A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed. It makes me happy.
Here's the part II. Enjoy. :)
I am a human being, with feelings and emotions and scars and flaws, just like anyone else. – Josh Gordon
Acquaintances we meet, enjoy, and can easily leave behind; but friendship grows deep roots. – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
The strongest principle of growth lies in the human choice. – George Eliot
We need the whole squad, every player of the team, if we are to be successful. – Pep Guardiola
We all fly. Once you leave the ground, you fly. Some people fly longer than others. – Michael Jordan
Success is where preparation and opportunity meet. – Bobby Unser
If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm. – Frank Lane
Aomine came home. The dogs greeted him enthusiastically, but otherwise, it was empty. Both of his parents were working, his mom pulling a 24 hour long shift at the emergency department in a local hospital and his father at a local police station.
He sighed and climbed the stairs to his room. He threw his bag into a corner, thinking he probably should take the jersey out, but not doing it. He took a shower and spread on top of his bed.
Shiro and Kurome were both standing near his bed watching him expectantly. They wanted to play, or at least cuddle. But they were trained not to jump onto beds. Well, Shiro sometimes broke the rule, but only when her master was sleeping, and she wanted to wake him up.
He was staring at the ceiling, ignoring the dogs' eyes staring at him. He'd take them out later in the evening. Kagami's face was flashing in front of his eyes, mixed up with images of the match and the fall. Because nothing sever had happened, it'd been taken lightly. But Daiki knew it could've had grave consequences for Kazuya. He'd been taught just how fragile a human body could be. A stronger hit, a different angle of the fall or that damn chewing gum stuck deeper in his throat could've caused Kazuya's death.
Sweet ignorance… He thought.
And he was sure that Kagami was, if unconsciously, aware of this as well. She just prioritised his safety.
Daiki had pushed it to the back of his mind then, but after the match it'd come crashing down on him. He'd never been in such a situation. Some minor fights, yes, but this had been just a stupid accident, though he'd intentionally dragged Kazuya down. He could've accidentally ended someone else's life. He had no idea what he'd do if the boy hadn't gotten up.
So… worrying about him wasn't worth it. He tended to break things, unintentionally in most cases. He'd broken Tetsu at some point, but now he couldn't even remember when exactly had it happened. He'd drifted away out of his own choice, but…
Damn, he felt so empty and drained. And he could still see those reddish eyes staring right at him, with worry and caring anger. A groan escaped him and he turned to his side. This wasn't like him at all. Overthinking things. Maybe sleeping would make the stupid thoughts go away.
######
"Kasamacchi! Look who I found!" Kise enthusiastically waved at the boy waiting for him.
"K-Ka-Kag-Kagami-san?!" Kasamatsu stuttered, upon seeing Aya, his face turning red. That he managed to squeeze out her name was a great success.
"Long time no see, Kasamatsu-senpai. Model-kun invited me to join you for lunch. Is it okay? I want to know how the Seirin's match was, but it seems that Taiga is sleeping and the others have already gone out to buy their lunches."
"A-ah. Uuuhm…." He nodded looking at his feet. He truly couldn't handle girls at all.
Kise and Aya found a small nearby restaurant, Kasamatsu didn't argue. They placed their orders and Aya crossed her arms in front of her.
"So, come on." She encouraged the duo, smiling at them. "Tell me the story."
Kise's yellow eyes stared at her for a moment, dissecting her expression. Then he smiled brightly and started explaining the Seiho vs. Seirin match to the smallest details. Aya was nodding, feeling proud and happy for Taiga. The lunches arrived, Kasamatsu and Aya were eating, while Kise kept talking, and then he suddenly inhaled his food, before it would go totally cold.
"Woah. I didn't know you were a quick eater." She mused staring at Kise's empty plate.
"Ah well." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sometimes I don't have much time to eat, so I learned to wolf it down as quickly as possible."
"I'm surprised you haven't choked so far." Kasamatsu commented, looking at Kise with disapproval. He'd believed that Kise was gentlemanly around girls, not that he would hoover the food like a hungry beast. Or was Kagami-san an exception?
Aya laughed. "You should have an eating contest with Taiga someday."
He chuckled, and then his golden orbs pierced her again. "So? Tell me about your match. What happened to Aominecchi? Or between the two of you…" He adjusted the question, because he believed there must've been something more than just some fall during the match.
Kasamatsu shot Kise a questioning look. Since when had the model known this girl that well? Or at least it looked like he knew her well.
Aya bit her lower lip. "Well… I'm not sure. He seemed… out of it. He told me not to worry about him, but... It somehow makes me worry even more." She sighed and looked out of the window. She knew she could trust Kise. But then her head snapped back and she shot him a glare. "And don't you dare gossiping or you'll be pushing daisies in no time. I haven't forgotten the video."
"Ahahaha…" He laughed guiltily. "I meant no harm, I swear."
"I know that, but you should've told me. Anyways, Aomine seemed to have forgotten… But I can't promise there won't be some payback."
He sighed. "I've been warned. Why don't you start from the beginning? What happened?"
And so, she told them from how the match proceeded, through what the fall looked like, to what she talked with Aomine, or rather… She didn't mind Kasamatsu listening, he wasn't involved and from what she knew, he was a serious senpai, who didn't stick his nose into anyone's business as long as it hadn't involved him and who couldn't handle girls at all.
Kise's face was serious. "He could've killed that Kazuya guy. Accidentally, but he could've." He said emotionlessly. "…mostly if he had a chewing gum during the match."
Aya's eyes widened. She hadn't realized this, not until Kise mentioned it. How could he know? He wasn't even there. And judging by Kasamatsu's wide eyes, he usually didn't see Kise serious like this.
Kise could see the question written on Aya's face – she wasn't bothered by keeping up a front around him – and he didn't feel like answering. So he continued talking, to divert her attention elsewhere. "And Aominecchi realizes this very well, Ayacchi. He might've pushed it aside for a while, made light of it, but it probably came crashing back after the match. He isn't that… How to put it? … He isn't a heartless bastard, who doesn't care. He acts like that and he is mean and mocking and disrespectful at times…"
"But it's a front." She added staring at Kise and nodded. "I've kind of noticed."
"I'm not sure to what extent though. I can usually read him well, but… Because of the crap, we weren't exactly close friends in the last… year?" He wasn't sure about the time anymore. "And he's changed so much that he probably isn't acting it up anymore. He tended to have such a nature even before, but you know…"
"Stuff happens. It changes you…" She gave him a crooked smile. "I know that better than most." So he's fighting his demons too, huh?
"He doesn't dwell on things much, so... He'll be over it after a good night's sleep and a run with his dogs or a talk with his father, probably." Kise shrugged.
Aya sighed and sipped from her tea. "Thank you. Would it be too much if I asked you what had happened in Teiko? To change all of you so much? Well… you seem more… Hmmm… Happier now?"
"Eh?! You've noticed?"
