Hey guys!

I hope you are all doing well.

I want to thank AlexisHard for the lovely review. I'm glad you're liking Aomine and Emiyo together!

Enjoy Chapter 30!

Can't believe I already released so many chapters. I want to thank you all for the support I've gotten! It means the world to me.

Chapter 30: Finals

They had made it into the finals.

The entire team was excited and extremely proud of this achievement.

But the even bigger goal was winning Nationals.

They were all practicing hard and even Haizaki was practicing more than usual. Even though I suspected Nijimura having secretly threatened him to show up.

Momoi and I were studying our opponents thoroughly, because this game was going to be a hard one.

We were up against Kadooka Junior High.

And the more I researched them the more worried I got. Not because I was afraid, they wouldn't be able to match them basketball wise but because for some reason after every game that was played against them at least one player got injured.

At first, I thought it was a mere coincidence that it was always the ace but after having watched countless of their matches, I was sure there was no such thing as a coincidence.

It was done on purpose.

Another thing which stood out was that the injuries always appeared to happen around the same person.

Makoto Hanamiya.

He was the point guard of their team and quite frankly in the perfect position to injure his opponents.

I couldn't understand how someone would aim so low to win a basketball match, especially considering how hard every team was working towards making the finals just to get beaten by someone who injures people in order to win.

My uneasiness didn't ebb away the nearer the game came. It only grew.

"Captain." I said to Nijimura just before practice one afternoon.

"I need to talk to the team and everybody has to be present." I added the last part with a sense of urgency which clearly caught Nijimura by surprise.

"What is it?" He asked calmly.

"Our next opponent." I said while dread was once again flaring up inside me.

"Mhm, I see." He said clearly thinking of a time which was best suited for this kind of meeting.

"How urgent is it?" He asked while eyeing me.

"Very." I said.

"Then let's do this now." He said. "The coach isn't present today and he has ordered me to lead practice, but when you have something to say which may influence the way we practice we better do this now."

I nodded feeling immediately relieved.

"Thank you, senpai." I said squeezing his arm.

He nodded.

"Of course." He said while he walked towards the middle of the court, whistling, to get everybody's attention.

"Stop warming up." He ordered. "We're having a strategy meeting."

They immediately stopped and they all looked surprised. My friends came walking towards me all looking questioningly at me. I shook my head telling them I wasn't going to answer their question without the rest of the team present.

When all of them were sat in front of me and Momoi had joined me, I began.

"I asked the captain for this meeting because I have something important to tell you." I said looking seriously at the players in front of me.

"I'm not sure if some of you have heard the name Makoto Hanamiya." I said and a gloomy look was exchanged between the seniors.

"It appears you have." I said looking at them and my friends turned to look at them.

To everyone's surprise it was Haizaki who had something to say about him.

"He's a foul human being." He said wrinkling his nose in disgust.

I raised my eyebrow before I said.

"That must mean something coming from you."

Haizaki chuckled.

"Tell them what he's doing." Haizaki said beckoning me to continue.

I gulped.

"In every game they have played so far at least one player got injured." I said slowly.

"It was most often the ace." I said the last part looking at Aomine and my worries only increased.

I couldn't handle him getting injured.

But not only him.

All of them.

"And if he can't get the ace, he will start injuring the other players." Haizaki concluded.

"Now Masako." He said looking at me. "When have I ever injured a player so badly that he had to be taken off court."

I gulped.

He was right.

He may be using rough play and his reputation wasn't the best but he had never injured someone physically.

"I'm sorry, Haizaki." I said sounding genuine. "You're right."

Haizaki seemed taken aback by my apology. He had clearly expected I would deny his statement. But I was able to admit when I was wrong.

"Wait." Aomine said. "They were so badly injured that they had to be taken off court?"

I nodded looking grave.

"Hai."

"What about his basketball skills?" Akashi asked looking thoughtful.

"Don't underestimate him." I said immediately and Momoi nodded next to me.

"Only because he uses foul methods doesn't mean he solely relies on them."

"Then what is his speciality?" Nijimura asked and I looked at Momoi so she could give them her input.

She took out her small notebook and began to analyse his stats.

"He is good in overall techniques, such as passing, shooting and speed but his most distinctive skill is stealing."

