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

...

...

2nd year - Too Academy

...

Mac was more nervous than she thought she would be before the joint training camp with Seirin. She really hoped that it would be what they needed as a team because she was not sure what else to do in order to bring them together. She hoped her game earlier in the week had helped, and that they saw the difference between them and that it was why she pushed them hard to gain the basic skills stronger.

She had even talked to Koizumi about it. It had been tough opening up to her therapist about her team and it opened some wounds from Teiko as well. While they first talked about how she missed how her team (Too Academy) had been, and how it had changed since Imayoshi, Susa and Nakano had retired and graduated from high school.

"It's strange how people come and go while we are at school. They drift in and out and we can form bonds and friendship with several different people. Some last for years and will keep appearing while others drift away and we lose touch with. It's natural. But Mac, that is also fine."

Mac knew that Koizumi was right when she said that, but it was still something she had trouble with. It made her feel left behind and it was hard.

Then they had started to talk about her new team and how the process of integrating the new members was going. Mac knew she had let her frustration get away with her a little but it felt nice to finally being able to let it out. She tried to keep it back when she was at school and be patient and confident in front of the team. She even tried to keep it from Daiki most of the time because he would do something about it and she didn't want him to scare them off.

But she was frustrated and tired of always feeling their judgemental eyes on her. Kasahara's attitude was starting to make her question whether she was right to be the captain. How could she be the captain of the team when they didn't respect her? She didn't say that he had to like her, but he needed to respect her in order to take what she said seriously and follow through with it.

But then the conversation had turned toward her friends and old team. That was not something Mac was very prepared to talk about. It felt like she was betraying her friends by talking about them like that, but Koizumi kept asking and Mac had opened up a little. She felt conflicted about it, but she knew she needed to talk about it. Koizumi had so far not shown any judgement as they talked, just listened.

...

"Why would they hate you?" she asked referring to Kasahara and the other first years.

"I don't know," Mac said, "some do. Or they resent me and my friends for being part of the Generation of Miracles."

"Why?" Koizumi asked making Mac frown at her.

"Why?" Mac echoed.

"Yes, why would they resent you for that?" Koizumi asked.

"Because they blame us for being stronger than them in basketball and making others quit," Mac said blankly. "They see us as monsters who destroy others dreams."

...

Koizumi had asked her if she thought it was their fault that others gave up their dreams. Mac had not been sure how to answer that. She found it unfair to be blamed, but she could understand where they were coming from too, at least to a certain degree.

She had given a short overview of their growth and how they had enjoyed playing at first and had fun together as a team. How they grew closer and stronger until one day they were so far ahead of everyone else and others started to call them monsters.

...

"That doesn't sound fair," Koizumi commented.

Mac shrugged, "it's just how it is."

"And how did you handle that?" Koizumi asked.

Mac frowned.

"I found it difficult," Mac finally admitted not looking at Koizumi. "I feel bad for it, but at the same time… I feel angry because it's like they think that we don't have the right to play our best game. The others reacted more with anger and started to look elsewhere for a challenge."

"How so?"

Mac frowned again wondering how much she really wanted to say. She had already said a lot, but this was her friends, and she didn't want to talk about them… she remembered the times they competed about who scored the most points, and the Meiko game against Tetsuya's friend… She grimaced.

"Just… it was a way to keep the interest in the game for us," Mac said quietly. "I know that some of it was wrong and probably shouldn't have happened. But…was it wrong for us to find a challenge elsewhere when others stopped playing? Was it wrong to try to still have fun with the game we loved?"

Koizumi watched her.

"Do you think that?" Koizumi asked back making Mac sigh and slump back on the sofa a little.

"Don't know," Mac said. "But I'm tired of always being blamed."

...

Then Koizumi had turned it back to her current team again asking about the new members…

...

"So you think that the new members on your team also blames you for something like this?" Koizumi asked.

"Don't know exactly," Mac said. "It's just a feeling I have. Kasahara was on a team that we played before and they gave up while playing us."

