Welcome to chapter 5, everyone! This is the chapter where Kirimi meets Kise plus a little something at the end which might surprise you. Thank you all for the reviews and the favorites and follows! I hope you are are enjoying the story. Each follow, favorite and review makes me so happy. On to the chapter!

Recap

"I've been meaning to say this from earlier but I am not a pipsqueak or a little kid! I'm Kirimi Ayasaki, a first year in middle school!" said Kirimi hotly.

"Kirimi, huh? Pipsqueak still sounds better," said Kagami.

"Shut up!"

Kuroko smiled a silent smile.

Well, then. Thus started the epic journey of a light, his shadow and the shadow's shadow aiming to defeat the strongest high school basketball players in Japan. Unbeknownst to Kirimi, her love life was beginning from today as well. But that's for another day.

End of Recap

"What? You seriously had to that, Tetsuya-kun?" asked Kirimi with a surprised face.

They were talking about what had happened that morning at Seirin High School. In order to officially enter the team, all the freshmen had to go to the school's rooftop during assembly and say that why they wanted to be on the team and they had to aim high, for the Nationals. The punishment was cruel. They would have to confess to the girl they liked naked if they didn't do it. Kirimi found it funny but sad at the same time.

Kuroko nodded.

"Yes, and it was going to be my turn to speak but unfortunately, the teacher caught us before I could do so," said Kuroko with a slightly disappointed face.

Kirimi couldn't help but find that face adorable. Since it was so different from usual and he looked like a disappointed baby. She let out a soft giggle.

Kuroko's disappointed face changed into one of slight surprise when he saw Kirimi giggling.

"Why are you laughing, Kirimi-san? It's not funny," he said.

Kirimi stopped giggling.

"I'm sorry, it's just that you looked so adorable with that disappointed face," said Kirimi, coming out with the truth.

Kuroko pouted slightly.

"Please don't call me adorable, Kirimi-san. I'm a man," he said abashed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, I was just-"

"Would you two quit your yapping already?" shot Kagami. "And besides, what are you two doing at this table again?"

Kirimi and Kuroko blinked at him.

"But Kagami-kun, we were here first," said Kirimi.

Kuroko nodded.

Kagami mumbled something about changing stores and meeting too often. Kuroko on the other hand, was quite worried. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to fulfill his part of the club activity anytime soon since the rooftop was heavily guarded now.

"What will I do if I can't join the club?" he said with a faint hint of worry.

"There's no way that's going to happen," said Kagami exasperatedly.

"That's right, Tetsuya-kun, there's no way they'd turn you down," piped up Kirimi.

Kagami ate his burgers while Kirimi helped herself to a chocolate ice cream and Kuroko sipped on his shake. After a brief silence, Kagami spoke once again.

"There's something else bothering me," he said, looking at Kuroko. "You were good enough to be called the phantom sixth man, right? Why didn't you join a veteran school like the other guys?"

Kuroko said nothing.

"You…do you have a reason to play basketball?" asked Kagami, looking straight at Kuroko.

There was more silence. Kirimi stopped eating her ice cream. This was a question she had wanted to ask as well. Why had he chosen Seirin High of all places? If he had wanted to defeat the Generation of Miracles, surely he wanted to be in a strong place as well? After a minute or so, Kuroko finally put down his vanilla shake.

"The middle school I was at was really strong at basketball-" said Kuroko.

"I know that already!" said Kagami.

"-but, there was only one simple rule over there. That was 'Winning is everything'," said Kuroko, not fazed by Kagami's interruption.

"Tetsuya-kun…" said Kirimi, as she spotted the same dark look in his eyes again. He had had the same eyes when talking about is teammates to her.

"What was necessary wasn't teamwork. The Generation of Miracles was just basketball based on overwhelming individual skills," continued Kuroko. "That was the strongest,"

Kirimi didn't even notice the ice cream slowly melting and dribbling down her fingers.

"I was playing with these five people, but I felt that something was missing," said Kuroko. "You couldn't have called that a team anymore,"

Kuroko paused.

"So…what is it?" asked Kagami. "You want to take down the Generation of Miracles with your skills?"

Kuroko nodded.

"I used to think that way, but, in this school, I was moved by your words and our Senpai's words as well," said Kuroko. "And of course, Kirimi-san's words as well,"

Kirimi felt her hands shaking. She agreed with Kuroko. She had only known the team for a really short while but she had really taken a liking to them, especially Riko. Before, she had only wanted to help Kuroko but now she wanted to help both Kuroko and this team as well. Kuroko felt the same way.

