A/N: Too long a chapter, so I split the thing in two. Thank you all for your reviews! Again, to those asking for pairings I won't feature, sorry about that. Enjoy the read!

Candy Crash (Part 1)

At 6.30 am on the next day, Aomine was already up, dressed and feeling particularly grumpy. The night hadn't given him many hours of sleep, mainly because the image of a certain blonde one kissing some random strangers had kept popping up in his mind. It didn't matter how many times he repeated to himself that Kise was too infatuated with him to even consider giving up on him, Kuroko's words had managed to shake his foundations, even if just a bit. Heading for the breakfast room, he expected it to be empty but was soon proven wrong.

"Aominecchiiii, good morning!" Kise waved his hand at the Touou player as the latter stepped into room, mildly surprised.

Aomine dropped down on a chair next to Kise, yawning loudly.

"I didn't expect to see anyone." he said.

"It was too hot I couldn't sleep much, so I figured I might as well get up. Everyone else is still sleeping, though." Kise explained as he pushed a bowl of rice with fish and pickled vegetables to Aomine. "It's just you and me this morning!" he added happily.

"Hm, thanks." Aomine replied as he grabbed a pair of chopsticks. Of course Kise had picked only the vegetables which Aomine liked.

"How did it go with Kurokocchi?" Kise asked, and from the tone of it, the Touou player could easily guess that the question had been on the blonde's tongue for a while.

"Not bad. He doesn't snore so I could sleep pretty well." he answered. It was at that moment that a horrifying thought crossed his mind, but he called forth all his willpower to ask as nonchalantly as he could: "You didn't spy on us, this time?"

"Ah well... Let's say yesterday we got caught by Akashicchi, so I don't really want to risk it again. So, what did you talk about?"

"Curiosity kills the cat." Aomine replied, munching on the fish.

"Come on, tell me!"

"Nothing in particular. I fell asleep immediately." he lied, earning a pout from Kise.

"You're no fun at all."

Aomine shrugged as he shoved more food in his mouth. After swallowing everything, he went on:

"Say, Kise."

"Yes?"

"After the camp, what are you gonna do during summer?"

"During summer? Let's see... I think I have a few photo shoots then I'll leave to Okinawa with my parents for a week. How about you?"

"I'll stay in Tokyo."

"Isn't it going to be boring?"

"Not if you come play basketball with me."

Kise turned to Aomine, then blinked twice, and grinned. "I'll come!"

"One more thing."

"Yes?"

Aomine turned to him and for a second, Kise believed that the dark-haired teen was going to kill him. "W-What is it?" he stuttered, confused as for why Aomine's eyes would suddenly throw daggers at him like that.

"Who's the bastard who kissed you?"

There was no immediate answer as it required a few seconds for Kise to register the question. "Huh?" was the only thing he managed to let out as he tilted his head on the side, staring dumbly at Aomine who took on a pissed look.

"Tetsu told me there's someone who kissed you! So who is it?" he demanded. "I'll fucking kill that bastard!"

"Whaaat?! Why would Kurokocchi say such a thing?"

"Just answer the damn question!" Aomine ordered threateningly, bringing his face closer to Kise's.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" Kise protested, flustered. "I've never kissed anyone!"

It was Aomine's turn to look surprised. "What?"

"I swear! I've never done that before!" Kise shook his head frantically. "I know it sounds surprising with me being a model and all but I swear I've never ever–"

"But Tetsu said–"

"I don't know why Kurokocchi said that, but that's not true! You're the only person I want to kiss so that'd make you the bastard but–" Kise stopped dead, covering his mouth with one hand and turning pale at the words he'd accidentally let out. "I-I mean... it was a joke of course, hahaha..." he added hurriedly, but Aomine's next reaction completely caught him by surprise.

His brain was working very slowly today, probably because it was still early. His eyes remained wide open for several long seconds while his synapses were desperately trying to interpret what Aomine was doing to him. His body seemed to have understood it already, given how his heart had started racing uncontrollably and his arms had already moved up to lace themselves around Aomine's neck. And he soon thanked the gods that the room was empty as he slowly closed his eyes to savour his first kiss with the Touou bastard.

With his Touou bastard.

At 7.30, all the seats of the breakfast room were filled, and though three intensive and exhausting days had already passed, no tiredness seemed to show on the high schoolers' faces. On the contrary, most of them were wolfing down an impressive amount of food to build up their supplies of energy for the day. In the Shuutoku corner, Midorima was as usual listening to Oha Asa's daily horoscope.

