Authors Note: Hey there again! Welcome to the revised version of chapter 2! I hope this version is better than the last, and makes more sense in the larger scheme of things. I forgot how much I loved the interactions here. It goes without saying that I'm probably not going to keep the word count limit on myself anymore. I'm just going to write until I feel like it's enough. I hope this helps with the quality of the writing as well!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke or Haikyuu, the characters or make any profit from this story. All characters and concepts belong to their respective owners. I just like writing. Please support official releases.

Chapter 2: Fateful Meetings and Rocky Greetings

Citadel Training Grounds

As the black van pulled into the training grounds near the border of the territory, the grass was now faded from green to a dry, pale, bone-colored off-white. There were no more trees, with the exception of a forest in the heart of the compound. There was only barbed wire and antennae. It was such a far cry for them, who had been coming up on a decade on living wealthily. Kise shuddered at the sight, holding himself.

"Talk about dreary…"

"It's to be expected of a military base…we are likely the closest to the Wasteland than anyone else." Midorima was just as displeased. They were escorted to the lineup of other males from other areas of the city, all standing straight and silent, though their eyes read anxiety, fear, and apprehension. As the 6 young men came to join the last line, out stepped an elderly man from the main building, followed by a young man with dark hair and sharp steely eye, both in color and mettle. Both stood in a sturdy, broad shouldered stance which spoke of a long and successful career.

The elderly man was nothing like the elderly they had seen before, not even Akashi's father. Despite his wrinkled skin, his wispy white hair and his neatly trimmed beard, the man was muscled even through his uniform, but not that it hindered his mobility. He was glowing even brighter with vigor than some of the trainees, and his commanding disposition left them attentive with reverence.

"Welcome," he greeted with a booming voice, leaving a pregnant pause in the air as he surveyed the crowd before him. "I am General Shirogane Kozo, and this is Major Nijimura Shuzo, who will be your reporting officer while you're training. You should all be grateful to him, and treat him with respect. He is an extraordinary soldier, and the youngest to ever become a Major. He specifically requested the position to grind you all to dust and mold you into men worthy of rising in our ranks." The young man bowed slightly and nodded towards the trainees; arms crossed behind his back.

"Wow," Aomine was unable to keep the awe from showing on his face. "He's young, he probably isn't much older than us..." But most of the others were tensed at the General's words. Not everyone received the same education or training, after all.

They get smaller and mousier every year. The younger officer scowled to himself and glanced at some of the cadets, their faces paling at his pronounced frown and sharp downward turn of his brow. Figures. These little punks are supposed to end this damn war? Give me a break.

His silvery eyes fell on five rainbow colored heads. He recognized the son of the former Lieutenant General Akashi Masaomi; and, he assumed that the rest were the charges he took in years ago. Naturally, they had heard nothing but praise for these young men, but Nijimura just saw them as a couple more brats. At least, they looked athletic. If we can put some more muscle on those bones...

Also catching his eye was a pair of young men standing beside one another. The redheaded young man with a fierce, fiery look in his eye seemed slightly more outstanding than his icier, cooler dark-haired counterpart, but it seemed as if both had a sufficient amount of potential as well, as well as a few others. Nijimura stepped forward. When he spoke, his voice boomed with confidence as well, beyond his apparent age.

"First we'd like to thank you for the time you're about to spend here. It won't be easy, but I expect you all to work hard to expand our territory and finally put an end to this chaos. That being said, we'll be doing things a little differently this year." This finally caused a soft murmur of confusion to wash over the crowd, as expected, but Nijimura kept talking.

"Typically, we give you three years of practical training before sending you out into the field, but with the current war efforts and the enemy's proximity to the border, we've decided that the first two years is enough." All sound stopped as it everyone processed very quickly what that meant.

"The third year, a squadron leader will take you on your first mission outside the border, where you will face the enemy head on."

Akashi Residence

The world whispered in the hours after Kuroko and the others left. It insisted something was wrong, something was off, murmuring in Kotomi's ear as she tried to busy herself. After she dropped off her application, she walked aimlessly down the streets in her regret. What was she thinking? She had never directly disobeyed Akashi's father to this extent before! How could she? She owed him everything. And it wasn't as if she had some powerful affinity for being a medic, like Momoi did for being an analyst. No matter how she spun the tale, there was no other explanation other than insolence.

"Haaah...this is troublesome." Kotomi whined, running her fingers through her hair. "I can already hear Daiki laughing at...me..." Not. Right...they're not here, right now. I'm on my own. Kotomi lowered her hands from her hair as she took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. "When the protagonist in my books look up at the sky, the answers to their problems come." She said to no one in particular. When nothing came, Kotomi whined to no one in particular again. Ryota would pat my head...no, Kotomi! Stop thinking about it! She slapped her cheeks harder than she meant to, now whining in pain and frustration. What could she even do? She brought this on herself. She was on her own.

But she had already tried to retrieve the paper. Even with her status as an honorary 'Akashi', the hospital staff didn't budge, and refused to return her application. So, there was no helping that. Worse, she didn't know if she could lie or hide her mistake from Momoi. Luckily, the pink haired girl was so distraught that she failed to confess to Kuroko before he left that Momoi holed up in her room and refused to come out.

Unfortunately, this left Kotomi alone with her own thoughts. A terrible development, surely.

Akashi Residence - Library

Kotomi camped out in the library that night, curled up on the couch where she used to sit with Midorima and Kuroko, and fell asleep with their favorite children's books providing her a pillow. She was awoken in the middle of the night by hushed voices outside the closed door. Kotomi sat up and rubbed her eyes, as if it would improve her hearing of the barely audible voices.

["I think Kotomi-chan fell asleep in there." A maid whispered. "She must miss them too much..."

