At that night, Kamijou lay on his bed as he was busy thinking a lot of things. First, Lessar was there. Next, Biri Biri was there as well. Then, Fukiyose in sexy clothing for a reason that I don't even know and I don't care what it is. Lastly, Otohime and my relatives are here as well. Is there some reason why those things happened? He groaned as he then squirmed on his bed. He then saw a glimpse of Index snoring loudly on her bed as well as Othinus asleep on her doll house. And what's with the barbeque party on Saturday?
After a while, the boy's eyelids fell heavy and soon, he himself is snoring as he is drowned in his own starry dreams.
#
For the first five days of the first week of June, the daily routine of Kamijou Touma was basically the same—that is, with his daily doses of rotten luck. From Monday to Friday straight, he would get up early at 5 am, which was very unusual for a boy who is known to be for his tardiness back in Academy City but then, the moment he joined Seirin's team, he knew the value of waking up early and exercising. After breakfast, he would always run into Kuroko and Kagami on the streets and from there, they would simply walk together going to Seirin. They would always talk about their experiences with Seirin, their daily struggles in their classes, and their weird lives, with Kamijou not surprisingly ranting about his daily misfortunes, which the light and shadow of Seirin soon began to figure out why.
During one of their stops in Maji Burger, a waitress accidentally spilled hot water on the spiky haired boy's bag, which destroyed his paper works in his math subjects. Kuroko and Kagami could only blink at Kamijou, who was wallowing in anguish. And here, I thought we are the unluckiest in our team!
Another time, they were in a street with the whole team and Kamijou was carrying a brand-new phone at that time which his father gave to him. All of the sudden, Kiyoshi, due to his air headedness, didn't see a bump in the road and as he stepped in, he suddenly slipped and he fell forward to Kamijou, who was clutching his phone for fear it might get wrecked. Ironically, that just what happened after the 6'4" frame of Kiyoshi crashed into the smaller Kamijou's back and once the two stood up, the spiky haired boy could feel the pieces of what remained of his new cell phone. After that, the bystanders swore they heard someone shout, "Such misfoooortune!"
But that was actually the least. The worse part came when Kamijou was confronted with something that Kuroko and Kagami had actually dealt with when they were still the rookies in the young Seirin team: the deadly-than-venom cooking ability of their coach.
It happened one Friday morning (a day before the national team's first practice), when all of the regulars were now busy warming up in the basketball gymnasium and Kamijou was assigned to distribute the basketballs for that particular day. Seeing his hard work, coach Aida Riko then thought of rewarding him with something that made Kuroko and Kagami almost feel like their friend is being pulled into the River of Styx.
"Kamijou-kun!" the brunette coach called him out, "Since you're working your ass pretty hard, I'll reward you with a homemade dish that I made!"
"Uh…sure coach. Arigatou!" Kamijou incredulously bowed to her in gratitude.
But to players who heard their interaction, they were basically terrified and was looking at the spiky haired boy with an expression that says, "Kamijou, are you trying to kill yourself!?"
"Oh, yeah," Kiyoshi put his hand on his chin as if he is thinking something pretty deep, "Since Kamijou only came to our club this year, he really had no idea about Riko's cooking style."
"That's not the main point, Kiyoshi!" Hyuga hushed him in the background as they watch the innocent Kamijou from afar continue to sort out the basketball rack, "Dammit, I'm pretty sure he'll throw up the minute he takes a taste of coach's dish!"
"But it should be fun, right!?" Koganei suddenly said as he joins the three, "I mean, he wouldn't become an official Seirin player until he experiences coach's inability to cook a decent meal without vitamins!"
"You're concerned with that!?" Izuki nearly yelled at the cat face as Mitobe shivered with for Kamijou, "But seriously, what will coach give to Kamijou?" He was remembering that certain dish from last year after they had won their revenge match against Touou in the Winter Cup and at that time, the Eagle Eye point guard thought that he would have seen Charon ferrying him into the river of Styx.
"Here!"
Before everyone can even move, all of the seniors, plus Kuroko and Kagami (who were planning to save their friend from a death warrant but were too late) froze to hear their coach have come back with a small brown box in her hand.
"This is a home-made chocolate bars that I made for the whole team but this one is exclusively for you since you're just a new student here," everyone heard Aida said to Kamijou, who seemed to be prepared to gobble up the chocolates. Please, Kamijou! Don't eat that! Hyuga and Kiyoshi inwardly screamed as they remembered their own experience in eating the coach's homemade chocolates (A/N: In a Drama CD, Hyuga and Kiyoshi almost got killed by one of the coach's experimental chocolates).
"Nani?" they heard Kamijou, who is now clutching the box, suddenly said in surprise as his eyes bulge out in surprise, "Why is there nashi pear on it?"
"Whaat? Oh…hehehe," the coach chuckled nervously as she pushed the boy to eat her homemade sweets, "Just eat it, Kamijou-kun!"
"Oh, sure. Arigatou!" the unsuspecting boy then took one bar of chocolate and quickly chewed a piece on his mouth. All of the sudden, his face suddenly turned purple.
"What's wrong, Kamijou-kun!?" Aida panicked as she watched her player and kouhai suddenly began to twirl while holding his stomach and then he began to choke as his saliva was dripping in his mouth. Dammit! You just poisoned him! All of the regulars had this on their minds as they quickly rushed into the scene, with Kuroko bringing in some water.
By the time they have reached their spot, Kamijou began to violently throw up as it looks like he was suffering from epilepsy. Luckily, Kuroko knows how to deal with situations like this as he gave the spiky haired boy some tablets and the glass of water to drink and in a matter of minutes, the boy stop spitting out vomit and he began to calm down. After that particular incident, Aida admitted that she injected a special supplement in the chocolate bars, which made everyone almost puke out as they watch Kamijou, who was heavily breathing as he sits on the floor, with concern. Ever the gentleman, Kiyoshi then proceeds to tell her ex-girlfriend (which Kamijou didn't even know at that time) that she can always restart how she makes her chocolates so it'll be better the next time.
Aside from those misfortunes, Kamijou began to receive daily messages from Fukiyose and in return, he messages her back, saying that he's fine and that he's learning more about basketball since he admitted that he still had a lot to learn in that ball game. While it looks awkward at first, Kamijou instantly became more comfortable with the Iron Walled girl texting her daily that in those first five days of June, he had learned to even text Fukiyose first thing in the morning. But aside, from her, he also had his share of text messages with Misaka, which shouldn't be surprising.
The problem is, Kamijou doesn't even initiate the conversation.
