A/N: Surprise, surprise! I'm back, again. Lol okay I swear this will be the last chapter for these few days xD Urgh I need to do my school work, seriously!
Unlike the previous chapter, this shouldn't be as confusing because there's not much going to and fro in the storyline. Most stuff is already in chronological order, whole chunks of italics means it's flashback. Small chunks is just thoughts yeah? :) Also, this time round most of the chapter is original content from me! :D
Anyways. Enjoy!
/
Words: 8, 654 (Didn't expect it to be so long ;_; oops)
Storyline taken from: Chapters 2 and 3; Season 1 Episode 2
Warnings: A super crude Komeze; A long-winded Komeze; A philosophical Komeze; lol what else? xD Oh and mentions of Hyuuga's perverted(?) mind?
Just a tad bit. (Really. It's nothing big for you to go cray cray over, heh.)
/
"Hmm hmm hmmmm…" Riko skipped along the corridors in the school as passing students stared at her quizzically.
.
.
.
"Hey, what happened to the Coach? I know she was supposed to look for an opponent for a practice match together with Komeze, but…"
"She came back already, and I saw her skipping along merrily while humming."
"S-skipping along merrily while humming?!"
"You don't have to quote the exact phrase, Captain…"
"Aho! Don't you know… if the Coach is doing that…" Turning to face the others, he continued with sweat continuously dripping down his face.
"You'd better be ready, everyone. If Coach is skipping, that means… our next opponent is quite dangerous…"
.
.
.
"Ah, Coach." "Welcome back."
"I'm back! Sorry, I'll get changed immediately!"
Pausing mid-skip, she added. "Ah, just a thing.
"I got a match ready with a school that has one of the 'Generation of Miracles'~"
With that, she turned around and went on her merry way.
…
"What?"
"... Seriously?!"
"What's the fuss about?"
For the second time since meeting her, the entire Seirin team suffered from whiplash at the sudden voice of one Komeze Kiseki.
"Can you stop scaring us?!"
"Who are you trying to be?! Kuroko?!"
"Please leave me out of this."
"….?!"
For the second time that day, the entire Seirin team, with the exception of one Komeze Kiseki and one Kuroko Tetsuya, suffered from major whiplash after abruptly twisting their heads twice.
/
Requesting for strong guys! An opponent for Kuroko and Kagami to try out their strength!
/
Chapter 2: I Am Serious
"Hmm? This…"
"This Month Basketball issue… wasn't it at the time Kuroko was in Teikou?"
"Oooh! It has featuring articles about each of the players of the 'Generation of Miracles'!"
"…Huh? Kuroko didn't get an article?"
"Even though you were the sixth player… didn't someone come to get information about you?"
"They did, but they forgot about me."
…it must have been painful!
"On top of that, someone like me is completely different from these five persons. Because they are… true geniuses."
.
.
.
"Oooh, so this is Seirin. As expected from a new school, it looks nice."
"Check that guy, he looks so cool.." "So tall… wait, isn't he a model…" Passing female students were immediately smitten by a certain blonde student as he walked in the direction of the Seirin school gym.
Meanwhile, said school's basketball team members were having another 5v5 match among themselves.
After receiving a pass from Kuroko, Kagami got into a stance as he prepared to go head on against Izuki Shun. Puffing out a heavy breath, with focused eyes he charged past his senior while dribbling the ball.
"Tch!" No, not yet! I can still keep up!
Just as Izuki was thinking that, Kagami did an unexpected turn around him with the ball and jumped for a successful, powerful dunk. A student in a grey school jacket merely smirked at the sight.
"He's fast!"
"Incredible! He turned back even though he was going at full speed?! You wouldn't think that cut was made by a human…"
"Do you think he can beat even the 'Generation of Miracles' with that?!"
"It's possible! Actually, don't you think it's more than likely?"
"That's not an easy maneuver!"
"Maybe he's already surpassed them?!"
Kuroko kept silent throughout the excited chattering among players.
"From what I've seen, you wouldn't even reach their feet."
"…That was what I said, but…"
.
.
.
"Gather around, everyone!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Hmm? Where's our dearest Kiseki-chan?"
"Er ah. Komeze went to get refreshments for the team." S-since when does Coach call her by such an affectionate name? Hyuuga could only give a crooked smile at Riko's supposed attempt to get back at Komeze.
"I see~ Oh well, since she already knows it I'll just break it to you guys."
.
.
.
"A practice match against Kaijou High?!"
"Yup! They won't disappoint us. We'll put plenty of first years on the court."
"Disappoint us? They're way better than us."
"Are they really that strong?"
"They're strong at the national level. They play in the Interhigh every year." Hyuuga recalled.
Nodding, Riko added on, "And this year, Kaijou got their hands on one of the 'Generation of Miracles', Kise Ryouta."
"…Urh…" "Are we really going to go against one of them?" "The 'Generation of Miracles'?"
While everyone was overwhelmed at the thought of the incoming friendly match, Kagami was gleeful about it. I never thought I'd get to play them so soon. What a blessing. I'm getting excited.
Hyuuga remembered something. "Ah, and apparently, he works as a model as well."
"Seriously?!" "Incredible!" "Good-looking and good at basketball? That's brutal." "It's unfair!"
Riko could only sigh at her team's envy. Idiots…hmm? Uh, what? W-why…
Why is there such a crowd here?! And they're all female students?!
"Aaah, I didn't mean for this to happen…"
In the midst of the overwhelming crowd of fans, sits one model on the edge of the stage, legs perfectly crossed in a practiced fashion.
Instant recognition hit Riko and a few of the others.
What is one of the Generation of Miracles doing here…?
Kise Ryouta!
"It's been a while." Kuroko gave a polite nod towards the model.
Looking up in the midst of signing his autograph for the fans, Kise flashed out a natural smile. "Good to see you as well."
Rubbing his hair in a guilty manner, he added apologetically, "Sorry, really. Um… Do you think you could wait five minutes?"
.
.
.
"Wha…what are you doing here?"
"When I heard our next opponent was Seirin, I remembered Kurokocchi went here, so I thought I'd come say hi."
