A/N: Roar. And finally the new chapter is up. Thanks to all those who still follow this story!
I'd like to say something regarding some reviews I got: I think the summary is clear enough when it says it's NOT a Kuroko harem. If you still want to understand otherwise, that's your problem. Also, for those complaining about there being pairings you don't like, I just want to say: I didn't put the pairings in the summary on purpose, so it's obvious there are risks the story contains pairings you don't like. Take the risk to read or not, again that's your problem. It's still quicker for you to click on the 'back' button than ranting about I'm being disrespectful about your tastes. And you're being disrespectful about my tastes as well.
Also, for those who're still reading despite there being pairings they don't like, I say thank you very much, I'm happy the story manages to keep you on :]
And a big thanks to salty, aka orange, for beta-ing the chapter.
That said, I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Let there be Light – Part 1
At 5 am, in the Seirin room, Kagami was fully awake. Soft snores could be heard along with slow and regular breathing, reflecting the well-deserved rest of the players after yet another day of hard work. Among the almost motionless bodies, only Kagami seemed to have troubles snoozing. Well, he had managed to doze for a few hours, but his mind was far too preoccupied to grant him a full night of sleep. One of the reasons probably had something to do with the fact that #2 was sleeping in the same room as him; but the main cause of his troubles was most likely a certain blue-haired boy who kept haunting his mind and preventing him from finding the rest he sought.
A feeling of uneasiness was nagging him constantly; Kuroko was clearly upset because of him, though no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't figure out the exact reason. Of course he'd need to have a talk with him, but what was he supposed to say? His intuition somehow told him that merely asking Kuroko what was wrong would only earn him plain ignorance from the teen. And when could he even talk to Kuroko in private? They were busy training the whole day, without a single moment on their own to spare.
There was one solution left.
He had to find Kuroko in a game of hide-and-seek. That way he would be able to spend the night with Kuroko only. There was only a slight problem. Tomorrow would be the last day of the training camp, meaning that it was the last opportunity for him to find Kuroko in that stupid game. It frustrated him to no end that he still hadn't succeeded once, despite being his Light. For hell's sake, even Furihata had managed! Even though the rules had apparently been changed for him in the end.
It was then that doubt surfaced in him: what if the game rules were changed definitely? What if the winner was supposed to spend a night with Akashi instead of Kuroko? Kagami shook his head mentally.
'Worry about finding Kuroko first.' he reasoned himself. How was he even going to do that? He had always taken for granted that he couldn't do anything against Kuroko's misdirection. His best hopes lay in the fact that Kuroko may be too exhausted by the training camp to use his not-so-secret weapon; though in that case it also meant that anyone else had equal chances to find him.
That would not do. Kagami had to be the first to find Kuroko. It was the only option. A tiny voice at the back of his head whispered at him that it would be fine even if he failed the game. He and Kuroko were going to the same school after all, there would be plenty of opportunities to talk to him in private.
Again, the redhead shook the thought off. He couldn't afford waiting till the start of the school year. It had to be tomorrow; and it was not only for his own sake, but for the sake of the team too. After all, a team whose players didn't get along couldn't be called a team, right?
'So how the hell do I find him tomorrow?' Perhaps he could bribe Kuroko by offering him a vanilla shake in exchange for letting him find him? 'Like hell he'd accept.' What about a vanilla shake every day during a week? 'Maybe that could work... Wait no, that'd be cheating!'
Kagami sighed a bit too loudly. Next to him, Koganei stirred and mumbled something that sounded like 'plastic duck' and 'food'. What exactly was he dreaming about? 'What's Kuroko dreaming about?' The room was too dark for Kagami to see anything, and Kuroko was too far away from him anyway. Another sigh. The fact that Kuroko had deliberately chosen to sleep on the opposite side of the room still annoyed Kagami to no end, but pondering about it now wouldn't change anything.
He tossed and turned as quietly as he could, trying to kill time until the start of the day. His phone soon showed 6. There was no point in staying in the room any longer; he wasn't likely to fall back asleep, and the room was too hot anyway. It was actually hot enough for him to be sweating, making him growl. Where was the AC when you needed it? 'Geez, might as well have a shower now.' At least there would be no one at that time of the day, and it'd cool his head off.
It was how he found his way to the showers two minutes later, not suspecting that he was going to find himself face to face with one of the most traumatic experiences of his life.
As he walked closer to the showers, he noticed that the lights were on behind the door. Probably some idiot who had forgotten to switch them off. The next thing he noticed as he walked even closer was a faint noise sounding like a voice. That in itself should have triggered alarms and warnings in Kagami's head, but he wasn't one to be bothered by voices.
However, he was certainly bothered by what he saw next upon sliding the door open: two naked figures under a running shower. Well, it wasn't so much the fact that they were naked – you were supposed to be naked in a shower – than the fact that they were definitely not showering. He stared for two seconds with incredulous eyes and a gaping mouth at the two people – who were now identified as being Aomine and Kise – before slamming the door shut again. He leant against the wall, breathing heavily, his mind trying to put some sense into the sight that would be carved in his head until the end of time: Kise standing back against the wall, flushed and panting, and Aomine covering his body with his own and… well, he didn't have time to see the scene in more details, but that was more than enough for him.
The door to the showers was slid open once again.
"Oi, Bakagami."
Panicked, Kagami turned his head only to see Aomine standing in front of him, stark naked and water dripping down his body.
