Seirin entered the court and began to warm up for their upcoming game against Kinga High. The team lined up and prepared for their lay up drills.

Kagami looked up into the audience and asked himself, "I wonder if he will actually show up".

Two weeks ago

"Dad, I have something to ask you" The red head nervously said.

His father tilted his head, staring at him, "What is it?"

"…Well you see…our inter highs are in 2 weeks," Kagami took a deep breathe, "So I was wondering if you could maybe come and watch".

"Huh?! Why the hell would I take the time to go watch you play basketball!" The man raised his voice; annoyed that Kagami would even ask something like that.

The red head drew back a little, "Y-you always tell me that basketball is a waste of time…but I…I disagree".

"And why is that?"

"Basketball is something important to me and I take it seriously. If you'd come and watch me, I'll show you just how serious I am".

"Hmm…" his father stood still, thinking about what he should do. "Fine, I'll go. But if I don't see this seriousness you're talking about, it's over".

"What do you mean 'it's over'!?" Kagami started to become frantic. "Are you saying I won't play basketball anymore?!"

The man only looked at him, refusing to give Kagami the response he wished for. "I'm going out for a bit; make sure you don't stay out to late~" he teased, while walking out of the red head's room.

"…that bastard…"

The sound of a loud buzzer went off, filling the whole court, indicating that it was time for the game to start.

Kagami looked through the crowd one last time, searching for his father.

Kagami's eyes widened when he saw the taller red head's silhouette hiding at the very back corner of the stadium.

Kagami smirked, "Well I guess I might as well give all I got".

Kiyoshi noticed Kagami's excitement and approached him.

"You seem fired up" The large man chuckled.

Kagami looked towards his senior, "Well it's only natural"

"I guess you're right" the brunette chuckled.

"Hey, Kiyoshi"

"Hm, what is it?"

"Is it ok if I do the jump ball today?"

Kiyoshi looked a bit surprised, "You really are fired up today". He let out a sigh, "Well if you really want to there's no stopping you".

"Thanks" Kagami said as he jogged to the center of the court.

The referee blew the whistle that hung around his neck.

The two teams went at it like wild animals, however, it didn't take too long for Seirin to gain control of the game.

The game ended in Seirin's victory, with the final score being 80-55.

'There's no way he wouldn't find this satisfactory' Kagami thought to himself.

While the team made their way back to the locker room, Kagami couldn't help but feel the need to confront his father right then and there. So he took off, not saying a word to any of his teammates.

"Hey, where'd Kagami go?" Furihata asked.

The team looked behind them only to see Kuroko trailing them from behind.

"Isn't Kuroko supposed to be the one we lose?" Hyuuga sighed.

Kagami jogged through the arena, searching for his father. He wandered outside and searched the perimeter. He looked towards a sitting area that was a bit further from the building. Sitting on the bench was the very person he was looking for; the bright red from the man's hair stood out through the greenery that surrounded him. Kagami walked towards him, thinking about what he was going to say; what his father might say. As he slowly closed the distance between them, he noticed the man was on the phone, with work most likely. Kagami stopped when the man turned around, noticing him walking towards him.

The man immediately ended his call and stood up. Piercing red eyes glared at Kagami, "What do you want?"

Kagami took a deep breath, "You saw my last game didn't you"

"Yeah, what about it?"

'What about it?' "W-Wasn't my performance acceptable?" Kagami's voice began to waver, "We won by a pretty large gap, and I made some nice dunks. O-Oh and…I even gave my teammates some assists. I mean, I think my performance was up to your standards…"

There was a suffocating silence between the two. Kagami's breathing became tight and he felt his thoughts clashing with themselves. 'Why? Why couldn't I have said it with more confidence? Why does this man have to have such an impact on me?' As Kagami thoughts were forcefully bringing him down, his father spoke up.

"If you honestly believe that was up to my standards, then you obviously don't understand anything"

Kagami's eyes widened, "What do you mean?! We won didn't we! Isn't that all that matters?!"

"What is this we you're talking about?"

"Huh? My teammates of course"

"And that's your problem"

"…I don't get it"

"You didn't win at all. All I see is someone who's relying too much on other people"

Kagami stared at his father, not sure on whether he should be angry or confused. What was he saying? Aren't teammates essential to any sport?