"That doesn't mean that it was your fault," Koizumi pointed out. "You can only control your own actions, Mac. Others have to make their own choices and control their own actions. So, they decided to give up. Not you."

Mac looked at her for a moment fore she shrugged, "maybe."

"Then have you asked them why they act as they do?" Koizumi asked.

"No," Mac said.

"Maybe you should," Koizumi suggested. "Sometimes understanding where the other party is coming from will help solve the problem."

"Don't know if that will help," Mac said. "If he resents us because of that then I get it. It's nothing new."

"But maybe he needs help to see your side in this," Koizumi said. "To see past the façade and how you react to all of this."

"Eh?" Mac blinked.

"From the outside, it might look different than how it really is," Koizumi pointed out. "I am sure that the other teams never really see the tension that this has put you all through, and the pressure you've been living under from your school. From the outside, it might look like you've had it easy and that you're not bothered by all of it."

"I won't go and talk about our team with everyone else," Mac frowned. "I don't like talking about it now…"

"I appreciate that you are opening up about it to me, Mac," Koizumi said, "it's important. And I can understand that you won't talk about your problems and things like that with others, and I'm not telling you to do that. I am only suggesting that you consider how it may appear for someone who doesn't know you."

...

"Mac?" Riko's voice brought her out of her thoughts and she blinked.

"Ah, sorry," Mac said. "I was just thinking."

"You okay?" Riko looked a little concerned.

"Fine," Mac said. "Just my thoughts getting away with me."

She needed to stop thinking about her therapy session with Koizumi and focus on what was important now. The training camp that they had worked so hard to plan and get ready. Mac really believed it would be a fun and important training camp, and hopefully, she would manage to reach the first years too.

Nao was resting on her shoulders and had curled around her neck and seemed content to be there for the moment. She didn't mind and actually felt a little comforted with having him close. She realised that most of the others had already arrived while she had drifted off in thought.

"Cute fox, Mac," Shishui commented. "Is he yours?"

"You haven't met Nao yet?" Abe asked surprised. "Huh. I guess he hasn't been out at our practices lately."

Mac smiled a little as she reached up to pet his head, "mm. This is Nao and he's mine."

Nao opened one eye to look at them before he huffed and closed his eyes again turning his head away slightly.

"He's not very social," Sakurai said. "He tends to keep close to Mac and avoid us."

"He's cute, though," Riko said as she eyed Nao.

Mac nodded in agreement. "He is."

...

"Hey, Yugi!" Kiyoshi appeared in front of Yugi who blinked.

"Kiyoshi," Yugi smiled shyly. "Hey."

"I heard you had started Too Academy," Kiyoshi said.

"Mac and coach Harasawa came and asked me to join," Yugi said shifting on his feet and looked away from Kiyoshi before glancing back. "I don't know why they decided to do that."

"You're talented," Kiyoshi said. "Mac has a special eye for picking up talent."

Yugi flushed but smiled a little.

"Are you liking it?" Kiyoshi asked.

"Yes," Yugi nodded. "I am."

"Good," Kiyoshi said. "We'll have to talk more, okay? Let's have fun today!"

Yugi nodded wondering how long it had been since he had head Kiyoshi say those words. Have fun. It was something he always used to say and Yugi was pleased that it was something he still did.

He looked around and wondered what it would have been like if he had gone to Seirin as he had considered. They looked like a fun group and seemed close. He didn't regret choosing Too Academy, though. While there was tension in the team, he did think it would get better soon, both Sekai and Rakuto had started to change a little in how they talked about Mac and Daiki. But Mac especially. They had been impressed by her at the game.

Kasahara, though… Yugi wasn't so sure about him. He glanced over at the other first-year and saw him looking at Mac. Again.

Yugi blinked though as he saw Kiyoshi having moved over to where Mac was standing and was now twirling around while hugging her causing her to laugh while Daiki was scowling in the background.

Oh… he had forgotten. He remembered now hearing that Kiyoshi was dating Mac when he started Seirin, and Mac still was at Teiko. Someone from the team had seen them together and said that they looked close and happy. Of course, since Mac was now dating Daiki they had broken up, but it looked like they still were close.

