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

...

...

2nd year – Too Academy

...

The summer holidays had begun, but that didn't mean that Mac didn't have work to do. She and the rest of the team had agreed that they would keep up with their practices for the most part. Though it would be days they would have off, she wanted to have training menus in place for them all so they could also do things on their own.

"Are you going somewhere?" Taiga asked making Mac look behind her to find her cousin watching her curiously.

"I thought I would go outside to work on the training menus," Mac said. "I think I'll go crazy staying inside."

"Okay," Taiga said. "Will you be back for dinner?"

"Probably," Mac said. "I'll let you know if my plans change."

"Good," Tarou said. "Have a nice day, Mac."

"Thanks, and you too," Mac smiled and picked up Nao who came running at her just as she opened the door. "So, you did want to come, eh? Well, let's go and find a nice place to work, Nao."

Nao yapped happily in her arms making her smile as she scratched his ear. It had been a while since she had been able to just go out like this, and she had missed it. She considered texting Daiki, but she thought he had plans with Tetsuya later, so she didn't. Besides, sometimes it was nice to just be on her own.

Mac walked around until she reached the park and saw two girls around Middle School age playing basketball at the street court that was just beside the park. Mac watched them for a moment feeling a small smile play on her lips as she remembered how she had done the same with Daiki at that age. She could tell that they were new to the game, but they looked like they had fun. It was something innocent and inspiring to watch as they dribbled and tried to shoot.

"How nice," Mac mumbled before she shook herself out of it and walked to a nearby tree and sat down. Nao started to run around like he normally would, and she knew he wouldn't go too far from her.

She pulled out her notebook and started to work on the training menus. She would meet with Harasawa on Monday to discuss them, so she needed to have them ready. She knew that they would need to push themselves harder until the Winter Cup, and she would adjust some of the intensity of their training.

It was harder than she thought to balance it all out, but the first years had taken large steps in their game since they started, and she thought they would also be ready to do more now. Especially Kasahara and Yugi had grown a lot over the Inter-High, and she looked forward to seeing how far they could go.

"Oi! Get lost!"

"You can't use the court!"

"We're going to use it now!"

Mac blinked as she got pulled out of her planning (she had no idea how much time had passed) and looked over to the court where the voices had come from. She frowned when she saw the group of five boys having entered the court where the two girls had been playing.

The two girls had stopped and looked a little frightened as the boys crowded closer to them, and Mac put down her notebook before she really realised that she had done so and got to her feet.

"We were here first," one of the girls said as Mac came closer.

"So? You're just girls," one of the boys said, "it's not like you can play really."

"Yeah! It's our turn now!" another of the boys said while the others laughed.

"You can use the other half," the girl who had spoken up said while the other one shuffled closer to her friend.

From what Mac could tell the boys were around the same age as the girls, and it annoyed her that they seemed to think that they could just demand the court like this.

"I saw you play, and you suck!" the third boy said with a sneer. "So why don't you just go?!"

One of the boys reached out and grabbed the ball from them and Mac narrowed her eyes.

...

"What do you think you're doing?" Mac asked having gotten closer now the group on the court turned to her and she saw the way the boys glanced at each other clearly not having realised that there was someone else around.

"None of your business," boy one said confidently. "Go away."

"So you can bully the girls? No, I don't think so," Mac said calmly barely managing to keep the anger she felt back. She hated bullies. "They were here before you, so either you take their offer of using the other half of the court or you should go and find somewhere else to play."

She heard one of the girls gasp and looked over at them to find that they were now staring at her with wide eyes.

"You're Potter Mackenzie, aren't you?!" the one who had spoken up earlier said awed and Mac blinked.

"Yes, I am," Mac said not sure what to do with this.

"Wow! We've seen you play! You're amazing!" the other girl spoke up.

"Play?" one of the boys scoffed.

"You don't know her?" the girl snapped. "She's a regular and the Captain of Too Academy's basketball team! They won the Winter Cup last year and got in second place at the Inter-High this year!"

