Three months ago …

Daiki Aomine

Breath in. Breath out. Give the ball some backspin and then let it bounce into your hands. Pick it up and shoot it. Extend the body. Straighten the knees to give it power and let it fly.

Aomine Daiki warmed up intently. Not yet sweating but close to it. He had gotten to the stadium an hour before the game began so that he could get ready undisturbed.

He liked the peacefulness of solitary preparation. When he trained alone in the morning, the echo of his dribbling was a satisfying sound.

He wasn't particularly excited to win the next match. It was the obvious outcome of events, what he was excited about was crushing Hikigaya's latest challenge and sending his own back.

Aomine didn't want to admit that he was excited after seeing the video his friend had sent him. In it, he played in a semi-pro league game and completely shut down the other team's ace point guard.

Holding someone to 0/13 shooting was pretty impressive, but what Daiki really wanted to surpass was the stat line that Hikigaya had sent back. 14 points, 2/2 three-pointers, 3/4 two-pointers, 4/4 free throws. 12 rebounds, 8 offensive, 4 defensive, and 13 assists. 14 blocks, 10 steals. An unreal, video game-like stat line that Hikigaya had sent to him with a, ;) beat this! attached.

Though he would never admit it, he had smiled first. Hikigaya's road to recovery had been long after the accident, over a year and a half of physical therapy and exercise to get back to his old self. His friend was finally back, the boy he looked up to was finally a worthy rival once more.

And besides, there were only so many upper body-based challenges he could do before he started to go insane. Also, there was the fact that Hikigaya got really into strength training and the challenges became a lot harder.

Doing a hundred pushups in one go had taken a month, forty pull-ups had taken two, and he had only just built up to benching 225 two weeks ago; while handstand push-ups still eluded him. Any anticipation he felt was because of the thrill of chasing a quintuple-double; and not because he was seeing Kuroko again, for the first time since Teiko; and that clown of a light, Kagami.

They would be a nice warm-up because now that Hikigaya was back, he was training like crazy again. Their impending 1v1 was going to be intense, he wanted to officially get the upper hand. Their record since they started keeping score was 46-47 in Hikigaya's favor. That crap was not going to stand any longer.

When his team entered the locker room he was relaxing on a bench, drinking water mixed with nutrient tablets. If he wanted that quintuple-double he would need to go all out and unfortunately give ten assists. He almost shuddered in revulsion, but if that's what it took to win so be it.

The team greeted him to which he replied, even Wakamatsu who he had brushed off the other day. The blonde had been saying something about practicing with the team for the inter-high but Aomine had ignored him, citing that he would rather train alone than get dragged down by them.

Imayoshi had let him go, remarking that his performance was good enough to warrant stasis to hopefully maintain said performance. He just scoffed and left. He had a dunk challenge from Hikigaya to beat.

The coach began to explain the game plan and Aomine watched lazily, all they had to do was get him the ball, and then boom instant win. Whatever he needed to make sure the rabble around him didn't screw up his stats.

He clapped his hands, the sound of flesh meeting flesh catching everyone's attention. "Alright, one of the guys we're going to be facing. Short, skinny, with light blue hair and eyes. He is going to try and misdirect you, the basic style he uses is similar to Kobe Bryant's off-ball movement, his athleticism is low in general but his single-step acceleration is fast. He will slip away unless you keep a hand on him. The farther away he is, the less his sneakiness works; so you can sag off him for a double team if he's still coming down the court."

The team looked unsure of how to respond. Aomine usually ignored the team meeting in favor of a dynamic warm-up. "Moving on, I will be giving assists today, so keep your eyes peeled for that, but don't get used to it. Now listen to the plan or whatever, I'm going to warm up some more."

He left the locker room, brought his foam roller with him, and headed into the tunnel that led to the court. That's where Satsuki found him, rolling out his back, and staring at the ceiling. "Aomine, what was that back there?" He hated that she called him that, like all those years of being childhood friends meant nothing.

"I'm making sure they don't fuck up my plan. That's all." Satsuki pouted and crossed her arms under her chest, straining her top's integrity. Aomine looked away, down the path to the court. Letting his body sag onto the roller relishing the pops in his spine.

Hikigaya had extolled the virtues of foam rolling but he hadn't believed him until after a one rep max leg day at the gym when he was so sore that he could barely walk. Hikigaya had come over with a foam roller, and the results seemed almost miraculous.

