Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Kuroko no Basket!
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Two chapters in one day! Yay...
Author note at the end that will explain some things... please read it :)
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1st year – Too Academy
Remus found a seat at the end of a top row making Sirius sit on the top of stairs leading down to the other rows of seats until it reached a bannister that stretched around the spectator area stretching across the court. It wasn't that different from how the Quidditch pitch and spectator area was organised really. If you overlooked the fact that they were indoors and not outside and the game would be played on the ground.
Anyway, Remus stared down at the court as he waited for the players to enter and hopefully Mac. He had not felt so nervous, scared and excited in a very long time. Everything was depending on this. If she wasn't there…then he had no idea where to look next and not to mention what it would do to Sirius. The disappointment would kill him.
Sudden movement down at the court made Remus realise that players had started to enter the court and he scanned the players looking for the girl. She should stand out among them, he reasoned.
It took a moment before he spotted her. She was talking with a tall boy with navy blue hair and the same dark jersey as she was wearing so he was obviously on her team. He could make out the long reddish dark hair that was pulled back in a ponytail but he had the impression that it would be messy if she allowed it to fall freely around her face.
Her face…she had her back to where he was sitting, so Remus couldn't get a clear look at her face.
Turn. Turn. Turn.
The mantra echoed in his mind until she answered (unknowingly of course) his desperate mantra and he gasped. He heard Sirius let out a whine that Remus had a difficult time describing how sounded, something between pain and happy.
It was her.
It had to be. The shape of her face was James', so clearly James', but the colouring of her skin was Lily. She had glasses suggesting that she had inherited James' eyesight as well. It was a little far but Remus had better senses than most thanks to his wolf and he gasped again when he finally noticed her eyes, her grass green vibrant eyes that were behind the round glasses.
"She's beautiful," Remus whispered as he grabbed Sirius by the collar because he had gotten up and started to move away from Remus toward Mac.
Remus understood the desire but knew that they had to wait.
Sirius barked.
"We have to wait, Padfoot," he murmured. "It's not too long."
Sirius whined but didn't move to get away from Remus so he knew that Sirius would stay.
Neither one of them could take their eyes off Mac as she talked to the two boys (Sirius even growled slightly at the way the blue haired one touched her arm), nor could they look away as she seemed exasperated by something nor the way she rolled her eyes as she walked away from the blond one after sending her teammate off to warm up.
"Looks like she has some of Lily in her," Remus smiled.
...
Kaijo High vs. Too Academy
...
3-3: 30 seconds played – 1st quarter
...
Daiki smirked darkly as he with a fluent movement passed the ball behind his back to his right and moved his body after the ball so he could catch the ball again, Ryota followed like Daiki knew he would do and when Ryota had his weight on the wrong foot Daiki passed the ball back to his left and switched quickly and easily to the other side and passed Ryota on the other side.
Ryota was in front of him again faster than Daiki had believed he would be and Daiki arched a brow in interest before he jumped up and performed his formless shot.
Ryota let out a yell and jumped. Daiki could only watch as he rose in the air and actually stopped the ball.
Stunned silence filled the hall for a moment before Ryota was surrounded by his teammates and congratulated for stopping Daiki's shot. Daiki was watching Ryota with a pensive look on his face and tried to figure out just how he had done it, but he wasn't worried. He felt a small stab of excitement fill him in a way that he hadn't felt in years playing basketball.
"I didn't think you actually would manage to stop me," Daiki commented as he watched Ryota.
"Why do you think I played you one-on-one and lost to you every day?" Ryota asked as he wiped his cheek with the hem of his shirt. "I know you better than anyone."
Daiki hummed as he watched Ryota. A little surprised but mostly just curious.
"I see," he suddenly smirked darkly at Ryota. "Though, you're wrong."
"What?" Ryota asked.
"Kenzie knows me best," Daiki said. "She knows all of us the best."
Ryota frowned and glanced over at Mac who was watching them with a contemplative look and was writing in her ever-present notebook.