The boys exchanged looks again.

"Her?" the leader of the boys snorted and looked at her. "As if."

"Brat," Mac said. "You should watch how you talk."

"She's one of the Generation of Miracles!" the other girl said.

"Her? No way!"

"That's impossible!"

Mac rolled her eyes annoyed, though she also felt a little bemused over the way the two girls talked about her.

"Play us and prove it!" one of the boys said and Mac arched a brow.

"Why should I?" Mac asked. "You're just brats."

"Don't call us brats!"

"We're 14!"

"So? Still brats," Mac said. "I don't see why I should play you when you can't even treat others with respect. No one here owes you anything, you know? I think you should leave."

"No, we won't," the leader said. "We always use this court. It's ours!"

"Oh? It's yours?" Mac asked looking at him, "then…do you have the papers to prove it? Last I checked it was a public court and anyone can use it."

She heard the girls giggle and an embarrassed flush spread in the boys' cheeks.

"Stop it!" the boy snapped.

Mac sighed as she considered what to do. She could leave, but then they would just take it out on the two girls and Mac didn't want that. She didn't really want to play them, but…maybe she should?

She glanced over at the two girls for a moment before she looked back at the boys.

"Fine," Mac said. "I'll play you. If I win then you'll leave the girls alone so they can continue their playing."

"You'll all leave when we win," the leader said confidently. "And don't take our court from us again."

Mac withheld a sigh, barely, and looked over at the two girls again.

"You okay with this?" Mac asked.

"Yes!"

...

"Will you be okay?"

Mac turned to see the two girls had come over to her and were watching her worriedly.

"Sure," Mac said. "Are you okay?"

"We're fine!"

Mac nodded, "what are your names?"

"I'm Kitami Seha," the girl who had been talking the most said, "and this is my friend Kawazu Taena."

"Nice to meet you," Mac said.

"Oi! Are you backing out?!"

Mac sighed, "let's get this over with, shall we?"

"Five against one, isn't that a little much?" Kawazu asked concerned.

"Potter can do it," Kitami said confidently. "Just you wait!"

Mac heard them and wondered just what they thought about her, but she tried to push it away for now. She looked at the boy she had dubbed as the leader and saw that he was holding the ball.

"You can start with the ball," Mac said. "First one to ten points where every basket counts as one, okay?"

"Sounds good to me," the leader said. "Be sure not to cry too much when we're done."

"Sure," Mac deadpanned.

...

Mac watched them for a moment as they started to dribble the ball and one look told her that they were underestimating her. It was clear they believed that there was no way she could do anything against them with her being on her own.

She moved toward Nasu who had the ball knowing he would pass the ball to his right but didn't react as she watched how Nakai took the shot and the ball bounced against the hoop before it went through.

"Haha! Look at that!" Ishino cheered.

"She couldn't even touch the ball!" Nasu added.

Mac tilted her head before she sighed. They were too cocky.

She grabbed the ball and just arched a brow as the boys smirked at her clearly believing that they had already won. Huh.

Mac started to dribble the ball when Ishino came at her, but she knew he would put his weight on his left foot, so she used that to spin around him making him unable to do anything as she was past him. Nasu was waiting, and Mac stepped back so he missed her, and she stepped to her left before she took the shot, and the ball went through the hoop with a swish.

She heard Kitami and Kawazu cheer at the sidelines.

The boys seemed a little stunned, but they seemed to shake it off quickly enough and started to play once more.

Mac was already feeling a bit tired of this, so she decided to up the tempo a bit. She approached Haku who looked a little nervous and when she saw him go for the pass she reached out and stole the ball and turned in the same movement and ran toward the hoop while dribbling the ball and avoiding the others before she jumped and dunked the ball through the hoop.

Mac used her speed and ability to read them knowing how they would move and do almost before they did themselves. She stole the ball when they had it and they never managed to take it away from her as she made her basket.

...

"Yeah!"

"She won!"

