"Neh, onii-chan, where are you going?" Komachi asked in sudden curiosity when he saw his oldee brother already at home earlier than expected. "And what do you mean that you'll only be back before 9 pm?"

Hikigaya sighed as his little sister kept asking him a lot of questions since he had arrived home far too early but he cannot blame her entirely for it. After all, who would have expected that this day would turn into a training camp with his former Teiko teammate and his new light—and with his club mates watching with their curious gazes.

"It's something." He tried to brush her off.

"Onii-chan, tell me!" Now, Komachi was following him around as Hikigaya was about to go to their stockroom to go and get something very familiar. The older brother sighed as he stopped in his tracks. I originally plan not to tell her that I'm going to play basketball again but considering that she's following me towards our stock room, I doubt I can keep my old shoes and equipment away from her peering eyes. I'll just come clean and explain to her the reason.

"Komachi, do you remember Kuroko Tetsuya?" Hikigaya suddenly asked.

"Kuro—ah, Kuroko-san? Yeah, isn't he your teammate before in Teiko…" Komachi trailed off before her eyes went wide and gasped. "Wait a minute, onii-chan? What does Kuroko-san have to do with you leaving early in school?"

"His school and our school had a practice match which they won." Hikigaya explained while omitting the part where he made his comeback into basketball via walking into the lineup of Sobu. "Accidentally, Kuroko and I met once again this afternoon and asked me some help to train some of their players. Being one of the few guys I actually am close to, I can't simply turn him down." He said as finally, he began to walk again, with Komachi closely behind. The latter seemed to be shock.

"Onii-chan…don't tell me…" She was too stunned to say something coherent. "You're…going to play…that sport again?"

Hikigaya wasn't able to reply back as he was busy finding his old basketball equipment that was buried in the pile of junk thrown by their parents. After having to dig and remove some items, he finally found his old dusty pair of Fly Wade 1s as well as his basketball gloves and his oversized Teiko jersey (for his middle school self). Holding his red-and-black sneakers by his right hand, he thoroughly checked it and was surprised to see that it was still in good condition despite being dusty. He then removed his slippers and fitted the shoes in. "It looks like I won't need to borrow sneakers, then. This will have to do." He said as he gets his gloves and his Teiko jersey, which made him cringe ironically. Here lies my former self. He said as he takes them all and places the jersey in his duffel bag.

"Onii-chan, are you sure about this?" Komachi suddenly asked in worry for her brother. "I'm always looking out for you. Oh and that's worth a lot of Komachi points!"

"I can't deny Kuroko, Komachi." Hikigaya replied curtly. "Well, I'll be going now. Take care and remember that onii-chan loves you. Oh, that earned me bunch of points!" He then smiled then walked out to their living room and towards their door. When he got outside, he was greeted by the sight of Kuroko merely seating on the pavement, Kagami sleeping in a nearby bench, Yukinoshita and Yuigahama leaning in their fench. Asahina was standing. They look all quiet in the very awkward atmosphere.

"Yo." He called out. It was a soft voice but enough to eventually caught the attention of Kuroko, who proceeds to wake up the sleeping power forward, and the two girls. After a while, they began to walk in the streets to where the Seirin basketball team is currently staying for their training camp.

"So…how's the other guys?" Hikigaya asked, somewhat hesitant.

"You mean our other teammates?" Kuroko glanced at him as he sips a cup of vanilla milkshakes that he bought from a nearby convenient store. "They're probably fine on their own. Since entering high school, we have won the last two Winter Cup titles while Akashi-kun's Rakuzan had won the Interhigh Championships since our first year as well as sweeping the National Sports Meet." As expected of that little red demonic bitch. Hikigaya inwardly thought bitterly.

"So does that mean that Aomine hasn't won a title?" Hikigaya didn't know whether such thing is impossible considering what kind of player the ganguro is.

"None. He got selected in the All-Star Cup but that's the lone bright spot he got while playing for a team that kept getting eliminated. In fact, Kise-kun was finally able to beat him as they got third place in the Interhigh." The tealnette explained.

Serves him right, then. The man with rotten eyes was very happy to learn that the tanned ace was experiencing some form of misfortune in high school. But seriously, that dumb blonde managed to defeat him?

"Ah and you might not want to hear this but Haizaki-kun actually returned to playing basketball as well in our first year."

Hikigaya almost fell onto the pavement as he didn't expect what he heard. If there's one thing he and the other Generation of Miracles as well as Kuroko all agree to, it's that they hate Haizaki Shougou. The former small forward before Kise came had a reputation in middle school that even put Aomine's antics to shame, such as ogling their female managers' breasts, skipping practices just to go to the gaming arcades, stealing Kuroko's food, and attempting to punch their former captain Nijimura Shuzo, which ended up badly for him as the raven proved to be a much experienced fighter and Nijimura disfigured his face horribly.

