A/N: Ahhhh! I apologize for not uploading chapters often enough! I became so busy with college and I'm also done with it haha. It's only my second semester, but senioritis already hit me!

"Sorry I'm late!" I huffed out, bending over my knees as I tried to catch my breath.

"Ehhh? It was Masami who was missing! Wait, then where's Kuroko?" Riko exclaimed.

"I'm here," Kuroko responded behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, sharing a secretive smile with the bluenette. I had ran into him as I left the convenience market, already late to meet up with the team. Kuroko was pretty late too, considering how we bumped into one another five minutes after our original meeting time.

"Huh?! Really?!" The entire team gawked. I stifled my laughter behind my hands, still hunched over.

"Hai, I've been here the entire time." Kuroko silently breathed a sigh of relief, turning his head to the side. Kagami must've caught Kuroko's lie.

"Uso! You're lying this time!" The redhead accused. "You barely made it on time running here!" By this time, I was noticeably laughing. Because of my position of being hunched over my knees and my body shaking with laughter, I was swaying. Losing my balance, I fell ungracefully onto my bottom on the concrete sidewalk, my laughter cutting short.

"Itai! That hurt!" I grumbled. Kuroko stuck his hand out in front of my face, silently motioning for me to take it. Grinning, I latched onto his hand and allowed him to pull me up.

"Let's go! We haven't forgotten anything, have we?" Hyuga called out, bringing all our attention to him. Riko sighed, "What about you talking about? We're on our way now to get it!"

"Yosh! Let's get it!" Koganei shouted with glee. "Wait, what are we getting again?" The team collectively groaned. He's hopeless…

"Ready guys? I'm going to go over what we're doing at the Winter Cup again," coached Riko. "Eight schools are participating in the preliminaries. Two of these schools will win the right to participate in the Winter Cup. After today's games, they'll be narrowed down to four schools. Those four schools will play a league series, and the top two schools will go on to the Winter Cup. However, this time the participating teams are the eight schools from the Inter-High preliminaries."

"In other words, they're powerful teams who had successful summers, right?" I interjected. Riko nodded at me with approval.

"Hai. Our opponent today is the 6th place team, Josei High School! Let's win!"

"Hai!" We cheered.

I sat on the bench, sniffling. "R-riko-chan!" I wailed, clutching her waist like my lifeline. "W-why am I on the bench?" Coach sighed, patting my head like anyone would to a child.

"Mo I, Masami-chan." Riko continued to gently pat my head. "We'll put you in if one of the boys needs you. Think of it like this: you're our trump card." I continued to pout although on the inside I felt a tad better. "Now shhh! The game's about to begin!"

"Let the Winter Cup preliminary game," the speakers cackled to life, "between Seirin High School and Josei High School begin!"

But what happened next was totally uncalled for. The number 9 from Josei suddenly started tearing up before turning away looking so morbid.

"What's wrong, Narumi?" The captain of Josei asked worriedly.

"You're so mean, Captain," Number 9 muttered. "Why would you do that?"

"What?"

"A girl. You said that coach of the other team was a girl," Narumi continued to mutter. Ahh shit. This is definitely not going to end well! I nervously looked over to Riko, seeing her face scrunching up. "I was looking for something bigger, some more exciting. She's not sexy at all!" He ended up shouting, pointing straight at Riko. "Give back what you stole from meeee!"

Everyone on the team began to quake in fear, sweat already dripping down our faces. Riko's facial expression was suddenly calm as Koganei, Mitobe and I craned out heads to look at our coach. Then, she smiled before lifting her right thumb up and swiping it across her neck and back, and then tilting her thumb downward – the universal signal for "murder." It didn't take a genius to know what she was telling us to do: go slaughter them. I could feel Riko's murderous aura flare brightly as I was sitting next to her. Squeaking in surprise, I fearfully called out to the others on the court.

"It's either us or them at the mercy of Riko! I don't want to die because of you guys! I have so much to live for!" I jumped up from my seat on the bench. "Sempais! Kuroko! Kagami!" I punched a fist into the air. "Kill them all!"

"Y-yes, ma'am!" They fearfully responded.

Already two minutes into the game, I noticed something: Josei was double-teaming Kagami. Sheesh, we expected this, but it's pretty rough. This game isn't going well for us so far. My opinion on that matter changed within the next four minutes.

"I've got plenty of pent-up frustration! I'll smash the hoop!" Kagami roared. We cheered him on from the bench. "Take this!" Everyone watched as he jumped up, ascending towards the hoop. Just as he was about to dunk the ball, his head collided with the rim of the hoop.

Only him…Only Kagami. I shook my head sadly, watching as he fell back down onto the court.

"He jumped too high!" Riko screeched. By the end of the first quarter, we were already in the lead: 29 – 18.

By the beginning of the fourth quarter, we were still leading with 53 – 76. I grumbled on the bench, upset that Riko didn't let me go in.

"It's because you're our secret weapon, and if we let you out too early, everyone will know about your plays," Riko admonished. I sighed dejectedly, knowing that she was right. I turned my attention back to the game, noticing how the two centers were fighting for the offensive rebound. I wasn't surprised when Kiyoshi won, snatching the ball out of the air.

He was in a position where he could either pass to Hyuga or make a shot himself. Knowing Kiyoshi and his talents, I was silently chanting, Make the shot. Make the shot. I watched Kiyoshi maneuver his large hand around the ball, and shoot. The points jumped to 91 for us.

"Go Seirin!" I shouted, cupping my hands around my mouth. I watched the game with fascination, noticing their synchronization as a team. The game continued until the very last second. Kagami broke through the players double-teaming him and charged towards the net with a fiery determination. It wasn't until I noticed his body's position and stance that I realized he was going for the lane-up. He leapt into the air and that was when I felt it.

My heart stuttered for a second, causing me to gasp, clutching my chest. I didn't hear Riko or the others asking me if I was alright. No, I was too busy wondering what this sensation was. The roar of adrenaline rushing through my veins, the blood pounding in my ears and the dilution of my eyes were enough to let me know that the doors that separated regular players from the prodigies were being forced opened. My eyes roved up, watching Kagami slam the ball into the net before falling to the ground.

I glanced over at the scoreboard, grinning: 61 – 108. He's the one. If we continue like this, we'll make it to the Winter Cup.