Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Kuroko no Basket!

...

...

1st year – Too Academy

Mac yawned and stretched as she walked toward the gym cursing the fool (Imayoshi) who had decided that they had to meet early on a Saturday for practice. She just wanted to sleep! It was one of the rare days she could allow herself to sleep in and not have magic lessons and then go to her muggle school afterwards doing her day all over again. Was it so much to ask to have one day where she could sleep?

She yawned again and rubbed her eyes as she pushed the gym doors open and entered the gym. She saw that the third years Imayoshi, Susa and Nakano were already there and talking amiably with each other as they were waiting for the others.

"Good morning, Mac-san," Susa was the first to greet her with a smile.

"Morning, Susa-san," Mac smiled back and didn't miss the look of relief that crossed his face. She pretended not to have seen it as she greeted the other two and put her bag on the floor by the door and rolled her shoulders trying to loosen up a little.

Soon the rest of the team came into the gym and even Daiki showed up much to everyone's surprise, well except Mac's since she was expecting him to stick close to her for a while now. She almost sighed but it did warm her as well.

Mac stepped up next to Imayoshi when he gave her a look and the others looked at her with curiosity. She cleared her voice a little before she started to speak.

"First I want everyone to run around the court for twenty minutes!" Mac said. "You're to start slow and for every lap you run you will increase your speed. So be careful to plan the speed you start running in…I don't want to see anyone stop running until the ten minutes are up!"

There were a few groans but they all lined up and Mac put her notebook back down and joined them. She saw Daiki smirking at her and she saw the challenge in his eyes and knew he would use this to challenge the others. Well, they could use someone to push them a little so Mac didn't say anything.

They started to run and she was carefully watching the rest of the team as well as they ran and noticed who was going out carefully and who started too harshly. She was not surprised to see that both Imayoshi and Susa seemed to set the pace right to fit their pace.

Inoue, Abe and Yamaguchi seemed to struggle a little, but they weren't too bad from what Mac could tell. Nakano was setting the pace a little too slow, but both Sakurai and Namamura were going too fast and would surely tire out before the ten minutes were up.

Though…Wakamatsu was going all out having been provoked by Daiki who just ran almost full speed right away and the hot-headed second year was racing behind him. Loudly. Mac sighed.

Mac stopped and blew the whistle she had brought with her when the twenty minutes were up and watched as all except herself, Daiki, Imayoshi and Susa collapsed to the floor panting harshly. She took a drink from her water bottle and wiped the sweat off her forehead with a towel as she felt the warmth and her body felt loose enough to start the practice.

"Ok! Get up!" Mac called.

"EH?!"

"No way!"

Mac gave them an unimpressed look and glared at the boys until they got to their feet groaning and complaining.

"Be careful to drink enough!" Mac told them and they took the hint and got their water bottles and drank greedily from them.

"I will crush you today, Aomine!" Wakamatsu declared glaring at Daiki who was standing leaning against the wall with his eyes closed and barely even sweating. He yawned and covered his mouth with his hand. "And pay attention!"

Mac sighed.

"I want you to spread out and line up on the baseline!" she told them. "Make sure there are five feet between you and the person standing next to you."

She watched as they lined up and pulled out a whistled from her pocket and noticed how they eyed it. She was standing in the middle of the large court and watched as they stood straight, she took a moment to observe them before she nodded to herself.

"I want you to run from the side you are now standing on and over to the other side of the court," Mac explained. "Not full speed, but about a ¾ of your capabilities. When I blow my whistle I want you to jump stop, pause for a second and then do a 180-degree pivot, pause for a second and do another 180-degree pivot back to the starting position. I will yell either right or left and that will determine which way you will do the pivot. Got it?"

"Yes," they called and Mac nodded and lifted her whistle to her mouth ready to blow it to signal the start of the practice.

Whistle.

They started to run and Mac let them run all the way down to the other line and a few steps on their way back before she blew the whistle again.

They jumped stopped and she was careful to watch that they did it correctly.

"Left!"

They pivoted to the left and paused again before they pivoted back again and Mac blew her whistled and they started to run once more.