"And." I added looking at Akashi in specific. "He can predict the path of the ball with an insanely high accuracy."

Akashi smirked.

"I will be able to handle that." He said confidently.

"Besides." He added. "We have someone who he might not have taken into account." He said looking at Kuroko, who looked more determined than ever.

"But Kuroko-kun needs to be let into the game only at a certain time." I said seriously. "I don't know why but I have the impression that Hanamiya analyses patterns of plays his opponents are using. Which means Kuroko-kun will be our trump card once he thinks he has seen everything."

The team seemed to think about what I have been saying and they appeared to agree with me.

"Another thing." I said and I looked at Momoi who nodded encouragingly.

"Sa-chan and I have developed a few new strategies, which our team has never used before. And something he has never seen he can't expect."

They all smirked.

"Anything else?" Nijimura asked and I nodded.

"Hanamiya is not the only player who will give you a hard time." I said.

"There is another one?" Midorima asked.

I nodded.

"Yes, but this one at least doesn't injure people."

"Shoichi Imayoshi." Haizaki said and everybody turned towards him.

"Do you know him?" Nijimura asked.

Haizaki nodded.

"We have the same circle of friends and I have spoken to him occasionally."

"What's your impression of him?" I asked.

Haizaki stayed quiet for a while, clearly thinking about my question.

"I wouldn't play poker against him."

"What does that mean?" Momoi asked while I thought about his words.

Haizaki shuddered.

"I always get the impression he can read minds."

"What position does he play in?" Akashi asked.

"Shooting guard, but with the ability of a point guard." I said and Midorima looked serious.

This would be his opponent.

"They have two-point guards on their team." Akashi concluded.

I nodded.

"Well, the final is going to be interesting." Nijimura said clapping in his hand and beckoning everybody to get up.

"Nothing we can't handle." He said sounding confident. "We will start practicing Momoi-sans and Masako-sans new moves and then we will watch their games all together. I want everybody to be ready for Hanamiya's foul play. I don't want anybody to get injured."

I immediately felt relieved.

They were better prepared now.

The seniors walked back out to court but my friends remained where they were. Aomine walked over to me and lifted my chin up so I was forced to look at him. He smiled softly at me and I returned his smile albeit the worry was still glinting in my eyes.

"I'm going to be fine." He whispered and I gulped.

"You don't know that." I said and he wrapped his arms around me.

"He targets the ace." I said while tightening my grip around him.

He stroked my hair.

"Emiyo." Akashi said and I looked at him. "We won't let him do as he pleases. He won't hurt Aomine."

"I'm not only worried about Daiki." I said seriously. "Yes, he targets the ace first but that doesn't mean he won't be targeting all of you as well."

"I can't bear the thought of seeing any of you getting injured." I said averting my gaze from my friends.

Someone walked over to me and Aomine took a step back.

"Emi-chin." Murasakibara said. "We will crush them."

I chuckled.

"I know you will." I said.

xXx

The day of the final was here.

The day they had been working for day and night.

The day I dreaded the most.

During the entire bus ride, I kept fidgeting with my bracelet until Murasakibara took my hand in his.

I looked at him in surprise but he didn't say anything else.

No words were needed.

They all knew how I felt and nothing was going to change that. I looked over at Aomine who was looking at our intertwined hands but instead of getting jealous he looked relieved Murasakibara was calming me down.

I smiled.

I was glad he didn't mind my friendship with those boys.

The bus ride continued and when we reached the stadium where the match would be held my eyes widened.

There were people everywhere.

And all came for one thing.

The finals.

The game that would decide everything.

We got off the bus and immediately walked into the changing room where we remained until it was time for them to warm up and for Momoi and I to set up everything.

In the changing room we went over the plan again and Nijimura said some encouraging words.

I was too preoccupied with my own thoughts to really listen to what he had to say.

During warm up I eyed Makoto Hanamiya carefully.

He had rather pale skin, shoulder-length black hair and he was looking at my friends with an wide and arrogant smirk plastered on his face. Maybe it was only because I knew of his foul history but I thought he was very mischievous looking.

I didn't like the way he was whispering with Imayoshi, who was standing next to him. The latter had messy black hair and grey eyes, which he, I noticed, had squinted while talking to his teammate.