"Today's lucky sign is... Scorpio!" the feminine radio voice announced happily, making Takao grin.

"Oho! So today is supposed to be a good day for me then!" the point guard noted. He turned to Miyaji. "You're a Scorpio too, right?"

The latter shrugged. "I don't really care about stuff like that."

Next to them, the Seirin players were also listening.

"Hey, I'm a Scorpio too." Izuki joined in. "Maybe I'll be able to catch Kuroko today."

"Dream on." Takao replied with a smirk. "We've got twenty kilometres to run today, no way I'm going to let you find him first. Who else is a Scorpio here?"

"I am." Furihata answered timidly.

"That's some competition we have today." Kimura commented.

"What's today's lucky item for us?" Takao inquired.

"You'd have heard it if you weren't so busy talking." Midorima replied.

"Oh come on Shin-chan, tell us already!" the Shuutoku point guard clung on to his ace's arm, much to the latter's annoyance. "Wait, no. Just tell me after breakfast, OK?"

"Hey that's not fair!" Izuki protested.

"The lucky item is a peach-flavoured candy." Midorima said, earning a pout from Takao.

"Shin-chan, that wasn't very nice of you. As punishment, I won't give you your morning kiss tomorrow."

The sentence triggered various reactions around the table: a few starts, some chokes, stares and an absolutely offended – though in Takao's opinion, still adorable – expression on Midorima's face. His mouth was opened as if to say something, but nothing would come out, and Takao didn't know whether it was embarrassment or anger that prevented his ace from getting any word out.

"T-Takao!" Midorima finally managed to stutter, sounding as outraged as he could be.

"What is it, Shin-chan?" the point guard grinned innocently.

"Seriously, you two, stop acting like a married couple or something!" Ootsubo reprimanded them.

"So it was a joke, wasn't it?" Furihata said, relieved.

"Hm? A joke? Whatever makes you believe that?" Takao cocked an eyebrow before letting outan 'ouch!' as Ootsubo whacked him on the head.

"I feel like watching Kasamatsu and Kise." Izuki laughed. "Midorima, you must have it quite hard with Takao."

"...I've known worse." the Shuutoku ace answered curtly, though the death glare he gave Takao was an ominous sign.

"Aaaaw, is it your way of saying you actually adore me?" Takao completely ignored the flames coming from Midorima's eyes, eliciting another round of chuckles and offended looks.

"Seriously, stop that." Ootsubo said, exasperated. "At least not in front of the other schools. They're going to get weird ideas about you."

"Anyway! Back to the main topic." Izuki interrupted the conversation, much to Midorima's relief. "We need peach-flavoured candies."

"Well, a candy shouldn't be very hard to find." Takao looked around him. "I don't usually eat candies but I'm sure someone here must have some. Oh."

The same thought apparently crossed everyone's mind as half a dozen pairs of eyes shifted to the Yosen corner, and more particularly to a certain purple-haired giant who was lifelessly munching on a grilled fish, unaware of the sudden increase of attention to his personage.

"May I recommend you to reconsider this option?" a soft voice intervened. All faces turned to where it came from, namely from Kuroko.

"What do you mean?" Koganei jumped in.

"I am quite certain that Murasakibara-kun will never hand over even one candy, let alone four." Kuroko explained.

"We can steal them." Takao suggested.

"Hmph, if you have a death wish, then feel free to try." Midorima said dryly.

"Is he that terrifying?" Miyaji frowned. "I mean, sure he's tall and big and all, but seriously, he's got so many sweets I'm having cavities just watching him eat. Surely he can part with some."

"When we were still in middle school, Aomine-kun once tried to steal some crisps from Murasakibara-kun." Kuroko spoke again before making a dramatic pause.

"And?" Izuki urged on.

"We were ready to hold funerals for Aomine-kun."

"You're kidding!" Furihata exclaimed.

"Yes, I am." Kuroko nodded. "In fact, Akashi-kun intervened in time right before Murasakibara-kun was about to crush Aomine-kun's head."

"Shin-chan, is that true?" Takao asked to Midorima who nodded.

"I would not have depicted it like that, but it's globally the idea, yes."

"Scary..." Izuki sighed. "But we can at least try to ask him? He wouldn't dare do anything violent here, especially with the coaches around and all."

