Through My Heart

~First Quarter: Her Talent ~

第一季: 她的天赋

Chapter 4：渐强 － Crescendo

Akashi was slightly amused when he saw the rankings for the final test of math's first unit. The ones who placed in the top ten were all members of the basketball club's first string. It's amazing how that girl could influence their math marks as well.

"Sei-chan, all three of us are tied again," a voice called to Akashi from behind.

The boy turned around at the sound of Miho's voice, "Yes. Miho, inspect the top ten names."

"Hm?" not quite understanding, the bluenette looked at the top ten names that were ranked and widened her eyes. They were all apart of the basketball team's first strings!

"...Wow...I can't believe my stamina training led to an increase in math marks as well!" the bluenette giggled before smiling at Akashi.

The red head smiled back before turning around, "We should head back to class."

Nodding, Miho bowed towards Akashi before walking away.

.-.-.-.

"Micchan! Can you believe it? It's the first time that that idiot Dai-chan got placed in the top twenty on a math exam!" Momoi happily bounced over to Miho during their second class of the day—science.

Miho gave a laugh, "Yeah. Our notes must've helped."

"No, I think it was the whole 'shout out the multiplication table while you run' thing! All the first string members got a high mark!" Momoi chattered.

"Hm, so you two noticed it as well," Midorima walked over and joined the conversation.

The bluenette gave a dry laugh, "Well, I guess that training exercise helped in ways more than one..."

"Hn," Midorima nodded before taking his seat behind Miho's desk, "Momoi, we are practicing against Yon Middle School today, am I right?"

The pink haired girl placed a hand under her chin, "Hmm, yep! Yon's a regular participant in the national championships, even though they have never gotten past the quarterfinals before. They specialize on attacks on the inside but they have a slightly weak outside. I think I have the notes on their ace in this note book somewhere..."

Momoi flipped through her notebook looking for the information on Yon Middle School.

"Shin-chan, Haizaki-kun is one of the starting players today. Thus, if any of you see him during lunch or whatnot, please do remind him that if he arrives late today or does not show up at the match, he will immediately be demoted to the second string," Miho requested with an angry expression on her face.

Throughout the past week after Haizaki had joined, the boy had been constantly late for practices and had disobeyed Miho's instructions in more ways than none. The bluenette didn't even bother to familiarize with the grey haired first year like she did with the other four since she was so pissed off at the boy's behavior. However, despite all that, she had to admit that Haizaki's abilities were quite capable and he was a fairly good player. Thus, she used this practice game as a last chance for the grey haired boy.

Both Momoi and Midorima let out a sigh at Miho's warning for Haizaki.

"We'll tell him if we see him," they nodded.

The bluenette smiled gratefully, "Thank you."

.-.-.-.

"One more minute," Miho glared as Haizaki hasn't shown up for the match yet.

"Is this the man you are looking for?" an unfamiliar voice sounded from behind the first strings and Miho turned around.

There stood Haizaki, Coach Sanada and a kind looking old man.

Miho widened her eyes, "Uh...yes, sir..."

Haizaki hurriedly walked over to the first stringers.

Coach Sanada looked at Miho, "All of you, this is the Head Coach Shirogane for those that do not already know. He oversees the entire Teiko Basketball team and he will be training you alongside Nanase-san from now on. Nanase-san, I will overlook the practice match today. You will stay here with Head Coach Shirogane."

The bluenette casted a glance at the old man, who gave her a kind smile, "...Yes, sir. Understood."

"I look forward to working with you, Nanase Miho," the head coach nodded when Miho greeted him with a bow.

"Alright, we'll get going now," Sanada nodded towards Miho and Shirogane and walked away with the first strings.

After they left, Shirogane turned to Miho, "Shall we head to my office?"

The bluenette hurriedly nodded, "Y-Yes, sir!"

The footsteps of the girl and the coach echoed eerily across the hallway. Shirogane led Miho to an office that was across from Sanada's office.

"Please take a seat," the old man gestured to the seat across from the inside of the large desk that was stacked with papers.

Obediently, Miho gingerly sat down and watched as Shirogane followed after closing the door.

Soon, the head coach gave the girl a soft smile, "Sanada tells me that you have been training the boys well."

Nodding, Miho spoke, "I try my best."

"That man trusts you a lot. I, myself can also see why. However, I don't think that you have fully understood your ability."

Miho sat dumbfounded at this, "Um...pardon my rudeness, but I don't quite understand what you mean..."

"You have a gift to see a player's true potential and you can help them achieve that potential. From today on, I want you to report to me instead of Sanada and I will teach you how to utilize your gift for Teiko's victory," Shirogane concluded.

The bluenette looked up, "Y-Yes, sir!"

.-.-.-.

"Mmm...it's just Dai-chan and I today?" Miho asked curiously as she started walking home alone with the tanned skinned boy.