"Ah…I'd rather not talk about that violent guy as well as Nijimura-san right now." He actually shudders at the memory of seeing the Teiko forward go off when he really is angry. I actually feared him the most but at the same time, I respect him for his brutal honesty in our regulars.

"I'm curious as to what schools they attend." Hikgaya pressed on.

"Aomine-kun went to Touou Academy, Midorima-kun plays for Shutoku High School, Murasakibara-kun attended Yosen High School, Kise-kun studies in Kaijo High School, Haizaki-kun became the ace in Fukuda Sougou Academy and not surprisingly, Akashi-kun chose to attend Rakuzan High School." Kuroko went full-detail.

"Of course. That little red headed runt would only go to the place he thinks is the best for his selfish desires." Hikigaya muttered.

"What was that Hikigaya-kun?"

They all continued to walk as they were all quiet. Surprisingly, Yukinoshita and Yuigahama haven't said anything yet and neither did Asahina, who seemed to be a pretty of out-of-place within the group that's one year older than him. Kagami was too busy munching burgers for him to talk.

"Say, Hikigaya-kun, do you remember the times when we love to bully Kise-kun just for the sake for fun?" Kuroko asked, his eyes feeling with some sort of happiness and nostalgia despite his stoic nature.

"Ah…yeah, somewhat especially that one moment where he was called for a 24 second violation…"

"Uwaaah! Awesome colorful hairs you have there, you guys looks like a rainbow when you guys are standing together! Hahahaha!" Sinamoto High School's defensive shooting guard Tsugawa Tomoki commented out of the blue, eyeing them with childish glee.

"What did you say, you fucking loudmouth?!" Aomine exclaimed, pausing in the middle of his warm up.

Midorima glared at the smiling Tsugawa, because of that comment he almost missed his shot. "Can someone take away this leech from our court?! I should have expected this, though. Oha-Asa says I'll be meeting someone quite talkative."

"So, you're Generation of Miracles everyone is talking about. Shouldn't you be called Generation of Rainbow instead? Hahaha!" He added, oblivious of impending danger from Teiko team.

Midorima and Aomine who were the nearest to hear him glared harder at the bald player. "Go die, baldy!"

Murasakibara eyed Tsugawa disinterestedly, "Rainbow? Nijimura-senpai… someone is looking for you." (A/N: Niji means rainbow)

Nijimura waved his hand in negative as he puts his black armband left forearm. "No, he does not." He replied, quite irritated to hear such talks when the game hasn't started yet.

Kise grinned like a clown as he laughs heartily. "Wow, I can't believe he said that to our face. What an interesting guy hahaha!"

Hikigaya, who was busy shooting some threes, face-palmed and grimly called him out. "Yo Kise…" This blonde idiot was always oblivious of danger. Kuroko simply watched everyone in their usual antics as he stretches his arms.

"Then..." Akashi then decides their marks. "Kise, that number four player will be your mark."

"Heh?" Kise was startled at that.

"It seems…" Akashi began in his smooth commanding voice no one in their team would dare to defy. "You guys will get along well… "

Less than ten minutes later, Kise regretted opening his big mouth.

"Twenty four seconds violation!" The referee blew his whistle as Kise, who held on the ball, gaped like a fish as he was in front of Tsugawa.

"Kise, you held onto the ball too long, you idiot!" Aomine shouted in anger.

"Sorry!"

"Kise-chin, give me a break." Murasakibara drawled while getting irritated that their offense has gone off to a slow start.

"Sorry!"

"This is why you aren't good." Midorima bluntly stated as he pushes up his glasses.

"Kise-kun, please pass the ball…" Kuroko mumbled behind his back.

"Heh? Kurokocchi, even you're mad?!" Kise gasps.

Suddenly, a timeout was called as Akashi, obviously furious at what happened, suddenly motions at Hikigaya. "Hikigaya, get ready. Replace Kuroko in the playing five once timeout if finished!"

"Yeah, yeah, Akashi…" The backup point guard replied as he ties the shoe laces of his then newly-bought oversized Air Jordan Fly Wades which he compensated by wearing thick shocks and knee support. As everyone was gathered in the bench, Akashi began to scold their small forward, "Kise, you're the only one who hasn't scored 20!"

"Sorry but Kurokocchi…" Kise tried to save himself by dragging Kuroko in the mess.

"Kuroko's different." Akashi immediately shut him up.

"Okay, fine. It's my fault! But at least, I want to change mark! Someone switch mark with me!" Kise wailed in break between quarters, flailing his arms childishly. "Neh…neh…Aominecchi, you're more capable! Switch with me!"

Aomine snorted as he drinks his sports drink. "Yada yada…even though I could, I am not going to be anywhere near that creepy smiling bald guy!"

Murasakibara turned away his gaze from Kise, "Don't wanna… someone like that tires me out." He drawled like a baby.

