Hello, my duckies~ I'm back! Wait, what? It's been how long, you say? Two months and seven days? Ahhahaha...

But no, seriously, I feel bad for leaving you all pining for an update for so long. The thing is, after the last update was my Finals (last day May 23), so I was super busy. And then the Monday after school got out, I took an international flight because I started college abroad. So I was busy for all of two weeks after school ended and my first day of college was on June 10th.

So I've been adjusting, getting used to cultural differences, different schooling style, making new friends, and settling in with my cousins (who are also at my college). And don't worry, I'll probably be updating regularly again after this. I mean, I already have most of the next chapter...

Without further ado, I hope you all enjoy the return! ^^

Within minutes of Midorima's unknowing slip about Suzume in front of his mother, they were all seated in the living room. Midorima Chieko sat in her lavish gray armchair, one leg crossed menacingly over the other, a demanding and commanding authority. Before her was a simply coffee table upon which a potted bonsai lay, beyond that the loveseat where her son and Takao rested uneasily. Yuriko had been banned from the living room, but she continued to watch the drama unfold from the staircase, prompting the dark-haired girl to join her. The latter shook her head and silently bustled into the kitchen.

"So, Shintarou," Chieko sighed. "What have you to say for yourself?"

Midorima and Takao shared a hesitant glance, unsure of how to approach the situation. The shooting guard broke contact first, the guinea pig in his own experimental bid. "Mother, I do have a reason behind this, though not all variables are known or plausible."

"Go on."

The green-haired teen swallowed dryly; the no-nonsense glaze over his mother's dark, verdant eyes did not bode well if he were to speak from experience. Behind him, he heard Yuriko snigger under the pretense of a (rather unsubtle) cough.

"Though I lack ability to see any logical, possible way of this occurring, Suzume has come from an alternate-parallel universe wherein time transpires at a faster rate and they are completely aware of other alternate-parallel existences. Her parents are that universe's equivalent of myself and a female version of Takao. Something of dire importance appears to have taken place, as she and nine others like her have somehow broken through the dimensional borders with the sole mission of getting their parents of this world to— to—"

Takao nudged him lightly, encouraging Midorima to get accustomed to the idea. "Shin-chan means to say 'together.'"

"Yes, thank you. From what I have gathered so far, Takao and I are not the only ones affected. Seirin's Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya appear to be a pair. Touou's Aomine Daiki and Kaijou's Kise Ryouta are a set. The only other one revealed as of yet is Furihata Kouki of Seirin, who appears to be the mother of at least one of the kids, though who his apparent husband is has not been disclosed."

Chieko leaned back in her armchair, uncrossing her legs, as she took in the information and analyzed it. Takao attempted to give Midorima a proud smile, but the target was too nervous to receive as he watched for his mother's reaction.

"Shintarou, are you absolutely sure that this is the case? From an outsider's viewpoint, this is highly illogical, improbable, and implausible. There are too many holes in the story for it to be accepted as the truth. Are you certain that you have a full grasp on the situation? Have you considered the fact that this girl may simply be lying?" The questions came as rapid fire, and with each one, Midorima's heart clenched with some form of vexation.

"Mother, I assure you, I have. But Suzume has no benefits to gain from going about her claims."

Beside him, Takao shifted anxiously. Chieko, in turn, snorted and continued with, "So you can readily accept that she is a product of your marriage to Kazunari-kun? What evidence do you have that she's even yours?"

Midorima adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose; this was irking, to have to convince someone who was so unwilling to simply play along for the time-being. "Yes, I can accept that. Suzume has exhibited numerous physical and psychological traits that are derived from either myself or Takao. The glasses she's using now are indeed the ones I wore when I lost to Seirin for the first time. But if you observe as carefully as I hope, you noticed they were still displayed on my desk, meaning that the pair Suzume possesses comes from her universe."