"Aw man, I missed their game" Aomine sighed as he walked outside the arena. The blunet decided to come earlier and watch Seirin's game, despite the fact that his game didn't start until an hour. So instead of going back home or staying here and doing nothing, he decided to look for Kagami.

He had already looked inside the building and even ran into some of Seirin's team members, but everyone said that Kagami just ran off somewhere and no one knows where he disappeared to. So now he was looking outside. He checked the outdoor courts to see if the red head was putting in some extra practice, however, he didn't find him there. He then proceeded to check the sitting areas. He first looked at the one closest to the building, but found no luck there. He then walked further down the path towards the other sitting area. As he approached the area, he caught a glimpse of the very red hair he was looking for.

"Oi, Bakaga-!" Aomine started to shout at him, but he quickly withdrew himself when he caught a glimpse of another person with exact same flaming hair. He took a closer look and noticed that the other man resembled Kagami.

"Is that his father?" Aomine asked himself. However, on further inspection the two seemed to be arguing, but not just some petty argument, this one seemed a bit more…serious.

He hid himself behind a tree close enough that he could eavesdrop on their conversation, but far enough so that he wouldn't be spotted.

He was surprised by what he heard.

"I'm not relying on them! We're playing as a team! That's how a team is supposed to play!" Kagami barked.

His father just shook his head in disagreement. "That team should be relying on you. You should be the center of everything, you should be the one to score, and you should be the one to do everything."

"But that's not how we are!"

The man scratched his head, "Ah, I'm sick of hearing this we shit" He paused for a second, "You want my acceptance don't you?"

Kagami froze. That is indeed what he wanted, but is that all he needed to do to gain it? Throw away team play and do whatever he can do to win the game. That didn't sound so hard, given the fact that he's already an outstanding player. However, wouldn't the team be upset with him; wouldn't they be disappointed? On the other hand however, there was the feeling of finally being accepting by his father, which was something he's never experienced before. What would that be like? Would they finally be like father and son? Would their countless arguments finally come to a halt? These thought corrupted Kagami's mind, sucking away any left over reason within him.

His father observed the red head, seeing his conflicting thoughts, but the man knew he was close to breaking him, just one last push. "You know Taiga, it wouldn't be so bad being accepted by me. Just imagine it, that one feeling you long for will finally be yours. Wouldn't you feel complete? You wouldn't need anything to worry about." The man gave a manipulative smile, "But if that's not what you really want, then I guess you can play however you want, but if that's the case, I have no reason to stay here any longer".

"No!" Kagami shouted unconsciously. By this time, his selfishness had already embraced him. It doesn't matter if everyone else rejects him, if he can finally get this man to see him as a worthy son, that's all he needed.

"I'll show you that I'm worthy, I'll show you what kind of man I really am. I'll show you that I can, for a fact, stand on my own feet! You'll be so amazed, there's no way you'll be able to reject me!" Kagami proclaimed, his voice becoming hysterical.

His father smirked, "If that's what you say." He began to make his way back into the arena, "I look forward to seeing your performance. Be sure to do your best, Taiga~".

Kagami stayed standing there until his father was no longer in sight. He checked his phone to see that two of his teammates left messages on his phone. He got a text from Kuroko stating, 'Kagami-kun, it's very inconvenient that you wandered of without telling anyone'. There was also a message from Hyuuga, 'Oi! Where the hell did you wander off to!'

"Ah…I did leave without telling anyone…well it's only been like…eh?" Kagami took a closer look at his phone and noticed that nearly an hour has passed. "No wonder they're so flustered, there's another game in 15 minutes."

The red started to walk back towards the building, but he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Kagami!" A certain blunet walked up to him, "It's about time I found you".

"Eh? Aomine? Why would you be looking for me? Don't you have a game starting at any minute?"

"It doesn't matter, I always show up late anyway. But anyway I came to watch your game, but I seemed to have missed it"

"But you didn't have to watch my game" Kagami said still a bit confused.

"Baka! Did you already forget about our promise" Aomine sighed, "We promised to play against each other, so I came to see my competition".

"Oh yeah that" Kagami chuckled, "I almost forgot about it".

"Well don't forget it! I'll be playing as hard as I can so you better be ready!"

"You think that intimidates me? I'll be playing as hard as I can too! So you better be ready!"

