~Third Quarter – The Teiko Basketball Team! ~

第二季: 帝光中学校的篮球队！

Through My Heart

Chapter 11: 新的学期 － New School Year

The birds chirped freely and the cherry blossom petals fell to the ground as a gentle breeze blew. It was finally spring. Spring brought about change. It brought about the end and a new beginning. For the Teiko Basketball Team, something new and unexpected was a bout to happen.

"Hey, Miho!" a familiar voice rang as the blue haired girl carried her bag and walked through the hallway.

She turned around and saw the tanned basketball genius running over with a grin, "Hm? Oh, Dai-chan! Good morning!"

"Yo, did you see the class roster? We're in the same class!" Aomine grinned excitedly—throwing an arm around the girl's shoulders, "Help me with my grades again this year, alright?"

Miho let out a cheery laugh, "Yeah, I will. Let's play basketball together this year too, okay?"

"Deal!"

Smiling, the two made their way towards their classroom.

After Kuroko joined the first strings, time passed pretty quickly. Teiko easily won all of the practice matches and defeated many teams. Christmas arrived and passed as well. The team had celebrated at Akashi's resort and had some fun. After that were final exams. After having private tutor sessions from Miho, Akashi, and Midorima, everyone managed to pass the exams.

Thus, it was finally the beginning of the second year of middle school.

"Ah, Shin-chan! You're in our class as well?" Miho gave a surprised smile upon seeing the green haired shooter sitting beside the window when she entered the classroom with Aomine.

Midorima raised an eyebrow, "Yeah. Is there a problem?"

"No! That's great! Dai-chan, Shin-chan, and I are all in the same class!" Miho giggled happily and took a seat in front of Midorima. Aomine plopped himself down in the seat beside her.

"It's too bad Sacchan isn't here. She's in Sei-chan's class, right?" Miho inquired.

"Yeah. I heard from Satsuki this morning," Aomine replied.

"Hm...well that's cool," the blue haired girl nodded.

Midorima stared at her as she tucked a lock of blue hair behind her ear. She had cut her hair again. Midorima felt a bit lonely staring at her. They haven't really talked about anything in particular for what seemed like forever already. He bought her a hair clip for Christmas and he doesn't even remember her using it. Maybe she didn't like it?

Midorima didn't even know why he bothered sometimes. The girl was too much trouble than anything actually beneficial. Why did he even care what she thought about the present? He had chosen it because he thought it would look good on her, yes, but in the end, it was just a present that Akashi had requested him buy. It was her birthday and they all thought they'd celebrate it. Thus, why was he so annoyed with the fact that she hasn't worn the hairclip even once?

Sighing to himself in disbelief, Midorima directed his eyes back to the whiteboard when class started. He couldn't wait until practice.

.-.-.-.

"Yo, Tetsu!" Aomine called as he and Miho walked to the gym together.

The blue haired boy turned around, "Aomine-kun, Miho-chan."

Miho gave Kuroko a tiny hug, "Te-chan! You're headed to the gym, right? Let's go together!"

"Yeah..."

As the three walked, Aomine started chatting, "It looks like you've managed to fit right in to the first strings. By the way, is it just me, or have you shrunk recently?"

"...You just grew taller, Aomine-kun," Kuroko let out an annoyed sigh as he retorted.

The three passed a window and the sight of Haizaki with his girlfriend caught their eyes.

"Wait," Kuroko stopped.

"Eh...? Hey!" Aomine shouted at the other boy, "Shoot, it's too late. They've already gone."

Miho let out an exasperated sigh, "If only he didn't have that habit of skipping... But I guess it's okay. I'll tell him off when he gets back. Besides, if he keeps skipping, he won't be able to keep his regular position."

"Are you serious?!" Aomine inquired at Miho's comment.

"Yeah. Well, no. He's a good player but none of us really like him," Miho replied.

Aomine nodded before jumping, "Crap! We're gonna be late if we keep walking slowly like this. Let's run!"

"Ah, yes!"

Miho was about to job after them when a familiar yellow haired boy caught her eye.

"Hm...is that..."

She grinned and followed him down the staircase, "Ryo-chan!"

Kise turned around, "Mihocchi!"

Miho laughed and jumped down beside him, "Are you going to modeling? When are you getting back home?"

"Ah...I'll be late today. You can head back first after your practice."

After Christmas, Miho's parents were sent to the States for an extended period of time. Thus, they left Miho in the hands of the Kise family. They were a kind bunch, and since they knew Miho from before, they kindly took her in.

"Ah, alright. But Ryo-chan, you're going to try out basketball this year, right?" Miho inquired. The two had a talk the other day about basketball and Kise had promised to give it a try this year.

