Through My Heart
~First Quarter: Her Talent ~
第一季: 她的天赋
Chapter 3: 承诺－ Acceptance
"Micchan! You left me again yesterday!" Momoi whined as she entered the classroom and saw Miho.
Miho looked up from her newly made training regime and put on a smile, "Ah, good morning, Momoi-san."
Momoi put both of her hands on her hips, "Don't you 'good morning' me! You promised me that we would go home together yesterday!"
Miho shrugged, "Well I didn't want to interrupt you and Aomine-kun."
"You meanie! Dai-chan and I aren't like that! Dating Dai-chan...eww!" Momoi grumbled and sat down in her desk.
The bluenette raised an eyebrow, "Wait, you're not?"
Momoi made a face, "Of course not! Dating Dai-chan...that's like dating a brother!"
Miho shook her head, "Oh, sorry."
The pink haired manager let out a sigh, "Oh well, so what are you looking at, Micchan?"
Miho passed Momoi her notebook, "It's a training regime that I made for the four first years that joined the first string on their first try."
"Oh yeah...I organized a practice match for the first strings yesterday. I think they are participating? The coach put you in charge of them?" Momoi asked.
"Yup, though I think he's probably just testing me..." Miho laughed before taking her notebook back.
Momoi grinned, "I think he really likes you! Good luck, Micchan!"
"Thank you," Miho smiled back.
It was strange how hard she was trying for this sport. But she had to admit, trying hard in something she liked was fun.
.-.-.-.
"This is the first History project we will be doing this year. It will also be the longest History project. I will put you all in pairs of two and the two of you will research an event for the whole year, and put it together in a presentation by the end of the year. There will be other projects coming off of the research that you do. Thus, it is important to choose a topic you are interested in and is able to research properly. Now, I will announce the groups," the World History teacher explained the project details a Miho inwardly groaned.
Fantastic, another boring project in History—for the whole year too.
"Momoi-san, you will be with Hayato-san. Miura-san, you will be with Akugawa-san and Nanase-san, you will be with Midorima-san. Please do note that I paired each of you up as a boy-girl pair. That ways, you will also learn the meaning of getting along with your team," the teacher finished.
"Get along my face," Miho grumbled in her mind, "God, I'm with Horoscope-kun! This is the worse thing that's ever happened to me...! He's a total weirdo!"
"Now, please get in your groups to discuss your topic," the teacher announced.
Momoi was paired up with a cool looking brown haired boy. He looked, a lot more normal than Miho's partner was.
Today, Midorima carried a small teddy bear while his left hand was still bandaged up.
"Nanase-san, am I right?" Midorima asked as he pulled a seat over.
"Yes, Horoscope-kun," Miho muttered aloud.
There was a pause before Midorima put on an incredulous expression, "E-Excuse me? What did you call me?"
The bluenette snapped out of her thoughts and widened her eyes, "Oh! I'm so sorry, Midorima-san, right?"
Gosh, she couldn't believe she voiced her thoughts aloud. She had better stop thinking of that name before she did it again.
Midorima pushed up his glasses, "So, what would you like to do for the project?"
Miho felt that Midorima gave off a presence of 'towering'. The guy was probably at least 170 centimeters, or even more. She could certainly understand why he was a basketball player.
Finding herself staring unconsciously at the green haired boy, Miho blushed slightly and turned away, starting to read one of the history textbooks that the boy had brought over some time.
She hoped the year would be over soon.
.-.-.-.
"This is pretty well done," Sanada nodded as he read through the training regime that Miho had come up with, "You must've put a lot of thought into this. Good work."
The bluenette let out a sigh of relief that she hadn't realized that she had been holding, "Thank you, Coach Sanada. I tried my best."
"Remember, Nanase-san—Teiko's motto is absolute victory. You must do your best to ensure victory at all times, understood?" Sanada pushed up his glasses and asked.
"Yes, sir," Miho nodded and bowed.
"Also, I would encourage you to get closer to the four players that you are coaching. They will listen to someone who they respect, or who they understand. You must become closer to them in order to have them respect who you are. Good luck, Nanase-san," Sanada nodded before leaving the room.
Miho let out a long sigh. She changed her mind, this sport was not worth the effort...
.-.-.-.
Nanase Miho hated teenagers—especially hotheaded basketball boys. She stood in the midst of four exceptional basketball players and winced at their glares. Well, two of them were glaring while the other two seemed uninterested.