A soft smile appeared on her lips, which made Kasamatsu turn away with a feverish blush. "I've noticed during the Goukon, somehow…" She noticed the questioning sparkle in Kise's eyes and she stopped him before he could voice it. "Don't ask me how, I don't get it myself."
"I've started enjoying playing with Kaijo. After Kurokocchi and Kagamicchi had beaten me… Let's say I've started practising more and all…" He smiled widely as well. It was nice having a team that would back you up anytime necessary.
"That's good to hear." So Kaijo is growing stronger…
"And, as for your question, I don't really know. Aominecchi's never talked with me about it, he just suddenly stopped coming to practises and drifted apart, becoming the person you've met at the beginning of the school year. But he's slowly changing back, Ayacchi. You are slowly changing him."
"Hah? What nonsense are you spouting?" Her eyes almost fell out on the table. "I don't have such magic."
Kise just shrugged and gave her a knowing look. These two are idiots.
A slight blush creeped onto her cheeks and she looked away. She had it bad. But she couldn't break Aomine; she dreaded the thought of hurting him with all those rumours about her and with all the stuff that kept haunting her. No one could handle that. No one sane would choose her. And her father wouldn't accept Aomine fondly, she knew that. It was too much.
######
"Oh." Takao blinked at a mirror in a bathroom. "Yo, Kuroko-kun. It's been some time."
"… Hello, Takao-kun." Kuroko nodded in greeting.
"Oh? A senpai too?" Takao blinked in surprise, when he noticed Koganei tagging behind Kuroko. "Group trip to the bathroom?" He teased and headed out. "Good luck for the next match."
"Good luck to you too." Kuroko wished him back.
"Hm?... Hmmm?" Wait… Isn't it weird? This guy noticed Kuroko passing by behind him… Has that ever happened? Koganei thought.
"What is it? Do you feel sick?" Kuroko asked his senpai.
Koganei jumped startled, he lost the sight of Kuroko, and he knew he was there. "It's nothin'…"
######
"Do you think Seirin will create a miracle and defeat two kings in a row? Or will Shuutoku defend its position as the king?" Kasamatsu was musing, while watching the warm up of the two teams.
Kise took a strategic position in between Kasamacchi and Ayacchi, so the captain would be more at ease.
"I don't know about Shuutoku, but Taiga looks fired up."
Kise nodded. "Sure does, but I can't imagine Midorimacchi losing."
"We'll see. But I bet 20 bucks on Seirin."
"Ohoo?" Kise smirked. "Fine then." He shook hand with her. "Errr… How much is that in Yen?"
She laughed. "Around 2 300 Yen."
"Oh, fine then. Kasamacchi! Wanna join the bet?" He asked enthusiastically.
Kasamatsu gave him a long scolding look. "No, thank you."
Kise shrugged. "As you wish. 1 000 Yen that tip off will go to Shuutoku." He whispered to Aya.
She grinned. This was exactly what could cheer her up. "Start preparing your wallet."
The tip off went to Seirin, Taiga stealing it.
"I knew it~" Aya smiled and took the money.
"But Shuutoku will score first." Kise whined.
"Might as well. 1 000 again?"
"O-ssu."
But neither team seemed to score anytime soon. Seirin's first attack got stopped by Midorima, and Shuutoku's first attack was stopped by Hyuuga. They kept circling the ball, waiting for the right moment to score. Aya knew that whoever got the first points would rule the flow of the entire first quarter. Those first points were always important.
"Hmmm…" Aya was watching the match sitting on the edge of her seat. It was a thrilling performance and she wasn't sure for which team to cheer. Of course, she wanted Taiga to win, but Shuutoku was just as strong, if not stronger, and she came to like Takao-kun's leisure demeanour.
"Anything interesting?" Kise asked curiously.
"Takao-kun doesn't seem to watch his passes much. Or he passes seconds before the receiving party gets to the position." Even if he shouldn't be able to see it well…
"Oh! Midorimacchi has the ball! This bet is mine."
Truly, those high arc threes made the hair at the back of her neck stand up. It was amazing; high arc, long distance and scary accuracy. She shook her head and handed money back to Kise. She was expecting this one thousand going back and forth between them, but it was fun.
"What's Kuroko-kun doing?" She asked and leaned forward. Taiga was already running to the opposite basket.
"Oh…" Before Kise could explain, Kuroko spun around and sent a powerful, long distance pass through the entire court to Taiga, who dunked immediately.
"Woah! I've never seen that!" Aya was blinking at the small ghostly boy. "That's amazing!"
"Well… T-this seems to be an even match." Kasamatsu grumbled, trying very hard to ignore the fact that Aya was a girl.
The next time Midorima got the ball, he passed, which stunned Aya. In the one match she'd seen, Midorima hadn't passed either, but… "Don't you like… not pass?" She asked Kise in surprise.
"Midorimacchi is slightly different. He won't shoot if he thinks there is a probability of a miss. But… That was a nice opportunity he had there."
"But he can't…" Kasamatsu explained the timing difference and how exactly could Kuroko's pass seal Midorima. "He might look like that, but he was still in Teiko with you. He's a veteran." He concluded about Kuroko.
"Yeah, right?" Kise said with a goofy grin. "You finally understand what I'm always telling you?! Kurokocchi is amazing!"
"Hai, hai." Kasamatsu grumbled fed up with this topic already.
Soon enough, Takao started marking Kuroko, and Aya had a bad feeling about this. There was probably a reason, why Kuroko hadn't wanted to play against Takao that time. After he stopped several Kuroko's passes, Aya knew. "It's a hawk's eye."
"Hah?!" Kise turned to her.
"Takao-kun can change the point of his view in his head. Plus he his field vision is much better. It's like he's looking on the court from above or other angles. He sees and knows the positions of all the players on the court. That way, he can predicted a pass course and steal it. It's indeed a peculiar ability." She explained. "And if Kuroko-kun won't figure out what to do, they'll be in trouble soon.
"Kagamicchi got better too." Kise pointed out after Taiga's one-man alley oop.
But at the end of the first quarter, it wasn't enough. Midorima presented his long-distance three pointer from across the entire court. So he was able to do that? Aya just stared at it in disbelief. She'd never seen anything like that. And Shuutoku was gaining three points at a time. The first quarter ended up with Shuutoku leading 21 – 14.
The second quarter was one sided for Shuutoku. Midorima was getting passes and shooting a three after three. Taiga couldn't jump high enough to stop him, but his jumps were getting higher. Seirin managed to score some, but the quarter belonged to Shuutoku. Aya could tell that Mabo', or Masaaki Nakatani – the coach of Shuutoku wasn't exactly content about the score. Despite Midorima's shots, they weren't getting ahead enough. And the long-range shots took too long until they landed. Because Aya played mainly the PG or SG positions, she was pretty skilled at shooting three pointers, but she knew she'd never be able to handle such high-arc shots. Her coordination was great, but her senses wouldn't work well in a long-distance trajectory evaluation… Midorima Shintarou was indeed an incredibly skilled man, and she could feel that behind his skills wasn't only talent, but also hours and hours of hard work and relentless practice. Without the confidence which rooted in continuous practise, he wouldn't have been able to do what he was doing.