For instance, Misaka texted him, saying that how he is now and that she's only texting him because she doesn't know what could happen to him in Seirin so she decided to ask him. Not wanting to start another argument, Kamijou replied that he is fine as always and that there is no need worry about him. Misaka would then reply that he's an idiot for saying that and that whatever happens, she'll always be there for him. The boy then decided not to text back and shuts down his phone (which was a new replacement to the one Kiyoshi accidentally broke when they were all in the streets) as to prevent the Railgun from resorting to calls.
But that caused a counter-reaction as Misaka, alone this time, then snuck once again into Seirin High School late in the afternoon as they were all wrapping up their practice, suggesting that she was serious in saying that she'll always drop by his school. Of course, this wasn't well-received by Kamijou, who thinks that he's once again taking away the Level 5's time and he bluntly told her that it's better for her to go home and do her assignments. This didn't please Misaka, who then threatens him by emitting spark. Kamijou was forced to use his right hand to neutralize it and for a moment, Misaka secretly enjoyed Kamijou holding her hands before her tough instincts took over and she insulted the boy. Luckily, before Misaka can do something much worse, Kuroko and Kagami were able to enter the scene on time and quickly excused the boy from the Esper, saying that, "We needed to go somewhere else for our project in our English subject" which translates to, "We needed to get him away from you!"
But this doesn't stop Misaka and in fact, for the next three days, she became a somewhat constant fixture in the basketball gymnasium of Seirin but that doesn't mean they enjoy her presence at all. While they do not hate the Level 5 Railgun, Hyuga felt like she shouldn't even be here and was even tempted to have Misaka get kicked out of the gym if it wasn't for Kamijou, who said that it would be fine. This made Hyuga's jaw drop as he knew that ironically, the spiky haired boy was on the receiving end of the electric princess' swing moods. And everyone can damn see it! But he decided to shut up for two reasons: Kamijou's saintly patience, which actually puts Kuroko to shame, and Misaka's electricity, which made all the seniors, especially the Light and Shadow of the team, to actually fear her unconsciously. And to makes things worse, they haven't even witnessed her Railgun, which could make Kiyoshi and Kagami pee the shit out of their pants.
But this doesn't mean he won't do his duties as the captain (and to his chagrin, the super daddy of the Seirin Basketball Team). When Misaka was again flared her temper as she uses her sparks when she and Kamijou were arguing outside, he actually took an iron water pipe lying idly in the basketball equipment room and was about to charge in there when Kuroko, with some help from Kagami and Mitobe, stopped him in his tracks, saying, "Don't barge in there, captain. Kamijou-kun would be fine."
How can you say he'll be fine when those sparks of hers are enough to kill Kamijou! Hyuga eyed his other kouhai angrily but even before he can swing the metal tube, he saw that Misaka had calmed down while the Imagine Breaker user was scratching his head like an idiot.
As for the others, they decided to keep quiet even though they secretly wished that she doesn't have to use her sparks. Koganei, who was usually spectating in matters like this, actually wanted to pull away his junior from the walking taser but was stopped by Izuki, who said, "We're not Espers like the two of them. Besides, it looks like she can't even kill him." Kiyoshi, despite his weird smile, was silently praying that their second year point guard would get out alive in this awkward situation.
As for Aida, she was now taking back her opinions about Index, Fukiyose, and Lessar the moment she met Misaka. I'd rather have that annoying nun and Fukiyose-san here than someone who looks like she'll about to commit murder.
Luckily, Misaka didn't visit Seirin on Friday because of an important task that requires them to go to a laboratory outside Tokiwadai. If she did, she would have seen Kamijou throw up coach's chocolates and would make things worse.
Little did she know, though, that her constant presence in the school began to attract unwanted attention and it began to somewhat affect the Seirin population (or at least, some of those who witnessed the raging Esper).
It reached to the point that one random student snapped some photos of the Railgun, who was about to exit the gates. Unfortunately for him, Misaka spotted him and immediately destroyed the camera with electrical shocks though the guy was able to escape safely.
On the other hand, Hyuga was weighing some options but decided to shelf them for more important matters. The Olympics, Interhigh, and Winter Cup are more pressing concerns than this bratty kid!
#
Finally, that day has come where it would be the time where Kamijou would be exposed to the shining bright lights and the smell of hardwood in the international basketball scene. Right now, he was eating a heavy breakfast of left-over fried chicken from last night, eggs, fried rice, cow milk, and garlic bread. He ate a lot, knowing that all the regulars in the nationals to training regimen which is thrice the pain in Seirin so he'll need all the nutrients.
"Good luck son!" Touya cheered his son as he was just entering the kitchen.
"Thanks, dad…" the younger Kamijou replied as he sat beside Index, who was basically stuffing everything in her mouth.
"By the way Touma dear, we'll have a barbeque party later at night," Shiina smiled at him as she pours more rice into her son's plate, "If you want, invite those in your national team and in Seirin High. Oh and you can bring my future daughter-in-law as well!"
"Mom…" Kamijou groaned but at the same time, almost choked at imagining himself impregnating a naked Fukiyose in their soft bed in her lustful mind. That would be nice…
Pushing those disturbing thoughts out of his head, the spiky haired boy was finished eating and went back to his room to pick up his basketball equipment consisting of his Kobe sneakers (he decided that for this day once, he'll switch to the Jordan shoes), bottled water, extra t-shirt, and some towels. After he bade his parents and Index good bye, he then went out of his house, just in time to see Kuroko just coming out of his house as well.
"Kuroko!" the spiky haired boy called out his friend who is already in his basketball attire as well.
"Kamijou-kun, good morning," the tealnette greeted him, "Shall we walk now?"
From there, they began to walk in the streets as the two were sharing some random moments in the team.
"I feel like I'm going to die yesterday," the spiky haired boy said as he was shaken from his experience with their coach's cooking yesterday, "Why did she make terrible chocolates, anyway? Does she not know how to cook?"
"Her cooking level is below average," Kuroko replied, trying to sound nice about Aida's way of cooking.
"Okay…" Kamijou looked at him blankly and then said, "So we're going to Tokyo Astrodome today?"
"Not really," the Phantom Sixth Man answered with a stoic face, "We're going to Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. It's quite bigger than Tokyo Astrodome but their distances aren't afar from each other."
The raven nodded as they kept walking, "By the way, why didn't Kagami go with us?"
"He isn't an official member yet," Kuroko answered immediately, "While the two of us got automatically inserted in the roster, Kagami-kun would have to compete with other applicants for the remaining spots though I believe it won't be long before he finally joins us."
"I see…" the taller Kamijou then scratched his head and looked up in the sky.
