Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Kuroko no Basket!
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1st year – Too Academy
...
It had been a rough road to get to this point. It had been long and hard and exhausting, the words to describe it could be many and few at the same time. It was worth it, though.
Riko looked at the papers in front of her. It was the night before the semi-finals and she knew that she really couldn't do anything else now than to just wait until morning came and then get ready for the day and for their game against Too Academy. She knew that, but she just couldn't stop herself from going over her notes one more time. Just in case.
Nerves filled her with both dread and anticipation. How could she feel both at the same time? Her stomach felt heavy like rocks were churning against each other, creating random bursts of sparks going through her.
"You should sleep," her dad's voice sounded, and she looked over her shoulder to see him standing in the doorway looking at her.
"I can't," She said. "My head won't turn off."
He nodded, leaning against the doorway to watch her. "You have done everything you can to make sure you are ready."
"But… so have they," Riko said looking back at the notes. "I know they have studied us, dad."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that you haven't done the same to them," he pointed out. "You have learned a lot since last time you played Too Academy, Riko."
"I know," Riko said. "We have Teppei now too, and Kagami and Kuroko have both grown a lot."
"And so have the rest of your team," Aida Kagetora said reassuringly. "Staying up like this will only make you more exhausted and unsure. Trust that you have done enough."
"Easier said than done," Riko mumbled.
"If it was easy, everyone could do it," Kagetora said.
Riko snorted, "do you think I'm awful for being grateful that Mac won't play?"
She felt bad for the relief she had felt when Kiyoshi had told her that Mac wouldn't be able to play in the match. She had broken her wrist in her last game. It was awful, and all that, and Riko worried about her. She didn't deserve that, but still… there had been a flash of relief going through her as she realised that they only had to deal with Daiki.
It nagged at her.
When her dad didn't say anything she turned and looked at him and saw that he was watching her with a serious look on his face before he smiled softly.
"Why do you feel that?" he asked.
Riko frowned, "she's good. Excellent, actually, and together with Aomine… well, I… I know Kagami and Kuroko both have worked to get around them, but…"
She couldn't forget how easy they made it look last time.
"It's good to acknowledge that others are talented," Kagetora said, "but you should not forget that basketball is a team sport and that everything can happen on the court. But… I do not think you're awful for thinking that, it's natural."
"You've seen her play?" Riko asked her dad.
"Hmm… no," he said. "But… I've heard of her."
Riko blinked, "you have?"
"Yes," Kagetora said. "I have."
He said nothing about whom or where he had heard about Mac, and Riko wondered if he meant that he had heard about her from her or some of the other on her team. They had after all been trained by him before the Winter Cup had started. He might have picked up something then.
"It's not like she won't influence the game," Riko sighed, turning back to her notes. "She's still their manager..."
Aida Kagetora nodded, "trust your team, Riko."
She nodded as he repeated it again and knew he was right. And she trusted her team. She did, but still… the spark of fear was still there. Why did she suddenly feel like that now?
"Well, it will be fun," Riko said and smiled. "We'll show them!"
"That's the spirit," Aida Kagetora said. "Now, go to sleep."
Riko nodded.
...
Mac let out a relieved breath as she felt some of the pain that had been bothering her fade and knew it was because of the little healing Remus had done for her. He had said that there would be no problems for her to at least heal the bruises that no one would see. So, the bruise on her chest/stomach was now healed, and it felt good.
She still smiled, remembering that Sirius was free and wasn't in danger of being arrested anymore. It was strange how it had changed, how she was relieved that he would be in her life now. She never would have thought so when they first arrived. She had spent the evening with them and just listened to their stories about her parents and themselves. It had been nice.
It had also distracted her from thoughts about the match and how she wouldn't be able to play. No matter what she told herself, she was disappointed and upset that she wouldn't be able to play. There were so many reasons she wanted to play, she doubted that she had wanted to play a match this much before. One, it was against Tetsuya and she loved playing him. He was always interesting to play, and he grew so fast and often could inspire others with his passion and love for the game. She had a feeling that he would be important in getting Daiki to see that basketball was still worth his efforts and love. Two, it was Taiga. She wanted to see just how far he had come. It had been so long since she had gotten the chance to play him now and she knew he had grown. She knew he had worked with Alex and she was curious to see how the older woman he helped him. Three, there was Kiyoshi… though Daiki would not like her reasoning of wanting to play against Kiyoshi again. He was strong, though, and never gave up. They would need that. And she missed playing against Kiyoshi, to be honest. He always provided a challenge.
And not to forget wanting to play with this team, her team. She had worked so hard with them and they really were the kind of team she loved. She loved playing with them and watching them grow and work together in their own ways, the way they trusted each other now… it was great and she really, really wanted to play with them.
There were other reasons too, but those were the main ones. She sighed as she turned in bed and stared up at the ceiling.
This match… it was an important one. Her instincts told her it was one that would change everything. She just couldn't tell if it was for better or worse yet.