"At least put on a towel!" Kagami let out with annoyance.
"Hah? What's that? Are you actually embarrassed?" the other teen cocked an eyebrow. "I thought returnees were tougher than that."
"You're shameless! And being a returnee has nothing to do with this!" Kagami snarled, then with a smaller, uncertain voice, he added: "S-So you're, like, together? I mean, Kise and you."
"Tch, no. I was just helping him shower." Aomine snorted. "Pff, of course we're together, dumbass."
"Well, how was I supposed to know?" the redhead retorted, annoyance mixing with embarrassment.
"And here I thought I made it quite obvious to everyone the other day. You must be the only one who didn't get it."
Kagami gave him a confused look before coughing slightly. "A-anyway, sorry about earlier, I didn't think there'd be someone there at this hour of the day." he mumbled, cheeks turning pink.
"Tch, just don't bother us for the next half an hour and I'll consider not smashing your skull against a wall." Aomine answered before stepping into the showers again and shutting the door, leaving a completely dumbfounded Kagami behind.
Still in a state of shock, Kagami wobbled outside for fresh air, his brain trying to make connections here and there. Was Aomine pulling his leg? But he and Kise weren't just having a friendly shower session together, even Kagami could tell that; so... were they really into that kind of relationship? He felt more blood rushing to his cheeks, and the cool morning air could do nothing against that.
Meanwhile, in the showers, a certain blonde teen grabbed his towel, pouting.
"You said there would be no one so early in the morning." he said, starting to dry himself, but Aomine snatched the towel off and threw it away.
"I'm not done with you." he smirked, pinning the blonde boy back against the wall.
"I'm not in the mood anymore." Kise protested. "Kagamicchi–hmph!"
He was silenced by a rough kiss. "Don't say anyone else's name when you're with me only." Aomine ordered before claiming Kise's lips once again. There was some resistance at first, but a bit of teasing on the right places was all it took to make the Kaijou ace yield and moan under his touch; a light bite on the hollow of the neck, fingers trailing inadvertently over his shuddering chest… It hadn't taken long for Aomine to discover Kise's sensitive spots, and he was certain there was much more to discover about that deliciously welcoming body of his.
The next half an hour turned out to be a steamy business.
When Midorima woke up, the first thing his foggy mind registered was that it felt hotter than usual. For a short second he thought someone had pulled a blanket over him, but his theory was quickly proven wrong as the said blanket actually moved and breathed. In a fit of panic, the latter quickly glanced around him, but the blurry figures of his teammates still seemed to be sleeping, much to his relief.
Even without his glasses on, the Shuutoku ace didn't have any trouble identifying the culprit. The messy black hair on his chest could only belong to one person, and that person must really have a death wish, Midorima thought as veins started popping on his temples. He was ready to send the person – namely Takao – flying to the other side of the room, when he heard a soft murmur:
"...in-chan..." Takao mumbled in his sleep before snuggling even closer to Midorima.
That made the green-haired teen flinch. On one hand, he seriously wanted to punish Takao for using him as a body pillow; on the other hand... well, it didn't feel that uncomfortable, to be honest. Midorima sighed silently; he hated being put in such a conflicting state. What to do? If the others woke up and saw him in that position, he was pretty certain no excuse would sound reasonable enough to explain the situation. He had to push Takao away.
"...Shin-chan..." came yet another almost inaudible murmur.
'Damn it.' Midorima cursed mentally. How could he be so weak to the mere sound of his name being called? And what exactly was Takao dreaming about to keep calling his name like that? He flushed as soon as the thought crossed his mind. No, no, no. Now wasn't the time to get distracted. Now was the time to focus and take action. It wasn't as if it was very difficult to get rid of the annoying teen stuck on him. He merely needed to raise an arm and send Takao rolling away, and yet his hand wouldn't obey him.
Someone stirred next to them, making Midorima freeze and dissipating all traces of hesitation in him. In one swift motion, he shoved Takao aside and sat up, his face betraying no emotion as the point guard woke up with an 'Ouch!'
"Shin-chan! What did you do that for?" Takao complained, rubbing his head.
"It is time to wake up. That's all." Midorima answered stoically.
"Geez, you could have found a nicer way to wake me up..."
"What's with the noise so early in the morning?" Ootsubo grunted as he slowly surfaced from the depths of slumber. The other Shuutoku players were also progressively emerging, stretching their arms or simply muttering about how they wanted to sleep more.
Midorima strode out of the room without another word, leaving his teammates slightly perplexed.
"He looks more pissed than usual." Miyaji commented with a frown. "What did you do to him, Takao?"
Takao snorted. "Why do you assume I did something to him?" But the only answer he got was a shrug. With a small sigh, the point guard stood up with a yawn and followed after Midorima. He caught up with him in the corridor to the bathroom:
"Shin-chan, you look like you're in a bad mood."
"I am not."
"Is it because I slept on the same futon as you?"
A twitch of Midorima's eyebrows was enough of an answer for Takao who grabbed his arm and grinned:
"Well, it's one of the last nights I get to spend with my dearest ace-sama, so I've gotta enjoy it!"
"Don't call me that. And stop being so clingy." Midorima snapped as he tried unsuccessfully to free himself from Takao's grip. "What if someone sees us?"
Takao's grin faded. "Is that so bad?" he asked, letting Midorima's arm go.
"W-Well, it's indecent." Midorima answered with uncertainty at Takao's sudden seriousness.
