Chapter 4 – ZONE vs Perfect Copy

It's amusing how a simple practice match to test out the abilities of the Emperor Eye, could suddenly transition into an all-out battle between to extremely talented players utilizing their own respective fortes. Furthermore, it had only been a short ten minutes since they had met, and yet here they are, already clashing with each other head-on, with nothing held back. They stood in front of each, with Aomine holding the basketball tightly while Kise took on a defensive stance. The fated battle between these two, the rematch since last year's Interhigh that Kise yearned for ever since he lost to Aomine, was about to commence. However, this time, it isn't just Aomine's agility, and Kise's desperate attempt to copy him in attempt to defeat him, but it was two players with their abilities honed to perfection: Aomine's ZONE, and Kise's Perfect Copy. The two players readied themselves; their eyes looked blank. Aomine took a deep breath, then –

Around Japan, the battle between these two super powers could be sensed. There was certainly no scientific means to prove this "feeling", but they could all feel it: The battle between the two members behind the doors only allowed to the truly talented – The Generation of Miracles. Yes, last year, the members themselves could sense it as well, when they heard the sound of a door being forced open, the door leading into the realm of the powerful. And they were right to be wary, for that man with dark red spiky hair that was opening the doors had indeed entered this realm.

Somewhere far away, Murasakibara was busy munching on his snacks, when he suddenly turned behind, as though he felt something pricking him in the neck. He grumbled annoyingly.

Midorima, who was practicing his shots as per usual, also looked up, as though something extremely powerful was radiating energy from far away. "What's this…?"

Kagami and Kuroko, the duo from Seirin High, were at the usual burger stop with the team, and they too suddenly felt an uncomfortable sensation within them. They looked at each other, and Kagami frowned. Clearly, something, somewhere, someone maybe, was not right.

Akashi, who was in his classroom revising his work, also felt this disturbance. He closed his book as he looked out of the window solemnly. "Aomine… and Kise… huh?"

Blue sparks emitted from Aomine's eyes as he drove forward. Kise instinctively moved forward to block him, but before he realized it, Aomine had already made a cross-over dribble to keep the ball out of Kise's range, and was already reaching the hoop. Before Kise could even turn around fully, Aomine had already made a perfect dunk. He landed, with the lightning tracing his movements, and looked up to Kise.

"You're gonna have to do better than this, Kise" He said, but this time not in his usual mocking manner. Kise noted how much focus and concentration Aomine had right now, and he smirked. The dark-blue haired ace caught the basketball and dribbled back to the starting position. Kise followed and once again took his defensive stance.

Due to Kise's observant eyes that allows him to copy moves with extreme precision, he could already tell that Aomine's speed had approximately doubled, and his reflexes had dramatically become much quicker. In fact, Kise noticed that not even once did Aomine actually looked at the ball, but rather he was absolutely confident in his ball handling skills that all he was really doing was finding pathways to the hoop. That said, his ball handling movements had also become much more fluid, with the ball somehow miraculously ending up in his receiving perfectly and yet so naturally, he could transition into a crazy crossover, all these enhanced by his already monstrous speed and agility.

Oh man, Kise muttered, this ain't gonna be easy… After all, during that brief exchange, Kise literally did not have any time to choose what skills he would copy, or rather by the time he copied, Aomine had passed him. As Midorima once stated, "Even if you try to predict his moves, catching him is almost impossible."

Aomine closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened at once. The blue lightning flashed, and he once again droved forward. "Now!" Kise shouted and used Akashi's Emperor Eye, and all at once he could see all the movement, contractions in Aomine's body, and for a split second, saw his next move. "There!", as Kise reached out to steal Aomine's ball, but as he looked up he noticed Aomine's bored expression that quickly changed into one of amusement. "Fast, but no enough to beat me, Kise!" He said, channeling his arrogant and mocking attitude from last year, and he slammed his ball down on the ground, causing it to bounce high in the air, and Kise to miss it by inches. However, Aomine quickly turned around flawlessly and caught the ball in the air in a split second with his other hand, and dribbled forward.

"Tsk!" Kise muttered irritably, and instantly copied both the Emperor Eye and Aomine's own agility.