Mac turned toward the boys who looked exhausted and were breathing hard as they stared at her with disbelief, and was that fear?

Mac hid a grimace, had she been too rough? Maybe she should have held back a little more.

Kitami and Kawazu came rushing over to her and cheered while looking at her with awe making Mac feel uncomfortable and unsure.

"How…" Nakai gasped.

"You underestimated me because I'm a girl," Mac said looking at him. "Besides, you are too new in the game to challenge me yet."

"It doesn't count!" Nasu yelled.

"You cheated!" Jingu added.

Mac arched a brow, "you're only embarrassing yourselves more by acting like this. We have a deal. I won."

They stared at her before Haku sighed and turned around.

"Oi, Haku!" Nasu said.

"She's right," Haku said. "She won, and we said we would leave."

"But…"

"It doesn't matter," Haku said. "You want to stay here? I'm leaving."

The others hesitated for a moment before they left as well.

...

"Hm;" Mac said. "I might have overdone it."

"No way! That was so cool!" Kitami said.

"You played amazing!" Kawazu added.

Mac smiled a little not sure how to react, "um, well. Thank you."

She felt a bit uncomfortable and turned to walk back to where she had been working on her training menus (she still wasn't done) and stopped when she felt a hand grab her shirt and turned to see Kitami looking at her unsurely.

"What is it?" Mac asked as she moved to get out of the other girl's hold. Kitami immediately let go.

"Sorry," Kitami said. "I just… Can you teach us?"

Mac blinked, "what?"

"We want to get better at playing, but we're not good yet," Kitami said.

Mac watched them and looked toward her bag and Nao who had returned to her place and was resting on top of her bag. Both girls looked so hopeful and Mac could feel herself giving in.

"I don't have too much time, but I can stay for a little bit," Mac said and they grinned at her making her smile a little.

And that was how Mac suddenly found herself coaching the two girls.

"You need to relax your movements more," Mac told Kawazu. "Your shoulders are too tense and that affects how you're able to move and how quickly you can do it."

Mac smiled a little as the younger girl tried to do as Mac had said, but it wasn't always easy to just do.

"Look," Mac said and grabbed the ball and moved into the same position as the girl was in. "Watch how my shoulders relax and how the movement is fluent."

Mac did the movement and knew they both were watching her.

"You're making it look easy," Kitami said.

"It's easy when you can do it," Mac said. "It's experience and practice. I spent hours and hours playing and practising when I was younger. Still do, really."

"Okay," Kawazu said and looked focused.

After a while, Mac stepped back and smiled a little as she watched the two girls working on the task she had given them.

...

"Why did you start playing basketball?" Kitami asked when they had finished and the two girls sat on the court looking tired but pleased. Mac was standing beside them and blinked when she looked at the two girls.

"Why? Hm, I guess I started because of Daiki," Mac said.

"Aomine Daiki?" Kawazu asked and Mac nodded.

"Yeah, he loved basketball and always wanted to play so he asked me and I said yes," Mac shrugged thinking back at the first meeting with Daiki. "After that, I kept playing because it was fun and because it connected me with my friend."

"That's so cool," Kitami said. "He's your boyfriend now, isn't he?"

Mac rubbed the back of her head as she looked at them again wondering about how much they seemed to know about her. Odd.

"Yes, he is," Mac agreed. "So, why do you like basketball?"

Mac hoped to steer the conversation away from her now, and she didn't really want to talk about her boyfriend with them.

"You!" They both said grinning.

"We saw you in the Inter-High and thought that you looked cool and you're as strong as if not stronger than the boys!" Kitami gushed.

"We want to be like you!" Kawazu added.

Mac stared at them, stunned and felt something that she wasn't sure how to describe as she tried to find a reply to that. Just…what was happening?

"I…see," Mac finally said before mentally wincing. "Thank you, you're very kind."

"Thank you for helping us today," Kitami said. "They wouldn't have left if you hadn't helped us."

