"Aominecchi!" Kise hollered, sending a Kuroko-style Ignite Pass towards the hoop.
"Got it!" Aomine leapt with his back facing the backboard, tossing the ball behind him carelessly. By the time he'd finished high-fiving Kise, the ball had swished through the net.
Murasakibara just yawned, picking the ball up and passing it to Midorima, mumbling about how hungry he was. Midorima jumped, the ball ready to leave his hands.
"What the -- fuck it, Midorima, we weren't ready!" Aomine growled, turning on his heel and sprinting towards the shooting guard, Kise hot on his heels.
"Too late." The bespectacled tsundere let go of the ball, letting it sail through the air before shooting clean through the hoop. "Idiots. Do you expect the opponents to wait around while you finish that little celebration? Tch."
"Yeah. Nice shot to you too, Midorimacchi," Kise muttered, deactivating his Perfect Copy as a whistle sounded.
"And that's a wrap for today!" Momoi annnounced. "Dai-chan and Ki-chan win by two points!"
Midorima jabbed his finger at Murasakibara, who was sticking his head inside his sports bag looking for snacks. "I told you, Akashi, Libra isn't compatible with Cancer today. Sticking me with him will only lead to my loss. Oi, Murasakibara! Don't start eating right after a game -- you're leaving crumbs all over the floor!"
"Mido-chin, you aren't my mom. I do what I want." Murasakibara rolled his eyes, chomping away on his maiubo. "I don't see Aka-chin telling me off for eating, either."
"We won against them three times in a row, Aominecchi!!" Kise pumped his fists in the air, before prompting Aomine to give him another high-five.
Aomine shrugged. "Eh. Why are you so happy? It would've been weirder if we'd lost." He breezed right past the blond's palm.
"Ehhhh?! So rude!" Kise complained. "You can't just ignore someone waiting to high-five you!"
Momoi finished scribbling notes on her clipboard and glanced up at Akashi, who had a rather amused glint in his eyes as he surveyed the bickering pairs. The pink-haired girl felt a smile spread across her own lips. "This feels just like the old days, doesn't it? If Tetsu-kun were here, he'd probably be the mediator that sorts out the troubles."
Akashi nodded in agreement. "There's always a kind of magic to how Kuroko does things. It's astonishing how a shadow like himself had managed to touch the lives of so many people."
On the second landing, Daichi, Suga, Hinata, and Kageyama were watching the Miracles practice, rather stunned.
They'd originally planned to bring their coach Ukai Keishin as well, but he'd disappeared with their teacher advisor Takeda Ittetsu-sensei and Nekoma VBC's coaches after dinner. Along with Touou Academy's coach, Harasawa Katsunori and Kaijou High's Coach Takeuchi Genta (who looked as if it was the last day of his life when Harasawa dragged him along), they were probably going to a bar where they would get wasted and wake up with no recollection of the previous night's events.
"Miracles really are miracles, huh?" Suga remarked, the two-on-twos earlier on still playing in his head.
"So far we've seen a guy with phenomenal speed, can shoot from anywhere and in any posture, a guy who can copy his teammates' moves flawlessly, a guy who can make abnormally high shots with perfect accuracy, and a guy whose block is impenetrable..." Daichi ticked them off his fingers. "Damn. They seem to have physical stats even better than our very own ace. I mean, Asahi is huge, but he's slower because of that. Those people are even taller than him, and they look like they can all keep up with these two over here," Daichi analyzed, poking Hinata and Kageyama in their backs.
"And they're all first-years," Suga added, suddenly realizing he hadn't told his captain the fact that the Miracles were the same age as their club's freshmen.
Daichi froze in shock. "Geh?! Really? We have to get them to play for us, then! We could really use people like them. The girl's the manager... that leaves the redheaded guy, then. He's sat today's practice out and was giving out orders. He's probably the captain."
"He's the tiniest though," Kageyama pondered aloud. The third years, both aware of the fact that he towered over them, opened their mouths to reprimand him. "Just so you know, Kageyama, height doesn't define everything," Hinata spoke through gritted teeth.
Daichi and Suga shot grateful and relieved looks at the back of Hinata's head. He finally said something that made sense! He's taken the words straight outta my mouth too!
(Well, about time. He'd been all 'gwah' and 'boom' and whatnot ever since the three-pointer from Midorima kicked practice off.)
"Gather around, everyone!" Back on the court, Momoi waved the rest of the Miracles over. "Oh, and can the Karasuno guys get down here for a sec, too?"