She heard Taiga move around in the apartment and looked to the door and wondered if she should get up and check on him. He was nervous, too. She'd seen it earlier when he had arrived back from the last practice with his team, and the way he had almost seemed unable to keep from bouncing around. She smiled slightly.
Her mind turned back to the data she had collected over the last few weeks, going over everything she knew about Seirin. She knew Seirin better than any of the other teams they'd played until now. It might not be fair, but that was how it was. She'd seen a lot of their matches, she knew the players too. She was close to several of them, and that gave her some advantages in figuring them out.
Though, if she was going to be honest… that meant that they knew her as well. They wouldn't underestimate her for being a girl on a boys' team and would know that she knew them (if that made any sense at all) so they would prepare for that. It didn't worry her as much as it probably should, but it made her feel more excited and the feeling of anticipation filled her.
...
Daiki huffed as he flicked the ball through the net with ease. He just didn't get it. It felt empty to wait for the match; he knew he should be feeling excited and nervous about the upcoming match, but he felt nothing like that.
It was just a couple of hours until they would play now, and he felt… empty. Hollow. Why… he sighed as the familiar thoughts filled him again. He had lost count how many times he had thought about this, even if he tried to avoid it.
Knowing that his lack of enjoyment and passion for the game he loved (did he still love it?) was hurting Mac was another reason he felt frustrated and angry. He didn't want to hurt her; he didn't want to make her look at him with worry and pain. Like she was wishing she was seeing the person he had been back when he had first met her… like he was failing her now.
He could barely remember a time he loved the game with everything he had and that all he could think of was playing and getting stronger. Everything he thought about back when he was a kid was basketball and how to grow and find new challenges. It had brought so much into his life, without basketball he would never have had Mac in his life. Basketball had been what he had connected with her over, and she had grasped it with everything she had and it had been so much fun to teach her and play with her.
He missed it.
He just… wasn't sure how to get it back. How could he just ignore the pain he saw in others when he played? The way they just… stopped playing and gave up was not something he wanted to see. He knew Mac wasn't like that, and that she never would give up, but he just couldn't bring himself to play like he used to. Not even with her.
And if he was going to be honest with himself, he missed Tetsuya too. The shadow had been his best friend beside Mac, and it had been different with him than it had been with Mac. Tetsuya loved basketball in a way that even rivalled Daiki, and he knew it. The pure passion Tetsuya had for the game was something Daiki envied and wished he had himself.
So he got angry and upset just watching Tetsuya play. It wasn't fair, Daiki knew that, but it just… took over. The way Tetsuya had looked at him that day in the rain back in their second year at Teiko… it was so filled with hurt and betrayal and Daiki still felt bad about it, but he hadn't been able to stop himself then and even now… he didn't know if he could have done anything differently.
He sighed.
"You look to be in deep thoughts," Mac said, and he turned to see his girlfriend coming up behind him. She was dressed in her Too Academy sweatpants and jacket over a clean white t-shirt, and her hair was pulled back in a messy bun.
"Guess I am," he admitted.
She looked at him for a moment before she looked at the hoop. She smiled softly.
"It's to be expected, I suppose," she said. "You ready?"
"Of course," Daiki said, and she nodded. "You okay?"
He worried that she was too upset over not being able to play. He knew that this match meant a lot to her for different reasons and he tried to be understanding even if he didn't understand her reasons.
"Guess so," she nodded and glanced at him. "Sirius and Remus stopped by when I came home yesterday."
"Oh?" Daiki asked as he fell into step with her, making their way toward the arena.
"Sirius is free now," Mac smiled and Daiki smiled back at her, squeezing the hand he had grabbed and felt her squeeze back.
"That's good," Daiki said. "You happy about it?"
"Yeah," Mac nodded. "I am. More than I thought I would be, actually."
"So, he'll stick around?" Daiki glanced at her.
"He said they would," Mac nodded. "He talked about finding a house."
"That's good," Daiki said again knowing that she had worked hard to let the two men into her life and that if they left now, they would undo a lot of the progress they'd made with her. He was glad they seemed to realise that as well and sticking around.
They fell into silence, and Daiki knew that she was thinking about the match again. He glanced at her and wondered if she would be all right if he never found a way back to how he used to be. Would she give up on him? That scared him almost (or probably) more than anything else.
...
Tetsuya swallowed thickly as he looked up at the arena. Today was the day of their match against Too Academy, against Daiki and Mac. He both looked forward to it and dreaded it; two conflicting emotions that made him almost feel sick to his stomach.
"I have to make it," he said out loud. "I promised."
He had promised that he would bring Daiki back and that he would prove to him that love for basketball and the will to never give up would bring results just as well as pure talent could. He wanted to prove that basketball was fun and that everyone had a right to play, and as long as you never gave up, you had a chance.
It felt like an impossible thing to do, though. How should he do it?
"Oi," Taiga said coming up beside him and Tetsuya smiled. He wasn't on his own. He had to remember that. "Are you going to stand here all day? We have a match, you know."
"I know," Tetsuya deadpanned. "I was just thinking."