"There's always those who believe they can dictate everything," Mac said. "You have just as much right to use this court as they are. Don't let them get you down."

"We won't!"

"Good," Mac said. "Sorry, but I need to go now. Keep working hard and I'm sure you'll get stronger."

"Okay, thank you!" Kawazu said and Kitami nodded.

Mac shook her head slightly not sure what just happened, but she had to admit that it had been fun teaching them.

...

"Ah, Himuro," Mac said when she stepped into the apartment again and found Himuro in the living room with Taiga.

"Mac," Himuro smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Mac said. "I didn't know you were visiting today."

"It's the summer holiday and I decided that I wanted to see Taiga for a bit," Himuro smiled. "It's been a while since we've been able to just hang out."

"Good," Mac said. "I'll see you later, then. I have to finish my work for Harasawa."

"Sure," Himuro said.

"We'll order pizza later," Taiga said.

"Let me know when it gets here," Mac said and walked to her room. She watched as Nao jumped up on her bed before she walked to her desk and pulled out her notebook again. She only had a little more to do before she was done, but it was like her mind was everywhere else and found it uncommonly difficult to focus.

It was an hour later that Taiga knocked on her door to let her know that the pizza was there. She leaned back and stretched before she got up.

"I thought you went out to finish that," Taiga said when she joined them in the living room.

"I did, but I was distracted," Mac shrugged and reached over to take a slice. "But I'm done now."

"Tatsuya told me about this street basketball team he heard about from his friends back in Los Angeles," Taiga said.

"Oh?" Mac looked over at Tatsuya. "Are they good?"

"I haven't watched them play myself, but my friends have seen them play," Himuro said. "They're called Jabberwock."

Mac frowned, "I think I've heard that name before…but where?"

She tried to think, but she couldn't place it.

"You might if you follow streetball," Himuro said.

"Oh, right," Mac said. "They're talented, right? I think I read an article about them once. If I remember correctly I didn't really like the impression I got from that article."

Himuro nodded, "I'd say they are about your level of talented, if not even more so."

Mac arched a brow, "really? Hm. Interesting, I guess."

"At least if what my friends said were true," Himuro added.

"Guess time will show," Mac said.

"True," Taiga said. "It would be fun playing them."

Mac and Himuro exchanged a fond look as Taiga practically bounced in excitement.

"You always want to play someone strong," Himuro commented.

"Of course!" Taiga said. "It's fun."

Mac chuckled amused.

"Did you come to Tokyo with Atsushi?" Mac asked changing the subject as she looked over at Himuro.

"Yes, but he is with his parents now," Himuro said.

Mac nodded, "good. I know he enjoys spending time with you."

"He said he was going to meet you tomorrow," Himuro said smiling. "He sounded like a happy child with how excited he was."

Mac smiled, "I look forward to seeing him again too."

Mac was looking forward to seeing Atsushi again, and the others as well. They were all going to meet after she and Daiki had finished practice. They were meeting to talk to Kagetora who had asked them to come to his gym so he could talk to them about something. He hadn't really said what, but Mac was curious.

...

"This looks good," Harasawa said and looked at Mac who smiled pleased. "I will pay attention to how they all handle the heavier weights, but I think most of them should be able to handle it. At least the second and third years."

"That's my thoughts as well," Mac said. "The first years should have the lighter ones since they didn't have that last year as we did."

Harasawa nodded, "you want them to play with them too or just the different drills?"

"I thought it would be best if they played with them too," Mac said. "Though, we will need to balance it out and make sure that they don't push themselves too much with them on. I don't want to cause injuries."

"Good," Harasawa said. "Then we will be working on the drill you came up with for today."

Mac nodded and turned just as the others entered the gym ready for the day's practice. She walked to the centre of the court and waited for them to gather around her and stop talking. She took the moment to observe them. Daiki met her eyes, and she was pleased to see that he was looking eager and ready to play.

"Potter will be leading the practice today," Harasawa said. "If there is anything you need, I'll be in my office."