"So she looks like you and acts like you. Fascinating," she replied in a biting tone. Midorima's grip on the arm of the loveseat tightened. "So can a monkey if given any amount of cosmetic surgery and adequate training—"

"But Suzume is not a monkey. Nor does she have any artificial means of existing the way she does now," he spat back.

Chieko frowned disapprovingly at this. "Are you admitting that you and Kazunari-kun are in that kind of relationship? As I understand, you both were trusting enough of one another to conceive—"

"Mother, why is it so hard for you to see that what is happening is not debatable?" he retorted. "Suzume is the product of our relationship, had it been that Takao was born female and we fast forwarded to the future. If you wish for understanding at this very moment, then don't get involved. If you are willing to wait for answers, then simply place your trust in us for the time being. We're doing what we can, but Suzume's importance as our daughter is a far greater priority to Kazunari and I."

Chieko stared at her son dumbly, taken aback by his interruption, to name one thing. Yuriko mumbled a soft "oh, jeez" and scurried away to the second floor. The green-haired teen cast a glance at the boy next to him, caught off-guard by the blush that seemed to result from both embarrassment and a miniscule of happiness. What had brought on that reaction?

"Shin-chan, you just used my first name."

It took a few seconds for Midorima to recall what he had said on Suzume's behalf, but he thrashed about when he did. How could he have slipped for a second time in the span of a mere ten minutes? Now his mother would suspect something was already taking place between him and his point guard!

"Shintarou, are you and Kazunari-kun already courting?"

Goddammit.

"No, we're not!"

"Really?" she pressed. "Are you absolutely truthful about this?"

Midorima wished the floor would eat him. Honestly. This was so mortifying, to be harassed in this way by his own mother. His gut screamed at him to disappear as quickly as possible, confident that Takao would join in the mockery.

"Shin-chan and I are just friends, seriously. I mean, we want to help Suzume-chan, but Shin-chan wouldn't want that. So I won't make him."

Midorima blinked at his teammate, not expecting such a mature answer...

No matter how disappointed he felt.

The Miracle flinched at the added thought; there was no reason for him to be disappointed whatsoever! ...was there?

A new presence joined them, setting a tea tray on the edge of the coffee table. Suzume smiled warmly at her family members and poured three cups for each of them. Chieko eyed her warily, but the reality-jumper showed no notice of the fact.

The bespectacled girl turned to her mom, 'tsk'ing disapprovingly. "Mommy, you should know by now that just because Daddy seems uninterested doesn't mean he's uninterested." Turning to Chieko, she beamed a simple, "hello, Grandmother."

Immediately, Chieko took Suzume's face in her hands, scrutinizing every inch of her appearance. The woman's hard emerald eyes softened as she recognized the familiar shade of Suzume's eyes and the hue her hair took. As she released the reality-jumper's face, her hands trembled slightly. Yuriko had crept halfway down the staircase again, having decided that the conversation was too interested to ignore after all.

"Shintarou, I will ask one last time; are you sure Suzume is your biological daughter?"

He cocked his head to the side, thinking a moment before responding, "I believe so. If you wish, I give my consent to have our blood tested. I see no reason as to why our DNA should be any different, despite the matter of a parallel world."

"I see." Straightening herself out, she stood to leave, but bowed in Takao's direction before she did so. Startled, Takao turned to Midorima for help.

None was offered.

"Thank you, Kazunari-kun, for taking care of Shintarou and for giving me such a cute granddaughter! You have my permission to continue your courtship."

"Mother!"

"What, Shintarou? You have your Oha-Asa hobby, and parallel universe theories are mine. Though this one doesn't seem to be much of a theory anymore and you do seem to have a natural inclination for Kazunari-kun." She, in as dignified a manner as she could manage, turned to retire upstairs, smiling to herself knowingly.

Suzume pouted at the tea left untouched on the table and resolved to finishing it all herself. Midorima had frozen in place, unable to form a coherent thought after his mom's unpredictable pageant. Takao could feel the embarrassment radiating onto his own cheeks, and the back of his neck felt hot.