Kagami stared long and hard at Kuroko. Then he sighed.

"Here, leftovers," he said, pushing his enormous stack of burgers to Kuroko and Kirimi. "As long as I get to crush the Generation of Miracles, I don't care,"

Kirimi smiled again. Kagami had a long way to go but she felt that he was in the right direction.

Kirimi opened the slider door which led to the basketball court. The team was hard at practice. They were doing various exercises.

"Hello!" said Kirimi to everyone.

"Oh, Kirimi-chan, you're here!" called the captain, Hyuga Junpei.

Over the last few days, Kirimi had really become friendly with everyone. She found it easy to get along with them and the other team members treated her like a little sister. No one in the team found it weird to see a middle school student in a high school anymore.

"Good evening, Hyuga-senpai,"said Kirimi cheerfully.

Hyuga sweatdropped.

"Y-You're still calling us that? You're not really out kouhai so you can just call us by our surnames normally, you know?" said Hyuga.

"That's right, Kirimi-chan," said Izuki Shun, another regular. "We're anii's not onis!" (A/n: I'm sorry for the horrible pun. Basically, 'anii' is older brother in Japanese and 'oni' is supposed to be a word meaning demons. So Izuki's telling Kirimi to treat them like older brothers since they aren't scary demons….something like that)

"Izuki, shut up," said Hyuga automatically.

It was Kirimi's turn to sweat drop now. She looked around.

"Huh? Where's Riko-chan?" she asked.

"Oh, she said she's going to look for another basketball team with whom we can have a practice match with," replied Hyuga. "But she's not back yet,"

"You're wrong, Hyuga," said Koganei, the cat face senpai. "She came back ages ago, she's just skipping practice,"

Hyuga's expression turned into one of horror. Kirimi blinked. What was wrong?

"Hyuuga-senpai?" said Kirimi.

He looked like he was the one who was going to fight against a demon.

"You'd better get ready, everyone," he said, shaking. "If that girl is skipping practice, it means our next opponent is really tough,"

A tough opponent? Kirimi heard someone singing from a distance. As the voice came closer, she saw that it was Riko.

"Ah, Coach, welcome back," said Kuroko.

"Sorry for being late! I'll get changed immediately," she said cheerfully. "Oh, by the way…"

Kirimi turned towards her. Riko gave her a dangerous smile.

"I got a match ready with a team which has one of the 'Generation of Miracles'," she said proudly.

Kirimi's mouth opened wide.

"W-What? R-Riko-chan, what did you say?" asked Kirimi.

Riko looked at her team smugly.

"I worked really hard to get it so you guys better prepare yourselves!" she said to them, grinning.

The team couldn't believe what they were hearing either. They all got into talk about how this was such short notice, how they should prepare and topics along those lines. But Kirimi couldn't get into those conversations. She was staring at the ground, but her mind was somewhere else.

A member of the Generation of Miracles, huh? So it was finally time to meet one of them. Kirimi didn't feel scared. If anything, she was curious of what this player would be like. He was one of the people who didn't understand the meaning of teamwork and had made Kuroko nearly come to hate basketball. What would he be like? What kind of techniques did he use in his play? How should she plan a strategy against him? Kirimi's head was abuzz with questions.

She looked at Kagami. He looked more excited than anything else. He didn't have any fear at all. And he didn't seem to be thinking as deep as Kirimi was. Well, that was to be expected, she supposed. She looked at Kuroko.

He was also somewhat in his own world. Kirimi couldn't even begin to comprehend how he must be feeling. But then, he had made a resolution. He was going to beat the Generation of Miracles and make them understand the true meaning of basketball again. There's no way he'd back down.

Kirimi thought about it all the way home. She also thought about it during dinner and even on her bed as she lay down to sleep. There were still some days before the practice match. Kirimi would have do some research on this member from Kaijo High and think of how she'd help Kuroko. That was what she was here for, after all. She wasn't a spectator. She had to do her part, and she would. She clenched her hand at her chest. She was going to her best.

The next day, Kirimi was a bit late in getting to Seirin because her bus had been delayed. She finally reached Seirin, panting from running all the way from the bus stop and then stopped for a moment to rest her legs. She had spent some of her free time last night thinking up some new techniques or methods of passing, putting Kuroko's misdirection into it as well. She had a few vague ideas but she still needed more information about this player from Kaijo.