...
Mac didn't react with shock or surprise like the rest of the hall seemed to do when Ryota stopped Daiki's shot. She could hear the shocked murmurs from her teammates on the bench, even Harasawa had let out a small reaction to Daiki's formless shot being stopped.
Though, Mac must admit, she hadn't expected Ryota to be able to stop that kind of shot. Not just yet anyway. He had become even stronger than she thought and she frowned. She hated not knowing and the feeling of being lost.
"Again! Again! One more time, Aomine-cchi!"
The words echoed in her mind as she watched Ryota. How many times had he not begged Daiki to play one-on-one back at Teiko? How often hadn't he even exhausted Daiki by the endless desire to play him? And that was when Daiki loved playing basketball and didn't want to do anything else.
She always knew that Ryota was a great player and strong. She knew he had potential that he hadn't discovered yet, and she had a feeling that this match would release something in him that they hadn't seen yet.
But if he would get it right in time to pose a real threat to Daiki…that would remain to be seen.
"You're smiling, Kise," Mac observed as she handed him a bottle of water.
"He's really strong," Ryota smiled up at her as he drank from the water.
"And that has you smiling?" Mac tilted her head to the side giving him a curious look.
"Yeah!" Ryota beamed and Mac smiled slightly. "But losing still sucks! It hurts, but I'm having fun!"
Mac remembered that conversation. It wasn't that long after he had joined them and she hadn't been really comfortable around him yet, but it was the first time she had felt the underlying talent in him and knew that he had what it took.
She even remembered what Daiki had said later when they had made their way back home.
"I can't afford to take it easy against him."
Mac knew what he meant. Ryota had the potential to challenge Daiki and she smiled. She hoped that he would somehow get his excitement for basketball back by playing against Ryota.
...
Mac frowned as she watched her team struggle to keep up with Kaijo. Kasamatsu was fast and managed to get a shot off despite Imayoshi knowing what he would do, the only good thing was the fact that Imayoshi managed to touch the ball with his nail and therefore stopping it from going through the hoop but instead bounced off the metal ring and away.
Hayakawa won the rebound against both Susa and Wakamatsu before he passed the ball to Moriyama who shot the ball before Sakurai could reach him.
Mac knew it would go through the hoop before it did.
"Hm," she mumbled.
...
6-3: 4 minutes played – 1st quarter
...
The game went back and forth with Ryota managing to stop Daiki for the time being, but Mac knew that Daiki would soon get free or challenge Ryota in a more open game. Right now it seemed like Kaijo planned on keeping the ball away from Daiki, and Mac had to admit that it was a good plan.
It wasn't like they didn't score at all, because they did. They just let Kaijo score more and Mac couldn't help but frown as she watched them struggle more than she had thought they would.
...
12-9: 7 minutes played – 1st quarter
...
Susa jumped up and managed to stop Hayakawa but Kobori stopped his pass to Imayoshi and the ball was back to Kasamatsu who was facing Imayoshi again.
Imayoshi's brow ticked as he moved to stop the turnabout and forced Kasamatsu back.
"Hm," Imayoshi smiled his eyes seemingly closed. "Looks like you can do more than just rely on Kise…"
Kasamatsu scowled.
"I know what you're trying to do," he said, "but it won't work."
He turned and before Imayoshi could catch up shot the ball and took another three-pointer.
...
15-9: 8 minutes played - 1st quarter
...
Mac was watching closely and made notes as she observed them, she wanted to go out there and play but knew that she had to wait until the quarter was over. She needed to get all the new data she could and work out their strategy.
She was tapping her pen against her lip as she watched Sakurai score and smiled slightly as she saw the annoyed look on his face. So he was serious at least.
...
18-13: 10 minutes played – 1st quarter (end)
Mac sighed as she watched as the team came back to the bench and sat down. They were all sweating like the match had gone on for the double amount of time and she sighed again.