"Satsuki-chan refused dinner...poor things, the little misses have always been so attached to the boys. I miss them, too..."]

Kotomi bit her lip as she felt her stomach coil up into a tightly wound ball of wire.

I don't need to be reminded...

["Ohh, what is Akashi-sama thinking!? Those boys didn't have to fight! They should stay here and get married! What will he do if they all-!"

"Hush! You know not to talk like that. The Akashi family has always done its duty to the Citadel, and it must continue to do so. They'll surely return."

"But things aren't getting better, they're recruiting younger and younger, less people are coming home..."]

Kotomi felt the coil in her stomach expand, and she quickly plopped back onto the couch. She closed her eyes and pulled a cushion out to cover her ears with it, so she didn't have to hear any more. Sadly, it was too late. She felt the tears rise in her eyes and she curled in on herself. He breathing was getting louder and more frantic as she felt the panic set in.

Her skin itched but burned.

Her eyes stung.

Her face felt hot.

Her lungs begged for her to stop breathing so much air, but cried from the lack of oxygen.

Her heart was ready to pop out of her chest.

Come home.

Come home.

Come home.

It hurt. She couldn't sit still. Kotomi bolted up in her seat, and in the process, she knocked the books onto the floor. Rapid footsteps and harsh whispers retreating announced the maids' departure.

As if possessed by a force, Kotomi practically threw herself atop the writing desk and pulled out a stack of papers. She grabbed a pen and wrote out her schedule for the next three years. She wasn't going to waste the life she was given by wallowing in her lack of skill. When Kuroko and the others returned, she was going to be someone worthy of standing beside them as an equal!

Just you wait!

Citadel-City Downtown

The next day, Kotomi went into town alone. She had invited Momoi, but she was already back at work. The Statistics Bureau loved her and took her in as an intern during the weekends. Surely after they finished their mandatory schooling at 16, she would become part of the Analytics Team. In addition to cram school focusing solely medical skills and knowledge, she knew she had to continue working on her regular studies as well.

And somehow, she had to keep Akashi's father from finding out about her application. For once, she was relieved that he was so distant from the children he took in.

Even luckier her training as a medic began in a year. In her third year, she would finally be working with patients fresh from an assigned warzone on the border between the Citadel and the Wastelands. Only after passing the examinations and the training program could she begin her work as an on-field medic, where she would actually be entering battlefields and extracting the injured and providing support to the doctors.

Then she would be able to help her friends, even if she knew that they would be furious about her entering the war without telling them. If they died, she would live her whole life angry with herself that she didn't do anything to protect their future together. As Kotomi walked, she brought a hand to her chest as she felt the aches of loneliness threaten to cripple her again.

I want to see you all.

"Keep coming to this tree and read like you always do. And think of us." Midorima's words resonated in her chest and gave her strength. That was right. This was their home, after all. They were not here with her, but there was one place where they spent every day together. A place where reality couldn't pester her. That was close enough for now, and that was more than the boys had.

So, she purchased the books she needed for her cram school and went for the city's outskirts, determined to not let this absence hinder her growth. She couldn't idly sit by while everyone was hard at work, after all. Everything was going to be fine. If she just kept her head down and did her work, everything would work out. Everything would become normal again.

Or so she thought.

Kotomi didn't know what to think when she arrived at the plum tree; its blossoms were still in full bloom, branches swaying in greeting. That much remained the same. But the newest addition to her regular haunt completely disillusioned her attempt at escaping a reality where Kuroko and the others were far from her side.

Someone else was here. In our spot.

Her nose wrinkled in disdain at the messy head of brown which occupied her spot. As she approached, she squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. No big tall Atsushi to scare off the undesirables. She didn't say anything at first; Atsushi never had to say anything to make someone move out of his way. She had always wanted to try it. But the figure sitting made no move to even look her way. Instead, he spoke while gazing into the distance.

"Looks like a little bird has appeared. Is this your usual perch?" His voice was relaxed, almost teasing. His back was to her as he leaned up against the bark of the tree. His hands rested behind his head. A cool breeze rustled the mop of chocolate brown. "First come, first serve."

"Who are you? This is our spot; you can't just come here as you please." Kotomi was smarter than this, but her emotions were all out of align. Instead of accusatory, she sounded exasperated. She knew that no one really owned this place, but she still felt like it was stolen from her, and it distressed her so much that she clenched her fists in frustration.

She just wanted to feel normal and this wasn't normal.

"We always come here." She protested again. "You're not allowed!" The newcomer stood up slowly and revealed himself dressed in only a sweater and a tattered pair of jeans. He seemed like a regular civilian, likely the outskirts.

"I was here first, today." He finally turned to look at her, opening calm, half-lidded chocolate brown eyes to scan her up and down. The snarky curve of his lips seemed to become even more so as he appraised her. Kotomi admitted to herself with a scowl that he was pretty. Not in the model kind of pretty like Kise, but a boyish kind of pretty. Maybe she could have admired his appearance if he weren't impeding on her favorite spot with her friends on a terrible day.

"I'm here first all the time." She countered.

"But not today, little bird." He touched his hand to his chin as he looked her up and down and chuckled. "I don't like relaxing alone, so how about we cuddle together under this tree? Sounds pretty romantic, huh?" There was something ingenuine about his offer, though she would have declined regardless of his tone. But she didn't know what this tone was, and it made her anxious. She decided to answer honestly.

"No, it sounds rather unpleasant, actually."

"My, that's kind of rude, my heart is broken~" He laughed, pressing a hand to his temple as if he were distraught. But the lack of humor in his laugh only made her wary. Kotomi wasn't going to leave, but neither was he. She couldn't scare him away.

