei glanced between the two, "Shouldn't we stop them?"

Any reply to be made was broken up by Hana's scoff and Kagami's snarl.

Furihata hummed nervously, "They look like they're going to kill each other…"

The enforcer of the peace, Hyuuga, interrupted the growing battle. One hand landed on Kagami's forehead and the other pointed at Hana's face. Glasses flashing threateningly, Hyuuga attempted to calm the inferno, "You two, stop it! You're both being idiots."

"… keh," Kagami scoffed before turning back to the court, "Whatever. She started it."

"I started it? Classic—" a tepid hand swiftly cover her mouth, forcing Hana to swallow her reply. With a glare, she twisted her head up to meet the eyes of the culprit. They didn't seem too concerned with her silent death threats.

Instead, Kuroko met her gaze steadfastly, "You're being a bully, Imamura-san."

"…" shoulders tightening, Hana prepared herself to refute Kuroko, but her body betrayed her and her shoulders slumped in submission. Looking away from the probing gaze of her old friend, she lowered her gaze to the ground.

"I understand your nerves," Kuroko still didn't remove his hand, but his voice was almost sympathetic, "It's a challenging match for myself as well, but please do not take your anger out on Kagami-kun."

Mercifully, Kuroko removed his appendage and Hana brought a hand up to rub at her jaw. Though she understood what he was saying, she refused to make eye contact when she replied, "Got it. He's just too easy to rile up."

"He is," Kuroko amended before walking around the bleacher and coming to stand beside her, "But as are you."

Finally removing her gaze from the ground, Hana peeked up at Kuroko from underneath her bangs, "Well yeah, I thought we all knew that."

The blue haired boy remained silent, eyes watching Shutoku's side of the court thoughtfully. Another moment passed before a warm hand patted the top of her head and Kuroko walked away. His final words echoed back to her, "There's nothing wrong with missing them, Imamura-san."

Left at the bleacher, and choosing not to comment on how he knew about her internal battle, Hana gaped after Kuroko's back, "Did— did you just pet me?"

There was no response to the accusation. Of course.

Rubbing a hand over her face, she willed away her blushing cheeks. It had been a simple pat, nothing more. In the meantime, Riko called for attention and her teammates merged toward the coach. Throwing her embarrassment aside for the moment, Hana pushed herself out of her seat and migrated over.

"This isn't going to be an easy match," Hyuuga took over after Riko's instructions ended, "Last match took a lot out of us, but we can't give up—"

Zoning out the pep talk and coming to stand beside Kagami, she wrinkled her nose in aggravation. As much as she respected her captain, he really had a tendency to babble. Bored green eyes flickered to Kagami and Hana let out a resigned sigh. Well, might as well apologize, and with that, Hana yanked on his shirt. He didn't turn to look at her, but she could feel the intensity of his sideways stare.

Mouth pursing into a fine line, she waited for her team to disperse before making her move.

She released his shirt after a bit of hesitation, , "Okay. I'm sorry for being a brat—"

One red eyebrow rose, "Finally."

"Don't interrupt me," Hana hissed an insult under her breath before continuing, "I'm also sorry you're so entertaining to piss off. You really need to work on that."

A rough groan escaped Kagami, but he didn't respond verbally. Instead, a heavy hand landed on her forehead and pushed. Taken aback, Hana stumbled a few steps, but when her fiery glare met the irritable tiger's, she was surprised to see a smirk gracing his face before he marched out onto the court. Well that was anticlimactic.

"Jackass," her hands fisted on her hips before noticing the rest of the team gawking at her. She sniffed, refusing to acknowledge their bewilderment, "Stop looking so surprised."

She may not like being the bigger person, but she could do it.

Now that the excitement was over her nerves calmed a bit, reduced to simple jitters due to the lingering anticipation and subsequent chastising. Nothing like a disappointed Kuroko to bring everything back into perspective. Really, for a guy with such limited facial expressions, he could pack a punch.

Speak of the devil and thou shall appear, "I'm glad you apologized—"

"God," Hana slammed her eyes shut to control her scream before bringing a hand to her head. Without turning to address him, she growled, "I hate you. I hate you so much, Kuroko. You were like ten feet away a second ago!"

"I've been here for a while," Kuroko's observation drifted to the side and Hana peeked an eye open, only just catching mouth tip upward, "I thought you knew."

"Nope," Hana grunted before turning to focus on his puffy blue hair, "Not like it matters. You don't sound sorry at all."

"My apologies." Bullshit.

"Really? I'm kind of doubting the sincerity."

There was a tense moment of stillness after her response and Hana lifted her gaze to peer up at him. She didn't think she'd said anything insulting, for once, but she couldn't understand why he'd retreat into himself. The realization came when Hana followed Kuroko's focus onto a spot behind herself, meeting a wall of lean muscle and emerald hair.