The second quarter ended with Shuutoku widening the point gap to 45 – 27 for Shuutoku. Compared to Touou's matches, this development was tiny. Touou would usually have over 60 points, if Aomine decided to play, or at least over 50, if he didn't.
"Uhm… Isn't that strange…" Kise thought out loud, staring at Taiga, who seemed ready to tear someone to shreds.
"Hm?"
"Look at Kagamicchi…"
"I don't have to." Aya chuckled. "I know. He is fired up like he's never been before. He's facing someone strong… This is how we are in situations like these." She shrugged. "It runs in a family I guess."
"He's like a beast now… He hasn't found his limits yet, has he?"
Aya smiled at Kise, "and have you?"
"Eh?"
"Do you know the exact limits of your abilities, Model-kun?"
Her question surprised him. Had he known his own limits? "I-I guess." I can't copy them…
"You sure 'bout that?" She raised an eyebrow at him and he felt like she was reading his mind. "Taiga doesn't know his full abilities. He wasn't practising for couple of months and has started again around March. I'd say… He'll fully block one of Midorima-kun's shots today. He can jump much higher, than what he's showing."
Kise blinked at her in disbelief. "Is he holding back right now?"
"Not intentionally. When you do several sports, you can't always connect all of your abilities and skills. Taiga tends to separate it. His potential is not smaller than yours, but he just hasn't had his moment yet." She said biting her thumb nail. "Plus… He hates to lose. It's possible he'll get better as the match progresses. I think he'll get better once Kuroko-kun comes off court…"
"But Kurokocchi is his shadow now. They are better together."
"Yes and no." She said staring at the players as they were leaving for the ten minutes break to their respective changing rooms to discuss the further strategies. Aya didn't feel like leaving, she dreaded the thought of running into Hanamiya again.
"What do you mean exactly?" Kise asked with his eyes focused solely on the problem they were discussing. Unconsciously, he could understand what she meant, but he needed to hear it put into words.
Kasamatsu in the meanwhile, decided to go and buy them all some drinks from a vending machine. He was curious about the discussion, but the two didn't seem willing to leave and he was thirsty. Kise would tell him everything anyways; the blond could be annoyingly talkative at times.
"Well think about it… If you always have your reliable shadow, do you need to improve that much? Or is it easier to rely on that shadow? Of course it's easier to rely on someone else. I think Kuroko-kun made a mistake when he promised Taiga he'd made him the number 1. Taiga now relies on Kuroko-kun more than he relies on himself. That worries me." Though he has started practising on his own way more than before, lately… "When he figures out that Kuroko-kun can't do everything, that he has limits and that there are ways to shut him down – as we've just seen – there's bound to be a conflict." She sighed. "I just hope it won't happen today."
The blonde thought about it and it made a perfect sense. He'd relied on Kurokocchi too, at some point. It'd been awesome to have him as a backup, but Kise felt more at ease when he could rely on himself. It was better to have Kurokocchi as an option, but not a necessity. "So you think Kagamicchi needs to be left to himself?"
"To get better individually, yes, he needs to be left on his own." Aya shrugged, talking with almost a cold logic. She didn't talk with Taiga about this yet; she simply didn't want to butt into his relationships. And as long as they kept winning, who was she to plant doubts? "I believe Kuroko-kun will be benched during the third quarter, right?"
Kise nodded. "At least he should be. He can't play the whole match, after all."
A chill ran down her spine, making her look over her shoulder, just to meet Hanamiya's greyish wild eyes. He smirked at her sitting several rows higher. There were several people in her life who made her skin crawl, who scared the hell out of her and she decided to include Hanamiya into that group. Because there were people similar to Hanamiya she'd faced before; she could put up a brave front.
It wasn't enough to fool Kise. He discreetly turned to see, who she was looking at and he frowned. She is a good pretender… But… He had no idea how he could decipher the very subtle indications of uneasiness she was giving out, but he could, just like she could when it came to him and Aominecchi and possibly others.
"Just keep close to us, Ayacchi." He murmured. "He won't do anything as long as you're not alone."
"I'm… I'm not scared of him or anything." She said, sticking her chin out.
Kise raised an eyebrow at her, he was smiling, but his eyes were serious. "Ayacchi, let's admit it, we're good at reading others. At picking up the small details. And that guy creeps the hell out of me too, so…"
######
With one look in their eyes I can tell they haven't given up. Midorima thought as he stepped onto the court at the beginning of the third quarter. The gap he'd created wasn't big enough and he was well aware that a comeback was possible for Seirin. As long as they haven't given up… Hn… Not only has he not given up, but… Kagami Taiga feels… strange. Almost dangerous.
The first ball of the third quarter went to Seirin, but Hyuuga had it stolen.
It was Midorima's shot. For the super long-distance shot he needed more time, but now he was close enough.
And yet… Since when was he here…? On top of that…
Taiga leaped up, almost touching the ball.
The shot made it, Shuutoku got three more points, but it wasn't the usual clean shot Midorima was used to. He could hear the ball scratching the rim.
"Damn…" Hyuuga muttered. One lapse of our concentration and he'll score!
Taiga's face was unbelievably focused. "Higher… higher…" He was muttering under his breath. I can't lose dammit! I swear she made a bet again! He could literally feel Aya's burning, focused gaze on his back. However, it didn't put him off, instead, it reassured him, calmed him. She was there.
Another two points were scored by Koganei and added to Seirin's score, but then the ball found its way to Midorima again.
He took on his usual shooting position.
Taiga wasn't close enough, but…
I always think I want to win, but I've never thought about whether I'd be capable of winning. Isn't that what you've trying to tell me, Aya? You, just like Kuroko will never give up until the very end… But if you try your best and still lose, you just have to accept your fate! The face of 7-year old Aya crying flashed in his mind. He felt oddly concentrated and at the same time fired up as never before, aggressive even.
I enjoy playing against extremely formidable opponents like you. And I can't back off until I win! The only person he could see now was Midorima jumping to shoot. He had to make it.
"Higher, jump higher…" He muttered again, as he ducked to jump higher than seconds ago. This game has no meaning, unless I win!
Taiga leapt up with wide grin on his face.
Midorima's eyes widened when Taiga's finger tipped the ball. How can he? Impossible! He can jump higher and higher as the match goes on?!
The ball kept bouncing around the rim, before it finally settled and went in.
"Phew… So close!" Takao muttered
"It's my first time seeing Midorima barely able to score." Kimura commented, exchanging confused looks with the other Shuutoku players.
Midorima frowned. This was indeed not normal in any way. He glared at Taiga. "You… What's your horoscope?" ...
'Our lucky star of today, Cancer, enjoys the greatest of fortunes! If you bring along your Shigarake ware racoon dog statue, your lucky item for today, no one can beat you! BUT! Watch out for Leos you may meet! They're incompatible with your fortune today…!' The oha-asa horoscope had predicted for Midorima in the morning. He just had to know. He knew he should avoid Kagami Aya, but…
"?" Taiga gave him an unimpressed, but slightly confused glare. He had no idea why Midorima would want to know that. No matter… "I'm Leo."