"We were the best of friends in middle school."
"Not more than anyone else."
"You're so mean!"
…Uh…
Flipping through the sports magazine found previously, Furihata started reciting off the article.
"Kise Ryouta. Although he only started basketball in his second year of middle school, his exceptional physical ability and sense got him on the Teiko team as a regular in a heartbeat. While he has less experience than the other four, he's a rapidly improving all-rounder."
"Only since your second year?!"
"That article exaggerated quite a bit. I'm glad I was called one of the Generation of Miracles, but I'm the worst of the bunch."
Turning to Kuroko, he continued, "That's why Kurokocchi and I were picked on all the time."
"That never happened to me. And could you please stop making up things?" Kuroko flatly denied Kise's claim. Kise burst into fake tears.
"What? So it was just me—"
Stopping mid-sentence, Kise turned around and quickly intercepted the ball aiming for him at full speed.
"Ouch…what was that for?"
"Kagami!"
"Sorry for interrupting your little reunion. But don't tell me you came all the way here just to greet us." Posing a stance, he gestured towards Kise.
"Why don't you play with me a little, pretty boy?"
"What? I don't know if I'm ready. But I just…" After seemingly pondering for a while, he glanced at Kagami and decided, "fine, let's do it.
"I have to thank you for that display."
"Ah. This is bad."
"Eh?" Kuroko-kun?
.
.
.
"When Kise-kun has seen a play, he can make it his own in an instant."
Kise passed Kagami with the exact same move Kagami made against Izuki earlier, but possessed a better, faster and stronger cut than Kagami's. Kagami realized this as he fell from the impact of Kise's dunk.
Riko frowned. This isn't simple imitation. He perfectly made it his own!
"…this is… the Generation of Miracles." "Kuroko, isn't your friend way too incredible?"
"…I don't know that person."
"Huh?"
"Honestly, I was thinking naively earlier as well. But… even though I haven't met him in just a few months…" The abilities of the Generation of Miracles are evolving at a much higher pace than I expected.
Looking down at the fallen Kagami, Kise gave a resounding sigh.
"I don't know about this."
"Huh?"
"After something so disappointing, I can't just leave now." Pausing in his talking, Kise walked towards Kuroko with a grin on his face.
"As I thought, I think it's better to just give us Kurokocchi."
"H-huh?!"
Stopping right in front of the invisible boy, he stretched out his hand.
"Come join us. Let's play basketball together again."
H-he's serious?!
"I seriously respect you, Kurokocchi. It's a waste of your talent to stay here. Ne, what do you say?"
Without missing a heartbeat, Kuroko gave an instant reply.
"I am honoured to hear you say that." Bowing respectfully and apologetically, he continued, "But I must respectfully decline your offer."
"That doesn't make any sense." Kise frowned. "Besides, this isn't like you. Winning was everything. Why didn't you go somewhere better?"
"My thinking has changed since then."
"Ah?"
"More importantly, I made a promise to Kagami-kun. I told him we'd beat you, the Generation of Miracles."
"… It really isn't like you to joke around like that."
"…Ha ha!" Kagami suddenly released a breathy laugh. So this is the Generation of Miracles… They really are amazing! And there are four more guys stronger than him. I can't help but smile.
"Cheh. What are you talking about? I was going to say that, Kuroko."
Answering Kise's enquiry, Kuroko added, "I still don't have a sense of humour, Kise-kun. I'm serious."
Seeing Kuroko's dead serious face, Kise could not help but smirked.
"Alright then. I accept your challenge."
Suddenly remembering something, Kise looked up and glanced around the gym.
"…Is there anything else you need, Kise-kun?"
"Ah. Where is she? I heard from Kasamatsu-senpai that your mana—"
"Ah! Komeze's back!" "Finally our drinks are here!" "Urgh I need to chug down a drink to soothe my nerves…"
A chorus of exclamations and gratefulness erupted when Komeze appeared at the doorsteps. She bent over to put the box of refreshments down and change her shoes into indoor ones.
…Komeze?Kise caught onto the name of their manager.
Kise turned around and stared at her.
As she changed her shoes, she greeted them.
"I'm back. By the way, what's the ruckus outside the corridor? There is a crowd of morbid girls whispering among themselves. They only know to disperse when I unleashed my fury upon them—"
Looking up, she stopped mid-sentence.
For a while, Kise and Komeze continuously started at each other in the eyes, an unspoken tension could be felt between them. The other members started to feel fidgety and whispered among themselves.
"Hey, what do you think is going on between them?" "Do you think Komeze knows he's one of the Generation of Miracles?" "She should know, she seems to know everything…" "Maybe Kise—"
Realization dawned on them.
Kise is lovestruck?!
Breaking off the eye contact, Komeze merely lifted the box and walked towards the group.
"Eh, ah! Komeze! Do you need help with the box? Looks kind of heavy…"
"There's no need." Stopping in front of Kise, she shifted the weight to one arm. The close proximity seemed to snap Kise out of his thoughts.
"Eh, ah. K—"
"You must be Kise Ryouta, right?" Komeze effectively cut his sentence off, all the while giving him a blank gaze.
"E-eh?" Kise just stared dumbly back at her.
Komeze sighed. "Ah. I apologise. That's not the way to greet someone you just met."
Extending her free hand out, she continued, "Hajime mashite (1). I am Komeze Kiseki, the manager for Seirin High boys' basketball team. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kise Ryouta."
Looking at her outstretched hand, Kise blinked twice before flashing out a brilliant smile.
"Ah, yes. It's a pleasure to meet you as well—" Before his hand could come in contact with hers, Komeze withdrew her hand and threw a heated stare at Kise. The other members just watched silently at what had just unfolded.
"Kise Ryouta. I don't know whether you know your position, but this is our school gym. And you're currently disrupting our team's practice."
W-what's with the attempt to be formal and polite if your intent had been to chase him out all this time?! The rest of Seirin could only deadpanned at Komeze's antics, but dare not voice out their thoughts for fear of facing the wrath of one Komeze Kiseki. After interacting with her for a few days, they realized she was not a lady to be trifled with.