As she made her way to the gym, she suddenly found herself at the end of a large queue. It didn't take too long for Kirimi to find out that that everyone in the queue was squealing, giggling high school girls. There were no signs of boys there. She couldn't understand what the holdup was for. All she did know was that it was making her delay even more.

There was so much feverish excitement going around the group of girls which looked like three quarters of the school's female population that Kirimi found it slightly nauseous.

"Um, excuse me!" said Kirimi.

No response.

"Excuse me, could you please let me through?" said Kirimi, her voice a bit louder.

The girls were only concentrating on something ahead and they were all talking so loudly. It was as if Kirimi was invisible. She wondered if this was how Kuroko felt all the time. It wasn't a pleasant feeling. Well, if calling out didn't work, she'd have to push her way through this huge queue. There was no other choice.

She found a slightly less crowded place in the crowd and started pushing her way through. It was hard, very hard. It was especially hard as these girls were all older and stronger than her. Kirimi continued to push her way through determinedly, earning jabs, pokes and some girls even commenting on her not waiting in line properly. Waiting in line? She wasn't waiting for anything! She just wanted to get to the basketball club.

Kirimi gasped for breath. She strained her neck to see how much more of a queue there was. She was halfway through now though all these pokes, jabs and pushes weren't helping. Kirimi had developed a sour, annoyed mood now. What was holding the way? And why today, of all days, the day she was already late?

"Just…a little…more," gasped Kirimi, nearly at the front now.

But the vixens on front were very strong, much stronger than the ones behind them. Kirimi was finding it especially hard now. Kirimi gave one last final push with as much strength as she could muster, but unfortunately, at the same time a girl from behind her had pushed her as well in annoyance. This extra propulsion resulted in Kirimi losing her balance and crashing down on the floor.

"Ouch," she cried, rubbing her head. Oh well, at least she had made it. She could hear angry whispers behind her but Kirimi honestly didn't care. She was in a really sour mood now. Just as she finished rubbing her head and was preparing to get up, she heard a male's voice. Kirimi looked up wearily.

A boy with blond hair which shone like the sun was squatted right next to her. He also had honey colored eyes and a very well framed face. To put it quite simply, he was handsome.

"Are you alright?" came his voice which sounded like honey as well. No, not exactly. This honey voice of his wasn't exactly sweet. It felt too sweet, too sugary.

Kise Ryota had to sigh inwardly. Another rabid fangirl who was in a rush to get an autograph. This one wasn't even in school uniform. He liked being a model and the center of attention, but really, sometimes, it could get annoying. Like with this girl here.

He'd just planned on visiting Seirin but he had gotten a bit delayed in heading to the basketball club due to his fans. He was stopped for autographs and of there was no way he could refuse, right?

"Yeah, I'm fine," said Kirimi thickly.

"Ah, let me help you up. That was quite the fall you had there. I know you wanted an autograph, but you should wait in line like all the others. That's only fair," he gently chided.

He decided to give the girl a little talking to all the same. He had to be fair and equal to all his fans. It wasn't good if he gave this girl special treatment. But he was still a gentleman and he had a reputation to uphold so of course, he'd be extremely kind.

Kirimi gave him a confused look. Autograph? Wait in line? Kirimi blinked. Her eyes shifted to his uniform. He wasn't wearing the Seirin High uniform. Was he from another school?

"H-Huh?" she said in a weary voice, still having a slightly annoyed look on her face.

Kise looked at her. Hmm? This girl wasn't blushing or asking for an autograph or anything. Was she still recovering from her fall? He spotted a little mark on the girl's face.

"Oh, look at your face, you have a small red mark from when you fell," he said putting his hand on Kirimi's face, gently touching the red spot.

Kirimi didn't like this unknown guy touching her face like this. She wanted to tell him to stop it but other girls seemed to think otherwise.

"Kyaaa!" Kise-sama's touching her face so tenderly!" squealed one.

"He's soooo kind!" gushed another one.

"Even though he's such a popular model, he's so sweet to others! He's perfect! He's-"

Yes, that's right, thought Kise. The purple haired girl was slowly looking at him properly. In a few seconds, she'd start blushing and the usual fangirl fanfare would start. And he'd be ready to be there and smile and hand her his autograph.