"Aomine and Kise don't seem to have any problem with that."
"Don't put me on the same level as them."
"Is it so degrading to show it when you like someone?"
The question made the green-haired teen purse his lips. "I never said that." He then mumbled something quite unintelligible.
"Hm?" Takao cocked an eyebrow.
Another mumble, hardly more understandable.
"Shin-chan, I'm afraid you'll have to speak more clearly."
"I said, it doesn't necessarily have to be one of the last nights we spend together!" Midorima let out with obvious annoyance.
Takao stared at him incredulously, then grinned. The taller player was readjusting his glasses but the gesture didn't fool Takao. He didn't need his Hawk Eye to see through his ace's feeble attempt at concealing his deep red cheeks with his hand. He sighed quietly, amusement painted on his lips, and locked arms with Midorima once again. This time, the latter didn't resist.
Deciding to push his luck, Takao pulled on Midorima's arm and captured his lips with his own. Unsurprisingly, the green haired-teen was taken completely off guard, enough for Takao to take advantage of the situation and deepen the kiss. He was already completely addicted to this, and was even having fun getting past his ace's reluctance to gently make his way in.
It was strange, Takao thought. Even though Midorima wasn't responding much to the kiss, he didn't push him away either. Not that Takao was going to complain about that fact. He eventually pulled back, licking his lips and enjoying the view of his ace's embarrassed face.
"W-What was that for?..." Midorima protested very weakly and very unconvincingly, looking away.
"A morning kiss?" Takao grinned. "I didn't get one earlier, or yesterday, or the day before yesterday."
"Tch. You're a nuisance." Midorima answered as he resumed walking to the bathroom, followed happily by Takao.
Unbeknownst to them, hidden behind the corner of the corridor, Ootsubo said:
"You owe me a burger, Miyaji."
The small forward clicked his tongue. "Tch, I can't believe it. Takao and Midorima, seriously?"
"Wait, you guys actually made a bet on that?" Kimura asked.
"Miyaji wouldn't believe me." Ootsubo shrugged.
"I swear, if Midorima uses his newly found couple life as an excuse to ditch training, I'll crush his head with a pineapple." Miyaji threatened darkly. "First Aomine and Kise, now those two. What next? Murasakibara and that pretty shooting guard of his?"
In the Yosen room, both Murasakibara and Himuro sneezed at the same time.
Furihata opened his eyes slowly and yawned before rubbing his eyes. Only half a minute later did he start registering that the room he was in wasn't the Seirin room, and it took him another half a minute for recollections of the past night to gradually come back to him.
Playing shogi with Akashi, losing repeatedly to Akashi, being encouraged by Akashi, Akashi's hand on his cheek, Akashi's face drawing closer to his...
Furihata's body froze on the spot. No, no, no. That was impossible. The last part was probably just his imagination. Most certainly. A weird dream his brain had come up with. What was wrong with his brain, anyway?
"Good morning, Kouki." a very familiar voice interrupted his thoughts and made him sit up with a start. The Rakuzan captain was seated not too far, arms and legs crossed, watching him.
"A-Akashi-san!"
"Kouki, you're calling me that again." Akashi sighed.
"Huh? Oh hm, I-I meant, Seiijurou-kun." Furihata corrected himself, fingers fidgeting with his shirt.
"I preferred it when you didn't use any honorifics, like yesterday."
"Did I do that?" Furihata asked with round eyes as he searched his memory for when he could have done that.
"When you wished me a good night."
"Oh hm… I'm really sorry about it. I-I must have been too sleepy to remember it. I'll pay more attention from now on!" the Seirin point guard said, bowing his head while slapping himself mentally for being so careless.
"Didn't I just say I prefer it when you don't use honorifics with my name? And also…" A faint smile graced his lips. "Didn't I say yesterday that you don't need to bow your head to me?"
A vivid memory flashed through Furihata's mind at those words; he even shut his eyes tight, expecting Akashi to repeat the same gesture as the previous night, but nothing happened.
And suddenly, a vague feeling of disappointment surfaced in him. Why? He was scared to death whenever Akashi approached him; he should have been relieved this time. Amidst his own confusion, he almost failed to hear Akashi addressing him again:
"I hope you will be able to appreciate my company someday."
The words only served to add more confusion into Furihata's head. Was it his imagination or was it resignation he detected in the Rakuzan player's voice? At a loss as for what to answer, Furihata could only blink in surprise. The gesture must have been misinterpreted by Akashi, for the latter sighed softly as he stood up, and merely added:
"Let us get ready for breakfast. We shouldn't be late."
He exited the room, leaving Furihata alone behind. The Seirin point guard could only stare at the door, feeling like he had just missed something very big and important, though he couldn't pinpoint what precisely. A small part of him poked him at the back of his mind, nudging him into going after Akashi and telling him... what exactly? Furihata shut his eyes tight and shook his head. He had to stop thinking about it; it was giving him a serious headache. With a long sigh, he got up and braced himself for the last day of the camp which promised to be tough.
Morning training started with a bit of warming-up, before the matches. The weather was plain sunny without even a single glimpse of a cloud. It was going to be a tough day On the Seirin side, the atmosphere was mitigated despite the efforts of Kiyoshi, Koganei and Izuki to lighten the mood. At some point, Koganei shook his head:
"I give up." he sighed as Mitobe patted his shoulder sympathetically.
"Something wrong?" Kise inquired with curiosity.
"Look at those." Koganei merely said, pointing behind him with his thumb.