Taiga nodded slowly. "I get it. Are you worried?"
Tetsuya hummed softly, "worried? Maybe, but I look forward to the match. We've worked hard."
"Yeah," Taiga agreed. "And you have your new skills too… I doubt even Mac has prepared for that."
Tetsuya glanced at him, "maybe, maybe not… but I still wouldn't assume that she hasn't thought of the possibility of it."
Taiga nodded. "Yeah."
They entered the arena together and made their way toward their locker rooms. The place had already filled up with people and they could hear the excited chatter as they passed them.
"Let's go," Taiga said and Tetsuya nodded.
"Kuroko-cchi!" Ryota cried and suddenly Tetsuya had an excited blond attacked around his neck and the force made him take a step back.
"Kise."
"Oi!" Kasamatsu grumbled and pulled Ryota back. "Do I need to keep you on a leash?"
"Meany;" Ryota pouted at his captain before turning back to Tetsuya and Taiga. "I came to watch you play!"
"Great," Taiga muttered.
"Thank you," Tetsuya said.
"You ready?" Ryota asked, looking at Tetsuya.
"As I'll ever be," Tetsuya said and Ryota nodded slowly.
"I wish it was me out there," he blurted. "It… hurts to lose."
Tetsuya swallowed and nodded, not sure what to say.
"But… you can beat them," Ryota said looking at Tetsuya. "Even though it is Mac-cchi and Aomine-cchi."
"We'll do our best," Tetsuya said.
"Of course, we will," Taiga smirked and Ryota glanced at him before he nodded.
Kasamatsu stood back and just watched them without saying anything.
"Well…" Ryota stopped and looked thoughtfully at Tetsuya for a moment. "Do you think you can bring him back?"
Tetsuya fisted his hands and swallowed.
"Bring who back?" Taiga asked, confused.
"I hope so," Tetsuya said, knowing what Ryota referred to. "I promised Mac."
Ryota nodded and smiled a little, "then you better do your best to keep it, Kuroko-cchi. Mac-cchi deserves it."
"I know," Tetsuya said.
Taiga and Kasamatsu exchanged confused looks but neither Tetsuya nor Ryota said anything else and with a wave, Ryota dragged his captain away and into the crowd. Tetsuya started to walk again, so Taiga was forced to do the same to follow him.
...
"You know…" Ueno said looking around, "I didn't think you had a basketball match in mind when you showed up at my door."
Hermione smiled at her, "well, I heard that Mac was playing today."
Ueno blinked, "She is?"
"You didn't know?" Hermione asked.
"Well, I haven't really been paying attention too much lately," Ueno admitted with a frown.
Hermione looked at her for a moment, "you okay?"
Ueno shrugged, "don't know yet."
Hermione nodded, "okay. Well, let me know if I can help with anything, okay?"
"Sure," Ueno said, looking around again. "It sure is crowded."
"It's the semi-finals," Hermione said. "Sato-kun, his a friend of Mac's, told me that her team was playing today, and I thought I wanted to come and watch her play. I never really done that before, not like this."
Ueno nodded, "I have come with her to watch some of her friends play, but never her. So, I guess it's about time I came to."
Hermione smiled and linked her arm with Ueno's, making the other girl glance over at her questioningly. Hermione just smiled and dragged her to two free seats.
"It will be fun," Hermione said. "I haven't seen Mac in what feels like forever now…"
"Me neither," Ueno admitted sitting down. "I probably should feel bad about that…"
Hermione blinked and looked at her again, "why?"
"No reason," Ueno said, and Hermione knew better than to push her.
"They'll be playing Mac's cousin today, right?" Hermione asked. "He's on Seirin, right?"
"I think so," Ueno nodded. "And that former teammate of hers, Kuroko Tetsuya I think his name was."
"And her ex," Hermione said as she spotted Kiyoshi stepping onto the court with his team and the crowd seemed to erupt in applause. "Huh, I had forgotten…"
"Weird," Ueno said. "At least they're still friends."
"Mm," Hermione agreed.
...
"Are you okay?" Kiyoshi asked and Mac looked up from her notebook to see him standing in front of her.
"I'm fine," she smiled at him, getting to her feet. "Just… can't play."
He nodded, "Kuroko said as much. I'm sorry."
"Why? It's not your fault," Mac arched a brow at him.
"I know that," he said. "I had looked forward to playing you, though. It would have been like old times."
Mac smiled and nodded, "yeah, it would have. I had looked forward to playing you as well, but…"
She shrugged, there was nothing she could do about it now. It still annoyed her.
"We will win," Kiyoshi said, and she heard the confidence in his voice.
"Is that right?" Mac asked smiling back at him, "We must see about that because I have no intention to lose here and neither does my team."
Kiyoshi laughed and ruffled her hair before he jogged back to his friends, and she smiled softly before sitting down again and tapped her pen against the notebook as she thought.
"Okay, we have prepared well to this match," Harasawa said when they gathered around the bench only minutes left before the match would start. "I want you all to give everything you have and focus on your tasks. Remember what Potter-san has told you, do not underestimate them!"