"Yeah, let's go ask him." Takao nodded as he stood up, imitated by Takao and – though a bit hesitantly – Furihata. Miyaji chose not to care.

As the small group left, Midorima turned off the radio – in a mild mood as Cancers ranked eighth today.

"Perhaps we should have insisted that it isn't a good idea." he addressed Kuroko.

"Akashi-kun is there, so I don't think there should be a problem. Besides, it should be amusing to watch." the blue-haired teen added coolly.

"You're actually a devil." Miyaji commented.

"Thank you, Miyaji-senpai." Kuroko nodded.

"That wasn't a compliment!"

"Well, let's see how it goes over there." Kimura said.

There wasn't any surprise at the beginning. From the look of it, the three Scorpios had asked Murasakibara for one of his precious candies, first resulting in the Yosen ace to stare at them as if they were completely insane. It was when he realized that they were perfectly sane that Murasakibara's eyes suddenly narrowed in suspicion, murderous flames starting to dance in them.

"It's coming." Midorima said.

Contrary to Kuroko's predictions, it wasn't Akashi who kept Murasakibara in check, but Himuro. And he did it surprisingly easily, Kuroko noted mentally. A mere pat on the arm and a smile from the Yosen shooting guard had been enough to cool his ace down.

"I expected a bit more of action." Koganei said, visibly disappointed. "Though that Himuro guy is quite impressive. He almost looks too cool."

"He's always been like that." Kagami joined in as he heard Himuro's name. "In the US he was always the coolest-looking guy. He still is, I guess."

"He must be damn popular with girls." Kimura observed.

"Yeah, he totally is." Kagami laughed. "Back in the US, most of the girls who came to our matches only did so for Tatsuya."

"Aren't you jealous?"

"Huh? About the girls, you mean? To be honest, not really. I never really cared about that." Kagami answered as he shoved a generous portion of rice and egg in his mouth. "I was more jealous of his basketball skills, actually. Still am."

"But you're stronger than him, now."

"I don't know, I'm pretty sure one-on-ones with him would give me a damn hard time." Out of reflex, Kagami's hand reached for the ring that hung around his neck. "But that's what's fun in basketball! Right, Kuroko?" he grinned at the shorter player who nodded with a smile.

"Ah, the heroes are coming back!" Koganei pointed at Izuki, Furihata and Takao. The latter let out a loud sigh as he dropped back on his chair.

"I take it your attempt was an utter failure." Midorima said posedly.

"No need to put it so harshly, Shin-chan. But yeah, it's as you said."

"That's incredible. The guy must have kilos of sweets in his bag and he doesn't even want to part with three." It was Izuki's turn to sigh.

"And here I thought Midorima was the only one to believe in this horoscope crap." Miyaji snickered, earning a glare from the Shuutoku ace.

"Well, I've never believed in it, but it could have been fun to try." Izuki shrugged. "But man, I thought for a second that Murasakibara was going to kill us or something."

"Yeah, I don't know how that Himuro guy managed to tame him like that." Takao pondered.

"Maybe he gives him candies?" Furihata suggested.

"That's possible. Anyway, we should hurry up and finish our breakfast. Training starts in half an hour."

The first announcement of the day – and the one everyone was waiting impatiently for – was the teams' formations and the matches. The first match triggered obvious interest from both the coaches and the players, and bets were already being made.

"This is going to be quite a match, I believe." Harasawa commented as the ten first players stepped onto the court.

"What's your forecast on the results?" Masako asked. The Touou coach seemed to ponder for a moment before shaking his head.

"A few months ago, I wouldn't have questioned Aomine's victory, but given who he is facing now... Momoi, your opinion?"

The pink-haired girl tapped her notebook with the tip of her pencil, mentally analyzing the situation in front of her.

"Individually speaking, Kagami's stats are slightly lower than Dai-chan's." she finally said. "But he has already shown us that he can become much stronger during a match. At this point, even I can't predict anything."

"But you certainly did come up with a nice combination for this first match." Riko noted, watching as Kasamatsu was explaining his strategies to his team, namely Aomine, Mibuchi, Miyaji and Kiyoshi. Needless to say, Aomine was much more focused on how to crush Kagami than on Kasamatsu's speech.

On the other side of the court, it was Imayoshi who was detailing his devilish schemes to destroy the other team to Kagami, Murasakibara, Hayama and Nakamura.