He was of average height and build which didn't particularly made him stand out, but I was warry of him nonetheless. He seemed to have sensed my eyes on him and our eyes met for a fraction of a second before Imayoshi nudged Hanamiya's side and the latter turned to face me.

His smirk only widened when he saw the hard look, I was giving him. Our little staring match continued for a while until I was brought back to reality when I noticed someone standing next to me.

"You alright, Kuroko-kun?" I asked calmly but my eyes betrayed me. I was beyond worried.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." He said smiling slightly.

I returned his smile before I sighed and averted his eyes.

"I think we both know how I feel."

Kuroko nodded.

"He won't be able to hurt Aomine-kun."

I gulped.

"Or any of the others." Kuroko added knowing exactly that Aomine alone wasn't the cause of my worries.

"I just can't bear the thought of any of you getting so seriously injured that you wouldn't be able to play basketball anymore."

"We're prepared." Kuroko said. "We have analysed his way of injuring people. We are not going to fall for it."

"At least he is the only one on his team relying on such foul methods." I said bitterly.

Kuroko nodded.

Our conversation ended when the referee blew his whistle to indicate the end of the warm up.

The stands were filled with every single seat being taken. The crowd was clapping enthusiastically into their hands and I handed my friends their bottle of water and their jerseys to their body wouldn't cool down.

"We will start with our usual formation." Coach said and they all nodded in agreement.

The usual formation consisted of Akashi as Point Guard, Murasakibara as Center, Midorima as Shooting Guard, Aomine as Power Forward and Nijimura as Small Forward.

All too soon it was time for them to go line up.

Aomine took off his jersey with his name and number 10 on the back. But instead of putting it on the bench he beckoned me to turn around. I was confused by his request until he put his jerseys over my shoulder. I smiled softly while bringing my arms through the sleeves which were much too long for me.

"Can you wear it to cheer me on?" He asked softly.

"Of course." I said squeezing his hand. "Nothing I would want more."

I hugged him while kissing his cheeks softly.

"Be amazing, Daiki."

The grin he gave me made my heart skip a beat.

"Always." He said before walking on the court.

I gulped when I noticed that our interaction had been observed my Hanamiya.

"You guys are disgusting." I heard a voice speak up next to me which distracted me from the uneasy feeling I had because of Hanamiya.

"Oh Shin." I said while I kissed his cheeks enthusiastically.

He blushed slightly while rolling his eyes.

"It's not only Daiki who is getting a good luck kiss. You know that." I said cheekily but he decided to ignore me.

It was my time to roll my eyes at him.

"Good luck, Shin." I said while taking his hand in mine and this made him look at me.

"Don't miss." I winked at him and he smirked.

"Don't be foolish. Of course, I won't miss." He said while handing me his lucky item and walking over to Aomine.

It was a picture frame and I smiled when I saw that he had chosen the one, I had made him.

When I looked up again, I saw Murasakibara standing in front of me already waiting for his good luck kiss.

I chuckled.

I planted a big kiss on his cheeks and he grinned looking satisfied.

"Go crush them, Atsushi." I said and he nodded.

"Hai, Emi-chin." He said.

Akashi came over to me after he had exchanged some last-minute words with Nijimura.

I kissed his cheeks and he smiled at me.

"Please be careful, Sei." I said looking intensely into his eyes and he gave me a reassuring squeeze.

"I will." He said.

"Good luck." I said while he left me to go join the others.

Last was Nijimura who blushed when I kissed his cheeks as well.

"Enjoy this moment, Captain." I said and I knew he understood the hidden message behind my words.

He nodded smiling at me.

"Go lead them to victory." I said and this seemed to give him the motivation and determination to go stand next to his team.

All of them stood tall and I was proud watching them. They were eyeing their opponents with grim determination and Hanamiya with resentment while they stood tall as well.

Both teams had fought their way into the final even if you could argue that one did it honourably while the other didn't.

But that didn't matter now.

All that counted was the outcome of this game. After they bowed Murasakibara walked to the center line for the tip off.

His opponent was a bulky third-year from Kadooka Junior High with the number 8. He was slightly shorter than Murasakibara but that didn't mean Murasakibara would easily win the tip-off.