She glanced over at Kaijo's bench and had to admit that they had taken this first quarter and she had misjudged them a little. It annoyed her.
Though, a small part of her, okay maybe a larger part, was feeling happy and excited at the prospect of having a real challenge in front of them. She glanced at Daiki and saw him seated at the bench slightly leaned back and staring up at the ceiling.
He suddenly leaned forward and stared down at his hand and a smirk graced his lips and Mac felt her breath catch in her throat as she spotted it. He had not shown anything remotely like this before during matches. It wasn't his usual smile, the one he used to get out of pure joy and excitement of the thrill of a match, it was darker than that, but…it was a smile. Of sort. Well, a smirk but she would take what she could get.
...
"Kaijo is in the lead," Hyuga commented. "Honestly, I'm surprised."
Taiga was watching the players on the benches and let his eyes rest on Daiki. He hadn't expected Ryota to crush Daiki this badly. He couldn't fathom how he managed it. Just how did Ryota do it?
"Can I ask you something?" Kiyoshi asked suddenly sounding curious.
"Hm?"
"How did you beat Kaijo?" Kiyoshi asked.
"Um…" was the collective response.
"With spirit?" Taiga more asked than stated and Kiyoshi shook his head.
"Well, I said that Aomine is trying," Tetsuya spoke up referring to something he had said earlier, "what I meant is that he tends to get stronger as the game goes on."
"And don't forget Mac," Kiyoshi added with a smile as he looked down at the girl who was watching Daiki before she suddenly turned toward the rest of the team. "She won't sit by and watch."
"True…" Tetsuya said.
...
Mac looked at her team.
"Okay," she said when Harasawa stopped talking. "They have managed to push us farther than I thought they would."
"They're strong," Sakurai whined. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry I'm not good enough!"
"You are good enough, Sakurai!" Mac told him and he blinked at her. "Now, just focus on your own talent and skill, they have managed to destroy the rhythm of our game but we can still get it back. Don't let them interfere in your game."
"Potter-san is correct," Harasawa smiled slightly as he twirled a strand of hair.
"What about Aomine and Kise?" Susa asked glancing at Daiki. "He's pretty much closed Aomine down right now."
"That's just for now," Mac said confidently. "Daiki will figure out how to break free from Kise."
"You sure have faith in him," Imayoshi smiled.
"It's a fact," Mac deadpanned. "For now we will keep Kise from getting the ball when we can't… we'll keep him away from Daiki."
"Kenzie…" Daiki scowled.
"Just for now, Daiki," Mac glanced at him. "It will frustrate them and we will regain control of the game. We will set you up to score and I'll stop Kise when he tried to stop you."
"How?" Susa asked.
"I can keep up with Kise for a while," Mac said. "I know how he plays."
Mac paused and glanced over at Kaijo's bench.
"They're using much of their strength and stamina right now," she said, "and we will force them to continue to do so in the next quarter. They will try to set up Ryota and will rely on him, but we will stop it."
"For how long?" Imayoshi asked.
"For this quarter," Mac said. "The last two-quarters Daiki will take over and face Kise himself, by then he will have figured out how to do so."
"You sure that will work?"
"Kise will challenge Daiki at one point during the match," Mac said certainly. "Most likely at the last two quarters, right now he's using his skills to try to copy Daiki and we will stop it for as long as we can. He still knows most of Daiki's moves, though."
"But if that is what they want…" Abe asked from where he was seated on the bench. "Shouldn't we stop it? You know, by not letting Kise and Aomine face each other?"
"Then who will stop Kise?" Mac asked with an arched brow.
"You could," Namamura said.
Mac sighed and shook her head.
"Like I said," Mac said, "I can stop him for a while, but not for the entire game. I'm not like Daiki, and I won't be able to hold him off through the rest of the match. Right now, Daiki is the only one who can match him and besides, Daiki is looking forward to it, aren't you Daiki?"
Daiki looked up and nodded.
"Potter-san you will play," Harasawa ordered. "Wakamatsu-san, you're on the bench."