Whistle.

"Right!"

Whistle.

"Right!"

Whistle.

"Left!"

They did this for the next fifteen minutes and Mac varied in how often she blew the whistle and which way she told them to pivot so they couldn't predict what was going to happen.

"Ok! Take something to drink!" Mac told them and watched as they all rushed to get some water and sank down onto the floor looking exhausted.

Five minutes later Mac called their attention again and smirked when she saw the wary looks from Namamura and Inoue especially.

...

"I'm dead…" Abe moaned.

"I don't think I'll manage to walk home…" Inoue groaned and his usually messy hair was so wet with sweat that it almost looked to be slick against his skull.

"To think such a tyrant was hiding behind that innocent looking girl," Yamaguchi moaned and looked to where Mac was trying to get the ball away from Daiki and didn't look all that tired (she had joined in on most of the tasks she'd set them to do).

"She's part of the Generation of Miracles, you know," Susa pointed out but he too looked rather tired and while he was still standing didn't look like he was about to start running around again anytime soon either. "I think we all forget that sometimes."

"She's the force behind them, really," Imayoshi smiled with his eyes closed. "She was the one to decide their practice. I think we just saw part of what they have been going through for the last three years…"

The others groaned but looked kind of interested as well. Sakurai and Namamura both stared wide-eyed at their fellow first-year who smiled at something her friend said and with a sudden burst of speed and agility rushed forward managing to get a hand on the ball causing Daiki to lose control over the ball.

"How can they still go at it?" Sakurai asked awed. "Oh, sorry!"

"Stamina," Mac answered having heard the comment and stopped in front of them. "That's what I want you all to work on. I want everyone to schedule a run either every morning or evening. For at least 30 minutes."

"Eh? We'll die!" Namamura whined.

Mac looked at him with amusement. "You'll survive."

Daiki smirked at them and Wakamatsu glared at him but when Mac gave him a look he looked away and crossed his arms over his chest.

...

"What is that?!"

"Eh? A fox?"

Mac looked away from her position at the edge of the stage where she had been writing new data down in her notebook with Daiki lying down behind her napping. The others were still sped around the gym having just finished a practice game.

"How did a fox get in here?" Abe asked curiously.

"Never mind that," Wakamatsu grumbled. "How do we get him out?"

Mac blinked when she spotted Nao standing at the in between her teammates who were all staring at the fox while Nao growled softly at them before he started to run and darted between their legs and attempts to grab him. Mac jumped off the stage and landed on the floor ready to catch the fox as he came running at her.

"Hi! Watch out!"

"Be careful!"

Mac ignored the warnings and smiled as Nao jumped up at her and collided with her chest and she easily caught him in her arms.

"Nao," Mac said slightly scolding. "How did you get out of the bag?"

"Ow-wow-wow," Nao barked blinking up at her and she sighed and ruffled his head and smiled as he burrowed into her chest.

The gym was silent as they all were staring at Mac with shocked looks on their faces. Mac glanced up and looked at them and she noticed that even Imayoshi showed his surprise. His usually closed eyes were open as he stared at her and Nao.

"Eh?"

"What?"

"That's not usual behaviour for a fox!"

"Ah, what's Nao doing out?" Daiki asked having been woken by the commotion and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "I thought he was still in your bag…"

"He must have gotten out," Mac said glancing down at him. "I didn't know he had worked out how to do that…"

She might have forgotten to close it correctly when she had checked on him earlier.

"Nao?" Imayoshi was the one to ask and Mac glanced up at him.

"Mm," Mac nodded. "This is Nao."

"He's…yours?" Sakurai asked. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to pry!"

Mac ignored the apology and nodded as a reply to the question.

"A friend gave him to me when he was just a cub," Mac explained. "He's a little clingy so I normally have to keep him in my bag."

Susa blinked and looked at Nao who was eyeing them warily from Mac's arms and he shook his head slightly.

"I see," Susa smiled. "He's glaring at us."

Mac laughed and shrugged.