"Yes, coach!"
"They will come at us with everything they got right from the start," Mac said looking around at them. "They will probably hope that we will underestimate them and let them take control of the game from the start."
"We won't underestimate them," Susa said calmly and Mac nodded.
"I know," she said smiling slightly. "But, I want you to take the lead. Show them we're taking them seriously and use Daiki."
"From the start?" Wakamatsu asked, eying Daiki, who yawned but glanced at Mac.
Mac nodded and looked at him, "it's the best way. If they get Taiga and Tetsu started without us countering them, they will take control."
...
Mac took her place beside Harasawa when they entered the court for the line-up and pushed back the new wave of longing and disappointment that filled her as she watched them get ready. She would do her best too!
"Good job, Potter-san," Harasawa said, and she glanced at him but he wasn't looking at her. He didn't say anything else, so she just nodded and turned her attention back to the court just in time to see Taiga stepping up in front of Daiki. She tilted her head as she watched the two look at each other.
"Hey," Taiga said.
"Ooh," Daiki smirked lightly as he gave Taiga a considering look. "Looks like you've improved a little."
"Well, yeah," Taiga said and Mac arched a brow. Huh, he seemed to have changed a little, she thought. He was calmer, but also stronger. She could tell by the way he stood in front of Daiki, and she could tell that Daiki had noticed it too. It was something that was only noticeable on the court, so she had missed it until now.
Just then Tetsuya came up beside Taiga and looked up at Daiki, who turned his eyes from Taiga and over at his former shadow. Mac swallowed as she picked up on the pain, from both of them, as they just took the other in without words. She wondered what was going through their minds right then. Did they remember all the times they had played on the same team? Been the light and shadow? Did they remember the times spent at the grocery stores eating ice cream?
...
Tetsuya looked at Daiki and everything else seemed to go silent and disappear as he stood in front of his former light, his friend…
Yeah! Nice pass, Tetsu!
Heh, I don't really get it. We can't agree on anything else, but we play basketball so well together!
I'm disappointed. Your basketball will never win.
The only one who can beat me is me.
In face of overwhelming power, I don't think we can win just by working together.
Those were not parting words, but words meant to make us stop relying on each other and become stronger so we could combine even greater strength to win.
Both Daiki and Taiga's words echoed in his mind as he stood there and he wasn't sure how long he did, but it didn't really matter. He looked back at Daiki and gathered up all the determination he could find.
"We definitely won't lose this time," Tetsuya promised.
Daiki's eyes widened slightly as he took in the determination and the will he saw in those light blue eyes before he smirked.
"Fine," Daiki said. "In that case, let's settle things once and for all."
...
"The game between Seirin High and Too Academy will now begin," the speaker called out making the crowd cheer louder than before.
...
Imayoshi smirked as he watched Hyuga. How interesting, he thought. He acted like a real captain now and the rest of the team wasn't nervous at all. He couldn't help but feel slightly impressed. He knew that they had done everything they could in order to get ready for the match.
"Well, so have we," Imayoshi said and Susa glanced over at him.
"Shoichi?" Susa asked.
"Nothing," Imayoshi smiled. "Well… let's do this!"
"Yes," the others said and Imayoshi glanced over at where Mac was sitting on the bench next to Harasawa. She looked determined, and her notebook was opened in her lap and pen ready in her good hand. He allowed his eyes to rest on the cast on her left hand for a moment before looking away again.
They would win this for her, Imayoshi promised himself. Seirin wasn't the only ones that had done everything they could to get ready. Mac had pushed them harder than he thought anyone could and now it was time to show what had come out of all that training.
"For Mac," Imayoshi said and noticed how Daiki gave him a look before he nodded, a new determination in his eyes.
"For Mac," the others murmured in agreement.
...
Seirin vs Too Academy – 1st quarter - start of the match
...
Mac watched as Taiga won the tip-off against Wakamatsu and the ball ended up with Izuki, who immediately rushed toward the hoop with the rest of Seirin following. She had known that they would do that, and she was pleased when she saw Imayoshi following with a smirk on his face.
She sighed but smiled a little.
...
"How terrifying," Imayoshi said. "Go easy on us from the start, won't you?"
He covered Izuki who had the ball and was forced to stop right on the outside of the three-point line. He seemed to look for passing alternatives, but they were all covered very well.
"They're not underestimating us," Furihata said from the bench.
"Underestimating you?" Imayoshi repeated, having somehow picked up on the comment.
Mac huffed at the wishful thinking. She knew that they hoped that, but come on? Hadn't they realised that there was no chance of that happening? She knew them too well…
"You must be kidding," Imayoshi said. "We don't think you're that bad… and we have Mac, remember? There's no chance she'll allow us to underestimate you. If anything, we're playing as hard as we can."
Izuki moved to pass the ball to Hyuga, but Sakurai read the pass and stole the ball.
Crap, Izuki thought.
