Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Kuroko no Basket!

...

...

2nd year - Too Academy

...

Mac waited until the end of the practice to approach Harasawa. Daiki knew she planned on talking with their coach and would wait outside for her. She nodded slightly as he looked at her.

"Potter?" Harasawa arched a brow in question when he noticed her hanging back.

"I have something I would like to discuss with you, coach," Mac said with a small smile. She saw the curiosity in his eyes as he looked at her for a moment before he nodded and led the way back to his office. She sat down in what she had dubbed as her chair.

"Okay, I will admit that I am curious," Harasawa said.

"The tension in the team is damaging the teamwork and spirit we have been building up last year," Mac said making Harasawa arch a brow in interest. "It's creating groups within the team and it will show in our games if we don't do something about it now."

Harasawa nodded in agreement as he watched her. She looked a little tired but also determined as she met his eyes. He had of course noticed the tension in the team that hadn't seemed to lessen as the weeks had gone by. He had held back from intervening too much because he knew that if he did that he would make it harder for Mac to win them over. They needed to respect her and if he saved her every time they wouldn't do that.

But that didn't mean that he would accept any hostility toward her or give them a free pass for things if he saw it happening. The tension had risen over the last three weeks and he saw how it divided the team, and he would admit that he was surprised. He had thought they would have come around by now, but it seemed like the resentment from the first years, Kasahara especially, was deeper than he thought. He was a little worried about Kasahara and how he seemed to impact the others with his clear resentment. There was something deeper there and Harasawa knew that he would have to do something about it soon.

Surprisingly, it had gone almost effortless last year with Mac and Daiki along with Sakurai and Namamura. They had slipped right into the team despite the antagonistic behaviour between Daiki and Wakamatsu.

He sighed softly.

"I have noticed," Harasawa said. "You have been handling it well."

Mac shrugged, "I don't know about that."

"Do you have any ideas?" Harasawa asked curiously. Wondering what she would come up with. "I can step in and direct the practices more if you want that, I know I put a lot on you, Potter. But I haven't wanted to do that because if I do that too much, they won't learn to respect you."

"I know," Mac nodded. "I don't think it would help. They would look for any sign of weakness and use it against me, and it's bad enough that Daiki keeps stepping in to defend me. I try to get him to stop but he can't help himself."

"Is that why he hasn't accepted the challenge from Kasahara?" Harasawa asked curiously because he would have thought that Daiki would jump at the chance.

"Yes," Mac said dryly. "He won't as long as he acts like he does toward me. Or he would and he would crush him completely and that's not really what we need, so I've told him to refrain."

"Appreciated," Harasawa said a little amused. "So, ideas?"

"I'm starting to think that we might need a little of Daiki's instinctive response," Mac admitted looking at him. "But as a team. I would like to have them play a match against us. Me and Daiki against the five of them."

Harasawa arched a brow, "just you two?"

"I was considering having it be five against five, like normal, but I think that the difference would be too great then," Mac said. "I want them to feel how it is to play against us."

Harasawa frowned a little as he thought. He wasn't sure if that would be a good idea.

"I'm not sure," he said.

"I was also thinking that they should see me and Daiki against the other regulars first," Mac added. "Just so they're not singled out too badly, but also so they can compare and maybe see why I have them do the work they are doing now. They don't understand why we want them to work on basic elements instead of something more substantial within basketball."

Harasawa nodded slowly as he understood what she was saying.

"They want to play basketball and I understand that," Mac said. "I just want to make sure they can keep up. We've worked really hard last year and it's not the same level as Middle School. It's only natural that they need a little bit of work."

"I see," Harasawa said pensively. He was starting to lean against letting her go through with this. "Have you talked with Aomine about this?"

"Yes," Mac said. "He will do it."

"Okay," Harasawa finally agreed. "We'll tell them tomorrow and arrange the match for Wednesday, how about that?"

"Great," Mac smiled.

She got up before she paused.

"Yes, Potter?" Harasawa asked.

"I talked with Riko from Seirin after the Winter Cup," Mac said looking at him and saw the questioning arched eyebrow. "Well, I've talked with her quite a few times, really. But we've been discussing having a joint training camp of sorts."

Harasawa blinked not able to hide the surprise he felt.

"Oh?" he managed.

"Yeah, and I think it would be a good idea," Mac said. "While we won both of our matches against them last year, we still can learn a lot from them. Their view of basketball is really inspiring, and it might be what we need to really bring this team together. Besides, it will help break up the potential tension after our internal match."

"You would like to have it soon?" Harasawa asked.

"This weekend, maybe?" Mac shrugged. "We can use Riko's dad's gym and facilities. They do have a training centre, after all."

Harasawa nodded slowly, "they do…does this mean that Kagetora is involved as well?"

He wasn't sure he was up for that…

"Riko said he would be," Mac nodded. "Apparently he's been asking to join in."

"I don't see any problem with that," Harasawa managed to say calmly. "You can go ahead and arrange that, Potter."

She walked out of the office and Harasawa let out a groan. Kagetora would be impossible to deal with…

...

"So?" Daiki asked when she met him outside.

"He agreed," Mac said smiling a little relieved.

"Don't know why you were nervous," Daiki smiled. "He tends to agree with you."

"Yeah, but this is a little risky," Mac pointed out. "It might push them too much."

She did worry about that and would have understood if Harasawa said it was too much.

"Don't care," Daiki muttered. "They need to learn a little respect."

Mac snorted, "hearing you talk about respect is amusing."

"Oi!" Daiki protested but he couldn't help the smile as she shot him a mischievous smile. "I can be respectful."