"He's not really fond of anyone," she explained. "His family were killed by humans so he's wary around most humans…"

"Poor little fox!" Inoue cried.

"Shut up, Inoue!" Wakamatsu glared.

"Insensitive git," Inoue pouted.

...

The rest of the weekend passed quickly and Mac found herself back at practice Monday afternoon, but this time Daiki didn't show up. She had seen him with Fujimoto earlier but ignored the tight feeling she had over her chest as she made her way to practice on her own.

"Hmm," Mac muttered to herself as she stared at the papers in front of her. According to the papers, she had in front of her Seirin was going to play a practice match against Kaijo soon. She was kind of interested in seeing how this practice match would go.

"What are you looking at, Mac-san?" Namamura asked skipping over to her with Sakurai right behind him.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop him from disturbing you! It's my fault!" Sakurai bowed.

"It's alright," Mac said. "I'll just add more laps on your running."

"Eh?" Namamura startled staring at her. Sakurai sighed and bemoaned his fate in private.

Mac smirked enjoying the shock of her two teammates. She had been giving them more exercises that day and she had already completed hers. She had seen Harasawa nod approvingly from where he was watching them.

"I am looking at other teams and trying to work out which teams would be a threat to us," Mac said and looked down at the papers again. "I think I'll go and watch this one…"

The last part was mostly muttered to herself as she was focused on her original thoughts again. Imayoshi walked up to them and glanced down at the notebook and smiled.

"Seirin, huh?" he asked.

Mac glanced up again and saw him looking at her.

"You interested in their team even after Kiyoshi broke up with you?" Imayoshi pressed still smiling.

Mac barely managed to repress the flinch at the reminder but forced herself to not look away from the older teen. She knew he was testing something, but she wasn't sure what.

"They have an interesting playing style and could be a challenge for us," Mac simply said. She looked down at the notes again and noted that it was a little lacking in data.

She got up and put the notebook back down.

"Besides," Mac said looking at Imayoshi. "I want to see my cousin play as well."

Imayoshi blinked.

Sakurai blinked.

Namamura blinked.

"Cousin?" they asked at once.

"Hm, my cousin plays for Seirin," Mac nodded and picked up the abandoned ball and started to dribble it. "As does Tetsu."

She moved away from them and drew out her whistle calling for the attention of the others. Harasawa came up and stood beside her curious about what she had planned this time.

"Interesting," Harasawa muttered as he watched Mac direct the others in a drill to improve their balance and defending capabilities.

...

Mac had just finished preparing breakfast when Taiga came into the kitchen and she arched a brow as she noticed the red eyes and shadows under his eyes as well. He stumbled slightly as he walked to the table.

"Did you sleep at all, Taiga?" Mac asked worriedly.

"I…um, no," Taiga yawned. "I was too excited."

"Are you a kid?" Mac sighed and put the food down in front of him. "How do you expect to do your best in the match if you don't sleep right?"

He was already wolfing down the food and blinked when he registered what she'd said and looked up at her.

"Eh? You know I have a match?" he asked.

Mac shook her head in disbelief.

"You're playing Kaijo," Mac said taking a bite of her eggs and swallowed before she continued. "That means you're playing Kise."

"How do you know?" Taiga asked.

"It's in my research," Mac shrugged.

She continued to eat and watched as Taiga ate as well in contemplative silence.

"Are you ready to face Kise?" Mac asked curiously. "Have you watched him play?"

Taiga nodded and looked at her with a fiery expression.

"He was at our school yesterday," Taiga said.

"Oh, really?" Mac arched a brow. "So, what do you think?"

"He's strong!" Taiga grinned. "I'll beat him!"

Mac chuckled and shook her head a little. She got up and started to clean up after breakfast. She heard Taiga move to his room and waited for him to come back again. He soon did already changed into his Seirin jersey and tracksuit over it.

"Well, good luck on beating Kise," Mac said and he grinned.

"I'll win," Taiga said.

...

Mac entered Kaijo Private High School and raised a brow impressed by the size of the school and how clean and proper it looked. Just looking at it was enough to see that it was a school with means and probably also ambition. She remembered meeting the coach and how he described the basketball team as one of the best and on a National level.