"So, one Generation of Miracles and two Uncrowned Kings on one side, and one Generation of Miracles, one Uncrowned King and Kagami on the other side." Harasawa counted.

"Seirin's number 10 could easily be called a Generation of Miracles." Takeuchi noted.

"That's true. He could probably have been one, had he gone to Teiko." Momoi nodded. "It would have been very beneficial for Dai-chan too, having another power forward to rival with."

"It doesn't matter what title you give the players." Riko said. "What matters is their talent. Now let's see them demonstrate it."

The match was short – two quarters instead of four – but it was as intense as it was short. Aomine and Kagami entered the Zone right off the bat, setting the pace of the match to their own. This time however, they couldn't afford ignoring the other players, due to the presence of Mibuchi, Kiyoshi, Murasakibara and Hayama. The first basket went to Kagami, after he managed to successfully block Aomine's dunk. Both power forwards glared at each other before taking their positions, eyes leaving trails of blue and red.

"It's hardly been ten seconds of game and there's already a damn pressure." Wakamatsu pointed out, eyes not leaving the court.

"Those two are real monsters." Susa muttered. "I'm almost glad one of them is in our team."

"They aren't the only monsters on the court." Ootsubo said, turning his attention to Murasakibara who was standing under the basket.

"I'm surprised he didn't try to block Aomine." Takao commented.

"That's because he knew Taiga would do the job." Himuro answered, earning several cocked eyebrows from the other players.

"You mean that Murasakibara actually trusts Kagami even though they've never played together?" the Shuutoku centre asked, but Himuro shook his head with a faint chuckle while the other Yosen players snorted at the question.

"He's just damn lazy." They all answered in unison, making the other high schoolers sweatdrop.

"It's not even an official match, so knowing Atsushi, he will only provide the minimum required effort to win."

"And to avoid being hit by the coach." Fukui added.

"That's a rather… peculiar way to train." Takao observed.

"Well, given who he's facing, I'm pretty sure Atsushi will get serious very soon." Himuro said.

"Yeah, it's a damn good team they're facing." Susa nodded.

"Yes, but I meant Kiyoshi more than the whole team, actually. Atsushi still has a grudge against him, especially after the Winter Cup. Even now, when I mention Seirin, he starts getting murderous intents towards Kiyoshi."

"He's even more childish than I believed." Wakamatsu said.

"Aren't we all?" Himuro smiled. "But I admit Atsushi is a level above."

Takao turned to Midorima: "Was he like that in middle school too?"

"Naturally. It was quite annoying. That, and his habit of eating whenever he could, even during practice."

"Poor Shin-chan, it must have been hard on you, having to play with such a lazy guy." Takao teased Midorima, leaning towards him and ruffling his hair. The green-haired teen jumped slightly, but merely clicked his tongue of annoyance instead of brushing the hand away. His cheeks were slightly pink, Takao noticed with amusement. He really looked forward to having some time alone with his ace, to tease him more, and maybe a few other things too.

The match went on, and true to Himuro's prediction, it didn't take long before Murasakibara switched to offence and charged straight at Kiyoshi.

"You're unusually hot-headed today." the Seirin centre noted with a smile as he prepared to block Murasakibara.

"I'll crush you here and now." The latter threatened with his naturally lazy voice.

"Let's have some fun, then!" Kiyoshi grinned.

Murasakibara flared up at the last sentence and dribbled past Kiyoshi at an unsuspected speed for his imposing stature. In less than half a second, he was in the air and ready to dunk the ball. However, it wasn't only Kiyoshi he found on his way, but also Aomine. What happened next lasted only a few seconds and it required trained eyes to clearly see the action.

The ball was blocked by Aomine before it could be slammed through the hoop, and caught by Kiyoshi's Vice Claw before being passed to Kasamatsu. At least, that was what everyone believed before realizing that Kagami had stolen the ball from the Kaijou captain and was already heading back to the basket.

"As if I'd let you!" Aomine shouted as he rushed to Kagami. The latter feinted once, then twice and three times, but it wasn't enough to fool Aomine who grabbed the ball and rushed to the other side of the court, where Murasakibara was already waiting for him.

"Hayama! Nakamura!" Imayoshi called his teammates who quickly stood into a three-man defence cell against Aomine.

"Tch, you should know better, captain." Aomine smirked, jumping backwards and throwing the ball in such a carefree manner it was almost illegal.