"Damn. The daily horoscope is always right."
######
"Ohooo! It's the first time I see Midorimacchi's shot going in that way!" Kise mused with a laugh. "Maybe you'll win our bet Ayacchi."
She smiled foxily. "But of course I'll win the bet, Model-kun."
Seirin was 19 points behind. Given it was just the beginning of the third quarter, it wasn't a grave point gap and Seirin could catch up. Another Midorima's shot was tapped by Taiga, despite Takao's screen and the distance Taiga had to cross to catch up with Midorima, it was made to miss. However, Midorima wasn't the only strong player in Shuutoku and his miss was covered by the captain Ootsubo. Seirin then made a decision; double teaming Ootsubo, while leaving Kagami to deal with Midorima and Takao.
Taiga wasn't supposed to catch up.
Hmmm… Kise could feel what was going to happen. He really has a power comparable to the generation of miracles. A power that can be called the greatest weapon in basketball… His talent is… an extremely gifted jumping power.
Taiga completely smacked down Midorima's attempt to shoot.
"Yes! Finally!" Aya clapped with a happy smile spreading on her face. The point gap shrunk to 16 points.
"Huh?" Kise turned his face to Aya with a surprised expression. "You knew he could jump that high?"
"I'm his sister, Model-kun, of course I did. We used to play beach volley too, he was jumping really high then. I was wondering when he'd start flying while playing basketball…" Her voice trailed off as she focused on the game going on bellow.
Taiga fouled Ootsubo, while stopping his dunk. And suddenly, he was pressuring Shuutoku on his own.
Aya frowned at that. She knew he needed to be left alone to get better, but she didn't quite think of this. "I'll win even if I'm alone – I bet he's thinking something like that." She said and bit her thumb nail. "What an idiot."
"But he is proving he can." Kise pointed out.
Taiga kept jumping around, stopping Shuutoku's attempts to score, while scoring some points for Seirin along the way. The more he kept jumping around, the more Aya was frowning.
"He won't hold up." She said ominously knowing Taiga's energy reserves more than anyone else. He was about to reach his limit.
It was like she called it. After shrinking the point gap to only 9 points, Taiga couldn't stop another Midorima's shot. His legs gave out. He couldn't leap up anymore.
"Eeeeh?! Exhaustion?!" Kise blinked at him, and then at his captain.
Kasamatsu nodded. "He probably can't make sustained jumps like that. Just now he tried to fight this all alone; furthermore, it's his second competition of the day." He explained to his kouhai, momentarily forgetting about the girl sitting on Kise's other side.
Taiga's faltering and his next rash attack led to Shuutoku scoring twice in a row.
"What a bad timing…" The blonde sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "But Ayacchi… you are like a psychic." He whistled.
"We are twins; I've known the dork my whole life, Model-kun. I can read him like an open book."
######
"Damn!" Taiga swore as he sat on the bench during the last two minute break.
"Kagami, don't get worked up like that! Cool down." Izuki tried to pacify their PF, who apparently couldn't see the uneasiness the entire team was feeling.
"Yeah. You should've seen that wasn't the time to attack! You should've turned the ball back and –" Hyuuga tried to help Izuki out, but he was interrupted by the ignorant first year.
"So what if I don't pass?!"
"Huh?!" Hyuuga was too shocked by the ferocity in Kagami's voice to smack the back of his head for such behaviour.
"Look, right now I'm the only one on par with Shuutoku. What we need right now isn't teamwork. It's me scoring!"
"What's that?"
"There's no time for you to get self-centred here!"
Taiga didn't react to his teammates. Until a certain blue haired ghost appeared in front of him.
When Taiga raised his eyes to look at Kuroko, the boy's fist landed painfully on his cheek. It wasn't strong enough to make him topple backwards from the bench, but it was strong enough to make his head snap to a side.
"Kuroko-kun?!" Riko shouted in surprise.
EH?! Taiga blinked in an utmost shock. He'd never expect Kuroko to punch him. Shock was quickly replaced by anger. He grabbed the smaller boy by his collar and stood up, lifting Kuroko up from the ground. "Kuroko you –!"
"Basketball is not a one-man sport!" Kuroko interrupted him, raising his voice slightly.
"You mean you'll let it rest if you lose as long as everyone enjoys playing?! THERE'S NO MEANING UNLESS WE WIN!" Taiga shouted into his face.
"But there's no meaning if you win alone." Kuroko replied in his usual monotone, but his eyes were burning with cold anger. "You said you wanted to defeat the generation of miracles, but you think just like them! And even if we defeat Shuutoku 'your way' no one will be happy!"
That ticked Taiga off. Getting punched, he could understand that, but getting talked down to in this Aya-ish manner… "Don't talk all high and mighty!" He shouted and returned the punch, making Kuroko fall down under its force. "If we lose here, that'll just be some feel-good trash!"
Kuroko took the punch levelly. "In that case, what's 'victory?" He asked quietly, not trying to get up. "Even if you have a higher score than the opponent when the final whistle blows… If there's no one happy, is it a 'victory'?"
"Eh?" Taiga eyes widened. Play to win, win for the team and don't forget to have fun… Aya's words, no, father's and uncle's words rang in his mind. What was I thinking?
"Not that we want to lose! But basketball is not a sport that can be played alone." Koganei joined Kuroko.
"You have anything more to say?" Hyuuga asked with a smile, but Taiga could feel something was off.
He was lucky to have a team like this. "Well… Not… No. I'm sorry. It'll be much better if we win this together." He could see the exasperated looks on their faces, but he knew they meant well, they cared. For the team, and for him. This team had his back.
He stretched out his arm to pull Kuroko up. They discussed further strategy and Kuroko's higher level of passes.
Before they'd enter the court again, he needed to talk with the captain for a moment. "Just now… well…" He started rubbing the back of his neck in a sheepish gesture, not looking into captain's eyes at all. "I'm sorry."
"Hmmm…" Hyuuga hummed with a crooked smile. "It's okay… was what I wanted to say, but" his expression turned into really scary one, "it's hard to swallow that from a freshman… Yeah, punishments later." He glared at Taiga, suddenly looking taller than him.
A shiver ran down Taiga's spine. "Uh…" I knew something was off… Then he felt another chill, and dared to look up into the spectators' area, where he met a pair of burning reddish eyes. Crap!
"Whoaaah! Kurokocchi really punched him! I've never seen that happen!"
"Hmph, I wonder what he said." Aya snorted. "But I can pretty much imagine. He's a lucky guy I'm not down there."
"You're scary Ayacchi." Kise whined, and leaned away from her, as if her currently menacing aura could hurt him.