"So mean!" Kise wisely didn't look at Akashi at all, so his last hope fell on… "Kurokocchi…Hikigayacchi…please! Change mark with me! I still have my 20 points quota, you know! I don't want to be killed!"

Hikigaya sighed wearily as he wears his basketball gloves. "That's your obligation Kise and stop crying."

"You're embarrassing us." Nijimura added as he stands beside their bench.

"But…please Kurokocchi!" Kise cried, latching on at the shoulder of his last hope. "I don't want to do special training!"

"Kise!" Aomine growled, "Let Tetsu go! Don't dump your fuckin' load on him!"

Kuroko looked at Kise's crying face, and how Kise seemed like he won't let go of him unless he gave in. "Uhm…fine then…"

Kise cheered at that, "Thank you, Kurokocchi! You're the best"

Akashi sighed wearily, "Well…I supposed that would work as well…" He murmured, rubbing his temple. "Besides, you're the only one who could slip through that Tsugawa without difficulty or rather, you won't waste time doing so."

Kuroko shrugged, thankful that Aomine had pried Kise off of him before he gets suffocated. "True, but then again…Hikigaya-kun…please help me out there, then."

Hikigaya simply waved his arms. "Yeah, sure Kuroko. Anything for you."

Akashi sighed as he had to make some changes. "Fine, if this is the only way, we'll take it. Midorima, get off the court for the moment. Hikigaya, Kuroko, control the tempo of the game. Aomine, just keep doing what you were doing. Murasakibara, keep defending the net. Kise…one more mistake and expect the worst…"

Kise teared up again at that. "Akashicchi…so mean…"

"We ended up beating Sinamoto by 20 points after that." Kuroko added as they were nearing the inn where Seirin is staying. "It was a very fun day at that time."

"Yeah, watching Kise running around the school for 100 laps made it all worth." For the moment, Hikigaya suddenly grinned uncharacteristically as he laughs out loud. Kuroko smiles.

And Yukinoshita and Yuigahama almost had a heart attack the moment they saw the cynic, stoic, loner, gross, disgusting, creepy, and twisted boy suddenly smile so widely like he was some kind of a different person. In an instant, Yuigahama violently tapped the shoulders of Hikigaya, who merely turns around while still smiling.

"Yeah?" Hikigaya asked while still grinning.

Even before the girl with tinted hair can reply, Yukinoshita beat her first as she opens her mouth quickly. "Hikicreepy-kun, can you stop that immediately? It's putting the two of us in danger or else, I'll have to report you to the police immediately. Your laugh is now more disgusting as ever."

Hikigaya immediately went back to his gruff manner as soon as he realized that he just overdid it. Crap! They had caught me smiling like a loon! "Sorry…sorry…just caught up with some memories. It's not much of a big deal, anyway…"

"Hikki, it's a big deal! It was gross!" Yuigahama retorted.

"Then…you should have chosen not to come, senpais…" Asahina suddenly replied behind their backs.

"Well…yeah. If you don't like it, then don't come." Kagami, who was finished eating his hamburgers, added. "It's a man's game anyway. I don't understand why you two had to come when Kuroko only asked for Hikigaya…"

Suddenly, he trailed off as he felt something frighteningly cold in his front and it was specifically coming from Sobu's Ice Queen. The latter looked at Kagami for a second and the power forward felt a chill run into his spine as he swore that she looked at her with emotionless blue eyes that he can't describe what it means. Scary! For a second, I thought she's going to kill me!

"Kagami-kun, is there something wrong?" Kuroko asked in concern. "We're already here anyways in the entrance of the inn so just tell me all of it when we get inside."

"Uh…no…nothing is wrong…cappy…" Kagami was stuttering as he didn't want to feel those icy glares and the blank eyes that can devour his soul.

"Well…we're here anyways. Let's go and meet Furihata-kun and the others first." The tealnette said as they both enter the traditional inn. As they all walked into the session hall, they were immediately greeted by the sight of Fukuda eating a sandwich in one of the chairs of the hall. "Kuroko! Kagami! You're back and…uh…hello?" He eyes Hikigaya, who merely nods at his greeting, Yuigahama and Yukinoshita, whose cold demeanour has somewhat been felt by Fukuda and the latter began to feel the hairs in his skin stood up.

"Fukuda-kun." Kuroko coughed to remove any signs of tension present in the atmosphere. "This guy here is none other than Hikigaya Hachiman-kun, Sobu's player, and he is here to help us train some selected players. These two girls are Yuiagahama Yui-san and Yukinoshita Yukino-san. They're just here to watch us practice."

"Ah…I'm Fukuda Hiroshi and nice to meet you…hehehe…" The male center replied nervously as he intentionally averted his eyes from Yukinoshita's. Scary! I thought her looks could kill me immediately!

"Where are the others, Fukuda?" Kagami asked.