Wakamatsu grumbled but nodded.
...
18-13: 10 minutes played – 2nd quarter (start)
Mac entered the court and felt eyes on her but she ignored them. She was used to it by now.
"All right! Let's go! Let's do it! Let's get those rebounds! I'm ready to go! Yeah!"
A loud voice had her glancing to the side and she saw Hayakawa doing some odd thing to psyche himself up before the next quarter.
"So loud!" Wakamatsu groaned from the bench. "He never shut up!"
"Well, you're kind of loud as well," Imayoshi pointed out.
"Huh?"
"You're actually the same," Susa added.
"You're kidding!" Wakamatsu demanded, looking freaked out.
Mac snorted and turned her attention back to the court.
...
She caught the ball when Imayoshi passed it to her and she held onto it as she bounced it off the parquet floor as she took in how her team was positioned.
She smiled when Moriyama came to block her and noticed how he blushed but kept a determined look on his face. She jumped as of to shoot and watched as he followed her to block it. She smiled again and lowered her hand while still rising in the air and passed the ball when it was in the height of her hip and Imayoshi caught it coming up from behind Moriyama.
"You…" he gasped when he landed.
"Hm?" Mac arched a brow but she didn't stay to listen. She moved and got free and Imayoshi passed the ball to her again and she ducked under Kobori and passed to Sakurai who was now free and with his quick release scored the quarters first 3 pointers.
...
18-16: 11 minutes played – 2nd quarter
...
Mac changed mark with Imayoshi and faced Kasamatsu who was watching her with narrowed eyes and she tilted her head as she watched back. He was bouncing the ball close to his body and covered his blind spots pretty well.
"You're strong," she smiled. "I can respect that."
He gave her a confused look before he moved and she knew he was fainting, she saw the way his legs moved and how his hands revealed what he was doing next so she moved in the opposite direction faster than him and when he turned to go use the 'free' space he was sure she would leave she was there and stole the ball from him.
She didn't linger to see his reaction as she dribbled the ball passed Hayakawa and between Kobori's legs before she passed it to Susa who was free and scored.
...
"Mac-cchi!" Ryota frowned at her. "It's not you I want to go up against."
"I know," Mac said simply as she moved to counter his attempt to get past her. "That's why."
Ryota scowled but then he smiled slightly as he challenged her. He managed to get past her but she caught up and stopped him from making the shot and forced him to keep dribbling the ball.
"I guess it's fun to play you as well," he admitted. "I've missed that."
"Yeah," Mac smirked. "But are you prepared?"
"You bet!" Ryota smirked and dodged her attempt to steal the ball like she knew he would, but she was ready and with a speedy movement she lunged forward and managed to get a finger on the ball causing him to lose it and Imayoshi was there to take over control of the ball.
...
"Calm down!" Kasamatsu ordered his team as he once more dribbled the ball and lead his team forward. "Let's get them back!"
Mac let Imayoshi mark him this time and saw the smile that crept onto Imayoshi's face.
"I know you're fast," Imayoshi said. "But I'm not letting you go. I can't let Mac have all the fun…"
Kasamatsu narrowed his eyes and Mac could tell that what he was going to do. She moved and when he passed the ball she stole it before it could reach Ryota who let out a small curse and moved forward and barely blinked when Moriyama was in front of her again.
"I'll stop you, flower!" he said.
"You can try," Mac smirked and crunched down and dribbled the ball faster but stayed still as she took in the way Moriyama moved and read him as he made to grab the ball most likely thinking that she didn't have control over the ball when she was dribbling it that fast but when he reached for it she shifted and with a sharp twist of her wrist bounced the ball to her other hand making him stagger a little but it was enough for her to get free and past him.
She stopped abruptly when Kobori appeared in front of her and he was much taller than her and more imposing than Moriyama was (who she felt coming up behind her again) so she sighed and jumped up and shot the ball through the air and smirked lightly as she saw Kobori turn with a shocked look on his face and watched as the ball spun through the hoop.