"Then let's coexist and be done with this. I am not in the mood." With that, she walked over and plopped down, sitting on the other side of the tree. She picked up her books, opening up a notebook at the same time to take notes. The young man seemed surprised, much to Kotomi's satisfaction. It was short-lived, however, as he walked over and sat beside her, leaning over her shoulder to look at her book.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Studying." She flipped through the books so quickly that the boy's eyes widened slightly. Was she reading it all? But he quickly recovered, leaning in closer. It had the desired effect, as Kotomi's shoulders rose ever closer to her ears.

"Hmm…medicine, huh? You want to be a medic for the military, then?" Kotomi slammed her book closed and looked at him, cornflower blue met chocolate brown with a passive, but unyielding gaze. But it was obvious she was fighting to stay in control of herself.

"It's rude not to introduce yourself to someone before you ask so many questions."

"You're so cold, even though you're so pretty. That's not very cute, you know, Kotori-chan." Kotomi bristled and she glared slightly at him. The nickname resembled her real name so quickly, and she didn't like the idea of being so familiar with someone who wasn't any of her boys. "But I don't see why I have to identify myself to you when you're the one who came suddenly and asked me to leave."

Kotomi pursed her lips, as there was nothing she could retort to in his reasoning. She was wary of this stranger; not because of his taunts, and not because of his proximity. It was the look in his eyes. They had just met, and yet she had never seen such unveiled disdain before. She knew that kids in school envied their position, and disliked them because of it. She knew that girls disliked herself and Momoi because they envied thier closeness to all the boys, especially Kise and Akashi. But she had never seen this kind of disdain before. He looked at her like she was trash.

"Why are you here?" She finally asked. The offending look melted away into an amicable smile that failed to calm Kotomi down, but he settled back into his resting position as he stared up into the sky.

"Just felt like staring at the sky. But as I thought, it's lonely to do it alone, isn't it?" There was a warning in Kotomi's gut. Like he was going to breach a wall she didn't want him to touch. "No friends?"

"…" Kotomi opened her book, hoping drown him out. Don't react. That's what he wants, her mind reasoned.

"Ah, I see. They went to war, didn't they?" Her nails started to dig into the spine of her book as she gritted her teeth.

I just want it to be normal…

"The military is scary, isn't it? Your friends will probably get killed out there."

Normal.

"You really don't feel anything?"

Please stop. Kotomi tasted copper in her mouth and she realized she was biting her lip so hard it bled, to keep her reaction behind a sealed mouth.

"How lucky it must be for you, Kotori-chan, all you have to do is sit here and look—"

WHACK.

Her hand moved before her brain processed. Without warning, Kotomi swung her book at him with all the force she could manage in her muscles. But she didn't hear what should have been be a satisfying cry of pain. Instead, she heard a derisive chuckle, and couldn't stop him as his much stronger arm pushed the book back towards her.

"Nice try, little Kotori-chan, but you'll have to try a little harder." He stood up, looming over her with a smug, victorious, and spiteful smile. Kotomi her face turns hot with shame and bewilderment. What had she ever done to him? Why was he doing this? "What's wrong? Gonna cry? Don't you want to hit me? You can't can you? All you can do is read your books." Kotomi felt that her eyes were going to start stinging, but she dug her nails into her notes to fight the urge.

"Oi." The new voice turned both their heads towards the horizon. Kotomi looked surprised, while her 'companion' seemed less amused, and more annoyed. A young man with sharp features, not even including his spiky, short hair, dressed in an olive-green jacket over a hoodie, stood just a few feet away. He surveyed the scene, his expression reading irritation, but for who, Kotomi had no idea. Even though he seemed more magnanimous towards her presence, Kotomi felt intimidated by this newcomer, without him even looking at her.

"Are you seriously antagonizing random girls now?" The brunette boy's personality took a sudden turn, as he wildly and childishly whined at the new visitor, even stomping his foot and gesturing wildly to her as if she was obviously guilty of some crime.

"She tried to hit me, Iwa-chan!"

"Because you're a crappy guy and probably did something suspicious."

"You're supposed to take my side on this!" The spiky haired boy's expression became murderous, almost comically so. Both Kotomi and this supposed "crappy guy" backed up on instinct.

"Lets. Go." He practically snarled. The young man bowed his head in defeat and walked away from Kotomi, to her relief, and was met with a shocking fist to the head from whoever this boy was. He shoved the brunette's head down before Kotomi in a bow.

"Sorry about this guy." Kotomi blinked a few times, as if unable to believe what was going on. The pretty one behaved like some territorial beast, and the scary one was apologizing on his behalf? Kotomi only nodded absentmindedly, and watched as the two boys bickered back and forth about why the brunette needed to apologize.

"She's the one who came and bothered me, Iwa-chan! You don't know the whole story!"

"Shut up, Shittykawa."

"You're so mean!"

"You shouldn't even be here, dumbass." No kidding, Kotomi couldn't help thinking. But she knew better than to re-escalate a problem that was quite obviously being handled. Watching fights between Aomine, Kise, and Murasakibara was enough to teach her that simple lesson.

"I was obviously escaping Iwa-chan, because he's a brute-ouch! OUCH! Okay, I'll stop!" Kotomi bit her lip and takes a deep breath, closing her eyes. Coming today felt like a failure of her objectives.

"I guess I'll be going, then…" The brunette announced before he looked to Kotomi, and smirked handsomely at her again, though there was no less animosity in it than before. However, the effect was extremely diminished after she watched his punishment at the hand of his friend. She only raised a brow. Thanks to this stranger, she regained her nerves. "I hope we don't meet again, Kotori-chan!~" He turned to leave, his friend tossed her a look over his shoulder, but she couldn't put a word to the expression.

"Kotomi." The two stopped to look at her when her voice came out, louder than the voice she had spoken with before, but with less authority and more civility than was necessary, considering what just transpired.