The two indulged in their bickering until it fell silent.

"Hey, Kagami…that argument or whatever…what was that all about?" Aomine asked.

Kagami gave a sharp glare, "You saw that?"

"Well when I was looking for you, I kinda just noticed it and it seemed a bit awkward to just interrupt it, so I just waited for you guys to finish".

Kagami stayed silent for a bit. "…Don't worry about it" he said quietly.

Ignoring the words Kagami spoke, the blunet pursued the subject further. "Was that your father? You said before that you weren't sure if he'd show up, but it looks like he actually did." Aomine paused, "But some of the things he said were a bit…"

"I told you not to worry about it!" Kagami yelled. Ignoring Aomine, the red head started to leave. However Aomine wasn't quite done yet.

"Oi Kagami! You know playing selfishly isn't gonna get you anywhere! I know that better than anyone else! I don't know what's going on between you two, but I wouldn't listen to him if I were you!".

Kagami stopped and turned around, giving Aomine direct eye contact. The expression Kagami had sent shivers throughout Aomine's body. Kagami's face was lifeless, not a trace of any sort of emotion on it. The blunet saw this expression once before, it was back when they took shelter from the rain and were talking about Kagami's parents. Why did Kagami have such an expression? What was hiding inside of him?

Aomine jolted when he heard Kagami speak, "Aomine, I told you not to worry about it…besides, I have already made my decision".

That made Aomine worry a bit, "Kagami you-"

Before the blunet could finish his sentence, the red head had already started to walk away, leaving him behind with his conflicting fellings.

"What is this feeling…" Aomine whispered to himself.

Kagami opened the door to the team's locker room. When he opened the door everyone turned their heads and stared at him. Hyuuga was about to get up up and say something, but Riko came flying towards giving him a huge kick to the side.

"Where were you!? Why in the world would you decide to just leave without telling anyone?! And it's not that you just left, you left for an hour! An hour! Do you know when our next game starts? Oh~ I don't know maybe in…15 minutes!". She calmed herself and took a deep breath, "But as long as you're here that's fine. Just don't make us worry like that".

Kagami looked at all his friends, who all seemed to have agreed with Riko's words. "Sorry guys, I didn't mean to worry you all".

Everyone got up and all surrounded Kagami, giving him pats on the back. "Don't worry about it. As long as you don't do again" Kiyoshi explained.

Kuroko came up to him from behind, "Kagami-kun where did you go anyway?"

"Ah…I went to go talk to someone for a little bit. Oh and I ran into Aomine on my back"

"Aomine-kun was here?"

"Yeah, he said he's looking forward to playing me".

"You mean us" Hyuuga corrected.

"Ah…yeah" Kagami averted his eyes.

Kuroko looked at him, suspicious, "Kagami did you-"

"Ah!" Riko yelled. "The game, the game!" She started pushing everyone out the door. "Come on you guys! We gotta go!"

The team walked onto the wide court and got into their positions. However, Kagami approached Izuki and asked him, "Do you think you could pass the ball a bit to me more?"

Izuki looked up at the red head, "What's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

"I feel like trying something different today" Kagami said with a blank expression.

"…I'll pass to you if you're open".

Kagami agreed with Izuki's reason. 'I just need to stay open' Kagami thought to himself.

Immediately after the game had started, Kagami already got the ball in his hands and effortlessly scored a basket. However, that wasn't the issue here. There was something different about the way Kagami was playing. It was like, all he wanted to do was show off. It didn't matter what anyone else did, as long as he was the one who stood out. He outshined his teammates, disregarding their presence. In the end they were still able to win their game, but there were doubts.

When Kagami sneaked a glance at his father, he noticed a more interested look on the man's face. He was doing the right thing. With this he'll be able to have that man's acceptance…and that's all he needed.

In the locker room

"Oi! Kagami! What the hell was that!" Hyuuga yelled at the top of his lungs.

Kagami only looked at him, not sure to what he was talking about. "What do you mean? I was just playing basketball."

By this time Hyuuga was furious. Banging the lockers, he continued yelling at the top of his lungs "You were just playing basketball?! What the hell! You're not the only one playing you know! You completely ignored us and did whatever you wanted! When the hell did you get so selfish?!"

