"Well, I was wrong." Crystal sighed. "Misaki just had to be the knight in shining armor with her sidekicks. This team is never going to learn how to work without her at this rate."
Does anyone notice the deathly aura around Crystal, or is it just the narrator here? Just who are going to be her personal punching bags for the afternoon? Go ahead; take a guess.
"Are chills going down your spine, or is it just me?" Misaki asked Ayumu.
"I'm feeling some, too. Maybe it's just the temperature in the gym." Her friend shrugged.
"Huh." Misaki mused. "I hope that you're right."
"Honestly, I hope so, too."
"That's a comforting thought."
The game was put back into motion when the sound of soft thunks turned into sporadic breathing, a fast tempo of leather hitting the gym floor, and squeaking snickers. Red clashed blue in fast speeds that even the teammates could barely keep up. All through it, Misaki was grinning from ear to ear.
"What, no full power yet, Taiga?" Misaki faked a hurt look, but it soon turned into a devious expression. "I'm hurt. I can handle it."
"If you can't then you have to pay for dinner." Taiga demanded, a confident smirk on his face. And he didn't get to eat lunch, just a snack of two hamburgers.
"Dad's making dinner for you if I can. Crystal and I get to eat her food in front of you." Kagami nodded his head and Misaki did the same.
"Deal." The cousins say together, ignoring the shouts of Mr. Momoka proclaiming that he wasn't that bad of a cook. Some people on both teams exchanged looks when Crystal told him that he was that bad and the supposed coach of the other team was crying, muttering of how 'mean his whole family is.'
Meanwhile, Misaki was bouncing the ball in her possession as both she and Kagami were having an intense stare-off. To normal people, it looked like a glaring contest between teenagers. This audience, however, were not normal. They could feel the tension in the air. Riko and Momoi exchanged surprised glances. Aomine smirked, ready to see the cousins play against each other.
Suddenly, Kagami moved to grab the ball. Misaki moved back, positioning her body to left. Kagami moved to the left, but Misaki made a sharp turn to the right and moved at the speed of what seemed like lightning. Her gold eyes seemed to flash, and Kagami's eyes seemed to reflect the same light.
Kagami followed Misaki at the same tempo as when he was facing Aomine before he was in the zone. To be honest, both parties weren't in the zone yet, but everyone knew that they would be soon.
Kagami's face wore an expression of frustration, and Misaki knew what he was thinking. She shot a basket, taking advantage of his moment of weakness. She took a step back, motioning for Ayumu, who had caught the falling object, to pass her the ball.
"Have you gotten worse, cousin?" She held the ball as she passed him.
"No." He spat out the words as if it was obvious.
"Then play like normal. I don't want to play with the weak." Misaki passed the ball to Haru. He nodded and ran to the goal to dunk, receiving the message from Misaki about how they weren't going into the zone until her cousin was ready. This moved her team back to playing. Thus, Seirin 's team started to face against them.
The squeak of sneakers brought Kagami to the realisation of his problem. It was amazing just what his cousin could see in him.
With new determination, Kagami joined the game. He was going to play the way that he liked; going all out.
Little did he know, Misaki and Crystal had smirks on their faces. The game was about to truly start. At the time, Seirin had the possession of the ball.
Misaki grabbed it, and shot it in, only switching her eyes from the net to Kagami's eyes. Her eyes reminded him of lightning in the middle of a storm as she looked at him. He grinned at her silent declaration.
Aomine's smirk couldn't have been wider.