"Shin-chan, what the hell was that?"

"I can honestly say that I was caught unawares as well. Mother seemed to be functioning normally until Suzume entered..."

Takao pondered to himself, replaying the conversation from the very beginning to himself. "You know, you fought for Suzume using the same arguments I had this morning. Maybe you actually care? Or maybe you actually do want us to be together?" he joked.

But the deepened flush of Midorima's face backfired on him in addition. Takao averted his gaze, suddenly hyper-aware of the other boy. Sure, he had thought about being with him a few times, but the reassurance of rejection had been so strong that he'd opted not to say anything.

"Shin-chan?" Takao breathed; why was he being so timid out of the blue? He knew the cause of his secrecy on the topic of asking Midorima out was because he knew he would get turned down. He was fine with that, he wanted to keep it platonic.

But what if Shin-chan says yes?

The hawk pushed the thought aside. There were more things to worry about than a one-in-a-million chance and possible heartbreak.

"What?" The stoic response was something more of an automated reaction, but Midorima broke out of his stupor as he was enveloped by Takao's arms around his torso. The embrace was friendly, but Midorima couldn't help noting that it felt rather nice.

"Thank you for accepting Suzume-chan." The shooting guard shoved Takao's head away to arm's distance rigidly, forcing the rest of his body to follow suit. "Ow, what the hell was that for?"

"Stop clinging. It's annoying."

"Oh, come on!" Takao pouted. "It's not like I even hugged you for that long. Plus it was a gratitude hug! You can't turn down a gratitude hug!"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I just did." Suzume watched, not saying a word, sipping her tea quietly. It was comforting to see them banter over something so trivial as a hug. Yuriko gave a self-satisifed smirk at the scene while she studied the drawings she had swiped off her brother's desk.

Midorima stretched a bit on the loveseat, making an effort to tune out Takao's needless whining. He recalled the lightness he experienced in his chest when he had acknowledged Suzume as both his and Takao's daughter and decided that his next course of action couldn't be left to fate. The Miracle wanted to see if he was as lucky as he thought and try his hand at accepting some other factors of his life previously gone ignored.

While he and Takao were busy discussing the details of Suzume's stay, it seemed that Chieko had been up to something of her own devices. She energetically—at least, in her son's opinion—beckoned the reality-jumper up to the second floor. Without hesitation, Suzume bounded up, charging the stairs two at a time.

"Wait, Suzume!" Takao called, startled. "Are... are you sure it's okay to go up alone...?"

Suzume abruptly paused in the middle of her relocation process, rolling her eyes at Takao and staring at the two of them blankly.

"Let her go," Midorima ruled. "It'll be fine."

The dark-haired girl gave an appreciative smile and went on her way. The hawk, on the other hand, fussed quite a bit, smacking his partner's arm in protest.

"Why'd you tell Suzume it was fine to go up alone? I've never seen your mother act that way—heck, you've never seen your mother act that! How can you be so—"

He was cut off when Midorima pressed a cup of tea against his lips. Begrudgingly, he accepted it and sipped tentatively; it was really good, especially considering the Midorima family didn't own a coffee or tea maker. Suzume had made it from scratch.

"Of course she'll be fine. She is who she is, and Suzume obviously knows how her grandmother will handle her better than we do."

Then he did something very unlike himself.

"Sh-Shin-chan, why are you patting my shoulder?" The Miracle blushed beet red and tugged it away again.

"Nothing. Forget I did anything."

Takao set the teacup down. "...Shin-chan, were you trying to be comforting? Reassuring me our daughter would be alright?"

"I said to forget I did anything, didn't I?"

"Aw, Shin-chan, you're so sweet! I'm glad our daughter has such a sensitive, caring father."

"Stop—! Actually, get out of this house! You are no longer welcome for the evening!"