Since Kiyoshi, Murasakibara had learned to take his opponents a little bit more seriously than he had done before.

Even if it was only a little.

The referee blew his whistle and both crouched down to get into position. The referee threw the ball high in the air and my eyes widened when I saw how high both of them were jumping.

I cheered from the top of my lung when Murasakibara won the tip off and directed the ball into the waiting hands of Akashi.

My cheers immediately stopped when I saw Hanamiya in front of Akashi.

He knew that the ball was going to be won by Atsushi. And he also knew that he always directs it towards Sei.

I gulped.

I could sense the uneasiness coming up inside me. I starred nervously at both of them.

Akashi was smirking at Hanamiya.

He had clearly expected this to happen. I was immediately relieved. When Akashi was expecting something, he had a plan.

And I was right.

Hanamiya shifted to the right where Aomine was positioned, expecting Akashi to pass to him but instead of passing to Aomine he passed to Nijimura, who was grinning widely.

It was a trap.

They both knew he would be doing this in the beginning. Most likely in order to cause an imbalance within our team.

But it didn't work.

Teiko scored the first two points after Nijimura passed the remaining players.

I cheered loudly and so did everybody else. Kuroko who was sitting next to me was smiling seeing as we had the upper hand for now. Momoi was smiling as well but she was still in full analysing mode, when it was time for the counter attack. Imayoshi was in possession of the ball.

He began dribbling but he didn't make it very far because Midorima was blocking his way.

Determination and concentration could see on both of their faces. But then Imayoshi smirked and passed the ball towards another player with the number 6 from his team.

My eyes widened.

This player should have been covered by Aomine.

Why wasn't he there?

My eyes immediately searched for him and I clenched my fists when I saw what was holding him back.

Hanamiya was standing on one of his feet, delaying his start and therefore allowing said number 6 to get the ball.

I could see the shock and anger on Aomines face.

"Don't do anything stupid, Dai-chan." I heard Momoi next to me mutter and I knew why she was worried.

I had rarely seen Aomine so angry.

I was immediately relieved when I saw that he was chasing after number 6, instead of confronting Hanamiya.

His delay didn't make a big difference because he quickly caught up him.

My smile dropped when I saw the smirk on Hanamiya's face.

He wouldn't use this strategy again because it clearly didn't do much difference due to Aomine incredible speed and acceleration. He was going to use another tactic.

And I didn't like this at all.

I nudged Momois side.

"Look at Hanamiya." I said and we exchanged an anxious glance.

The game continued and I winced every time I saw Hanamiya near my friends.

He managed to cause bruises all over their body by 'accidently' bumping into them or ramming his elbow into their stomach.

They were getting angrier and angrier by the second but I was impressed by how composed they were staying.

"That little piece of shit." Aomine said when the first quarter had ended and they had all returned to the bench.

I immediately got out a cooling spray and treated all their bruises. Murasakibara got it the worst because of his position and angry tears began forming in my eyes.

"How come the referee isn't seeing this?" Midorima asked clearly irritated by this display of foul play.

"Hanamiya makes sure the referees view gets blocked before he does anything." Momoi said calmly albeit the disgust she felt could be heard in her tone of voice.

"What's the plan?" Nijimura asked looking questioningly at the coach.

"Score and don't get too wind up." He said sternly.

They all nodded and I looked at all the bruising over Murasakibaras stomach. I got up and looked at the coach who immediately knew I had something to say.

"Go on, Masako-san." He said.

"Thank you, coach." I said before I added. "Score from the outside."

I was looking at Midorima who nodded.

"Atsushi has the most bruises and this will take some pressure of him. They will focus on you, Shin. And I don't like this any better but it is our best option for widening the point gap and keeping Atsushi safe."

"Emi-chin, I'm fine." He said.

"You're fine now. But what happens if he gets to seriously injure you?" I asked meeting my friends' purple eyes.

"You're the best center we've got." Nijimura said grimly and I nodded.

"Without you on the court they will have a serious advantage." Akashi said. "We can't let that happen. Emiyo is right. We score from the outside."

The two minutes were up and I caught Midorimas hand before he walked off again.

"Be careful, Shin." I said quietly.