It wasn't long before they managed to reach the site. The spiky haired boy was pretty amazed at the sight of Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, which is where the Winter Cup is always held. Tokyo Astrodome is already big but this edifice is larger and far more impressive in terms of architecture. He then stopped dazing around as Kuroko started walking ahead so he decided to catch up and follow the tealnette. While they were walking, they could hear faint sounds of sneakers squeaking from the far distant. "Sounds like they have already started," Kuroko muttered as they continued to walk. After passing through a long hallway, they finally came upon an entrance which Kuroko then pushed the French doors. Following the Phantom players, Kamijou was pretty amazed at this place. The courts of Interhigh is big but this one is even bigger! Just then, he began to hear faint sounds from the hardwood court.
"Dammit, Kise! Stop shoving that magazine in my face!"
"Hidoi, Aominecchi! This was a new release!"
"This is ridiculous, nanodayo! At least, have the decency to shut up in this first day of practice."
"Are…Kise-chin…your voice is too loud. I should crush you already…"
"All of you are so mean to meeee!"
"Kise! Another word and your training would be tripled."
"Hah! Serves you right, ikemen!"
"Aomine, don't forget that you'll do 100 pushups later before we start!"
"Akashi…teme…"
"Sei-chan, where is Kuroko-chan and this Kamijou Touma?"
"I'm pretty sure they are hear by now, Mibuchi-san."
"I see…Kotaro, stop fooling around!"
"Eh…but I'm excited to play against strong players, Reo-nee!"
Kuroko blinked as he and Kamijou finally stepped into the court. For the latter, he was actually nervous. Okay…I already know that they are strong but why am I nervous!
"Oh…it seemed that they are here," the voice of Seijuro Akashi cut through the air as he spots his former Teiko teammate now coming in with the boy he had sought, "I was awaiting the arrival of you two."
"I see," Kuroko answered with a straight face as Kamijou Touma was basically frozen in his spot. Now that I have seen them together in a court, I could say they're pretty threatening. He said as one by one, all the present players gather behind Akashi as if they are up to something.
"Kamijou Touma, welcome to the national club," Akashi declared while smiling as he extends his hands to the spiky haired boy who nevertheless receives it, "From this day up to the end of the Olympics, remember this: this game isn't for the faint-hearted and do your best until you can't give no more." He was basically telling him to live up to expectations.
"H-Hai…" Kamijou can only reply like a robot as he scans the whole area.
"Welcome, Kamijoucchi!" Kise basically flailed his arms as he welcomes the boy, "I look forward to teaming up toge…" Suddenly, he was cut off as Midorima slaps his hand into the cheek of the Kaijo small forward.
"You're annoying him, Kise," the Shutoku shooter said, "Nevertheless, welcome to the national roster and today's lucky item is a rubber ducky." He proudly flashes the yellow toy duck in his left hands, which made Kamijou only grew weary of him. How can you carry something so embarrassing, Midorima?
"Kamin!" a pink-haired girl, who just appeared randomly, suddenly went out all way to greet him, "I'm Momoi Satsuki and I'm your manager for this team! I hear a lot of things about you from Tetsu-kun!"
"Uh…sure. Nice to meet you," the Imagine Breaker user said as he then glances at the rest of the players. He sees Murasakibara, Aomine, Takao, Himuro, a guy with short, light brown hair and brown eyes, three guys hunched together, a similar but shorter spiky-haired buy with sharp steel blue eyes, and a gorilla-looking guy with a weird haircut. As if reading what's on Kamijou's mind, Akashi coughed up and said, "Kamijou, the others there would help us in preparing for the international stage though that would not mean they'll be playing with us there. That one is Sakurai Ryo."
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I forgot to introduce myself!" the apologetic mushroom was at it once again.
"Ignoring him, the three guys together are my teammates from Rakuzan. They are Mibuchi-san, Nebuya-san, and Hayama-san."
"'Sup…" the Goriki Nebuya greeted.
"Nice to meet you, Kamijou!" Hayama said cheerfully as he fools around with the leather.
"Welcome, Touma-chan!" Mibuchi waved at him, which only creep out the spiky haired boy. For some reason, I think I should stay away from him!
"Next, that's Kasamatsu Yukio-san and he plays the same position as ours."
The former captain of Kaijo and Kise's tormentor only nodded at him.
"Last but not the least, Murasakibara's ape-like former captain, Okamura Kenichi-san."
"What's with the insult!?" the big man cried as he wiped his eyes, "Why can't no one respect me!?"
"Okay! Okay!"
The sound of a female voice made everyone shut up as a group of seven people had entered the gym. They had the same air as those of the Generation of Miracles except for the fact that they were older (obviously) than the players themselves.
"Huh? Coach!?" Kise suddenly let out a screech as he saw his plump Kaijo coach Takeuchi appear before in his eyes, "Wait…all of our coaches are in fact present!" The last sentence stunned the players as they raised their eyes up and what Kise said was real. Also present were the handsome Touou mentor Harasawa, Shutoku's Nakatani, Yosen's 33-year old beauty Araki Masako (whose image some players 'harden' up), the father of Seirin's mentor, Aida Kagetora (though Kamijou didn't know this yet), Rakuzan's bench tactician Shirogane Eiji, but most of all…
"It's nice to see your faces again, lads…"
Hearing that familiar voice made Aomine almost chokes into the Gatorade he was gulping down as it seemed every expression of the Generation of Miracles, sans Akashi and Kuroko, had also changed into an expression of fear and intimidation.
"C-Coach Shirogane Kozo-san!?" Midorima, despite his usual stoic manner, cannot help but be shocked at seeing the very basketball mentor that made practice back in their Teiko days as some sort of survival of the fittest, "You'll be coaching us!?"
"Why, you still remembered me, Midorima," the grey-haired mentor said as he eyes the green haired lefty, "Since I'm back to full-health and the Japan Basketball Association has invited me to mentor you youngsters, I'm back as your head coach and with some addition of highly-touted players outside of the Teiko veterans, we'll have lots of fun…"
Everyone from the Kiseki no Sedai plus their Phantom Sixth Man groaned (Kuroko paled for his part) as they are suppressing their urge to say sarcastic comments about the older Shirogane's (A/N: he is 51 while his cousin Eiji Shirogane is 45 in the KnB canon) perception of having 'fun'. Kamijou looked at them with some concern as he looks at the former Teiko coach. Judging by their reactions, this old man must be a demon much more than coach and Fukiyose.
"Before we begin out light exercises, I must first say that as the hosts of the 20XX Tokyo Olympics, we must make the nation proud," Shirogane said with a stern voice, "I don't care how we will do it as long as it within the basketball rules and it translates to one thing: glory. And to accomplish that, your coaches and I have also invited some former players from Teiko to help in conditioning, fundamental strengthening, and tactics. Please, welcome them though those who attended Teiko didn't need to do that." As if on cue, three lanky men, on which two of them Kamijou actually knows.