"Furihata and Kawahara are in the gym jogging as well as Yagi." Fukuda explains while finishing his ham sandwich. "The others are in the beach apparently taking a breather after coach drilled us in the streets."

"I see. We'll go in the gym right now. Come with us, Fukuda-kun." The passing specialist then looked at Hikigaya and said. "Get changed immediately Hikigaya-kun since we're going straight to the gymnasium right now."

As a response, Hikigaya then went away for a second as he goes to the immediate restroom to quickly change into his playing attire. Once again, it was very quiet again. Yukinoshita and Yuigahama were both observing their surroundings as Kagami seemed to be pretty much oblivious to the tense atmosphere. Kuroko doesn't care either thought Fukuda was pretty much wishing that he can get out of here right now as he cannot seemed to stand the very awkward silence that engulfed them. This feels like getting choked in the air!

"I'm back…"

The silence was shattered by Hikigaya, now in his basketball sneakers, Teiko shorts, and basketball gloves. He opted to wear a black tank top shirt though since he felt very awkward wearing the Teiko jersey. Seeing him in a very stimulating combination of his body and attire, Sobu's Ice Queen had to turn away her gaze to avoid getting a nosebleed.

"Hi-Hikki? Is that you?" Yuigahama asked, quite amazed.

"Yeah. It's me alright." He gruffly answered.

"Everyone looks prepared. Let's all go then." Kuroko said as he leads the whole pack.

Within five minutes of slow walking, they finally reached the basketball gymnasium. Upon entering, they were greeted by the trio of Furihata, Kawahara, and Yagi, who all just finished jogging in the court and are now taking a rest. Hikigaya, Kuroko, and Kagami went onto the court closer to the net, while Yukinoshita and Yuigahama stayed by the bench with the Fukuda and Asahina.

"Good evening, guys. I already told you in advance what this means so I won't beat around thebush. Furihata-kun…Yagi-kun…what we'll be doing first is a two-on-one match." Kuroko explained.

"Two-on-one?!" they chorused together. Their eyes then looked in Hikigaya's direction who was already beginning to warmup as he dribbles a basketball and drives to the net.

"We're playing against that guy?" Kawahara asked with worry. "Isn't that the same guy from the game yestersay?"

"Yes, that's him." Kuroko answered. "But fear not, I told him to go easy on you at first." He then continued, "This is how it's going to be done. The first match is Hikigaya-kun vs. you two then afterwards, we'll be going into one-on-one matches before we end it with a special one-on-one between him and Kagami-kun."

The two blanched as Kawahara heaved a sigh. Well…at least I'm not participating in it yet.

"Now go because we don't want him to wait all day. He won't bite you." Kuroko said with a smile as he took a seat back on the bench. He then went into his bag and took out a clipboard and pen before standing up and making his way closer.

The senior Furihata and the sophomore Yagi walked towards Hikigaya, who is already yawning as he waits them to go closer. Furihata was the most nervous of the two of them. Hikigaya gave off an aura that definitely scared him. He actually heard of the story of him being a regular at Teiko from Asahina a week before but to feel the aura personally during the Seirin-Sobu match was a lot different and he wasn't even playing.

"Yo. Hikigaya Hachiman here." Hikigaya greeted rather lamely to Furihata and Yagi. He had walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Calm down. I won't do anything to someone like you."

"Ye-yeah." He stuttered as Kuroko sighed at this. His and Hikigaya's attempts to help Furihata overcome it seemed to have been in vain. Well, he could imagine what the chichuahua was going through. He already got intimidated by Akashi in a basketball match before and now his going to another former, if ever, Generation of Miracle. The man with fish eyes thought to himself. I guess I really have to go easy on them for now, then.

"Let the match begin." Hikigaya announced as he takes the ball from Kuroko and began to jab his step.

As soon as Hikigaya made the announcement, Yagi went to guard Hikigaya as Furihata is behind them but Hikigaya had a feeling of what they were up to. Since this wimpy guy is guarding me then this cowardly guy is the one who will most likely do the shooting. This boy in front of me may be the core of their defense. I played him yesterday. He will try to get the ball to Furihata.

Hikigaya then smirked as he began to dribble hard.

Furihata and Yagi got a bad feeling when they saw Hikigaya smirk. They then heard a loud dribble and their attention was immediately drawn to the ball. Fretting, they kept their defense tighter, but that didn't stop Hikigaya. With swift movements, Hikigaya immediately broke pass the Yagi and quickly stopped and turned around Furihata before attacking the basket. Before they knew it, he was doing a reverse layup.

"How are we supposed to stop that, senpai?" Yagi asked.

"I don't know. With just us, I doubt that we can." Furihata replied. "I mean, Asahina heard from Kuroko that he was a former Teiko player. Only Kagami can slow him down."