"Wonder if he has a death wish," Shishui commented as he too was watching Mac and Kiyoshi. How the fox managed to keep from falling off Mac's shoulders during that was anyone's guess. Daiki was now pulling Mac away from Kiyoshi with a glare making Kiyoshi laugh and Mac roll her eyes fondly while patting Daiki's chest.

"It may seem like that at times," Yugi agreed. "I forgot that Kiyoshi and Mac used to date."

Shishui glanced at him with a surprised look. "Oh, really? Interesting."

Kasahara also glanced at Yugi before looking away again without saying anything.

...

The introductions were done quickly as soon as everyone had arrived before they were led into the Aida fitness centre. It was a rather spacious training centre that was divided into different areas. You had the traditional room with equipment for building your muscles and running machines and things like that. Then there was the swimming pool, a few empty rooms with mirrors that could be used for different things and then finally the large basketball court. Of course, some offices and a kitchen.

That was just the inside, though. There was also a large space on the outside ready to be used, something Mac and Riko had decided that they wanted to do.

They had arranged an obstacle course with six different obstacles placed around the area. It had been a lot of work, but it was worth it.

Riko smiled as she took in the reactions to the obstacle course and exchanged a look with Mac who was smiling as well. They had worked hard to think about what they wanted the obstacles to be and to set them up as they wanted. Kagetora had helped with a few of them as well.

Obstacle 1 was a climbing wall made of wood. It was meant to be climbed over, there was a rope they could attach to it if they wanted, or they could be doing it without a rope. Mac thought it was better to have the rope when they would be going through the course on their own, but when they worked as a team, they would not have the rope and rather have them helping each other to get over it.

Obstacle 2 was a simple monkey bar. It was something Kagetora had already in the shed and they had managed to set it up. They were pleased when he had two so they could place two next to each other. It was a little work to get them set up correctly, but with Kagetora's help, they had managed.

Obstacle 3 was a wire-crawl. Riko associated it with pictures of the military crawling through mud and under the wires, but Mac had thought it would be a fun addition to their course. While they didn't crawl through mud (though Mac had thought it would have been fun) since it would just be too dirty, they would be crawling on the sand. So, it would still be hard.

Obstacle 4 was a tire-run. Simply tires spaced out over a few meters where they had to step through the tire as they ran through this obstacle.

Obstacle 5 was something directed toward the fact that they were basketball players namely, throwing a ball at a target.

Obstacle 6, the last one, was balance. This also at the end when you would be short of breath and tired, so it would be more of a challenge to keep your balance. Mac had suggested placing a few exercise balls (looking like half-balls placed on a plate) in a row so they had to step on the balls that would also give away if not stepped on correctly and help you lose your balance that way.

...

Mac walked them through the obstacles and observed their reaction. Daiki, Taiga and Wakamatsu were all looking excited as they eyed the course, while others looked more apprehensive. She smiled a little.

"We have decided that for the first part of the day we will be splitting the group into two," Mac said. "Group 1 will be in the gym playing basketball, while group 2 will be out here going through the obstacle course. Then after 1 hour and 30 minutes, we'll switch."

"I will be in the gym where you'll be playing basketball," Riko said. "Mac will be a part of one of the groups since she's also a player. But since she also will want to collect data on everything coach Harasawa and dad will be filming everything so we can go over it later."

They had discussed whether Mac would take part in the activities or observe from the sidelines. It would be difficult to get to observe them all while taking part in the activities, but Mac also knew that she needed to take part seeing as she was a player as well and some might look down at her for not taking part. So they had decided to have someone film and that way helping both Mac and Riko to collect the data they needed.

"How will we be split up?" Abe asked. "By teams?"

"No," Mac said. "While we will work for team against team later, we will start by mixing up the teams, so we get to know each other better and gets used to working together."

"Sounds good," Kiyoshi smiled. "I want to be on Yugi's team! I haven't seen him in a while!"

Yugi blinked and looked over at Kiyoshi who waved at him. Yugi looked down and shifted on his feet shyly but he was smiling.