Seriously, do they have to be so dramatic?

"I didn't think you would make it this far," At the sound of Midorima's voice, Hana twitched, "But it ends here." His glasses frosted over from the florescent light with his final warning and he turned his full attention onto Kuroko, "No matter how weak, small, or unknown, any team can fight as long as they are together. That is an illusion. I will show you how foolish your decision was."

"No one knows what the right decision is and that is not why I've chosen what I have," Kuroko responded, face perfectly blank and deceptively innocent, "But I will disagree with you on one thing. Seirin is not weak, we will not lose."

During the confrontation, Kuroko stepped forward to stand side to side with Hana. While she'd been locked onto Midorima's threat, Kuroko had somehow managed to entwine their hand together again, squeezing twice to get Hana's attention. When she peered up at him, she shook her head and mouthed, go on.

With only a small furrow of his eyebrows, Kuroko released her hand and moved toward the rest of the team. Instead of following, Hana stayed put.

He wasn't the only one who had something to say.

"You're really just a ray of sunshine," Hana inputted, taking a step toward Midorima. Licking her suddenly parched lips, she pushed on, "You keep repeating the same thing, over and over. It's getting old."

Midorima's face had pinched together, but when Hana spoke, those fierce eyes zeroed in on her. His expression remained distasteful, yet there was a hint of fire boiling underneath his response, "You are both fools, holding up this ideal. You will not win."

"Who the hell cares about winning?" Hana took another step forward before shoving her finger into Midorima's chest, "What kind of person puts so much focus on that? Yeah, it's great, but it's not this life or death thing you blabber on about. Grow up, Midorima."

"I'm not interested in hearing your opinions," bringing an immaculately taped finger up, Midorima pushed Hana's hand away from his personal space, "Go back to your team, Imamura."

"God," Hana removed her hand only to drag it over her face in disbelief, "You can really piss a girl off. Whatever," she closed her eyes before taking a step away. When they reopened, the coolness in her gaze stabbed right through him, "I promise you though—"

Midorima glanced away from her, forcing his face to betray nothing except disdain. When the lapse in conversation grew, he turned on his heel and began to move back to his team. Only to stiffen when Hana continued.

"I promise you," the tone was calm, adding to threat hidden in her words, "I promise that when this is over, you're going to stop looking over me. You're going to goddamn acknowledge me."

First Quarter

"Look at them go!" Furihata leaned forward in excitement, "We got first point!"

Only for him to sink back when Midorima blocked the ball and sent it rebounding. Furihata's disappointment exuded off his slumped shoulders and Hana could safely say she agreed with his assessment. That movement proved to be the marking measure of the first quarter until Midorima shot a three pointer.

Hana would have liked to say she'd been surprised, but that would be a lie.

"That's," Koganei frantically looked toward Riko, mouth gaping open at the height of the shot, "That's incredible!"

Riko grabbed her whistle before narrowing her eyes on Midorima's turned back, "That type of accuracy—"

"Is going to be a bitch to defeat," Hana interrupted, placing her hands on her knees to quell their shaking, "I've never seen him miss a shot, not even in our first year of middle school."

"How far is his range?" peering over Koganei's shoulder, Riko's analytic eyes bore into Hana's own. The feeling brought a foreboding shiver down Hana's spine and she shrugged out her answer.

"Maybe half—" She interrupted herself by jumping out of her seat, watching her blue haired friend dribble underneath the goal. The setup was perfect, Kagami was on their side of the court and Hana just had a feeling, "I don't know what you're doing, but you better do it!"

In time with her last cheer, the ball wooshed across the court like a crazy cyclone rocket, barely skimming past Midorima's startled face and into Kagami's awaiting palm. The smack echoed across the silent gym before Kagami sprinted toward the hoop.

In the next second, the ball was dramatically dunked into the net.

"Hell yes!" still standing, Hana threw her arms in the air. Her eyes caught sight of Takao's shell shocked features before cheering even louder, "Go Kuroko!"

"What was that?" Koganei leaned back against the bench, bracing himself with his palms, "It went across the whole court…" and it was goddamn beautiful!

With a smirk, Hana crossed her arms over her chest, "Kuroko's badass pass."

"Please—" Riko groaned, but Hana heard the amusement hidden in the depths, "Tell me it's not called that."

Hana simply shrugged. She'd never looked into the official names of the boy's talents, hell she'd never even seen that pass before, preferring to call them magical copycat powers or other things that should be genetically impossible to humans. Her amusement was short lived however when her eyes landed on Midorima.