"Yep. Satsuki's discussing stuff with the coach. Oh yeah, what did that Shirogane guy talk to you about today?" Aomine inquired after Teikko had won the practice match against Yon Middle School.

Miho shuddered at the memory. Shirogane was a very strict teacher. He wasn't satisfied with the things that Miho was doing at all. What she was doing right now was just strengthening all of their abilities—that was the job of the coach. Shirogane wanted to bring out the players' true potential from within them. The bluenette was deadly confused and had no clue what he was talking about.

Letting out a sigh, Miho replied, "I'm not even sure myself..."

Aomine raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean, you aren't sure yourself? You don't know what you were doing?"

Miho shook her head, "Nope."

Aomine didn't reply to this. Instead, he laughed.

"Well knowing you, you'll figure it out eventually."

The girl smiled. He was always so optimistic and he always said the right words at the right time. Despite his bad grades, Aomine Daiki was a pretty nice guy.

"Oh yeah, want to go get some popsicles?" Aomine turned to the girl suddenly.

Miho tilted her head in confusion, "Popsicles...?"

.-.-.-.

"Oh wow! These are delicious!" Miho smiled happily as she licked the blue popsicles that Aomine had recommended to her, "What were they called again..."

"Gori Gori Kun Soda popsicles, and they are totally delicious!" Aomine flashed a smile as he ate with Miho.

The bluenette nodded before stopping and raising an eyebrow skeptically, "Even so...why was I the one who paid for them..."

Aomine looked back and chuckled sheepishly, "Ah...well. I kinda ran out of money."

Miho shook her head in disbelief, "I can't believe you used me..."

With that, Aomine laughed and threw an arm around her shoulders, "Hey, it's fine! You seem like the kind that only spends her money on books so it's good to change it up once in a while, right?"

With that, the girl shook her head in displeasure before letting out a sigh, "Only this once..."

With that, Aomine let out a laugh. He was actually pretty surprised that the girl was this nice. At first, he thought she was just plain annoying when she told them that she was going to be training them from that point on. However, after actually doing her training, Aomine felt his noticeable improvement in the sport. Not only that, she also lent him her notes for many tests to ensure that he didn't fail. And boy, did those notes help. Also, every time they talked, she would just make him feel so damned happy—Aomine sweared that there was something completely and utterly wrong with him.

.-.-.-.

"Are you an idiot?!" Midorima's thundering voice jolted Miho as she explained her story, "I understand if you couldn't find the library in your own school—the library is in an obscure place. However, the public library is right beside the train station! How could you have gotten lost searching for it!"

The bluenette bowed in apology again. She had showed up half an hour late from the scheduled meeting time. Midorima and her were going to get together on the weekend and put together a section of the History project. However, that obviously didn't turn out too well.

"Che, let's get started before you get lost in your own idiocy," the green haired shooter turned on his heel and headed towards a table.

Miho let out a sigh. For sure, all the respect Midorima had towards her training regimes completely disappeared after this incident. He was back to calling her an idiot. This day was not going well.

First, her father had gotten mad at her for constantly coming back home very late on school days. He had ordered her to quit the basketball club. Miho, however argued that the basketball club was actually helping her grades by aiding her concentration. Of course, that was a big fat lie—not that her father particularly cared. As long as her daughter achieved the perfect grades, all was fine. However, after that he had scolded her about how she was being irresponsible towards her family by constantly not showing up for dinner at night or not participating in the evening family events; Miho didn't even think they had any.

After an hour or so of shouting and abusing, her father had finally let her go out to meet with Midorima. Then, because she took the wrong train and forgot which station to get off at, Miho ended up utterly lost and was completely late for the meet up.

The tension was pretty thick as the two partners worked. Miho let out another sigh as she remembered her father's words. She knew that she should've learned to just let it in from one ear and out the other. However, it was really hard to do so. She couldn't help but dwell on what he had said. Was she really a failure in life?

Miho went to grab her water bottle that she had brought, only to end up grabbing the lid, which she had forgotten to close. Thus, the water spilled all over the table.

The bluenette yelped, "Ah, I'm so sorry!"

"What the hell are you doing?" Midorima let out a sigh as he quickly gathered up all the papers.

The green haired boy had noticed that the girl was acting strange today. She had sighed many times during the past few minutes, and it was also unlike her to make such a clumsy mistake. He wondered what was wrong...

"What am I thinking? What's wrong with her is none of my business," the boy thought as he finished gathering the papers.

He saw the girl look up from her side as well, "Thank you, Shin-chan. I-I'll go get some paper towels. I'm really sorry."

Midorima let out a curt nod before sitting back down and continuing his research. However, after the girl had not returned after a while, Midorima was starting to get restless.

Eventually he stood up, "I'm just going to go see if she got lost again."

He walked towards the unisex washroom and asked from the outside, "Miho?"