"You…" Kobori blinked.
"Mean!" Moriyama said. "Flower!"
"Shut up," Daiki growled as he glared at Moriyama.
...
18-27: 14 minutes played – 2nd quarter
...
"Woah," Koganei gaped as he stared at Mac.
"…"
Taiga was also staring wide-eyed at his cousin as she played in a way he had never seen before.
"I never knew she could do that!" Izuki said.
"She's really going all out," Kiyoshi commented.
"…she didn't play like that against us," Hyuga said and glanced at Tetsuya who looked pensive.
"She probably allowed Daiki to take the lead," Tetsuya said quietly, "I guess… we didn't push them enough to make her go all out like this."
"That's…depressing," Koganei said tears falling from his eyes dramatically.
"We'll make her do that the next time!" Riko declared.
"She's gotten stronger," Tetsuya said not looking away from Mac who was passing the ball and steering the match having completely taken over the control over the flow of the match. It was very clear that Kaijo was struggling to keep up.
"Yeah?" Taiga asked.
"She's better at reading them and predicting what they will do now," Tetsuya said, "I'm sure she uses her data on them as well, but the way she observes them has gotten better. You notice it by watching her when they manage to get her to pause, watch how her eyes are locked onto them."
"I noticed that;" Riko frowned. "So, she's reading their body language?"
"Yeah," Tetsuya nodded, "it's very difficult to mislead her because she notices things you're not doing with a conscious thought. It can be a look in your eye or the way your muscles work when you're about to move to one side…"
"That's…" Tsuchiba blinked, "amazing."
Tetsuya nodded.
"That's also what makes her such a good analyst and manager," he said.
...
Mac noticed the frustration in Kaijo growing as they kept trying to get Ryota free, but the problem with that was that Mac knew it and read their plays with more ease. She cornered Ryota and locked him down, but she felt slightly uneasy as she noticed how he watched Daiki even from afar.
She knew he was planning something, but right now she wasn't sure what to do to stop it other than taking Daiki off the court, but that would not gain them either…
She sighed as she passed the ball to Susa before Ryota could stop her. She could feel the effect this quarter had on her and knew she was using too much of her energy and stamina on matching Ryota for so long and at the same time set the others up in a favourable position.
Luckily the quarter was almost over, she thought as she refused to allow any of her exhaustion to show on her face.
...
28-46: 20 minutes played – 2nd quarter (end)
...
Break
...
"Potter! Potter! Potter!"
Mac grimaced at the chanting coming from the rest of the team, those who weren't a part of the regulars, seated above them in the stands. She really wished they would stop that. She felt a small blush colouring her cheeks.
"Oh, what's this?" Imayoshi smirked. "Are you blushing, Mac?"
"Shut up," Mac muttered.
"You're too cute," Imayoshi teased and Mac rolled her eyes at him.
"And you're too annoying," she said.
"Stay away from Kenzie!" Daiki pushed Imayoshi away and scowled at the older boy.
"Oh, don't be like that," Imayoshi laughed. "I'm just having fun."
Daiki just glared at him.
"Seriously," Susa sighed. "Do I have to watch you all the time, Shoichi?"
"Hmmmm?" Imayoshi just smirked as innocently as he could muster (meaning not a lot).
"Come on," Harasawa called. "Get moving!"
Mac grabbed her bag (with Nao inside) and her notebook before turning to follow the others to the locker room.
...
"Yeah! We turned it around!"
Mac ignored the cheers and chatter as she stared at her notebook and the data she had gathered. She remembered the way Ryota watched Daiki and how he (even when facing her) seemed to allow his attention to drift over to Daiki.
It should hurt, she thought, knowing that he wasn't taking her as seriously as he should. That was part of the reason why she had managed to keep him in check for this quarter. He must have a plan and sticking with it even as she tried to break it. Yet, she felt more impressed and slightly surprised by his actions.