She'd seen Midorima annoyed, angry, and so many other emotions the shooter pretended not to have. Yet, she couldn't recall a moment when he'd worn an expression like the one displayed now. Midorima wasn't simply annoyed, he was pissed.

In Hana's personal opinion, pissing off the Miracles never resulted in an easy match.

The two teams were tied for now, but how long could it last? Especially with the change of pace…

A couple moments later, Hana twitched. Well the answer to her pervious question was not very long.

Takao, the biggest factor in her annoyance, was contributing to this. She should have mentioned her theories earlier, she should've known that he'd be able to see Kuroko and now she was kicking herself for not taking the actions required. Kuroko's passes were being intercepted left and right, leaving Hana to collapse into a further pile of self-pity.

"Takao saw him in the bathroom. Like saw him," Hana offered when another pass was intercepted, "I think he has an ability like Izuki's."

"What?" Riko gaped, eyeing Takao's form as he blocked Kuroko. Each movement was matched perfectly, "Why didn't you mention that earlier?!"

Righteous anger, great. Hana gawked before scooted closer to Fukuda, "I didn't think! Kagami distracted me!"

"You— you," the coach's hands twitched before pulling a strained smile. Her attention quickly turned back to the game, but Hana eyed the black waves of tension warily, "We need a time out."

The time out came minutes later, an exhausted Seirin all collapsing together on the bleachers. Ignoring Riko's glare, Hana skittered behind Kagami for protection. Rather him than me. Plastering a strained smile on her face, she listened to the directions issued by the coach with a hint of suspicion.

While she wasn't sure keeping Kuroko out of the game would do anything, she also didn't agree with Kagami's plan, simply because she didn't know how Kuroko would be able to keep up with Takao's skill. We need to trade marks. He's going to get cornered and we won't be able to stop it.

Instead of voicing her concerns, she kept her opinions to herself. This was Kuroko's game and if he thought he could do it, well she had no ground to stand against him. She really freaking wanted to though. A deep sigh escaped her chest as she watched the team merge back onto the court, everyone's shoulders pressed with lead.

"How should we do this?" Riko paced in front of the grouping of benchwarmers, "There's no way we can do this without Kuroko."

"Get rid of Takao's eyes?" Hana contributed, ducking behind Kawahara when Riko shot a glare at her, "What? It's an idea!"

"No more ideas, Imamura-chan," Koganei interrupted with a sweat drop before addressing the coach, "Kagami's on Midorima and Hyuuga's shooting… as long as we can keep Takao under control…"

"Don't worry about Takao-kun for now," Riko cut in, pointing toward the court when Midorima shot the ball again, "He's got such a huge range and with that arc there isn't an easy way to block it. What do we do about that?"

Hana hummed in thought before getting off the chair and coming to stand beside Riko. Green eyes skimmed over the clipboard before a slow surge of inspiration struck her, "Hey, Riko? Did you happen to bring your camera?"

"What?" Riko frowned, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder, "I did, but Fuduka's recording—"

Spinning on her heel, Hana marched toward the freshman. Noticing her approach, Fuduka stopped fiddling with the camera's controls and gave Hana a nervous smile, "Uhm, yes?"

"You're good with that," She didn't give him time to reply before slamming down beside him. Reaching a hand out, she motioned toward the video camera's tiny screen, "You used it before, right?"

"Yeah," Fuduka tried to subtlety scoot over a bit, but his shoulder collided with Koganei's and halted his movements, "I did—"

"Focus on Kuroko," Hana scooted even closer and peered at the tiny replica on the camera's screen, "See if you can find the moment when Takao intercepts him. I don't know how Izuki's magic eyeballs work, but focus on his feet and see if there's a tell—"

The frantic dribbling distracted her and Hana glanced back to the court, losing her train of thought. The scene had changed since the last time she looked and her eyebrows steadily furrowed as she watched Kagami shoot wide, knowing he wouldn't make it.

"The hell is he doing?" Hana blinked, "He won't make that—"

It was at that moment the sound of dribbling was replaced with the pounding of Kagami's feet as he ran toward the hoop. The ball bounced off the rim and subsequently Kagami's outstretched palm before being solidly dunked into the net.

"Did…" A beat of stunned silence passed before Hana deadpanned, "Did Kagami seriously just do a one-man alley-oop?"

"He did," Furihata gaped, "That's— that's amazing!"

It really was. Despite the proud grin growing on her face, Hana snorted, "He's just a ball hog."

Unfortunately, any humor Hana found in the situation was destroyed when Midorima shot the ball. All the way from the back of the court. Without even waiting to see if the ball made it into the net, Hana slammed her face into her knees and groaned.

"I hate him," her voice was muffled from between her thighs, "I hate him!"