When he heard no response, he turned the knob of the door and was startled at the scene before him.

In front in him was a wide-eyed Miho, who was crouched on the ground with evident tears in her eyes.

"Miho," the boy stated in a curt manner. He was more than unsure of how to deal with crying girls—especially one that's usually so happy and strong. Suddenly, he regretted shouting at her when she arrived late.

He saw her quickly wiping her tears away and letting out a forced smile, "Ah, sorry. Something got in my eyes. I'll bring the paper towels back immediately."

He didn't leave or say anything; he just simply stood there and stared. He certainly wanted to comfort or say something to the girl so that the look of despair would disappear from her face. Despite everything, it hurt to see her like this—crying, forcing a smile and looking absolutely broken.

Midorima, however, simply nodded and walked out of the bathroom. He didn't know what to do at all. Usually, he might have just ignored it over all. However it wasn't just anybody that was crying, it was her. There was something special about her that nobody else had. Why was his heart aching just from seeing her tears? Why did he want to take her into his arms back then.

Letting out a sigh, Midorima walked away from the area of his confusions and back towards the table. These feelings were pointless. She was just a classmate and he didn't need to meddle in her business. He could pretend he never saw anything—that would be for the best.

.-.-.-.

"I'll walk you home," Midorima offered as the two exited the library.

They had worked non-stop for three hours after the water-spilling incident and had managed to finally complete the mini assignment on the project.

Miho was glad. She was glad that the boy acted like he didn't see anything. Perhaps it would've made her feel better if she had just spilled out all her frustrations to the boy, however she didn't want that.

Miho was never a very selfish person. Ever since childhood she had never complained to her parents about anything. She had never talked back to her father during his lectures and scolding. She never complained about her parents' high demands over grades. She didn't complain when they moved away from her only close friend, Kise Ryota. Even with Kise, Miho rarely talked about her family issues. She tried her best to never show any weakness in front of others. Up until now, nobody has ever actually seen her cry.

Midorima Shintaro was the first to see her break.

It wasn't like it was anything intentional. She was just having a bad day and he just happened to be there to see it. However, it felt like something snapped inside of her the moment he closed the door without saying anything.

Miho knew he wasn't an idiot. She knew he could tell that there was something wrong. She knew that he saw those tears. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that there was actually something in her eyes.

Yet, he just walked away. If it had been anyone else, she was sure that they would've bothered her about it until she told them everything. Nevertheless, he acted like nothing happened. He still called her an idiot for spilling the water afterwards—he didn't meddle at all.

It was like the two felt a mutual understanding the moment their eyes met in that washroom. It was like something clicked.

She was glad. There were no words to describe how glad she was that he walked away that instant. It wasn't time for her to break down completely yet. She still had to wait before she could truly allow herself to rely on someone. She felt that Midorima understood that. Despite his usually insulting remarks and snide comments, Miho understood that the green haired boy was a very kind person underneath.

Smiling after they finished the project, Miho shook her head to the questions, "It's alright. I'll manage on my own."

The green haired boy narrowed his eyes, "You will get lost on the way home."

Seeing as he had made his decision, Miho let out a sigh and nodded, "Alright...thank you, Shin-chan."

The walk back home was fairly quiet. The silence was awkward indeed. Miho could tell that the boy wanted to ask something, yet she wasn't quite sure what.

Finally, not being able to take it anymore, Miho spoke up, "D-Do you want to ask me something?"

Midorima stared at the girl for a while before letting out a sigh, "Follow me."

Unsure where he was going, Miho obediently followed the boy. Eventually the two arrived at a basketball court. She should've figured.

There was a shed near the court and Midorima had entered it and came out with a basketball.

The boy proceeded to taking his sweater off and starting a light dribble in the court.

Miho watched silently as the boy dribbled and shot the ball from the three-pointer line. Of course, the ball zoomed in the hoop easily.

Suddenly, Miho widened her eyes as she stared at Midorima.

"He's shooting them so easily...Is it possible..."

"Shin-chan!" Miho shouted while running over to the center of the court, "Shoot from where I currently am."

The boy widened his eyes. He had specialized in shooting from the three-point line. However, he had never challenged his abilities to the center of the court. It seemed like it was a good idea to bring the girl here after all.

Nodding, the green haired shooter walked over to the center of the court and positioned himself for a shooting stance.

Narrowing his eyes at the basket, Midorima released the ball. He watched as it flew up high and bounced on the rim of the hoop. It rolled around the hoop for a bit before it fell in.

The shot had succeeded.

Miho saw the shooting and she finally understood the meaning of Shirogane's words.

Of course—it all made sense now.

"Strengthen your arms. Lift some weights at the gym everyday. Don't start off too heavy. Gradually increase the amount. The more pressure your arms can handle, the more easily you can perform that move. Also, stamina is dead important. If you lack stamina, you will not be able to do that shot many times. However, know your capabilities. Don't tire yourself out," Miho started listing the things that the boy could do to train himself, "And...try it again. I want to see it again."