"Huh? Ah, I apologise for the intrusion. It's just that I heard I'll be playing against Seirin and remembered that Kurokocchi came here so I got excited—"
"And disrupted us. Now, if you would please leave."
At this, even Riko was shocked. I know she's a rude brat, but not to this extent!
"Hey, Kiseki-chan. Even though he came without any notification, but he's still considered a guest in our school. That's a bit too much, don't you think?"
"I don't think so."
"Kiseki—"
"It stands that he is only here to look down on us." Staring straight at Kise, she continued, "He never intended for this to be some nice fluffy talk. He only wanted to see how little effort he needs to put in to defeat us."
Hyuuga stepped in. "Komeze that's a bit—"
"The Generation of Miracles. They are this kind of people. Always looking down on others. Always thinking that they don't even need to try to win." Komeze never once broke eye contact with Kise, who kept unnaturally still and silent throughout her tirade.
"The Generation of Miracles only knows how to selfishly play for their individual whims. Never for the team. Never for anyone else."
Calming down a bit, she looked away from the stunned Kise and heaved a sigh.
"This is why I don't like this."
Looking at Komeze's resigned face, Kuroko spoke up.
"Please calm down, Komeze-san. And Kise-kun, we've seen how strong you are. And you've heard our challenge. So it's all good. I think you should leave for today."
Kuroko's quiet, calm voice broke Kise out of his trance.
"A-ah. I understand." Composing himself, he gave an uncertain smile and continued, "Well, I guess I'll see you guys in the upcoming match."
/
"…Komeze seemed to be really pissed just now, don't you think?"
After a day's worth of practice, the boys had headed to the lockers to change. After Kise had left, Komeze announced that she felt unwell and left after placing the box of refreshments next to the benches. Kuroko had finished changing earlier and had left first.
"Well, let's not dwell on it, Izuki."
"But that was the first time I saw Komeze snapping at someone, all the more someone whom she just met." Kagami could not helped but be confused by her earlier actions.
"Hmmm, Beauty-chan seemed to have a grudge against the Generation of Miracles, seeing the way she berated Kise and all those things she said about them." Koganei frowned. "It's almost as if she thinks it's basically a sin to be the Generation of Miracles."
"Well, I can't really disagree with her words." Taking a few gulps of water, Hyuuga added, "It's true they just crushed everyone in the three years they were in the team. After all that winning, it must have gotten to their heads."
"But what I don't understand is why she seems to have a heavier grudge than the rest of us who knew that no matter what they would be the final obstacle we had to overcome to win? If she had been in a girls' team, there shouldn't be that much of a conflict."
"Ah. Beauty-chan mentioned she is friends with the basketball team's manager in her middle school. She probably heard about nasty stuff from her friend."
"…Just how isthe Generation of Miracles like? Er p-please tell me." Kagami was still not used to the polite tone he had to use when he was with the seniors.
"Oh right. Kagami studied abroad so he doesn't know much about them."
"Well, there's no harm in telling you I guess. It's all in the past anyway…"
/
"…So they looked down on their opponents and don't respect them at all, huh? Such geniuses aren't that perfect after all, I guess." Kagami was at the usual fast food outlet.
"No one is perfect, Kagami-kun."
"Gwoh?!" Forcefully gulping down the food bits, Kagami glared at the blue-haired teenager sitting across him.
"Hello."
"Can you stop appearing out of nowhere?!"
/
"So you heard from Hyuuga-senpai about them?" Sipping on his vanilla milkshake, Kuroko walked along the pavement.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Kagami heaved a sigh. "Yeah, the seniors told me stuff they heard about the Generation of Miracles, as they haven't been able to encounter them in an actual match before."
The light and shadow duo was outside in the streets after Kagami's outburst in the restaurant. He felt embarrassed due to the dozens of eyes staring at him, so he just dashed out without finishing his huge meal, dragging Kuroko along without much thinking.
"…Kagami-kun did not have to pull me along by my jacket. It hurts."
"S-shut up! 'Sides, if I didn't drag you with me, how would you have escaped the place that quickly?"
"… I could have just use my misdirection, and continued enjoying my milkshake in peace while the other patrons whispered among themselves about this huge burly with quadruple eyebrows shouting at thin air—"
"Bastard. Do you really want to start a fight? And stop with the quadruple eyebrows urgh they are natural okay?!"
"I'm sorry."
"…Kuroko, when you said you feel something was missing when you played with the Generation of Miracles, were you referring to this?"
"… To be honest, I'm still trying to find that missing element."
"Huh?"
"Although it's true that the five of them are insensitive and arrogant players… they haven't always been like that." Kuroko did not know whether he was just exhausted, or Komeze's harsh words got to him, but he felt extremely talkative at the moment. He wanted to just dig out his heart raw for the whole world to see. He wanted to be exposed, because he was tired of everything.
"My middle school has always emphasized on the essential of victory. Nothing less was to be expected from the club..." But, it made me wonder, just what exactly is victory?
Kagami noticed that Kuroko had gone silent after a while, seemingly immersed in his own thoughts. And as insensitive as he was, he did not delve deeper into the matter. Because he had sensed a touch of sadness behind those emotionless, cloudless eyes.
The rest of their journey included one silent Kuroko and one excited Kagami anticipating their upcoming match against Kaijou, the comfortable silence between them only occasionally disrupted by Kuroko's half-hearted slurping of his milkshake.
/
"…Komeze is not here yet…"
"I wonder if she is still upset over yesterday's events."
"Who knows? I still can't really understand her sudden change in mood though…"
Riko sighed. The team was still affected by Komeze's foul mood yesterday, and she was quite worried about the bespectacled teen.
Not that she would admit that aloud.
"Kawahara-kun, you're in the same class as Kiseki-chan, right? Did she come to school today?"
"A-ah. She did… After school ended I asked if she wanted to head to the gym together but she said she needed to do something first and left. She seemed to be in a better mood today…"
"Eh! Kawahara tried to make a move on Beauty-chan! That's not allowed!" "Ah! Sly Kawahara! Trying to be chummy with our manager!"