"We'll see," Riko rolled her eyes. "It will be random."

She then went around counting 1 and 2 as she touched everyone on the shoulder.

"Okay! 1's in the gym, 2's out here," Riko said when she was finished. "No complaining."

Mac smiled a little at the no-nonsense voice from Riko and the others listened well. She saw that Kiyoshi had gotten his wish and was in the same group as Yugi and had walked over to him as they made their way into the gym. Kiyoshi was already talking excitedly while Yugi was listening with a small smile.

She waved at Daiki as he followed Taiga inside while she remained outside with the 2's.

...

"Tetsu!" Mac cheered as she bounced over to him and hugged him. Nao jumped off her shoulders and found himself a spot by some trees and Mac suspected that he would be there for most of the day. She knew that even if he started to wander he would stay close and come back.

"Mac," Tetsuya said.

"Do you have favourites, Mac?" Hyuga asked.

"Of course," Mac smiled. "How are you, Hyuga?"

"Fine," Hyuga shrugged. "Though, I'm wondering if you and Riko working together is such a good idea."

Mac laughed. "Oh? Well… I think it's fun."

"You would," Hyuga sighed.

She looked up and saw Kasahara watching her, but he didn't say anything, so she just shrugged and focused back on Hyuga.

"Ready for this?" Mac asked.

"As I'll ever be," Hyuga said.

"Potter," Kagetora said. "You're still the one who's leading this."

"Ah," Mac blinked realising that Riko had left to join the group in the gym. "Right."

She looked around and saw that it was a mix of members from both Seirin and Too Academy.

"Aida, can you split us up as Riko did?" Mac asked. "It should be fair."

"Of course," Kagetora said before he started, and Mac ended up being a 2.

"1's over there," Mac said pointing, "and 2's over here!"

She smiled when Tetsuya remained standing with her while Hyuga walked over to where the 1's had gathered. She ended up being on the same team as Izuki, Tetsuya and Konno from Seirin and Abe, Sekai and Namamura from her own team.

Kasahara, Inoue, Yamaguchi from Too Academy and Hyuga, Misawa, Fukuda and Tsuchiba from Seirin was on the other team.

"So, I think it is pretty self-explanatory," Mac said. "We will work together as a team as we compete through the course. It's about getting through the course first, but every member of the team has to be past the finish line before it counts, okay?"

"Got it," Hyuga said, and the others nodded.

...

Kagetora, who had the camera out, got them started and the teens rushed forward toward the climbing wall. Kagetora was a little surprised when Mac and Riko had explained their plans for an obstacle course for him and Harasawa. But he saw the benefits of having one because it would force them to work together and make them use different muscles and skills as they worked their way through the course.

He made sure to film as they reached the climbing wall. It was interesting to see how they tackled the wall because while it was possible to climb it alone it would be faster if they worked together. He wasn't surprised when Mac told Abe to hold onto the edge of the top with one hand and use the other to help pull the next one up.

Izuki was the first one over and stopped when he landed on the other side he turned and got ready to help the next one down if needed.

"Come on!" Izuki called. "You can do it, Konno!"

"Just run and use the speed to help you get up," Mac advised the first year from Seirin who nodded with a determined look on his face.

"Come on! Faster!" Kasahara from the other team called already having gotten over the wall and was urging the other on. He was eying the next obstacle at the same time.

Kagetora saw that Hyuga had done the same as Abe had and was helping the others over, but so far Kasahara didn't really help to get the others down.

Kagetora followed team 2 to the monkey bars and (there were two lined up next to each other) and saw how they one by one climbed up on the one to the right.

"Steady," Izuki called. "One, two, one, two… come on. You can do it!"

"Yes," the rest chanted as they one by one moved along the monkey bars at a steady pace as team 1 arrived.

It was fascinating to watch how the two teams worked and while both teams worked okay, there was a little more tension in team 1. Kagetora frowned a little as they stumbled a little as several of them tried to climb the monkey bar at once before Hyuga snapped and told Kasahara to wait until Inoue had climbed up.