Aomine, Momoi's childhood friend spoke up, "Alright, can we just play basketball now?"
"Aomine-san!" Miho shouted, "All of you. I would like to inform you all that I am your trainer until Coach Sanada decides to change my role. Today, you'll all be doing my training menu. If you find it the least satisfying, you may inform Coach Sanada. Remember, Teiko's motto is absolute victory. What I am doing in only making sure that you all follow that motto. Understood?"
The four members were quite astonished by the girl's speech. They had no idea she could actually be this bold. Midorima thought she was actually quite mature for her age. To be able to order everyone like that—it took courage.
Seeing the silence, Miho continued, "First of all, before we start the training, let's go over some things. To be able to handle my training, I must be closer to you guys. Thus, let's go on first name basis!"
At this, everyone deadpanned. Miho wasn't quite sure what Sanada meant by 'closer' however, calling everyone by first name basis did mean that they were closer, right?
"Excuse me, I did not agree to this. I do not want to call a stranger that I do not understand by her first name," the red haired boy, Akashi Seiijuro stated.
Miho turned to him, "I don't either! However, this is my only choice! We'll see how it goes for one week! If after one week, we still don't feel any closer, we'll take a different approach, alright?"
Aomine was the first to speak this time.
He grinned at Miho, "Sure! Why not, Miho?"
The girl could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks. She really didn't like this. Moreover, the green haired boy that had been her partner for a project up until now hadn't said anything yet.
To be honest, Miho didn't want to talk to him right now. The two had spent the entire class arguing over which period of history they wanted to study. In the end, they finally decided on the Sengoku Period and got over it. However, both of them were in quite a sour mood right now.
Following Aomine's example, Miho nodded shyly, "A-Alright...D-D-D-Dai—Dai-chan!"
Aomine shot the girl a strange look.
"It's what Momoi-san calls you, right?" Miho shook her head to cover up her blush, "Next, Murasakibara-san!"
The purple haired giant looked down on Miho, "Eh...Nana-chin would work? Right?"
Seeing that it was a nickname—and quite an embarrassing one at that, Miho accepted the name, "Yes, that would work, Atsu-chan. M-Midorima-san can go next."
The green haired boy let out a sigh, "I swear, what an idiotic...Miho."
The bluenette nodded in approval, "Then Midorima-san will be Shin-chan! Akashi-san?"
The red haired boy glared at Miho skeptically before turning his head around, "Miho."
Having accomplished her goal, the bluenette smile, "Alright! Sei-chan it is!"
The nickname earned her another scowl from the red haired boy.
However, Miho ignored it, "Alright! We will now go on to the training I planned for you today! Today, we will be doing basic exercises to improve something you all lack—stamina. Tomorrow, we will start with exercises and finish the training off with a practice match against the seniors! Let's start!"
.-.-.-.
"Oh god...that was ridiculous," Aomine collapsed on a bench in the boys' change room while waiting for the showers.
Akashi wiped off his sweat but didn't say anything. However, even he was starting to respect the girl a little bit. That training menu wasn't something someone normal could've come up with. She really did observe them and discover their weaknesses.
Murasakibara munched on the candies that Miho had given him after practice, "Nana-chin...she's a nice person. She gave me my favorite candies."
Midorima 'tsked' Murasakibara's eating behavior before wiping his sweat off with a towel. He too, had started to acknowledge that girl as his trainer for now. Despite her looks, she knew what she was doing.
As long as he could improve, that's all that mattered.
.-.-.-.
Momoi and Miho stood in Sanada's office together as they explained some things.
"The practice match I organized was against Onibu Middle School. Their basketball specialized in defense and most of their regular players are in their third year. They are a middle tier school, however they made it to the preliminaries of the Championship last year," Momoi explained with her eyes on her notebook.
Sanada gave a nod, "Momoi-san, did you get notes on the opponent?"
"Because it's a first string match, I did take some notes from the previous videos. They aren't difficult to beat. Skill-wise, Teiko's leading," Momoi stated.
"Very well. Nanase-san, we will put the four first years into the match. Momoi-san, you can leave now," Sanada nodded towards Momoi, who excused herself.
After the door closed with a click, Sanada turned to Miho, "Nanase-san. I saw your training today. Good job."
The girl smiled, "Thank you, sir."