"-Could you please stop touching my face like that? We don't even know each other," said Kirimi, looking directly at Kise, eye to eye.

There was pin drop silence. All the fangirls seemed to be too stunned to speak.

Kise himself found his eyes widening. W-What? Was he hearing things? Had a girl just spoken to him coldly? No, he had to be imagining things. There's no way a girl would-

Kirimi swiftly pushed the boy's hand away and dusted her shorts and got up. She had figured it out now. This guy was probably some kind of teen idol or something and had visited Seirin High but for what reason, Kirimi didn't know. Still, that didn't change facts.

"A-Ah…" stammered Kise, not knowing how to react to her slapping his hand away. This had never happened before.

Kirimi bowed to him.

"Thank you for helping me, but if you want to hold autograph sessions and the like, please do so elsewhere. You and your fans are blocking the way to the basketball club," she said, ignoring his and his fans' flabbergasted faces.

Kise didn't know what to say.

"A-Ah…you…don't…you don't…want an autograph?" he said, still stammering.

But the girl had already left for the basketball gym. Kise's hand was just hanging comically in front of him as if he was holding hands with a ghost. His fans were all staring at him whispering about the rude purple haired girl and how she had denied being touched by Kise-sama's hand and how rude she was to just walk off like that without saying anything. Yes, there was a lot of whispering indeed. Kise felt well and truly humiliated. He didn't notice his next fan asking for his autograph because he was still in shock. He only recovered five minutes later.

Kirimi was huffing about the stupid interruption she had just had gone through. Really, were all famous people like that? Kirimi didn't have time for gawping at models and idols and the like due to her studies but she had occasionally seen them on television. The one she had just met was a complete proud peacock. It was like it was a given that Kirimi would want his autograph. Really, what rubbish!

She opened the sliding door to the basketball court.

"Sorry for being late!" she called as she went in.

Everyone, Kuroko included, looked at her. It seemed like they'd been having a deep discussion before she had come in.

"Kirimi-chan!" said Riko. "What happened? You're really late!"

"I know, I'm really, really sorry. The bus was delayed and…there was an annoyance in the way," said Kirimi, mumbling the last part of her sentence to herself.

"Well, it's good that you're here! We were just talking about our upcoming match against Kaijo," said Izuki.

Kirimi put the annoyance at the back of her head. She nodded determinedly.

"Are they that strong?" asked Furihata, another freshman.

Hyuuga nodded.

"They're a powerful school full of National Class, taking part in the Inter High tournament every year," he said.

"Eeeehhh?" said the Kawahara, another freshman.

"On top of that, isn't that Kise guy a model?" piped in Koganei.

"Seriously? Both good looks and talent? That's just not fair!" whined another boy called Furihata.

Kirimi's left eye twitched. Wait a minute. A model? No, it couldn't be the same guy, could it? No, that was bizarre. He was probably just some guy promoting his poster in some magazine or something who just happened to be near the basketball court...or not? Kirimi had a bad feeling about this.

Meanwhile, while Kirimi was pondering on the subject and the rest of Seirin were discussing Kaijo, the crowd of girls from earlier was now gathered in the gym as well. Kirimi's eye twitched again. No…it couldn't be…

"Huh? Why is there such a crowd here?" asked a surprised Riko.

"Ah, damn," came a sugary voice, which again, was too sugary. "I didn't come here for this, but, uh…"

"That guy…!" said Izuki shocked.

"Why was a guy from the Generation of Miracles here?" thought Riko, equally shocked.

Kuroko was silent but his eyes were dark again. He looked at the owner of the sugary voice, the one with the golden blond hair Kirimi had encountered earlier.

"It has been a while," said Kuroko, nodding at him.

"Long time, no see!" said the golden haired boy. He turned towards one of his fans who were currently getting an autograph. "I'm really sorry, but would you mind waiting a few minutes?"

Kirimi was too stunned to speak at the moment. Impossible. The guy she had encountered earlier was one of the Generation of Miracles, not to mention, the one from Kaijo who was going to be their opponent? This boy was Kise Ryota? Now that she thought about it, one of the girls had called him 'Kise-sama, but Kirimi had dismissed it back then. How could she have been so stupid?

"Wh-Why are you here?" asked Hyuuga.

Kise got up from where he was sitting and came towards the team.

"Well, when I heard that our next opponent was going to be Seirin, I remembered that it was the school Kurokocchi had joined!" he said, happily.