Hyuga followed Sakurai who stopped when he came to the three-point line and took the position to shoot or what looked like it, Hyuga jumped to block it and Mac noticed that it was a nice block… if Sakurai had intended to shoot.
But Sakurai hadn't intended to go for the shot so Hyuga blocked the wrong space so Sakurai's pass went past Hyuga, whose eyes widened as he realised that Sakurai was passing the ball and not shooting.
The ball flew through the air and Daiki jumped up and dunked the ball through the hoop with force.
"Ah! An alley-oop!" The crowd cheered.
Daiki landed and turned to see Taiga coming up behind him now.
"Ah, you're finally here," Daiki said casually. "You're late."
Taiga gritted his teeth as he stared at Daiki, and the others looked a little stunned.
"It's too bad you couldn't start strong and take the lead," Imayoshi said before turning to look at Hyuga and Kiyoshi, "sorry! We did it first."
...
0 – 2 : 1 minute played – 1st quarter
...
Riko glanced over at Mac, who was watching with an intense look in her eyes as she scanned the court. It wasn't surprising that they had taken it from the start, but Riko had still hoped they could have grabbed it for themselves.
Well, they just had to continue like they planned… with Tetsuya's special new pass.
Mac hummed as she saw Izuki pass the ball to Tetsuya and she wondered what they were up to now. She knew they had something in mind if they set up Tetsuya this early.
What's he trying to do? Daiki wondered as he looked at Tetsuya. That form… Was it the ignite pass?
Daiki couldn't help but feel frustrated and slightly incredulous. Was he really trying to use that pass in front of him?
"Come on, Tetsu! Who's underestimating who now?!" Daiki accused.
"Ignite pass… kai!" Tetsuya yelled and Daiki felt his eyes widened as the ball was hit with the palm of Tetsuya's hand and zoomed past Daiki before he could react properly with much more force than Daiki had thought possible… what was that?!
Mac felt her eyes widen as Tetsuya's pass got past Daiki who had been ready to stop it. To be honest, Mac had wondered why Tetsuya was trying to use the ignite pass when Daiki could stop it, but this… was different.
The ball ended up with Kiyoshi, who was almost at the hoop when Wakamatsu reached him and jumped up to block him. Mac smiled because Wakamatsu had grown faster than he had been, but she knew that it didn't necessarily mean that Kiyoshi was beaten.
True, while he looked a little startled Kiyoshi got the ball away and pass it behind him to Taiga who was there ready to dunk the ball through the hoop.
The crowd cheered again while Mac looked back at Tetsuya, who was being clasped on the shoulder by Izuki. What pass had he done?
She scribbled in the notebook as she wrote down what she remembered from it. It had been a version of his ignite pass, he had even named it the same, only adding the 'kai' to it. So, it was a more advanced version of it. He had spun his wrist and arm before hitting the ball with his palm, and that had added more force and spin to the ball that made it harder to stop.
That had to be it, Mac thought. To think that the pass had gotten past even Daiki… a look at him told her it annoyed him but there was something in him that had her look at him closer.
She had missed it in her research… how had she missed it?
...
2-2: 2 minutes played – 1st quarter
...
"I've never seen the improved version before," Ryota commented as he stared down at the court.
Kasamatsu glanced at him, "it's a good pass."
Ryota nodded, "yeah. It even got past Aomine-cchi."
"Impressive," Kasamatsu nodded in agreement.
Ryota smiled slightly. It was strange… just watching the match now was enough to get him smiling despite the heavy feeling of their own loss still lingering over him. Yet, he hadn't been able to stop himself from coming to watch Seirin play against Too Academy.
He saw Shintaro in the crowd as well with that friend of his, Takao. They were dressed in their team jerseys and he guessed they were only there until they had to get ready for their own match in a little while since they were playing against Rakuzan when this match was over.
Seijuro was there as well, by himself, by the looks of it. He stood by the door with his arms folded over his chest as his sharp eyes were watching the court.
He had even spotted Atsushi in the stands with Himuro and that blond woman (Alex if he remembered correctly) and even though he looked bored; he was there and eating his crisps.
...
"Don't rush," Imayoshi drawled as he heard someone from the Seirin bench cheer and tell the others to ride the wave. "We've only just started."
He smirked as he passed the ball to Susa just as Izuki tried to steal the ball. Susa shot the ball over to Tetsuya, who failed to block it and scored.
Seirin came rushing and passed the ball quickly before Hyuga went for the shot. It hit the metal of the hoop.
"Rebound!"
Kiyoshi jumped to grab it, but Wakamatsu forced himself up faster and grabbed the ball before Kiyoshi could get to it. Kiyoshi noticed that Wakamatsu was at least as strong as Taiga physically.
Wakamatsu passed the ball to Susa, who passed it to Sakurai before he made a three-pointer.
"Go, go Sakurai!" Mac heard the cheering and looked up to see several of their team standing in the stands cheering for Sakurai. She smiled slightly and looked back at the court. He looked pleased (and seemed to have forgotten to apologize for scoring… maybe there was hope for him yet).
She was pleased with how the match was developing, but she knew better than thinking they had this covered.