It would have gone in if it weren't for the wall that was Murasakibara. However, something unexpected happened: Miyaji had managed to sneak behind the Yosen giant and stole the ball before passing to Mibuchi who finally scored a three, earning a shout of victory from his team.

"Wow! That was totally amazing!" Moriyama whistled.

"As expected from a match with so many Generation of Miracles and Uncrowned Kings! That was a damn show!" Hayakawa roared with clear excitement.

"Hah! Good job, Mibuchi!" Nebuya nodded with satisfaction.

"Aominecchi looked so cool there! And Kagamicchi too, and Murasakibaracchi, but Aominecchi was the best!" Kise exclaimed with sparkles in his eyes.

"You sound like one of your own fangirls, Kise. Creepy." Moriyama said.

"But but but, it's Aominecchi! Look at him feint! And look at him dunk! And look at him–"

"I think everyone here got the idea, Ryouta." Akashi suddenly spoke, and though his voice was composed as usual, it made Kise freeze on the spot.

"Ah… Sorry, Akashicchi, I got a bit carried away." he apologized. Akashi accepted the apology with a single nod.

"I think Kagami-kun looks better, in fact." came a voice from nowhere, making everyone jump.

"Kurokocchi! You were there!" Kise turned his head to the left, where all the Seirin players were.

"I was there all the time." the Phantom Player answered almost mechanically.

"What do you mean, Kagamicchi looks better? Obviously Aominecchi's much cooler."

"Kagami-kun scored first, and Aomine-kun's last shot was blocked."

"Still, Aominecchi's formless shots are much more awesome!"

"Will you stop it, the two of you?" Hyuuga snapped dryly. "They both look great so focus on the match already." When both Kise's and Kuroko's eyes turned to stare at him eerily, he frowned: "What?"

"You just said you think Aominecchi and Kagamicchi look great." Kise repeated coldly.

"Would you happen to have some sort of interest in them, Hyuuga-senpain?" Kuroko asked calmly, but there was something in his tone that was particularly frightening.

"That was just to make you shut your traps! I really don't care how they look." Hyuuga retorted, more and more irritated.

"Seriously guys, can you just shut up and watch the match?" Fukui intervened. "You can argue later if you want."

That, added with the looks of warning they received from the coaches – and Akashi's overwhelming presence, was enough to prompt them to silence.

Izuki leant towards Kuroko and whispered: "That was unexpected from you."

"What is, Izuki-kun?"

"Well, you suddenly blurting out that Kagami looks better and all."

"I was only stating the truth."

"That's still unexpected from you. I figured you'd be more inclined to defend Aomine, with him being your first Light and all."

"But Kagami-kun is my current Light. He matters more."

"That almost sounded cute."

"Woah look there! Murasakibara has entered the Zone too!" Hayakawa pointed at the Yosen ace who was surrounded by the same stifling aura as Aomine and Kagami, and his eyes were now blazing purple.

"Damn, I hope those three won't destroy the court or something." Takao said, looking impressed. "I'm almost glad I'm not playing right now."

"It's already something to have both Kagami and Aomine in the Zone at the same time, but now with Murasakibara, it's going to be a damn show." Koganei commented, hardly concealing his obvious excitement for the match.

"I kind of pity the others, though. They almost feel like spectators themselves." Fukui pointed out, eliciting a few nods of approval around him.

"Well, that was to be expected with such a match-up." Takao said. "Though I wouldn't underestimate the Uncrowned Kings either. Especially your Iron Heart." he added, turning to the Seirin players.

"Don't call him that, he hates it." Hyuuga muttered as his eyes landed on Kiyoshi.

"He seems to have fun, as always." Susa noted. "I don't know how he does that with those monsters around."

"We've known worse." Hyuuga merely replied, suddenly remembering a painful encounter with Teiko.

"Mibuchi and Hayama look like they're enjoying themselves too, actually." Moriyama said. "Ooh, nice pass, captain!" he exclaimed as Kasamatsu had just passed to Aomine who scored immediately after.

"Yes! That's Aominecchi for you!" Kise exclaimed. "Aominecchiiiii! Good job!" he waved at the Touou player who hardly deigned glance at him before focusing back on the match. That made Kise pull an incredibly long face, and he looked like he was about to cry.

"You're lucky the captain is playing, otherwise he'd have hit you for yelling like that." Moriyama said.