As the shooting guard started to rise from the loveseat in an embarrassed haste, Takao locked his arms around his chest, nuzzling lightly into his arm. "Thank you, Shin-chan. For everything." Midorima grabbed Takao's arms to release himself from the embrace and was stopped by a simple two words followed by a tightened squeeze.

"Gratitude hug."

So they stayed that way for a while, unbothered by the three females jabbering away upstairs. Midorima decided something there and then: if this was what it was like to raise a daughter with Takao, then he wouldn't mind...at least, not too much.

Suzume skipped up the steps to join her grandmother, who awaited her eagerly atop the landing. She wondered excitedly what it was that Chieko had in store for her. Yuriko smiled down at her from behind the rather eccentric woman, obviously just as hyped as she was, though her purpose for glee might have differed.

"Suzume, you have not yet acquired lodgings for the duration of your stay, correct?" Chieko asked. Suzume nodded, wondering where the conversation was going. "Excellent. It is a blessing that I haven't allowed Yuriko to use the spare bedroom as an art studio."

The brunette gave her mother a playful shove, fighting indignantly with, "I only use it as an art gallery! I already put Suzume's drawings up!"

"Yuriko, be mindful of your age. Please address Suzume properly." The reality-jumper stared in surprise at her grandmother.

Yuriko caught the look on the bespectacled girl's face and jumped in to save her. "Um, Mother, I know Suzume's older than me right now, but technically speaking she's my niece. She feels weird about me calling her anything else."

"Oh, is that so, Suzume? Very well, then, but besides that you are to use the guest bedroom here for as long as you are here. Help yourself to anything in the fridge and—oh, Yuriko, be sure to tell your brother that Suzume needs a copy of the house keys, just in case. The guest room has its own bathroom and I've prepared essentials for you when you need them. When you're finished familiarizing with the layout of the house, be sure to alert me. We will depart at once for the bank and then proceed to the department sto—"

A faint piano riff sounded off from the pocket of Chieko's slacks and she scowled slightly. "My apologies, Suzume, I have to take this. I'm on call today." She went off downstairs as she answered, keeping her conversation curt.

"Don't worry about Mother, Suzu," Yuriko prompted, patting her on the shoulder. It was awkward because the chestnut-haired nine-year-old was so much shorter than she was, but the gesture was nice and gentle. "She's just a little weird. I suppose we all are, but we're good people... mostly. Anyway, she's a surgeon and—"

"Sorry, Suzume," Chieko called from the first floor. She was shrugging on a coat and had a clutch purse in hand. "You'll have to wait until tomorrow for those errands. I've got an emergency at the hospital and they need me to come in."

Yuriko gave a noncommittal grunt and elbowed Suzume. "Come on. Let's go check out your new room while Ms. Hospital Director is gone. When she comes back, she'll already have your wedding planned out."

The older girl sent a wistful gaze down the stairs, stardust eyes slightly concerned. There was a pit forming in her stomach. But things were okay for now. It was a Friday evening and tomorrow would be a beautiful Saturday full of her family. She disregarded the ominous throbbing and trailed after Yuriko.

"Anyway, Shin-chan, do you think Suzume-chan should enroll this coming school year?"

"Takao, education is mandatory, regardless of dimension or universe. Besides, my Mother knows about Suzume, so it doesn't appear that there are options anyway," the shooting guard retorted. Takao rolled his eyes.

"Just a question, Shin-chan, no need to be rude. So what should we do tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Midorima adjusted his glasses. "I have nothing planned for tomorrow. Why do you ask?"

"Shin-chan, we should take some time with Suzume-chan and at least try to learn about our daughter, don't you think? She's only been here for two days and we don't know squat about her!" Midorima considered something for a while, sipping idly at his tea. It was his third cup, but he didn't want to waste Suzume's efforts.

He set the cup down and rung his fingers. "...I have no idea what we should do."

Takao sighed irritably. "At least think about it a little more, Shin-chan! What do you think Suzume wants to do?"