Kirimi and Kagami twitched.

Kurokocchi? What kind of a nick name was that?

"I came to say hi!" continued Kise, looking at Kuroko. "Since we were the ones who got along best in middle school, right?"

"Not particularly," came Kuroko's blunt, deadpan reply.

"So mean!" wailed Kise, puppy tears coming out of his eyes.

"Incredible! Just look at this article!" said Koganei to the others, reading from a basketball magazine.

According to Koganei, Kise had only started playing basketball in his second year of middle school, he was blessed with a great build and great sense of play and he became a regular in Teiko in the blink of an eye. Although his experience was still light compared to the others, he was an all rounder who kept improving quickly.

Kirimi couldn't believe it. Two years? He'd become so strong in just two years? But Kise seemed to think nothing much of it.

"No, really, that article is exaggerating really," he said sheepishly. "I'm glad I was called one of the Generation of Miracles, but I'm the weakest of the bunch,"

He turned towards Kuroko.

"That's why Kurokocchi and I were picked on quite often, right?" he said to Kuroko with a happy go lucky expression again.

"I wasn't particularly picked on," said Kuroko, blunt once again. "Could you stop making up things?"

"What? It was just me?" wailed Kise again, looking like a real golden retriever puppy.

Kirimi hadn't realized it, but she had been constantly staring at Kise. Partly because she was still shocked, but partly because from the conversation he was having with Kuroko, he seemed like a baby. Or was it a puppy? Yes, an arrogant puppy. Well, not that bad at least. Was this a person who really didn't know the true meaning of playing basketball?

Her constant staring had caught the attention of Kise who had seemingly just noticed her. His baby tears disappeared and his eyes became dinner plates.

"You!" he said pointing at Kirimi, which made her jump. "You're the weird girl from earlier!"

Kirimi expression changed into one of annoyance.

"Huh? Who are you calling weird?" she shot at him.

He turned to Kuroko.

"Kurokocchi! This girl is so weird! Not only did she reject my autograph but she was so cold towards me and in front of my fans too!" he wailed to Kuroko.

"Is that so, Kirimi-san?" asked Kuroko, looking at her.

Kuroko looked at Kirimi. One might have expected a reproachful look but Kuroko's face was a mixture of amusement and pride. So Kirimi wasn't the type of girl to fawn over models and the like. Kirimi on the other hand was irritated. She didn't want to be rude to this boy but she couldn't help it. He was one of the people who had nearly made Tetsuya-kun nearly come to hate basketball and he was an arrogant person as well.

The three freshmen in team other than Kuroko and Kagami were snickering. Furihata, Kawahara and Fukuda couldn't believe that THE Kise Ryota was being put down by a little girl.

"I didn't know who he was and I wasn't looking for an autograph. That's all there is to it, Tetsuya-kun," said Kirimi, looking at Kise as he was an annoyance.

Kise stopped in mid-wail and looked at Kirimi again. 'Tetsuya-kun?'No one had ever called Kuroko 'Tetsuya-kun' before, at least, as far as he could remember. Aomine had called Kuroko 'Tetsu' and Momoi had called him 'Tetsu-kun' but they were very close to him. Akashi of course, was another case altogether.

Kuroko, being the observant person he was, sensed Kise's confusion. He was amused and wanted to continue to see what kind of conversation would go on between his former teammate and Kirimi, but enough was enough. He did enjoy seeing the normally kind Kirimi-san glaring daggers at Kise though.

"Ah, forgive me, Kise-kun, I forgot to introduce her," said Kuroko, his palm pointing in Kirimi's direction. "This is Ayasaki Kirimi-san, my personal basketball coach,"

Kise's eyes positively popped out of their sockets when he heard what Kuroko had said.

"W-What? P…Personal…huh? W-What?" he stammered.

The other members of Seirin felt that they were a late night comedy. At first Riko thought that this constant banter was interrupting their practice but now she was enjoying herself.

Kirimi blinked. Ah…she should have introduced herself too, but she never found the proper time to do it. She decided to do it now.

"As Tetsuya-kun said, I am his personal coach in basketball. Nice to meet you," said Kirimi, trying to sound sincere.

Kise's mouth was moving up and down like a goldfish. He looked at Kirimi and then he looked back at Kuroko. He did this a few times and shook his head.