Her eyes bored into theirs as if she was studying them and committing their visages to her memory. The wind picked up and her hair whipped to the side, cobalt blue seemed to flare through the veil of black on her face a bit. Despite the brightness of the day, the air seemed chilly, somehow, even though both boys felt the heat of the sun caressing their skin.

"Hah?" The brunette didn't look impressed by her show of bravado, though his friend seemed a little more interested, if not wary.

"My name is Fujisaki Kotomi. I came here every day with my friends, but now they're off fighting. I'm going to protect this place until they come back, and I'm going to do what I need to, no matter how many angry little boys come to pester me."

"Angry little boys, huh...?" A smirk appeared on the brunette's lips, as if he was witnessing a humming bird as it struggled in vein to assert its supposed dominance over a perching hawk, before the hawk's beak snapped shut on that pretty, tiny little body.

"Well then, Fujisaki Kotori-chan, my name is the Great Oikawa. And I'm claiming your spot whether you like it or not. So, don't come here again, if you know what's good for you."

"I always come here at lunchtime." This caught them both off guard this time, but Kotomi remained unfettered as she smiled. "I'll extend an invitation to you. Now you're here because I requested it."

Sorry, Sei-kun. You always told me not to be so petty. Just this once.

"Are you inviting me…to come back?" Oikawa asked with suspicion. I don't know how to deal with that kind of attitude… Oikawa was clearly frustrated that the tables had turned. He really only came here to relax, and he wanted to make her squirm in retaliation for having interrupted him with some childish bullshit about this being her tree. Seriously, what kind of rich kid attitude was that? Thinking you own a tree? And now she was playing the gracious hostess?

"That's right." Kotomi confirmed. She knew he wasn't going to stop coming, and she was a master at outstubborning the stubborn kids. Whoever backed out first lost.

Oikawa was plotting as well. He knew that his friend wanted him to refuse, but an invitation to torment her wasn't an awful way to spend his free time. He grinned triumphantly.

"Alright," He said as he turned to go, hands on his hips as he started heading in the opposite direction of the city with his comrade. "Then I'll be back here to bother you tomorrow, Kotori-chan."

"Thank you…Shittykawa." He choked a little but by the time he turned around with a scowl on his lips, she was already running off, books tucked under her arm. She didn't even glance back. He watched with a petulant frown, and shouted after her.

"My name is Oikawa Tooru, you better remember that!"

What a little brat…

"Pft!" The young man beside him covered his mouth with his arm, like he was covering up a sneeze.

"Iwa-chan, don't laugh, that was your fault-ACK!" Iwaizumi had jabbed him in the side.

"I don't think you're so stupid that you'd do this without reason." As Oikawa's expression relaxed and his lips turned up into a smirk, Iwaizumi eyed him suspiciously.

"Of course not. She seems just dumb enough to think that she could be useful." Iwaizumi scoffed.

"You're a really terrible guy, I feel almost sorry for her."

Citadel Training Grounds-8 Hours Away

"Too slow!" Nijimura shouted down at a young man who fell during the obstacle course. "The 2 trainees with the lowest evaluations don't get dinner at the end of the week! If you keep failing, you'll starve!" The next week it would be the 4 lowest scores, the next week 6. There was no time for an adjustment period, as they were all finding out.

Nijimura looked up into the blazing sun and cursed under his breath. The news didn't advertise how bad the war situation was really getting. The number of soldiers dying outnumbered the number of trainees they got, and the gap grew with every passing year. There was already too much talk going around the higher ups.

Talk of starting training at 12-years-old. Talk of pulling back from the established bases so many died to secure and concentrating on fortifying the border. Talk of increasing the birth rate through what the less than palatable generals called "baby farms." All those options left a bitter taste in Nijimura's mouth, but he couldn't do anything about it. There was no solution and only bad answers. And he wasn't willing to abandon his post, in memory of his father.

If this was the only way he could help the war effort, then so be it. Better than having done nothing. He grabbed the young boy by the collar and yanked him to his feet as he gave him a less than gentle shove.

"If you fall, no one will come to pick you up! You're bullet shields for your stronger comrades!" His words echoed through the camp which pushed the young boys to move faster. "Act as if you'll die if you don't complete this course!" He turned to look at the end of the course, but his eyes were drawn to a flash of dark blue that flew by him. He turned his head to watch as the tanned teenager expertly leapt over hurdles, crawled under barbed wire, and carried the 75lb sandbag over the barrier wall, through the monkey bars, and through the mud in record time, even faster than Nijimura himself did when he was a trainee. He looked at the numbers on the young man's jacket and the corresponding name list, writing underneath it.

Aomine Daiki. Fast and agile.

"Fuck yeah!" Aomine shouted as he throws the sandbag at the ground, sweating and panting only after completing the course, as if he moved so quickly his body's reactions needed time to catch up.

Also, loud and needs discipline.

"Evading traps is a double-edged sword, but it's a good risk to take when you're avoiding enemies. But treat every unknown situation or unknown territory as if there is death at every turn." Honey brown eyes scanned the dirt carefully. The mines underneath was fake but exploded a ghastly red powder to simulate the range of a real explosion. If you got it on other people, your score for the entire course was 0 for today. Kise watched Akashi, who seemed to deliberate for moment before he quickly ran across; his footwork impeccable, graceful, and quick as he crossed the course without setting off a single mine.

It was all Kise needed. With a crack of his knuckles and a deep breath, he ran across with the same exact movements as Akashi. Nijimura watched with an impressed smirk, though it was quick to disappear as the blonde spotted Aomine, who ran fast enough across that he set off several mines without so much as getting a fleck on him, but through a path that didn't put anyone in range of the blast. Kise waved ecstatically, jumping up and down.

"Aominecchi!~ Did you see that!?"

"Shut up, Kise!"

Kise Ryota. Observant and quick to memorize, but too flashy.