"Right," she laughed.

"I can," Daiki insisted stopping and pulling her close making her blink as she looked up at him. She didn't protest as he put his arms around her. "When I want to be."

"Sure," she breathed, and Daiki smiled before leaning down and pressed his lips to hers in a chaste kiss that quickly turned deeper. He loved kissing her…. He blinked when she pulled back and saw the redness in her cheeks. "We're on the street."

He blinked again feeling a little dazed.

"Right," he said as she had earlier. "You're good at making me forget."

She huffed a laugh and pulled away but grabbed his hand instead.

"I want to take you out on a date," Daiki said.

"A date?" Mac glanced at him.

"Mm," Daiki said pushing back the nerves and self-consciousness as he looked at her. He wanted to spend time with her and just her without any other distractions. "Do you want to go on a date with me this Thursday, Kenzie?"

Mac blushed but she smiled and nodded.

"Yes!" she said.

Daiki smiled back.

...

Mac decided to stop by Seirin after school on Tuesday to talk to Riko and start planning their training camp. She knew they had a late practice since Taiga had told her.

"Mac," Tetsuya said appearing at her side when she entered the gym. It looked like they were nearly done with their practice.

"Tetsu," Mac grinned and hugged him making him smile. "How are you?"

"Good," Tetsuya said. "You?"

He looked at her closely.

"Good," Mac echoed him with a small smile. "Busy with practice and everything, you know."

He nodded. "I didn't know you were coming today."

"It was a last-minute decision," Mac shrugged. "Need to talk to Riko and decided that I would stop by instead of doing it over the phone."

"Ah," Tetsuya said. "You're planning to kill us all, aren't you?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Mac sniffed before laughing.

"Hey, Mac!"

Mac looked away from Tetsuya and saw that the rest of Seirin had noticed her now. She also spotted the new members that had joined and grinned when she saw a familiar face.

"Kuroki!" Mac said waving. "I heard you had joined Seirin. Good for you."

"Hey Mac," Kuroki smiled. "Thanks. I thought it was a good idea at the time."

"Oh? Riko being hard on you?" Mac grinned.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you possessed her or something," Kuroki shuddered.

"Oi!" Riko glared at him.

Mac laughed amused.

"Well, you'll survive," Mac shrugged. "Maybe."

Kiyoshi laughed as he came over and ruffled her hair.

"Oi," Mac mock glared at him. "Don't touch the hair!"

"Sorry," he said not sounding sorry at all making Mac huff and roll her eyes before hugging him.

"Why are you here?" Hyuga asked suspiciously. "Spying?"

Mac pulled back from Kiyoshi and grinned.

"Spying? Hm… don't need to," Mac said. "No, I'm here to see Riko."

"Me?" Riko blinked.

"Yup, thought we could talk about our plans," Mac said mysteriously even though it was easy to guess what she was referring too.

"Oh, good," Riko said and looked at the others. "Practice is over for today. Go change and be ready for tomorrow!"

"Yes," they said eying Mac and Riko before leaving.

"Talk to you soon," Tetsuya said.

"See you later," Taiga said with a wave.

Mac nodded and watched them turn and leave.

"Should we just stay here, or should we go and get something to eat?" Riko asked.

"Let's go to Maji's," Mac said. "I'm getting hungry."

"Good idea," Riko agreed.

...

They chatted lightly as they ate, and Mac enjoyed spending time with Riko like this. She found that the other girl was funny and easy to talk to. While she had always gotten along with Riko she hadn't really spent much time with her without anyone else around before. She was starting to think that she had been missing out.

"Dad is really excited about this," Riko said when they had finished eating.

Mac laughed, "he is?"

"Yeah," Riko said and looked at her. "I think he is interested in seeing more of you and how you play."

Mac blinked, "oh?"

"He can tell you are talented and good at what you do," Riko said. "He is always interested in talent. Besides, I think your coach has praised you to him, so he is curious."

Mac looked down knowing she was blushing. She shifted a little in her seat.

"Oh. Right," Mac mumbled.

Riko smiled amused.

"So, you said in your text that your coach had said that this weekend would be good?" Riko started to turn their conversation back to what they were supposed to discuss.

"Mm," Mac nodded. "It's not normal to have practises over the weekend, but we do that sometimes just when we need the extra time. I think it will be better to have full days and not just a couple of hours after school."

"Good point," Riko agreed. "It should be fine, and maybe we could do a double day? Saturday and Sunday?"

"You think they'll be up to give up both of their days off?" Mac asked.

"If we tell them too," Riko grinned.

Mac laughed, "I like how you think! Let's do it!"

It was late when Mac finally got back to the apartment, but she didn't mind. They had gotten a lot planned for the training camp and it had been fun discussing basketball together with Riko.

Taiga took one look at her before he sighed and mumbled something about how they all were going to die. Mac just laughed.

...

It was time for the internal practice match and Mac waited for the team to get there. Mac had already changed and warmed up along with Daiki who had a smirk on his face as he leaned against the wall. She glanced at him before looking back at her notes.

"Finally," Kasahara's voice sounded before he entered the gym with the other first years. "We're finally allowed to play basketball!"

Sekai and Rakuto grinned looking excited while Yugi and Shishui looked more resigned than anything else. Though Mac did note some excitement in them as well.

She wondered if she had made the right decision to play the first years last, but she thought it was fair to allow them to see Mac and Daiki play for real once before facing them. They hadn't really had the chance yet, after all.

"You look excited," Abe commented looking at the first years.

"Of course!" Sekai grinned.