"In the next practice match, I expect to see improvement. If the result satisfies me, I will fully accept you as my Assistant Trainer and you will help me train the entire first string. Understood?" Sanada asked with a stern expression.
"Yes, sir."
.-.-.-.
"Micchan!" Momoi pounced on the girl as she exited the coach's office.
Miho stumbled lightly before choking out, "M-Momoi-san..."
The pink haired girl released her friend before stepping aside, "Micchan, we have been waiting for you!"
Miho looked in confusion before seeing the tanned skin, "Ah... Aomi—D-Dai-chan."
The boy grinned at the nickname, "Yo, Miho."
Momoi was in awe at the exchange of names between the two, "Hey! I didn't know you two were on first name basis! Micchan, call me Satsuki too!"
"Oi, Satsuki, it was apart of the training," Aomine sighed and explained Miho's training regime today.
"Sanada-san said that I needed to find a way to get closer to the players that I was training so...ah. I still don't get that guy's thinking at all..." Miho let out a sigh again.
"We'll Miho did a pretty good job today. I'm pretty sure he'll accept you soon. Akashi even acknowledged you as a trainer," Aomine grinned.
Hearing the boy's words, Miho let out a smile. The guy was so cheerful all the time. It was kind of refreshing. He was also very passionate for basketball—it was infectious.
"Well, anyways, Micchan, call me Satsuki from now on, okay? We are all friends on the same team!" Momoi smiled.
Shaking her head in disbelief of herself, Miho grinned, "Alright, Sa-chan!"
.-.-.-.
Miho watched in awe as the four players that she had trained for the past few weeks successfully defeated their opponents along with their seniors. It was like the fruits of hard work. Also, seeing Aomine grin happily after the win, Miho couldn't help but smile herself.
Over the past few weeks, the bluenette had found herself infatuated with that grin that the blue haired basketball player wore whenever he was playing. Honestly, he looked so happy...
The practice match against Iken middle school ended up with a miraculous victory.
"Good job, guys!" Miho smiled and gave Aomine a high five after they all finished changing.
"Miho, we have practice after this, right?" Akashi turned to the girl as he strode up to her as they were walking back to Teiko.
After a couple weeks of training together, the four first years have fully accepted Miho as an assistant trainer—the red head included.
"Ah, Sei-chan. Yes, coach has an announcement to make today. Participation is mandatory," Miho nodded and put on a small smile.
"Huh? An announcement?" Aomine asked, butting into the conversation between Akashi and Miho.
The bluenette flashed a smile and nodded, "Yup! You'll know when we get back! I also have some flaw reports to give you all on today's match. Even though I'm not your private trainer anymore, I still am mostly in charge of you guys."
That was right. After the four first years have crushed their opponents in their first practice game, Sanada immediately promoted Miho and allowed to her take charge of all the first strings occasionally. However, she was still mainly in charge of the four first years.
"Ah yes, Miho. What was your grade for the latest midterm in math?" Akashi questioned the girl.
It had been a habit for both Miho and Akashi to compare grades. Both of them had rivaling marks and often score a perfect score on all of their tests. Even with basketball, the two tried really hard in academics. In addition to the two, Midorima often also competed, though he has lost to both Akashi and Miho a couple of times.
"Full marks. You, Sei-chan?" Miho replied.
The red haired boy narrowed his eyes, "We're tied, again. Midorima, what was your score?"
The green haired boy pushed up his glasses, "Full marks, as well."
Miho had let out a sigh at this. After a month of the same classes as the green haired boy, she had learned that he was extremely horoscope and fate obsessive, yet he still tried his very hardest to do anything. Miho admired his hard working skills and how he often achieved high grades along with both her and Akashi. Also, Miho felt that it was a lot easier to work with him on the History project now. They had come to understand each other more from basketball.
"What's with all of your obsession with grades? It's just a number!" Aomine protested.
"Mine-chin wouldn't know. He's a basketball idiot," Murasakibara stated while sucking on a lollipop.
Miho sweat dropped a bit at the group of first years. They were all extremely talented, yet the different personalities was a bit...
After many frightening experiences, Miho herself had learned to never disobey Akashi. That boy really had something with his scissors. He seemed to be carrying them everywhere and he would often threaten whoever dares defy him with those scissors. Nonetheless, after Miho learned how to stay on his good side, she felt a lot safer. Akashi was also a very talented Shogi player. Miho had played with him a couple times before while discussing basketball strategies, yet she never managed to win against the guy.