"Uh…it was pleasant seeing Kamijou here," the ash-blonde Sekiguchi chuckled as he was wearing a black shirt and jogging pants, "That's the dude I'm telling you, Nijimura."
Hearing this made Akashi and Shirogane look at Sekiguchi with a confused look.
"Sekiguchi-san, you know him?" the red headed Akashi wanted to clarify something that doesn't look right in his opinion.
"Uh…yeah. Didn't he tell you?" Sekiguchi chuckled once more as he grabs a basketball lying in the floor and abruptly throws a pass to Kamijou, who catches it one-hand with ease, "I was the first one to discover his talent back in Academy City where I used to have that store. In fact, I was the one who pluck him out of the streets and suggest to him to take his talents here in main Tokyo city."
This newly released information processed into the minds of Akashi and the rest of the prodigies but before they could react, Shirogane already cut them off and said, "Now. Now. The small lectures can come later. For now, as an appetizer, you'll have one hundred laps outside the gymnasium, one hundred sit-ups when you get back here, one hundred lunges, one hundred shuttle runs, fifty counts of rope jumps and you'll get the equipment from Momoi, a hundred…"
This is basically a massacre! You call that an appetizer!? Kamijou was shocked out of his wits as his national team coach kept ranting on and on, not even realizing that his own players, especially those who didn't came from Teiko, were ready to faint upon hearing the very ordeal that the Generation of Miracles had undergone.
"Eeeeeek…." Hayama yelped from the moment he heard Shirogane's instructions, "I don't know if we'll all get out alive here…"
"Dammit. This is a hundred times worse than the training menu of Kaijo," Kasamatsu silently cussed as he listened to the coach who wasn't even finished speaking. The rest were already shivering upon hearing what their coach wanted them to do.
"Don't tense up, young lads. Nothing kills the young," Shirogane's face then turns serious, "Now get out of my sight and start those warm ups! Now!"
At the sound of their coach's thunderous voice, everyone scrambled to get out of the gym and together, they now head to the nearest track-and-field. From that point, everyone started to run laps.
#
"Misaka-san…"
The voice of Shokuhou was heard as Misaka was busy looking at a store window displaying various sizes of the Gekota toy frog. The former was agitated to see her rival suddenly call her out so casually like they were close friends.
"Don't just call out so loudly, you know," Misaka said with some anger in her voice as he line of sight meets Shokuhou's gold and starry eyes, which looks like it was taunting her to say something back.
"What's the matter, Misaka-san? You seemed so grumpy today," she snickered as she walks closely to the third ranked Level 5, "And I noticed you have been skipping classes since Monday. Are you in some kind of a personal mission?"
"Shut up. And it's not your business," the Railgun replied irritatingly as she decided to brush off the presence of Tokiwadai's queen.
"Gomen…" Shokuhou muttered while smiling mockingly, "Oh…it seemed that my prince isn't here. How sad," She fakes a sigh as she wanted to provoke the brunette Misaka. The latter only narrows her eyes as she replies, "He isn't here at the moment for reasons I don't know. If I do know, what would you even do?"
"Heh…" Shokuhou grinned further at the startled Misaka, who wasn't expecting this kind of reply from her, "Don't worry, I do know about him taking down Midorima-san and Shutoku High School in a recent game…" She then was prepared to leave when all of the sudden, Misaka yelled at her to stop at her tracks, "Stop! You're not moving from that spot!"
Shokuhou can only look at her with an expression that can't tell if she was mocking Misaka or just being bored that day, "What's with the attitude, Misaka-san?"
"What the hell do you mean he took down Midorima!?" Misaka, hearing just last week that her secret crush had defeated two prodigies in a row, didn't want to acknowledge that fact, "Okay! I don't know what but what you're saying is impossible, considering it's that idiot…"
"Then you don't really know anything, Misaka-san," Shokuhou narrowed her eyes at the girl that months ago, was just vacationing with her at Bali, Indonesia and even worked together to investigate Kuriba Ryouko's cyborg experiment and its relation with the Indian Poker cards, "If you're saying that it's impossible because it's him, then you're wrong Misaka-san. I have seen him play in his best form and the fact that he took down a renowned prodigy on his own outside of Academy City is proof of that."
"It's hard to trust you, you know," the electricity princess spat back at her.
"I don't blame you, then," Shokuhou sighed and then smiled, "Well…that explains your five straight days skipping at least one subject." Misaka bit her lip as she was tempted to hurl insults at the blonde beauty, "I don't want to see my hero leave but because I love him, I let it as is and right now, I'm happy he has now found his own peace there on the other side of our world."
"He never really belonged there," Misaka let out a snarl but deep inside, she had wished for the same for the boy she secretly likes, "He has a power that surpasses my ability so he had no place there. I don't understand his intentions at all so I was forced to watch him there in that school called Seirin."
"Oh? Are you his mother?" the blonde let out a surprised voice then lowered it down, "But kidding aside, I don't see any intentions on his part. It looks like he just wanted it to be there more. And surely, he has found a place where he really belongs. They're not Espers like us but I can tell his team are more than happy to receive him there and the same can be said of my prince." She then passed by the stunned Misaka and went her own way.
This left the Railgun pondering Shokuhou's words as well as imagining her crush very happy with his new school and team. To be honest, she wanted the same for the boy but at the same time, her emotions are bottling her up. And she had no idea how to really relay her feelings to the boy with spiky black hair.
#
"Dammit…"
The voice of Hayama was heard echoing in pain as everyone dragged themselves back to the large edifice of Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, with everyone already sweating so hard with their muscles sore after a gruelling 100 laps in the track-and-field.
"Sei-chan, can't you tell coach to go easy on us since this is the first day?" Mibuchi, seeing the fatigue and the panting of air by some of the players, asked his young captain to at least have coach Shirogane lift up some of their heavy drills.
"That's the coach's call though I'll see what I can do, Mibuchi-san," Akashi was actually pitying some of the regulars in the team, especially Sakurai, who had to clung into the shoulders of Kasamatsu to prevent from fainting due to exhaustion. Kamijou, meanwhile, was still fine but he was already sweating too much than regular. Shit…this just a regular run and yet, it feels like I ran into a 100-km marathon. Such misfortune.
"Oh…look at those losers…"
The whole squad stopped to see an elegant and slender man in a jersey jacket and jogging pants walking towards their path.
"Huh…who the hell is he?" Aomine was annoyed to see someone bad mouthing their group. He would have gotten out there and went for his head if it wasn't for Midorima replying to his question.
"He's Kawamoto Eishiro. One of Japan's top professional volleyball players in and this season, he's the League MVP," Midorima calmly explained though low key, he actually wanted to punch the guy who just insulted them.