"E-eh? I-I was just trying to be nice!"
"That's enough of your antics for today." Riko rubbed her temple, frowning. "If such tardy behavior continues, I would not hesitate to kick Komeze out of the club—"
"I can't have you do that, Coach."
"K-kuroko?! Since when were you here?!" The team grimaced at the uncountable time they received a whiplash.
"I was here the whole time."
"…Urgh never mind that! And what do you mean by that, Kuroko-kun? Don't tell me you are smitten by Kiseki-chan as well? I don't particularly mind relationships in our club, but you boys are a tad bit too much—"
"That's not it, Coach. I just want to request everyone to give Komeze-san a little more time to prove to us her worth."
"…What do you mean by that?" Kagami did not really care as long as Komeze does not get in his way of the upcoming match against Kise.
"Coach wants a reliable manager who can support the team both tactically and psychologically, right? I believe Komeze-san is the best manager we could get."
"…Hah. Well I do think that she has the potential, but she needs to get rid of that lousy personality of hers. No matter how talented she might be, I don't accept irresponsible members in my club—"
"Give her some time, Coach. That's all I'm asking for. I'm sure she has her reasons for being late."
"Relax, I know her worth. And I only said those words because I'm feeling angsty at the moment, I didn't mean it… But you seem to be all ready to defend her, Kuroko-kun… Do you know something we don't?"
"Ah. She told me to keep it a secret for now."
"A secret? So there's really something going on between the two of you?"
"Hah! Look who's being sly now!" "Kuroko, how could you?! We trusted you!" "You seem to be the kind of guy who won't be interested in Komeze! That's why we didn't keep an eye on you!"
"Aho! This is the basketball club, not some place for you guys to make a move on Kiseki!" Getting exasperated now, Riko berated them. First I have a manager who has mood swings, and now a bunch of hormonal boys?! Urgh can someone tell me why did I agree to be their coach again?!
"Please calm down, Coach. And everyone, please be assured that it's not what you think it is going on between Komeze-san and I. We're just friends."
… I don't even think the rest of us could even count on having friendship with Komeze/Beauty-chan…
"I apologise for being late."
The team turned around (slowly this time, to make sure their necks do not suffer the same fate again) to see the subject of their conversation standing at the doorway.
"Kiseki-chan! Why are you late?" Riko tried her best to calm down, but her question still came out in a harsh tone.
"I was collecting data."
"You—…Uh?" Riko had anticipated all sorts of excuses to come out of her mouth, but she never once thought that Komeze was out for her job as the manager. Urgh… looks like my first impression of her still made me biased against her… I need to change that…after what happened yesterday at Kaijou…
"Data? On who?" Hyuuga could not help but asked.
"Everyone. Including our next opponents – Kaijou."
"…Huh?"
"You guys know I went with Riko-senpai to Kaijou High, right? I observed some of their players, especially their starters. Then I haven't really had time to finalize my analysis of all of your physique and abilities, so I took some time after school to look through them."
"W-wow." "You can actually do that?" "That's kind of cool!"
Riko nodded in understanding. "Fine. But why did you need to do your analysis elsewhere? You could have just done it here."
"I need to be by myself and zone out for a while to think through clearly, although this only applies for basketball stuff. If I had stayed here, I won't be able to think that well. The dribbling of the balls would distract me."
"You could have told me earlier! To think I was saying what a tardy member you are in front of the others.." Riko pouted.
"Heh. It slipped my mind. I apologise. Does senpai's statement mean she still think that I'm a tardy member?"
"Who knows?"
"Ah."
"Anyway. Let us hear your analysis."
"Alright. Then I shall start." Flipping a piece of paper over the clipboard she was holding, Komeze's cocky demeanor immediately changed to a serious one.
"Kaijou High is a national-level veteran school who regularly make appearances in the Interhigh. They are known as the Blue Elites from the highly competitive Kanagawa district…" Staring at her clipboard for a while, she flipped the piece of paper up.
"Moving on."
"Eh?! That's all for the introduction?!"
"It's boring. Plus, it's not information you guys really need to know."
"…Where did you get those from anyway?"
"An acquaintance. You don't need to know anything else."
"…Hah…" The team could only sweatdrop at how Komeze just brushed off the subject.
"I'll just start from the top. For our upcoming match, there is a 90% chance that their coach, Takeuchi Genta, would have us play against most of their regulars. Then—"
"W-wait. Their regulars?" "And how did you come up with the percentage…"
"Takeuchi-san looked down upon us. That was evident when Riko-senpai and I approached him to request for a friendly match. That said, he still wouldn't risk having his school being beaten by a supposedly no-name school like us. His caution would probably arise from our meeting with him yesterday, and the fact that our seniors managed to reach the Interhigh preliminary rounds last year with only first years."
"…So our reputation seems to be good, huh?" "If it means strong teams would pit their regulars against us rather than lousy players, I'm not sure if our reputation is good for us…"
"Lousy or not, Takeuchi-san would have his regulars play against us, not just for assurance, but to mock us for the possibly large point gap when the match ends. For a former national player, he sure has quite an unsightly attitude." Everyone noticed a small frown etched on Komeze's face as she made her judgment of the Kaijou coach, before she composed herself and continued, "well, we'll play them alright, except for one regular."
"Huh? Who?"
"There is an 80% chance that he would not allow Kise to play in the match."
"Huh?" "Why? And 80%...?"
"Takeuchi may want to jeer at us and assure his win, but his fault is in looking down on us in the first place – he doesn't think he needs Kise to beat us. He'd rather have his ace use the time instead to practice and become better."
"Wait, practice when the match is going on? When we went there they only had one gym assigned to the basketball club because there were a lot of other clubs in need of the facilities as well…" Riko was confused.
"He'll only use half the court for the match."
"W-what? That's just too much!"
"Like I said, he's a horrendous chubby man. But I'm sure he has his merits as a coach, though I won't dwell on them yet. Having only half the court for our match is the perfect way to snub at us for even trying to play against them."