Looking over the Seirin player's shoulder, Kise spotted Kagami and Furihata stretching.
"There's Kuroko too, in the shade of the trees." Koganei added. "In case you didn't see him."
Indeed, the Phantom Player was there too, standing a bit farther away.
"Even after all this time, I still can't get used to it." Kise sweatdropped. "So, what about them?"
"Well, can't you see?"
Frowning, Kise looked again. On closer inspection, the Seirin members seemed to behave quite oddly: Kagami was glancing at Kuroko repeatedly as if he wanted to tell him something, but the blue-haired boy was ignoring him plainly, which resulted in Kagami putting on an utterly dejected face. Next to him, Furihata seemed equally distracted; he kept gazing at the main group of players while doing half-assed stretching exercises. At some point Kise even saw him blush furiously and lower his head quickly.
"They're acting quite strange, indeed." he noted.
"Right? They've been like that since breakfast." Izuki said. "Though for Kagami and Kuroko, it's been since yesterday. I think they got into an argument or something. Apparently it's still not sorted out. Kagami has barely said a word, even when I threatened to steal his food, which is quite rare."
That idiot must have been traumatized by what he saw this morning." Aomine snickered, joining the conversation.
"What do you mean?" Koganei tilted his head on the side.
"Nothing important!" Kise answered hastily, panicked, as he pressed a hand over Aomine's mouth. The latter gave the annoying hand a lick, making the blonde teen withdraw it with a start and glare at Aomine who was now smirking.
"Aominecchi! Stop doing that kind of stuff in front of everyone! It's because you don't have any self-restraint that Kagamicchi caught us this morning!"
"Now I'm not sure I want to know what you mean anymore." Koganei said cautiously.
They weren't given the opportunity to further the discussion as the Touou coach blew his whistle, signalling that the matches were going to start.
The first thing the high-schoolers did was to rush to the board where the coaches had written down the various matches of the morning. The global reaction was one of mild incredulity.
"Are my eyes playing tricks on me or am I really reading 'Akashi S., Kise R., Murasakibara A., Midorima S. VS Touou' here?" Susa asked.
"And here is 'Akashi S., Kise R., Murasakibara A., Aomine D. VS Shuutoku'. That must be a joke." Miyaji added.
"What about this one? 'Akashi S., Aomine D., Murasakibara A., Midorima S. VS Kaijou'. We're going to die." Moriyama stated dramatically.
"I know the coaches said that the last day would be a bit special, but isn't that a bit too special?" Liu asked, sceptical as he read 'Akashi S., Kise R., Aomine D., Midorima S. VS Yosen'.
The aforementioned coaches were observing the various reactions with a certain self-satisfaction that was expressed out loud by Momoi:
"Isn't it a great idea? For the last day, we figured we'd finish the training camp with a bit more challenging matches." She beamed as she clapped her hands together. "So we decided to have each school face the Generation of Miracles!"
"You were given a handicap, as you've probably noticed." Riko went on. "You'll be playing 5 vs 4, as each school will be keeping their own Generation of Miracles member."
"Err... Coach?" Hyuuga raised his hand. "I think there's a problem for us then."
But Riko shook her head. "For Seirin, we made an exception since Kuroko doesn't have a specific position. Therefore we decided to have you play against the five remaining Generation of Miracles members." she explained with a broad grin. "Your match is the last one of the series, so your opponents will be more tired than you. That'll be your advantage."
"We believe these will be very interesting matches." Harasawa concluded.
Most players believed it was going to be a slaughter.
The first school to enter the court was Yosen.
"But I don't wanna play against Aka-chin." Murasakibara complained.
"Come on, it'll be fun." Himuro encouraged him with a pat on the back.
"Hnn... But I still don't wanna play against Aka-chin."
"Atsushi, it's the last day. Be a good boy and I'll give you a treat."
"Sweets?" Murasakibara's eyes lit up.
"That, and another kind of treat, too." Himuro winked.
"Hm?... Oh." The purple-haired teen turned away abruptly, mumbling something that sounded very much like "Muro-chin you idiot."
On the benches, all the other players were watching with anticipation at the match that was going to start.
"I still think the coaches are crazy, making us play against those monsters." Ootsubo said. "Even with four players only, we're no match."
"Don't be so pessimistic!" Takao cheered him up. "At least you won't be the one in charge of guarding Akashi. Ah, it's starting."
Yosen defended honourably well, true to themselves. Aomine was having troubles getting past the wall that was Murasakibara, as he had once pointed out; while Himuro's perfect shots often found their ways into the basket. Unfortunately, the double aces of Yosen weren't enough to defeat the former Teikou players.
"As expected of the monsters." Imayoshi said as he stood up along with the rest of Touou. From the Yosen players, only Murasakibara stayed on the courts, joining his former teammates while Aomine was switching sides.
"I won't go easy on you, Aominecchi." Kise warned him.
"Don't think you can beat me yet." The power forward smirked. "Though I'm surprised you can still move around like this after our little morning 'exercise'." He added, which earned him a murderous throw of a ball and an 'Ahominecchi!'
The match proceeded with more or less the same pattern as Yosen's match, except that Aomine had actually entered the Zone, allowing his team to take the lead at some point. However, one didn't best four basketball prodigies so easily, and the whistle was blown one last time on the former Teikou's second victory. The third and fourth consecutive victories were snatched in a similar fashion against Shuutoku and Kaijou, though tiredness was starting to be visible on the victors' faces.