"Yeah! I'll join the club tomorrow and give it a shot, I guess. No guarantees though!" Kise laughed.

Miho had been trying to recruit him into the basketball club for a while now. Ever since she moved to his house, she had been talking a lot about the basketball team and asking him to join. She told him that she believed he had 'potential' to become a good player. Well, of course he did. It was him, after all. However, to Kise, the whole aspect of winning without even trying was just kind of lame and a waste of time. He decided to give it a shot and just quit later on, saying that he had no time. After all, he couldn't say no to his cute childhood friend, right?

.-.-.-.

"Miho," Nijimura noticed the blue haired girl quietly sneak into the gym, trying to avoid being noticed, "You're late."

Miho jumped at the captain's voice before laughing sheepishly, "So I am. Ni-kun, please help me and keep it a secret from Coach Sanada?"

"You…" the black haired boy let out a sigh, "Fine. You better train us well today, though."

"Yes, captain!" Miho smiled before grabbing her whistle and blowing on it. She was excited to train the players this year. She learned a bit about training during the winter vacations and then borrowed some books from the library. The girl hoped that it would be another great year.

"Alright, let's start with our warm ups and footwork before Coach Sanada arrives!" she shouted and then gave another blow to the whistle.

Immediately, the squeaking of shoes against the ground and the huffing of breaths could be heard across the gym. Miho smiled at the familiar sounds.

It was the beginning of a new year here.

She clutched her notebook as she stepped through the gym—observing the players' movements and footwork. She was glad that their skills and stamina didn't deteriorate too much over the small spring break before the beginning of a new year.

She, of course, had been practicing her basketball skills. Not with Aomine or Kuroko, but with Kise. After moving in with the blond, Miho had begged him to play with her sometimes. She knew that he wouldn't laugh at or criticize her skills like Midorima or Aomine, and be a good teacher at the same time. She swore that guy was a genius. He was already so much better than her even though he just started learning. Miho would like to believe that is was just her talent as a basketball mentor, but that was probably not it.

Kise's talent in basketball was also why she had wanted the boy to join the team. She could see him making it through the ranks and maybe even joining the regulars someday. Miho secretly hoped that he could replace Haizaki.

"Miho, where's Haizaki?" Nijimura's voice snapped the girl out of her thoughts. He had an eyebrow raised and was drinking from his water bottle.

"Ni-kun! Um…I saw him skipping today with his girlfriend, I think? I'm not too sure, but I'm pretty sure he's not going to be here," Miho replied whilst grabbing a towel and chucking it at the captain, "Good job on the warm ups!"

"Che, I don't really have a problem with your warm ups anymore. However, that guy still seems to be having issues," Nijimura blankly stated, while pointing his thumb at Kuroko, who was now panting.

Miho laughed, "Te-chan's gotten a lot better! Besides I think he's—haha, never mind. That's confidential information."

Nijimura raised a brow, "You know…you've changed quite a lot too. You're pretty close to all of the people in the first string now, right? I remember you never called my by a ridiculous nickname before—heck, you rarely even talked to me!"

"I think we've all changed a bit since last year. You did too, Ni-kun. You used to glare at me every time I spoke," the bluenette grinned before whacking her notebook on the captain's head, "Alright. I hope you find something good for Haizaki-kun the next time we see him. Continue with five on five games for now. I've got to talk to Coach Sanada."

Smiling, the girl walked over to the coaches that now entered the gym.

Nijimura touched his head in annoyance before one of his buddies patted him on the shoulder, "Hey, you were totally hitting on her."

The captain promptly glared at him, "Shut up. I was not."

"Organize yourselves into groups of five! We'll begin the five on five minigames!" Nijimura shouted before lightly jogging back to the courts.

.-.-.-.

"Eh?! Coach Shirogane's going on a temporary medical leave?" Miho asked as Sanada came into the gym with the news.

"Yes. It is still unsure when he will be back, but the earliest will probably be in May or June," the man replied, pushing up his glasses, "I'll be taking over his position so a lot of the first string training will be on you. Show me your regimes from every week and have me check them over."

The bluenette widened her eyes, "A-Are you sure, sir? Am I really capable of doing that?"

"Yes, these were orders from Coach Shirogane before he left. You did well last year. Keep up the good work."

"T-Thank you, sir!" Miho bowed.

Sanada let out a sigh, "I'll be announcing some of the match arrangements this year as well as some of the promotions. You'll take care of the rest."

"Yes, sir!"

"One more thing," Sanada paused before blowing the whistle.

"Yes, sir?"