The buzzer rang out, signaling the end of the second quarter, but Hana was too busy sulking to acknowledge it. Resting her rolled up body against Fuduka, she listened to the uncomfortable freshman try to comfort her, "It's okay! I'm sure we can catch up!"

As the rest of her teammates came back to the sideline, Hana finally risked peeking at the score board and subsequently scrunched her nose. Shutoku's got a six point lead… with Midorima that may as well be a death sentence.

Second Quarter

Death sentence indeed.

The second quarter wasn't going so well. With a grunt, Hana turned away from the game. Unlike the back and forth play from Seirin, Shutoku's movements had switched gears and now the play mainly focused on Midorima. The only time the ball wasn't in his possession was when a teammate passed it toward him.

Altogether, he was dominating a good seventy five percent of the game. To be frank, it pissed her off.

That wasn't the worst of it though. There seemed no way to get out of Takao's range. Everything Kuroko did, Takao blocked. The blue haired boy could hardly walk down the court without getting jammed off by the demonic imp. She could only hope Fuduka managed to catch a clue on camera. Biting her lip, Hana glanced back at the scoreboard.

Thirteen to twenty-four. Our loss just keeps getting bigger.

Her heart clenched and Hana forced the budding frustration away. She was falling into a pit of desolation, but she couldn't help it, there were just too many comparisons between this game and Teiko's. The realization hadn't yet become overbearing, but it was uncomfortable and as the minutes wore on, it seemed to only get worse.

Despite the terrible comparisons between this game and the ones of the past, Hana couldn't force the memories away if she tried. She… really missed her friends. With an uncomfortable swallow, jaded eyes locked onto Midorima. Not the monsters they became.

Meanwhile, Midorima continued to overpower the court with speed and precision. Not to mention, that little sidekick of his was stagnating Seirin's offense and leaving them floundering for purchase. It only got worse when Kagami jumped for a block only to fall short, letting Midorima score another three-points.

Letting out a frustrated hiss, Hana sunk back into the bench and eyed Kagami. Those intimidating red eyes blazed and his muscled shoulders heaved as he fought to purchase breath. The image perfectly encompassed his wild nature and Hana felt a tinge of awe.

"Holy shit," she let a low whistle, gathering the attention of her fellow bench mates, "Look at that…"

Instead of taking his defeat like a regular person, Kagami started to chuckle under his panting breath. The red-head tilted his head down, shadowing his sharp, predatory smile. The rest of the team on court paused in their retreat to look back at the ace's budding excitement. Mimicked in her own emotions, Hana could practically feel their bafflement. Unlike his normal anticipation, there seemed to be a cloying darkness that surrounded Kagami.

The recognition was startling and for a second, she couldn't swallow. A faded image of Aomine laid itself over Kagami's features and Hana slammed her eyes shut. Too damn familiar.

"He's getting excited," Furihata whispered from his position against her right shoulder, "I've never seen him like this."

With a mocking snort, Hana peered at Kagami from beneath her lashes, "He was better off before."

"What do you mean?" Furihata blinked back at her, but she didn't give him a response.

The nagging feeling in her mind vanished and pieces of information clicked together, giving Hana insight into her own state of mind.

Her focus on the stalled players faded away until Hana was stuck in an onslaught of memories and regrets. Every time she looked at Midorima, the feeling grew stronger and the painful lump in her chest inflated. Something about this game… After months spent burying her feelings, it made the reality more prominent.

She scoffed in mental scorn. Or it's the head injury screwing with me. But despite her thoughts, the truth continued to reveal itself.

Kise was easy. He'd always been easier then the rest of them, the darkness never growing too heavily inside of him. But… the rest of them, god. She could see the flashbacks laced in purity, the slow growing mockery, and the soul crushing defeat. All of it merged, twisting into a rotten mimicry of friendship.

A friendship that she missed with every part of her being. If she wanted to be cruel, she could blame Kuroko and Kise. They'd given her a taste of the past and it forced the subconscious memories out of their hiding place, urging her heart to open again. But… Hana looked back at Kagami's shaded features before firmly slamming a blockade over her aching reminiscences.

They'd changed.

Like hell she'd let her newest friend change too.

Half Time

Leaning against the locker room wall, Hana closed her eyes in the all-encompassing silence. There wasn't anything left to say. Everyone's spirits were crumpled at the score, a staggering 23 to 47. Hana would like to say she wasn't as downtrodden, but she was. No matter how nervous she'd been before the game, it was nothing compared to the stabbing sensation of disappointment she felt now.

At an inquiring noise from Izuki, Hana poked an eye open, "What are you looking at, Kuroko?"