She turned her face to him and smiled brightly. "Not at all~ I'm usually harmless~"
That made Kise retreat even further. He was playing it, but he was enjoying it. Well, until Kasamatsu smacked the back of his head with 'Don't lean on me.' growl.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Taiga stopped Midorima's first shot and Seirin scored, bringing score back to only 10 point difference. That was meant to keep Midorima in check because he didn't shoot as long as he wasn't 100% sure he'd score.
And Kuroko was back. His passes were to help Seirin the most. Despite Takao's hawk's eyes, he now knew what to do to work around it; it would just take a little more time. After the entire match, Takao's eyes were tired, and more than that, his view narrowed, to the point when he focused solely on Kuroko. Diverting attention like this was a piece of cake for Kuroko. Even if Takao tried to get in between the ball and Kagami, he wouldn't steal it nor stop it. Not this time. Not this type of pass.
The ball flew past Takao as if it was shot from cannon.
"Did he just punch the ball?!" Aya stared at the court with wide eyes. Kuroko was one surprise after another.
"Punching the ball is forbidden. He uses his palm to punch and accelerate it. But to think Kagamicchi could catch something like that."
"Why?" She asked and watched Taiga getting past Midorima and dunking, with one of his super jumps. Though once he landed, she knew it had probably been his last jump. If he forces one more, he'll make it, but he'll injure himself…
Kise was smiling excitedly. "That pass has never been caught by anyone else other than the generation of miracles. And Kagamicchi surprised Midorimacchi! I'm probably losing my bet here." He admitted. "But hey! He's out of steam! How's he going to hang on till the end?!"
"Well…" Kasamatsu joined in once again, with only a feint blush, as he was trying to ignore Aya as much as he could. "That dunk had a good timing and managed to boost morale of Seirin. Though it wasn't necessary to force a dunk in the first place."
"He likes to do flashy things!" The blonde said cheerfully. He could understand.
"You're just the same as him." Kasamatsu sighed. "… but if we say it had no meaning, it'll be wrong. Even with same score, that's the best crowd-pleasing play this game provides. And he gave Midorima a shock."
"Plus the dunk brings energy to the whole team's play." Aya added, and leaned forward to look at Kasamatsu (Kise was shielding his captain pretty well) who turned red as a tomato and made some weird sound, which made Aya chuckle. "That's a fine play that score alone can't bring. Don't you think, captain?"
The bright smile she had almost made Kasamatsu faint.
Kise leaned forward as well, to offer a refuge and hide his captain once again. "Don't tease Kasamacchi too much, 'kay? You know he can't handle girls."
It made Aya laugh. "Hai hai. You warned me. But he seemed fine when he couldn't see me."
Kise shook his head with a smile. This was so like Ayacchi.
In the last three minutes, Seirin was only 4 points behind.
######
On her way home, Satsuki was passing by Aomine's house. It looked like it would start raining cats and dogs anytime and she wanted to go home. But something kept bothering her. Dai-chan was acting strange. Sure, he'd bickered with Aya-chan like usual, and yet, she could tell something was off. With both of them.
Her legs automatically turned towards Aomine's house. She knew he was at home, given the weather and all, he was most likely sleeping.
She found the key at the usual hiding spot: hanging on one branch of a bonsai tree standing next to the front door. It was invisible for anyone who hadn't known the key was there.
The dogs, which were dozed off on the floor of Daiki's room, suddenly got up and ran down the stairs with noisy stomping. He had relatively light sleep and this woke him up. He sat up and listened to what was going on. Someone came into his house and he knew it weren't his parents. But it had to be someone familiar, because the dogs weren't barking or making a ruckus. Besides his family, only Kise and Satsuki knew about the hidden key and he doubted Kise would be stupid enough to come now.
He smirked and slumped back to his previous position. He would scare Satsuki.
He could hear her footsteps, followed by the dogs. They tolerated Satsuki but she wasn't someone they liked to play with or cuddle with. He had no idea why, but maybe she was still slightly scared of them.
"Uhm…" She rapped at the open door lightly. "Dai-chan?"
He pretended to be sleeping.
Satsuki sighed and invited herself in. When she spotted his sport's bag, still unopened, she frowned. "You really haven't unpacked your stuff after the match? Urgh… What were you thinking?" She mumbled to herself and sat on his desk chair, spinning around for a moment.
Daiki had his back towards Satsuki so she couldn't see his face. And she didn't particularly care. She worried, but she knew that he wouldn't talk with her.
"Tetsu-kun vs. Midorin match will be over soon. I think… It'll be Tetsu-kun. The winner!" She said with a smile and spun around again. "Aya-chan stayed to watch, maaan, I should've stayed too…" Talking to a sleeping person was weird, but she thought it would be rude to wake Dai-chan up after their match.
Daiki smirked. "Then you should've stayed."
"Kyaaaah!" She jumped and toppled over the chair. "Dai-chan!" She squealed accusingly from the ground. "You were up this whole time?!"
"Well, you sneaked into my house." He sat up and stared at her. "You okay?"
Her butt hurt, and she hit her elbow, but otherwise she was fine. She started to laugh at the situation.
He shook his head and chuckled too. Thoughts about Kazuya were gone. The good sleep and Satsuki's silly fall had made him feel better.
"Are polka dots your favourite?" He asked pointing at her panties, exposed thanks to the fall. If it were Kagami, he probably wouldn't have been so fine with it. Then again, Kagami would probably have shorts underneath her skirt, or she'd wear pants and not the uniform skirt.
"Hiii!" She immediately scrambled up to her feet and fixed the skirt. "Stupid Dai-chan!"
He just smirked at her. "So? Why are y' here?"
Satsuki shrugged. "It's Tetsu-kun's match. It'll be over soon. I can't wait for the results."
She hasn't really answered my question. "You said its Tetsu's win."
"Because he is the man I love!"
"Hmmm… We won't know until it's over. Both are strong during a crunch time. We didn't take that national championship three times for nothing."
######
In the last three minutes, Shuutoku got one time-out, to interrupt the flow of the game, which had been on Seirin's side. The decision was made – all attacks will be focused on Midorima's threes. However, it didn't mean the seniors would do nothing. The decision made it easier for Seirin to steal, because Kuroko knew where the ball would be passed to, but at the same time, Shuutoku's defence went up, as the remaining four players focused solely on that one task.
Midorima managed to score, but Seirin almost immediately scored back. There was only a two point difference now and Seirin needed to score one more, if they wanted to win.
Aya was sitting on the edge of her seat. She could feel the pressure all the way up to her seat. She rooted for Seirin now. They had 10 more seconds to score.
"Do it Hyuuga!" She shouted when she saw Hyuuga breaking free from Ootsubo's defence, thanks to Taiga's screen, but that wasn't important.
Tch, of course I will! Hyuuga thought. He was further from the basket than was pleasant, but he'd make it. He knew he would. He had to.
The last five seconds, score: 82 – 81 for Seirin.
Everyone in Seirin cheered.
But there were those last five seconds.
"You haven't won yet." Takao smirked and passed the ball to Midorima.