"I want you to pay close attention to those four second years. Since becoming second years, they've all stepped it up a notch. It is evident through the five on five matches right now. After winning last year's All-Middle School Championships, Basketball Monthly gave them a title: The generation of miracles," Sanada explained, "It fits them perfectly. From their rapid improvement rate and their skill, it can be deemed that they are all basketball geniuses."

"I see…and what about Te—Kuroko-kun?" Miho inquired.

Sanada ignored Miho's innocent smile, "You were right about him. He is an asset to the team and he's proven his skills."

Seeing Miho silent and with no more words to say, Sanada gave a nod and blew the whistle, "Gather!"

At the sound of their coach's whistle, all the boys dropped their balls and sprinted over to where Miho and Sanada stood. The bluenette watched with amusement as Aomine practically dragged the light-blue haired boy over.

When all of them gathered, Miho turned towards Coach Sanada, "Who do you think, sir?"

Coach Sanada pushed up his glasses, "Either Aomine or Nakamura."

Miho thought for a while. Aomine had to drag Kuroko here so it wouldn't be very fair if he got punished for that…

It seemed that Coach Sanada believed the same thing as he held up five fingers, "Nakamura."

The boy groaned as he moved away to start on his sets of pushups, sit ups, and squats.

At the Teiko basketball club, whenever the coach held a meeting, the last one to arrive would be punished with five or ten sets of squats, push-ups, and sit-ups. It was a good motivation and exercise for those who are slow.

"Alright," Sanada cleared his throat, "Kuroko Tetsuya. Starting from the next match, you'll be formally on the bench. Your uniform will be number fifteen. I'm looking forward to your plays as the sixth man. Afterwards, tell Momoi your uniform size."

.-.-.-.

Kuroko honestly didn't really understand what just happened. He was dragged, like usual, to the gathering so that he wouldn't have to do the punishment exercises. After that, he was talking to the bluenette and Akashi when suddenly his name was called. Everything that was said after that moment was a complete blur.

"Starting from the next match, you'll be formally on the bench."

Kuroko wondered if this was Miho's doing. Did she beg the coaches to let him into the regulars?

No. Of course not.

Miho wasn't the kind of person to do something like that. She is always supportive of him, but she would never do anything so selfish. No matter what the circumstances were, she always did what was best for the team.

Which meant that, it wasn't a lie. He was really finally on the regulars. After

all that hard work, he finally made it. It was so…freakishly impossible that it felt completely surreal. Just how had he made the regulars? Him?

Before his thoughts could completely wander, a arm wrapped around his shoulders and a loud voice thundered into his ear, "You did it, Tetsu!"

Aomine.

His eyes also met with a familiar pair of royal blue. Miho was smiling happily at him.

He really did do it.

"Huh? Aren't you happy?" Aomine asked after seeing no reaction.

Kuroko shook his head, "No, I'm happy but… To be honest, it doesn't feel real…"

Akashi gave a boy a smile, "It's not a borrowed uniform this time. You're a real official regular. Congratulations."

Murasakibara and Midorima also nodded in agreement.

"Well, I guess it's okay? Good for you," the purple headed giant nonchalantly stated.

"Yeah, good for you," Midorima sighed.

After the chattering quieted down, Coach Sanada opened his mouth to speak again, "Also, one more thing. Up to this point, we've been rotating the second and the third year starting members. From now on, we'll mainly be using Akashi and the other second years. Also, training will mainly be taken care of by Nanase for the time being. That is all. I'll leave the rest to Nanase's discretion."

With that speech, the man walked out of the gym with his clipboard in hand.

Kuroko focused his eyes on the blue haired girl as she fidgeted with her notebook pages before letting out a small sigh.

"Well then," she had a look of disbelief as she stood there, "Sei-chan and the other second year regulars remain. The rest are to continue their five on five matches. Record the scores and winner on a piece of paper and hand them to me at the end of practice. Dismissed!"

After the others had left and it was only the second year regulars remaining, Nanase smiled softly at Kuroko, "First of all, congratulations, Te-chan! I knew you could do it!"

She had run over and given the blue haired boy a hug before she could stop herself. After a very audible scowl could be heard from Midorima, Miho sighed and faced the boys again.

"Alright. Let's the year with some stat tests, shall we? Shin-chan, since you seem impatient, let's start with you. The rest of you start with the Ball Drop drill. Ask Sacchan for the tennis balls. Change your partners during the rest seconds and reduce the rest seconds to thirty instead of sixty," Miho scanned her notebook before snapping it shut, "Alright, go!"

.-.-.-.

"Te-chan!"

Kuroko walked out of the change room, only to be tackled by a mass of blue, "Urgh…Miho-chan…"

After she released him, Kuroko noticed the bright smile plastered on her face, "Let's go celebrate your promotion! I'll treat!"