Mac glanced at him and nodded knowing that he had an appointment, so she'd been asked to lead the practice. She didn't mind.

"Okay," Mac said turning her attention back to the others as Harasawa walked toward his office. "I want you to be wearing weights today."

"Again?" Abe asked while Inoue and Yamaguchi looked resigned.

"Again?" Rakuto asked looking between them.

"Last year I had them wearing weights for a period of time," Mac explained and motioned toward the box where the weights were placed. She looked at the first years with a serious look. "I told them last year, so I will tell you now. I will not take it easy on you if you use them in a way I don't tell you to. You'll use the weights I assign you, and if you have trouble with them, you will bring it to either me or coach Harasawa, okay?"

They nodded.

"I'll help you with getting the on correctly so that you will know next time how to do it," Mac said.

When everyone had gotten the correct weights Mac stepped back and nodded.

"Okay," Mac said. "Good. Remember that while it might not seem heavy right now you will feel it later. I will say it again, do not put on more weights. Even if you see others using heavier weights or you think that you can handle it. I do not care. I've been calculating how much you can handle out from the results from our training."

They nodded when she looked at them.

"Good, then first we'll run," Mac said and smiled at the groans from Abe and Inoue.

...

Mac watched them more closely than she had in a while when they finished their laps and was pleased to see that while they looked like they felt the weights they didn't seem too bothered by them.

"Good," Mac said. "Take five minutes to rest and be sure to drink water."

Mac walked to the bench and picked up her notebook to write down some observations and ideas she'd gotten from the run.

"You should drink too," Daiki said holding out a bottle for her and she blinked as she looked up at him.

"Ah, thank you," Mac said taking the bottle from him.

"Are you okay?" Daiki asked.

"Yes, of course," Mac said. "Just had some ideas."

"As normal, then," Daiki smiled.

Mac rolled her eyes but didn't argue. He sat down beside her and she glanced at him before smiling softly and going back to her notes. She had to find a way to push them more, while also keeping the balance there. She didn't want them to get injured because she was impatient.

Mac put her notebook down and got back to her feet and looked around the gym to see the others seated in groups talking.

"Breaks over!" Mac called.

"How will you torture us today, Cap?" Abe asked.

"Shh! Don't provoke her!" Inoue and Sekai immediately said.

"Torture?" Mac smiled and they groaned. "No, it won't be anything too difficult today. You're still getting used to the weights."

"I'm not sure I trust that;" Wakamatsu sighed.

"Scared?" Daiki teased making Wakamatsu glare at him.

"Quiet," Mac said and they both closed their mouths and turned back to her. "So, I want you to spread out along the walls of the gym. You'll have two basketball each, and will be facing the wall from 3 feet away."

"Why?" Sakurai asked. "Sorry!"

"You'll be holding a ball in each hand and throw the first ball with your right hand against the wall before you will pass the ball in your left hand to your right hand and catch the first ball with your left hand, and then repeat."

"Isn't that easy?" Rakuto asked.

"Easy?" Abe looked at him. "Not necessarily."

"You will do this for 25 seconds at a time and I will be signalling when you'll stop," Mac continued ignoring them. "I want you to try to hit the same spot on the wall each time, so you'll notice that I've been marking the walls with X-marks with tape. You'll also notice that I've been marking where you will stand because the marks on the wall are based on your height."

"Ah, so that's why they are there," Shishui said looking around. "I was wondering."

Mac nodded, "yes. Do you understand?"

"Are we just doing it once?" Wakamatsu asked.

"No, when the 25 seconds are up you'll take 30 seconds break before you do it again, but this time in the opposite way. Meaning, you'll use your left hand to throw the ball against the wall, okay?"

...

Mac waited until everyone had found their spots and used the whistle to signal for them to start. She would have liked to participate as well, but since Harasawa was busy she couldn't do that. She wanted to make sure that they didn't push themselves too much with the weights on, and someone had to keep track of the time.