"…Well we won anyway, so it's not like really matters"

Hyuuga approached Kagami, ready to strike the red head's face, but Kuroko held him back.

"Senpai, I don't think that's a good idea" Kuroko explained.

Hyuuga looked at Kuroko and withdrew himself. Still upset about the current situation, he stormed out of the room as Kiyoshi followed him out to calm him down.

"Kagami-kun." Kuroko said in a stern voice. "I don't know what you were thinking back there, but that's not how we play basketball".

Kagami stayed silent.

"I believe I have a good guess to who you went to talk to after our last game, but I wont mention it in front of everyone, but, like I said before, you can always talk to us. You don't need to shoulder such a burden alone. We're all-" Kuroko's eyes widened, seeing the expression on Kagami's face. It was a blank expression, almost as if Kagami himself wasn't there at all. Just a corpse being manipulated. It was something Kuroko never witnessed, and quite frankly, he was at a loss of words.

"Kuroko…I don't know what burden you're speaking of, but this is a decision I made. So I'd appreciate it if you'd let me be".

Kuroko heard what the red head said, but he didn't want to leave him alone. He didn't want Kagami to go through the same things Aomine did. Although the circumstances are different, the idea of isolating himself is the same.

"We have another game to play don't we" Kagami got up and walked towards the door. That is until a small hand held him back.

"Kagami-kun, this isn't the right decision." Kuroko's voice was less confident and more desperate.

The red shook of Kuroko's hand and looked down at him, "I told you to let me be". Without another word, Kagami left the room, leaving everyone to bask in the suffocating silence.

During their next game, Seirin wasn't able to get into a good rhythm. Everyone was trying their best to get something going, but Kagami wouldn't cooperate. He continued to play as he wanted, but it was worse this time around. Not only was he playing selfishly, but he started stealing the ball from his own teammates. The game was beginning to become hard to watch, even the audience was falling silent. However, the sound of the high-pitched whistle echoed through the silence, stopping everything.

"Sub number 10!" the referee yelled with Furihata standing next to him, ready to enter the game.

Surprised by the sudden decision, Kagami approached Riko without stepping off the court. "Coach, why are you subbing me out?!"

"Your selfish play is bringing down the team. I can't let you stay in any longer" she explained.

"But I'm not done yet!" he yelled.

"And I'm telling you, you're done!" she yelled back.

Kagami drew back, refusing to be subbed out. The referee came running towards Kagami and Riko.

"Number 10 you need to get off the court".

Kagami clenched his teeth. "I'm not being subbed out" he hissed.

The audience fell silent. Everyone watched as the cruel events began to happen down on the court. Everything seemed to be going in slow motion; the referee telling Kagami to sit on the bench, his team telling him the same. All of their voices were ringing in his mind. He was getting sick of it. Why is everyone getting in my way?

"Shut up! All of you!" Kagami yelled. "I'm staying in the game and that's that!"

"Kagami just sit down!" one of his teammates told him.

The red head felt a small hand on his arm. "Kagami-kun just sit on the bench" Kuroko lightly nudged him towards the bench.

For some reason, this time around, seeing Kuroko's sincere expression pissed him off beyond belief. He was already irritated in the first place so his emotions got the best of him.

He shoved Kuroko onto the bench. "What part of let me be don't you understand!" He grinded his teeth, "I'm sick of you acting like you know everything! I'm fucking tired of you acting like you know what the right thing to do is! Why don't you just leave me alone!"

Kuroko stared at his friend in disbelief, tears forming at the bottom of his eyes. As the boy opened his mouth prepared to say something, the sound of the whistle cut them off.

"Flagrant foul!" the referee yelled.

Kagami moved his attention to the referee. "Huh?! Why?!"

"For intentionally pushing a teammate".

"But he's not hurt!"

The referee ignored him and continued on with the game.

Flagrant foul…that means…he's suspended…he can't play.

"Ah!" Kagami quickly looked to where his father was supposed to be. "He's not there…" he quietly said to himself. The dim light he had, struggling to stay lit within him, was finally engulfed by the darkness. He grabbed his stuff and prepared to leave.

"Kagami, where are you going?" Riko asked him.

The red head just ignored her and left the building. He didn't feel like going home, he didn't want to face his father, and he didn't want to talk to anyone.

"What do I do now" he said as he aimlessly walked further and further from the building.