...
Tarou smiled slightly as he watched the game from the stands and looked at Mac, who was seated on the bench with her trusted notebook. He had just arrived back from a business trip so he hadn't been able to talk to either Mac or Taiga before the match.
"Oh, oh," a man said and Tarou glanced to the side to see a man in a white suit and maroon coloured shirt leaning forward in his seat slightly. He was also wearing a gold chain around his neck. He glanced at Tarou and smiled, "my daughter's team."
Tarou arched a brow, "Seirin?"
It couldn't be Mac, so he wasn't sure why he was asking…
"Yeah," the man said. "Their coach is my daughter."
Tarou nodded, "my son is on her team. Kagami Taiga."
"Really?" the man asked. "He's a good player. I'm Aida Kagetora."
"Kagami Tarou," Tarou shook his hand.
"Was he the one who had a cousin on the other team?" Kagetora asked.
"Yeah," Tarou nodded, "Potter Mackenzie, she's the manager and a player for Too Academy."
Kagetora nodded, "my daughter talks very highly of her. I regret that I don't have a chance to see just how good she is today as a player."
"Yeah, she was frustrated herself at being injured," Tarou said.
"Her coach is also very impressed with her," Kagetora said. "He was telling me about her last time I saw him."
"You know her coach?" Tarou asked.
"Played with him at Nationals back when we were young," Kagetora grinned and smiled again when Seirin won the ball and made a basket.
"Huh," Tarou said.
"So, who do you hope wins?" Kagetora asked. "Your son or your niece?"
"I think I'll keep it to both," Tarou laughed. "Can't decide."
Kagetora laughed.
"But…" He said as he stopped laughing.
"But what?" Tarou asked.
"I think Seirin will need something else if they're going to keep up with Too Academy for long," Kagetora said.
"What do you mean?" Tarou asked, from where he sat it looked like Seirin did all right. Too Academy hadn't pulled ahead by a lot.
"Kuroko-kun's pass didn't really change anything," Kagetora said. "Too Academy just continued to play like they normally do, and it didn't really affect them. Seirin needs something else to burst through because right now we're only seeing the difference in their strength and skills."
Tarou blinked and looked back at the court.
"So, they need what?" Tarou asked.
"Another special move would be nice," Kagetora said. "Hopefully they will have something to use that will challenge Too Academy."
"But you don't think so?" Tarou asked, glancing over at the other man.
"Well…" Kagetora said. "If what I have heard about Potter-san is true… I'm worried that they don't."
...
6 – 9 : 4 minutes played – 1st quarter
...
Mac stared. Daiki just… smiled?
Well, it wasn't his old smile, but it was more a smile than a smirk! Her hand tightened around her pen as she took in the smile/smirk from Daiki. And from just facing Taiga who had the ball and seemed to consider going one-on-one against him before after five seconds passed the ball to Izuki. Mac could hear the murmurs from the crowd and even if she couldn't make out the words, she could guess they were complaining about Taiga running away from the fight.
They were wrong.
Taiga showed great potential in those five seconds and Daiki realised that. He had read through the moves and saw that Daiki would stop him, so he had passed the ball to Izuki. For now. But he would be back.
She scribbled down on her notebook and furrowed her brow as she considered how this might turn out. Just what had Alex been teaching Taiga? She was filled with new hope and anticipation by that simple action and by the looks of it… so was Daiki.
She could only hope that it would last.
...
Alex grinned where she was seated. He sure had grown. A look at Mac showed her she too had realised that Taiga had grown and was making notes at a furious pace, making her teammates give her pensive looks.
The game had been okay until now with Too Academy in the lead and control, but Seirin hadn't fallen back as much as she had feared. And if Tetsuya could get his move ready in time… well, it had the potential to change everything. It was something Alex doubted even Mac had thought of. At least she hoped she hadn't… and she doubted that Daiki or Mac would be taken by surprise by the ignite pass kai again. They'd seen it now and having known that Tetsuya could do something similar from before, the shock wasn't that great…
But his new move was something completely different, though, and they'd never seen him do anything like that before. So it had potential. If only he'd had more time to work on it. She still wasn't sure he could do it yet, not reliably and they would need for him to hit it on his first try to make it count.
...
Mac stood up as she took in her team. They were on a time-out and they were looking all right, not too tired. They hadn't pushed too hard right from the start. Good. She nodded and looked over at Seirin, who looked a little more tired than them, but not as much as she would (maybe) have expected.
"What's next?" Imayoshi asked, looking at her.
Harasawa twirled a strand of hair as he too looked to her and Mac glanced down at her notebook.
"They will probably turn to Hyuga now," Mac said.
"Their captain?" Abe asked.
"Yeah," Mac said. "He's the one who can score the most from the outside. I'm sure they have determined that our inside is too well defended at the moment, so Hyuga is their best bet."
"Makes sense," Susa agreed.
"So, Sakurai," Mac said looking at him. "It will probably turn out as a war of three-pointers, okay?"
Sakurai nodded, looking nervous but also determined.