"You handled Kise very well, Mac," Sakurai spoke up nervously breaking into Mac's thoughts.
"You think so?" Mac asked distractedly.
She missed how the others exchanged looks.
"You're not?" Inoue asked.
Mac finally looked up and noticed them watching her. She sighed.
"Well," she said, "I guess I am. But he's not paying full attention to me."
"Then that's stupid on his part," Namamura said.
Mac shrugged as she furrowed her brows thinking.
"I don't think so," she said after a pause," he's planning something and if I'm right…"
"What?"
"I think he's trying to copy Daiki's form," Mac said.
"Copy Aomine?" Imayoshi asked.
"Yeah, and not just a move but his entire style," Mac said.
The others seemed shocked and scared by this and Mac noticed that Harasawa looked thoughtful as he watched her.
"Then why is he on the court?!" Wakamatsu demanded, getting up from where he had been sitting and stared at the coach. "Coach! We should put him on the bench…"
"Oi, oi," Daiki spoke up. "What are you talking about? Why would you deliberately weaken our strength?"
He got up and Mac thought she might be the only one who saw the tension in his body as he had his back to them.
"Copy me?" Daiki asked and turned. "There's no way he can do that! We'll continue like this. And even if we gave him the benefit of the doubt and said he could do that…the result won't change. The only one who can beat me is me."
Mac felt a stab of pain go through her heart as she heard those dreaded words. She knew he still felt like that, and the darkness she saw in his eyes was another blow. The others might think he was scared that Ryota might be able to copy him but Mac knew better. He was just afraid to get his hope up that someone could prove to be a real challenge and then be disappointed again.
Though, she would admit that he probably felt a little apprehensive about Ryota copying him and mastering his style.
"Daiki is correct," she spoke up breaking the tense silence that filled the locker room. "Even if Kise manage to do it, and I think he will, it won't change the way we will play. We must trust in our own skills and Daiki will face Kise."
"You think he can do it?" Harasawa asked.
"Yes," Mac nodded, "Kise is determined. He has worked on this for a long time, I believe."
"Then…"
"It won't change the fact that it will be the original against the copy," Mac said, "his body won't handle the stress of playing like Daiki for too long and if their coach knows what's best then he will restrict him from doing it for too long."
Daiki gave her a look before he sighed and walked out of the locker room. Mac wanted to go after him but knew that it would be best to back off right now. She didn't want to push him too far.
...
Remus was stunned. He was not sure what he had expected, but he knew that what he had seen wasn't it. He got up and walked out of the arena with Sirius and to an isolated corner where Sirius transformed back.
"She's here!" was the first words out of his mouth.
"Yeah," Remus nodded.
"She's here," Sirius whispered. "I want to go and find her! Now!"
"She's in the middle of her match," Remus reminded him but he understood his desire very well because he wanted to go and find her as well. "We shouldn't distract her from her match."
Sirius pouted and Remus shook his head seeing the pout not really understanding how a grown man could actually pout.
"I know," Sirius grumbled before he got a thoughtful look on his face. "I've never seen a basketball match before…but she's really good."
"She is," Remus agreed, "as far as I can tell at least. I haven't really seen much myself."
"It looks fun, though," Sirius grinned. "Not like Quidditch, of course, but fun."
Remus shook his head.
"Of course," he said.
"She looks like James," Sirius suddenly said changing the subject slightly and Remus could hear the longing, the pain in his friend's voice. "Though the red in her hair is Lily's red and she has Lily's eyes, I remember that from when she was a baby."
Remus nodded.
"Yeah…" he said and glanced at the clock. "I think it's time to get back."
Sirius nodded and Remus watched as his body shrank and transformed effortlessly into the familiar form of a dog.
...
They walked back and ended up entering through a side door and noticed that the hall was practically empty with only a teenaged boy standing to the side staring out of the window. Remus paused slightly as he recognized him as the boy from Mac's team.