"Damn, no matter how much I see those guys play, I just can't get used to it." Fukui commented. "Having just one of them is already something; getting all of them to play together feels like another dimension. I pity those who had to play them in middle school."
"The last two matches promise to be particularly interesting, though." Himuro said.
"You mean Rakuzan and Seirin, huh? Yeah, I'm looking forward to them too."
The match opposing Rakuzan to Kise, Aomine, Midorima and Murasakibara was perhaps one of the most memorable clashes of the season, and put the word 'basketball' on a whole different level. It also put an end to the former Teikou's winning spree, though the outcome of the match was unknown until the very end. The Uncrowned Kings were fighting on equal ground with the Generation of Miracles. However, Akashi's presence in the Rakuzan team was the determining factor to achieve victory.
Though it hadn't been an official match, the excitement among the audience could have easily rivalled the Winter Cup finals. A round of cheers rose at the end of the match, for both teams.
"That was one hell of a showdown." Takao said with admiration.
"Hell yeah. I'm glad I was on the bench and not on the court." Miyaji nodded.
"Too bad my Shin-chan was unable to do anything against Akashi."
The other Shuutoku stared at him, though without much surprise in their eyes.
"What?" Takao cocked an eyebrow.
"Your Shin-chan." Ootsubo repeated pointedly.
"Oops. Did I say that?" the point guard grinned innocently.
"Don't 'oops' us." Miyaji grunted. "And we already know about you two anyway."
"Yes, I figured you did. Did you enjoy spying on us this morning?" Takao inquired, an impish smile on his lips.
"Wh-Tch, you and your damn Hawk Eye. Anyway, shouldn't you be taking care of your Midorima before the next match? I'm sure he must be parched dry." Miyaji sneered, but Takao actually nodded:
"You're right! Shin-chaaan!" he called out as he grabbed Midorima's bottle and towel and threw them at him. The green-haired teen glared at him but caught the bottle anyway.
"For a second I thought you were going to run to him and give him your own bottle and towel." Kimura said.
"Hm? Nah, Shin-chan would kill me if I did that. Besides, he said he likes my passes."
"Whatever... Ah, and here's Seirin entering the court." Miyaji said with much more interest."
"I don't know if I should feel sorry for them or not." Imayoshi said with his usual snake-like smile.
"They managed to beat each of our teams' aces separately, but facing all five at once is probably a bit too much, even if they're tired from their previous matches." Susa added.
"Don't forget Seirin has a knack for pulling out miracles when you least expect it." said Himuro, who was seated next to them. "Especially Taiga and Tetsuya."
"That pair does strike you as the most annoying thing on a basketball court." Imayoshi agreed.
The whistle was blown, and all pairs of eyes turned to the court with visible anticipation at the last match of the day – and the camp. The audience was however quickly disillusioned after the first two minutes, and murmurs were rising:
"What the hell's wrong with the 10-11 pair today? They're totally out of sync." Kasamatsu frowned. "Especially Kagami. It's almost like I'm watching an amateur play."
"Maybe it's the pressure of facing the Generation of Miracles?" Moriyama suggested.
"If anything, that guy would most likely be fired up. See? Even their coach looks dissatisfied."
Riko was indeed biting her thumb with a rather gloomy expression on her face. On the court, the reactions were similar. After stealing the ball from Kagami and dunking it past Kiyoshi's defence, Aomine turned to the power forward, furious:
"What the fuck are you doing? I didn't come here to see such a shitty play!" he snapped.
"Aominecchi, calm down! Kagamicchi is probably just not feeling well today." Kise tried to cool off his partner's temper.
"I'm feeling perfectly fine." Kagami protested, earning himself a whack on the back of the head from Hyuuga.
"You obviously don't." the Seirin captain said. "Get a hold of yourself already."
The match resumed with a grumpy Kagami and an even grumpier Aomine.
"They're pissing me off." The latter said as he jogged back to his position. "And here I thought I was going to enjoy this."
"They?" Kise raised an eyebrow.
"Tetsu is also acting weird. He hasn't made a single pass to Kagami."
"That's true. So they still haven't sorted out their problem yet."
"Focus on the game." Akashi ordered as he made a pass to the blonde teen.
They got pretty much no trouble scoring once again, which actually made Aomine fume even more.
"Hm, they called for a time-out." Midorima noticed.
"About time. I could do with a short break myself." Kise nodded approvingly.
"I'm boooored." Murasakibara complained. "Aka-chin, can I drop out?"
"I will not allow such behaviour, Atsushi." Akashi answered.
"But Seirin's playing so badly." the purple-haired teen pouted.
"Even so, we will finish this game and win it."
In the meantime, near the coach bench, Riko was tapping the ground with her foot, both fists on her hips.
"Kagami, Kuroko. Whatever's happened between the both of you, I don't care. For now the rule is simple: either you take this game seriously, or I triple your training exercises for a month when we go back to Tokyo." she declared.
"But I'm taking the match seriously!" Kagami retorted.
"So am I." Kuroko said calmly.
"If you really were, the score wouldn't look like this." Riko pointed at the board where a '21-6' was proudly displayed.
"Man, we're getting completely atomized here." Izuki sighed.
"W-Well, they're strong. We can't help it." Kagami mumbled. The girl clapped her hands at those words.