Hikigaya sighed when he heard their conversation. They're going to need a lot more motivation. But more than that, he realized that Kuroko must have told them about his past relationship with Kuroko and the Generation of Miracles. Well…that can wait later for now. I have request to fulfil for Kuroko.

Furihata now is in front Kuroko while Yagi was behind him. Furihata tried to steal the ball from Hikigaya, while Yagi tried to keep help by keeping the shaded area guarded. So far they've been three minutes into the game and so far, the duo hasn't been able to stop Hikigaya. There were couple instances when they were almost able to steal the ball, but with quick reflexes, Hikigaya avoided it and ended up converting it into a layup or a wide jump shot.

Hikigaya then bounced the ball in the opposite direction, and with this movement, startled them a bit. In that moment of distraction, Hikigaya quickly grabbed the ball back in a change of pace and broke passed the two and dashed towards the net. When he reached the three-point line, he stopped to get into shooting form. Inwardly, he was praying that maybe they would be able to stop him here, as he could see the looks on their faces. When he was straightening up, Yagi was in front of him, going for a block. Hikigaya already knew that the shot couldn't be stopped due to him being taller and the fact that the Yagi had jumped a little too quick.

He released the ball, landing a perfect three.

"Alright." Kuroko suddenly said. They looked in his direction and saw him indicating that they go to him. As soon as they made it close, he began. "You may take a rest, and then we continue with the one-on-one match. Are you ready, Yagi-kun?"

"Eh?" The boy with grey hair looked lost. "One-on-one? Against Hikigaya-senpai?"

"Yes. And no, I'm not mad." Kuroko answered. He could literally hear the 'are you mad?' question in the boy's voice so before he asked it, he answered. "We're doing this for a good reason. If you lose, there's nothing to be sad about. Do remember that he's a member of the basketball team that wreaked havoc in middle school so there's no way we'd expect you to win against him."

For once, Yukinoshita felt lost as she heard this. Middle school basketball team?

"I know, it's just―" Yagi didn't get to complete his sentence as he felt a push towards the court. It was Hikigaya.

"It's good that you understand kid." Hikigaya said. "Now go out there and show me what you got!"

"Eh?" Once more the boy was speechless.

"As a fellow point guard, Hikigaya will be on offense, and you'll be on defense." Kuroko said calmly.

"Okay, senpai." Yagi sighed. But what disturbed him was that he was really going to have a one-on-one against a more talented player. Slowly but surely the boy walked onto the court, with Hikigaya following behind him. They then got into position as Hikigaya dribbled the ball.

He shifted to the right, so did Yagi.

He shifted to the left, so did Yagi.

Hikigaya continued to do this until he built up enough momentum to break pass the shorter player. But that didn't stay on his mind. It was the fact that Yagi was able to keep up with him for most of the time despite being more inferior in terms of skill. When he was close enough to the net, Yagi was close behind him with a look of determination in his eyes.

Hikigaya couldn't help but smile.

He then jumped to make the shot and Yagi jumped to block the shot as well. His timing is much better now. But sadly, he came up short. The ball went into the net, undisturbed.

"Kasamatsu, you haven't eaten your food yet. What's wrong?"

The voice of one Okamura Kenichi echoed through the cafeteria of the University of Tokyo as he snapped Kasamatsu out of his thoughts. The former center and captain of Yosen High School basketball team was eating at the moment with the former Kaijo floor general as the latter had just arrived from visiting his alma mater and, obviously, Kise.

"Uh…sorry for the lack of focus today. It's just that there are some things I'm thinking about." Kasamatsu apologized as he began to fiddle in his food.

But even then, Okamura can't help but notice that Kasamatsu is merely poking the tenderloin steak and special fried rice that he had ordered from the waiter. While he didn't mind this at first, the smaller man with spiky hair and steely blue eyes looks as if he was burdened by some mental baggage and so, he can't help but ask.

"Kasamatsu, you're just poking your food." The big man noted as he drinks his lemon juice. "What's wrong? You're not usually like this?"

Slowly, Kasamatsu stopped poking his steak and slowly raised his head up to meet Okamura's curious gaze. As of he was trying to piece together his words, he didn't speak immediately and instead, he averted his eyes from one location to another. Finally, he then asked. "Okamura, do you remember anyone from the Teiko team in middle school other than the Generation of Miracles and their shadow player?"

"Teiko? Hmmmm…" Okamura stopped eating for the moment to try and search from his memories any traces of unnamed Teiko players. "Not that I can remember anyone."

"I see." Kasamatsu nodded. "It's just…when I visited Kise, I happen to see him receiving a text from someone I don't care who it is. But apparently, it's some sort of a good news as Kise started to squeal and radiate." He sighed, remembering those moments in his high school years where he had to deal with his annoying antics and his rabid fangirls. "But in his cries of joy, he had mentioned a name that I didn't expect to hear." He closed his eyes. "Hikigaya Hachiman…"

"Hiki…what?" Okamura had to ask since he didn't quite catch it.