The gunfire sent smoke into the air and into their lungs as they tried to fire at the targets about 50, 100 150, 175 and 200 meters away, the furthest being the approximate distance of the average trench battle on the border and enemy lines. Nijimura stared with disapproval at the bullet holes outside the targets and stray bullets which littered the floor, but he spotted a green head which stood stiller than most, held steady, and fired with excellent accuracy at the 150-meter mark. He got head and heart shots with increasing accuracy. However, the shots only occurred every minute or so. Not to mention, that bespectacled boy was carrying…a can of air freshener?

Midorima Shintaro. Excellent shot, but slow to fire…why the air freshener?

Nijimura's eyebrows shot up when he spotted the purple haired giant lift one of the weight machines at least a foot off the ground. He did this with almost every machine about 20 minutes into the muscle conditioning workout, sometimes even with people sitting on it. Question was, what exactly was he looking for?

"Murasakibara, what seems to be the problem?" Nijimura approached him with a wary expression, a little concerned over how somber the young man seemed. Murasakibara groaned, his darkened expression meeting Captain Nijimura's.

"I had a red bean bun in my pocket, but I think it fell out." Nijimura's eyebrow twitched, and he opened his mouth to start lecturing him.

"Murasakibara," Akashi approached the purple haired teen with a disapproving look. "Now is not the time. Finish the work out first."

"But my bun…"

"Would you rather run laps without dinner at the end of the week?"

"…" Begrudgingly, Murasakibara ceased his search and departed to complete his bench pressing. Akashi glanced at Nijimura and bowed slightly, heading off to complete his own work out. Nijimura's lip twitched, threatening a smile.

Murasakibara Atsushi. Strong, but food motivated and childish.

Akashi Seijuro. Top scores and great leadership. No problems.

In the middle of the forest surrounding the training camp, Nijimura climbed and vaulted over large roots and fallen trees, as well as the dilapidated swing set and the hood of an old car. This had once been a park, but a bomb dropped in the area at the beginning of the war decimated most of the area. Reconstruction of this area of the city had taken about 75 years to complete, but the old park that had been destroyed was repurposed for training grounds. He had all the trainees searching the entire park.

The 2 lowest scores at the end of this week would get no dinner, but anyone who managed to hit him with a paint ball during within the time limit of 20 minutes was automatically granted exemption from the ranking and given special privileges for that week. Nijimura felt the reward was equivalent to the difficulty in catching him. Therefore, he had to be even more difficult to catch. If any trainee could catch him the way they were right now, he had no right to call himself a Major.

"Hn," Nijimura smirked a little as his ears perked to the sound of an approaching trainee. He flexed his muscles in anticipation, being completely unarmed. "Charging me so loudly like that? They really are children." He leapt back from the brush just as the tall red-headed boy shot out from them, easily dodging a broad, large swing using a plastic knife, wet and shiny with red ink staining the sides. If Nijimura had a weapon, the teen would already be dead, seeing as he left himself open like that.

"Shit! I missed!" Kagami Taiga. Fast, good power, but too hot-headed and easy to read. Another rustle surprised Nijimura during his mental notes, but as the young man with a beauty mark under his eye emerged from the bushes, paint gun at the ready, Nijimura grinned wildly. The look made the dark-haired boy take a step back, which allowed Nijimura to turn and grab his arm. He squeezed so tight and twisted his arm so that when he pulled the trigger, it hits Kagami in the leg.

Himuro Tatsuya. Calm and collected, excellent athletics, hardworking, but shows no confidence. Beautiful man, though.

Nijimura pulled Himuro's arm behind his back and wrapped a strong forearm around his throat while standing behind him. Kagami stopped his assault and stood in front of him, glaring heatedly.

"Tatsuya!"

"He'd be dead if this was a real encounter. Both of you would be. You had a plan, but not only didn't you fail to follow through, you didn't have a backup if you didn't work. An enemy won't overlook that, so you have to outthink them and yourselves at every turn. At the very least, you should at least learn to move a little quieter." Suddenly, Nijimura got this chilling, sinking feeling in his stomach, the kind he only felt on the battlefield. He turned quickly, pulling Himuro with him, which allowed him to narrowly dodge the plastic blade that would have marked his chest, if it weren't for the young man standing in front of him. Just then, the siren marked the end of the exercise, with no one managing to catch their captain.

All three males stared at the new arrival with wide eyes as he stepped out fully from the woods; meanwhile, impassive baby blue surveyed the situation. After a long pause, Kagami spoke first.

"When…when did you get here!?" Kagami's voice echoed a little as Nijimura released Himuro and walked quickly over to his clipboard to figure out just who the hell this guy was.

"I've been here."

That's impossible, Nijimura thought as he took note of the boy's ID numbers. Kuroko Tetsuya…His scores are so low! How did he manage to catch me off guard like that? He seemed a bit incredulous.

"How long have you been there, Kuroko?" Baby blue met steely silver.

"Since before you got here."

"Hah? Then why didn't you attack?" Kagami looked quite perplexed. If he was here the whole time, how did he not notice this guy as he was sneaking around?

"Because the Major never let his guard down."

"You guys can discuss that at dinner," Nijimura advised as he wrote on his clipboard, expression unreadable. Attacking the moment, the enemy's attention was diverted elsewhere…pretty good for a rookie. "Head to the showers for now."

"Yes sir." A smile appeared on the Major's lips as the three head off back to the living quarters. He had never felt so glad to be wrong about an initial assessment as he made his notes on the first two, and then the dark horse who appeared at just the last second. If this hadn't been a timed event, he would have been marked eventually.

Kuroko Tetsuya. Average, barely noticeable, but…there's promise. It looked like this year's trainees were insane, in all kinds of ways. Perhaps this was the year for things to start changing, for better or for worse.