Taiga, exhausted but refusing to give up, was defending Midorima right away. If it was necessary, he'd force the jump. He knew he could.
Midorima ducked, "I'll tell you why I excelled in shooting from the furthest possible distance – not only because it gives three points… In basketball, teams of close strength often have a reversal in fortune in the last seconds, and any misstep in shooting may cause major regrets. I'll never let this happen to me! So I trained myself to excel as the buzzer beater! That's what I mean by man proposes, God disposes."
"OH NO!" Riko shouted as Midorima leaped up.
NO WAY! We've gotta win! JUMP! Taiga was exhausted, he felt his muscles protesting, stretching painfully, but he jumped. With a roar of pain and determination, he jumped. He couldn't burden his team. They had to win!
"?!"
Midorima was ducked down; he faked the shot!
"I'm right. Just like I guessed. No matter how tired you are you'll make this jump somehow."
OH NO!
Even Hyuuga was staring at the play with wide eyes. What's his heart made of?! He fakes at the last seconds?! This… this is generation of miracles…
"GO MIDORIMAAAAA?!" Roars of his teammates could be heard.
Aya was leaning forward, biting her thumb nail. From above, she could see Kuroko charging after the ball, which Midorima lowered once more. Please! Please make it in time Kuroko!
He did! "I believed in you too! That Kagami-kun would make it, and, Midorima-kun would predict this and hold on to the ball." He said as he smacked the ball out of Midorima's grip in the very last second of the match.
Midorima grit his teeth. This was not real. It couldn't be happening… Him losing?! No way!
A referee blew a whistle. "End of the match!"
Seirin was roaring in happiness of the victors, Aya and some others joining them from the spectators' area. Kasamatsu and Kise were staring at the court in mild disbelief. Shuutoku was gritting its teeth in defeat. Another king got defeated by this small fry called Seirin.
"Let's gather." Takao called out to Midorima. "Sometimes the daily horoscope can be wrong!" He teased good-heartily. The defeat was bitter, and he felt down, but teasing Midorima always helped.
"Just shut up." Midorima frowned at him as they lined up.
"82 points to 81 points – the winner of this game is Seirin high!" A referee announced.
"THANK YOU!" All the players shouted in unison and bowed. Then they proceeded with handshakes.
"Yes!" Aya jumped up, feeling so happy for her brother. "They won! I need to go to congratulate them!" She turned around to leave, but when she caught a glimpse of Hanamiya's eerie grin, she froze. "Uhm…"
Kise hadn't forgotten the snake-like senpai sitting behind them. "Just stay with us. I'm hungry; I want to eat some okonomiyaki. There is a small family restaurant nearby, so why don't we head there? You can call Kagamicchi or something. I'm sure they'll come to join you." He proposed with a smile.
Aya nodded. "Sounds good. Are you coming too senpai?" She asked Kasamatsu.
He turned red under the direct question and Aya's gaze. He couldn't handle girls in his class, who he had known for three years, there was no way he'd be able to handle Aya just after one or two meetings. Nevertheless he managed to nod in agreement.
"So yes and no questions are okay! Good to know." She smiled and turned around to leave the gym, Kise and Kasamatsu following close behind her.
Next match will be the final league. They'll have to face Aominecchi soon… Seem like it'll be a fateful match. If Kagamicchi is Kurokocchi's light in the present, then Aominecchi was his light back in the generation of miracles. Kise thought, but didn't want to bring it up, as he watched Aya's loose braid swinging from side to side as she walked with the usual spring in her step. He chuckled at the bouncy, joyful mood the girl was in. It was a nice change from the worrisome mood she'd been in during the lunch and he didn't want to ruin it. He stared at Midorimacchi's back as the greenette was leaving the court with his team.
Shuutoku headed towards their changing room. Half of the guys were crying bitter tears of defeat, even those who didn't get to play.
"Excuse me. I'll go out for a while." Midorima said and without waiting for permission he left the team.
"Huh? He doesn't even feel anything?!" Someone protested, staring after the tall leaving figure.
Takao almost rolled his eyes. "No… There's no way for anybody not to get sad over a defeat like this." He defended his friend and teammate.
Coach Nakatani looked at Takao with a half-smile, completely approving his behaviour. "There's no time for you to be sitting here brooding!" He clapped to get everyone's attention. "Let today's defeat be an experience for you to achieve greater heights – even if it feels painful right now!"
Midorima was glad for the heavy rain which broke outside. It would hide his own tears. He leaned against a wall and let the rain wash his face and cool him down.
His phone rang.
With a frown he picked up – "AH! MIDORIN! Haven't seen you for a long time!" – and almost gone deaf as Satsuki's loud and high pitched voice shouted at him from the other side. "How was your match?! WON?! LOST?! Well, here we…" He hung up. Without saying a word to her, he hung up.
"What's wrong with her?! Enough already…" He grumbled when his phone rang again and continued ringing.
With a sigh he picked up again, bracing himself for another loud exchange. But to his surprise it was Aomine's husky voice greeting him this time.
"Hey, you sound depressed. You lost, right?"
"Aomine? … Yeah. Be careful at the final league."
"Huh? What are you talking about? The only one who can beat me, is me!"
"You haven't changed one bit, Aomine." Kise must have hit his head! "You know what's coming right? Your next opponent is Kuroko."
"… Don't get me wrong Midorima. Regardless of our past… now… he's just another opponent." Was there a hesitation in Aomine's voice? Midorima wasn't sure, but he decided to come and watch that match no matter what. "I'm hanging up. Bye."
"Bye." He said. "Midorin! Sorry to call you when you're down! Cheer up! – Just shut up, Satsuki!" He could still hear the two bickering and probably fighting for the phone.
Seirin's changing room:
"Let's go home!" Riko said enthusiastically, almost flying with pride she felt when looking at her victorious team. Well… They look like zombies! She corrected herself, when she saw the shaky boys, reaching out to her.
"We just played two matches. Against the kings no less." Hyuuga said in shaky voice.
"Like we could go back immediately." Izuki joined their captain.
Definitely zombies! "Fine, sorry for asking." She smiled at them with a funny expression on her face.
"We'll be fine in a bit." Hyuuga said with hands on his hips. "Kagami though… He went too far." He gave the ace a pitiful look.
"Oooow owowowow… Leaving?!" The redhead asked incredulously. "I can't even stand!" His legs hurt like hell, as if his calves were set aflame. It the best case scenario, he just overexerted himself and had a muscle fever, in the worst case scenario, which was more probable, he pulled a muscle or two. Aya would know what to do… Where the hell is she when I need her?! He reached into his bag to get his phone.
"But we can't stay here forever. Let's go to the nearest restaurant." Riko ordered in a general-like voice, which didn't take any complaints.
"Aya's in an okonomiyaki restaurant nearby." Taiga said reading a message from Aya. "She says she had a reason called Hanamiya for which she couldn't come to meet us here." He rubbed his chin in thought. The text said Aya'd explain everything to him later on. "What is Hanamiya?" He asked.