"Well…well…if it isn't the national basketball team," Kawamoto yawned mockingly as he smugly grins at the teens, "Or perhaps, just one of those teams who are bound to get sweeped out in the dustbin…"
"What the hell did you just say!?" Aomine yelled angrily as he was about to really get serious with his threat to smack the lights out of him. But Akashi prevented him from really going after Kawamoto, who was as tall as Himuro.
"Such an uncivilized behaviour. Really befitting of an animal from a pack of beasts," Kawamoto insulted Aomine once again, "In contrast to your team, which are only composed of high school and freshmen college amateurs, the national volleyball team has the bigger chance to deliver for Japan especially that we are composed of the best experienced professionals. Perhaps, you have forgotten how the national basketball team's score was always tripled in the qualifications four years ago in the last Olympics?" At this point, a group of people wearing similar clothing with Kawamoto suddenly appeared.
"Eishiro!" a guy with bangs loudly shouted to him, "You don't know who you're talking to. Stop that arrogant attitude to a fellow Japanese man! I'll hit you!" The man then proceeded to kick Kawamoto on the gut.
"Ittai! That hurts so much!" the arrogant man cried so much as he was dragged away by the volleyball players, who looked worried about the reactions of the basketball players. "I'm terribly sorry for Eishiro's attitude!" the man with bangs, who seemed to be the captain since he is wearing the number four jersey, bowed in respect, "He just tends to run his mouth off without even thinking."
Akashi looked at him with a calm face before answering, "I accept your apology but please do remind that arrogant player of yours not to be so sure of what he's saying." The Rakuzan point guard was basically furious that their team was being treated like some shit. I can't believe he can act like that to his countrymen. Kamijou angrily thought to himself as he watched the dragged away Kawamoto shouting that the national basketball team should just be disbanded and their funds be transferred to them. Dammit, we can't just stand here for so long. We have to show them we're capable of competing as well.
"Guys…"
Everyone then stopped their murmurs to hear Akashi's voice suddenly let out something.
"We can't let them insult us but at the same time, they do have a point about that fiasco four years back," he sighed and then smiled, "But this time is different now and we're stronger. Let's show them through our brand of basketball. You know what this means? We'll keep sweating and pushing ourselves hard!"
"Hai!" everyone answered and then they jogged back inside the gymnasium.
Within minutes, they were all inside the gym now and the sooner they got back inside, they all threw themselves in the floor mats that were laid in the court and began to do their sit-ups with determination and ferocity that all the coaches had to wonder what they could have eaten. Right now, they are on the side lines enjoying some coffee and toasted bread since the real deal would start later in the early afternoon.
"That 100-lap run alone is already a killer and yet, they looked like they just started now?" Takeuchi eyed the players with genuine shock, "Not only that, they seemed to be awfully bloodthirsty today. What do you think, Tora?"
"Huh? What?" Kagetora was actually thinking deep for a moment before hearing the plump Takeuchi calling him out, "Ah…oh. They really are impressive today but it does look like weird. Did that Akashi brat do something to them?"
"It doesn't look like it," Nakatani said as he removes his black coat, "But it does seem like something happened to the team in general like they were provoked or something else. But either way, it's good to see the best of our boys doing their best."
"I just hope Murasakibara can be like this when we get back to Yosen," Araki murmured in annoyance as she was busy combing her long, black hair, "By the way, do you have plans to go back coaching, Kagetora?" Apparently, there were rumors of him going back to coaching after he steered the Vorpal Swords team to victory some months back versus Jabberwocks.
"Ah…I those damn rumors are just rumors," the father of Aida Riko angrily sputtered as he crushes a paper cup that he is holding, "Besides, those Seirin brats have my beloved daughter to look after them. But I had to admit that I was interested to meet that one new recruit that my daughter keeps babbling about."
"Ah…you mean that boy with spiky black hair? I think that's Kamijou Touma, neh?" Katsunori, who was busy reading some scouting report from Momoi, joined their conversation, "I'm glad to see that he's also here."
"Ah, yeah. That Porcupine Kid," Kagetora, typical of him, just gave a nickname to Kamijou, who was the fastest to finish the sit-ups. Kagetora watched him with some sense of seriousness as the Imagine Breaker user had already stood up and proceeded to the other side of the court as instructed by Nijimura who was supervising them and began to do those 100 lunges on his own.
"That Kamijou is impressive," Eiji said as he watches the boy do his drills with great energy, "Based from the videos I have watched, he's like Akashi with the versatility, speed, and technique with Aomine. Seirin's fire power had truly increased with the addition of that boy."
"As much as I hate to admit it, he knocked some sense out of Kise during our practice game with them," Takeuchi sighed as he gulps his coffee, "But come Interhigh, our ace would come out stronger than ever."
"Hoh? Is that a friendly challenge?" Katsunori smirked as he puts down the piles of paper he was reading, "Perhaps, you have forgotten about our ace, Aomine?"
"As if those two brats of yours could stop Murasakibara and the Shield of Aegis," Araki smacked their head with her wooden sword, "If there's anyone who can stop Kamijou, I would be our team's height."
Nakatani could only watch them as the three mentors bicker with each other, "Well, I don't know what to say since Midorima and our core lost to Seirin," he shrugged.
Afterwards, everyone had finished the push-ups and are now doing the lunge exercise. For the rest of the morning, the so-called appetizer by the head coach has been carried out (with some pain, of course) by the first recruits for Japan's basketball team. For instance, Kasamatsu, despite being a nationally strong point guard, can't help but fall on the ground as he was already beyond his limit to even continue his shuttle runs and that he was only allowed to stop for a minute to drink bottles of water. After that, he was ordered to resume his training menu. Murasakibara, meanwhile, had a hard time using the jump rope because of his 6'10" frame so he had to use a long nylon rope as a makeshift jump rope while longer ropes aren't yet available.
By the time their clock had struck twelve lunch time, everyone had just finished all the physical training menus thrown upon them and at this point, everyone was just so tired and exhausted that none can even move their hands. "Hah…hah…hah…" Nebuya was desperately gasping oxygen that he can, "This is too much for my body to handle. I need water…" Luckily, Momoi walked around all the players and began to distribute five water bottles for each player and a towel. Kamijou immediately gulped down his four bottles of water as he was perspiring weird sweat.
"Hahaha," they all heard Coach Shirogane laugh, "It seems that these boys needs more stamina. Well, I'll add that stamina-based exercises to our next day of practice so it would be twice the fun this day." Okamura was inching to curse out the former Teiko coach but was too tired to even do so.