"Someone recorded Takao the first half of the game," the ghostly player looked back down to the video camera, "I'm not sure what to do with this though."

Out of her peripheral, Hana caught Fuduka's change of expression. At first, he'd looked thrilled at having contributed to the team, shoulders perking in excitement, only to have that hope crushed with Kuroko's blunt commentary. She was tempted to offer her consolation, but the rest of the freshman trio beat her too it, patting their buddy on the back with badly whisper encouragement. Awh… screw what Hyuuga says, I want them in my gang.

Her treachery was interrupted when Izuki chuckled nervously, exchanging a look with Hyuuga, "You don't have a plan?"

"Not really," shutting the camera, Kuroko turned to face the upperclassman, "I've thought about winning, but I've never wondered if we could or not. Even if we're losing by a hundred points, there is always the chance a meteor will strike the other's bench at the last second."

Hmmm. Opening both eyes, Hana pushed herself forward in consideration, "That's right. There's a ton of stuff that could happen—"

"They could get a stomach ache!" Tsuchida added, thoughtful eyes meeting with Hana's own. Someone who understands!

"Or they could get locked in the dressing room!" Hana pushed herself onto her knees, pointing a finger at Tsuchida in encouragement, "Or all their shoes could go missing!"

Nodding thoughtfully, her fellow schemer continued, "Maybe all the balls would deflate—"

"When you put it that way," Koganei chuckled a bit, "Our odds really don't seem that bad."

"No," Hyuuga stood up and slashed his hands out in denial. There was a tinge of amusement hidden in his scowl, but it was quickly replaced with sobriety, "No, no way. Those are crazy ideas and could never happen. Let's just keep running and think after the games over."

Calming a bit, Hana smirked, and team mom strikes again. Meanwhile, the team offered their agreement by sharing multiple sleepy smiles. A heartwarming aura grew around them as each person made eye contact with another, promising the same thing. No matter what, we keep trying.

After a while, the cheerful atmosphere grew to be too much and Hana raised her hand, drawing the attention of all her teammates, "I'd just like to put in… they could totally get locked in the dressing room. You know— if we need that—"

"… No."

Third Quarter

She had a bench buddy for this quarter and Hana nudged him in the shoulder, motioning for the camera he'd been using earlier. With a singular eyebrow raised, Kuroko handed the video camera to her before turning his attention back to the recently started game.

She said she was going to get Midorima to acknowledge her. To do that, they'd have to win. Despite Kagami's new energy, Hana wasn't sure that outcome was in the cards, but dammit, she was going to try. Anything she could do would be helpful at this point and well, countering Takao would be a huge freaking help.

Pressing play, Hana watched Takao corner Kuroko again and again. After a couple minutes spent watching the same thing, she huffed. There wasn't an opening, nothing that she could see at least. Rewinding the game, she pressed play again before repeating the pattern three more times. How would he face off Izuki? He could always stop hiding… In the background, she heard a loud yell and her eyes flicked back to the game.

"No," Kagami lifted his head and pegged Midorima with a fierce glare, "I won't lose!"

Next her gaze landed on the heavily breathing forms of the rest of her teammates, before glancing toward Kuroko. Unlike the rest of the players on the bench, he didn't wear a smile. His penetrating stare was narrowed on Kagami as well and Hana tapped his shoe to get his attention. Maybe he'd seen the same thing she had.

"He's acting weird, isn't he?" Hana flicked her hand toward Kagami as she handed the camera back to her friend, "More jackass-ish than normal?"

Kuroko didn't reply at first, instead he chose to trace over Kagami's every movement. Deciding against pressing for an answer, Hana turned her attention to the game as well, leaving Kuroko to his own thoughts. In the down time, Kagami jumped again, his fingers skimming across the ball and jolting Midorima's shot.

"Kise-kun gave me a warning about Kagami-kun, about his strength," Kuroko's voice had Hana turning her attention back to him, "I had hoped it wouldn't become truth."

Hana let out an exhausted sigh. Her earlier comparison between Kagami and Aomine seemed to hold truth with Kuroko as well. Unlike herself though, Kuroko probably felt the most apprehension. He'd already lost one light due to their overconfidence, he didn't deserve to lose another. Kagami will not become that asshole.

Nudging his shoulder again, Hana plastered a mischievous smirk on her face, "He won't become like them. I'll kick his ass before he even thinks about it."

"Thank you," His reply was so quiet, Hana almost missed it due to the racket of the watching crowd, "But that isn't your responsibility, Imamura-san."

Another loud cheer echoed from the stadium and Hana returned her attention back to the game, only giving Kuroko one last cursory glance. Her heart still ached, but now was not the time to digest those feelings. Hell, I'd rather just forget them. Back on the court, Kagami slapped the ball out of Midorima's hand, sending it bouncing all the way to Izuki. Another point went to Seirin.