Hinata, suddenly having an idea that might impress Momoi, pressed his hands on the railing and vaulted over it, landing unsteadily with a squat on the floor below. Momoi scurried over as he wobbled, extending his arms to keep his balance. "Are you okay?" the manager asked (despite being shocked by the stunt executed without warning), holding out her hand to help the orange-haired boy up.
"Yeah, I mean, it was a piece of cake! There isn't much height difference between these two floors, heh..." Hinata took Momoi's hand and straightened up.
"Oi, you could've gotten hurt! What were you thinking, dumbass?!" Daichi roared.
"Wow, you sounded just like Kageyama, Daichi!!" Suga exclaimed, not bothering to berate Hinata when Daichi's dad mode was on. "That's awesome!"
"With all due respect, Captain, it isn't like you don't know that Hinata never thinks before doing anything," Kageyama said, oblivious to the murderous stare Hinata was sending him.
Momoi sweatdropped. "Um... if you could please..."
"Sorry! We'll be right down!"
"Good job today, everyone," Akashi complimented.
"If you don't mind me asking, Akashi... why are we starting with two-on-twos instead of doing an orthodox training regimen?" Midorima queried.
"I trust that you still remember our junior high days? You always argued with Murasakibara, while Aomine was constantly picking fights with Kise. Perhaps your personalities are made to clash, but I can draw a conclusion that your coordination on the court has improved quite a bit. Honestly, I thought it would be better if we worked on the two most problematic duos first before rotating. We'll continue pitting you against each other during tomorrow's practice session. If we're lucky, you may be able to resolve your conflicts and even create a new combination play style. As for the plays that require the entire team to work together, we'll work on that after we've all grown comfortable with playing with each other again."
"I see."
Akashi turned towards their coach for tonight -- Shuutoku's Nakatani Masaaki. "Do you have anything you wish to add, Coach?"
"As Akashi has mentioned, we'll continue with the Aomine and Kise versus Midorima and Murasakibara games tomorrow night. For Aomine and Kise, if your coordination is ideal, we can make that surekill double team happen. It would be effective against Kagami from Seirin. As for Akashi and Momoi..." He swiveled towards the volleyball players. "Have you made a decision?"
"These two will be playing for you," Suga replied. The coach nodded. "Good. Akashi and Momoi will coach you."
"All right. I believe this calls for a more in-depth introduction. I'm Akashi Seijuurou, the captain of this team. I play the position of point guard, making me your main tutor, Kageyama-kun."
Kageyama flexed his arms. "That's good then. That's the position I know more than the others."
"You've played basketball?" Hinata gaped, all the while thinking 'if the emperor is teaching him... then do I get Momoi-san?' and started fanboying internally.
"Don't look so surprised. Point guards and setters have similar jobs. They're both the control towers of their teams."
"What makes Akashicchi our brilliant point guard is his perfect passes! With them, it's guaranteed that you won't miss your shot!" Kise gushed. "He can even predict the future with his Emperor Eye! It's 100% accurate, too!"
"Whoaaaaa! That's even cooler than Shiratorizawa's Guess Monster then! You don't even have to guess, the future you see is like, the actual future!" Hinata gasped in awe, envisioning Shiratorizawa's guess blocker, Tendou Satori's face when Akashi finally gives him a taste of his own medicine, only stronger, in their finale match.
"That depends. When I use the Emperor Eye, I might not be that much of a team player anymore."
"And that's when the absolute emperor pulls out the big guns," Aomine finger-gunned Akashi.
"Anyway, nice to meet you... uh, again! I'm Kise Ryouta, the ace small forward of Kaijou High basketball club. Some magazines call me 'the ever-evolving all-rounder' and 'the pretty boy copycat'. I also work part time as a model, so don't be surprised if I show up with bags of gifts from my dedicated fangirls!" he winked, before adding, "because I have to bring them here if I don't want to be late for practice. Kasamatsu-senpai will yell at me because I have to 'take responsibility for my own actions' if I call him and ask if he could take the presents back to our room. And then he'll kick me later on. His kicks fucking hurt." He rubbed his spine absentmindedly.
"He reminds me of someone else," Kageyama murmured.
"Pretty boy with fangirls who seems to be proud of that fact and corporal punishment? First there's a Stingyshima, now we have a Grand King," Hinata agreed.
"Basically, I started playing basketball during my second year of junior high because I admired Aominecchi's dominating play style and wanted to surpass it. My ability to recreate others' moves, teammates and opponents alike, on the spot as long as it isn't out of my physical range is what got me this far. That makes me a fast learner, and I have quite the collection of moves stored in here." He tapped the side of his head. "My special ability is the Perfect Copy, which enables me to copy these guys' signature moves and even combine them."
Daichi's eyes widened. "Wouldn't facing off against you be like going up against all five of you at once?!"