"We'll win!" Kasahara said confidently.

Inoue looked at them pityingly. "Oh, how it was to be innocent and naïve…"

Wakamatsu snorted, "fools."

Yugi looked at them for a moment before he looked over at Mac who was talking with Harasawa now and handing him her notebook. She was nodding along as Harasawa talked.

"She has something planned, doesn't she?" he asked.

"Yes," Sakurai said. "Um. Sorry."

"Don't apologize," Abe and Inoue chanted at the same time.

"Sorry!" Sakurai squeaked.

Kasahara rolled his eyes as he eyed their senior with barely hidden contempt.

"How is he on this team?" Kasahara whispered to Rakuto.

"Did you say something, Kasahara?" Mac asked having come over and was now looking at Kasahara with narrowed green eyes.

"No," Kasahara said quickly.

"Hm," Mac frowned, "see to it that you don't. Gather up, everyone!"

Kasahara glared at her when she looked away from them and Yugi sighed.

"Okay," Mac said when everyone had come over. "So, as coach Harasawa told you yesterday we are going to have internal practice matches today. However."

She paused and looked around.

"However," she said again, "it will be a little different than what you might expect."

"Different how?" Kasahara demanded. "Coach said we would play!"

"Yeah!" Rakuto said. "You can't change that!"

Mac arched a brow, "did I say anything about that?"

Daiki was scowling at them from where he was standing.

"Shut up and let her talk," Daiki sneered.

"Enough," Mac glanced at Daiki before looking back at them. "Now, if you would have allowed me to talk before jumping to conclusions… I would have told you that it will be two matches. The match will last for twenty minutes each because it will take too much time if we go for the normal forty minutes matches."

She paused again and saw that they looked more interested now. She smiled a little.

"It will be three teams," Mac said.

"How will that work?" Sekai asked.

"I will get to that," Mac said. "The first years will be on one team."

Kasahara and Rakuto high-fived each other looking pleased.

"Abe, Inoue, Wakamatsu, Sakurai and Namamura will be on the other team," Mac continued. "Yamaguchi will be the referee since he is the best at the rules and calmest."

Yugi was frowning because he had a sinking feeling he understood where this was going, and he really wasn't sure he wanted to do that… Kasahara was frowning again.

"What about Aomine?! I want to get to play him!" Kasahara demanded.

Yugi noticed the stern eyes of Harasawa watching Kasahara and wondered if Kasahara would talk himself into trouble soon. Kasahara seemed to think he had the right to demand things from everyone and Yugi knew it wouldn't be tolerated for much longer.

Mac smirked, "well, so happy you asked, Kasahara."

Yugi swallowed. Yup. He was going to die. He knew it.

"You will be playing against me and Daiki," Mac grinned while Daiki smirked darkly. "Daiki and I will play on our own team. First, we will play Wakamatsu's team before we play the first-year team. Got it?"

"Just… just the two of you against five?" Shishui asked speaking up for the first time.

"Yup," Mac said. "Just the two of us."

...

Harasawa watched as they reacted to Mac's words. He would admit that it was amusing to see the wide eyes and gaping mouths as they took in what she was saying. Of course, the old regulars were the ones who recovered first and nodded in acceptance.

"What?!" Kasahara exclaimed. "Are you underestimating us that much? You think that just the two of you will beat us?"

"Oi!" Daiki snapped. "Shut up!"

"Daiki," Mac warned and Harasawa saw that she looked tired.

"Calm down," Harasawa spoke up deciding that he would step in before it went too far. "I told you to listen to Potter, and I will not tolerate any disrespect or more arguing."

"Yes, coach."

Harasawa nodded and stepped back.

"Prove to me then that I am underestimating you," Mac spoke up when the silence stretched slightly. "I've seen nothing to make me believe that I don't know exactly what you can and can't do. But I am happy to be proven wrong. Now, I don't want to spend more time on this. Wakamatsu bring your team in the court!"

"Sure thing, Mac," Wakamatsu said. "We will not go easy on you, Aomine!"

"Bring it," Daiki smirked back as he also got to the circle in the middle of the court.

"The rest of you stand at the side-lines and watch," Mac said looking at them. "Try to think about how you can play together and use your strengths against us. I decided to play you last so you would get an idea of how Daiki and I play together. Wakamatsu and the others know, but you do not. So, use the time you have to see."

Harasawa was once more impressed with how she thought. She gave them a chance to really see what they could do before facing them themselves. It proved that she had put a lot of thought into it.

...

"Ready?" Mac asked Daiki.

"Yes," Daiki nodded.

Mac smiled. "Let's do this."

He grinned excitedly reminding her of the early days of their friendship. She knew her smile soften as she watched him for a moment before she reminded herself what they were supposed to be doing.

"Twenty minutes!" Mac said looking over at the other side where Wakamatsu, Abe, Inoue, Sakurai and Namamura was standing looking ready to go. "Yamaguchi will signal when we have reached ten minutes, but we will not take any breaks, okay?"

"Sure," they said.

Daiki got up ready for the tip-off against Wakamatsu while Yamaguchi was holding the ball.

Yamaguchi blew the whistle and tossed the ball up in the air making both Daiki and Wakamatsu go for the ball, but Daiki won. He tipped the ball to Mac who caught it easily.

...

Yugi blinked as he watched the match in front of them. It was fast-paced and rougher than he expected it to be.

Daiki caught a pass from Mac without even looking in her direction and was past Wakamatsu faster than Yugi had seen anyone move. He dribbled the ball effortlessly as Inoue came as a back-up. Daiki barely paused before passing the ball behind him where Mac appeared and twirled around before she jumped up and shot the ball making it bounce against the headboard before it went through the hoop.