He turned around in one swift motion while observing Aomine's dribbling and in the next second saw a moment in the future where he could intercept, and with his speed burst forward and reached for it. But without even looking back, Aomine sensed this, and made a between the leg crossover while dribbling forward at such a speed fluidly. The ball bounced through the small space between Aomine's calves perfectly and it fell into his receiving hand flawlessly. Kise was taken aback, but had no time to lose. With the former ace's ability, he dashed forward to chase Aomine, who still did not once look back. In the next second, Aomine was already below the hoop, but Kise, without the ball, managed to reach next to his left. He reached out his hand, but Aomine instinctively evaded him, but all of the sudden slowing down whilst dribbling, causing Kise to nearly lose his balance in front of him and step out of the base line, but he spun around and darted forward to Aomine's front, who was raising his arms to shoot the basketball. Without warning, he channeled Murasakibara's defensive abilities, and jumped, towering above Aomine, while he was still his aiming. Their eyes made contact, and Aomine suddenly smirked. In one swift motion he pulled his hands down, and dribbled past beside Kise's body and jumped out of the baseline. Kise turned his head, still in mid-air, shocked.

"This is—"

Without turning, Aomine threw the ball backwards with an extremely high arc confidently. As though in slow motion, the ball made its way above the backboard and into the hoop without grazing the ring, while both Kise and Aomine stood motionless above the ground, one shocked while the other was smugly grinning. The ball touched the ground as they both landed, and Kise looked down. He did not expect this much gap in terms of speed.

"Sorry Kise, but in this state, the only one who can beat me, is me" Aomine turned around to face him, with arrogance all over his face.

Kise's irises stopped glowing for a moment. He frowned, yes, he was really impressed by Aomine's skills, but to be able to pass him even after he was channeling three skills at once was something he considered to be inhuman. He suddenly felt a tinge of pain in his knees, the side effects on attempting multiple skills at once. It was a new extension of his Perfect Copy that he had been trying out, but at this point, despite its overwhelming power, it was more of a drawback to his overall playing than an advantage.

"Hey, you okay?" Aomine asked as he strolled towards him. Kise looked up and noticed Aomine was not in the ZONE. He also noted how much they both were sweating currently.

"Hahaha, a break maybe?" Kise closed one eye, and laughed dryly. Aomine sighed and nodded.

Aomine sat down beside Kise, who was massaging his calves. It had only been close to fifteen minutes of playtime, yet both of them were rather tired already. Aomine tossed to Kise a sports drink, drank his own. He noticed Kise was genuinely looking fatigued, and felt a bit guilty. After all, he did call him here, and today's match might affect his own future practices. Kise looked up and noticed Aomine's unusual expression.

"It's alright man, this thing will recover quickly," Kise reassured, pointing at his legs.

"So… we are gonna continue?" Aomine asked rather hesitantly, trying to sound nonchalant.

"I can continue for a while I guess, but not much I think," Kise answered, looking up at the bright blue sky. He continued, "I guess my perfect copy isn't really 'perfect' huh? I still get really tired after five minutes and all…"

Aomine noticed a slight tinge of sadness in his voice. He looked down as said, "But at least you're strong." To which Kise looked at Aomine enquiringly. "You have certainly improved loads from last year," Aomine commented. "That combo was actually quite good."

"Huh, what combo?"

"The one where used Akashi's skill, my speed and Murasakibara's blocking skill, no?"

"Ahh, that," Kise responded. "Yep, it's something I'm trying to work on right now, but it's still not that great though. I get really exhausted easily after using a few of that, ya know."

Aomine took a sip, and said, "That just means you need to work on your stamina, right?"

Kise looked surprised. In fact, Aomine-cchi had surprised him a lot today. He has really changed eh, Kise thought; it feels like he has reverted back to his Teiko days before their three championships: The time where Aomine honestly loved basketball and was very passionate about it. After all, since when would Aomine give advice? Kise smiled to himself.

Aomine suddenly spoke up to his former teammate. "Kise, who do you think will win? Me or Akashi?"

Kise took a gulp of sports drink to consider his question seriously. When Aomine noticed Kise had been "drinking" for the past minute to avoid his question, he threw his own bottle at him irritably.

"Ouch! Okay okay, I'll say what I think."

Aomine looked up and faced him seriously.

"Well, from just now, I could tell you're really strong. I mean, I could barely catch up to you in the ZONE. But… from last year's Interhigh, Akashi-cchi too has the ZONE, right? Though that's his other personality, hahaha" Kise cheerfully said. But when he spoke next, his tone was much more serious than ever.

"I don't know how much our former captain has improved, but I think you could beat him." Aomine looked down again. "But—" And he looked back up again.

"Team-wise, his team is much more powerful." Kise explained. "So you got loads to improve, work on right?" He continued, returning to his cheerful demeanor.

"I haven't really been with my team lately…" Aomine mumbled under his breath, although Kise's hearing was as good as his sight.

"How's your new team, anyway?"