"It's quite impressive, though. Aomine managed to score despite having Murasakibara and Kagami against him." Liu observed.

"Is it me or are those two fighting?" Izuki cocked an eyebrow.

On the court, Kagami and Murasakibara were indeed arguing about something, most likely due to the latest failure at blocking Aomine. Instead of stopping them, Imayoshi and Hayama seemed to find the scene particularly funny, while Nakamura merely sighed, shaking his head. Even Masako – who was the referee for this match – looked quite cautious while trying to cool them down. You never knew what two boys in the Zone and who were almost twice your height could do, after all.

"You got in the way." Murasakibara said threateningly.

"No, you did." Kagami countered. "It's my job to stop Aomine."

"It's my job to defend the basket."

"He dunked right under your nose!"

"Because you were in the way!"

"I wasn't!"

"You were!"

They glared at each other, eyes sending daggers and cannonballs, and it was all the more frightening as they were still in the Zone. The pressure on the court increased tenfold, and some could have sworn the ground was shaking as the two aces were challenging each other.

On the benches, Himuro was watching the scene with obvious amusement – and he was probably the only one. Okamura frowned.

"Even the coach seems to be having some troubles with those two."

"I don't blame her." Himuro smiled.

"Maybe it'd be nice to ask Akashi to do something?" Fukui whispered to Nebuya, but the latter shrugged.

"He's not a babysitter."

"How did you manage to get Murasakibara to listen to you?" Izuki asked Himuro.

"I'm often asked that, and to be honest, I really don't know. My natural charm, maybe?" Himuro joked.

"Then perhaps you could try using it now before those two kill each other." Okamura sneered, not expecting Himuro to actually take it seriously.

"I suppose I could try." He stood up. "Taiga! Atsushi!" he called out. "Good luck on working together!" he said with a bright smile.

Both Kagami and Murasakibara turned their heads upon hearing their respective name, and like a magic spell, they put the argument on hold – albeit reluctantly.

"I'll make an exception for you, but that's only because Tatsuya wants it." Kagami grunted. "You'd better not get in my way again, though."

"I'd have crushed your head already if it weren't for Muro-chin." Murasakibara retorted back.

In the audience, the other high schoolers were staring in disbelief at Himuro, who didn't seem to realize that he had just performed some sort of miracle, that is to say taming two monsters with a mere – though dazzling – smile.

"What the hell was with that refreshing smile?" Hyuuga twitched.

"Yeah, way too refreshing." Fukui agreed.

"He could get both men and women at his feet with that kind of smile." Takao joked.

"I think you have some competition here, Kise." Moriyama patted his teammate's shoulder with sympathy. The latter pouted.

"What do you mean? I can be very refreshing too!"

"So that's how you do things, huh?" Izuki addressed Himuro with a hint of admiration. The Yosen shooting guard looked more and more confused.

"W-Well, Taiga and Atsushi aren't that hard to deal with. They'll listen to you if you just ask nicely." he defended himself, blushing slightly.

"Like how we nicely asked Murasakibara for a candy this morning?" Takao sneered.

"Or like how we nicely ask Kagami to get along with our dog?" Izuki added.

"That's a different matter. Taiga can't stand dogs and Atsushi is very protective of his snacks." Himuro explained. "But for anything else, you can ask them and they'll do it."

"You sound very close to them, calling them by their first names and all." Susa pointed out, which made Himuro chuckle.

"I suppose I do. Ah, the match resumed." he swiftly moved the focus from him to the court.

Even though it was a mere practice match, the atmosphere on the court and the benches was that of official NBA finals. As soon as a team scored, the other team would take the points back. There was hardly any break between every action, and it was a wonder how the players were still able to stand at some point. Whenever Kagami managed a dunk, Aomine would pay him back a second later. Whenever Kiyoshi managed to defend the basket, Murasakibara would make sure to slam the ball in next time. In the end, it was Imayoshi's team which won, by a tiny point scored at the last second.

"That was one hell of a match!" Riko clapped her hands.

"And I was able to collect some excellent data." Momoi nodded. "Aaah but Dai-chan doesn't look happy." she chuckled.

Indeed, it was with the sulkiest expression on his face that he snatched the towel offered by Kise, while swearing to beat the crap out of Kagami later.

"You did amazingly well, Aominecchi!" Kise attempted to cheer him up. "Here, have some water!"