...

Riko watched as the 1's gathered in the gym looking eager to start playing. They were 14 so if divided in two they would form teams of seven, but that was fine. Riko and Mac had worked out a schedule for how they would change members as they played.

"Listen up!" Riko called. "You all know that we will be playing basketball in here now. Coach Harasawa will divide you into two teams as he sees fit. With seven on each team means that each team will have two reserves. But since you don't have a coach to decide the changes it will work like this: when you score you will change place with one of your team and will keep doing so. So, if you score a lot then you will get to change members often and everyone will get a chance to play more. If not… well, then it will take longer for the reserves to get back onto the court."

She saw Daiki and Taiga both scowled but it seemed like they all understood.

"Can the one who just changed place with a reserve go right back out into the game?" Furihata asked.

"No," Riko said. "You will get behind in the line, so the one who was a reserve when you changed will be the next one out. Got it?"

"Okay," Furihata nodded.

Riko watched as Harasawa divided the teams by touching seven on the shoulder.

"You are team yellow," he said and pointed to some yellow vests. "You'll use these for the game."

"Yes, coach," Wakamatsu said as he picked up one of the yellow vests before Sakurai and Yugi followed behind him to do the same. Taiga, Koganei, Furihata and Kuroki did the same.

"The rest of you grab a blue vest," Harasawa said. "You are team blue."

"Yes, coach," they answered.

Riko eyed the blue team pensively. From Too Academy was Daiki, Rakuto and Shishui, and from Seirin was Kiyoshi, Mitobe, Kawahara and Kashimura. It was an interesting mix on both teams, really. She saw Daiki scowling a little as he eyed Kiyoshi and she could only imagine what he was thinking about being on the same team as him.

"Let's have fun!" Kiyoshi cheered when they gathered on their side of the court.

Daiki huffed but didn't say anything.

"I will referee," Riko said. "Coach Harasawa will be filming as Mac said. The games will last for twenty minutes before we will change teams."

...

When they had been doing this for an hour and a half Mac stopped them. She wiped the sweat off her brow as she observed the others. They looked a little tired and a little dirty from crawling on the ground to get under the wires, but mostly they looked relaxed and smiling. The tension that had been there was practically gone now as they talked across the teams.

"We will change with the other group now," Mac said. "So, we will be having a small break. Be careful to get something to drink. There are water bottles over by the door in a cooler. Grab one."

Kagetora nodded at her when she looked at him and she smiled a little.

"You okay, Mac?" Tetsuya asked.

"Fine," Mac smiled at him but saw that he was looking at Kasahara. She sighed.

"He is…" Tetsuya started with a small frown. "I'm surprised Aomine hasn't chased him off yet."

Mac snorted, "I've told him to leave it. We played earlier this week. Hopefully, he will come around soon."

"I don't like the way he looks at you," Tetsuya said.

Mac smiled softly. She wondered if anyone really knew how protective Tetsuya could be over those he cared about and considered friends.

"Don't worry, Tetsu," Mac said. "I'm working on it."

Tetsuya nodded and smiled slightly.

Mac noticed Riko and gave Tetsuya a smile before walking over to Riko.

"How did it go?" Mac asked her.

"Alright," Riko said. "Kagami and Aomine had a full battle against each other."

"Of course," Mac huffed.

"But it worked really well to arrange it as we decided," Riko said. "I had them playing 2x20 minutes on the same team before switching it up and then again the same thing."

"As we talked about, okay," Mac nodded. "I also made some changes in the teams for the obstacle course after every other round."

"Good," Riko said.

"Hey, Kenzie," Daiki said coming up. "Did he behave?"

Mac rolled her eyes, "yeah."

She knew who he was referring too.

...

Mac prepared some sandwiches for lunch, it was easy and quickly made, and had Riko help place them on the counter so the others could come and grab one each.

"A break! Finally!" Abe yelled when Riko signalled them all to stop.

"Food!" Taiga cheered.