34 to 53… still a twenty-point difference.

In the next moment, Kagami faced off against Shutoku's captain, repeating his same movement against Midorima and slamming the ball out of his hands, but not without clipping Shutoku's captain in the shoulder. At the sight, Hana grimaced before muttering a low curse under her breath. He's being stupid again.

The referee echoed her findings, "Foul! Number Ten!"

At the call, Kagami didn't move. His body stayed positioned under the net, displaying an impressive amount of determination, but the effect was tainted by the animalistic scowl covering his face. Hana's nerves came back, ricocheting up her spine and into her fingers. This isn't a Kagami we've seen before.

"If this continues," Kuroko's unwavering gaze never left Kagami's position, "I have a bad feeling about the outcome."

Hana had to agree.

Think about what you're doing, you damn tiger.

xXxXxXx

"I've never seen such high jumps," Fuduka leaned forward, almost falling out of his chair in shock, "Look at him! He's blocking all of them!"

He was. The red-head was overpowering each of Shutoku's players, forcing them to lose their hold on the ball and letting the score grow in Seirin's favor. That wasn't what concerned her however. It was the fact that it was only Kagami. There was no teamwork in his movements. He's being a selfish prick.

"Yeah…" Hana hummed, fidgeting in her seat before repeating a kinder version of her thoughts, "He's a monkey alright."

At her comment, Kuroko's shoulders deflated. Hana felt a bit guilty at the sight. Kuroko had to feel just as strongly, if not more so, as she did right now and it would do her good to keep her insults to herself. But I can't freaking help it, they're true! Though she always called him a ball hog, it was usually in jest. The term had never been as relevant as it was right now.

"The gap is closing— What?" Riko jerked in shock, mouth opening in a wordless gape.

Sparing her coach a curious glance, Hana returned her attention to the game and Kagami. The ace had stalled out and his hand was placed against the floor as he struggled against his overexertion. Sweat dripped down his brow and from her position, Hana could tell his legs were shaking from the pressure. The rest of the team looked on in equal exhaustion fueled states.

"They're all tired…" Furihata whispered, "Two games in one day… we should have known it'd be too much."

"Third quarters almost over," Riko refuted before pacing the length of the bench, "We'll figure it all out soon."

The end of the quarter came too quickly with all the players sitting against the bench together. Despite their exhaustion, every boy radiated a tension that was palpable in the air. From her place next to Tsuchida, Hana watched the grouping in apprehension. The layer of unrest was present in everyone, but the object of her apprehension had his head bent, staring at the ground.

Kagami huffed, "Damn it—"

"Kagami," beside him, Izuki watched the hot-tempered ace in concern, "You're getting too worked up. Pay more attention to your surroundings."

Taking a final sip of his water, Hyuuga decided to chime in his own opinion, "That's right, you should have passed the ball first."

"What would passing have done?" Kagami lifted his head, but his eyes were locked on something far away and undistinguishable from reality, "I'm the only one that stands a chance against Shutoku, you need me to score."

Multiple voices rang out at once, but Hana only heard as her own voice broke through the uproar, "What happened to teamwork?"

"We don't need teamwork," Kagami's eyes flickered to her momentarily before discounting her words, "We just need to win."

Furihata blanched, "Hey, what's that mean?"

"He's being a selfish prick," Hana snarled. She wanted to step forward and challenge him head on, but something held her back, "Get your head out of your ass, Kagami—"

"You wouldn't understand, Imamura, so keep out of it," Kagami grunted in return, not even sparring her a glance, "We just need to win—"

Anything else Kagami had been prepared to say was cut short. Not by an interruption, not by a whistle, but by a pale fist smashing into his face. One moment Kagami was sitting and the next his body toppled into a heap on the floor. With a shriek, Hana jolted backwards, making frantic eye contact with the coach. The hell do we do?

Despite being sprawled out onto his back, Kagami was up in a flash, fisting Kuroko's shirt ominously. His mouth pressed into a firm growl before spitting out a curse, "Dammit Kuroko!"

Kuroko didn't even blink, "You can't play basketball by yourself."

"So, you don't care if we lose?" Kagami yanked Kuroko higher, pulling against his jersey until it stretched, "As long as we play together? There's no point if we don't win!"

Sucking in a breath, Hana watched Kagami's movements almost frantically. She understood boys, she'd trained around them for years, and she knew where this was going. Sure, she was violent herself, but there was something about seeing such a smaller guy getting stared down that pulled at her conscious and saturated her in tension. If Kagami hurt's him…

"Kagami!" Hana took a step forward at the thought, only to have Tsuchida gently grab her arm at the last second, "Calm the hell down!"