"Alright!" she said with a large grin that promised nothing but pain. "As I said, I don't know what happened to you and I don't care. However, if you don't turn back into the old Kagami that we all know and love, I'll have you take care of #2 for three months. Oh, and Kuroko, I'll make sure you don't get a single drop of vanilla shake for three months as well." she finished happily, which was a joyous contrast with the look of sheer horror on Kagami's face. Kuroko's expression hadn't changed, but trained eyes would have spotted the faint twitches of his fingers, which in his own language meant that the situation was close to catastrophic.
The two boys glanced at each other, then gulped and nodded in mutual agreement. The match resumed.
"Are you certain that kind of threat is enough?" Masako asked dubiously.
"Yeah, don't worry." Riko answered with confidence. At the same moment, Kuroko made an Ignite Pass at Kagami who slammed the ball through the hoop with rare fervour.
"A-Amazing…" the Yosen coach almost sweatdropped.
"Tora's daughter is even more frightening than him." Nakatani said with a shake of his head. "She knows each of her players' weak point."
From then on, the match saw a complete recovery from Seirin, driven by the fear of a dog and vanilla shakes – or lack thereof. As expected, they took advantage of their opponents' tired state by adopting an even more offensive style than usual. Kagami was the first one to enter the Zone, allowing his team to narrow the gap a bit; however, too fired up by the comeback, Aomine didn't waste another second to follow Kagami into the Zone. Because he hadn't already played five games before, Kagami clearly had the upper hand, and the rest of the team was riding on the momentum. The point gap was slowly but steadily going down, though it required absolutely all of the Seirin players' attention not to make any mistakes; and after only ten minutes of play, they look about as exhausted as their opponents.
The game went on, outcome uncertain, until there were two minutes left. At that moment, Akashi declared:
"It is time to conclude."
What followed next was something that no one there would ever forget: all of Akashi's team entered the Zone. Exclamations of surprise and awe could be heard in the audience, and even among the coaches. For those on the court, it was like the pressure had increased tenfold. The Seirin players couldn't move a single finger, no matter how much they wanted to, frozen by the overwhelming aura of raw power that radiated from their opponents. Under those circumstances, anyone would have probably given up, but for Kagami, it was thrilling.
He was given a chance to play against the strongest of this generation of players. Against the Generation of Miracles. And alongside one of them too. Kuroko was part of the Generation of Miracles, but it was Seirin he had chosen. It was by Kagami's side he was playing. Not Akashi's, or Aomine's, or Kise's, or Midorima's, or Murasakibara's. And that made it even more thrilling. Receiving passes from Kuroko, scoring, supporting his teammates and being supported by them felt simply elating, even if he knew that today, victory wouldn't be theirs.
The match was settled on Seirin's defeat, but Kagami didn't care. It had been one of the most amazing matches he had played. He collapsed on the court, on his back, panting and sweating like crazy, yet smiling.
A hand reached out to him. He thought it was Kuroko at first, before realizing that the silhouette was too big.
"Get your ass up, Bakagami." Aomine's arrogant voice said.
Kagami blinked the sweat away from his eyes, and grabbed the hand offered to him, feeling irrationally happy despite having just lost a match.
"Shut up, Ahomine." he said as he stood up.
"Only an idiot can still smile after losing." the Touou ace sneered before adding: "But you managed to entertain me a bit, at least."
"Aominecchi isn't being honest at all!" Kise jumped in, grinning. "You were totally having fun here!"
"Shut up!" Aomine snapped back, annoyed, but that only made the blonde boy grin even more. "Tch, let's go and line up." Aomine muttered.
The morning was concluded by a few words from each coach to their respective teams before the players were allowed to go to a well-deserved lunch break. Needless to say, talks around the lunch table were centred mainly on the matches, and more particularly on the last one.
"I was afraid at some point that Seirin was going to be completely crushed." Fukui said.
"They got back on their feet quickly though." Okamura answered. "Thanks to their scary coach. Damn, I'm not sure which one is scarier: theirs or ours?"
"Don't let Masako hear you." Himuro chuckled.
"I'm glad the camp is soon over, though. It was good, but I could do with real holidays now." Fukui went on.
"There's still the hide-and-seek game, right?"
"Yeah, and I heard the coach say that today we'd be running only five kilometres if we can't find Kuroko. They probably decided to have mercy on us for the last day." Okamura said. "Damn, I wish I could catch that guy even once, but his misdirection is such a pain. Himuro, how did you manage to find him?"
"Luck, I guess?" the shooting guard answered.
"You're not helping here."
"Sorry, I really have no trick to give you." Himuro said apologetically.
He then gazed at the other side of the table, where the Seirin team was eating. He sighed as he noticed that Kagami and Kuroko were seated on far opposite ends instead of next to each other as they usually did.
On the Seirin side, no one seemed to notice Kagami's average appetite, too busy chatting about everything and nothing. The redhead had believed that the last match would have helped mend his shaky interactions with Kuroko, but the boy's current behaviour was proving him wrong. Once the match had been over, Kuroko had switched back to plainly ignoring him. He seriously needed a talk with him.
"Tetsuya, I need a talk with you."
The blue-haired boy was warming up in preparation for the hide-and-seek game, along with his teammates.
"Himuro-san, can we do this later? It is almost time for the game to start." he answered.
"It won't take long."
"Very well then. I'm listening."
"Let's move a bit farther." Himuro said before turning to the other Seirin members with a smile: "I'm sorry, I'm borrowing Tetsuya for a little bit."