"And look out for Taiga," Mac said. "He'll be back to challenge Daiki again soon."
"He sure surprised me with passing the ball earlier," Imayoshi smirked. "I was sure he would rush in like a fool."
"He would have in our last match," Mac said. "But this is just another proof that he had changed."
"We know," Wakamatsu said. "We'll show them that we have changed too!"
"Yes!"
Mac smiled and nodded.
...
"You were right," Harasawa said when Hyuga got the ball on the outside.
"Seems like it," Mac said but frowned a little. "Oh… I see…"
Harasawa glanced at her, but she was focused on the scene on the court. Sakurai was in front of him and looked ready, but Mac could tell that Hyuga would score. He was quicker than before and took a step back, creating room for himself so he could take the jump shot without Sakurai being able to stop him.
"Hm," Harasawa twirled his hair. "He's grown."
Mac nodded.
"The first years are not the only ones who have grown," Hyuga spoke up and Mac glanced at him thoughtfully. "You apologetic mushroom."
Mac couldn't do much more than to just watch as they successfully set up Hyuga in the same position again and again and again. She tapped her pen against her lips as she stared at him, wondering how they should go around stopping him.
It wasn't like they weren't scoring themselves, because they did. Sakurai scored from the outside too, and like Mac had predicted, it was turning into a war of three-pointers.
"They picked up another annoying move," Imayoshi commented.
"Shouldn't someone help Sakurai?" Abe asked.
"Susa could help him," Inoue added and glanced over at Mac.
Mac narrowed her eyes as she looked at Sakurai and saw the way he tensed, but it wasn't a bad tension. Not really. He looked like he was thinking hard.
"No," she said. "He's the best we have to figure it out."
"But…"
"He won't let this go," Mac said, glancing over at them. "He's our best with shooting from the outside and he will figure out how to deal with Hyuga. Trust him."
They nodded but still looked a little worried.
...
19 – 22 : 9 minutes played – 1st quarter
...
Hermione and Ueno both looked at the court with wide eyes. The battle that was going on between Hyuga and Sakurai was great.
"Doesn't it look like he's pouting?" Ueno asked, looking at Sakurai.
It did look like he was pouting as he had just forced a shot through despite being covered by Hyuga, but the Sakurai had gotten it through. He was now staring at Hyuga with, as they said, a pout.
"It does," Hermione said. "Strange… when I met him he was always so apologetic… and it seemed like he was that way earlier too."
Ueno smiled a little.
...
"I will win," Sakurai said looking at Hyuga who blinked back at him. "After all, I'm better!"
"What?!" Hyuga looked shocked at Sakurai, who had turned around and ran away.
Mac snorted. Looks like he was in his zone now…
"He won't lose now," Mac smiled amused. "He still gets childish when he's pushed this far."
Hyuga looked annoyed, though, and she could tell that he was riled up too. Amusing.
...
It was only seconds left of the first quarter now and Too was in lead. Mac bit down on her lower lip as she noticed Tetsuya getting the ball and saw Susa stepping up to stop him. It was going according to plan and Mac knew that she would get answers from him now.
Tetsuya used his vanishing drive in order to get past Susa before facing Wakamatsu, but Tetsuya passed the ball back to Hyuga, who shot the ball through the hoop and tied the score.
Mac hummed thoughtfully as the excitement from the crowd filled the arena as the buzzer sounded and ended the first quarter.
...
22 – 22 : 10 minutes played – 1st quarter - end.
...
The team came over to the bench and Mac got up and handed them their water and a towel. She glanced at Daiki who looked pensive; he hadn't been involved too much yet. But she hadn't expected him too, but he would soon have to step up.
"Good," she said. "Sakurai, you're doing all right against Hyuga. Keep it up."
Sakurai nodded, and Mac turned to Susa.
"You were right," he said, and she nodded slowly.
"It's decided, then," Imayoshi smirked.
Mac nodded slowly as she thought.
"So, Tetsu will probably use his vanishing drive again," Mac said looking around. "I had Susa pay attention if he came across it and he confirmed what I had told him about earlier."
"And what was that?" Wakamatsu asked. "Because he just disappeared and then he was past Susa."
"Taiga," Mac.
"Your cousin?" Harasawa asked.
"Yeah," Mac nodded. "The cooperation between Tetsu and Taiga is great, and Tetsu has found a way for Taiga to make his vanishing drive possible."
"How is it possible?" Namamura asked. "And how do we stop it?"
"It's basically a cross-diagonal move to where the opponents' eyes can't see," Mac explained, "he bends in a certain way, do not think the way he moved before the drive was random, and it's difficult to follow. But the real secret is Taiga; he will grab the attention of the opponent for a second. Just a second, but it's enough to make the vanishing drive possible."
"Huh," Imayoshi said. "Well… I guess I'm impressed."
Mac nodded, "and I think Daiki will be the only one who can beat it."
Daiki arched a brow, "of course I can beat it."
"How?" Wakamatsu asked eying Daiki.