"There are some sandwiches on the counter," Mac said. "You can get two if you want, but more than that and we won't have enough. Drinks are in the cooler over there, be careful to drink enough, and enjoy the food."

"Yes!"

"Thank you, Mac."

Mac smiled as she fell back and watched them go and get themselves a sandwich or two. She shook herself as she got the prepared plates and walked them over to Harasawa and Kagetora who were outside talking.

"Here," she said. "There's coffee inside if you want that."

"Thank you, Potter," Harasawa said.

"Thanks," Kagetora nodded. "Seems lively in there."

Mac nodded. "Yeah."

"This is going fine so far," Harasawa commented. "You and Aida have done well in planning this."

"Thanks, coach," Mac said.

"Oi! Kenzie! Come eat!" Daiki called from the door.

"Go," Harasawa said.

Mac nodded and turned to jog back to the gym and accepted the plate Daiki had grabbed for her. He guided her over to where he had placed his food and she was not surprised to find Tetsuya and Taiga there.

"Great food, Mac," Taiga said in between bites.

...

Kasahara looked over at Mac again and saw that she had finished eating and had moved away from Daiki and was now talking with Hyuga and Kiyoshi. Mac had been talking with Hyuga outside before the obstacle course too, Kasahara had noticed. And he couldn't understand the friendly tone that seemed to be between them because he remembered Hyuga from middle school.

Yes, he was just a first-year then, but it had been a lot of talk about how Hyuga's team had lost against Teiko and most of them have quit. They had talked about it at Kamizaki as well and even Inoue Tomoya who at that point had been more positive about Teiko had frowned and said it was a shame.

So…how come he was there talking with Mac like they were friends? Like he actually had fun and enjoyed the conversation? Kasahara couldn't understand it.

He was starting to see that Mac did in fact put in a lot of work into her training and basketball, but still… they were still the ones who caused others to stop playing basketball.

Kasahara sighed as he looked away not sure what to think or what was going on inside of him because his arguments started to seem weak even in his own mind. He looked over at Daiki who was bickering with Taiga while Tetsuya was watching them with a fond smile. Even Daiki was looking like he was having fun and had been participating… he had trouble seeing the monster when he looked at him.

"Breaks over!" Mac suddenly called. "Get up and move!"

"Dictator!" someone complained.

"Come on," Riko said appearing at Mac's side with a wide grin. "Or you'll have to run fifty laps around the gym!"

Kasahara wasn't the only one who scrambled to his feet at that no one was prepared to take the chance that she wasn't joking.

"Maybe they should run around the gym," Mac suggested with a small smirk. "It might be what we need to warm up for the next part."

"Mm…" Riko nodded.

"No! Mercy!" Abe and Koganei yelled at the same time.

Mac laughed, "fine."

"Since you will be running anyway," Riko said.

"Great," Hyuga commented dryly.

Kasahara was curious but remained quiet as he watched closely.

"So, we will be going out to the obstacle course," Mac said. "This time we will be splitting up after teams. But it will be a little different from what we did before… now we will run one against one, like a relay race. When the first one is finished the next one will start. Got it?"

They nodded.

"So, obviously Seirin has a couple of more members than we do," Mac continued. "That means that two from our team will need to run two times. Riko is the leader from Seirin so she will be deciding the order you run in, okay? I will do the same with Too, and I will decide who will run two times."

...

Mac waited until her team was gathered around her.

"So, anyone wanting to start?" Mac asked looking around.

"I'll start," Sakurai said. "Sorry."

"Okay," Mac nodded.

"Who'll run two times?" Yamaguchi asked curiously. "I think Mac and Aomine should, they are the strongest among us."

"I agree," Wakamatsu said.

Mac looked at them for a moment before she nodded.

"That's fine with me," Mac said. "Then we should run at the start so we have a moment to rest before the last rounds."

"What if someone else wants to run two times?" Sekai asked.

Mac looked at him, "do you want to?"

"No, but…" Sekai shook his head.

"Then you need to shut up," Daiki scowled.

"Daiki," Mac said warningly. "Look, even if we are running one by one in this, we need to work together for us to win. If someone has questions or wants to run two times, feel free to tell me. But you need to do it now because when we start it's too late."