After everyone had finally got the strength to stand up, everyone then headed out for the nearest cafeteria to eat lunch that was prepared by Akashi's best cooks. Since everything he ate from breakfast had largely disintegrated in his body, Kamijou wasted no chance filling his plate of mashed potatoes, legumes, roasted turkey, miso soup, and hot, steaming rice. Since all the Generation of Miracles and Kuroko (whom Aomine dragged along with him) sat on a six-seater table, Kamijou had no choice but to join Himuro, Okamura, Takao, Sakurai, and Kasamatsu on another six-seater table, which happened to be outside the cafeteria so they had to bring their plates outside. The three of the Uncrowned Kings went to their own table which was located on the rear end of the cafeteria.
While they were all eating, Takao kept telling funny stories about how Midorima messed up big time in their economics class when the Tempura he was cooking ended up becoming charred like a charcoal and that one time he almost got ran over by a cement truck because he tried to avoid a black cat that was on his path. Kasamatsu, deciding to go with the flow, then told haw glad he was when he graduated because he cannot anymore endure Kise's annoying attitude as well as the fan girls that were always flocking in their gym.
"At least, those two attends practice," Himuro sighed, "Well, Atsushi began to attend practice regularly since our loss at the hands of Seirin but sometimes, he still had this lazy attitude that sometimes, it was just so hard to concentrate with him just sitting on one corner of the gym while eating his sweets."
"I feel sorry for you and Okamura-senpai," Takao replied and then turned to Sakurai, "Hey, Sakurai-chan, how's Aomine with your team?"
At first, the apologetic Touou shooting guard didn't want to answer but after some prodding from the Shutoku point guard, he relented reluctantly, "Well, at least Midorima-san, Kise-san, and Murasakibara-san attends gym practices regularly. Aomine-san didn't even go to the gym before the start of the Winter Cup. He just go to the roof to sleep as well as eat my lunch, not to mention the fact that he's so rude and arrogant to some of the regulars, especially captain. But he changed a little after our loss to Seirin as he began to attend practice regularly, though sometime we had to resort to blackmail so he would be forced to come to the gym."
"What blackmail?" Okamura asked as he bites his drumstick.
"Aomine-san has this hobby of collecting gravure magazines of women that one of his favorites is always kept in his duffel bag. So whenever he is being stubborn, we always threaten to burn that magazine of his," Sakurai explained as he was gulping rice.
"That was quite a shock," Himuro exclaimed as Kasamatsu was thinking. I never knew that Aomine brat is that bad while I'm here complaining that Kise is already the worst.
"What about you, Kamijou-chan?" Takao suddenly glanced at his fellow point guard, who was busy eating his food, "Since you're new here, can you tell us how your life with Kuroko and Kagami is?"
The spiky haired boy then paused for a while and then breathed heavily, "It's turning out well for me."
"Huh? What do you mean, Kamijou-san?" Sakurai asked.
"Uh? How do I explain this?" the spiky haired boy asked as he tried his best not to narrate all the shitstorm that happened in Academy City, "Well, life in my former school isn't that bad but it isn't that good either and at least in Seirin, I have good teammates and Kuroko and Kagami are great friends."
They were all silence by this as Kamijou continued eating. Is he saying he didn't have that much friends in his former school? Takao thought in his mind as the rest were having some similar thoughts.
Prrrrrt!
"Oh shit, it's the whistle calling for us to return to the court," Kasamatsu groaned as he immediately gobbles up the hot soup into his mouth. The rest then follows and they all returned their plates and eating utensils.
Once they were all gathered in the court, Coach Shirogane, who is holding a mic, then began to tell something, "Since we're still incomplete as of the moment, the coaches would like to watch you play but I'll sit down the Generation of Miracles in the bench since the people that I want to observe would be the potential back-ups. So in other words, I want a ten-minute three-vs-three game."
"I don't know about this but in any case," Kasamatsu then grabbed Kamijou's shirt, "You'll have to team up with me and Okamura. I'm pretty sure those three kings would team up, making Takao, Himuro and Sakurai the water boys."
"Hey! What was that supposed to mean!?" Takao angrily shouted at Kasamatsu calling him a water boy.
But in the end, as expected, it was Nebuya, Mibuchi, and Hayama versus Kamijou, Kasamatsu, and Okamura. Takao was pouting at the fact that Kamijou was chosen but Akashi ordered him to stop complaining since he knew well enough that the spiky haired boy got enough talent to stand equally with the GoM. Before they knew it, the ball was tipped and Okamura managed to get the first possession due to his longer height. He immediately passes it to Kasamatsu, who then passes it to their younger teammate. Getting a nod from the former Kaijo captain, Kamijou activated his Falcon Eyes before he made his move. Even before Hayama was able to mark him properly, the boy already passed him with his speed, which the Lightning Beast can do nothing to slow it down.
"I'm not letting you!" Mibuchi said as he closes on the boy but Kamijou simply stopped his motion and as soon as the Rakuzan shooting guard closed in, he then spun and turned to his left, leaving the Night Demon on his trail. Nebuya then tried to help but the point guard then made a swift crossover that almost crushed the Herculean Muscle's knees. Not giving up, Nebuya decided to just give up a foul by pushing him slightly as he was about to make an airborne shot but to his shock, the boy just released the ball backwards and the leather made a perfect circle before settling into the ring.
"Foul! Nebuya!" coach Takeuchi, who is serving as a referee, whistled.
"Nani!?" the hulking center shouted in rage as he was stomping in foot, "Dammit! I thought that I had that boy and it's impossible for me to lose with my muscles…"
"Baka," Hayama said as he kicks the back of his Rakuzan teammate, "Muscles isn't everything, you dimwit." He then looks at Kamijou, who was already waiting for their attack after finishing his free throw, "You must understand why Akashi took him in this stage. Besides, his skill is almost at the same level as Akashi's so you better not underestimate him."
Hearing Hayama's reasoning, Nebuya calmed down as they regrouped for their offense. Dribbling against Kasamatsu, Hayama sees no opportunity to use his lightning dribble as he was tightly guarded so he decided to pass it to Mibuchi, who makes a Heaven shot. He danced a little as the shot was made but unknown to him, Kamijou was actually stared at him with interest. What a simple but amazing fadeaway in the air. I'll try it for myself!
Asking for the ball, Kamijou then went up against Mibuchi. Thinking that he would go for another drive, the lesbian shooter decided to step backwards slightly to avoid getting crossed but to his shock, the boy then jumped high and performed a fade-away shot while he was airborne. W-What!? That's the same shot as mine! Mibuchi said in horror as the ball rattled off the ring before finally falling down inside the net.
"Seriously!?" Momoi already had an idea about Kamijou's skill but she didn't expect something even like that, "In one look, he manage to do a similar shot like Mibuchi-senpai's. It's like Ki-chan as expected but on a higher notch."
"Of course, Satsuki. He isn't a little shit like Kise," Aomine drawled.
"Aominecchi! You're so mean!" the blonde small forward wailed.