"Mac-san! Wait up!"

Mac blinked and turned to see Namamura and Sakurai coming running toward her. They were both dressed in casual clothing and was smiling at her.

"We decided to come to watch with you," Namamura beamed.

"Sorry," Sakurai said looking down at his feet. "We thought it would be fun."

"Oh," Mac felt a little surprised but she didn't really mind them joining her. "Alright."

Sakurai looked at her searchingly for a moment before he smiled relieved. Mac started to walk again and they matched her pace beside her. She noticed the way they looked around and knew they were probably also impressed by the school.

"Too Academy is nice, but…" Namamura commented. "Kaijo is sure looking good."

Sakurai nodded.

"Where is the gym?" Sakurai asked nervously.

Mac shrugged and looked around spotting a group of girls standing close by and heard them giggle a little. She grimaced at the thought of interrupting them, but she needed to find out where the gym was.

"Excuse me," Mac spoke up and the girls turned to look at her. "Could you please tell me where the basketball club is?"

"Why?" one of the girls asked looking at her with a suspicious look.

"Are you here to spy on Kise-sama?"

"I bet you're another fangirl! Kise-sama is ours!"

Mac blinked and felt like groaning as she realises that the girl was some of Ryota's fans and she always disliked handling them.

"Hey," Namamura interrupted them and stepped up beside her and narrowed his eyes at them. "Does she look like a simple fangirl to you? Huh? Why don't you tell us where the basketball club is?"

The girls blushed lightly as Namamura arched a brow at them. Mac rolled her eyes slightly at the girl when they gave the directions and huffed as she started to walk.

...

Mac stepped into the audience area of the gym that was a level higher up so they had a good overview of the court. As soon as they stepped inside she heard the familiar sounds of a practice going on and she blinked as she realised that the court was split in two and one half was used for practice while the other was going to be used for the game.

"Oh-oh," Mac murmured. "Riko won't like this…"

Both Sakurai and Namamura were looking down at the court and she saw the way they studied it. She smiled slightly before turning her attention back to watching Seirin. She felt a stab of pain in her chest as she saw them. She hadn't seen them since before the breakup and she was unsure how they would react to seeing her again. Did they blame her? Did they even know? Mac knew only too well that Kiyoshi could be a little…forgetful about certain things.

"They're angry," Mac laughed as she saw the angry expressions on Riko and Hyuga's faces. Even Taiga looked pissed off and Tetsuya was also glaring at the Kaijo Coach.

"I suppose it's only to be expected when you see how Kaijo is looking at the match," Namamura said. "Though Kaijo is a National level team and Seirin is a new team…"

Mac glanced at him before looking back at the court. Ryota was now standing in front of Seirin and was saying something to which Tetsuya replied looking serious as they walked to be shown to the locker rooms.

Ten minutes later both teams were back on the court and ready to start the game. Though, the senior who was going to be the referee looked rather confused.

"Eh? Shouldn't Seirin put five players on the court?" Sakurai asked leaning forward slightly staring at the court.

"Oh! Yeah, they're missing one!" Namamura exclaimed.

"They're not," Mac said calmly.

"Uh, we're about to get started, so Seirin, please have your five line up," the referee called out over the gym.

Mac snorted amused and shook her head as she watched Tetsuya step forward and raise a hand and say something causing the referee to jump back as well as Kaijo to startled in surprise making it clear that they hadn't seen him either.

"Whoa!" Both Sakurai and Namamura exclaimed shocked as they spotted Tetsuya.

"That never gets old," Mac chuckled.

The commotion around the gym showed that it was more than just the regulars of Kaijo that were surprised by Tetsuya.

Mac watched as the game started and had her notebook out as she took notes of the different players she saw on the court. She was already familiar with their names and position on the court. She could see that Riko had already worked out that Kaijo was in better shape physically than them if the worried look on the female coach's face was any indicator.

She saw Kasamatsu dribbling the ball and smirked when he didn't detect Tetsuya coming up in front of him and stole the ball. The shock on his face was very satisfying to see.