He looked down at Sirius and saw that he too was staring at the boy who was Mac's friend. They had seemed close from what Remus could tell from watching their interaction. He seemed serious now and a dark look on his face as he stared out of the window with his hands clenched together.
"Daiki!"
Remus worked to stop the gasp escaping him and stop Sirius from running over when he felt the leash tug.
Mac was coming around a corner clearly looking for the boy who now turned around.
"Kenzie," he said.
Kenzie? Did he call her that? Remus couldn't help but wonder. It sounded special when he said it, fond and caring and his face lightened slightly as he watched her.
"Come on," Mac said. "Coach will not be pleased if you're not back on the court on time for the third quarter, Daiki."
"Yeah, yeah," Daiki said. "I know. You worry too much."
"Well, that's your fault," Mac told him rolling her eyes as she grabbed his arm and tugged at it. "If you just started to do what you were supposed to without me having to watch you every time…"
"Then you would be bored," Daiki smirked.
Remus smiled slightly as he saw the way she rolled her eyes.
"Honestly," he heard her mutter.
Then they were gone and Remus let out a ragged breath not even realising that he had stopped breathing. She had been so close. Right there and she really did have Lily's eyes and the same exasperation over this Daiki that Lily had over James at times.
It was clear to Remus that Daiki was someone important to Mac but he wasn't sure in what way or what he felt about that. He could hear Sirius growl slightly though so he had a pretty good idea about what he felt.
...
28-46: 20 minutes played – 3rd quarter (start)
...
Mac noticed the change in Kaijo right away and she smiled, she couldn't help it, as she knew that they hadn't given up and was still fighting. She recognized the strength in them as they faced them with a determination she had only really seen in Seirin so far.
Sakurai lost the ball when both Moriyama and Kasamatsu challenged him and Kasamatsu passed the ball to Ryota without any hesitation.
Imayoshi was there to block him, but Ryota didn't seem to notice him much as he performed the right to left crossover that Daiki used and stunned Imayoshi enough to allow Ryota to get past him, but Imayoshi caught up but made a foul.
"That was much faster than I thought," she frowned as she stared at Ryota.
It wasn't perfect. Not by a long shot, but he was learning much quicker than she had expected him too and she couldn't help but feel both proud (Ryota was her friend) and frustrated (because he also was her opponent right now).
"Daiki," Mac nudged her boyfriend. "Snap out of it."
Daiki inhaled and visibly calmed down and got that focused look on his face as he stared at Ryota.
"Mac," Imayoshi said when she reached him. "This is bad."
Mac arched a brow and looked at him.
"When you and Aomine first joined our team I found both of you promising," Imayoshi told her. "But I also imagined playing against you and got goosebumps. I just got goosebumps."
Mac hummed and nodded in understanding.
"I see," Mac said.
...
Mac had the ball and she faced Kasamatsu who gave her a determined look and she could tell he wasn't underestimating her. She spun around on her heel and dodged his arm stretching t for the ball before she passed the ball to Susa but didn't stop her movement to get past Kasamatsu as he changed his attention to Susa, but he passed back to Mac who was now free to jump and shoot.
Despite Kaijo fighting more and getting some of their determination back having been shocked in the second quarter by Mac's skills and power they still struggled to shut Mac down, and it was clear that Ryota didn't have his copy of Daiki's skill quite down yet.
"He's only doing it when he's not facing Daiki," Mac murmured to herself as she watched him copy one of the moves Daiki had used against Taiga only for Susa to make a foul giving Kaijo two free throws.
...
34-51: 24 minutes played – 3rd quarter
Mac pulled a hand over her face as she studied the court. She had control of the ball and knew that she had just a few seconds before Moriyama would be on her and she had to make a move, but she noticed the aggressive pressure from Kaijo and the best options for her was blocked.
"I'll get you now!" Moriyama yelled and came at her.
Mac used her speed and reflexes to step to the side so he misses and runs forward before he catches up to her again but she sees no openings.
"I guess I have to do it myself," she said and crunched down before stepping to the side and jumping up as she raises her arms and let the ball flow from her grip and watches as it flies through the air and through the hoop.