As both teens walked away, Hyuuga frowned.
"What the hell is that about? Kagami, do you know?" But the redhead shook his head, looking as confused as him. What did Tatsuya want with Kuroko?
Unaffected by those questions, Kuroko stared at Himuro.
"Tetsuya, unless I'm seriously mistaken, it seems to me that there is some tension between Taiga and you."
"..."
"I won't pry on what happened, but knowing Taiga, he probably offended you without even realizing it."
As expected from the one Kagami called his brother, Kuroko thought.
"I know it's no excuse, but you're the more mature one here." Himuro went on. "I believe you still remember what I told you the other night? About making the first step?"
"I do." Kuroko nodded. "But Kagami-kun is sometimes so clueless it is quite annoying."
"I know what you mean." The Yosen shooting guard chuckled. "But that's one more reason why you should be straight with him."
"Why are you so concerned by this?"
"I don't like seeing Taiga in that state. He's my little brother, after all."
"Are you blaming me?"
Himuro let out a short laugh then shook his head. "I'm not. Quite the opposite, in fact. I'm requesting you to settle the matter with him."
"... I understand."
"Thank you. Shall we go back to the others?"
They did so, and Kuroko refused to tell anything to his teammates about his conversation with Himuro.
The game started a few minutes later. Kuroko departed first, leaving a much stressed Kagami behind. He had to find him. He absolutely had to find him, one way or another. As soon as he heard the whistle a second time, he sprinted forward, surprising everyone else.
"That's what you call being fired up." Moriyama commented.
"That idiot." Aomine grunted. "C'mon, let's go after Kagami." he told Kise.
"Huh? Why?"
"He's starting to piss me off real good."
"Huh?"
"Just come already or I'll leave you behind."
The Kaijou ace pouted, yet followed after Aomine anyway. As expected, Kagami was already ahead of the main group of runners. They caught up with him quickly.
"Why the hell are you following me?" he snarled at the ones beside him, namely Aomine and Kise.
"Our conversation yesterday." the Touou power forward answered.
"About what?"
"About Tetsu."
Kagami frowned. "You're persistent."
"I wouldn't be if you had dealt with it like I told you to. Tetsu isn't the type to get upset easily or to stay upset for long. So if he hasn't talked to you since yesterday, it's most likely because you did something serious." Aomine said.
"And because you didn't apologize properly." Kise added.
"But I don't even know what I'm supposed to apologize for." Kagami said grimly.
"You seriously don't? Try to remember the last thing you did with him before he started sulking." Kise suggested.
"The last thing I did... Geez, how the hell am I supposed to remember?"
"It was yesterday morning, you idiot. Or are you a goldfish with no memory?" Aomine snickered, making the Seirin player pop a vein.
"Shut up! I'm doing what I can here." he snapped back, pissed. He couldn't even focus on actually looking for Kuroko with those two tagging with him and harassing him like that. But Aomine had a point; it wasn't in Kuroko's nature to hold a grudge for so long. "Last time we talked was right before his match." he said slowly.
"What were you talking about?" Kise inquired.
"Well, we were watching Aomine's match, so I was commenting it." Kagami said vaguely. There was no way he would admit that he had been complimenting the Touou ace. "And uh... we talked about basketball."
"What a surprise." Aomine sneered, but Kagami ignored him as he went on:
"And then Takao said something, and he and Midorima argued and that's about when Kuroko started acting weird. But I couldn't really ask him since his match was starting."
"What did Takao and Midorimacchi say?" Kise insisted. Kagami pondered for a second, then his face lit up as memory came back to him, only to turn gloomy again. He sighed loudly.
"Get on with it, we don't have all day." Aomine prompted him.
"I know! It's just that I just remembered what Takao said."
"And?" Aomine and Kise asked in unison.
The answer they received from Kagami was an unintelligible mumble. More unexpected, his cheeks had turned redder, and it was definitely not due to effort. Aomine smirked:
"Hm? What was that? I fear I didn't hear well." he said.
"I said, Takao asked whether Kuroko and I are going out together! Hell, as if that kind of stuff was possible." Kagami let out dryly, carefully avoiding crossing gaze with any of the other two. He could only imagine the faces they were pulling now. He had expected them – especially Aomine – to burst out laughing and make fun of him; he was therefore taken off guard when the other power forward merely went on with a:
"And?"
"A-and what?" Kagami asked back, slightly confused.
"What did you answer?" Aomine prompted him with clear impatience in his voice.
"Well, I said that was gross, of course! I mean, what else is there to say?"
"Aaaaaand the mystery is solved." Kise declared dramatically.
"W-What do you mean?" Kagami asked, making Aomine sigh in exasperation. The latter went to stand in front of Kagami, both fists on his hips. Kise joined him, making the redhead look at them apprehensively.
"I seriously don't get what Tetsu sees in you." Aomine stated.
"Kagamicchi is even more clueless than Aominecchi." Kise joked, earning a glare from the said Aominecchi. "On a more serious note, you really have to apologize to Kurokocchi quickly."
"Well, I've already planned to do that. But I don't know what else I'm supposed to tell him." Kagami crossed his arms.
"Then use your brain a bit." Aomine said dryly. "How would you have reacted if Tetsu said it's gross to be with you?"
"I'd–" Kagami stopped, seized by sudden uncertainty. How would he have reacted? Not a minute ago, he'd have found Kuroko's answer normal, but now that the question had been thrown at his face, he wasn't certain anymore.