"Hikigaya Hachiman." Kasamatsu repeated. "Even if we're already in college, just remembering the middle school years is already stressing enough and as if it wasn't enough, that duo of Hikigaya and Akashi is seriously pissing me off till now." He clenches his fists.

"Wait, are you saying the Teiko had another remarkable player? I thought they're just supposed to be six of them, including the Phantom Sixth Man." Okamura inquired.

"Hikigaya might be less famous than Akashi or even unknown at that time." Kasamatsu began to narrate. "But for someone who plays the same position as him, he was just as talented as the five prodigies. It was my last year in middle school when I fought those two bastards. We were just trailing by a basket in our finals match when Hikigaya surprised me with his air-walking capability. Trust me, how he penetrates reminds me of a rookie D-Wade except that his jump shot is much smoother. After he scored against me, it all went downhill for us. Hikigaya and Akashi began to dominate the game by their frequent in-and-out coordination, with the latter hitting his shots from the three point line and the former relentlessly attacking the basket whenever he had the chance. Talk about being schooled by a freshman at that time…"

"You're really pissed off at that." Okamura commented at Kasamtsu's mood.

"Can you really blame me? That was one of the only two finals matches in my high school and middle school life where I had the chance to win the title and I failed to achieve both." Kasamatsu grunted. "Well, I guess that's life. There's nothing that I can do anymore."

"Ara ara, I didn't expect to hear a formidable foe from the past being discussed here…"

Both Kasamatsu and Okamura turned to look in the direction of the voice, confused to why there's suddenly a third person in their conversation. Looking up ahead, he could see someone standing and leaning against the concrete wall of the cafeteria.

"I-Imayoshi? Since when did you get here?!" Okamura choked as he saw the former Touou point guard and captain smiling creepily as he cleans his glasses with a special cloth. Did he just picked up that Kuroko's misdirection?

"Hate to break it with you but I didn't pick up anything form that Phantom Sixth Man." Imayoshi replied while he was chuckling. This only made the former Yosen center sweat drop. Did he just read my mind?!

"I had something small yet interesting to talk about with you ever since hearing the name of Hikigaya Hachiman from Kasamatsu's mouth." Imayoshi smiled and glanced at Kasamatsu. His narrow eyes glinted as he appeared to be scheming something. Seeing Kasamatsu now being cautious, Imayoshi gently spoke to him.

"Don't worry. It's nothing serious. I just find it amusing that some obscure yet talented player from the past resurfaced in your conversations. I just had a few moments with him as well as well." Imayoshi replied as Kasamatsu was immediately relieved. "But I find it weird that he disappeared from the line-up of Teiko as if he didn't play there in the first place."

"Now that you mention it, I haven't heard anything about him since out last encounter in the court." Kasamatsu replied. "I just heard it only now from Kise."

"Oh? They must be planning some nasty reunion." Imayoshi chuckled. "But going back, that Hikigaya Hachiman's something else. He might not be as much heralded as his fellow Teiko teammates but his talent is there nonetheless. In fact, he would have been more famous if he was the starting line-up but apparently, he was a backup to Akashi. A good backup at that."

"So? Did you play him?" Okamura asked.

"Yeah. And it wasn't a pleasant one." Imayoshi said in a rather grim way, surprising Kasamatsu. "Reading the movements of every foe and friend has been my bread-and-butter in my career. But Hikigaya, together with Akashi, might be the hardest player I had faced off in my position. Theoretically, he was very much easy to predict in his feints and intended path but his speed and ball handling, which is on par with Akashi and Aomine, is very much harder to counter. In other words, it's very pointless to predict him once he outruns you."

"I can imagine that happening." Kasamatsu said as he resumes eating his steak.

I had no idea of where he really is. Imayoshi thought mentally. But if it's true that Kise had mentioned him, then it must mean something and if he does make a basketball comeback, it could change the atmosphere in Japanese basketball.

"Kuroko-san?" Yukinoshita suddenly asked.

"Yes?" The tealnette glanced on the Ice Queen.

"What do you and Hikigaya-kun exactly mean "middle school team"? I was under the impression that Hikigaya-kun spent all his years of middle school here in Chiba so I was quite surprised to hear you say that you and Hikigaya-kun were former teammates." Yukinoshita really wanted to know so she asked already.

"Didn't Hikigaya-kun tell you?" Kuroko raised his eyebrows.

"She wouldn't be asking if we know." Yuigahama replied.

"Fine then." Kuroko then saw Hikigaya dribble the ball then paused. Yagi stood frozen for a second before Hikigaya continued his dribble. After couple more seconds of dribbling, they saw him pause again.

"He could do the hesitation dribble?" Kagami said with a slight shock. "That has got to be the most annoying dribble in basketball."

"Any point guard can do that, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said.