"Maybe. I'm thinking of a way to make use of three of their moves at once, but there's no luck so far."
"Kise-chin, remember that every time you use my blocks or Thor's Hammer you've got to pay me back with a box of maiubo. The mega one."
"Ehhhhh?! I thought we agreed that I won't owe you guys anything because it's for the sake of victory!"
"It only applies to the game against Seirin, idiot. We don't care about your team winning or not outside of this," Midorima scoffed. "By the way, make it canned red bean soup for me. The chilled kind."
"You guys are so mean~!" Kise whined.
"Well, it's the copyright or some shit," Aomine shrugged. "Eh. I'm Aomine Daiki, the ace power forward of this team and the Touou Academy team. I'm fast, I can shoot from any position and anywhere, I know streetball, I can activate the Zone with my own will, stuff like that. The end. Can we go now, Satsuki?"
"Can I go too? This is already annoying enough," Murasakibara groaned. "Murasakibara Atsushi, center, I'm from Yosen, I block and catch rebounds for the most part, I have this dunk called the Thor's Hammer, that's all. Bye."
"Uh, wait! How tall are you?" Suga asked.
"Two hundred and eight centimeters? That's about it." Murasakibara turned to leave.
"Two- two hundred and eight?!" Hinata screeched.
"He's our center, what did you expect?" Midorima huffed a sigh. "I guess I must introduce myself as well. I'm Midorima Shintarou. I can shoot high projectile three-pointers within a full court range. My shots will never miss when I have my lucky item. Very few people have managed to stop my threes. Ah, before we begin working together --" He whirled to face the Karasuno first-years. "What are your star signs? If you don't know them, tell me when your birthdays are."
"June 21."
"December 22."
"The summer solstice and the winter solstice... on the cusp, huh... do you know what time it was when you were born?" Midorima pressed on.
"I never bothered to ask my mother," Hinata replied.
"Same here."
Midorima gave an exasperated grunt and backed away. "Then there's no way to be sure what your star signs are... my guesses would be Gemini and Sagittarius for you two respectively... but still, don't come near me until you know your exact birth time."
"Is he... okay?" Hinata mouthed at Kise.
"Midorimacchi is a firm believer of the Oha Asa horoscope... it's why he always has a lucky item with him. The horoscope also predicts what star signs he won't be compatible with for the day, and he makes sure to stay as far away from people of those particular signs as possible so that they won't bring him bad luck. Since your star signs aren't clear, he's worried that he won't know when to avoid you two. Even though we all think it's a whole load of bullshit," Kise added the last part in a whisper.
"Whaaaaaat? You guys still aren't done?"
Midorima looked up to see his partner slash 'shadow', Takao Kazunari, leaning casually against the doorframe. "Takao? What are you doing here?"
"Why, Miyaji-san sent me, of course. He wanted to make sure you weren't doing any additional practice on your own after the Meet of the Miracles wraps up. So I'm here to deliver you back to our room, Shin-chan."
Kageyama's dark blue eyes suddenly lit up in recognition. "Kazu?"
Takao laughed. "Haha, took you long enough to notice me! Is it the because of the new hairstyle? Anyway, I haven't heard you call me that in ages, Tobi-chaaaaan~" He strode towards the setter, wrapped his arms around the latter's neck --
-- and kissed him.
Hinata's mouth sprang open in shock. Midorima's eyes bulged slightly as he almost lost his grip on his lucky item, which he'd taken out earlier on.
Takao peeled his lips off Kageyama's with a flourish, looking rather surprised at Midorima's indescribable expression. "What's wrong, Shin-chan?"
"What exactly is going on here?" Midorima glared daggers at Kageyama, who stared right back at him.
"Aww, is Shin-chan jealous?" Takao teased.
"Of course not. Why would I be?"
"Kageyama... y-you... you have a... a boyfriend?!" Hinata gawked at them.
Kageyama snaked his arms around Takao's waist and smirked at his partner. "What do you think?"
Hinata blinked, still in shock.
"Damn, you're even taller than me now!" Takao commented, tilting his head back to look at Kageyama flirtatiously before glancing at Midorima and collapsing into a fit of giggles. "Oh God, Shin-chan, stop giving me that look! This is so OOC, someone please censor it -- holy shit, can I unsee this, I can't do this anymore -- you actually thought we were dating? This is so funny, I can't --"
"What was with the kiss just now then?" Midorima barked, trying to hide the fact that he was flustered as hell.
"You know me; it's just my way of greeting a relative I haven't seen in two years."
"RELATIVE?" almost everyone shouted.