"He's still slow, though," Mac sighed as she saw how easy they caught up to him, but there was no need to worry as Tetsuya easily passed the ball to Taiga who forcefully dunked the ball.

Mac felt her eyes widen when the hoop actually came loose and Taiga was still holding it when he landed.

"Seriously?" Namamura gaped.

"How much strength did he use, sorry?" Sakurai asked almost forgetting to add the 'sorry' at the end.

Mac wasn't sure if she should laugh or not as she watched the chaos that followed with Riko apologizing with Tetsuya bowing to the Kaijo Coach while Taiga just stood there holding the hoop looking smug. She shook her head.

"Well, at least Kise is finally playing and they can use the full court," Mac said.

...

The sound of girls cheering and squealing made Mac cringe and sigh. She so did not miss that part of being on the same team as Ryota. She saw Ryota wave at them and…then fly forward as he was kicked in the back making him cry out.

"Quit waving at them! I'll hit you!" Kasamatsu yelled angrily loudly enough that Mac heard him clearly from where she was seated watching.

Mac blinked.

She blinked again.

Kise got up and held onto his back as he winced in pain. Mac frowned a little, she wasn't sure she liked watching one of her friends being treated like that.

"Ouch," Sakurai winced next to her.

Kasamatsu sure was…violet. Mac watched with a blank face as he seemed to violently handle Ryota through the game, but Ryota seemed to respond well to the boy and actually listen to him. Well, for the most part…

Mac made notes and was impressed with the teamwork she saw between Taiga and Tetsuya, but she couldn't help but feel a little sad as she was reminded of how Tetsuya and Daiki used to work together. Watching Taiga in a match was also different from just practising with him and she saw that he had gotten stronger and faster than before.

It was an intense match from the start and Mac knew that they wouldn't manage to keep that pace for long, but both teams were fired up and eager to show off. She smiled slightly as she got plenty of data on both teams as she observed them.

"Idiots," Mac muttered fondly yet exasperated.

"Eh?" Sakurai asked.

"They're not thinking about how they're supposed to last the whole match," Mac explained. "They're so focused on getting the points and showing off that they're forgetting that they're using up all their stamina before they really get started."

"Well, both teams seem to be hanging in there," Namamura said.

"That's because of Tetsu and Taiga," Mac said never removing her eyes from the match. "They're the ones holding Seirin in the match." She frowned and looked at Tetsuya. "He won't be able to keep it up much longer.."

"Eh?" Sakurai asked but Mac ignored him.

...

"Hmm…" Mac mused as she saw the switch in tactic after the time-out. (She had been amused and a little annoyed as she watched Riko chokehold Tetsuya probably because he forgot to let her know something he should have already told them). "A box-and-one, huh? But…"

"But?" Sakurai asked.

"They're forgetting the rest of Kaijo," Mac sighed and point proven the ball was passed to Kasamatsu who scored a three-pointer.

"You got it, Kasamatsu! You got it, Kasamatsu!" the crowd cheered.

Mac didn't say much as the game continued and it became clear that Kaijo now spotted Tetsuya easier and his misdirection was not that useful anymore. Kaijo was getting a wider lead as the first quarter was almost over.

Taiga and Ryota seemed to in a staring contest as they stood face to face. Mac couldn't hear what was said, but she saw that Ryota was serious and when he was serious… well, he was all the more dangerous out of the court. She knew Taiga was strong, but against a serious Ryota… even she was doubtful as she tried to read Taiga and see how far his potential could get him.

"I wonder," Mac muttered leaning forward slightly as she studied them.

Mac blinked when Taiga started to laugh with his hands on his hips. The others started to look at him like he was crazy. The sound carried up to where Mac was seated and she could actually make out his words.

"Sorry, sorry!" he said smiling. "I'm just so happy."

"Huh?" Ryota looked confused.

"Only my cousin says that to me here," Taiga still looking happy. "Otherwise I only heard it over there."