When Kuroko responded, Hana didn't know whether to strangle him or praise him, "There's no point if you win by yourself. You said you wanted to beat the Generation of Miracles, but your being just like them. If you continue this, no one will be happy."

With that last insult under his belt, Kagami raised his fist, "Don't be so naïve!"

"Don't! Kagami!" his fist smashed into the side of Kuroko's face and Hana screeched, "You bastard!"

Apparently, her banshee wail was enough for Tsuchida to startle and his hand loosened its hold on her arm. She didn't know what she was doing until she was standing in front of Kuroko and pressing against Kagami's chest with two quivering palms. This was her teammate, so she wouldn't admit to being frightened, but a part deep inside of her was. Pretty damn terrified actually.

"Back off," she pushed again, slamming her palms into Kagami's huge chest and forcing him to settle, "Back the hell off, Kagami."

A soft throat clearing brought her attention over to Izuki, "Imamura-chan, you should step away—"

"Not until Kagami calms down," Hana swallowed, but didn't move away from Kagami. Removing her hands from his person, she met his gaze defiantly, "We're not having a goddamn fist fight in the middle of a game."

Kagami was still enraged, but when he looked down at her the burn of his gaze trickled into mere annoyance, "Move, Imamura."

"No! You need to calm your ass—"

A soft voice captured her attention and Hana peeked over her shoulder to spare Kuroko a glance. His blue hair shadowed his eyes and there was already a red mark blooming on his cheek, "Then what is victory? No matter how many points you have at the end of a game," Kuroko pushed himself to his feet, eyes meeting Hana's own before he softly nudged her aside, "If you're not happy, it's not victory."

Resembling a bull, Kagami let out a loud breath through his nose and Hana quickly snapped her focus back on him. Unlike minutes before, his shoulders were now loosened and his face was returning to its natural color. He only had eyes for one thing though and that was the crimson splotch staining Kuroko's pale face.

Sensing the lack of previous fury, Hana relaxed minutely. Dramatic basketball players are going to be my goddamn death.

"He's—" All the attention turned to Koganei and he fidgeted under the introspection, "He's right, you know. It's not like we want to lose."

"We're just saying," Hyuuga motioned toward all the standing players, "There's no reason for you to do it all yourself."

With a sigh, Kagami looked away from the observant eyes watching him. His focus traveled across all the players, stopping separately on Hana and then landing back on Kuroko, "— You're… right. Sorry. Of course, I'd rather be happy when we win."

You are not getting off that easily. Her heart was still beating in a mockery of a staccato and by god, she would not be letting Kagami forget this anytime soon. After her nerves settled, Hana huffed before dragging a hand over her eyes, "Trust me, you'll be sorry."

When she looked back to Kuroko, her face faltered at his frustration. Like herself, his expression was still tainted with memories of the events, but it'd been a long while since she'd seen him genuinely upset and it struck a nerve inside her chest. One part of her wanted to wrap him in a hug and another part said get the hell away, he's dangerous like this.

The hug part won out and Hana moved closer to him, only to pause. They weren't quiet on casual hugging terms yet. Maybe a high five? That's bro-level comfort, right?

"Well…" the new voice made her jump and the speaker, Kawahara, exchanged perplexed looks between the rest the team, "What do we do now?"

"I believe I have an idea," Kuroko moved toward the bench before grabbing the hem of his tee-shirt and pulling it over his head, "Not only can I pass, but I can take it up another level."

Ignoring the relief that spread across the multitudes of faces, Hana sidled up to Kuroko and tapped him on the shoulder. Unlike everyone else easy acceptance of Kagami's repentance, Hana wasn't on the same page yet and she would bet money that Kuroko felt the same way. Besides, she wanted to offer some semblance of comfort and some of the best comfort she'd ever received was exacting revenge.

When Kuroko's questioning stare met her own, a sickly-sweet grin crawled over her lips, "You know that swirly pass you did earlier? You really should work on your accuracy."

"…" Kuroko blinked, tugging the edge of his shirt back down, "I should?"

"Mhmm," resting her palms on Kuroko's shoulders, Hana twisted him toward Kagami's befuddled face, "And look! There's the perfect target!"

Seeming to catch the gist of her motives, Kagami paled, "Oi— Imamura…"

"Imamura-san," Kuroko escaped her hold easily, but his voice was deceptively neutral and held no annoyance to the manhandling, "I don't believe that's a good idea," he stepped forward and dodged past Kagami's shoulder, "We should practice inside the gym."

With a squawk, Kagami gaped after Kuroko's back before stomping after him, "Oi! Kuroko!"