"K-Kurokocchi, this is some kind of joke, right? You're playing a joke on me right?" he said, giving out an unsure laugh.

"I'm not joking, Kise-kun," said Kuroko. "I am very serious. You know that I wouldn't joke about things like that,"

Kise looked back at Kirimi. He looked at Kuroko again. His face was dead serious.

"But, Kurokocchi, she's just a kid! How could she possibly coach you? Wait, why do you even need a coach in the first place?" asked Kise, his head full of questions.

This didn't make any sense. Why would Kurokocchi want a personal coach, not to mention a kid, as one? He didn't even need a coach! His play was great as it was, always supporting the old team in Teiko. And this kid didn't look anything special. And she had the gall to call Kuroko 'Tetsuya-kun'. It didn't make sense at all!

But before he could question Kuroko some more, he felt a basketball rapidly approaching face. He caught it in just the nick of time.

"Wha-?" he said in surprise. "Oww, what was that for?"

"The pipsqu-I mean, Kirimi has her uses. Stuff which you wouldn't imagine," said Kagami.

"Kagami-kun!" shouted Riko and Kirimi at the same time.

"That aside," continued Kagami, sneering. "Sorry to break up your little reunion, but you didn't come all the way here just for a greeting, did you? How about being my opponent for a bit, Mr. Pretty boy?"

"Kagami!" said Hyuuga at Kagami's sudden proposal.

"Huh? That's a bit too sudden. Besides, I wanted to…uh, hmm. You're the guy who just…hmm, ok," said Kise, his eyes narrowing, remembering Kagami's play from earlier.

He looked back at the purple headed kid. He wanted to find out more about her but he guessed that it could wait till later. Meanwhile, Kirimi was silently thanking Kagami for what he had just said. This might be her only chance to watch this Kise guy's style of play. She had to pay attention. She didn't even notice it when Kuroko approached Riko.

"Geez!" said Riko, sighing irritated.

"This might be bad," said Kuroko, a shadow over his face.

"Uwah…Huh?" said Riko.

Kirimi was noticing nothing right now. That blond…he'd been crying just a minute ago and he seemed like such a baby that Kirimi was wondering if he really was part of the Generation of Miracles. What a foolish thought that had been. Kise's eyes now looked like those of a predator. His face had no trace of a baby on it, not at all. Kagami looked fierce but not like Kise, no. Kise didn't look fierce but determined and sly. Looks certainly were deceiving, huh?

The whole team was watching as Kise started dribbling the ball. Kirimi's eyes were on Kise. She occasionally flitted across to Kagami but she didn't want to miss even a second. Kise finally started advancing with the ball, but Kagami was close on his tail. Then, something no one was expecting happened. Kirimi couldn't believe it. This was the same move Kagami had used on Koganei yesterday! She would later learn that he had used the same move in Izuki today, a while before she had arrived. Here was Kise using it against Kagami.

"When Kise-kun has seen a play, he can make it his own in an instant," said Kuroko, who now beside Kirimi.

She looked at Kuroko with a dumbfounded face. Something of that level was that was of an imitation? Riko was having the same thought. He had perfectly made it his own. But Kagami wasn't giving up either. He had reacted just in time. Kuroko's eyes suddenly widened.

But Kise's power was too much, even for Kagami. He made the dunk and made Kagami lose his balance and fall. So this was Kise Ryota, the weakest of the Generation of Miracles.

"Kuroko, isn't your friend way too incredible?" said Furihata shakily.

"I don't know that person," replied Kuroko.

"Huh?" said Kirimi. "What do you mean, Tetsuya-kun?"

"Honestly, I was thinking naively as well. Even though it's been just a few months since I last saw him…he…" said Kuroko, surprise actually showing on his face.

Kirimi was pondering on that. Did he mean that the abilities of the Generation of Miracles had evolved even more in just a few months? Kirimi's fists clenched. That wasn't fair. They weren't keen on practicing, they didn't believe in team work, but they were improving so fast?

Kise wiped some sweat off his brow. He let out a sigh. He glanced at the purple headed kid. She looked just as dumbfounded as everyone else. A coach? What a laugh! He looked at Kagami and the rest of Seirin disappointedly. His so called 'opponent' had been too disappointing.

"After this disappointment, I guess I can't go back with a just a greeting after all," said Kise.

Huh?

He looked at the team.

"Please give me Kurokocchi," said Kise seriously.

"Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?" shouted Kirimi.

Kise ignored her. He was looking straight at Kuroko.

"Come to our school, Kurokocchi. Let's play basketball together again!" he said confidently.

The utter nerve of this guy!

How could he say something like that? Did he think he could just whisk Kuroko away? Kirimi wouldn't let that happen. The other members were in equal shock and anger.

Kagami was silent, while Kuroko was silently looking at Kise.

"I'm serious! I respect you a lot, Kurokocchi! You're just wasting your talent in this place!" said Kise, earning him even more glares. "So, how about it?"

"I'm sorry, but there's no way that's happening," said Kirimi icily.

Kise turned around. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. That purple haired kid again! She was staring at him, her emerald green eyes dark with anger but at the same time, determination. Kuroko, Kagami and the rest of Seirin were watching her.

"Oh?" said Kise drawled. "What are you going to do about it? Play basketball against me and ask me to leave or something?"

Kirimi's nails were now digging so deeply that there were scratch marks on her hand now.

"No," replied Kirimi. "I'd like to do that, but I can't. But, I still can't let you take Tetsuya-kun away. I've already made a promise with him. A promise that's very important,"

Kise let out a 'humph', looking down on her. He opened his mouth.

"Exactly what-"

"-I'm honored that you that way about me, Kise-kun," said Kuroko, cutting in between him. "But I have to humbly refuse,"

"Eh? You can't be serious!" said Kise, his fake tears back again. "And besides, this isn't like you at all! Wasn't winning everything for you? You can't possibly win in this weak team, and with…with that girl,"

He looked at Kirimi as if she was some pest. Kirimi stared back at him, refusing to back down.

"My thinking has changed since then," said Kuroko. "And more importantly, like Kirimi-san said, I have already made a promise with her and with Kagami-kun,"

"Huh?" said Kise confused. "What's so important about that girl and this Kagami guy, Kurokocchi? They're weaklings!"

Kuroko ignored him.

"It is very important. A promise to defeat the Generation of Miracles," said Kuroko, looking directly at Kise.

Kise looked at Kuroko as if he couldn't believe it. Defeat the Generation of Miracles? Just what had this Ayasaki kid and this Kagami guy put into Kuroko's head? It was as if he was talking to a different person. What about winning? That was all that mattered!

"This seriously isn't like you at all! Why are you joking like this?" asked Kise.

"The fact that I'm not good with jokes hasn't changed, Kise-kun. I am serious," said Kuroko.

"So am I," said Kagami, surprising everyone. "What the hell, Kuroko. Don't go stealing my lines here,"

Kagami seemed to have come out of his silence. He may have been defeated, but he looked even more fired up now. So this was one of the Generation of Miracles, and he was the weakest of the bunch. There were even stronger ones waiting for him! He couldn't contain his excitement.

Kirimi looked at Kise who was looking back at her, his eyes mocking her.

She'd teach him. She was Kuroko's personal coach and now that she had met and heard Kagami and the all the seniors' words, she was even more fired up. She wasn't going to lose to the likes of an arrogant pretty boy.

As she went back home that evening, Kirimi paid little attention to her surroundings. Her head was full of Kise Ryota: his personality, his arrogance, his attitude towards basketball, how good he was at it…the list was endless. A person who could copy anything and make it his own, huh? And he was supposed to be the weakest of the Generation of Miracles.

Kirimi finally reached home and opened the door to her house. She blinked. The maids were bustling up and down the hallway. As Kirimi went further inside, she noticed that there was some tension among the maids who seemed to be cleaning the already crystal clean house. Her parents had always kept it this way. Kirimi had never seen the maids working like this before. What was going on?

She found her mother Mayu talking to two maids.

"Okaa-sama!" said Kirimi.

Mayu turned towards her daughter.

"Ah, Kirimi, welcome home. I'm a bit busy right now and your father is busy with other preparations, so could you please go to the garden and make sure the gardener and his assistants are doing their job well?"

Kirimi blinked again.

"I…of course, Okaa-sama, I will do that, but may I ask why we are going through all these preparations?" asked Kirimi, confusedly.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? We have important guests visiting us in a few days," said Mayu.

"Important guests?" said Kirimi. "Who are they, okaa-sama?"

"The head of the Akashi family, Akashi Masaomi and his son Akashi Seijuurou,"

And that's a wrap! Review please? Kise will give you his autograph if you do~