Abe had the ball now and passed it to Namamura who dribbled it while Mac came and guarded him. She was close and pushing him back making him pass back to Abe who suddenly found himself faced with Daiki.

"Here!" Wakamatsu yelled.

Abe passed the ball to Wakamatsu somehow getting it past Daiki who smirked.

They rushed toward the hoop and found Mac already back and made Sakurai pause as he got the ball. He swallowed as Mac grinned and stepped forward just as he took the shot.

"Sorry!" Sakurai bowed his head to Mac when the ball went through.

Mac snorted as she grabbed the ball.

"I'll just return the favour," Mac said passing the ball to Daiki who had both Wakamatsu and Inoue and Abe on him.

Yugi wasn't the only one who blinked when Daiki got free from the marks without much fuss by using his speed and agility. His limbs seemed longer than normal as he passed the ball to himself and was away from them with one step.

He jumped to take the shot when Abe got close and nudged him making him lose his balance but instead of losing control, he allowed himself to fall back and somehow managed to shoot.

"His formless shot," Shishui gasped. "That's amazing."

Yugi nodded.

Kasahara scowled.

...

Shishui wondered how on earth they would be able to keep up with what they were witnessing now. Mac and Daiki were winning the match against the five other regulars who was now at the end of their twenty minutes starting to look tired and sweat was running down their foreheads.

He had never seen anything like this, and he couldn't help but wonder how much the two held back during matches.

Kasahara was grumbling beside him but he looked a little more worried now than he had at first. Shishui wished the other boy could learn to think before he spoke because he was sure that this was only happening because of him (and maybe Rakuto and Sekai).

"Potter and Aomine barely look like they're tired," Yugi commented. "Compared to the others."

"I know," Shishui said. "They barely have to look at each other."

"They know what the other will do," Yugi agreed.

"I will stop you now, Mac!" Wakamatsu yelled running toward Mac who had the ball and was running toward the hoop while dribbling the ball.

Wakamatsu was taller than Mac and he towered over her as she paused when he blocked her. She tilted her head slightly as she observed him all the while dribbling the ball close to her. She moved the ball over to her other hand when Abe came from behind trying to steal it.

Mac moved toward her left making Wakamatsu follow but she twisted around and dribbled the ball between Abe's legs and caught it on the other side of Abe before she had a free path toward the hoop.

"Amazing…" Rakuto whispered.

"Yeah…" Sekai nodded along beside him.

Kasahara scowled (again).

...

The match ended with Mac and Daiki winning 32 – 21.

Harasawa watched the first years who were all staring wide-eyed at Mac and Daiki who was standing straight not looking like they had just played a match. Mac had a bottle of water in her hands and was drinking it while listening to Daiki talk. The others were lying across the court breathing hard.

He saw the awe in Yugi and Shishui's eyes and the beginning of respect in Sekai and Rakuto while Kasahara looked defiant. He had folded his arms over his chest as he scowled at the court.

"So, did you learn anything from watching them?" Harasawa asked.

"Um…" Yugi blinked. "I kind of got lost in the game…"

"It happens," Harasawa allowed.

"How is that possible?" Rakuto asked.

"Practice," Harasawa said looking at them seriously. "They have worked hard on their basketball since they were young kids. You can see it in the way they play and approach basketball. I have never seen anyone play like the two of them before."

"So… how are we going to even stand a chance against them?" Yugi swallowed.

"Oi, they have played for twenty minutes," Kasahara interrupted. "And it wasn't like they didn't have any trouble at all against the others. We can do it."

Harasawa looked at him for a moment before looking back at Yugi.

"Do your best," Harasawa said. "See what you can do against them and how you can work together to stop them. Mac is good at reading the game and the players. She knows your strengths and your weaknesses just as good as or if not better than you do yourself. You might have a slight advantage because she hasn't had a year to observe you as she has the others."

They watched as the others got back to their feet and walked off the court while grumbling that they were tired.

"You killed us, Mac!" Abe complained. "I didn't think you would go all out like that! Mercy! Mercy, I tell you!"

"Yeah!" Inoue agreed.

Mac laughed, "well, we had to do that because you're too good to just take it easy. So, it's your own fault."

They gaped at her and Harasawa chuckled.

"Come on," he said looking at them. "Get out there. You're up."

Yugi had a feeling he was walking to his doom.

...

Mac eyed the first years as they entered the court. They looked determined and not too intimidated. Good. She smiled a little. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Don't look down at us!" Kasahara glared.

Daiki eyed him, "then prove that you're more than empty words."

Kasahara narrowed his eyes in determination.

"Ready," Yugi nodded.

Mac hummed and smiled, "we'll see. Yamaguchi…"

She tossed the basketball to Yamaguchi who smiled and nodded.

"Get ready!" Yamaguchi said. "Tip-off!"

Daiki got ready for the tip-off against Sekai who swallowed as he stepped up taking in Daiki.

...

Daiki won the tip-off and got the ball to Mac who allowed herself to slow it down and observe the first years as they seemed to fumble a little as they tried to decide how to go about stopping them. She glanced at Daiki who nodded, and she knew he would be following her lead in this.

She moved and Sekai was in front of her looking determined. She faked going to the left knowing that he would follow and would not be fast enough to change the direction as she went to the right instead leaving him behind her. Next was Yugi who was frowning in thought and he almost caught her when he leapt forward but she managed to pass the ball over to her other hand and twisted so she was free. When Rakuto and Shishui came at her at once she arched a brow and passed the ball to Daiki.