"Like fuck I did." the Touou power forward snarled as he grabbed the bottle of water without even a thanks and gulped it down. Wiping his mouth, he frowned at the bottle: "Hey, that's not my bottle."

Kise shook his head with a grin. "It's mine!"

"Why the fuck did you give me yours?"

The question made Kise flush and look away, like the shyest of girls. "W-Well, you know!" he stuttered while concealing his embarrassment with a smile. It only made Aomine raise an eyebrow.

"No, I don't." he snapped, annoyed.

"I believe it is what they call an 'indirect kiss'." Kuroko suddenly popped out of nowhere. Naturally, the two other players jumped, but were far too used to that kind of situation to even say anything about it. Instead, Kise only sank himself in a deeper shade of crimson while Aomine stared alternatively at him and Kuroko, with a dumb look on his face. Then he clicked his tongue:

"Tch, are you stupid?" he grunted, flicking Kise's forehead. "Why the fuck would you want an indirect kiss when you can get a direct one?"

"A-Aominecchi!"

"You are very shameless, Aomine-kun. But please refrain from doing anything indecent here." Kuroko said, which made Aomine pop a vein.

"Tetsu, shut up or I'll seriously hit you."

"Please do not hit me. I need to be in shape for this afternoon's game. Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm part of the next match."

"Whatever." Aomine rolled his eyes with exasperation while Kise was chuckling silently.

A bit farther away, Himuro was patting Murasakibara's head.

"Congratulations on your victory, Atsushi." he said.

"It was nothing." the giant answered unemotionally; at least it was the impression he wanted to give off, but Himuro knew better than that.

"I'm glad to see you worked well with Taiga."

The name made Murasakibara twitch. "I don't work well with him. I just did so because you asked me to."

"Still, good job. And you got your revenge on Kiyoshi, didn't you?"

"Hmm." the Yosen centre gave a small nod before clenching his fists. "But he still looks ridiculously happy, even though he just lost. It pisses me off."

"Don't mind it, Atsushi." Himuro laughed. "Come on, let's go sit with the others."

"Ah, Muro-chin, wait."

"What is it?"

Murasakibara fumbled in his bag and produced a small candy from it. And to Himuro's utter astonishment, he handed it to him. It seemed so unreal that Himuro didn't react at first, until his teammate shoved it in his hand.

"For you." he said uselessly.

Himuro immediately put his hand on Murasakibara's forehead, panicked for a second. "Atsushi, are you feeling well? Do you have a heatstroke?"

"No. Why?"

"Well, because you just gave me a candy, and I didn't even ask for one."

But the purple-haired teen merely shrugged and walked to the benches where the rest of his team was. Himuro looked at the candy in the palm of his hand.

It was peach-flavoured.

By the time the hide-and-seek game started, a few light gray clouds had started covering the sky, but there was no sign of raining, and it would add a touch of coolness to the hot days.

"Kuroko, seriously, tell me where you're gonna hide today." Kagami said.

"That would be cheating, Kagami-kun." Kuroko replied politely. "Though I admit I would very appreciate it if you could find me."

"Why him?" Koganei pouted. "Contrary to us, Kagami actually likes running. Right, Mitobe?" he asked his neighbour who nodded.

Kuroko shook his head. "It isn't about running. I only meant that I wouldn't mind spending a night with Kagami-kun."

Koganei choked at those words while Mitobe looked mildly surprised, and Kagami... well Kagami had taken a step back in shock and his face was red as a tomato.

"D-Don't put it like that, idiot!" he managed to stutter. "That sounded weird, that totally sounded weird!"

"But it is the truth." Kuroko replied, impassive, which didn't help Kagami take his composure back.

"Geez, just get ready for the game anyway!" the Seirin power forward snapped, glaring at his other teammates who were hardly trying to stifle their laughs. "Shut the hell up! You know Kuroko's a weirdo anyway!" he snarled at them.

"Well then, the 'weirdo' will take his leave." Kuroko said, and from his neutral tone it was impossible to tell whether he was offended or not.

"Ah, good job, Kagami. Now you've pissed him."

"Huh? No, wait! I didn't mean that!" Kagami called after his Shadow, but the latter had already gone to Riko, who would soon give him the signal to go and hide. Kagami scratched his head with a sigh: "Guess I'll have to apologize later."

"I hope it's not gonna rain soon." Izuki raised his head, looking at the clouded sky. "I thought the weather forecast said it'd be sunny all week long."