Akashi Residence

Open bags of biscuits and snacks surround empty cups of juice, tea, and open textbooks and papers scattered the floor of Kotomi's bedroom. Momoi was laying on her stomach, hugging a pillow at the foot of the bed while Kotomi leaned against the foot board acting as a backrest. A book on emergency medical treatment sat open and forgotten as Momoi fumed adorably, cheeks puffed and dainty fists pounding the mattress in frustration.

"This Oikawa person sounds so awful! Kotomi-chan! If I were there, I would have beat him up!" Kotomi giggled as Momoi gnawed on a biscuit in irritation.

"I'm not particularly devastated about what he thinks. I just thought it was shocking."

"Obviously he's jealous!" Momoi pouted childishly. "We do have it easier than a lot of other people do, what with Akashi-kun's family taking such good care of us. But it's isn't like we really had a choice in coming here! He's not worth the time, Koto-chan!"

"I know, but I don't think that's it…" The opinions of strangers and their petty emotions hardly fazed her, but this was different. He seemed envious, yes, but there had to be more. "He just felt different."

"How so?" Kotomi pursed her lips at Momoi's question.

"Even if you ask me directly like that, I wouldn't be able to tell you." She wanted to peel back the layers, one by one, to find the core of what could give him such an expression. She was sure of that and…"But..."

"But?"

"He was quite beautiful, as well. It's a shame he looks so ugly when he's means."

"Right!?" Momoi blinked as she registered Kotomi's words, looking at her and blinking in disbelief. "That Shittykawa guy?"

"Mhm…" Wild brown eyes, messy hair, strong jawline. He still had a boyish air about him, not to mention he seemed pretty mature like Akashi and childish like Kise all at the same time. "He had a rotten personality, though." Momoi looked terrified. Being pursued by the boys for 5 years and Kotomi fell in love with a bully she met once!?

"You're a weird girl, Koto-chan."

"I can tell when someone is pretty, it doesn't mean that I like him or think he's any less rude and awful."

"It's a good thing Tetsu-kun and the others weren't there to hear about this." Momoi didn't even try to hide the sad notes in her voice, missing her friends deeply. Especially that powder blue haired boy with a mysterious aura and a kind voice. Kotomi giggled a little at the thought.

Kise and Aomine would have tried to meet that boy there again to "teach him a lesson," but Akashi and Midorima would have ensured that they couldn't cause any more trouble than there already was. Kuroko would have been attentive to Kotomi. He always made sure she felt safe and loved. Murasakibara would have tried to offer her snacks as consolation, and when she smiled, the day would be saved. She needed to prove to herself that she could protect them and the place they loved. That's why she couldn't back off.

"They're quite reliable, aren't they?" Her tender smile didn't escape Momoi's watchful eye, who smiled in return and blushed slightly.

"I don't want to worry about things like that while they're away training to fight, Satsuki-chan…" Fear flashed through Momoi's face as she looked up at the ceiling again, biting her bottom lip.

"That's right, they'll be going to war, once they're done." The conversation took a turn in an upsetting direction. Momoi sat up quickly, biting her thumb nail."Kotomi-chan, what will we do? What will we do if they…if they get hurt?"

"Then I'll heal them. I'll protect them. I won't let them die and leave us." Kotomi scooted closer to her best friend and rubbed her back, pulling Momoi's hand away from her lips. The very thought burned her throat as she swallowed hard and shook her head. "I'll do whatever I have to. That's why I have to work hard."

"But you won't be there to help them."

"Yes, I will."

"Not all the time. You'll be at the medical centers, right?" Kotomi didn't answer. Momoi scrutinized solemn Kotomi, her eyes wide. "Right?"

"About that..." Kotomi smiled sheepishly. Momoi groaned and slapped a hand over her eyes.

"Kotomi, they told us to stay out of the war zones, you can't."

"I submitted my application a while ago, I can't pull out, now. I'm going to be an on-site medic." Momoi slapped her hands onto the mattress. The bed bounced lightly in response to the sudden shock.

"Kotomi!"

"I won't sit and let them fight and get hurt without doing anything." Kotomi defended herself.

"Then join me with the analysts, or stay within the safe zones! You can't go out there, Kotomi, we're not like them! And we'll only be a burden if they know!"

"That's why they can't find out." Kotomi turned to look at her friend, eyes pleading as she held Momoi's hands in both of hers. "Please, Satsuki. I'm not like you. I don't understand patterns in numbers and I certainly can't choose who goes to war. I won't sit in the safe zone when they're out fighting, either."

"Kotomi…"

"All my life, you guys have protected me and kept me safe. If I can protect them when they need it the most, then I can feel at ease. Let me help them. For them, for us." Momoi bit her lip and looked like she was ready to cry.

"But what if you get hurt, out there?" Kotomi paused. She had no answer for that. She couldn't find someone to teach her. Of course, Akashi's father knew of her enrollment, but not her role since she changed it on her own.

"I'll…do my best."

"Kotomi, that's not good enough. If you get hurt, it will destroy them. They're fighting hard for us, and what will they do if they come home and find out you're hurt, or worse?" Kotomi remembered the time that she had fallen from a tree when they were 11. She had been hiding from Akashi during a game of hide and seek, and slipped and fell, knocking herself unconscious in the fall. When she awoke, everyone was in hysterics. Even the ever-silent Kuroko was unable to stop sniffling even after she woke up, and Kise refused to leave her alone. They wouldn't even let her play hide and seek for almost a month. She could only imagine the chaos, now.