She saw the moment they realised that they had left Daiki practically unguarded with only Kasahara to watch him. That was what she had wanted to see. How easy it was to lure them away from the strongest threat.

Kasahara challenged Daiki by trying to put pressure on him and force him to move back. Daiki just sighed before he jumped where he stood and shot the ball in a variant of his formless shot.

The ball shot through the hoop making the first years turn and stare at it for a moment.

"Come on!" Kasahara yelled already moving to pick up the ball. "Let's get them back!"

"Yes!" the others agreed.

Mac wasn't surprised when they came rushing in without a plan clearly hoping that if they moved quickly enough it would be harder for Mac and Daiki to get the ball. Mac sighed a little.

She moved just as Rakuto was about to get the ball and stole it right in front of him before she ran toward the other hoop and sidestepped Shishui as he barely managed to catch up to her. She decided to do it on her own without involving Daiki in her play this once. So, she jumped and dunked the ball through the hoop before landing underneath the hoop with ease.

...

Kasahara gritted his teeth in annoyance. Everything they did was met with calculated responses and even though it was just Mac and Daiki they seemed to be everywhere and no matter how they tried to attack it was stopped.

He had to prove that he was good. He had to do it to show his talents and that he could get revenge for his old team. They had hurt so much after losing to Teiko, and it was because of Daiki and Mac. Those two had been the ones to destroy the seniors on his team.

He wished the others would see it! But they kept praising them and listening to them, and it was annoying. He hated how easy everything came to them, how easy it was for them to get what they wanted. They didn't understand the hours he had spent training or the hours he had spent trying to get the team together again after their match against Teiko… he had new on the team then and had looked forward to facing Teiko. It had been brutal. Most of the team quit, and Kasahara hated seeing them give up.

"Come on!" He yelled again. "Work for it! Get the ball!"

"You do it," Yugi snapped back. "We are doing the best we can, so do something yourself for once instead of ordering everyone else!"

"Weak," Kasahara glared.

"Calm down," Shishui ordered. "We won't get anywhere if we argue among ourselves. We need to work together if we're going to have a chance."

"He's right," Sekai nodded wiping his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Oi! We're not having a break, here," Daiki called out. "Get the ball or you'll lose it."

Mac hummed in thought as she watched the small argument between the first year's and was surprised when Shishui was the one stepping in to calm them down. She smiled a little as they listened to him.

"Interesting," she murmured.

...

Kasahara finally managed to get the ball through the hoop and Sekai managed soon after. It made them feel a rush of hope and excitement as they felt a new burst of energy fill them as they charged ahead and worked together to corner Mac without forgetting about Daiki. Maybe Mac and Daiki were getting tired. They had after all played a match before this one without much of a break.

It was going well...

…at least until Mac paused and tilted her head as she watched them while dribbling the ball close to her. She had a pensive look on her face before she glanced at Daiki and he…smirked.

Yugi felt like something cold went down his back. Had they been holding back the whole time?! Oh, come on…!

It was brutal.

Mac upped the pacing even more and her movements were sharper and faster making them run harder trying to keep up, but with Mac and Daiki passing the ball between them with more speed it was harder to stop them from scoring.

Both Mac and Daiki seemed to be dancing between them like they were just lifeless puppets standing there. Kasahara was breathing hard as he tried to stop Daiki.

Sekai was barely managing to run from one hoop to the other nevertheless pay attention to what Mac (at the time) was doing.

Shishui and Rakuto were both leaning forward with their hands on their knees trying to catch their breath.

Yugi swallowed as he tried to figure out what to do next. How much longer were they going to play? He hoped Yamaguchi would signal the end of the match soon because it felt like his lungs were on fire. He never had been this tired before…

...

"Looks like they're done," Abe commented form the side-line.

"Yes," Harasawa nodded and glanced at the clock. They still had three minutes left. "I wonder if I should end the match now."

"No, let them push themselves to the limit," Inoue said with a small grin. "They need to really see the difference between them and Mac and Aomine."

Harasawa nodded in agreement. He had been impressed when the first years got together and started to work more as a team, but he was disappointed that they seemed to underestimate Mac the most.

"Ouch," Wakamatsu grimaced as he looked at the slaughter that was going on out on the court. "It hurts to watch."

"Mm," Namamura said. "I'm suddenly very glad I never made Mac feel the need to teach me a lesson."

"Me too," Sakurai nodded. "Sorry!"

"They're still holding back," Inoue observed. "Daiki is barely using some of his street courts moves. He's keeping it remarkably close to what he calls boring regular basketball."

"Wonder if this is going to get them to see that Mac has a reason for what she does," Sakurai worried. "We can't let them keep getting away with talking to her or about her like they have been doing. Sorry!"

"You're right," Wakamatsu agreed.

...

Finally.

It was over.

The score ended up at 58-12 in a clear win for Mac and Daiki.

The first years all collapsed on the court trying to catch their breath. Every one of them was looking like they would never get up again, and their shirts were wet from sweating so much.

"Here," Wakamatsu said holding out a bottle of water to Yugi who weakly managed to grab it and just tilted it over his head not caring that the floor was getting wet or that he missed his mouth. He heard the amused snort.

"Thank you," Yugi mumbled.

"…you need to stretch," Wakamatsu said. "Or it will be worse for you later."

"Do I have to?" Yugi complained.

"If you want to be able to move tomorrow, then yes," Wakamatsu said. "Come on."