Faces of the senpais went stiff in a second. Hanamiya… They'd known the name very well and if Aya-san ran into him she might've had some trouble.
"That's…" Hyuuga started, but then he shook his head. "… She'll explain herself to you later, I believe."
Taiga's brown knitted in a deep thought, but he wasn't the one to probe much, so he just shrugged it off. Aya would tell him later.
"Now!" Hyuuga clapped. "Get to the main question! Who'll carry Kagami?"
"What?! I'm not getting a piggyback ride. I'll walk on my own!" He protested.
"Ohoo?" Riko's eyebrow went up. "Then stand up!"
He tried, and failed. His legs giving out under his weight. With a desperate face, he gave up. Someone would have to give him a piggyback ride. How embarrassing.
"Okay! Let's decide by rock-paper-scissors!"
Of course it had to be Kuroko, the shortest and probably the weakest of them all who had to carry him. The entire ten minutes Taiga anxiously waited for a moment when the ghostly boy would fall down under his weight and drop both of them into a puddle of water. On top of his misery, he had to hold up an umbrella. To hell with this rain. He swore inwardly. He would've been happier if it were Aya carrying him. His sister had the strength, the coordination and even if she'd complain all the time, she wouldn't drop him. With Kuroko, he couldn't be so sure. And the chuckles and snickers he could hear from their teammates, made his blood boil.
When he spotted the restaurant, Kuroko tripped, but managed to stay on feet.
"Oi, Kuroko, are you okay?" Taiga asked.
"Sorry, I' m going to drop you now."
"WAIT! Kuroko, we're right here…. ARGH!" He fell flat on the ground and into a muddy puddle before he could finish his protests. As they walked into the restaurant, he was soaked and dirty, his white jacket completely ruined.
"Welcome!" The restaurant's staff greeted them and eyed him up and down, but no one said a thing
"I won't forget this Kuroko!" Taiga muttered under his breath, shrugging off his jacket, so he wouldn't look too ridiculous.
"I'm sorry, but you're just too heavy for me…" Kuroko replied emotionlessly.
"Tai!" Aya waved at him from the table which she occupied with someone.
"Oh! Hey!" Then his eyes zoomed in on the two people with her. "Hm?"
Kise was stuffing his cheeks, but he smiled at the incomers and Kasamatsu uttered an unimpressed 'Hey.'
"Kise and Kasamatsu?!"
"Hi!" Kise greeted him cheerfully.
"Call me senpai!" Kasamatsu demanded with a vein popping on his forehead.
"Show some respect, Kagami." Hyuuga scolded him and then turned towards Kasamatsu. "Why are you here?"
"We came for your match of course! Congratulations on getting to the final league."
"Ussu. Congrats!" Kise joined his captain. "And Ayacchi wanted to wait for you. We couldn't possibly leave her alone, right?"
Izuki went to discuss the table arrangement for the entire Seirin's team. After a small, inevitable commotion caused by arranging the seating, Taiga and Kuroko ended up sitting with Kise, Kasamatsu. Aya vacated her seat for Taiga so he could sit and eat comfortably. After a quick chat with a waitress, she was offered a chair from a backroom, which she dragged and added to the table.
The atmosphere between Kise and Taiga was slightly tense; they were former and current enemies after all.
"What's with this seating plan?" Kise asked whiningly, trying to break the sudden tension. "And what's with you Kagamicchi?!" He pointed at the dirty jacket and pants. "What's with that mood?!"
"I was carried here – just don't ask!" He stopped any possible questions the blonde was about to shoot. "And don't call me 'cchi'!"
"The food's getting burnt." Kasamatsu reminded Kise.
"Ah!" He immediately started eating it. Nearly choking on it.
"Pulled muscle?" Aya asked her brother. She knew that the last jump had inflicted some damage. Taiga's body wasn't used to such an excessive jumping, he lacked the endurance necessary.
"Seems like it." He scowled at his legs. This wasn't good at all.
"Then you'll take it easy until the next match."
"It's match against your team! Aomine. No way can I take that easy!"
Kuroko stared at Taiga with perplexed expression. He hadn't known that Aya-san talked about Aomine-kun with Kagami-kun. For some reason he'd thought she hadn't.
With a sigh she slapped the menu into his face. "Order a drink now, we'll discuss this later."
He could hear several of his teammates ordering drinks as well. Taiga went with an orange juice, the first item on the list and then he started reading the food offer. He was hungry as a wolf.
The drinks were distributed and one wine bottle was taken back into the kitchen after Hyuuga's serious scolding.
"Yes, let's just… CHEERS!"
The team shouted and everyone else eating in restaurant was just staring at the happy, exhausted, loud and hungry bunch with a smile. The group certainly deserved a treat, so no one complained, and even if, the owners were there to drop a nice word for the boys – 10 hungry teenage boys meant a nice profit for the evening. And given the terrible storm outside, there weren't many more customers coming.
"Excuse us!" Takao, followed by Midorima walked into the restaurant. "Do you have a table for two?"
"Where… hmmm?" Midorima was following Takao like a lost puppy, not really watching the world around him. Until he spotted the entire Seirin's team, Kise, Kagami and Kasamatsu. He froze. Just like everyone else.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! AND JUST THE TWO OF YOU?!" Several Seirin players shouted in unison.
"Ahaha. Well, our senpais left when Shin-chan went off crying! So I'm eating with him!" Takao explained sheepishly, ignoring Midorima's protesting 'HEY!'.
"Let's go elsewhere, Takao." Midorima turned on his heel and walked out.
"Hey!" Takao followed after him, until the ferocious wind turned his umbrella inside out and he saw a cat being carried by the wind.
"No!" He decided, and grabbed Midorima's elbow. "We are going back in. I'm not getting myself killed in this typhoon." Swallow your pride, man.
"Eh?!" The second time they walked in, Takao noticed someone familiar. "You're…" He pointed his finger at Kasamatsu, "Kaijou's Kasamatsu-san?!"
Kasamatsu blinked at the boy in surprise. "You know me?"
"I saw you in basketball monthly! You're a nationally reputed point guard!" Takao was excited about this encounter. There weren't many chances for him to meet someone like Kasamatsu! "Wait… WOW! It'd be awesome to talk to a famous senpai who plays the same position as me! Let's have a dinner together!"
"Huh?" That sounded like a date invitation, and to Kasamatsu's misfortune he noticed Aya's amused grin. He quickly looked away before he'd get all red and flustered. "… But Seirin's in celebration mood, is that okay for you two?"
Takao just waved his hand at it. "I don't mind! Come, Kasamatsu-senpai! Here!" He sat to a free spots at Riko's and Tsuchida's table, patting the seat next to him, for Kasamatsu to come over.
Given the cast around his table, Kasamatsu was quite happy to leave it. "Yeah, that'll be nice." He got up and vacated the seat for Midorima, who had nowhere else to sit.
Taiga and Kise both sweat-dropped, when Midorima slumped to the seat and crossed his arms over his chest.
