"We're having a what now?" Kagami gaped at a smirking Riko. The rest of the Seirin team wore similar expressions.
"A training camp with the generation of miracles and their schools," the female coach repeated. She continued, "After the Winter Cup, the officials decided to sponsor a proper training camp to cater for the six top schools. A bit biased in my opinion but it's a good opportunity for us."
"That...is true," Hyuga reluctantly agreed.
"It's going to be chaos," Koganei whispered to Mitobe. The silent giant nodded.
As the boys broke out into excited and nervous discussions, Kagami was by himself on the side internally conflicted.
'The training camp is three weeks. I can't leave Gwen that long.'
"Kagami-kun," Kuroko approached the boy.
Kagami flinched and sent a mild glare at the shorter boy. Can't he appear normally?
"What are you going to do about Gwen-san?" Kuroko inquired. "Have you spoken to coach about it yet?"
"Spoken to me about what?"
The duo turned to see their coach looking up at them with a tilted head. But before they could answer, Riko suddenly remembered very crucial information she had forgotten.
"Crap, I totally forgot Kagami-kun," She slapped her forehead, "But I can't just cancel our trip and you'll be required to stay with us."
"Is there anything you can do? I can't just leave them at home," Kagami nearly begged.
Riko bit her lip and thought for a while. The solutions to the problem were limited but the most doable would be to invite Gwen to the camp with them.
"But would the other coaches and officials even allow that?" Kuroko asked.
Riko was unsure, "I don't know but I know how much they value Kagami-kun. If...If we tell them the whole story, they might consider it. I'll ask my dad to put in a word but - will you be okay with everyone finding out, Kagami-kun?"
"I..." Kagami let out a sigh, "I suppose so. It's not like I can hide it forever."
"Hide what forever?"
The three froze and turned to see Izuki and Hyuga behind them with curious expressions.
"What are you guys talking about?" Izuki asked.
Uh...
Riko looked at Kagami silently probing him to give an answer. Kuroko did the same.
Kagami grimaced at the two of them before turning to his two seniors with a complicated gaze.
"It's about my family," he stated rubbing his neck. "I've been keeping a secret from the team - only coach and Kuroko know of it but I can't hide it anymore,"
"Is it something bad? Are you in some kind of trouble?" asked the eagle-eye boy. His voice held an undertone of worry.
Kagami pursed his lips, "I wouldn't say it's bad but..."
"It's complicated," Kuroko finished for him. Riko nodded her head in agreement.
Hyuga and Izuki gave them weird looks, utterly confused. What could Kagami possibly be hiding?
-The Next Day-
"So...any idea what the big secret is?" Koganei swung a hand around Furihata's shoulders.
The younger boy shook his head, "Coach didn't say anything except it has something to do with Kagami."
"I wonder what happened this time," Kawahara mumbled.
"Maybe he's going to America again?" Fukuda thought.
But Koganei shook his head and said, "Coach wouldn't gather us especially just to announce that. Something else is going on. What do you think, captain?"
Hyuga was sitting on the bench tapping away on his phone. Hearing Koganei's question, he looked up and shrugged, "No idea. Coach and our power duo seemed nervous so I'm guessing it must be pretty big - whatever the secret is."
"Speaking of big, isn't Kiyoshi scheduled to return soon?" Koganei asked.
"In two days," Izuki clarified. "His recovery went well so he should be able to join us for the lnter-high."
"Ehh? Is Izuki-senpai talking about the one called 'The Iron Heart'?" from the side came an excited voice of one of the freshmen players.
"Tch, he's just an airhead," Hyuga clicked his tongue.
"So cynical,"
Hyuga was about to yell at Izuki when the gym doors suddenly opened and in walked a beaming Riko. Her mouth was paused in a wide smile as if she'd been to heaven and back.
"Coach, you're finally here. Can you tell us what this is all about?" Koganei asked.
"Fufufu, be prepared for a wonderful surprise boys," Riko smiled and winked. Then she shouted, "Come on in!"
Huh?
The door opened and the attention of the team immediately drew to the redhead walking in...holding a baby?!
"W-What?"
"Who's baby?"
And behind him, a beautiful foreign girl entered wearing a cute sundress bearing a nervous expression.
Who is this beauty? And why is she with Kagami?!
"What is this Riko?" Hyuga asked with wide eyes.
Riko motioned for Kagami to come forward and the boy did so - reluctantly.
Clearing his throat, he opened his mouth and announced, "Everyone, this is Gwen, my girlfriend."
...
"EHHH?!" a collective shout from the team.
"- and this is our son, Shion," Kagami finished.
"EHHHHHH?!"
Hyuga collapsed face-first onto the ground. His mouth began frothing.
"Oh my-"
"Ack! He fainted! Captain fainted!"
"AH! Mitobe is frozen! The shock is too damaging!"
"Kagami you damn bastard!"
The gym dissolved into chaos.
-Minutes Later-
It took a good twenty minutes for the team to calm down and accept the fact that; one, they were not hallucinating, two, Kagami had a girlfriend who was incredibly pretty (and definitely out of his league), and three, he had a FREAKING CHILD!
Hyuga had recovered from his fainting and sat up with a dazed expression. But it soon turned to fury as he charged at the boy grabbing his collar.
"Why you little piece of shit?! How could you do this to the girl?!" Hyuga growled.
"It's not my fault!" Shouted Kagami prying his captain off of him. "It was an accident!"
"Of course it's an accident!"
"No, what I mean is..."
And so, Kagami had to narrate the story AGAIN of how he landed in this situation. After hearing the full plot, the team turned to Gwen for confirmation, much to Kagami's anger (was he that unreliable?), and she nodded her head.
"Holy shi-er-shiitake mushrooms," Tsuchida censored his words.
Staring at the baby, who looked way too much like his father, the group couldn't help but think he was simply too adorable.
"So that's why you've been acting so weird lately," Izuki mused. "You could have told us earlier you know?"
"...en," Kagami felt ashamed. Of course these guys wouldn't judge him. He was overthinking it.
Meanwhile, Riko and Gwen were wrapped up in their own conversation which mainly consisted of Riko asking the girl whether or not Kagami was being good to her.
"If he bullies you, let me know and I'll beat him for you," Riko had said with a smile. A smile that looked evil in Kagami's eyes.
Gwen burst out laughing, "Thank you Riko-san but I think I'll be fine. Kagami is a wonderful dad and boyfriend."
"Oh?"
Gwen then started telling her how Kagami was able to turn into the ultimate housewife and father when required. Riko, and everyone else, listened with interest and surprise.
'Their idiot ace was actually so talented?'
"Wauuuu!"
The team's attention was brought to the little rice ball in Kagami's arms who seemed to be having the time of his life being surrounded by so many people. He babbled away leaving the team and Riko to coo is him.
"He's so cute," Riko said scooting closer to him.
And seeing Kagami with his baby...their souls felt warm and pleasant. It was healing.
"I'm so jealous of him," Koganei muttered. "Hot girlfriend, cute baby, great at basketball, could life be better?"
Everyone else; "Agreed."