"I honestly don't know!" he protested. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not too keen on what exactly teenage girls do to occupy themselves, much less what our daughter is interested in!" Upon realizing what he had said, Midorima hid the hard-pressed line on his lips behind his interlocked fingers. The metaphoric wince helped to brace for what was to come only a little bit.

However, despite his anticipation, the hawk did nothing. They sat on the couch, both unwilling to break the silence, occasionally taking the cautious, tentative sip of tea. Takao played with his fringe, rearranging individual hairs at his hairline, shuffling the follicles until they simply flopped undecidedly in the middle of his forehead. The Miracle developed a short-lived obsessive compulsive disorder regarding the placement and cleanliness of his glasses.

"Takao?" he finally asked with a resigned sigh. The hawk blinked at him distantly. "Do you think we're doing this right...?"

"Doing what right? We haven't really been doing much of anything, to be honest."

"Exactly my sentiments. We have done less as Suzume's parents in two days than my mother has accomplished in a mere two hours," Midorima huffed. "Are we fit to be parents? Are we doing something wrong? Can Suzume still count on us—Takao, please stop that this instant."

The point guard had pressed the porcelain to his partner's mouth in an attempt to shut him up in the same manner the shooting guard had done earlier, though the latter could have sworn the brunet was actually trying to exact revenge via aspiration.

"Shin-chan, you've been drinking this tea all evening, haven't you? Why is that?" the hawk suddenly inquired, leaning into Midorima's personal bubble in order to prove his point. The green-haired teen redirected his gaze to the cup and answered.

"Suzume made this tea for us. It would be rude to not accept her good will and intentions, especially because she is who she is."

"Then there's your answer, Shin-chan." The hawk pushed off Midorima's thigh and settled back into his original position on the loveseat. "First, you accepted that, biologically, technically, basically whatever, she is not our daughter but decided to care for her alongside me anyway. Second, you recognize her efforts and appreciate the things she does, like make tea. And like you said, we've only been doing this for two days. Your mother obviously has more experience than we do. But we can still try and learn, Shin-chan. So don't you dare think that you aren't fit or doing something wrong or that she can't count on you."

"I—" Midorima started. He stopped and shifted in his seat, clearing his throat. "Your input is valuable and significant to this cause."

Takao was about to respond with a casual "don't mention it" when a pair of arms embraced him. "Thank you... Kazunari."

And the hawk was entirely glad that Midorima wasn't facing him and that he didn't let go right away—it meant he couldn't see the blush on his face. He was struggling to fight the feelings that he knew he shouldn't have.

But they were there anyway.

"O-Okay, Shin-chan," he sputtered, cursing inwardly at his convenient inability to speak. "You can let go now."

"Gratitude hug," Midorima grunted back.

The brunet moved his arms to reciprocate the (questionably) friendly embrace, but changed his mind, urgently trying to pry the Miracle from his person. "Shin-chan, you can let go now."

"Did you hear what I said? I'm not going to repeat—"

"But Yuriko—"

Midorima let go and spun to face the staircase, where Yuriko stood with a rather calm expression, the home phone dangling nonchalantly from her hand.

"Am... Am I interrupting something?"

"No!" Midorima blurted, putting distance between him and the hawk. "Absolutely not!"

Yuriko narrowed her unbelieving eyes but continued to relay her message. "'Kay, then, if you're sure about that, Mom's on the phone and she needs to talk to you." Midorima accepted the device from his sister, who raced up the stairs again as son as he had it.

"Yes, Mother?"

"Shintarou, please proceed to the private hospital immediately. This is an urgent matter regarding a recent car accident. Your friends, I believe, are here."

"At the private...? What car accident? Who?"

"Just come quickly. We were only able to get the patient's name, Kagami Naoya."

She hung up and Midorima placed the phone down on the coffee table hurriedly. "Get your things, Takao, we're going to the private hospital," he ordered. He swung by the banister at the base of the stairs. "Suzume! Suzume! We have to go somewhere right now!"