WHAT A CAST! Almost everyone who knew them thought. Aya was discreetly laughing her head off, her shoulders shaking, until Taiga kicked her leg under the table.
"Anyway, let's order. I'm hungry." Kuroko opened up the menu again, going through the list.
"I'm almost full; just let me finish what I have here." Kise said while quickly scraping the last bits of his food.
"You just love food that looks like vomit." Midorima jabbed with a sigh.
"Must you take every opportunity to insult me?!" Kise teared up and defended himself.
Taiga was more than happy to see a waiter ready to take his order. "Squid eggs scrambled eggs octopus with eggs kimchi pork…" He named several more dishes.
"What spell are you chanting?!" Kise asked with wide eyes.
"You ordered too much!" Izuki yelled at him across the room, he was pale just imagining the bill. He shouldn't have taken the role of the team's accountant.
"It's okay, Kagami-kun will finish it all."
"Are you human?!" He eats as much as Aominecchi! Kise mused.
An incredible amount of food was brought to their table and Aya was waiting for her moment to snatch something from Taiga. She just loved stealing his food whenever she could.
"Midorimacchi, your food's burning!"
"I don't feel like eating."
"I know you feel bad but… Hey! You'll get another chance someday!"
A vein popped on Midorima's forehead. "We were beaten just a second ago!" Then he calmed down. "In fact, I find that you are difficult to understand. Hanging around and joking with them like that. They're the ones who defeated you."
Kise chewed on the last bit of his food. "Well… It's because I'm gonna get revenge! At the Inter-high competition of course!" He stared at both Taiga, and Kuroko stuffing their faces. "I won't lose next time!"
With a slight difficulty Taiga gulp down his mouthful. "Ha! Bring it on!"
Midorima's eyes narrowed at the blonde, who got along with both the Kagamis and Kuroko too well. "Kise, you seem different."
"Really?" Why do I feel like I had this conversation earlier this day?
"Your eyes… look weird…"
"WEIRD?!"
Kise noticed Seirin members playing with the food, throwing it into the air and testing their culinary skills on a poor okonomiyaki and he couldn't help a smile. "After the match with them, I went back to practise more. Recently I've started to think… It's fun playing basketball with everyone in Kaijou."
"Hn. I was wrong." Midorima took a bite of his half-burnt food. "You haven't changed a bit. You just went back to your old self, before we were the triple champions."
"Isn't it a good thing, Shin-chan? To enjoy the sport you do?" Aya asked with a smile.
Kise laughed at the nickname Takao had used, Taiga almost spluttered his food, and a small chuckle escaped Kuroko. Midorima frowned at her, obviously annoyed by it.
"I don't play basketball for fun." Midorima frowned.
"You're all thinking too much!" Taiga said with a fed up expression. "Basketball is something people do, because they like it. That's it."
"You," Midorima glared at him, "don't tell us what to think when you don't even know us."
Whosh!
An okonomiyaki landed on top of Midorima's head. "Ah!" Takao startled when he saw Midorima's shoulder's tense and felt the murderous aura emanating from his friend. "Sorry Shin-chan."
Aya was laughing again, this time not trying to hide it at all. Kise knew better, but he couldn't help it and soon joined the redhead.
Midorima got up, "We'll talk later." He stomped towards Takao's table. "Come here Takao." He pulled his friend by an ear.
"Hey! I'm sorry… No… I mean it! I don't know that okonomiyaki learned to fly… I swear!" He got smack upside the back of his head. "OUCH!"
Kuroko was smiling slightly. "It's just as Kagami-kun said. I've thought about it since the match. We'll never get any better if we don't find basketball fun."
"Well said, Kuroko-kun." Aya smiled with a nod. "I'd never get to the top if I haven't enjoyed dancing."
"Hm?" He tilted his head in question.
Crap! He doesn't know… "Ah… It's nothing. Really."
Kuroko stared at her for a moment with that unreadable expression of his. "If you say so."
They chattered some more, about school, and other trivia, joked with food, the twins bantered and fought for Taiga's food. It was a funny evening with lots of people. Aya circled the other tables to chat with all Seirin's members. They were enjoying their time together, until the rain outside stopped.
By then, Taiga's stomach was rounded with enormous amount of food he gobbled up. Kise and Midorima couldn't believe how much the boy managed to stuff inside his belly, though they'd seen Aomine overeat like this couple of times.
They were about to leave.
"Kagami, some advice for you." Midorima got up to go and pay his bill, just to notice Takao already dealing with it. Never mind, I'll pay him back later. "There are two of the generation of miracles in the Tokyo district. I am one and the other is Aomine Daiki. You'll definitely see him in the final league. And, he is the same type of player as you."
Taiga sighed and scratched the back of his neck. He should probably react as seriously as Midorima sounded, but… "I know." He said simply. "Aya's not Touou's manager for nothing."
"What about me?" She leaned over the table she was currently occupying, chatting with Riko about Taiga's legs.
"Badmouthin' Aomine." Taiga provoked.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "Wanna fight, dear twin~?" She asked teasingly; she couldn't care less about what they'd been discussing.
"You're twins?!" Midorima's eyes widened.
The twins exchanged a knowing look. "Yes. Didn't you notice? Didn't Kise tell you? Do you need a proof?" They asked in a perfect sync, enjoying the confused and slightly alarmed expressions of everyone.
"Good one." They said in unison again and fist bumped, grinning widely.
Even Kuroko felt slightly creeped up by this ability of theirs. "You don't have your own language, do you?" He asked suspiciously.
Aya laughed. "Not that I know of."
Midorima shook his head, now he could clearly see the similarity between the two. "Huh… Anyways. Just work hard."
"…Midorima-kun!" Kuroko called out after him.
"Let's compete again."
"Of course. And next time, I'll be the winner." He said over his shoulder and left.
Takao was already waiting for him outside, sitting on a bike which had a two-wheeled carriage attached to it. "Don't worry about rock-paper-scissors. I'll take you, okay?"
Eh? Midorima's eyes widened. To think that Takao would offer this on his own accord. Then an imperious smirk settled on his lips. "Hn. You're just like always."
"What?" Takao glared at him, not liking the smirk at all. He wasn't used to see smirks on Midorima's face. He shook his head and once Midorima had seated himself, he started pedalling. "We'll win next time."
"That goes without saying."
"But can you do away with your lucky item next time?"
"Oh, I won't bring any of my small items again. Next time, I'll buy a bigger Shigaraki ware figure."
"It's not about size!" Takao shouted exasperatedly.
Meanwhile Seirin got around to paying their bill…
"50 000 Yen ?!" (Roughly 440 USD) Izuki's eyes almost fell out. "That idiot Kagami ate too much!" He was crying bitter tears when he handed the money to a cashier.
A/N: This chapter followed manga, but I hope it wasn't too boring. I tried to insert Aya into it and add her comments etc... And could Aomine feel guilty because of that fall? At first no, but later I think that yes. Ah well...
Let me know what you think and remember, reviews are appreciated but never necessary.
-S.