Mac smiled slightly as she heard what Taiga said and wondered just what it was that Ryota had told him. They lowered their voices because Mac couldn't hear anything else but saw the interested look on Ryota's face as Taiga spoke and Mac recognised the look as the one he got when he got fired up and saw a worthy challenge.

"I guess Kise will have a challenge now," Mac smirked ignoring Sakurai and Namamura looking at her.

...

"Do you think Seirin has a chance?" Sakurai asked glancing worriedly down at the court. "I mean…Kaijo is strong…"

"Hm?" Mac asked preoccupied as she watched the teams down on the court.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt you!" Sakurai said quickly.

"Stop apologizing for everything, Sakurai-san," Mac sighed looking over at him. She looked back to the court or more precisely the two teams gathered to listen to their coaches. "Seirin is a team that doesn't give up, Sakurai-san. I think that Kaijo is in danger of underestimating Seirin, but they do have strong players and overall a better team."

"So…Kaijo will win?" Namamura asked.

"I didn't say that" Mac murmured. "It depends…"

Sakurai and Namamura exchanged looks before they looked at their teammate slash manager who was watching the court with sharp green eyes. They had never really seen her like this before, never had the chance to watch her observe players and they were both stunned at the intensity she showed.

...

"Hmm…they sure are good at cheering for their regulars," Mac mused as the rest of the club was cheering from the stands. She smiled slightly before turning her attention back to the court.

Mac arched a brow when she saw how Taiga and Tetsuya coordinated to get past Ryota who looked momentarily stunned at the move. She tapped her pen against her lips as she thought. If the two of them got even more time together they would be a really dangerous pair. She was curious to see just what they could do together when that time came.

Right now Seirin was slowly catching up to Kaijo, or at least not letting them increase the lead anymore. That in itself was a feat that she thought they should be proud of, but she knew Riko better than that. She knew that the second year coach was going for the win.

"Good, Taiga," Mac smiled watching her cousin. "Don't just go for the one-on-one."

She had told him before that he needed to involve his teammates more and not just go at it alone as he normally did. She had carefully explained that by involving the team he made it harder for the opposing team to guess what he was going to do. It looked like he was now starting to get it with how he started to pass the ball and not just challenge the Kaijo players on a one-on-one.

It also looked like Kasamatsu had worked it out as he was looking troubled. She also saw that Ryota was getting frustrated and angry and knew that the way Tetsuya was playing was getting to him. She knew that this wasn't the way they usually played at Teiko where winning was everything.

"Wow! The shadow-guy is on Kise?" Namamura said shocked when they saw Tetsuya take his stand in front of Ryota who paused shocked as well.

"That can't be good…" Sakurai answered. "Oh no…"

Mac was silent as she wondered just what they were up to because she didn't doubt that they had a plan. She frowned as she stared at them and when Ryota ran past Tetsuya (who didn't try to stop him) she smirked having guessed what came next and when Taiga suddenly was standing in front of Ryota she knew she was right.

"A back tip," Mac murmured before Tetsuya tipped the ball out of Ryota's hands from his place behind his back. "Awesome:"

Izuki took the ball and scored.

...

Mac could see it happen before it did and she paled as she saw Ryota unintentionally hit Tetsuya when he turned to quickly to try to stop Taiga from getting away with the ball once more. It didn't help that Ryota was already frustrated and desperate, something he wasn't used to feeling during a match when it happened.

Tetsuya fell to the ground and Mac clenched her fists as she tried to calm herself down and not go running down onto the court. She watched with worried eyes as Hyuga ran to his player and the way Tetsuya stumbled slightly. Taiga came and said something looking worried.

"Kuroko!" Hyuga yelled as Tetsuya seemed to lose consciousness and fell again.

Mac dug her nails into her palm to stop herself from intervening, telling herself that she wasn't on Tetsuya's team anymore and that she had to rely on Seirin to take care of him. She was barely aware that Ryota was watching Tetsuya with a horrified look on his face.

"Well, they did a good match anyway," Namamura said a little disappointed. "But Seirin can't do it without the shadow-guy."

"It's too bad," Sakurai nodded.