"Grrr…. If this is true I'm so going to smash that coach's face in—"
"Calm your head, Hyuuga-senpai. We can still change that. And force him to sub Kise in."
"Eh? How?"
"When I was there, I noticed that the nails holding a hoop to one of the backboards along the length of the gym are rusty. I heard a lot of small creaking noises when basketballs are thrown in it."
"S-so observant…"
"I further checked into their club records and found out that it was long due for a repair. Hence, there is a 70% chance that a strong, powerful dunk would destroy the hoop."
"…I'm not even going to ask how you managed to access their records…"
"An acquaintance of mine."
"Seriously?!"
"So how would destroying the hoop do anything?"
"Everything. With one of the hoops spoilt, Takuechi-san would be forced to use the full court."
"And about subbing Kise in?"
"Well, if the strong, powerful dunk is from one of us, he would be intimidated to some extent, wouldn't he?" As she said this with a smirk, she glanced at Kagami.
He caught on. "So, you are saying that I should score the first dunk? And it should be a powerful one?"
"That's right. It's best if it happened right at the start of the game."
/
"Phew, that was quite a long meeting about our upcoming match."
"It mainly involves Komeze telling us her analysis and possible situations which could occur during the match."
"…All her predictions, do you think they will be true?"
"…In spite of all that percentages she randomly threw out, she seemed to know what she was saying."
"Heh. It would be interesting to find out if her predictions would come true."
"Rather, I'd say it's already pretty impressive to even come up with such detailed analysis. And to top it off, she's cute! Her sassy attitude is attractive."
"And when she apologized to us for the snappy attitude of hers yesterday! She was so straightforward and didn't hesitate to admit to her fault!"
"I'm quite curious about this acquaintance of hers, though… he or she seemed to have access to anything…"
"Hah! I want to get to know that guy too.. Sounds pretty amazing if you can get access to any data you want, man."
"Anyway, Beauty-chan sure is knowledgeable when it comes to basketball games! Although she doesn't play the sport itself, she seems to have some passion for it!"
"Ah, about that." Hyuuga pulled down his shirt after changing and faced Koganei. "Actually, she plays basketball."
"Huh?! Seriously?" "Wah, I couldn't really tell…" "Well, she is rather tall for a girl…" "Now that you say, she does have some well-defined leg muscles, but I wouldn't have thought it was from playing basketball…"
"Kuroko, did you know about this?!"
"No I didn't. And stop asking me whether I know something, Kagami-kun."
"W-well, you seem to know everything as well…"
"How did you know about this, Hyuuga?"
"I was discussing with the coach yesterday regarding our upcoming match. Then I got curious after thinking about Komeze's outburst, so I asked Coach if anything happened with Kise when the two of them were at Kaijou earlier in the afternoon…"
/
"While we were at Kaijou?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm… we didn't see Kise in Kaijou when we went over… something about him having a last-minute important modeling photo shoot."
"Ah, right. That brat is a model…"
"…but Kiseki-chan was acting slightly weird even when we were on our way to Kanagawa. I didn't inform her beforehand that I was intending to approach Kaijou for a practice match. When she found out, she appeared stunned for a while before replying, 'Is that so…'. Her expression was really strange! Like she looked sad and at the same time wanted to murder someone."
Your description is strange. Hyuuga silently thought to himself.
"And when we were there, she kept looking around, as if she was finding someone. I'm willing to bet she was looking for Kise. Or looking out for Kise, at least. It was only when she abruptly asked the coach right after we have said our greetings did his answer pacify her. She regained her composure after that."
"…Why is she so conscious of Kise? Or the Generation of Miracles, maybe?"
"…who knows? I don't think it's in our place to enquire her about such stuff yet though. Guess we'll have to wait to find out."
"I guess… Oh, by the way, how did you manage to persuade Kaijou's coach to have a practice match with us? I mean, they are of national standards."
"Hmm? Oh, I obviously used my feminine points and—"
"You mean Komeze used her feminine points to persuade the coach." Hyuuga realized he shouldn't have said that aloud. Now she's going to kill me…
"…in a way, you're right." Riko merely blinked and agreed with Hyuuga.
Not going to beat the crap out of me?!
"But not by verbal persuasion, actually."
"D-don't tell me she did something provocative?! As her senior, why didn't you stop her—"
"Stop thinking about weird things! And don't imagine it, either!" Hyuuga was still hit on the head, regardless.
"T-then what did you mean by that?!"
"Well, I certainly didn't expect that she would take up the coach's challenge…"
/
"From Seirin High?"
"Yes, if you would just give us a bit of your time…"
"Why would I? It was quite daring of you to approach an elite school like ours, little girls."
Getting irritated, Riko plastered a sickeningly sweet smile. "Let me re-introduce ourselves. She is Komeze Kiseki, the manager of Seirin High boys' basketball team. I am the coach of said school, Aida Riko."
…Aida? And wait, she's the coach?!
"Now, if you would please just hear us out—"
"Before that. Where is Kise Ryouta?"
"Eh?" Why does Kiseki-chan want to know? And that brat just interrupted me!
"If you really want to know, Kise has a last-minute modeling shoot. It seemed important enough that his manager came begging, and he won't miss much practice time. So I let him off."
Upon hearing that, Komeze's shoulders drooped just slightly, tension in them that Riko only now noticed disappearing.
"Why would you want to know? Are you disappointed that Kise's not around? Don't tell me I have to deal with yet another one of his fans. And you even came from Tokyo and pretended to be part of a basketball team—"
"Uh. Get your facts right, Coach-san. One, I'm not one of those fans. It would be a million years later before you would even see me having a millimeter fraction of my heart to adore that dork. Two, I'm not disappointed he's not around. You don't know how much I want to just jump around and shout Hallelujah. But it's not in my character to do such things, so I won't. Third, we aren't pretending. It's real. We are from the basketball team."
Pausing to give a dramatic, exaggerated sigh, Komeze continued, "Ah. And I had expected more from a former national player for our country. Surely you could tell that we have the brains? Or do you teach your team to be all brawns and no brains?"