"No!" Kasahara snapped as the ball bounced away from him and he lost it.

"Pick it up and keep going!" Mac said. "Don't stop."

Others also lost the ball and had to run after it a few times.

Mac blew the whistle when 25 seconds had passed and almost smiled as they groaned.

"That was so much harder than I thought!" Sekai groaned.

"My arms feel like lead… they won't react in time," Kasahara said glaring down at his weights.

"You'll get used to it," Mac said.

"Aren't you going to do it?" Sekai asked.

"Someone has to keep track of the time," Mac said.

"You can do it now and we will time you," Wakamatsu grinned.

Mac arched a brow, "you just want to see me do it, don't you?"

"It's not fair that you get to skip it," Abe grinned.

Daiki laughed and Mac sighed.

"Fine," she said. "Daiki will you time me?"

"Of course," he grinned.

Mac picked up two basketballs and turned toward the wall.

"Ready," Daiki said. "Go."

Mac threw the ball against the wall before quickly passing the ball in her left hand over to her right and caught the ball bouncing back in the same movement and threw the ball in her right hand again.

She was so focused that she barely noticed Daiki when he called out that she was done.

"You made it look easy," Sakurai said. "I found it hard."

"You didn't miss a ball, though," Namamura said looking at Sakurai who smiled but didn't say anything.

...

"Okay," Mac eventually called out. "We're done with this part for today."

She had changed the drills a bit or rather adjusted them so that they would use different muscles and not just the same ones. She couldn't help but feel a little proud when she saw how they all looked determined despite looking tired.

"Get the weights off," Mac said.

"Finally!" More than one of them cried out making Mac laugh and she saw that Daiki was smiling a bit as well.

"This part? Does that mean you have something else planned?" Yugi asked wearily.

"I was thinking that if you weren't too exhausted from this, we would play a game," Mac said. "Just for fun."

"Fun?" Kasahara looked at her confused.

"I know it has been rough since we lost in the final," Mac said. "And I know we've pushed hard at practice since, but it is important to remember why we play the game as well. So that is why I wanted us to just play for fun."

"I'm in," Wakamatsu said immediately.

"You decide if you want to join," Mac said, "there is nothing wrong with deciding to skip this. If you feel too tired or are worried about injuries. Listen to your body. Okay?"

No one decided to skip the game, but Mac hadn't really expected anyone to do that. She liked that everyone always was eager to play, and she wanted to foster it. Keeping that drive in the team was important. She hadn't originally planned for a game like this today, but the feeling she had from having helped the two girls the day before was still lingering. It was a reminder that basketball should be fun, and she wanted to give that to the others as well.

"Cap and Aomine should be on different teams," Abe said. "Or else there won't be a game."

Daiki sighed, "I never get to be on the same team as Kenzie."

"You would find it boring to just play against us," Sakurai said before he blinked. "Sorry!"

Daiki snorted amused. "True."

Mac shook her head, "fine. We can use straws to decide the teams. Short straws on my team, long straws on Daiki's."

...

"See you in a couple of days," Mac said. "Remember to follow the training menu even when you're not here, okay?"

"Yes, Cap," several of them said at once making Mac smile. She knew she was nagging at them, and she tried to stop herself from going too far.

Daiki was waiting for her by the door when she had finished changing and immediately took her hand and squeezed it.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Sure," Daiki said. "Why does he want to see us?"

Mac shrugged, "I don't know."

She glanced at him and rolled her eyes amused. He still looked smug because he had won their practice match. Though, she enjoyed seeing him show emotions like this again. That he took joy from a match like this, was more than she had hoped for.

"Mac-cchi!"

Mac blinked before she found herself being hugged and pulled away from Daiki by a hyper blond.

"Ryota," Mac managed to say. "Air!"

"Whoops," Ryota said. "Sorry, Mac-cchi."

Mac laughed at the sheepish look on his face.

"It's fine," Mac said. "How are you?"

"I'm fine!" Ryota grinned. "I missed you, though!"