Yugi opened his eyes and saw the hand in front of him and blinked confused. It took a minute to realise that he was being offered assistance in getting back to his feet, but he blamed the match for the slowness of his mind. He was too tired to think.

He accepted the help and noticed that the others were in similar situations as him.

Kasahara gritted his teeth as he accepted help from one of the others in their team. He saw Mac and Daiki standing, looking like they hadn't just played for forty minutes, talking with Harasawa. It annoyed him but he frowned a little too. It had been hard to play against them, harder than he thought, but at the same time… it had been fun.

"I still have a way to go," Kasahara mumbled.

"Yes, you do," Abe said. "But that's okay. We all work hard, but it's worth it in the end. You'll see that you'll catch up soon enough. Well, maybe not quite to the level Mac and Aomine are at, but close enough."

Kasahara frowned still feeling resentment and couldn't quite understand how no one else seemed to be upset or angry that they had been so thoroughly trashed in the game.

...

"Why is it that you don't even look tired?" Rakuto complained as he looked at Mac and Daiki when Harasawa had called them together.

"It's not fair, right?" Abe grinned at him. "But you'll get used to it."

"I'm tired," Mac said with a shrug, "but it's not too bad because I have the stamina I need to keep going like this."

Daiki shrugged without saying anything.

"Good job," Harasawa said. "You came together and worked as a team after a rather rough start where you were thinking as individuals. You paid for underestimating Potter in the beginning and had trouble handling both of them. But when you started to work together you could challenge them more. If your stamina had been better, you would have been able to play them full strength for longer."

Mac saw the pensive looks on their faces, but it looked like they were listening to what Harasawa was saying. She also noticed the contemplative looks they shot her, but she pretended to not notice them as she kept her attention on Harasawa.

"Okay," Harasawa said. "That's it for today. I want you to think about this and try to think about what you could have done differently. Practice tomorrow and Friday is cancelled, so you will get time to recover."

"Maybe do a light run one of the days," Mac suggested when Harasawa looked at her. "But don't push yourselves because we don't want you to get hurt."

Harasawa nodded.

"And this weekend we are going to have a training camp," Harasawa said. "You will meet here at the gym at 8 am on Saturday."

"During the weekend?" Inoue sighed.

"Yes," Harasawa said. "Both Saturday and Sunday will be a training camp that Potter has put together for us. It will be for most of the day, so keep that in mind. If you have other arrangements bring it up with me and we'll see what can be done."

"Yes, coach," they said.

...

Ueno smiled a little amused as she looked at Mac. It was still Wednesday night, but Mac had wanted to prepare what she would wear on her date with Daiki the next day since she'd only have time to get home to change before he would be there to pick her up.

"You look nervous," Ueno said.

"I don't know what to wear!" Mac moaned as she flopped down onto her bed. "I don't have anything!"

"I'm sure you do," Ueno said.

Mac had called Ueno for a second opinion when she had stared at the closet for thirty minutes without seeing anything.

"I don't know stuff like this," Mac said. "I know I have been on dates before, but… it's mostly just basketball-related things. Or hanging out normally, so I don't know what to do when he actually asked me out for a date."

"Do you know what you're doing?" Ueno asked glancing over at her.

"No," Mac shook her head. "He said it was a surprise, but that it wasn't basketball and not something too fancy."

"Okay," Ueno said. "We can work with that."

"We can?" Mac blinked. "All my clothes are things he's seen before. It's what I normally use, so… nothing feels real…special."

"I don't normally care how I'm dressed," Mac sighed. "But… I just… I want to wear something nice. Something that says that I'm actually considering it because he's gone out of his way to ask me out if that makes sense. And… I want him to like it."

"Cute," Ueno smiled. "I've never seen you like this."

"I'm normally not like this either," Mac mumbled. "I don't know why. We've been together for about nine months or so now. And he's my best friend, and I've never really cared about things like this before."

"We'll find something," Ueno promised. "Now come on and help me look."

Mac got up and walked over to her closet and helped look through it. Ueno grabbed something and held it up before either putting it back or placing it in a maybe-pile.

"Try this on," Ueno said pushing the clothes toward Mac who grabbed them while Ueno turned around so she could change.

"Okay," Mac said when she had changed, and Ueno turned around.

"I like it," Ueno nodded. "The black jeans are showing off your legs while it is casual and something you would normally wear. And if you're going to be outside it won't be too cold like a skirt might be. And the green t-shirt is nice and brings out your eyes even more. And with the jacket, you won't be too cold and if you're inside you can take the jacket off if you think it's warm enough."

"How do you see things like this?" Mac shook her head. "I have no idea."

"It's a gift," Ueno grinned.

"Clearly," Mac smiled.

"And that necklace you have of the basketball would be nice to have so it's outside of the t-shirt," Ueno said.

Mac nodded. "Yeah."

"You got it from Aomine, didn't you?"

"For my birthday," Mac said.

"A nice touch for the outfit, I think," Ueno nodded.

...

"Ready?" Daiki asked when she opened the door.

"Yeah," Mac smiled grabbing her bag knowing that Nao would not be pleased if she left him behind. "I am."

"Have a nice night," Tarou said from behind them. "Remember that it is a school night."

"Yes, uncle Tarou," Mac said.

Mac smiled when Daiki took her hand, and she felt the familiar feeling of butterflies in her stomach. It was a little strange that she felt a little nervous yet excited at just being with him. She was almost with him all the time, so she should be used to the feeling.

"So, where are we going?" Mac asked curiously.

"That depends," Daiki said. "Are you very hungry now?"

"Hm… not too hungry, no," Mac said. "I had something light when I got home."