They looked back in time to see Hikigaya aiming for the net, but Yagi managed to reach in front of him.

"Is that guy faster than Hikislow-kun?" Yukinoshita asked.

"Of course not, Yukinoshita-san." Kuroko deadpanned at her. "Can't you see that Hikigaya-kun purposefully slowed his pace to make Yagi-kun catch him up?"

"Oh…" The Service Club president tried to hide any expressions of being exposed as she then spoke. "You still haven't answered my question."

"It's quite a long story, Yukinoshita-san." Kuroko replied. "But I'll give you some details. Has anyone of you hear of the term "Generation of Miracles"?

"I do!" Yuigahama cheerily replied as she tosses up her hands.

"Yuigahama-san, what's this "Generation of Miracles"?" Yukinoshita turned her gaze into the girl beside her.

"Yukinon, you don't know? They're the strongest middle school basketball team just some years back!" Yuigahama replied rather loudly, "I don't know much about basketball but I know that they are from Teiko…" Suddenly, something within that sentence made her stop as she violently takes a look at Hikigaya's playing shorts. She quickly recognizes the design and color of the shorts. "Wait…Kurokon…don't tell me…"

"You got it right, Yuigahama-san." The tealnette nodded. "He was a part of that line up that included the prodigies as well as the Phantom Sixth Man—which happens to be none other than me…"

"Seriously?!" Yuigahama jumped excitedly as if she just saw a local celebrity. "You mean you're that Phantom player that everyone was dismissing as a myth at that time?! I can't believe it. But if Hikki's a former player…then…"

"He was just as talented as the Generation of Miracles." Kuroko said in a sad smile that Yukinoshita didn't fail to notice. "But unlike them, he remained humane…" He whispered at that part.

"What was that?" Yuigahama asked.

"Nothing." Kuroko replied. "If you want to know, just ask him."

Yukinoshita was about to say something when suddenly, they heard Hikigaya shout, "Jump now, kid!"

They all turned to see Hikigaya went into his shooting form and straightened his body posture.

Their second year guard did as he was told and when Hikigaya was about to get comfortable to shoot the ball, Yagi knocked the ball from his hands, it rolling towards their direction.

"Nice one, kid." Hikigaya said as he pats the boy on shoulder.

"I blocked it…" Yagi started with shock. "But, if you didn't tell me to jump…"

"It's okay, we'll discuss this with Kuroko when we get back to the inn."

Yagi smiled as he took this a sort of a compliment.

"But well, you should be more comfortable next time in a real game." Hikigaya shrugged.

"Really? I'm about to play against you, alone. There's no way I can be relaxed, senpai." Yagi replied.

"We play the same position, that's why."

"That's even worse." Yagi replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Yagi, how good is your shooting?" Hikigaya then asked. "Threes, that is."

"Uh, not as good as you from yesterday or Midorima-san…"

Di you really have to bring up that Oha-Asa addict and fantard? Hikigaya twitched for the moment before recomposing himself and

"Midorima's shots are very much unhumanly so you can't really compare yourself to that bitch—I mean him." Hikigaya chuckled as he then brings to ball up. "If you were to shoot ten consecutive threes, about how many would do in?"

"About, five or six." Yagi replied.

"I see." Kuroko, who rejoined the two of them, said then wrote something down on the clipboard underneath Yagi's name. "Hikigaya-kun, you're defense. Yagi-kun you're offense. But you'll only shoot threes."

Yagi became pale. "You're serious, senpai?"

"He's serious." Hikigaya answered quickly. "I also want to see how you dribble, so you'll start playing from the centre line."

Yagi looked as though he was going to die at any moment. It seemed to his bad luck for the day. Not only was he going to play against Hikigaya, it just so happened that both he and Hikigaya play the point guard position.

Hikigaya then threw the ball to Yagi who then made his way to the centre line. The former slowly walked up to him and got into his defensive stance. Seeing the fierce look on Hikigaya's face, Yagi became nervous and wondered if he could at least land one three against the blond.

He continued to dribble the ball, until he made a move to the left. Hikigaya moved as well, prohibiting Yagi from passing him. This continued for a couple more seconds, and sadly, the second year couldn't pass Hikigaya.

Then suddenly, while Yagi had the ball in his hands, Hikigaya saw an opportunity and knocked the ball to the ground. Yagi stood there, too frozen to do anything. He couldn't pass Hikigaya and well, it looks as though the ace could steal the ball from him any moment.

"Yagi-kun, you need to relax." Kuroko said to the boy as Hikigaya went to retrieve the ball. Yagi couldn't answer. Kuroko and Hikigaya both sighed. This was going to be a lot harder than both he and the man with fish eyes imagined.

"That's it!" Hikigaya shouted while clapping his hands. The players on the court abruptly stopped what they were doing as yagi collapsed onto the ground, panting heavily for air. As for Hikigaya, he didn't feel as exhausted as they were. As a matter of fact, he hardly broke a sweat. The few things I am thankful for when I was in Teiko. He sighed as he knew that those days of hellish regimens somewhat benefitted him greatly.