He nodded.

"I will." He said before joining the others on the court.

Our plan worked well for the first two minutes of the second quarter.

This was until Hanamiya and Imayoshi began double teaming Midorima.

Imayoshi was in no means using foul play but Hanamiya was, which led to both of them managing to overpower Midorima and stealing the ball more often than not.

"Why is the coach not letting me play?" Haizaki asked looking at Hanamiya with disgust.

"Well, what would you do if he let you?" I asked and Haizaki fell quiet.

"I would beat him with his own methods." He said and I turned to look at him.

"And that isn't an option. You're not as bad as him, Haizaki."

Haizakis eyes widened and I gave him a small smile.

"Sometimes you say really strange things." He said trying to brush off my statement.

I shrugged letting him do as he pleased.

I was looking at the flow of the game and Kadooka Junior High had managed to slowly close the point gap, which resulted in our team to act.

Akashi was circling the ball around and smiled when Hanamiya wasn't able to interfere with the course of the ball.

Then something happened that I had dreaded for the entire time.

I knew Hanamiya had waited for the perfect moment and this was it.

Aomine was dribbling the ball and he jumped up at the same time as their center.

He was forced into doing a formless shot, which meant he had to position his body parallel to the ground.

I stood up when I saw the smirk on Hanamiyas face.

He jumped up and while Aomine was falling back down, Hanamiya positioned his body in such a way that his elbow would crash with Aomines head once he came down.

"Daiki." I screamed from the top of my lung and to my utter relieve Aomine had reacted to my voice.

He had seen in the last second what I had seen coming far earlier and managed to roll out of harm's way.

I saw Hanamiya clench his fist in frustration and I smiled in relieve, a small tear rolling down my face.

Moments later the second quarter was over and the ten-minute break was announced.

When Aomine came walking over I immediately wrapped by arms around his neck.

"You're fine." I said in relieve and Aomine wrapped his arms around me and then tightened his grip.

"Thanks to you." He whispered.

He gave me a small kiss on the lips.

When our lips parted, he wiped some tears of my face.

"You have an audience." Midorima said calmly.

"Midorima I will kiss my girlfriend in front of whomever I want."

"That's not what I meant." Midorima said defiantly.

"Hanamiya is watching you."

We both turned into the direction of where Hanamiya has been standing.

He was smiling maliciously while nudging Imayoshis side. The latter turned around and he looked between the both of us in obvious interest.

"I don't like this." Midorima said and we turned back at him.

"Me neither." Akashi said. "He's planning something."

"Well, we will find out sooner or later what he is up to." Nijimura said and I nodded.

"Focus on the upcoming quarter. And don't forget why we are all here today." I said softly.

"It's the final. The game you have worked so hard for. Don't let someone like Hanamiya ruin this for you."

"Well said, Masako-san." Kuroko said and I smiled widely at him.

The ten minutes were almost over.

All of my friends hugged me tightly before walking back out.

I had insisted on it.

I couldn't let them go without it.

Aomine, having been the first one walking back on court, was standing in his position when Hanamiya came walking towards him.

"So, who is your little girlfriend?" Hanamiya asked sneering.

Aomine glared at him.

"None of your business." He said.

"An interesting relationship she has with your teammates." Hanamiya said while observing me hugging everybody.

"What are you up to?" Aomine asked looking him up and down.

"Well, I clearly can't injure you like I had wanted too. Or any of the others for that matter." He said.

"I thought you would be someone who would deny it."

"Deny it? Never." He chuckled. "Not when I enjoy it so much."

"You're disgusting." Aomine said looking at Hanamiya with so much hatred in his eyes.

Hanamiya shrugged.

"You may think you have won. But let me tell you one thing." He said in a dangerously low tone.

"You haven't won yet. Especially when I know now what will hurt you all the most."

Hanamiya walked away and Aomine looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Hanamiya turned one last time back at him before he looked at me and realisation dawned on Aomine.

He was talking about me.

"What's up with Dai-chan?" Momoi said when she looked at her best friend.

"He had a conversation with Hanamiya." Kuroko said having observed their conversation but not knowing what had been said.

I gulped.

"This can't be good." I said immediately and my friends next to me nodded.