"Good," Daiki smiled. "Then we can go and eat after."

"After…?" Mac prompted.

"You'll see," Daiki smiled again, and she felt her heart skip a beat.

She grumbled a little pretending that she didn't like the vague answers and tried to get him to tell her what they were doing. He just rolled his eyes and refused to let her know.

"It's good for you to not know everything all the time," he said.

Mac huffed, "that's just boring. Come on, Daiki. Just one hint?"

"No," Daiki said. "You'll guess it."

"Oh? You have so much faith in my guessing abilities?" Mac grinned leaning against him just as the bus turned making her slip a little closer than she had meant to. He smiled as he put his arm around her shoulder keeping her close. She knew she was blushing a little, but she didn't pull away.

"I know you, Kenzie," Daiki said. "And yeah, you will guess it."

"Hm…" Mac said. "Fine. I'll let you keep your secret for now."

"It's not like it's a long time until you find out," Daiki pointed out. "You're impatient."

"No, just curious," Mac denied.

He laughed.

...

"The aquarium?" Mac said as she looked up at the large white building.

"Thought it might be fun," Daiki said looking a little self-conscious.

Mac looked at him and smiled, "yeah! Let's go!"

Daiki relaxed a little and laughed as he allowed her to pull him with her toward the building. He bought the tickets.

"Let's stop by the gift shop on the way out," Mac said looking toward the gift shop.

"If you want," Daiki agreed. "Let's see what kinds of fish they have."

Mac nodded and they entered the aquarium and found themselves in a large room filled with different tanks (or whatever it was called) and Mac dragged Daiki with her to the closest one.

"Ah, look at it," Mac said. "It looks like Nemo."

"It does," Daiki agreed.

"And that looks like Dori!" Mac said when she moved along the tanks. "Hey, Dori!"

Daiki smiled amused as he watched his girlfriend watching the fish she called Dori. He shook his head a little, but he felt warm as he saw her clearly enjoy herself as she looked around.

It wasn't very crowded so they could walk around easily without bumping into other people or have others in their way. Daiki allowed her to drag him from one tank to another as she pointed out something about the fishes they saw.

"Oh, Daiki look!" Mac said hurrying toward a tank making Daiki almost stumble as he followed. "A turtle."

"So I see," Daiki said amused.

"A baby turtle, Daiki," Mac said pointing to another turtle who was indeed a baby. "Adorable."

"You like the turtles, then," Daiki observed.

"Yeah," Mac said. "They're cute."

Daiki shrugged, "I guess."

Mac glanced up at him and smiled making him inhale sharply before he leaned down to press a soft kiss to her lips. He had to force himself to keep it soft and short because he knew they were in public and it wasn't really the place to lose himself in the kiss. Even if she was looking beautiful and adorable.

She blushed when he pulled back but smiled all the same and squeezed his hand.

...

They walked through the tunnel inside the aquarium that had fishes swimming all around them on both sides and above them. Mac would pause to look up and stare at the fishes that were swimming above them.

"Amazing," Mac gasped. "You can see the belly of the fish!"

Daiki laughed, "guess so. That's a big shark."

"I don't like it," Mac said.

"Why?" Daiki asked.

"He'll eat the other fishes," Mac said making Daiki shake his head amused.

"You eat fish too," Daiki pointed out.

Mac mock glared at him, "are you comparing me to a shark, Daiki?"

"Um, no?" Daiki grinned.

Mac huffed but smiled soon after as they continued through the tunnel. Daiki had borrowed a camera from his parents, and they stopped to take pictures along the way.

"How cute," a woman said making Mac look around and blushed when she realised that the woman was talking about her and Daiki. "Do you want me to take a picture of the two of you together?"

"Oh," Mac said glancing at Daiki. "Okay. Thank you."

The woman smiled and accepted the camera from Daiki who stepped back and put an arm around Mac's shoulder. They smiled at the camera and then turned to look at each other not really paying attention to the woman who snapped a picture of them as they smiled at each other.

Mac blinked and snapped out of her staring match with Daiki and knew her cheeks were red when she looked at the woman.

"You remind me of my husband and myself," the woman smiled as she handed back the camera. "Have a nice date."

"Thank you," Mac smiled shyly.

"Thanks," Daiki said a little gruffly.

...

"Oh, penguins!" Mac said. "Cute!"

"You think everything is cute," Daiki said.

"So?" Mac shrugged, "they are. Oh, and look at the sea lions…"

Daiki shook his head as he followed his girlfriend who was again pulled toward another animal. He knew she liked animals, so he wasn't really surprised to see her like this. He had been torn between the aquarium and the zoo but had ended up with the aquarium because some of the boys in his class had told him that it was a good spot to bring a date.

Mac fell back to his side and leaned into him as she looked at the sea lions. They were looking lazy as they rested on the rocky things the aquarium had made for them.

"Looks like you," Mac commented.

"Oi!" Daiki frowned at her. "I do not look like a sea lion."

"You're as adorable as one, though," Mac grinned, "and just as lazy."

Daiki pouted making Mac laugh and leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek quickly making him smile. It was amazing to see the smile she only saw directed at her and knew it was hers. She was the only one who could bring out that smile and it made her feel special in a way she couldn't explain.

"Come on," he smiled. "I think we have one last room to see."

"Okay," Mac said.

It was nearing closing time so Mac knew they couldn't stall too much as they made their way through the last room in the aquarium. But she couldn't help but stop and watch the myriads of jellyfish that was illuminated by different colours. It was beautiful in a way she never would have thought jellyfish could be.