He then went over to Yagi and held out his hands for them to take. "Come, we're leaving." He said.

"Does this mean I can go rest now?" Yagi asked.

Hikigaya smiled. "Well…sort of..." The boy almost fainted. In the back of his mind, they thought that when they went back to the inn, they would eventually find themselves out here again. Seeing the expressions, Hikigaya quickly reassured them.

"We're just going to talk about today and then you do what you want."

"Thank God," Yagi sighed as he leaves the gym.

"But for now, I'll finish this one last task." Hikigaya said grimly as he saw Kagami smiling creepily as he holds the ball. "I won't hold back since I wanted to finish this one now, Kagami."

"Same with me, Hikigaya." Kagami grinned as Kuroko gives the first possession to the smaller boy.

When Hikigaya caught the ball, he immediately made a beeline for Kagami's net, but the Seirin ace stopped him in his tracks. But the amount of pressure he felt from the point guard made him grin much further.

This is going to be exciting.

Within a split second, Hikigaya made a crossover and dashed around Kagami with the latter now chasing. By the time Hikigaya reached the net and jumped to make a shot, Kagami knocked the ball from his hands and the two boys could be seen scrambling for it.

Kagami managed to catch it, and headed towards Hikigaya's net. Reaching into the paint, the power forward jumped for a shot before Hikigaya can catch up and scored the first point.

"Yosha!" He shouted as he regained his composure after seeing Hikigaya immediately sprinting away towards his net. He caught up with the guard, but Hikigaya shook his head. The latter jumped to make the shot and Kagami jumped for the block as well.

However, Hikigaya switched his ball-hand from right to left and made a beautiful double clutch.

"Dammit…that double clutch again…" Kagami cursed.

"It seems that you have fallen prey to my tricks again." Hikigaya replied.

As the two went on it, Kuroko suddenly remembered something as he was seen fishing out his phone from his duffel bag and began to type a message.

To: Akashi-kun

From: Kuroko

Subject: Meeting in Chiba

Good evening, Akashi. I'm sorry to interrupt if you are doing something right now but can you clarify when we will all meet in Chiba? You didn't set the date so I had to ask. By the way, we're having a training camp right now in Chiba itself if you are wondering where we are.

After a few minutes, he began to receive a reply.

To: Kuroko/Midorima/Murasakibara/Kise/Aomine

From: Akashi

Subject: Meeting In Chiba

As expected of my smart passing specialist. I apologized if I actually forgot to set the day for the meeting but I don't want delays so we'll all meet in the train station near Seirin tomorrow which is Thursday so by afternoon, we can already go to Chiba before the short autumn break begins. Begin packing your bags for we might stay there for at least a week and inform the people who it may concern that you'll be absent for two the remaining two days.

After a few minutes, replies began to flow into Akashi's phone.

1 Message Received

From: Midorima

Subject: ?

You really had good timing, Akashi. But since you said it, I had no choice but to really go and meet you all, even if it means those two annoying baboons in Aomine and Kise.

1 Message Received

From: Murasakibara

Subject: Heh? It's so painful in the ass.

But I'll be there, Aka-chin. Just bear with me since I'll be coming all the way from Yosen.

1 Message Received

From: Kise

Subject: Yay!

＼(o^∇^o)/ Yay! I really miss him so much! Hey, once we get there, why don't we go first to Destinyland?! We can go there with Hikigayacchi being with us by then. I heard that they had that Pan the Panda's Bamboo Fight, Space Universe Mountain, and that famous Splash Mountain. I'd really like to try those…

Deleted

1 Message Received

From: Kuroko

Subject: Oh…

Well, let's all meet then at the inn we're staying first so it would be easier. See you all tomorrow, Akashi-kun.

1 Message Received

From: Aomine

Subject: 'Kay

Do I have to bring Satsuki with us? You do know how annoying that woman can be and I don't want to deal with it when she sees Hikigaya.

"I see…" Akashi smirked as he sends a message.

To: Kuroko/Midorima/Murasakibara/Kise/Aomine

From: Akashi

Subject: Meeting in Chiba

I see that you all understood the message. Murasakibara, don't worry. I have set a private jet for you so by tomorrow in the early morning, you can fly to Tokyo by the time sunrise has appeared. And Aomine, no need to bring Momoi. If she asks why, tell her it's my order. I'll just explain things to her when we're done bringing back Hikigaya to our group.

Are you referring to the Olympics or the Generation of Miracles, Akashi-kun? Kuroko mentally asked as he checks his newly arrived message. Nevertheless, he sighed as he looked up just in time to see Hikigaya strip Kagami of the possession and goes for a fast break.

I hope you're prepared for what's to come tomorrow.