"So?" Aomine urged him.
"W-Well if you put it like that, I suppose I'd be kind of... upset, I guess." Kagami mumbled, scratching his head.
"No shit Sherlock."
"But I've no problem being with Kuroko as his friend! I just said it was gross because Takao assumed we were g-going out together." the Seirin ace stuttered, feeling his cheeks warm up for some reason.
At those words, Aomine popped a vein, cracking his knuckles.
"Kise, hold me back or I'm going to hit him." he said, twitching.
"A-Aominecchi! Calm down!" The blonde teen grabbed Aomine's hand hastily. He then turned to Kagami, frowning: "Kagamicchi, you really don't realize that it's exactly because you say that kind of things that Kurokocchi doesn't want to talk to you anymore, do you?"
Kagami looked at him with sheer confusion, making the Kaijou player sigh loudly:
"I'm also starting to wonder why Kurokocchi picked you."
"Bakagami." Aomine snapped dryly. "Tell me why exactly going out with Tetsu would be gross."
"W-Well obviously he's a guy!" Kagami blurted out.
"And?"
"And..." Kagami paused as a very vivid shower scene involving the two currently standing in front of him popped up in his head. From that moment on, it was like his brain was trying hard to make connections between various parts of his mind to reach a very important conclusion; a conclusion that implied – among other things – that two guys going out together wasn't a particularly shocking fact. Not that he didn't know that already – he wasn't that stupid – but it had never crossed his mind that he'd come to face such a situation personally.
First there was Aomine and Kise. Their relationship had taken him completely off guard at first, but now that he thought about it, there was nothing particularly surprising there. One could even say those two matched pretty well together. Kagami felt another rush of blood to his cheeks as he desperately tried to dismiss the image of Kise pinned against the wall and Aomine doing things to him.
And then there was Kuroko.
Kuroko was his friend, wasn't he? His classmate, teammate, but friend nonetheless. A close friend, perhaps? It had never struck Kagami that they could be anything else. Even now he wasn't quite ready yet for the inevitable conclusion to come. In any case, what was getting more and more certain was the fact that he had hurt Kuroko more than what he had believed.
"... Geez, I really screwed up, didn't I?" he merely concluded, shoulders sagged.
"About time you realized." Aomine snorted.
"Now you know what's left for you to do." Kise smiled, giving Kagami a sympathetic pat. "Find Kurokocchi and use your night with him wisely to make up with him! Oh, and if you need some advice, you can always ask us!" he added with a wink.
"Uh, sure, but don't put it in such an ambiguous way, that's–" Kagami began before biting his lip. "Sorry. Thanks for the help. But I don't even know where to begin to find him." he sighed.
"Tch, the Kagami I know wouldn't be such a hesitant sissy." Aomine mocked, making the other teen flare up.
"Don't call me a sissy!" he snapped back. "And you're the ones who're making me waste time here!"
"And an ungrateful bastard, at that." the Touou power forward shrugged.
"Let's keep it at that, shall we?" Kise intervened before Kagami could retort anything. "Maybe we can help you look for Kurokocchi?"
"Why the fuck should we help him?" Aomine grunted.
"I don't need your help." Kagami replied equally. "I have to find him on my own, or it'll be meaningless. Besides, I don't wanna owe you more than I already do."
"In that case I guess we'll be off then." Kise said. "I actually want to find Kurokocchi too! Aominecchi, let's find him together!"
"Hah? Don't wanna. Too much of a bother." the latter drawled.
"Come on, it's the last day! And I don't want to run!" The blonde teen started clinging to Aomine's arm, making puppy eyes.
"Then go find him on your own." Aomine answered, irritated as he was trying to shake Kise off his arm.
"That's meaaan! Right, Kagamicchi?" Kise turned to the redhead, but the latter was standing immobile, both his eyes closed and face displaying nothing but sheer concentration. "Kagamicchi?"
When he opened his eyes, a familiar streak of light flashed through them, setting them ablaze with fiery red. His voice was dead serious when he opened his mouth:
"Sorry, I won't let anyone get him first."
And on those words, he dashed forwards without even a look behind. Aomine crossed his arms, lips slightly curled up in what could have been a smile.
"Tch, I can't believe he actually entered the Zone."
"He must really want to find Kurokocchi." Kise commented, amused. "But is that going to work?"
"Beats me." Aomine shrugged. "But knowing that guy, he could actually pull that off somehow. The Zone does drive your concentration to the max. It wouldn't surprise me if Kagami overcame Tetsu's misdirection with that."
"Don't you want to try?"
"How many times must I tell you it's too much of a pain?" the power forward answered, annoyed. "And the Zone is freaking tiring, you know?"
"You're no fun." Kise pouted. "Well in that case I'll go look for Kurokocchi on my own." he added, but as he turned round and was about to leave, Aomine grabbed him by the waist, pulling the blonde teen back against him.
"I don't think so." he replied, lips close to Kise's ear. The Kaijou ace shivered at the illegally seductive tone, not even trying to resist when Aomine started biting gently at his neck. After all, no sensible person could decently resist Aomine, he reasoned. It was a fact, plain and simple.
"L-Let's move somewhere else, at least." he managed to speak. "We're in the–ah– middle of the–ngh– path."
"Hmm." the other boy vaguely answered.
It was another fine day.
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Another chapter done! There should be one left and probably an epilogue depending on how laz-I mean, BUSY I am.