Riko could not help but snigger at that. That's more like the cocky Kiseki-chan I know…
"W-what did you—"
"I'll cut to the chase. Seirin High would like to formally ask of Kaijou High to schedule a practice match with our basketball team players." Komeze dropped her sarcastic tone and, with serious eyes, informed the coach of Kaijou their purpose for coming to their school.
"Practice match? Hah! And why should I agree?"
"Because you won't stand to lose anything."
"Yes. Yes I would. You will only waste my players' precious time—"
"I didn't finish. Not only will you not lose anything, you'll stand to gain something."
"If by gaining something means that my team would win yours, and obviously they will, it's not worth it. I mean, why play a match that you know you'll win for sure—"
"There may be things in life that we can be sure about. 'I'm sure I won't regret this.' 'I'm sure I'm strong enough.' 'I'm sure I'll like this dish.' 'I'm sure I can do this' Or even 'I'm sure I want this, because it's basketball.' 'I'm sure I can do it, because it's basketball.' 'I'm sure I can win this, because it's basketball.' 'I'm sure I'm stronger than them, because it's basketball.' 'I'm sure I don't need to put in effort to win, because it's basketball.' 'I'm sure I will love it, because it's basketball, right?'"
Looking straight into the eyes of the coach, Komeze continued.
"All these whimsical things, things we chose to believe in, to be sure of, may not be absolute after all. Because in the end, we can be sure of it, but it cannot be sure of us."
After an awkward moment of silence between the trio, Komeze blinked twice before clearing her throat. "I apologise for going out of my way. I tend to do that when I hear or see something I don't really agree on."
Snapping out of his trance, Takeuchi sighed.
"It's not that I don't get what you're trying to say, young lady. But you have to know that sometimes, one can predict something even before it happened. That is reality. I've been a Coach for longer than you could speak, girl, and my experience with basketball even way before that. I've heard of Seirin, and I have to admit you guys are considerably good for a team consisting of only first years to even reach to that kind of standard last year.
"But in the end, you still couldn't reach Kaijou. And while you guys have potential, that's all there is to it. You guys are just budding seeds. It would take you years before you can even reach our feet. That is reality, young lady."
Takeuchi just stared at Komeze while saying all this. Komeze grew silent.
Turning to Riko, he added, "And I know what you were trying to make me guess with your introductions. I figured it out. But a good coach does not necessarily mean that the team would be good."
Riko gritted out. "Then how? What do you want us to do to prove to you our worth?"
At that, Takeuchi smiled. "Simple. While I may say that, the coach still needs to be good for the seed to even develop and grow in the first place. So either one of you, as your team's guiders, must prove to me. That you are capapble of leading your team to victory. To us."
Hearing that, Riko grew exasperated. "How?! Do you expect us to play basketball against one of your players or something?!"
"You got that right, young lady."
"What?!" Riko could open stare at him, open-mouthed at the absurdity of everything.
"My request would probably be as easy as you guys beating us in a match, no?"
Komeze clenched her fists. "To think of us so lowly…"
"I'm just trying to not waste any more of our time. Both yours, and mine." Turning away, he called out Kasamatsu Yukio to address to him about something. "Now, if you would please take your leave—"
"I accept."
Riko whipped her head towards Komeze. "Huh?"
Even Takeuchi was shocked. "Do you… even know what you're saying, miss?"
At this moment, Kasamatsu reached them.
"I will say it again. I will say it again as many times as needed, Takeuchi Genta-san. I. Accept. Your. Challenge." Komeze used determined, strong-willed, stubborn obsidian eyes on the stunned coach.
Riko stared at Komeze as if she had grown two heads. "Are you crazy?! I knew it! I knew there was something crazy about you! No matter how much you may be angry at his careless remark, there's no need for you to go so far as to challenge a national-level team yourself, Kiseki!"
"Now look who is looking down on us, Coach." Riko flinched at her tone.
"It's no wonder others would say such things about us if you don't have enough confidence to brag and show off your team, Riko-senpai."
"It's not the team that I don't have any confidence in. It's—"
"Me, right? Riko-senpai doesn't have any confidence in me."
"That's not what I meant, Kiseki! I am in no doubt about your tactical abilities, but we're talking about playing the actual sport here!"
"Then you're looking down on me."
"Kiseki—"
"Riko-senpai. I know your concerns. But I am serious. Right now, the only concern that I have is to prove Takeuchi-san wrong. And make him recognize our abilities."
"Kiseki-chan…"
"I. Have no intentions of going back to Seirin without the date of our practice match with Kaijou confirmed. Do you have that determination as well, Riko-senpai?"
Maybe she was nuts herself, maybe she really had grown two heads like Komeze, or maybe it was just the pair of determined, unwavering miles of onyx staring right into her soul, Riko could not determine just what it was that made her believe in Komeze.
Turning to the plump coach, Riko mere asked, "Is your challenge legitimately valid, Takeuchi-san?"
"…What's going on, Coach?" Kasamatsu could only stare back and forth between the three.
"…Urgh. I have these two illogical girls from Seirin demanding a practice match with our team. And they actually took me seriously when I was joking about having a one-on-one with one of you guys."
Kasamatsu took a look at Komeze. "Well, they seemed serious enough, why not just have a go?"
"What? Kasamatsu, you're playing along with them?"
The Kaijou captain merely answered, "…She looks strong."
Turning to the Seirin manager, he added, "I'll take you on. If you lose this match, you'll admit defeat, okay?"
Komeze merely smirked. "Don't go deciding things like that.
"We can never be sure about anything."
.
.
.
As a hoop was cleared for them to have their one-on-one, the whole club stopped whatever they were doing and observed.
"What? The captain is playing against a girl?" "What's going on?" "Who knows?"
Komeze had opted to stay in her school uniform, claiming that it would be over in a short while.
The rules were simple – If Komeze could steal one out of ten of Kasamatsu's shots, she wins and Seirin would have a practice match with Kaijou.
As Kasamatsu dribbled the the ball on the spot, Komeze got into a denfensive stance. He made a calculated step to his right and drove through.