When the third quarter began everybody noticed that something was wrong with Aomine.

He wasn't playing like he usually did.

But the longer the quarter lasted the more he seemed to calm down. And soon he was playing normal again.

"Kuroko-kun." The coach said. "Prepare yourself to get in."

"Hai." Kuroko said while getting up.

The game was still in full play.

I was surprised to find Hanamiya near our bench. Normally he would have been seen playing on the other side.

It was Kadooka Junior Highs turn and Imayoshi was in possession of the ball. They were attacking when the ball was passed to Hanamiya, who uncharacteristically fumbled.

The ball came flying towards us and Hanamiya came running after it.

He managed to save the ball from passing the line, but not without positioning his body at weird angle.

My eyes widened when I saw him come flying towards me.

His elbow outstretched.

I was not able to react in time. I took in the full impact and we both fell from the bench.

I hit my head hard on the ground and I felt something hard colliding with my face before everything went black.

When I regained consciousness the first thing, I noticed was that my entire body was hurting.

My head was throbbing painfully and some liquid was running down my face.

I tried to open my eyes but I had a hard time. One eye in particular seemed to not want to open.

When I managed to finally open both eyes, I was met by the worried faces of Momoi and Midorima.

Both were kneeling beside my body.

"She's waking up." Momoi said and Midorima nodded while wiping something off my face with a towel.

When he retrieved the towel, it was covered in something red.

My eyes widened when I realised it was blood.

My blood.

Slowly my memories of what happened came back at once. I immediately tried to get up but Midorima shook his head.

"Keep laying there, Emiyo." He said in a soothing tone. "You may have a concussion and a broken nose."

My eyes widened even more and Midorima began caressing my hair in order to calm me down.

The longer I was awake the more noises I heard.

There was some sort of ruckus going on. And when it hit me what might was the cause of this ruckus I sat up.

I immediately felt dizzy but when I saw the scene in front of me my eyes widened.

Hanamiya was standing there, holding both his hands up, looking like he was really sorry whereas you could see in his eyes how much he was enjoying this.

On the other side were Aomine and Murasakibara who both were looking murderous.

Aomine was held back by Kuroko, Haizaki and Akashi while Murasakibara needed to be held back by Nijimura, Kubota and Sekiguchi, which were almost no match against Murasakibaras overwhelming power.

"Emiyo lay back down." Midorima said sternly. "My father is on his way. He is going to check you out."

I shook my head looking anxiously at Aomine and Murasakibara.

"They are going to kill him." I said hoarsely being barely able to speak.

"As they should." Midorima said and when I looked at him, I noticed how angry he actually was.

But instead of attacking Hanamiya his first instinct has been to check if I was alright.

"Once they saw what Hanamiya has done to you, they went berserk." Momoi said quietly.

"They are going to get disqualified." I said with a sense of urgency. "That's not how the finals are going to end. He will not win only because he managed to get them disqualified."

Midorima looked at me intensely and I met his eyes before he nodded.

"You're right." He said.

"We're not going to play into his cards." I said before I turned my attention back to Aomine and Murasakibara.

"Daiki, Atsushi." I said loudly with my last remaining strength.

They immediately froze, both turning towards me.

A second later I felt overwhelming dizziness and Midorima and Momoi helped me lay down again.

Moments later the worried faces of Aomine, Murasakibara, Kuroko and Akashi appeared in my line of sight.

"Em." Aomine said barely able to contain his emotions. "It's all my fault."

I wanted to shake my head but Midorima was holding it steady.

"Don't move too much." He said sternly.

"It's not your fault, Daiki." I said while lifting my hand and he immediately took it.

"It is." He said. "We talked and he hinted that he was going to target you."

"That little shit." Midorima said while grinding his teeth.

He was on the verge of standing up when he saw the pleading look, I was giving him.

"I will crush him." Murasakibara said sounding furious.

"Atsushi." I said and he took hold of my second outstretched hand.

"Don't. He isn't worth it."

"Emi-chin, he hurt you." Murasakibara said seriously.

"He did." I said slowly. "In order for him to win. But we're not going to give him this satisfaction. You all worked too hard for this."

"How do you think we will be able to play against him after what he had just done?" Midorima said sternly.