Takao slung an arm across Kageyama's shoulders. "Isn't it obvious? Come on, guys, the hair, the eyes? We practically play the same position." Without waiting for a response, he eyed Kageyama with a scolding smile. "You've been slacking off fam gatherings to go and practice tosses, haven't you?"
"Guilty as charged," Kageyama raised his hands in surrender.
"No face-to-face chats, no video calls, no normal calls, there have only been texts since then. What do you have to say for yourself, Kageyama-kun?"
"Whoa, hold up! I'm sorry about interrupting your happy family reunion, but can someone explain what's going on here?!" Hinata piped up.
"Is that the 'perfect partner' you've told me so much about? Nice choice, he looks cute --"
"Kazu."
Takao blinked. "Whoa, protective boyfriend mode, I get it. Chill."
"Hinata and I are not --"
Not letting him finish, the hawk-eyed boy spun to their audience. "Sooooooo... for the peeps who don't know me, I'm Takao Kazunari, a regular on Shuutoku High's basketball team. As for the Karasuno guys, thanks for taking care of my baby cousin~ he can be a handful sometimes! Especially Hinata-kun -- it must be hard to put up with Tobi-chan, huh?" Hinata nodded vigorously.
"You don't get to call me your 'baby cousin' when you're barely a month older than me," Kageyama pointed out.
"Old habits die hard, y'know~ I've been calling you that since I could talk!"
"They might look similar, but their personalities are totally another story," Suga whispered to Daichi.
"If only Kageyama was more like him," Daichi sighed.
"Oh, wait -- so Megane-kun is the partner you said you invented that basketball quick with?" Kageyama pointed at Midorima.
"Not 'basketball quick', that name is so awkward," Takao winced. "It's called the 'sky direct three-pointer', mind you."
"'Basketball quick'?" That puzzled the other volleyball players.
"I said it's called the sky direct three-pointer!" Takao groaned exasperatedly.
Akashi stepped forward. "Recreating that shot is precisely the purpose of recruiting Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun. They're known for their infamous quick, after all. I would do it with Midorima myself, but I believe with a coach like that on their team, Seirin would probably expect us to use it. To put it quite frankly, I don't think we would lose, but surprising them will give us an even bigger advantage." The emperor faced Takao. "You're here anyway, Takao-kun. Would you mind demonstrating that shot with Midorima?"
"Okay, I guess. Should be easy enough for you then, Tobi-chan. Can you and Hinata-kun mark us? So that you can observe us closely? You just need to stand there, actually." Takao directed them to different positions on the court. He pulled off a fake to the left to throw Kageyama off, passing on the taller male's right. Before Hinata, Midorima jumped, already in his shooting form. The orange-haired blocker leapt as well, quickly catching up to the shooting guard. Alas, Midorima had height as his advantage. Takao sent a 'blind pass' (when in reality he was watching Midorima with his Hawk Eye) whirling into Midorima's left hand, and the latter let go of it without hesitation. The ball drew a perfect arc before landing swiftly through the net.
"Jumping before the ball is in his hands, the point guard sending it right into his hands," Kageyama noted. "Making use of that perfect passing accuracy and full court vision of yours... nice."
"I originally intended for this to be our thing, Shin-chan, but I guess I'll make an exception for my precious baby cousin."
"It's a shame we can't recruit other basketball players. With your Hawk Eye, Kuroko's misdirection won't be a problem," Akashi lamented.
"Haha, your court vision might not be as wide as mine, but it's still good enough. I'll be entrusting both Shin-chan and Tobi-chan to you then, Akashi~" Takao sang, patting Akashi's shoulder. "I'll tell Miyaji-san this gathering isn't over yet, so don't worry about getting hit by a pineapple. Well, yet. I overheard him asking Kimura-san to tell his family to mail every leftover pineapple to him." He gave an involuntary shiver.
"It's fine, actually. We're done here. Get some proper rest, we'll continue tomorrow night."
Hinata darted out of the gym doors first. "I CALL DIBS ON THE WINDOW SIDE BED!!"
Suga made an attempt to follow him. "Wait --"
"What the -- no you don't, I sure as hell am not sleeping on the one right next to the toilet! You smell your own shit!" Kageyama growled, running after Hinata, the strong wind he kicked up almost knocking Suga off balance.
Suga's shoulders slumped as Daichi steadied him. "I give up."
Daichi massaged the back of Suga's neck. "There, there. A proper night of sleep is what you need. You can have the window side bed, yeah?"
"'Kay."
Oh right, I forgot to mention that they were all paired up and crammed into different rooms ;) (so far my plan of not putting yaoi in is NOT working at all welp /)
(but y'all know you want it huehue
v(｡･ω･｡) )