Takao complied, but asked questions while he located his school bag. "Shin-chan, what's going on? What happened?"

Suzume bolted down the steps as best she could without tripping and put her shoes on without question. A panicked look clouded her normally shining silver eyes; she knew she should have said something about the rotten feeling in her gut.

Midorima called up the stairs, "Yuriko! We're going out!" He then turned to Takao, glancing briefly at Suzume.

"I believe that Kagami Naoya has been hit by a car."

...aaaaand it's another cliffhanger. :D Y'all are gonna kill me, I can feel it.

But this is an idea I got while I thought about what else I could do in the story, and... This is gonna be a reaaaaaally long fic, probably. But it'll be fun, I hope, if you stick around longer!

BTW is my character for Midorima's mom okay? I just really like the idea that none of the parents/children of the MiraGen are the typical portrayals, like how Aomine's dad is strict and blah.

Next chapter...? LOL YOU'LL SEE

Now let your lovely flame reviews tickle my feet~

hitomi65: Thank you~ vuv

Little Strawberry RiRin Chan: Ehh, chup. This how I am, don't pay me any mind. I'll just do what I do! I am now on the other side of the world and not the States, so maybe I'll have a closer time to yours. And really? I helped you get inspiration for a character? vuv I'm flattered! I'm glad I could help!

Reimei-Jennoir: Thanks, I was hoping that I could make it dramatic and keep them in character. And I'm sorry you had to wait so long for this chapter, but it's happier than the last one for them!

DivineCluster: dfaakdshn I'm glad you think that my short chapter was still good... And I definitely took more than a week or two from writing (which was TERRIBLE, by the way). But now I am quite relaxed and I hope this was the hell of a chapter you were looking for! (If not, please stay in tune for tomorrow. *hint hint*) *dances away interpretively with your AkaFuri comment*

Fantita: Yay! I'm glad you liked it! ^^ I love trying to come up with how these characters would react in this kind of situation, and it just kinda happened that way. You're welcome for the update but CLIFFHANGER?! *sobs right beside you*

HeArTzCrImSoNaNdGoLd: WOOT, YOU LIKED IT! *confetti party for you and your ships* Hope this chapter ended well in your terms!

rii96: Thank you! OwO I'll do my best!

Stuffy12: Bleargh sorry if it seemed rushed... But you did hit the mark on Shin-chan acting that way because of Suzume's sudden appearance. I'll try to be better with the pacing in the future!

MikaE123: Ship days in other fandoms really just depends on the fandom and the creativity of the fans. And I'm glad you enjoyed the MidoTaka chapter! And AoKise you say? Hohoho... LOL sorry, you probably lost a lot of sleep over this and my lack of updates, but you haven't found me yet! HAH! As for your threat... Hannibal, is that you?

Sakearose: Holy wow your review is amazing! OwO Thanks for all your input! Don't worry about the long reviews, don't worry about apologizing too much, and don't think you're being too pushy! But I'm ecstatic that you like my characters~ And YES, all the fangirl squeals~ (but wait I wrote this story what /shot) Go ahead and try stalk me from the shadows! I dare you! (On a side note, don't mind the peeps who leave threats to update and stuff—that's just how they show their love~ I myself have left my fair share of update-or-suffer-the-consequence reviews. But they're all empty promises, I can assure you! ^-^)

keiko-uchiha: Thank you~ I hope you continue to enjoy reading in the future!

cesajules: :3 OMG Thank you~ I'm glad it's unique! u

shadow (guest): Sorry it took so long, but I hope you liked it!

Guest (guest): OKIES. Update~ (and tomorrow...?)

Guest (#2) (guest): Updated within 3-4 days of your review! (Is that fast enough?) I'm happy you like my story! I did my best to get everyone's personalities down, so I'm glad to hear I got it right. vuv Thanks for dropping a review~