However, before he could lift his hand to do a layup, a hand shot out. Out of reflex, Kasamatsu jerked back and stablised himself. To his surprise, Komeze kept up with him and her hand reached out to grab the ball once again. Wasting no time, he lifted the ball higher, jumped on the spot and attempted a two-pointer.
.
.
.
To his utter shock, the ball rebounded, and landed right into Komeze's hands.
"Ah. What a surprise." Smirking, Komeze looked straight at Kasamatsu. "You delivered the ball straight to me.
"I guess that concludes my win."
Takeuchi could only look on, unable to believe the turn of events. Even though she did not directly intercept the shot, the fact that she could affect Kasamatsu so much that his accuracy dropped by so much…
"Tch! That shouldn't count. You did not directly intercept—"
"I'm sure you know there are other ways to intercept other than physically blocking the opponent, Takeuchi-san. Heh. After all that bragging, you are still trying to argue your way with an inexperienced, budding, young lady who only knows how to talk?" Komeze threw his words back at him.
W-wow… Riko was not fooled by the simplicity of that showdown. Kiseki-chan's way of pressurizing him was not ordinary…
Takeuchi could only hang his head low at the supposed defeat. Although Komeze didn't steal the ball, she was right. Takeuchi could tell indeed that Kasamatsu lost not because his throw was a sudden one - he knew his captain could have performed better than that - it was due to the pressure Komeze had performed on him.
And Komeze did won by their rule. She did manage to "steal" the ball. Not wanting to argue any further, Takeuchi sighed.
"Fine. It's your win, young lady. The rest of you. Resume your training! I didn't give you guys permission to take a break!"
At their coach's booming voice, the other members scampered to grabbed the balls and continued with their drill.
Kasamatsu merely chuckled under his breath and admitted his defeat. Although the match abruptly reached its conclusion, he knew Komeze used the quickest effective method to prove his coach wrong and would catch everybody off guard. Interesting... if their manager has this certain flair to her, I can't wait to see what else this team has in store for us.
.
.
.
"So next Tuesday, at 3 sharp, meet us directly here at our school gym, got that?"
Takeuchi was finalizing the details of their practice match with Komeze and Riko.
Ever since Komeze showed the plump man their worth, Riko had been all smiles and sunshines, grinning gleefully at the frustrated aura surrounding the adult. "Yes, yes, Takeuchi-san~"
"Tch. Okay, that's it brats, you've taken enough of my time. I'll see you next week." Getting annoyed, Takeuchi waved off the two teens.
"Thank you for accepting our invitation." Komeze bowed politely, although she was inwardly smirking.
Before leaving, Komeze turned back one last time and said, "Ah. Takeuchi-san. Do be well-prepared for our practice match. 'My request would probably be as easy as you guys beating us in a match, no?'" Once again, Komeze used his own words against him.
"Why you—"
"He he! Let's just go and inform the others of this great news, Kiseki-chan!" Hooking her arm on Komeze's, Riko skipped along with Komeze.
…More like, Komeze was dragged along, but she was still smiling nonetheless.
As they walked along the empty corridors, Riko finally asked the question that had been in her mind.
"Say, why didn't you tell me you play basketball as well?"
"Well, no one really asked. Also, whether I can or cannot play doesn't matter as long as I have enough insights for the sport." Komeze shrugged. "And it's not like I joined a basketball team before anyway, I only played it for fun."
"But that pressure just now! It won't be from someone who just played basketball for fun!"
"Why not? I enjoyed the sport enough, and that chubby dude was seriously annoying the hell out of me, I had to show him not to underestimate us."
Giggling at Komeze's nonchalant, yet pissed reply, Riko turned to her and gave a sincere smile. "Thanks, Komeze-chan. I knew I could count on you."
Slightly taken aback by Riko's sudden change in attitude towards her, Komeze blanched. "Please don't treat me any differently than before; I'm not used to a nice Riko-senpai. And it's not a big deal, really."
Riko abruptly grabbed her by her neck with a death grip, nearly choking her. "So you want a not nice senior, huh? Fine, I'll grant you your wish."
Komeze played along and pretended to gasp for air. "Ah. I will really die if you keep doing this, Riko-senpai."
"Then bow down to me, you peasant!"
"Oh the great old mighty Riko-sama, please release me from your generous hold."
"Heh! I didn't know you could play along as well! Fine, I shall grant you your wish, little one." Bursting into a full-blown laughter, Riko released Komeze and clutched her sides.
"Ha ha ha! You should have seen your face when you pretended to choke, it's hilarious!"
"Anything for you, the great old mightly Riko-sama."
"Stop calling me old!" Riko reached out and pinched both her cheeks.
"I em sorweee."
As Komeze and Riko took a left turn in the corridor, a blonde teen noticed them as he walked a few metres behind them before making a left turn and going back the way the girls came from.
They're not wearing our school uniforms… and they came from the direction of the gym… were they guests or something?
As he approached the gym, he noticed his couch seem to be in a foul mood.
"Ne, Kasamatsu-senpai? What's wrong—"
"You're late!" And the blonde was kicked at his sides.
"Owee! So mean, senpai! And I had reasons, I thought you knew—"
"I know! But I still want to beat you because you're so annoying!"
"…What did I even do?"
"Nothing, that's why!"
"W-wait, Kasamatsu-senpai! I just want to ask something!" Fearing more beating from his senior, Kise stretched his arms out in defense.
"Hmm? What is it?"
He needs to change this bipolar personality of his! It's scary when he's scary, but it's scarier when he's not scary! Kise kept his terrified thoughts to himself.
"Uh, what happened with Coach? Why does he look so pissed off? Is it because of my modeling shoot? I swear that today will be the only time—"
"Relax. It's not because of you." Kasamatsu could not explain this feeling of pride when Kise panicked because he thought Takeuchi was angry that he missed practice.
"Just now, two girls from Seirin High came over asking for a practice match with our team."
"Wait. Seirin High?"
"Yes. You've heard of them?"
"Ah. Not really heard, but… how to say this, I think I remembered one of my ex-teammates went to that school."
"…By ex-teammates, do you mean one of the Generation of Miracles?"