Oh, no you don't. Leaping forward, Hana grabbed the sleeve of Kagami's shirt, jerking him to a stop. Smothering the playfulness she'd adopted with Kuroko, Hana snapped, "If you do that again— Kagami, I swear, if you do that again I will destroy you— No, I will annihilate you."

"Uhm— Imamura—" Kagami took a delicate step back, moving as quickly as he could toward the court center, "Erugh— I'm sorry… I won't do it again, promise."

"Oh, I know," Hana raised an eyebrow before crossing her arms underneath her chest. Parroting his movements, she moved away from him and tilted her head. Kagami didn't dare breath as those deadly green eyes scanned him from top to bottom before resting on his face.

After a long beat of suffocating silence, her lips twitched up into a grin, "Well, better go kick Midorima's ass."

With a thankful prayer, Kagami turned on his heel and began to jog off, only to stumble at the hiss of a whisper behind him.

"… While you still can."


REVIEWS:

Mementowhatever: Yay! Glad to hear it, thank you!

Sousie: Thank you! Long awaited update, yay!

Belladu57: Thank youu!

Pinkus-pyon: Glad to hear you liked it! The re-connections are so exciting, so I can't wait to see them either! Hahaha, Akashi is definitely going to be interesting. On the final paring… I'm not sure yet. I think once everyone gets reunited I'll ask the readers opinions or I'll just make a separate chapter for each person and maybe a special one with all of them! Thank you for your review!

AngelicHallows: Ship away my friend! I love all the ships, but I will admit Midorima is a lot of fun to write. Speaking of, lots of carrot next chapter! And I love Takao too! I'm planning on building up their friendship because he's just so entertaining. He can be a bit hard to write sometimes, but I'm glad you liked him! Thank you for these wonderful long reviews! You guys have been so good to me!

Pinkdoughtnuts: Awh, thank you! I'm glad to hear you like it and I can promise there will be lots of Kise!

Amgs: Life got so busy, but thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad you enjoy the story and yes, fifty long chapters of Hana madness! Thank you for sticking with me and these great reviews!

Royalpurple153: Ahh! Thank you! It means a lot to hear that!

NicoleNightLock: I knowwww (it hurt to write honestly)… but he's a grumpy green haired tsundere. Thank you for your review!

030artastic: Thank you for your reviews, they mean a lot! I'm glad you like Hana's side thoughts, like really glad! I always worry she's a bit too much… hehehe… Thank you, again! Your reviews are wonderfull!

JeyaMendoza: Takao is definitely a hand full, haha! I'm glad you enjoyed it! I know! I love tsunderes, they just need some hugs, but Midorima is really pushing the boundaries of love. And yeah, Kasamatsu does have a point, you've got it spot on! But all I can say is imitation isn't always about strength ;D heheheh. Thank you so much, I love your reviews!

ArchimedesAckermann: Thank you for the review! And yes, adorable team feels

RockaRosalie: Sorry for the long wait! Thank you for the review and kind words though!

CrystalVixen: Thank you!

OneWhoReadsTooMuch: Midorima will get his act together eventually, but yeah, he is scary! I feel like his threatening power gets down played a lot, but that might just be me. Anyway, thank you for another great review! I love hearing your opinion on the story!

CrystalViolet24: Takao is awesome and I love him! He's really fun to write too and I'm so, so, so, so, happy you think I did a good job on his character. I was kind of nervous? Eeep. Still am actually, ahha. Anyway, yes, the ships! (I will go down with this shippp ~) I love writing all the cute little fluff moments between Kuroko and Kise, but there are still so many angsty reunions to go and I love the romantic tensions in those too… I've started rambling, I'm sorry! Ahh, thank you for your awesomely long reviews! I love them so much!

NinjaPenguinLover: THERE IS NO BETTER SHIP. SHIP THEM ALL. I kid, I kid. Seriously though, thank you for your reviews! And yes! Extra Game! I'm so pumped— that is my main goal to finish this story just so I can write Gold Nash. Again, thank you!

ADDBaby: Comic relief through pain! And yes, Kuroko would be a great avenger, all silent walking and perfect poker faces. You'd never see him coming. Thank you! I love your reviews, they're hilarious.

Volley-14-Nerd: Yes, update! Yay, thank you!

Naliyu: Adorable blushing tsunderes are the best. Thank you!

TheParadoxicalOxymoron: Noodle would through a fit, speaking of noodle… poor Kagami. I'm glad you liked the short perspectives! I was a tad worried about those, but their involvement is fundamental in the anime and like? How do I involve? So I'm really glad you liked that method, thank you!

RedRaspberries: Oh man, sorry this took so long! I hope you can forgive me and thank you for your review! You've been around so long, it's great!