"You have no other choice." I said gravely.

"Show them what you're made of. Show him what it means going up against you. You guys are the most talented bunch of people I had ever laid my eyes on. And I'm not saying this because you're my friends. I'm saying this because you are extraordinary and I want you to show the world. And not let some little maggot like Hanamiya win." I said and they all exchanged a look.

"Show them your kind of basketball." I said and Kuroko smiled at me.

I returned his smile weakly before another voice spoke up.

"Emiyo is right, you know." Nijimura said.

"So, listen to her." He said sternly. "Besides, who says you can't avenge her on the court."

This lit a fire into their eyes and they exchanged one last look. All knowing that they were on board.

"We're going to crush them." Murasakibara said. "Nobody is hurting, Emi-chin."

For once I found it unusual that Akashi was remaining silent. I was trying catch his eyes but something was going on with him.

"Sei." I said and when he finally looked at me, I had the fleeting impression that one of his eyes had changed to orange.

But when I blinked, I was met by two crimson red eyes.

"We will avenge you, Emiyo." He said calmly but I could feel the anger coming from every pore of his body.

"And bring home victory."

I nodded.

"Shintaro." I heard a deep voice call out and Midorima immediately got up while meeting his father half way.

There was no need to tell him what had happened, seeing as he had witnessed it first-hand.

When Midorimas father kneeled beside me, I could see the concentration in his eyes. He flashed some light into my eyes and examined the rest of my body. When he touched my rips, I winced painfully.

"What is it?" Aomine asked immediately.

"She most likely had some cracked rips." Midorimas father said. "She needs to go to the hospital."

"No." I said and they all turned to look at me. "I'm not leaving before this game ends. I want to see them win."

I was set on this and Midorimas father sighed.

"Can she stay?" Midorima asked looking at his father.

He reluctantly nodded.

"There is no point arguing. You can stay but only if you promise to come with me to the hospital as soon as this game ends."

I nodded feeling immediately relieved.

"Thank you." I said and Midorimas father nodded.

Aomine put his arms under my body and carefully lifted me up. I winced slightly when he put me down again.

"Will you be safe here?" He asked looking reluctant to leave.

"Hai." Nijimura said while sitting down on one side of me. "She will be."

Haizaki sat down on the other side of me.

"Hanamiya won't try it a second time." Haizaki said.

He looked at Aomine and they both came to a mutual understanding.

"Bring home this win, Daiki." I said softly and he kissed the top of my head before walking back on court.

The crowd who had been silent during this entire time erupted into cheers. They all wanted to see Hanamiya pay for what he had done. The rest of my friends came by to squeeze my hand in reassurance and in a sort of promise.

I could only see one thing in their eyes.

It was revenge.

"Thank you for holding them back." I said to the two boys sitting on either side of me.

They both nodded.

"Don't get me wrong." Nijimura said. "I wanted to hurt Hanamiya as much as they did. But I knew you wouldn't want to see them get disqualified."

"Thank you, captain." I said once again.

The game resumed and I couldn't believe my eyes.

They were avenging me with everything they had in them. Kadooka Junior High was not able to hold the ball for longer than two seconds.

It looked like an entirely different team.

They scored basket after basket and by the end of the game they had triplet their initial score, while Kadookas score remained the same.

They played like they were on an entirely different level than their opponents.

I couldn't take my eyes of them.

They were simply incredible.

When the referee blew his whistle to announce the end of the game the crowd stayed silent for a while. Too stunned by what they had just witnessed. But moments later they erupted into cheers.

"Ladies and gentlemen. I present to you the winner of this year's Nationals."

"Teiko Middle School."

My friends were standing frozen on the court until realisation hit them that they had won.

They had achieved what they had practiced for this entire time.

Aomine slowly lifted his fist into the air grinning from ear to ear.

Tears were rolling down my face seeing them so happy.

Soon they were celebrating loudly and they each clapped one another on the back before they came running towards me.

"You did it." I said loudly which resulted into another stab in my rips.

"I'm so proud of you." I said trying to mask my obvious discomfort.

They were all grinning looking beyond happy and proud of themselves.

"We brought home victory." Akashi said and I nodded looking proudly at them.

"Hai." I said. "You did."