Murasakibara had an extreme sweet tooth. He would eat sweet things wherever he went and one could bribe him very easily with something sweet. Miho often made him homemade cakes and cookies to reward him if he practiced hard. Murasakibara loved the bluenette's cooking. Also, the girl had also learned that the purple haired giant was very childish at times. He literally had the personality of a child and would often swing Miho around in hugs after she brings him sweets. It was...very sweet.
As for Aomine and Momoi, Miho had found herself growing fairly attached to the pair. Although she would walk home with Kuroko or Kise sometimes, the bluenette usually took up Momoi's offer of walking home together. Sometimes, when the pink haired manager wasn't around, Miho would walk home alone with Aomine. The two would discuss basketball. The more she talked to the tanned boy, the more she seemed to love the sport.
Miho had also discovered that Momoi was a very talented data collector. Sanada was also impressed by her skills. She would often come to practice with sheets of the opponents' weaknesses and how to crack those weaknesses. Unlike Miho, Momoi's strength was in the offense. She would use her data to attack the players whereas Miho brought out the players' true strength.
The more time she spent with the basketball team, the more she was grateful for Midorima's last name. She was glad that the boy had a last name with a letter ahead of her.
.-.-.-.
"It is officially decided. Aomine Daiki, Akashi Seiijuro, Midorima Shintaro, and Murasakibara Atsushi, from today on, you four will be joining the regulars and wearing your own jerseys. Nanase-san will still help you with your training, however you will all undergo the same training as the rest of the regulars. Also, today we will have a new member join the first strings—Haizaki Shogo," Sanada nodded towards a grey haired boy.
The boy scowled upon seeing the audience, "Haizaki Shogo."
Miho skeptically stared at the boy. He didn't look like a passionate basketball player like Aomine or Kuroko. Yet, she could sense a talent inside the boy as well. However, he seemed quite delinquent like...
"Alright. Dismissed. The four that were promoted to regulars may head to the regulars court to introduce themselves. Haizaki-kun, you will be following Nanase-san's training regime for the first week here. Go!" Sanada blew his whistle and the boys scattered.
Miho walked up the Haizaki and gave the boy a smile, "I'm Nanase Miho and I'll be your trainer for the first week. Please follow me for now."
The boy grinned at Miho, "Oh, having such a cutie train me. What an honor."
Miho glared at the man, "Haizaki-san, you are here to play basketball and I am your trainer. All the things you do will be reported to Coach Sanada. If you do not want to get demoted, please show a more serious attitude."
Haizaki just merely shrugged, "Che, fine. Lead the way, Miss. Trainer."
Miho nodded and led Haizaki to an empty section of the basketball court. She took out her notebook and jotted down some notes on Haizaki's physique.
"Alright. We'll start with some basic testing exercises to test your stamina and body strength. I'll give you five minutes to do this set of exercises. Twenty pushups, thirty-five sit ups, fifteen lunges on each leg, twenty-five squats, and ten crunches. See how many sets you can accomplish in five minutes."
.-.-.-.
"It looks like Miho did her devil training test again, huh?" Aomine snickered as he saw Haizaki practically collapse in the change room after practice.
Midorima pushed up his glasses, "It seems that way."
Akashi stayed silent as he just stared at Haizaki and Murasakibara ate his snacks.
"Who the hell is that girl. Doing all those in five minutes and seeing how many sets I can do? Also, what's with those sprinting exercises?!" Haizaki complained before taking off his shirt.
"It's Nana-chin's way to test your strength as a player," Murasakibara remarked.
"Yeah, we've been through it too," Aomine laughed.
"Che," Haizaki cursed.
.-.-.-.
"These stats are pretty good," Sanada nodded.
Miho let out a sigh, "Yes, but there's one thing that Teiko's evidently lacking. That's stamina. The four first years that just joined the regulars lack stamina as well. They all have extreme skills yet their bodies cannot handle all that stress. If only there was a player who could help them out during the matches..."
"Enough of that. Nanase-san, from now on, you'll be focusing on the players' stamina training. The nationals are coming up soon. Haizaki-kun will be a regular after you polish his skills a bit. We need the strength of stamina during the nationals. There's nothing to think about—focus on a training menu that can improve the stamina of the players quickly. I'll take care of the rest. Understood?" Sanada asked.