Satsuki paced behind him, her hands clutched behind her back. "This is about one of those stupid challenges you and Hikigaya are competing over isn't it?"

Aomine leaned back, the crown of his head touching the floor so that he could glare at her without getting up. "They're not stupid. They're the only real challenge for me these days. Honestly, I would probably not bother practicing at all if I didn't have them."

Satsuki sighed but relented. Before nudging him with her toe and giggling. "You would probably sleep all day. And read those silly magazines."

Aomine chuckled but now argued without real malice. "Idol magazines are not stupid; just because you can't appreciate the art form doesn't mean that it's bad. I would never say that Shojo manga is bad. Satsuki, I'm not so arrogant to think that only the things that I enjoy are okay for others to enjoy." He complained, easily standing up again and towering over her.

She returned his glare, desensitized to it after years of friendship. Even if she no longer called him by his first name at least they had this. "Aomine, you literally said the manga that I was reading was, and I quote, so stupid it would rot my brains. Three days ago."

"I don't remember that happening." He refused to make eye contact which wasn't particularly hard seeing as he was a foot taller, just looking straight ahead put his gaze far from her reproachful rosé eyes.

"Do your best, Aomine." She patted him on the shoulder and then skipped off. The easy comfort they'd once held had melted away about the same time that they started middle school. Hugs became pats, and sleepovers were a no-go.

Puberty had very quickly made the difference between them clear, fortunately, they hadn't had a crisis-level awkward moment, like seeing another naked. But nothing had been the same since the one time she entered his room without knocking and found him 'enjoying' an idol magazine. Stupid door with no locks, he had changed the doorknob that weekend but the damage had been done.

He forcibly broke his melancholic trail of thoughts by dropping into a set of push-ups. He limited himself to ten just to get the blood flowing without any risk of exhausting himself.

He pulled on the reusable tearaway sweatshirt and sweatpants he had bought for this match. Hikigaya might know a lot about basketball, having helped him prepare a little for this match, but he knew shit for entrances. He said "let your game do the talking" nahh what did he know? A little bit of drama in your entrance never hurt anyone.

~/~

He faced down a red-haired boy and Kuroko. He had wanted to go play a 1v1 with Kuroko's new light but had listened to his better judgment and chose to watch a game tape instead.

Disappointingly, he hadn't played a second against him yet but already knew Kuroko hadn't evolved. His scoring threat was negligible and the key to top-tier passing was to draw defenders and then create opportunities for your teammates. That's why Lebron was a great passer, using his offensive threat inside to create openings for teammates. On defense, besides coming in from behind for a cheeky steal he was of little consequence.

The other boy wasn't much more exciting either. His handling and passing were mediocre, he focused too much on overwhelming his opponent in isolation using athleticism and was a poor 3-point shooter. He had large leaps but they needed 2/3 of a second to wind up, his horizontal leaping lacked the same spectacular dominance as his vertical ones. He was fast running up or down the court but could be caught out due to a lack of lateral quickness. His motor tended to idle and so he was susceptible to off-ball movement. His defensive vision could narrow and lead to him not helping when he should. Due to a lack of lateral quickness, he had problems with charging calls. That could be exploited.

Hikigaya had made him cunning.

Streetball had made him dynamic and flexible.

The street ballers they … well … they made him tough.

~/~

Eight years ago …

Hachiman Hikigaya

Thwack, his elbow met the other boy's eye socket hard. Before Hikigaya even turned he knew that the older boy would be clutching his left eye. Likely on his knees with tears already beginning to well up in his eyes. Normally Hikigaya would be contrite and offer a hand or possibly an ice cream; depending on the injury.

But he had no intention of reconciliation now. He walked off the clay basketball court briskly but without attracting unwanted attention, he wanted to be long gone before anyone came to investigate the sobbing boy.

The 9-year-old boy retrieved a small green backpack with kanji reading Super Sentai on it. He had won it in the promotion and losing it would hurt more than the money or shoes inside.

He switched into street shoes, simple flat canvas shoes without laces, and cut through a hedge, crawling through a small hole. It had probably been made by some animal long ago but was now maintained by the steady supply of rugrats using it as a corridor.

He cut through with the ease and confidence of someone who had been doing it for a long time. Already aware of each large hazard and avoiding them by memory. He came out onto a sidewalk and crossed the empty street to a convenience store.