Daiki shook his head but didn't say anything. They had reached the Aida Gym now and noticed that they were the last ones there.

"You're late," Seijuro said making his way over and Mac immediately hugged him.

"Sorry," she said. "Practice lasted a little longer than I thought."

"You still would have practice even during the holidays," Seijuro said.

"Like you haven't given your team training menus," Mac gave him a look. "Or will have practices when you are back in Kyoto."

Seijuro shrugged.

"Mac-chin," Atsushi said and Mac turned to the tall centre and grinned at him.

"Hey, Atsushi," Mac said before laughing as he pulled her into a hug.

Mac just hugged him back.

...

"Does anyone know why Aida asked us to come?" Ryota asked looking around the large gym. "And was it here you had the joint training with Seirin, Mac-cchi?"

"I don't know why he asked us to come," Mac said, "and yes. He owns this gym. There are plenty of national athletes that use this gym."

"I see," Ryota said.

Mac looked over at Seijuro who was quiet and just waiting patiently.

"You okay, Seijuro?" Mac asked.

"I'm fine, Mac," Seijuro said and gave her a small smile.

"Why did I have to come?" Atsushi asked bored. "I wanted to go and eat with Mac-chin not go to a gym."

"We can go and eat when we're done here, Atsushi," Mac said. "I want to hear more about your job at the bakery."

Atsushi smiled.

Daiki yawned, "how long are we supposed to just wait here?"

"I'm sure he'll be here soon," Mac said sighing softly.

Shintaro and Tetsuya were waiting patiently and didn't seem like they cared one way or the other, and Mac felt a rush of gratitude for them.

"I still don't know why Kuroko-cchi coach's dad wanted to meet us," Ryota said. "And asked us to come to Tokyo."

"Brats," Kagetora greeted them as he entered the gym. "You're here, good."

Mac felt a little amused. She kept forgetting how blunt he could be.

"Why did you ask us to come, Aida-san?" Seijuro asked.

Mac glanced at him and she had to admit that it hadn't been that easy to get him to agree to come and meet someone he never met before. He didn't really see the need to do that, but she had asked and in the end, Seijuro had agreed.

"Impatient," Kagetora said.

Mac reached out and placed a hand on Seijuro's arm to stop him from responding to the rude tone from Kagetora.

"I'm sorry," a new voice said making them look toward the door where another man was standing. He was wearing a suit, though the top button on his shirt was open and his tie was just hanging around his neck without being tied. Making him look like a cross between a businessman and someone who slacked off. "Kagetora asked you to come on my request."

...

"Who are you?" Seijuro asked frowning and Mac wasn't the only one who picked up on the demand in his tone. She didn't say anything, though, just watched the newcomer.

"Ah, yes," he said. "I'm Kubooki Yukikaze."

Mac arched a brow as she looked at him. She had heard of him before, but she didn't really know what he looked like. She could tell the others, though maybe not Seijuro, didn't know who he was and were looking around confused.

"Haha, look at that," Kagetora said. "You've grown old like the rest of us, Kaze-san. They don't recognize you."

"He's a former NBA basketball player," Mac said and the two men looked over at her. "He used to play at the National team together with coach Harasawa and Adia."

"See, I'm not totally unknown yet," Kubooki said and Kagetora laughed.

"Still doesn't answer why we are here," Seijuro said giving the two a sharp look.

Mac tilted her head curiously as she watched the two.

"Right," Kubooki said after watching Seijuro for a moment. "First, thank you for agreeing to meet me. I know it is an inconvenience for you."

Mac glanced at Seijuro and knew he would take the lead in how to handle it. He had the most experience with meetings, though probably more formal than this.

"As for why I asked you to come," Kubooki said looking at them all with a small smile, "I want to invite you to enter a street basketball tournament."

...

...

AN: What do you think? XD

It's almost time for the tournament. It should start in a chapter or two! Finally! XD
Do you think Mac would like the idea of the tournament or would she be worried? XD

Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it! XD