Mac didn't say anything as she watched as Seirin did their best, but it proved difficult without Tetsuya there to coordinate with Taiga. She sighed softly.

Mac frowned when she saw Tetsuya get up from where he was laying (and didn't he look adorable with the bed-hair and one eye closed?) and made his way toward the court. Riko stopped him by physically placing herself between him and the court.

"They better not do what I think they're about to do…" Mac said making the other two look at her and then back at the court.

She scowled and fisted her hands when she saw Koganei go off the court and Tetsuya walk back onto the court with the bandage around his head. She clenched her teeth together as she stared at her friend and cousin.

"That…idiot!" Mac hissed quietly. He knew better than to press himself with a head injury and what was Riko thinking about letting him go onto the court with that kind of injury? She should know better than that!

"Perfect shot," Sakurai said as he stared at Hyuga with wide eyes. "He's good."

Mac nodded but didn't say anything. She was still upset that they let Tetsuya play with the injury, not even Seijuro would allow a player back onto the court with a head injury not when the player had a history of head injuries from earlier.

Though, it was a good match. Mac would admit that and it was impressive that they managed to catch up to Kaijo who were looking shaken and shocked by the fact that Seirin finally caught up to their lead. The coach was half sitting half standing on the sidelines with his mouth opened in shock.

Ryota proved to be even stronger and Mac knew he was driven by the need to win and prove he was stronger. She saw the shock on Taiga's face and the realisation that he wasn't strong enough yet, but they didn't give up and an intense match followed by both teams scoring.

Mac watched as Seirin finished the match with an alley-hoop making sure they won the match by two points.

...

Mac smiled slightly when she heard Taiga's cheer and saw the smile on his face, and turned her eyes to Tetsuya who looked pleased and tired but he was smiling. She felt worried, but he looked to be okay and still standing at least. Though, she would have to go and see him to make sure…

Mac turned her eyes to Ryota who was looking lost and she saw him mouth the words "I lost" and knew that this would come as a shock for the copycat. She felt sad for him, but at the same time thought it was good for him to feel what it would say to lose.

"Stop saying you've never lost before!" Kasamatsu yelled and kicked him. Mac frowned again but didn't feel as upset about it as before because she saw the care in him and knew it was his way to handle the players. There was no malicious intent behind it, and she started to doubt that there was all that much power behind the kick anyway. "You better add the word 'revenge' to that empty dictionary of yours!"

Mac smiled.

...

The two teams were just finishing the line up to thank each other for the match when Mac arrived down at the court. She was aware that Sakurai and Namamura were right behind her as she entered the court and made her way directly to Tetsuya who was standing next to Taiga and Izuki.

"Eh?" Izuki blinked as he spotted Mac. "Mac-san?"

Riko and Hyuga both looked around until they spotted her, but she ignored them as she made her way to Tetsuya. She stopped in front of him and narrowed her eyes as she stared at him.

"Hello," Tetsuya bowed politely.

"You idiot," Mac said with narrowed eyes.

"Eh? Mac-san!" Koganei exclaimed.

Tetsuya blinked.

"What possessed you to think that continuing to play was a good choice when you have a head injury?!" Mac asked reaching out and grabbed his face between her hands and tilted his head to each side. She glared at Riko who looked down at the floor, before looking back at Tetsuya.

"Ah, I promised Kagami-kun that I was going to be his shadow," Tetsuya said calmly, "and I really wanted us to win."

"Idiot," Mac grumbled. "You need to go and get the wound checked out. Please, remember to tell the doctor that you had a head injury last year, ok? They need to know about stuff like that."

Tetsuya nodded and smiled a little, "ok."

Mac turned and stared at the rest of Seirin, she saw the smiles they gave her and she had a hope that perhaps her and Kiyoshi breaking up wouldn't affect their relationship. It felt weird seeing them, though, without Kiyoshi there.

"Good game," she said politely even if she still was annoyed at them for letting Tetsuya play.

"Thank you, Mac-san!" Koganei beamed.

"How are you, Mac-san?" Izuki asked and she saw the worry in his eyes and knew he was aware of her breakup. The entire team probably knew…well, the second years at least.