"Uhh, same as last year, though two our people went off," Aomine explained in a bored manner. "I heard two new guys came though, and Satsuki told me they are quite decent." He continued.

"Oh?" Kise responded excitedly. "If it's momoi-cchi, it should be accurate! Anyway how's she?"

"Oh right… same as ever I guess…" Aomine replied nonchalantly. He looked back up at the sky and observed a bird flying miles above him. "She seems happier to see me practice… and she's still as crazy about Tetsu…"

"Haha I'm not surprised…"

It certainly felt nostalgic to be talking like this again. Ever since Aomine-cchi began his rebellious streak, the Generation of Miracles hardly hung out like before. Everyone became independent and selfish, even Kise himself. But to be able to have such a normal conversation like this again, it made Kise feel happy inside.

"Hey, Aomine-cchi? Lemme I ask you something, 'kay?"

"What?"

"You used to say something along the lines of 'the only one, who can beat me, is me' didn't you?"

"Uh huh"

"So why didn't you, like err challenge someone in the Generation of Miracles? You could easily find some challenge if you challenge someone like Akashi-cchi back then." Kise asked. To be honest, this thought did cross him multiple times, and he was genuinely curious.

Aomine looked down for a while, and then finally spoke seriously. "You're right, I guess. I was looking someone I could fight with; after all, I was too strong for my own good and I was crushing everyone's morale left and right."

"But, I guess it's because… I'm looking for a player that… is my equal… that plays the same position as me, you know?" Aomine confessed, after choosing his words with careful consideration. Kise's eyes widened. "It wouldn't be right if I challenge Akashi, a point guard, as a power forward, or Murasakibara, a center, I guess? It's weird."

Kise quickly pointed at himself, trying to get Aomine's attention, but Aomine quickly said, "Oh, and I didn't challenge you 'cuz you still suck back then."

"How mean!"

So that's why Aomine-cchi didn't really have any interest in basketball till a player like Kagami-cchi came along huh? A power forward, an equal to Aomine-cchi… It makes sense, Kise thought.

"I mean, you're also right in another way. Like, in terms of pure skill, if I wanted to, I should have challenged Akashi I guess but –"

"Aomine-cchi, you have changed, haven't you?" Kise interjected.

"Huh?"

"Skill-wise and attitude-wise, I mean. I could tell your control of the ZONE and your streetballing has improved a lot, eh? And you clearly have been practicing ever since Kagami-cchi came, haven't you?"

Aomine didn't say anything for a moment, then spoke, "yeah…" And he turned to face his former team mate. "After all, I can't afford to lose anybody anymore." Aomine declared.

"I see, then." Kise said, with some feelings of relief in his heart. He put down his bottle, and stood up. They had rested for about 10 minutes already, and the pain in his knees had somewhat subsided. "Let's go for like two more rounds?" He asked cheerfully.

"Heh, sure." Aomine nodded smugly.

They once again stood in their positions. This time, Kise had the ball, while Aomine would be defending. Aomine and Kise activated their respective skills.

"ZONE, activate!" And blue streaks of lightning once again flashed from Aomine's pupils.

"Perfect Copy, activate!" And Kise's golden irises lit up once again.

Kise dribbled the ball on the spot, while Aomine lowered himself, preparing himself for whatever moves he would attempt. Animal Instinct, Kise thought, that's right, Aomine-cchi was one of the few players he knew along with Kagami-cchi that had this ability. Rather, it was more of a trait than ability, and with it, he does not only rely on his sight, but all his senses, just like an animal, to predict and react to any moves made. While it would seem like more a "simple uncommon trait", having this animal instinct to react instinctively enhances the player's skills drastically, especially in areas where they could not think consciously.

How I proceed… Kise thought. He smirked, and copied his Emperor Eye, and Aomine's agility. This combination is common and Kise often uses these skills in conjunction, but their effect is extremely lethal. He drove forward, and Aomine instantly reacted to his first step. He darted forward to Kise's forward in attempt to block him. Kise smiled, and then did a behind the back crossover, before doing it in conjunction with a mix of crossovers and dribbling techniques, enhanced with Aomine's own change of pace and speed. Aomine, however did not move, but instead observed him slowly, while still in his stance. Then all of a sudden, his eyes widened, and he reached out for the ball.

"Emperor Eye!"

Kise was fast enough to cut back, causing Aomine to miss, but what surprised him was that Aomine instantly darted back to his original position and stance, literally leaving neither room nor time for Kise to drive past him. He smiled, and dribbled on the spot. Clearly, Aomine in the ZONE was different from his usual self. But, he won't be able to stop this—!