"You're right…but that won't stop me. I love them, Momoi. I'm willing to risk everything for them." Momoi blushed at this, holding her cheeks. Of course, she understood the kind of love she was thinking of wasn't the same as what Kotomi was thinking of, but knowing how they likely felt for her made her cheeks heat up. Momoi hummed a little and rocked back and forth to self soothe. It was time to discuss something else. It was getting too dark. Momoi sighed a little too loud, and this caused Kotomi to raise an eyebrow at her, seeming unimpressed with her "attempt" at being inconspicuous about changing subjects.

Most notably, without promising that she wasn't going to tell.

"Satsuki…" She took a sip from her lukewarm tea, if only not to waste the drink that the maids had so kindly brewed for them.

"I just want to know…if it did come up…which one would you marry?"

"What?" Kotomi choked on her tea, grasping at her chest and quickly setting the cup down before she dropped and ruined it. She was only 13, and her life had barely begun, why would she start thinking about marriage now?

"Ki-chan always talks about marrying you!" Momoi looked incredulous at her surprise.

"I can't even think about them any other way!"

"How do you even see them, anyway?"

"…cousins?"

Guys, I'm so sorry you're in love with such a confusing girl…

"W-well, why do I even have to get married!?"

"It'd be a waste if you didn't have children, Koto-chan!"

"Ahhhh! No!" Kotomi's face flushed red and she hid her face. Momoi laughed triumphantly. Serious talk averted!

Okay, Satsuki-chan, two can play at that game! Kotomi placed a finger to her chin, simulating deep thought.

"If I could only choose from our group then...Tetsuya?" Momoi gasped and shook her head frantically, throwing her arms around Kotomi in panic.

"No! You don't have to get married, Kotomi! You're perfectly capable of being a strong, capable woman without a man beside you!" Kotomi laughed and threw her arms around the peach-scented girl.

"How about I steal you from Tetsuya, Sa-chan?" Momoi laughed as well, falling backwards on the bed as both tried to forget the sense of foreboding for the near future for all of them. Even as they played, Kotomi felt a twinge of guilt, which Momoi likely intended.

I need to learn how to fight.

Citadel Training Grounds - Mess Hall

"A….Achoo!" Aomine jerked his tray of food away from Kise with a heated glare as he protected the food with his life.

"Oi, don't tell me you're getting sick, already?"

"No, I'm not! Someone must be talking about me!" Kise whined. "I'm sure my fans are missing me from school, already!"

"Die, Kise-chin." Murasakibara drawled while eating his food. While Kise gasped childishly at the cruel verbal abuse, Kuroko met up with his friends in the mess hall, sitting down to a sumptuous meal of vegetables and large steaks. What with the declining numbers of trainees, the quality of food became almost the same level as what was served at Akashi's house, to encourage the growing boys' potentials as powerful teens and adults. That's why the food was only given to those who met the daily agenda. They settled in for their meal, Kise sighed and idly bit into the chunk of steak he cut.

"I miss Kotomicchi…" There was a collective sigh at the table. Midorima pushed his now broken glasses up, effect diminished thanks to some poor boy who tried to sling a sandbag over his shoulder. He ended up smacking the taller green haired boy in the face.

"You must be taking it very lightly to be thinking of home right now, Kise. The beginning of training is the hardest, you should focus more, or you'll bring the Akashi name down. You won't be able to look Fujisaki in the face."

"You're so stuffy, Midorima. Just call her Kotomi like everyone else." Aomine complained and rolled his eyes.

"Mido-chin, I always see you sticking your hand in your pocket to touch the charm she gave all of us. You're thinking about her, too." Aomine took a huge bite out of the steak he had impaled with his fork and grumbled as Midorima did a spit take with to vehemently reject Murasakibara's accusation, despite the red on his cheeks which suggested otherwise.

"I don't even know why she made you guys one. I'm going to be top soldier, so just sit back and let me protect you all for her sake." Aomine announced as he reached over and stabbed a cube of Kise's steak, and shoved it into his mouth before the blonde could protest.

"Hey! Aominecchi! That was mine! You always do this!"

"Hah? Calm down, I need the energy to be the best."

"Don't be ridiculous! Aominecchi, you're the one who was scolded by Captain Nijimura, earlier!"

"So did you!"

"And!?" Kise and Aomine stood up, grabbing the fabric of the other's shirts, fists pulled back. There was a small laugh from beside the table, followed by two figures approaching.

"Oh!" Kise looked to the newcomers, tilting his head slightly. "You're those other guys…?"

"The name's Kagami Taiga, Blondie." The redhead growled as he turned his head away.

"Hah? Who even asked?" Suddenly, Aomine and Kise turned their sights off each other and on the red-headed boy, lightning cracked as the three pairs of eyes met.

"My name is Himuro Tatsuya." The dark-haired boy greeted politely.

"Nice to meet you. Your performance during the hand to hand combat segment was quite impressive. What brings you here?" Both completely ignored the rising murderous tensions beside them as Akashi smiled politely at Himuro.

"I just thought it looks so lively, here, would you mind if we joined in?" Himuro asked hopefully and chided his friend in the same breath. "Stop glaring, Taiga."

"Why do we have to sit with these guys?" Kagami complained. "They're a bunch of prissy boys."

"What did you say?" Aomine once again locked eyes with the new redhead who only returned a sour scowl.

"Please do." He challenged right back. Akashi gestured to the two empty seats left at the table, allowing for them to sit beside Akashi and Kuroko.

"Come on, Taiga." Himuro urged. "It's good to make friends, since we're all going to be allies from now on. Kagami grumbled, but begrudgingly sat down. But he leapt back onto his feet when he finally noticed Kuroko there, gasping and nearly dropping his food.

"When did you-!?"

"I've been here." Kuroko responded innocuously.

"Not this shit again…" Kagami looked to Himuro for help, but his friend only chuckled and turned to Akashi.

"So, who is this 'Fujisaki' you guys were talking about?" He was curious, having heard their conversation towards the end. "Is he here?"