"Amazing," Mac said. "It's almost like a night sky with jellyfish."

The room was dark and most of the light came from the jellyfish, so they stood out perfectly.

"That is cool," Daiki agreed.

...

"Thank you," Mac said looking up at Daiki as she hugged the stuffed animal he'd bought for her. It was a sea lion even though she had been torn between the sea lion and the penguin but had ended up with the sea lion. "You didn't have to buy it for me."

"I wanted to," Daiki shrugged looking a little embarrassed making Mac smile softly.

"Well, I really love it," Mac said. "So, where to now?" (å

"I'm getting hungry," Daiki said.

"Me too," Mac nodded.

They walked to a small burger place close by and Daiki told her to find a table. She did and sat down by the window and she watched the people walking by as she waited for Daiki to arrive with the food.

It didn't take too long before Daiki was there with the food and he placed the burger and fries in front of her making her grin happily.

"Food," she said. "Finally."

Daiki laughed. "You'd think you have never seen it before."

"Well, I'm hungry," Mac shrugged.

"That's good," Daiki said. "Did you have a favourite fish?"

"Hm," Mac thought about it as she ate. "I don't know. I liked most of them… I liked going through the tunnel a lot. All of the different kinds…"

"It was pretty cool," Daiki nodded. "I like the shark."

"Yeah, I know," Mac smiled. "You like the one who eats everyone else."

"Hey, I'm sure they are misunderstood," Daiki protested.

Mac laughed, "sure. I liked the sea lions, though. And the penguins. Oh! And the turtles!"

Daiki shook his head and they chatted more about the aquarium as they ate, and Mac smiled when she felt his legs stretch against hers under the table and how he intertwined them.

"You have to come and see the house Sirius and Remus bought," Mac said when they had finished eating and she changed the subject away from the aquarium.

"Okay," Daiki agreed. "Have you decided on your room there?"

"Mm," Mac said. "I think I will decorate it. I know I won't stay there often, but I think it means a lot to them if I do decorate it."

"But is it what you want, Kenzie?" Daiki asked leaning forward a little as he reached out and took one of her hands in his. He squeezed it lightly. "That's what should be important here. Not what they want, but what you want. Don't do something that you're not ready for."

Mac nodded.

"I know," she said, "but… I think I want to. I had given up the idea of really learning more about my parents, and I'm too afraid of change… I know that, but… I can't keep hiding behind you and the others all the time."

"You're not hiding," Daiki protested.

Mac smiled softly knowing that he would defend her even against herself.

"I am," Mac said with a shrug, "And I've realised that. I'm not ready to do anything big yet, I know that. I still… don't like changes. But I think I'm ready to learn more about my parents now and who they were and who their friends were. They are really here to stay, Daiki."

"They do seem to be genuine about their desire of staying close to you," Daiki agreed.

"Yeah, so I want to give something back," Mac said looking at him. "Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," Daiki smiled. "As long as it is what you want then I'll support you."

"You're too good to me," Mac said softly.

"No," Daiki protested. "I'm really not. You deserve nice things, Kenzie. You deserve people who put you first, and you deserve their love."

Mac swallowed suddenly feeling like she was about to cry. She wasn't sure how or when their conversation had turned so serious but suddenly it was all she could do to not cry so she tried to smile, and she knew he understood because he squeezed her hand and smiled her smile again.

...

They made their way home mostly in silence but hand in hand. Mac just enjoyed walking with him and feeling his warm hand in hers. It had been a nice date, and she didn't want it to end. It was so comfortable just being with him and they hadn't even talked about basketball once during their date. They'd had fun without discussing the latest practice or the next one or the games or anything related to basketball. Don't get her wrong because she loved discussing basketball and everything surrounding it with Daiki, but sometimes it was just nice to talk about other things and still feel like they had something in common.

Daiki kissed her when they stopped outside the apartment door and Mac wasn't sure how her hands had ended up in his hair as she pressed herself closer to him as he deepened the kiss. They had exchanged soft kisses during the date but nothing like this. She felt everything, how his hands clutched her jacket almost touching skin and how he held her close and warmth from his body against hers even through the clothes.

It took more effort than she thought to pull away knowing that her uncle was just inside the apartment and she really didn't want him to open the door and interrupt their kiss.

"I should go inside," Mac whispered against Daiki's lips. "Before someone opens the door."

"Too late," Tarou's voice said sounding amused and a little strained.

Mac and Daiki both jerked away and blinked as they realised that Tarou had indeed opened the door and they hadn't noticed. Mac could feel herself turn red and saw that Daiki's neck also looked a little red, but he tried to seem unbothered.

"I think you better say good night now," Tarou smiled a little. "It's getting late."

"Um… right," Daiki said. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Kenzie."

Mac nodded, "good night."

"Night," Daiki said and hurried away.

Mac glared at her uncle who arched a brow, "did you have to do that?"

Tarou arched a brow, "come on. Get inside."

Mac sighed feeling embarrassed and annoyed.

"Did you have a good time?" Tarou asked.

"Yes," Mac said glancing at him quickly. "I did."

"Good," Tarou said and it looked like he wanted to say something else, but he stopped himself and sighed. "That's good."

...

...

AN: What do you think? XD

A longer chapter for you this time... I wanted to have the date included in this chapter so it turned out to be longer than I intended. XD

Hope you liked how Mac dealt with the first years. Not everything is solved yet, but it's a big step in the right direction. I don't plan on dragging it out much longer, though. So it should be resolved soon. For the most part at least. :)

Thank you for reading and supporting the story! XD