"I won't say no to a bit of coolness." Kiyoshi said happily. "Especially after this morning's match."

"Murasakibara really got to you, huh?" Izuki patted his shoulder.

"I guess without you guys around, I can't really beat him." Kiyoshi laughed.

"Ah! The game's started!" Koganei interrupted them. The whistle was blown a first time, and all the players watched attentively as a baby-blue-haired figure sank into the forest.

"Let's see who's going to find him today." Riko said.

"I'm surprised Akashi hasn't found him yet." Takeuchi commented. "Since it was his idea, I thought he had some plans in mind. What do you think, Shirogane?"

The Rakuzan coach shook his head. "What goes through his head is beyond my understanding. I'm not even certain at this stage that he had any plan, which is... most surprising."

Three minutes passed, and Riko gave the signal for the high schoolers to begin the hunt.

"They seem more into it than the other days." Masako noticed.

"It's not as hot today, so it could be why. Or they just don't want to run twenty kilometres." Momoi answered before sighing loudly. "I wish I could take part to this and find my Tet-chan first, though. That's so unfair."

"Stop complaining every day, Momoi." Harasawa scolded her, which earned him another sigh from the girl.

Meanwhile, in the forest, the search was as active as ever. Except for a few people. Aomine yawned, hands stuffed in his pockets, looking not in the least in a hurry.

"Aren't you going to try and find Kurokocchi today?" Kise asked, one arm tightly wrapped around Aomine's.

"Too lazy." the latter shrugged. "But no one's forbidding you from searching for him."

"Too lazy? You'll have to run twenty kilometres today if you don't find him, you know."

"I'll skip mid-way or something."

"You can't do that!"

"Why, you'll tell on me?"

"No, but that's still cheating!"

"I don't care, I'm not a leg-addict like Kagami. And by the way, let go of my arm, it's too hot."

"Eeh? But it's cooler today." Kise retorted, gripping Aomine's arm even tighter. "Besides, now that we're going out, you'll have to get used to it."

"Tch, you were already damn clingy even before. That's annoying."

With a sullen face, the Kaijou ace reluctantly let go of Aomine's arm, head lowered and a frown of discontent creasing his forehead. Noticing it, Aomine rolled his eyes, grabbed the blonde teen's chin and covered his pouty lips with his own. When he pulled back, Kise's cheeks had warmed up considerably and his eyes refused to meet Aomine's.

"W-What's with you all of a sudden?" he stammered.

"Hah? Do I need a reason?"

"Well, n-no but..."

"Say, Kise. What do you wanna do now?" Aomine asked with obvious indifference to the blonde's troubled state.

"W-What do you mean?" Kise flushed even more.

"I'm asking you what you wanna do now. I said I'm not going after Tetsu because it's too much of a pain. But that doesn't mean you have to stick with me."

"Eeh? Of course I'm sticking with you! I mean, sure I want to catch Kurokocchi, b-but I'd rather stay with you after all." The last part of the sentence was but a vague mumble.

"Hm? What was that?" Aomine smirked. Teasing Kise had always been one of his favourite hobbies. "I didn't quite get the last part."

"I-I said, I'd rather stay with you after all, you stupid Aominecchi!" Kise repeated, flushed.

"Who are you calling 'stupid', dumbass!" Aomine snapped back before clicking his tongue. A quick glance showed him that the said dumbass was half-sulking again. "Anyway, if we're not going after Tetsu, we might as well find something to do to kill time."

"And what do you suggest?" Kise asked grumpily.

"Hmm, no idea." the power forward replied with a tone that suggested he had in fact quite a good idea.

The predatory smile he gave Kise as he suddenly pinned him against a tree and ran his tongue over his lips was proof enough.

Kuroko's misdirection was working well. He felt slightly disappointed though when the whole Seirin team passed him by without seeing him. Perhaps he blended naturally well with the large rock he was seated on? He watched Kagami's back getting farther and farther away from him and sighed mentally. Really, what an unreliable Light he had. Was he that useless when a match wasn't involved? Kuroko sighed again.

"Bakagami-kun." he murmured, more as a stated fact than a reproach.

"I know how you feel, Kuroko. My little brother can be such a handful, at times." a sympathizing voice rose behind him.

Looking down the rock, Kuroko saw Himuro smiling at him.

"It looks like we have a winner."

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Part 2 is coming... as soon as possible? XD