There on the steps were two children, his juniors by a year. The blue-haired one was crying whilst furiously denying that he was, to a pink-haired girl. He looked up at Hikigaya revealing a large scrape on his cheek. Hikigaya sighed, no middle schooler should be playing so roughly with kids their age.

Daiki had frustrated the middle schooler with smooth dribbling and better agility until the kid stuck an unsporting foot out to trip the young athlete. Daiki was good but he was still only eight and he didn't yet have the coordination to avoid intentional tripping.

Momoi had taken him to the store for ice and a band-aid. Hikigaya walked past them into the store and came out a moment later with three blue popsicles. He gave them both one and opened the last one for himself.

Daiki had now actually stopped crying. Finding more comfort in sweet mint flavor than the words of his friend. Hikigaya sat next to them and nodded to Daiki. "I got revenge for you."

Daiki clenched his fists "Next time I'll be strong enough to get revenge on my own." He glared at the popsicle like it had been the cause of his fall.

"Sure, you will." Hikigaya ruffled his head making him hiss like a cat. One day he would be fantastic. Hachiman already could tell this now by watching him play. He did need a bit more time before he was ready to go toe-to-toe with twelve-year-olds.

Until that day, Hikigaya would watch over him; after all, what else were friends for?

~/~

Back to the match

Three months ago …

Daiki Aomine

Aomine euro-stepped around the red-haired one, avoiding the charging call with aplomb. He looked up and saw Sakurai open in the corner as his defender tried to run back and help.

Aomine flicked the ball over to the always apologetic boy and smiled a toothy grin when he drained a three-pointer as the final buzzer beeped.

And that made ten assists. The points and rebounds had been easily racked up within the first half while maintaining a comfortable lead. The blocks and steals had also come quickly once he started defending the paint and hounding the weaker dribblers. But the assists he had struggled with. He had tried to push the ball through crowded airspace that saw it interrupted or he mistimed the trajectories just a little. It was something that he never really thought about how difficult it was until he tried to do it himself.

Then at the start of the fourth quarter, his teammates had said something about 'not running up the score' this and 'bad sportsmanship' that. But he had set them straight. He still had five assists to go and no way was he going to lose just because his teammates were being cowards.

He pumped his fist in the air and lined up with the rest of his team to bow. He found the tradition to be stupid - almost excessively so; however, the reality was that Satsuki would hound him if he didn't so he performed the ritual to keep her off his back. Many of the actions he took were governed by Satsuki, he mused. Ignoring the dejected look on his old friend's face.

He would be sad too if he lost a game by thirty points, and that was with a merciful final quarter. The lead going in had been twenty-five points, and they had been nice enough not to expand it much further.

Let Tetsu sulk all he wants, he had a warm-down to do, and a training schedule to start. Hikigaya hadn't stagnated even with his injury and he would need to prepare if he wanted to defeat him decisively.

~/~

Present day…

Hachiman Hikigaya

When Hikigaya heard raised voices he had an inkling.

When he heard Yukinoshita call someone a shameless pervert, he had a gnawing suspicion.

And after a mumbled reply from a masculine voice, that lead to Yukinoshita calling the man a 'stupid ganguro'. He knew exactly what would be waiting for him inside the service club.

Was it too much to ask for a day or two of real peace? Last week had been his tearful, I want something genuine speech, and all weekend he had been nervous to see his club mates. Now the peace he had fought so hard for was to be disrupted before it could even properly begin.

He opened the club door with explosive force, for once making use of the hours each day that he trained his body. Inside was pretty much the scene that he expected, Yukino towering over a seated boy with his feet up. Yui's hands raised in a placating manner.

The door banging open was a good way to gain attention and stop the impending annihilation Yukinoshita was about to unleash. Three heads turned toward him each with recognition in their eyes.

"Hachiman, 'sup?" Aomine raised his chin in the universal male communication of whassup.

"Daiki, to what do I owe this impromptu visit?"

The tanned skin around Aomine's lips crinkled as he smiled a shark-like grin. "What do you think I'm here for? Let's see who wins now."

(A/N): trying to add more realism to this series. I like basketball a lot and there's a ton of complexity to be explored without throwing in pseudo-magic powers. Also, this gives more credence to Aomine's skill, he still trains, he just doesn't see his teammates as worth it. Hikigaya's challenges or competition, whatever you call it, is enough to keep his training; though not always basketball.

~Please Review~