"Ah, no. He's not really a part of us, but he is…"
"Which is it?! Make up your mind, idiot!"
"Ow! Senpai, please stop hitting me!"
"Then who is this ex-teammate of yours?!"
"Eh… ah! You'll see him soon during the practice match anyway, right? Coach agreed to it?"
"Erm well, yeah. After much 'persuasion' from the two representatives he finally agreed."
"Heh. They must have been good at persuading."
"Well, their manager challenged me for a one-on-one. I lost and since that was the condition, Coach reluctantly agreed to the practice match."
"Huh? Huh?! Wait their manager challenged you?! And you lost?! And because of that, Coach agreed—"
"Stop screaming into my ear!"
"I'm sorry!"
"Yes. Yes their manager played against me. Yes. Yes, I lost to her. And yes, we will be having the practice match with Seirin next week."
"W-wow. Senpai actually lost—"
"Do you have to say it more than once?! And it's not a big deal anyway, I've lost plenty of times before, and this is just a friendly challenge. She took me by surprise and won unconventionally."
"Their manager actually beat Senpai—"
"Will you stop with that already—"
"And it's Kurokocchi's school…Senpai! I'm afraid I have to miss today's practice, after all."
"What?! Don't go deciding things on your own— Oi! Where do you think you're going?!" Kise was already at the doorway.
"I'm going to Seirin!"
"What?!" But Kise did not hear Kasamatsu's yelling. He was already gone.
"Tch, that brat. Expect some punishment practice from me later on!"
/
"… So she plays basketball too, huh…" Kagami was at the isolated street court where he and Kuroko had their one-on-one when they first met, dribbling a lone ball he found in the corner. As he prepared to score a dunk, a voice came from behind.
"Boo."
"Urgh!" Kagami was caught off guard and crashed into the post.
"Pfft. What an idiot."
"W-what did you say—" With a reddened nose, Kagami turned around to lash out at the person who had unceremoniously ruined his momentum. "Komeze?!"
"Yo. I didn't think you would be here again."
"What are you doing—" He finally caught her words. "Wait. 'Again'?"
"I was just sitting there when you and Kuroko had your one-on-one." Komeze pointed to a nearby bench.
"S-seriously… and I didn't notice… do you, like, have the same invisibility thing as Kuroko or something?"
"Obviously not. I was just hiding in the bushes." Komeze admitted with a straight face.
"What?! That's seriously crazy!"
"Oh just deal with it, big guy. And I couldn't believe you actually thought Kuroko wanted to beat you when he asked for a one-on-one." Grabbing the ball from Kagami's hands, Komeze dribbled the ball with her left hand.
"Shuddup! That's got nothing to with you!"
Looking at the bouncing ball in her hand, Kagami came up with a crazy thought.
"Say, Komeze, you know how to play, right?"
Stopping the dribbling, Komeze looked at Kagami.
"Can I expect you to want to beat me when I ask for a one-on-one with you, then?"
Fin.
/
Introduction information on Kaijou taken from the KnB Wikia page :)
Hajime mashite(1): It means "How do you do?" This is greeting is, however, used only if you are meeting someone for the first time.
And about Kiseki changing shoes to indoor ones, I'm not really sure whether that applies for inside the gym as well. I remembered during the Tip Off OVA, Kuroko was seen removing his shoes or something right at the doorway of the school gym.
/
Author's note: Hope you guys like it! :P The story just kinda rolled off of me lol does it even make sense? Anyway, I hope I portrayed Kiseki well :'D Please rate and review!
Ta-ta for now!
Saxhyske :3
Again, bloopers below!
/
Bloopers
1. Being mean to Kise.
"It's been a while." Kuroko gave a polite nod towards the model.
Looking up in the midst of signing his autograph for the fans, Kise flashed out a natural smile. "Good to see you as well."
Rubbing his hair in a guilty manner, he added apologetically, "Sorry, really. Um… Do you think you could wait five minutes?"
"And if we can't wait? Then please leave, Kise-kun. You're disrupting our practice."
"So mean!"
2. Being mean to Kise part II
Kise passed Kagami with the exact same move Kagami made against Izuki earlier, but possessed a better, faster and stronger cut than Kagami's. Kagami realized this as he fell from the impact of Kise's dunk.
Riko frowned. This isn't simple imitation. He perfectly made it his own!
"…this is… the Generation of Miracles." "Kuroko, isn't your friend way too incredible?"
"…I don't know that person."
"…"
"…"
"…Well, Kuroko aren't you going to continue—?"
"I really don't know him."
"So mean, Kurokocchi!"
3.
"Yo. I didn't think you would be here again."
"What are you doing—" He finally caught her words. "Wait. 'Again'?"
"I was just sitting there when you and Kuroko had your one-on-one." Komeze pointed to a nearby bench.
"S-seriously… and I didn't notice… do you, like, have the same invisibility thing as Kuroko or something?"
"Obviously not. I was just hiding in the bushes." Komeze admitted with a straight face.
"What?! That's seriously crazy!"
"Oh just deal with it, big guy. And I couldn't believe you actually thought I was serious." Grabbing the ball from Kagami's hands, Komeze dribbled the ball with her left hand.
"Shuddup! That's got nothing to with you!"
…
"W-wait, so you were joking?"
"I was being serious—"
"What?! Then—"
"— about me joking."
"Make up your mind dang it!"
…
...
…
"I was actually sitting on the bench."
"So you are like Kuroko! I knew it—!"
"Until I saw you, then I went into hiding."
"…"
"…in the bushes."
"Why the hell are we having this conversation in the first place?!"
"Oh just deal with it, big guy. And I couldn't believe you actually thought Kuroko wanted to beat you when he asked for a one-on-one." Grabbing the ball from Kagami's hands, Komeze dribbled the ball with her left hand.
"So now you want to get back on track?! And why are the narratives exactly the same?! What happened to the ball you took from me earlier—"
"I used my misdirection to pass it back to you, Kagami-kun. It's the same ball."
"*(&!%#&!"
For the umpteenth time, Kagami suffered from whiplash and a major headache due to the two teens in front of him.