"Okay," Sekai nodded. "I was just wondering…"

"That's fine," Mac smiled.

When no one said anything, she nodded. "Okay, then Sakurai will start before I run. Then Kasahara will run next because he is fast and might be able to get a gap between us and Seirin."

Kasahara blinked as he glanced at her before looking away with a small frown. But he nodded in agreement. Mac went over the order and they nodded as they heard their names.

"Daiki will finish," Mac concluded.

...

Sakurai swallowed as he eyed Mitobe who was the starter for Seirin. Mitobe smiled making Sakurai frown in concentration. He had to do well!

"Ready, set, go!" Kagetora yelled.

Sakurai ran as fast as he could hearing the cheers from his friends behind him as he reached the climbing wall. Mitobe was already in front of him but not too far.

He got over the wall on the first attempt before he ran to the next station that was the monkey bars. He climbed up trying to ignore Mitobe who was almost across his set of monkey bars. He bit his teeth together as he went from one bar to the next.

Mac watched as Sakurai fell a little behind Mitobe, but that was fine. Mitobe had longer legs and was faster than they gave him credit for. Sakurai was holding up pretty well.

"He's slow…" Sekai whispered to Rakuto.

"Yeah…" Rakuto frowned. "He needs to hurry, or they will beat us!"

Mac frowned as she looked over at them.

"Mitobe! Go! Yes! You can do it!" Koganei was yelling from Seirin's side.

"Keep the pace you have now!" Izuki yelled.

Sakurai gained some of the lead Mitobe had when Mitobe missed one of the exercise balls and had to start over again on the last station. Sakurai managed to get through without missing one and finished at the same time as Mitobe.

...

Yugi eyed Kasahara who was frowning as he looked over at Seirin who was patting Mitobe on the back as Kiyoshi was running against Mac. Sakurai was breathing hard but smiled a little as Abe patted his shoulder.

Yet, Kasahara was watching Seirin who was smiling and looking excited despite Mac pulling ahead of Kiyoshi.

"Go, Kiyoshi!"

"You can do it!"

"Seirin! Seirin!"

Yugi heard Kasahara huff as he looked away from them and over at Mac who was now crawling under the wires quickly. Kiyoshi was just reaching the wires and started to crawl underneath them.

"Yes! Mac!" Abe and Inoue yelled. "Come on!"

It was hard not to be pulled along with the excitement that was going on as they raced. Mac had finished the crawl now and was now running across the tire obstacle without tripping. It was harder than it looked.

"Kiyoshi! Come on! You're doing well!" Furihata and Kuroki yelled.

"You ready?" Yugi asked Kasahara.

"Of course," Kasahara said giving him a look. "You better bring it, Yugi!"

Yugi shrugged looking away from him.

"Come on, Kenzie!" Daiki yelled. "You're almost there!"

...

Harasawa watched as the two teams battled it out and the excitement was touchable.

"Looks like they're having fun," Kagetora commented.

"It does," Harasawa said.

They watched as they all did their best and it was tight even though Too Academy seemed to be in the lead more often, but Seirin refused to give up and kept coming.

"You have some challenges on your team this year," Kagetora commented.

Harasawa kept his face blank as he looked over at Kasahara who was frowning. He had lost his round, but Mac had just smiled and patted his shoulder. The younger boy had scowled at her, but Mac didn't seem to care as she turned her attention back to Daiki who was running after Kasahara.

"Yes," he said.

"How are you handling it?" Kagetora asked.

"For now, I'm following Potter's lead," Harasawa said. "She has a plan and seems to be handling it well."

"She is impressive," Kagetora agreed. "It must be hard for her, though."

Harasawa agreed. He knew it was difficult and he did feel a little conflicted about stepping back from the situation. But he had seen a small change since the game earlier this week and he did think that with a little bit more time they would see a change in all the boys.

"Yes, but she is confident in what she does," Harasawa said. "I trust her to handle it correctly. The others listen to her, so I don't fear them going too far either. It's mostly just Kasahara who still shows an attitude toward her now."