"Shit," Hayakawa yells.
"Calm down," Kasamatsu tells him.
...
"With Potter-san on the court, there's not much we can do to catch up," Kaijo's coach muttered as he stared at Mac. "Kise told us she was good."
His team that was on the bench glanced at him before looking at Mac with something much like fear and awe on their faces.
...
Seijuro smirked. She was really dominating the match.
"Woah," Hayama gaped. "She's strong."
"I can't remember her doing anything like that when we played you back in Middle School," Mibuchi commented.
"She's grown," Seijuro smirked. "Though, she's going all out in this one. Normally she doesn't feel the need to do it."
"I thought she was the good one of you," Nebuya said.
"She is," Seijuro smiled and they stared at the genuine smile on his face in shock. "But she is one of us. She just doesn't flaunt it nor does she have the attitude most connects with us so they forget."
...
"She's really a strong player," Himuro commented glancing at Atsushi who was still eating his sweets.
"Mac-chin is strong," Atsushi nodded.
"Would she beat you in a one-on-one?" Himuro asked curiously.
"Maybe," Atsushi shrugged. "She knows us very well so she probably knows how to beat me."
Himuro arched a brow as he glanced down at the girl. He must admit that he just got more and more curious about her and he itched to play her himself and see how he would manage against her.
...
"Shin-chan!" Takao yanked at Shintaro's arm. "Shin-chan!"
"What?!" Shintaro snapped annoyed.
"Is that really Mac?" Takao asked pointing with wide eyes. "She'…she's…"
"She's what?" Shintaro arched a brow.
"Really strong," Takao finished lamely.
"Of course she is," Shintaro said. "She's a regular from Teiko as well, you know."
"But…but…" Takao seemed unable to find words and a tick appeared on Shintaro's cheek.
"Say what you mean!" he demanded.
"She's nice compared to the rest of you," Takao cried. "You're all bastards but she's nice!"
Shintaro sighed wondering what he had done to deserve this.
...
Mac was unaware of the reaction of her friends' teammates as she just missed the ball as Kasamatsu made it past her and she felt her breath coming out more sharply and she knew that she was almost at her limit. She glanced at Daiki who was looking impatient.
"We need to get Daiki playing," she told Imayoshi who nodded.
"You okay, Mac?" Susa asked giving her a concerned look.
Mac just nodded as she turned her eyes on Kasamatsu and then Ryota who was looking calmer. She narrowed her eyes. He was close now, she thought.
She knew that she would have had more stamina if not for the fact that she had her magic lessons and preparations for her OWLs as well as this tournament, but right now she couldn't think about the fact that she was tired and exhausted both from this match and the revisions for her OWLs.
Daiki grabbed the ball just after Kasamatsu scored and without moving, threw the ball with a quick pace toward Kaijo's hoop and a stunned silence filled the arena when the ball went through the hoop even before Kaijo had finished their runs back in defence.
"If you're going to copy me, Kise," Daiki said over the cheering crowd, "then you should hurry up. I'm not nice enough to wait until you are ready."
Only this match mattered now.
...
...
AN: Thank you all for reading and supporting my story, every favourite, follow and review means so much to me! XD
ALSO, some of you may already know that this story is also posted at Archive of Our Own. I mentioned it in my author note at the beginning of this story. (I do not expect you to remember that, though). Anyway, I have now (FINALLY) caught up and there is the same amount of chapters posted on AO3 and here. That does, unfortunately, mean that I won't be able to update as regularly as I have. But I do try to update as often and regularly as real life (work...) allows. I apologize for the wait, though.
Back to the story, you have probably noticed the changes I've made from canon, but with Mac here there will be changes in the matches. Hope you liked her part in this match so far, though. I have tried to give her a more prominent role now than before. Daiki may seem "invisible" but the next part will be his and Ryota's part. Mostly at least. Until now has just been part of Mac's tactics.