"I recognize his strength," Akashi said with a genuine smile, "I won't go as far but I believe he is the second best after me. He and Kuroko are the only ones exceeded my expectations after all. Perhaps, you should recognize him now, Midorima."
"Hmph," the green haired megane huffed, "I have always recognized his strength ever since I lose to him so there's no need to remind me, Akashi."
"By the way," Akashi spoke as if he remembered something, "Aomine, don't think that I have forgotten your pushups…" Not wanting to provoke the red head more, the tanned power forward then went on a far corner to start his dreaded pushups.
Kuroko just remained silent as he watched along with his GoM teammates. As expected of Kamijou-kun. He then saw Mibuchi holding the leather ball against Kamijou's defense.
This is worse than I thought, the Rakuzan shooting guard said as he was keeping the ball away from the outstretched arms of the spiky haired boy. Then I guess I'll have to shoot Earth as well! He then faked his shot, which the spiky haired boy unfortunately fell for and so he was able to draw a foul while making the shot. Unperturbed, Kamijou then recovered as they were on offense and to Mibuchi's shock, the boy once again made another version of his Earth shot. Now getting annoyed, the Yaksha then positioned his knees as he once again faced off against the boy that his captain had set his eyes on. Recognizing the strength of Kamijou (which is notable since it was quick compared last year against Hyuga), he decided to use his most dreaded shooting form: The Void Shot.
Squatting his knees lower, Mibuchi then dipped the ball lower near the ground as he saw Kamijou do the same thing. Smiling smugly, he then jumped to shoot the ball but to everyone's surprise, a hand in Mibuchi's face just appeared to block his view.
"Nani!?" Hayama shouted in horror as he saw the youngest player in the scrimmage suddenly defy the shot that even made Hyuga and Takao unable to so anything when they were first confronted with it.
That was very painful in my knees, though. Kamijou thought as he jumped to try and block the shot. But I have faced something more painful than a mere shot like this! But unfortunately, Mibuchi decided to use a quicker release so the ball was shot even before the boy can take it down. "Dammit," Kamijou was frustrated to see the shot still rattle in as Okamura picks it up so they can restart their offense.
Prrrt!
"Huh? Akashicchi?" Kise asked in surprise as he saw their captain blow a whistle, "I thought it's for ten minutes?"
"I did say that but from what I saw, I think it's enough. I have the approval of the coaches to stop it if I think it's already enough," Akashi patiently explained as he then smiles smugly, "And at least, I knew who I will cut down from the regular line up."
"I don't know but I felt like this is going to be pretty harsh," Aomine said loudly as he was already nearing his quota for his push-ups.
"You shouldn't really say anything for now, Aomine lest you want your punishment to be quadrupled," Akashi narrowed his eyes on his, causing their ace to shut up.
After the mini-game, everyone was asked to gather around as the coaches finally said their instructions before they were finally dismissed. The spiky haired boy was already yawning. Can we just get over with this? Finally, coach Shirogane sent them away as he announced that by next week, they'll be all completed.
After that, everyone was excitedly chatting endlessly as it seemed they are in good spirits. Kamijou was gathering his belongings when he heard Kise groan, "Since we are all reunited, why don't we get something to eat?"
"For once, I approve of Kise-chin's plan," Murasakibara replied as he was ready to go.
Then it hit him. Mom did told me that we'll have some kind of party for reasons that I don't know. He then sauntered up to Kuroko and said, "Kuroko, do you have a minute?"
#
Some two hours later…
"Yay! We're having free food!" Murasakibara squealed like a baby as currently, those who were in the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium plus all the Seirin regulars except for the rookies are following a certain spiky haired boy who was leading them to his home. The coaches didn't come because, well, they weren't invited to it.
"Murasakibara, have some decency to behave. It's embarrassing," Midorima chided their center as they continued walking. Meanwhile, Hyuga suddenly walked up to Kamijou and said, "Hey, I know it might be rude but is it really okay? I mean, we're basically intruding your house, right?"
"It's okay, captain," Kamijou replied as he gave off a goofy smile.
The group continued to walk until the Imagine Breaker user suddenly stopped, "Guys, this is our home. Let me in first…"
Meanwhile…
"This is quite a lot, dear," Touya answered as he was eyeing the various dishes that his wife had cooked as Index was helping in grilling the barbeque.
"It's alright, dear," Shiina said as he watched Tatsugami play with their cat.
"Mom! Dad!"
"Oh, you're here Touma," Touya said as he sees his son already walking towards him, "It seemed like you are tired. Did you invited friends in this very large party?"
"Uhm…yeah but is it okay?" the boy asked sheepishly. After Touya agreed, his son then went back outside for a moment. After a few minutes, the two couples then heard a rumbling inside their home. Startled, the pretty mother then went to the living room, only to be met by a large crowd of people with varying height.
"Oh dear…" Shiina said as she found herself face-to-face with Murasakibara, who was already towering over her.
"Yep, they are my guests, mom," Kamijou appeared from the large crowd of people as Touya then followed Shiina and like his wife, he had a trouble comprehending whether what he was seeing is real.
It seemed like the two underestimated the friends of their son.
To remove any tensions, Akashi then went up in front and said, "Good afternoon! I am Akashi Seijuro and I'm the captain of the national basketball team. I'm pleased that we're all invited in this little event, Mr. Kamijou-san."
"W-Well…" the older Kamijou laughed nervously as he then announced, "Welcome lads! Here, you can all wait here in the living room while the food is currently being cooked!" He then hurriedly left, not wanting to deal with any of his son's friends. Touma, not only do you have weird friends. You have very gigantic friends!
But as everyone was already making themselves comfortable in their sits, Shiina suddenly walked up to his son and said grumpily, "Where is my future daughter-in-law, Touma dear? I thought you invited Seiri-chan here."
Seiri-chan!? Kamijou wearily looked at his mom. Yes, Fukiyose instantly became an instant favourite of the boy's mom. "Uh…fine, I'll go get her outside…uh…in the bus station!" He lied.
"Please, do so!" his mother said as he pushed the boy to "fetch her" which Kamijou made a moan. Nevertheless, he excused himself from his teammates before he went outside. While he was already walking in the streets, he already fished out his phone and was about to call the busty lady when, to his surprise, it was her who initiated the communication herself.
Are you free, Kamijou? If yes, I'll be going there. Meet me in the bus station.
~ Fukiyose Seiri
Is this some kind of destiny? The boy muttered to himself as he sent another text message.
Yes, I'm free. Just hurry up since my mom wants to see you.