"By being better than him," Daiki huffed.
"Stop it," Mac told them. "Now, let's focus."
Harasawa shook his head and smiled slightly. He didn't need to speak up because Mac had this covered.
"Daiki;" Mac said stepping in front of him and he looked at her. "You know what to do, right?"
"Of course," he said.
"You okay?" she asked.
He stood up and put a hand on her head, making her scowl at him, and he smirked. "You worry too much."
...
22 – 22 : 10 minutes played – 2nd quarter - start
...
Daiki felt annoyed and frustrated as Seirin immediately set up Tetsuya again and he could feel the tension from both his own teammates and Seirin. This was it. This was where Seirin was trying to break out and grab some sort of control over the game.
Had they forgotten him?
Just because he had done little in the last quarter didn't mean that he should be underestimated. Stupid.
Why did he play again?
He got in front of Tetsuya and saw the momentary surprise in his eyes and could from the corner of his eyes pick up on the stunned looks from the rest of Seirin. Hadn't they realised that he would challenge Tetsuya like this? To see what he could do?
Not that this was enough to get past him.
"I'm glad you understand, Tetsu," Daiki said. "We get along when it comes to basketball."
"I agree!" Tetsuya said and moved.
At first it looked like Tetsuya got past Daiki and the cheers from Seirin's bench sounded but Daiki suddenly took a long step back making him level with Tetsuya again and a hand was raised ready to stop it.
...
Mac swallowed as she watched and couldn't help but remember scenes with Tetsuya and Daiki from before and how carefree and happy they had been. Daiki always loved spending time with Tetsuya and playing with him. The one who understood Daiki's basketball the best was Tetsuya (well, not counting herself, but that was different), and without it, Daiki was even more lost.
Seeing them like this… it hurt more than she wanted to admit.
"He closed his eyes?" Harasawa asked, shocked.
"It's the best way to stop the move," Mac said. "If he can't see Taiga then he can't react to him either, and Daiki knows Tetsuya well enough to know how he moves and besides, he can rely on his other senses to know what's happening."
"Wow," Abe said.
...
Daiki stole the ball and without looking at Tetsuya ran away and dunked the ball through the hoop before landing effortlessly and stood still for a second.
He turned and saw Tetsuya having come up behind him and saw the shock and pain in his eyes and for a moment Daiki felt bad but he pushed it back and his own frustration filled him. Was this really his answer?
"Don't get the wrong idea, Tetsu!" Daiki said more harshly than intended. "A shadow doesn't exist without light. No matter how much you struggle, it never works the other way. A shadow can't defeat the light."
Daiki was practically blind to the hurt, the pain and despair… it was all so familiar by now, anyway. He should just… let it be. Nothing would ever change…
Stunned silence filled the court as Daiki walked past Tetsuya and he refused to look over at Mac, who he knew would look pained and worried. Worried about him, about Tetsuya despite being on opposite teams…
Movement from behind him had him turn, and he saw Tetsuya getting ready to perform that pass that had gotten past him earlier. Daiki narrowed his eyes. Did he really think that would work now?
"Don't do it, Kuroko!" Izuki yelled. "Kagami and Kiyoshi haven't lost their marks yet!"
Idiot, Daiki thought.
The ball came toward him fast and hard but he just held up his hand and this time he stopped the ball dead on and he could feel it spin against the palm of his hand before it dropped to the floor. It was a strong pass; Daiki would admit that, but…
"Did you think the same move would work twice against me?" Daiki called out. "Try not to disappoint me so much, Tetsu! If this is your answer to defeating me, I will make it clear - it's a useless effort."
He grabbed the ball and dribbled past a stunned looking Tetsuya and faced Izuki, who he easily dribbled past before Taiga came to cover them. Despite Taiga jumping up so he was close to Daiki, he just threw the ball from the low position it was in and it went high before falling through the hoop.
"Impossible! It shouldn't be possible to make that shot!"
"Aomine's formless shoot!"
...
Mac fisted her good hand as she took in both Daiki and Tetsuya. Dread filled her and she could feel herself getting upset and angry, but she couldn't focus on this now. She had to push it away… She took one last look at Tetsuya and saw the pain and despair in him, and she wished… no, she couldn't wish. She was on the other team and that meant that she would do everything she could to win with them.
She wanted to win with Too Academy. She needed it.
...
...
AN: This is only part one of three of the match between Seirin and Too Academy. I know...it turned out long. I just couldn't help it because there's a lot of character development going on in this match and it's important for the story. On a positive note; I have the next part already written and just needs to edit it. Part three is almost done as well and should be finished very soon. So you don't have to wait too long before the answer to this match will be up. I won't say anything about how it turns out yet but will discuss it at the end of part three. Hopefully, you'll like it.
Oh, and it is based on the original match from the manga/anime between Seirin and Too Academy. I have made some changes to it, obviously, so it will fit with what I want but I like that match a lot and it's easier for me to write out matches when I have something to base it on. And I've tried to make it more focused on Too Academy than Seirin. XD
Thank you for reading. XD