Miho nodded, "Yes, sir."
.-.-.-.
"Five kilometers...no, one hundred laps should be able to settle it. Squats increase their leg strength but that's not my job... Singers run while singing to increase their stamina so that they won't run out of breath during concerts and competitions..."
"Miho!" a loud voice snapped the blue haired girl back to reality.
Miho looked up and saw the annoyed face of Midorima Shintaro in front of her. Oh...that's right, they were working on the History project.
"I'm sorry, Shin-chan. I was thinking about something. Was is it?" the girl asked.
"I was asking if you have the completed research on the Onin War!" Midorima sighed.
"Oh!" Miho took out a folder with ten to twenty pages of research in it, "Yeah, it's here."
Midorima looked through the notes. They were really well done and through—then again, everything the girl did was. She was a very hardworking individual and Midorima found it amazing how she could ace all of her classes and still manage to come up with such detailed and good training regimes. Also the way she smiled was...
Shaking his thoughts away from the girl, the green haired shooter took out his share of notes, "I have the detailed biography of Oda Nobunaga and the Night Battle of Kawagoe."
The bluenette smiled gratefully and scanned the notes. She could tell that Midorima really spent a lot of time on them. She felt that the two of them actually worked pretty well together and she was glad that her partner never slacked off.
"These are great! Now we need to research um..." Miho looked back at the timeline of the Sengoku period.
"There's the Battle of Okehazama and the destruction of warrior monks. Let's do those next," Midorima suggested.
"Mmm, alright. Which one do you prefer, Shin-chan?" Miho asked.
After the name calling thing that Sanada had requested, the four first years, Momoi, and Miho had stuck with the names that they gave each other.
"I'll do the destruction of warrior monks since that's a part of Nobunaga's history as well," Midorima explained.
"Alright!" Miho smiled, "Let's get to work then."
The girl took out the laptop and started the research again when Midorima paused her, "What were you thinking about before?"
Miho realized that he was talking about when she spaced out, "Ah...coach asked me to focus on stamina training so I was thinking about that. I'll give you a heads up I guess. You'll have to do some loud running around the school today!"
Midorima raised an eyebrow only to have the girl giggle before starting the research.
Training was going to be hell until the national tournament.
.-.-.-.
"One times one equals one, one times two equals two. Now I'm sure that all of you know the multiplication table!" Miho shouted at the first string boys as they stood outside.
"Yes, ma'am!"
"I want you all to continuously rehearse it while running your fifty laps today! If you forget the multiplication table, start over from the beginning. If I see any of you not reciting it, you'll be automatically demoted to the second string. Understood?" Miho announced.
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
Now, Midorima understood what she had meant from the 'loud running'.
"Alright! After fifteen minutes, you will all have a water break of one minute! I want you all to continue running! Even if you are dead tired, slow down into a jog, but don't stop running! I want you all to push yourself! Now start on my whistle!" Miho told the boys before blowing the whistle.
"One times one equals one! One times two equals two! One times three equals three!"
As the sounds of the boys' shouting echoed across the school field, Miho let out a small smile. Now time to see who broke down first...
.-.-.-.
Sanada stared at the gruesome training that the bluenette was making the team do. He couldn't help but let out a small smile. These training strategies that she came up with... Even if they were downright hilarious, Sanada was sure that they would be effective.
A/N: Disclaimer - I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of the characters.
Phew, another chapter posted. Well, now you all know the story behind all the nicknames that Miho gave to the Generation of Miracles, minus Haizaki. That will be explained in the later chapters.
jdawgjpn - Thank you very much for the suggestion! I will still kind of breeze through the part where Kuroko didn't join the Kiseki no Sedai and focus the First Year Arc on the part where Kuroko actually starts to show improvement and where both Miho and Akashi discover his true talent. Also, I think I'm actually starting to love Kuroko and the rest of the Kiseki no Sedai a lot more after writing this story! Thus, I want all of them to be in here! However, thank you for the suggestion and I will definitely make the parts where Kuroko shows his development and practices with Aomine longer and more detailed than the manga. And, well, I still need to fit in all the stuff about Aomine and Miho's past and how Miho changed her love to Midorima. O.O I really should've planned this out more, haha.
Anyways, thank you all so much for reading this! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review lots and give any feedback. Those things are always greatly appreciated!
Well, I love you all and thank you all so much!
~Yuvi