Kagetora nodded thoughtfully as he watched the teens. He had seen how much work Riko and Mac had put into this over the last week and seen how willing Mac was in giving tips and advice to Riko even though they were on different teams. He knew that his daughter was good at what she did and that she was still learning. Yet, he also knew that Mac was on another level than her. It was clear that Mac had been doing this for a very long time, much longer than what you thought a 16-year-old could possibly have.

"This is all very well thought out," Harasawa commented.

"They have been working really hard," Kagetora nodded. "I've seen Riko on the phone with her all through the week and working on plans. They stayed here really late last night to get everything ready, but it looked like they had fun."

Kagetora had gotten the chance to talk to Mac a bit and found her very interesting and knowledgeable to talk to. The way she saw basketball was amazing and he couldn't wait to see what she would do in the future. He just hoped that she decided to continue with sports in some way even after her schooling.

"Ah, looks like it's Mac's turn again," Kagetora commented and saw Mac running against Hyuga. "Captain vs captain, eh."

Harasawa smiled a little.

...

"We won!" Abe cheered when Daiki finished just in front of Taiga.

Mac smiled as she hugged Daiki who was smirking over her shoulder.

"Ah, too bad," Tetsuya said. "You almost did it, Kagami."

Kasahara cheered with the others even as he looked over at Seirin and saw the smiles and it didn't look like they were blaming each other for losing. While they looked a little disappointed it still looked like they had fun.

"One more!" Taiga said. "Aomine! Come on!"

"What? You want to lose again?" Daiki challenged.

"I'll beat you!" Taiga said.

Kasahara frowned a little as he saw the two and how they eyed each other. He had never seen Daiki look at anyone like that. It was like he was actually considering Taiga as a challenge. It was crazy… Daiki had won against him just now.

"Fine," Daiki said. "Come on!"

"Oi," Riko scowled. "I didn't…"

"Let them do it," Mac said. "It should be time for a break now anyway. I also need to start making dinner."

"I'll help you, Mac," Kiyoshi offered. "Hyuga will too."

"I will?" Hyuga frowned before glancing at Riko and suddenly he nodded. "Of course, I will."

Mac smiled, "I suggest we let them do what they want for now. If they want to go through the obstacle course or play basketball…"

Riko nodded, "okay. I'll stay and watch… or do you need more help?"

"No!" Hyuga said quickly. "Um… I mean… we will help her with everything, and if we're too many in the kitchen it will be harder. And someone should probably keep an eye on everyone."

Kasahara blinked confused for a moment.

"I'll be fine, Riko," Mac smiled amused. "I'll put the boys to work. Teppei and Hyuga are enough."

"If you're sure," Riko said.

Mac nodded and grabbed Kiyoshi by the arm and walked into the gym with Hyuga right behind.

"They don't want Riko to cook," Izuki said amusedly. "It…tends to be a disaster when she does."

"You have no idea how lucky you are to have a manager who can cook," Tsuchiba sighed.

Kasahara looked thoughtfully toward the gym.

...

"Finally!"

Taiga said as he finished before Daiki.

"On your fifth try," Daiki said but he was smiling. "Well, good job."

"Oi! Don't sound so condescending," Taiga scowled.

Daiki just smirked and Taiga huffed.

Kasahara who had been close by eyed the two and wondered why Taiga didn't react more to the patronizing tone in Daiki's voice. Yet, they just kept bickering back and forth in an almost friendly way. Taiga didn't seem to resent Daiki for winning most of the time, he just asked for another round until he managed to win.

He had noticed that all of Seirin was that way. They never gave up, even when it looked like they were lagging far behind in the obstacle course.

How did they do it?

...

...

AN: What do you think? XD

This is part 1 of 2 from the training camp, so the next chapter will continue with the training camp. Hope you liked it! XD

Thank you for reading and for your support! XD

New members of Seirin:
Kuroki Dan (from Teiko)
Misawa Hirazou
Kashimura Juki

Konno Nanaru