~ Kamijou Touma
Meanwhile, the rest of the players were patiently sitting down on the living room. Okamura, Kasamatsu, and Hyuga had a delightful talk about what is happening in their teams as all the Generation of Miracles and Momoi were all busy speaking to each other. Kagami tried to join their group but was being shooed away by Aomine, causing the two power forwards to nearly get entangled in a fist fight. Aida and Kiyoshi were watching them with amused looks as the rest were just glad to be there. Until…
"Hey, guys! Look what I found!" Takao suddenly announced as he holds up a green notebook for everyone to see.
"So? That's just a notebook," Nebuya said with a blank face, "Besides, where did you found that?"
"I found it on that desk when I went to the washroom," Takao explained as he held up the notebook, "I found it interesting because it looks like a journal since the name of Kamijou is written here as the author. Won't it be interesting to see what we don't see from him daily?"
"I suggest you put it away," Hyuga said with a stern face, "It's not good if we rummage through his personal things."
"Hyuga-senpai is right, Takao," Midorima said as he pushed up his glasses, "Besides, it's quite unethical to read something too personal."
"But…" the Hawk Eye user tried to persuade everyone, "It won't be that bad since he's not here nor his parents at the moment. Besides, I want to know more about him so I can be friends with him." Even before the rest could stop him, Takao then flipped the first page and read aloud non-chalantly, "April 20 XXXX. Hello, diary-san. It's been a while since I was forced to move here in Academy City. I guess mom and dad can't just stand it anymore. It was okay for me. I mean, who wouldn't get concerned after your own son got called a god of pestilence by your neighbors. In fact, who would even want to play basketball with me since they kept staying…away…from…me…" Takao trailed off as he was too shocked to even continue.
The rest were all stunned to even say anything at the revelations coming.
"Eh…that's so bad!" Kise said in shock, "I mean, why would he even be called as such!?"
"Oi, Takao, are you sure you're not messing with us?" Midorima suddenly said as though the Shutoku point guard was just making jokes.
"Huh!? What are you saying, Shin-chan!?" Takao suddenly yelled back in a rare display of anger, "I wouldn't joke on something like this!" He then continued to read the paragraphs in the notebook, "It's really lonely. I wished I have friends who won't turn you away even if my bad luck won't run out in no time. But right now, I have to be content with this. This is finer than getting my parents hurt from what the people in our town is telling about me. This is better than the time when they have to worry since there was a time a man tried to stab me for reasons that I don't understand…"
"SERIOUSLY!?" Hyuga wasn't able to control himself as he bursted out a loud, "Why would an idiot and a dumbass do something to my kouhai!?"
"Oh my…" Aida can't help but feel like a lump had grown into her throat, "I didn't even know he had gone through such things. Why didn't he even tell us?"
The rest didn't even know what to say. Kuroko and Kagami were especially affected by this since he was their friend.
Takao then flipped into another page and read aloud, "July 28 XXXX. Hello, again diary-san. I just came from the hospital and honestly, I really didn't remember anything. Not at all. But I found you right away here in the cabinet so I decided to add some pages. I just met this girl names Index and he told me "I love you." But I didn't know what to say and I'm afraid of answering that question. But I don't want to hurt her so I decided to feign ignorance…"
"Huh? I don't get it," Aomine said in confusion, "What does he mean that he didn't remember anything?" But he was ignored—or rather, left hanging since no one also understood that part. But if anything, they all had this expression that gives the impression that they were hit by a bomb.
Takao then continued to read some more pages and the more he read, the more they were confused. It's as if the Seirin players knew Kamijou but at the same time, they didn't know him at all. And feeling that they might broke down, Takao decided to skip pages since the diary was quite long and to his surprise, he landed on a page that seemed to be matched in the recent dates, "Hello, diary-san. You know what? I'm restarting my life here, back to where I came from. Honestly, I don't remember anymore if I did play basketball but right now, that's what I'm accomplishing right now. I have also met a few good friends and hosnetly, it was kind of a new experience since I didn't have that much friends back in Academy City. Maybe acquaintances but still, that won't count. Don't get it wrong. I love Academy City and I'm going to missed all my experiences there but I felt that it would be more appropriate for an unlucky guy like me if I return here…" Since it was too long, Takao then decided to flip some more and when he landed on another page, he was quite stunned once again. "Hey, Kuroko. Take a look at this!" He then passed the notebook to the tealnette, who was surprised as to why it was given to him.
When he did got the notebook and took a look at the page, he nearly gasped (in a low key manner). It was a page which the spiky haired boy dedicated to Kuroko. It was even complete with a picture and a profile. Below was a caption, "Kuroko Tetsuya was the very first Seirin player that I met and honestly, I don't know how to describe him. He was basically pale but strong at the same time. But he was the very first one whom I can call my true friend. He was like a thin version of Aogami but with baby blue eyes. He is caring and a very loyal friend. We might have not interacted enough yet but I'll hold him dear to my heart." Kuroko was almost move to tears when he read his part. He then flipped the page and once he saw it, he then gave the notebook to Kagami. The red head then excitedly read his part but when he glanced at it, almost everyone laughed at what Kamijou called him. "Munching machine…burger addict…basketball baka… dammit!" But even so, he was moved by the fact that Kamijou says he admires the red head's determination to win. As the notebook as passed on to every Seirin player, with Hyuga wanting to rip it out due to the fact that he was described as a demon, Kuroko suddenly stood up and asked.
"I'll go outside for a minute…"
After he went out, he found himself running through the dimly-lit streets.
- Author's Notes –
Imayoshi Shoichi: Hello Guys (smiles in a creepy way)
Kanzaki Kaori: And here, I was thinking that I'm the only one who'll be substituting in. Why are you here anyway?
Imayoshi Shoichi: Nijimura said he'll be busy with the national team so I'm here.
Kanzaki Kaori: I figured that would be the case.
Imayoshi Shoichi: Well...I see that they began to know more about that Kamijou Touma kid. I can't wait for the next chapter.
Kanzaki Kaori: It's a waste of time to do this. (sighs as he brings out a piece of paper with writings on it)
Imayoshi Shoichi: By the way, I've been wanting to ask this for a long time...they say you're much more better in that Angel Ero Main outfit (laughs heartily)
Kanzaki Kaori: Shut up! And where did you learn that!?
Imayoshi Shoichi: Hmmmm...it's from a guy with dark shades and blonde hair which reminds me of Kaijo's Kise.
Kanzaki Kaori: Dammit, Tsuchimikado (she unsheathes her sword)
Imayoshi Shoichi: Woah there! Don't do that here as I have more lives to live on. Very well...thanks for reading and I hope you see Kanzaki in the next chapter.
Kanzaki Kaori: (sputters) That should be a secret, damn you!
Imayoshi Shoichi: See you next time!
Kanzaki Kaori: (reads the piece of paper) Uhm...care to comment or PM?