Using his Emperor Eye and Aomine's pace, Kise quickly repeated his technique from before: dribbling on the spot, while shift left and right. And then, in a split second, he slowed his tempo for a fraction of second. For normal basketball players, trying to steal despite the slowdown would be almost impossible, but Aomine was never a "normal" basketball player. Using his animal instincts, he immediately took his chance and reached out for the ball. Kise smirked, expecting this and quickly made a behind-the-back crossover, but this time, he shifted the position of his receiving hand slightly backwards. As a result, stealing the ball would be much easier due to the extra space, which Aomine immediately noticed and reached out. Again, Kise quickly moved backwards out of Aomine's range, causing him to almost fumble. It's working… Kise thought. Aomine once again returned to his former position. This exchange was extremely tensely to watch; every move is deliberate, and will affect the next.

Kise once again dribbled on the spot. He was starting to feel some pain in his knees again, but he ignored it. Without warning, he shifted his body and attempted formless shot, to which Aomine instantly darted forward and raised his hands. However, his legs did not leave the ground, and he quickly pulled his arm down and attempted to drive past the former Ace. But, Aomine was too fast as he quickly spun around and attempted another steal. With his emperor eye, Kise barely dodged it, and made a between-the-leg crossover, and again, Aomine leaned forward to reach out to him. Once again, Kise predicted this and bounced the ball back to his other hand before Aomine could get to him. Hence, it soon became like a game of cat and mouse, and Aomine endlessly attempted to get the ball, while Kise did the opposite. Then, all of a sudden, as the dark-blue haired Ace moved sideways to block the Blonde Ace, Kise grinned. He cut back without any sign, causing Aomine to lose balance. As he attempted a layup, the ball was suddenly deflected from his hands.

"What the—" Kise muttered as he landed. Aomine had somehow intercepted him even after being ankle-broken.

Aomine seemed to read Kise's mind, and said "No… You barely got me… I noticed my center of gravity and shifted accordingly…"

Kise's shocked expression changed into a smile, as he did not expect Aomine to be able to counter the Ankle Break dribble. However, he soon felt the pain in his knees grow worse. Aomine noticed his legs shaking.

"Alright… Let's stop this, you need some rest," Aomine said.

"Thanks… haha" Kise laughed nervously as he walked to the benches to get his bag.

Aomine walked towards him with the basketball in his hands, and said, "Your form…" and Kise looked up with a curious expression.

"Your perfect copy, right now the only thing that is hindering it is your stamina…" Aomine commented. "If you can further hone your copying… I have a feeling you can be as strong as me…"

Kise laughed. "Aomine-cchi, you serious? I'm just copying, yours is the legitimate ZONE, you know…" He said, but Aomine shook his head. "You think so? I'm not so sure… After all, your improvement exceeds mine…"

"Your Perfect Copy ain't complete yet, from what I see anyway… give it a few more months and I'm sure you'll be able to master it…" Aomine concluded.

They quickly took their bags and left the area. In the end, they ended up playing for about thirty minutes anyway. Kise smiled to himself at this thought. Either way, he was rather glad to play against Aomine-cchi again.

"Oh yeah, so who won today?" Aomine asked lamely. Kise gulped.

"Me, right? So it means you owe me Ice Cream…" Aomine continued, smiling like a villain.

This truly reminded him of back in the days when he, Aomine-cchi, Kuroko-cchi, Midorima-cchi, Momoi-cchi and Murasakibara-chhi once hanged out and ate ice cream together in a convenience store. What happened that day was really memorable: When a theft occurred, and the Generation of Miracles literally used their basketball skills to apprehend the thief. Those were some good times…

Kise's darted towards Aomine as they strolled past a poster with a team of pro basketball players apparently from America called "Jabberwock", although neither of them took notice of it.

Yeah, he's changed alright, he thought as he observed Aomine yawning lazily. But again, the thought of the Perfect Copy winning against the ZONE seemed improbable to him, even if Aomine-cchi says otherwise… Maybe, one day I can get my own ZONE too, huh? Then, I'll be really strong then…

Wooo, here's the conclusion to the epic battle! A whole 3.5K word chapter, crazy long I know, longer than I expected anyway. I must apologise for the shit ending between Kise's and Aomine's battle, cos it would be much much longer if I dragged out their battle, which I didn't really want to. So yea, here's chapter 4. Next chapter will be on Akashi, and his life I guess? Im planning to get him to meet another GOM, although I doubt any actual basketball playing will be happening, but hey i don't know, things may change, right? Next chapter might not come out in a while though, because my exams is really around the corner. I guess that's all then. Review and comment and like or favourite whatever, as usual.

-kkkdragon123