"Huh?" Aomine came out from nowhere and his hand ruffled Miho's hair messily, "Are you seriously going to celebrate with Tetsu by yourselves? I'm coming along too, obviously."

"Nana-chin! Me too, there will be lots of sweets, right~?" Murasakibara excitedly asked.

Miho let out a small sigh before nodding and then turning to Midorima and Akashi, who had just walked out of the change rooms, "Shin-chan, Sei-chan. We're having a celebration party for Te-chan. Do you guys want to come with us?"

Akashi was the first to speak, "Ah, I apologize, Kuroko-kun. I'm afraid I have other matters to attend to today. But congratulations on the promotion. I'll be looking forward to working with you."

Kuroko smiled gladly. He was so happy that he had such wonderful friends and teammates supporting him. And to even hold a celebration party…

"No, it's fine. Thank you so much for everything, Akashi-kun," the phantom player gratefully smiled.

"It was no problem. Miho, I'm sorry, but have a fun night," Akashi nodded towards the girl before walking off.

After the red haired boy was out of sight, Miho turned to Midorima again, "Shin-chan, will you be coming?"

Kuroko observed the green haired boy's actions carefully. His eyes were hesitant at first, and then narrowed with worry, before finally showing a look of giving in.

"Fine. I'll go. I'm not too busy tonight," Midorima nodded and pushed up his glasses. Kuroko thought he noticed a tiny speck of pink on his cheeks—perhaps it was just his imagination though.

Miho smiled happily, "Alright! Let's go!"

.-.-.-.

"What do you mean you're only treating Tetsu?!" Aomine protested at the girl's exclamation.

Miho pouted, "Well…I actually don't have enough cash to pay for all of you…"

"What?! You said you would treat though!" Aomine complained back.

As the two bickered, Murasakibara mumbled a remark, "Nana-chin and Mine-chin argue like an old couple…"

Midorima flinched at the comment. Did they really look like a couple? Well, Aomine was relatively handsome and good looking and he couldn't exactly say that they didn't look good together…

The green haired shooter quickly shook himself away from these thoughts. He couldn't believe that he was getting infuriated over a girl!

"For goodness sake," Midorima growled, "just split the bill."

"Yeah, it's the thought that counts. Thank you, though, Miho-chan," Kuroko gently smiled at the blue haired girl.

Letting out a sigh, Miho reluctantly agreed and everyone ended up paying for themselves. Nonetheless, it was a great night. It has been a while since the last time the team decided to hang out together after practice. Miho didn't even realize how much she missed their company. Kise was fun and exciting and all, but it was great to spend some time with her new friends too. Besides, it was the first time she ever saw Kuroko smiling so much. The girl was so happy to see all his hard-work pay off in the end.

By the time the mini celebration that Miho hosted was over, the sun had already set and left the streets pitch black with only the glow of the street lights there to illuminate the pathway. The group all headed their separate ways and Miho ended up taking the same bus as Midorima on their way home.

Seeing as the bus was still crowded, the two teens stood silently while waiting for their stop.

"…Are you sure you went on the right bus?" Midorima finally questioned after a while. It was strange; usually the girl would walk home in the same direction as Aomine and Kuroko.

"Hmph," Miho pouted, "don't underestimate my directional skills. I'm sure I'm going the right way."

"I think I'm overestimating your sense of direction. Don't you usually walk home with Aomine?" Midorima scoffed at the girl's childish behavior. He knew all too well how well her sense of direction was.

Miho giggled back, "I moved. My parents are on an extended business trip, so I'm living at a friend's house for now."

"Ah," Midorima nodded, still slightly worried that she might have taken the wrong bus. However, his thoughts were quickly scattered when the bus halted to a stop. Midorima saw the blue haired girl losing what little balance she had and starting to fall in the opposite direction of him. Quickly, he gripped her wrist and pulled her forward towards him. This resulted in her crashing against his chest and having him hold her in a close embrace.

"Sh-Shin-chan…"

A/N: I do not own Kuroko no Basket or any of the characters. The cover page does not belong to me either. I only made slight edits to it to match the story. All of the above belong to their respective owners.

Ehhh, cliffie. XD

I will make this note super short today since I tend to ramble a LOT during these notes.

Okay so I apologize for the su~~~per long wait, but it's finally here! Yay! This will be the longest section of the prequel as it will basically highlight the remainder of Miho's time at Teiko.

Thanks for reading guys! Feel free to leave a review to tell me your thoughts on the chapter! Until the next chapter, I guess!

I love you all!

~Yuvi

(How was that for a short note? Hehe)