Midorima was in awe. Seeing his shot just fly through the air and into the basket like that...he didn't think it was actually possible. He knew that he would be able to perform the half court shot someday, yet he had thought that he needed more practice before he could actually do it. Yet, with a strict order, the girl had overseen the ball flying into the basket.

It was almost like a miracle.

Not letting this chance pass, Midorima gripped the ball again and replayed his previous actions in his head. He would make sure that the ball could fly through the hoop perfectly by the end of the day.

.-.-.-.

Flawless. Beautiful, graceful and utterly impeccable.

Nanase Miho stared wide-eyed as the ball made a beautiful arc in the air and cleanly swiped through the basket. It was amazing how he could accomplish this in a mere week.

At first, the bluenette had undoubtedly felt annoyance towards the horoscope obsessive boy. However, that annoyance gradually transformed into admiration.

She felt like he was perfect. He always strived for excellence and kept to his motto at all times. Man proposes, god disposes. Miho sometimes wondered if Midorima was the perfect example of this. Always depended on luck yet never ever slacking off either. Even when others decided to take a moment of rest, Midorima still worked his hardest during practices.

She knew that he had often stayed after practices to practice his shots. However, his hard work showed off even more this week. In just a mere week, the shot that Miho had seen was perfected. There wasn't even anything to comment about when he had gone way past her expectations.

He turned towards her from the half court line, "Well?"

'Well what?' Miho had wanted to say. There was absolutely nothing to say about this kind of achievement. It was true that he was indeed talented—yet she knew he also worked hard for this.

Unsure, the girl put on a small smile, "Flawless, Shin-chan."

He seemed displeased by her reply. Of course, he wanted to know what else to improve on. He didn't want a praise from her—he wanted more tips for improvement.

"Hm...well. It's beautiful and all I can say at the moment is for you to keep practicing it! It's great!" Miho laughed.

Midorima let out a sigh, "Whatever. That was pointless feedback."

"Stop being so hard on yourself and accept praise for once, okay? I'll treat you to popsicles today for completing the shot," Miho suggested.

Midorima simply turned and faced the basket again, "I'll pass."

Miho was annoyed at this. She understood that he wanted to do his best at everything, yet he should allow himself more leeway in things sometimes.

Irritated, the girl walked up to him and snatched the ball away from his hands, "I'm going to lock the gym now, and you must leave."

Seeing that she had her mind set on it, Midorima let out a sigh and helped the girl put the ball backs into the storage room.

"Alright, milkshakes or popsicles?" Miho asked after the two finished cleaning.

Midorima raised an eyebrow before turning away from her with a displeased expression on his face, "I don't need any. I'm going home."

The girl was about to continue pressing when she paused suddenly. Why was she so determined to buy him something? It wasn't like it mattered too much, right? This was pointless.

Huffing out a sigh, Miho decided the leave the boy and head to Shirogane's office to tell him of Midorima's achievement.

Following Midorima's half court shot, Aomine, Murasakibara, Akashi and Haizaki's skills became more polished and each rose to another level after Miho trained with them.

And so, the days until the national tournament slowly crept by.

.-.-.-.

~ End of the First Quarter ~

A/N: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke or any of the characters.

And thus concludes the first part of Through My Heart, the prequel. This will be the shortest part of this story, by the way, so don't worry. There probably will be four parts to this. The next part is what I call the 'Kuroko Arc'. It's where Kuroko joins the team! Yay! I absolutely adore the blue haired phantom so I will love writing the next part.

Anyways, sorry for not updating yesterday! I was planning out the prequel and stuff. I have actually decided that I will focus more on the prequel than the actual 'Through the Hoop' story. This is mainly because I want to settle all the confusion between the AominexMiho stuff that's coming up in the actual story. And also, the promise between Midorima and Miho that was mentioned in the previous chapters would also be cleared up a bit.

However, that being said, there was almost next to no romance in the first part of the prequel...! O_O. Haha, well except for this chapter. This is actually when Miho first starts to realize Midorima's kindness and stuff. Also, Midorima is pretty dense when it comes to these things, so he won't actually realize his feelings until something pretty big happens. Also, I just found it pretty funny how Aomine and Midorima were in the same class in their second year in Teiko. It's like it was born for a love triangle to happen. Haha.

Well, other than that, thank you all for the support you have given me and this story! I also decided to add a cover for this! Yay! The cover is basically Miho with her sharp blue eyes, observing... Well, something like that. Well, once again, thank you all for the feedback! Please keep reviewing! I love reading all of your reviews, so please review! They give me motivation and I definitely update faster with more reviews.

And that concludes my ramble. Thanks for reading and please review!

I love you all!

~Yuvi