"I'm fine, Izuki-san," Mac said with a small smile.

"What are you doing here?" Hyuga asked.

"Collecting data," Mac said simply, "besides…I wanted to see Kise, Tetsu and Taiga play."

They blinked.

"Taiga?" Hyuga looked so confused that Mac couldn't help but smile.

"You mean Kagami?" Izuki asked.

Mac glanced over at Taiga who grinned at her and she shook her head at her cousin.

"Mm," Mac nodded looking back at Seirin, she could even see Kaijo (who had kept a polite distance until now and Kasamatsu seemed to be holding Ryota back) looking interested. "He's my cousin."

Silence.

More silence.

Mac hid her smile as she waited for the reaction.

"EH? COUSIN?!"

...

Mac laughed and looked at Taiga who was looking amused as well as he looked at his team. She looked at Tetsuya who was staring at Taiga with wide eyes and she saw that this was news to him as well.

"I see he didn't tell you," Mac said when she stopped laughing.

"You never told either!" Riko grumbled.

Mac shrugged, "it never came up."

Namamura laughed and nudged her shoulder, "when would something like that come up, Mac-san?"

"Who are you?" Taiga frowned looking at him. He crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at the other boy.

Mac rolled her eyes at her cousin.

"This is Namamura Nori and Sakurai Ryo," Mac introduced her two teammates, "they're on my team."

Both first-year Too students bowed politely to them and gave the proper greeting.

Mac noticed that Tetsuya was looking a little paler and frowned.

"I'll bring him," Riko said and Mac gave her a long look before she nodded reluctantly. She wasn't sure she wanted to trust the other girl with this, but Tetsuya was on her team and Mac had to respect that. At least that was what she told herself. That wouldn't stop her from finding out later what was said.

"Ok," Mac nodded.

Mac said goodbye to Namamura and Sakurai but she remained at Kaijo for a little longer.

...

Mac noticed that Ryota had disappeared and frowned. She was a little surprised that he hadn't interrupted her talk with Seirin yet by pouncing at her and being his dramatic self. She had noticed that Kasamatsu had held him back at one point, but normally that wouldn't have been enough to stop him when he wanted something.

"Kasamatsu-san," Mac stepped up to the Kaijo Captain when Seirin had left.

Kasamatsu turned to look at her and she noticed that he looked a little flushed, but he met her eyes.

"Such a beautiful flower!" Moriyama cooed as he stepped up next to Kasamatsu. "I'm Moriyama Yoshitaka! A pleasure to make your acquaintance!"

"Sure," Mac eyed him a little warily as he was smiling and generally just creeping her out. She turned back to Kasamatsu ignoring the disappointed look on Moriyama's face. "How is it having Kise on your team? Is he causing you any trouble?"

"He's trouble alright," Kasamatsu grumbled making Mac smile. "He shows up at practices when he wants and just goofing off when he's there… how did you keep them under control?"

Mac frowned a little and shrugged.

"I couldn't, not completely" she admitted. "But they have their ways of thinking and let's just say that they're used to getting things the way they want. It's how Teiko worked. Though, from what I could see…"

She paused and looked at Kasamatsu for a moment. He looked stern and harsh around the edges, but his eyes were kind. She always thought you could tell a lot about a person by looking into their eyes.

"Kise does respect you, Kasamatsu-san," Mac finally said. "At least more than I thought he would. He probably will respect you even more after this game. You have to gain his respect and when you do he will listen. Mostly. Though he is the king of being overdramatic and it's a way for him to handle everything going on. So, please, take care of him!"

She bowed making Kasamatsu exchange a look with Moriyama who was watching Mac with a curious look on his face.

"Ah, um, you don't have to bow," Kasamatsu said uncomfortable making Mac straighten and look at him. "He's on my team now and that means that I'll look out for him."

Mac smiled making Kasamatsu blush and look away from her.

"Thank you," Mac said and looked around. "I'll go and see if I can find where Kise had hidden away. See you at Inter-High, I suppose."

...

...

AN: Thank you for reading! XD