"The cutest thing in the whole world!" Kise butt into the conversation immediately, practically shining with excitement at the chance to talk about his supposed favorite person. "She's training to be a medic so that she can take care of us!"

"How nice," Himuro chuckled a bit, leaning away from Kise's sunshine. "She must love you guys so much, to decide something like that."

"Hah?" Aomine looked to Himuro with a raised brow. "What do you mean by 'something like that'?"

"Well, willingly choosing to go into the battlefield to help you guys is—"

"She won't be on-site." The silver-eyed teen jumped when Kuroko spoke up, as if he had once again forgotten that there was an 8th person at this table. Kuroko's eyes were as impassive as ever, but there was a note of slight concern somewhere in those baby-blue depths.

"She's going to work from the safe zones."

"As if we would ever allow her to be so close to the fighting." Midorima nodded in agreement. "Even though we told her to just worry about her studies…" There was the strain of distress in his voice.

"Koto-chin is small and cute, and she smells sweet and her hair is long and shiny. She wouldn't last a day outside the city." Murasakibara commented as he polished off the last of his steak, much to Kagami's astonishment.

He ate it like a cookie…None of the others spoke, but there was suddenly tension in the air. None of them liked the idea of Kotomi being exposed to any kind of warfare outside of what she saw as a child. But they knew how obstinate she could be, so they were willing to compromise on the medic part. It didn't mean that it didn't make them uneasy, though. There will still plenty of ways to get hurt on-site, too. Himuro was quite surprised by the sudden intensity from teenaged boys.

"You guys love her a lot, I'm almost a little jealous." Midorima spluttered again and turned red, gaping like a fish.

"I-It's only natural to protect one's friends! That doesn't have anything to do with it."

"I'm protecting her because I love her." Kise said blatantly as he blinked cluelessly. "You don't love Kotomicchi, Mido-chin?"

"I-I-!"

"That's good, then! Because she's going to marry me when we're older, after all." Kise said this with a smile, but there was challenge in his eyes.

"Quit deciding things like that on your own, Kise." Aomine huffed, seeming a little bit like a panther cub, warning his sibling to back down.

"Don't decide things without asking Kotomi-chan first, Kise-kun." Even Kuroko sounded irate. Himuro was quite interested in the effect the mere mention of this girl's name had on the continuous top scorers. He only wished his brother was as invested in learning about their fellow trainees. He glanced at Kagami, who was gnawing away at his steak, completely disregarding the vegetables for the moment.

"Of course, we love her," Akashi offered, "We love her and Momoi. We've been together for years now. We're family. Everyone here is a vital part of that family, and we want to stay together forever." The smoothness of his answer finally allowed Midorima to compose himself, though he was mindlessly fidgeting with the tape on his fingers.

"Do you have any pictures of her? She seems so interesting, after all."

"You sound like an old man, Tatsuya. Who carried around pictures like that around in-" A hand offered both young men a picture of Kotomi as she sat underneath the plum tree half asleep with a book open in her lap. Fallen plum blossoms littered the open pages. Her half-lidded eyes and disheveled hair sitting outside of its typical side ponytail made for a very rare image of their typically well put together friend.

"Oh, she's very cute," Himuro's hummed in admiration. "I'm actually shocked that someone who looks like this still exists." When there was no response, he was made aware that the rest of the table was suddenly very quiet.

"Akashi…" Midorima was the first to speak of his childhood friends, eyes never moving from the picture.

"Where…did you get that picture of Kotomicchi?" Kise finished the question on everyone's mind.

"I took it one day while you were out buying snacks." Akashi blinked innocently. "She never looks like this around us, so I thought I would capture the moment. I thought she looked quite adorable. But she gets embarrassed whenever I bring it up, so I just keep it to myself. Do you think I should have asked her if it was alright to show other people?" He looked up to listen to their responses, confused as to why his friends looked so determined all of a sudden. Everyone except the red-headed heir and the two newcomers had the same exact thought.

That picture is mine!

"Akashicchi, how can you share a treasure like that so easily!?" Kise whined. "That should be for our eyes, only!"

"That's right, Akashi-kun," Himuro joked, laughing a bit. "She's so cute I might have to steal her from you guys." Immediately, 6 pairs of eyes fly to Himuro, and he suddenly felt shiver up his spine. Himuro had let his guard down, since they seemed so amicable. But he was wrong. Even Kuroko's lack of presence was suddenly suffocating under that intense stare.

I was just joking, too…

"Oi, Oi," Kagami warned, not liking the sudden shift in atmosphere. "He was kidding. Seriously, you guys need to cut out whatever you're doing right now." A chuckle caught their attentions. Akashi closed his eyes to laugh, and when he opened them, they're calm, but suddenly a little colder than before. His tone was still amicable, but with a drop of something else as well.

"Kagami-kun is correct. It was just a joke." Himuro's shoulders didn't relax even with the peaceful pause in his words, because the pause doesn't last long. "It's alright to show him a picture, since the real thing is safe and sound at home." Himuro laughed and nodded in agreement, the tense atmosphere almost melted away, but there was still something in the air. Himuro swallowed hard while he decided to chat with Kagami about the training results today. Even as the tense atmosphere melted and the prodigies became friendly again, a leftover bead of sweat dripped down his temple.

These guys…might be dangerous.

Day 1 End

Author's Notes: I really love writing mean Oikawa for some reason ahaha. I hope you guys liked the rewrite of chapter 2, and that the flow is a little better than before. Be sure to leave any questions you might have! PM me too! I'm actually done revising chapter 3 and working on chapter 4, but I want to do one more read through to make sure everything is good! Until next time!

Aomine: Glad you're enjoying it! I hope I can keep you interested!

lilith20047: Thanks so much for your review! I'm glad the story is still good!

Love,

Silky.