10 days later

"Kuroko!" Aomine yelled as he approached their meeting area within the cafe. "Sorry to call you out today, you had plans with Kise didn't you? He was texting me all upset that I took you from him".

"Don't worry about that. You rarely ever ask me out, so I figured it was something important." Kuroko said, taking a sip from his coffee.

"Yeah somewhat…" Aomine sat down in the seat across from Kuroko. "I've been trying to get a hold of Kagami cuz I wanted to give him a beating for his act at your guys' last game as well as for breaking our promise".

Kuroko chuckled, "You really are attached to Kagami-kun."

"S-shut up…I just don't like how he's been ignoring my messages".

Kuroko fell silent, "I'm guessing no one has told you about what happened".

"Huh? About what happened at the game? I was there, I already saw everything".

"No, about what happened after that".

"Ah…no I haven't heard anything" Aomine said nervously.

"Although it's been 10 days since the game, no one has seen Kagami-kun around lately" Kuroko explained.

Aomine looked confused, "What do you mean? Don't you guys have school and practice?"

Kuroko nodded, "Yes, but Kagami-kun hasn't shown up to either. I even went to visit his place the other day, but he didn't seem to be home either and he doesn't even pick up his phone. I'm worried about what he's doing…" Kuroko paused, "I've never seen that side of Kagami-kun. He was like a different person. I knew he had some issues, but I never thought that his negative feelings would get the best of him".

Aomine looked at Kuroko, seeing the sad expression on his face. "Hey Kuroko, I don't know if this is relevant, but before one your games, I saw Kagami and his father, I think, arguing about something. It seemed a bit serious. I couldn't hear the whole argument, but I heard something about acceptance and if Kagami were to play more selfishly, he'd be able to gain that. I didn't really get it, but I thought it was kinda weird"

Kuroko looked at Aomine, "So that's what happened." He let out a sigh, "Well I might as well tell you about the two of them".

Aomine leaned in; preparing himself for what Kuroko was about to tell him.

"Kagami and his father never seemed to get along," Kuroko began, "When Kagami was little, his father was very physically abusive. However, as Kagami grew up his father became more verbally abusive. I'm not sure why that change happened, but that is all Kagami told me. I have personally witnessed some of the verbal abuse and it always bothered me that Kagami wouldn't stand up for himself. I somewhat understand since he's grown up with it in all, but you know, Kagami was the type to push through anything…at least that's what I thought. I don't think I fully realized how much he was hurting. I also think I misjudged his father".

"How so?" Aomine asked.

"Well I always thought that somewhere in that man's heart, he cared for Kagami-kun, but I don't think that's the case anymore. I'm actually not sure if he loves Kagami or not. I'm completely baffled by that man's actions. I grew up with very loving parents, so I just kinda figured that Kagami's dad could be like that someday. However, because of that, I think I gave Kagami-kun a false hope; always telling him that someday his father would love him. So I'm worried that he's even more devastated now and thinking that there's nothing else to do."

"Well what about his mother? I remember asking him about her one time, but he just ignored the question" Aomine explained.

"Hm, I've never seen her nor have I heard anything about her, so I'm not sure about that"

Aomine sighed, "Man, he's full of secrets".

"Aomine-kun," Kuroko looked the blunet in the eye, "I have a favor of you".

"Hm, yeah what is it?"

"I want you to save Kagami-kun. I think you're able to pull him out of his darkness."

"How so?"

"Well, I think you may have gone through some of the same emotions. I know Kagami's case is more drastic, but I think you know the feeling of not being certain if there's anything left out there for you."

"…Yeah, that feelings very familiar…" Aomine said.

Kuroko smiled and grabbed a napkin. After writing on it, he handed it over to Aomine.

"What's this?" the blunet asked.

"It's Kagami's address, why don't you try giving him a visit every now and then to see if he's home" Kuroko explained. The boy stood up from his chair and prepared to leave. "Aomine-kun, I wish you luck".

Before Kuroko left the table Aomine added something, "You know Kuroko, even without you telling me, I would've gone and helped Kagami either way".

Kuroko smiled at him, "I'm glad to hear that".

Aomine stayed at the café long after Kuroko left, thinking about what the boy had explained to him. He finished his soda and set the glass back on the table, "But how exactly am I supposed to help him?"