A/N: Whoop new chapter. Sorry its a bit late school and other stuff have been keeping me super busy as of late. Also this chapter took a lot longer to write than I expected because I actually ended up having to re-read the manga chapter it's based off in order to get the discussion between Kise and Kuroko accurate. The next one should come sooner as it has absolutely no cannon events in it. Just the Kaijou gang being absolute dorks. Anyway on with the chapter~

-Chapter 5-

"Kisacchi!" The small teen stops abruptly shaking her head just enough for her headphones to slip down to sitting slung around her neck. "Wait up."
"What do you want Ryou?" Kisa sighs glaring off to the side at the blond who jogs up beside her. He tilts his head to the side for a moment in thought expression serious for a second before perking back up to his usual hyper self.
"Seirin's in the steak house a block away from here I ran past them, I want to catch Kurokocchi as he leaves. Wanna come?" Kise spurts eyes brightening as if someone had flicked a light-switch in his head.
"You though I'd agree to that?" Bland sarcasm drips from Kisa's tone as she fiddles with cord of her headphones absentmindedly.
"But you like Kurokocchi…." Kise whined fixing her with those impossible-to-refuse puppy-dog eyes. Even if she was used to it he still managed to catch her off guard every so often. Or maybe she chose to give in occasionally.
"Go on your own," She deliberately clips her tone steely edge cutting into Kise's conscience like a metaphoric razor blade.
"You usually end up following on stuff like this anyway though." He's grovelling by now. It wouldn't take much more before Kise Ryouta, the great model and basketball prodigy would be begging on his knees for her to go with him. Frankly, it makes her want to laugh.

"I said, go on your own. If I end up finding you again so be it. I have an errand to run." Kisa spoke exasperatedly running a hand through her bangs regarding Kisa with a calm yet stern gaze.
"What errand? Do you need help with something?" Kise was doing a very good impression of an overexcited puppy happy to wag its tail at anyone who came past. He really hadn't changed at all; the concept of maturity was most definitely lost on him.
"No" She sighed, usually Kise would have given up by now but apparently today was one of those when he felt unusually pushy.
"You can run the errand tomorrow, it's late anyway. Please Kisacchi." He whined. Kisa deliberately avoided eye contact. If she had to look at those puppy-eyes for one more second she'd give in. And for once in her life she really didn't want to.
"I'm not stopping you." She replied, placing her headphones back on before taking off running again leaving Kise behind in the middle of the street.

In truth there was no errand at all. She just really needed some time away from people, Kise especially. Yes, she probably would end up finding the blond again before going home. Despite the usually puppy-like tendencies he had been showing Kisa could see the hurt behind it all. Loosing was a foreign concept to him after all; he'd probably want to talk about it.

Kisa was accustomed to the bitter taste of defeat lingering on her tongue. She'd lost more than just basketball games after all. Thin fingers subconsciously fiddle with her wristband, soft material rubbing against the skin beneath in a comforting fashion. Masaru had given it to her years ago, just after the accident that broke their entire basketball team apart. Now, it did more than just hiding the reminders of previous injuries. It kept a piece of her twin brother with her as well.

They'd always been close, her and Masaru, unusually so for fraternal twins. The number of things they'd fought through together had probably caused the closeness. From the days Kisa knew he spent watching her stuck in a hospital bed slowly fading away to nothing thanks to a childhood sickness that nearly robbed her of life. They'd only been five at the time, their older brother Shiro eight. To their mother dying in a car accident when they were seven while their Dad was on a business trip to Akita. The three siblings had spent the night huddled in Shiro's room together in a tent made of chairs, pillows and blankets. Kisa had been sandwiched between her brothers that night but still shivered violently. It had been the middle of winter something she didn't cope with anyway and the frozen clutches of grief had clawed at her heart in the most violent way possible. Even curled into Shiro's side the elder running his fingers through her hair gently, Masaru with his chin rested on her head hadn't stopped the shivering. That had been the worst night of her life, all three of their lives.

Now they're separated. She's in Tokyo living in an apartment made for more than one person. Shiro down in Kyoto a third year at Rakuzan high school. Kisa is honestly surprised he hasn't tried to contact her yet. They hadn't seen each other in over a year, Shiro had chosen to stay behind in Japan when their father had decided to flee back to America. It had been hard at first, being separated from the most stable part of her life aside from Masaru, but after a year she'd learned to rely on herself. She only wondered how Masaru, the most emotional of the three of them, was coping halfway across the world.

Kise leant against the street lamp outside the steakhouse Seirin had decided to dine at to celebrate their victory. Blond hair reflected the colours of the setting sun, golden eyes watching intently through the restaurant's window. Whoever had suggested they tried to eat their way through 4kg steaks must have been stupid. Kuroko looked near giving up despite having barely started and most of the others didn't look far behind. Kagami was the only one going still going strong cheeks stuffed with food much like a squirrel. It would have been amusing to watch if the habit weren't incredibly disgusting. (Not to mention that Kise really couldn't fathom a reason to attempt eating such as large serve of meat. If he'd even tried the modelling agency would have killed him in the most brutal way possible. The thought of it alone made him shiver.)

"Kurokocchi." The light blue haired boy looked up at the sound of his name being called upon exiting the restaurant. Shimmering gold met emotionless blue as the pair made eye contact.
"What do you want Kise-kun?" Kuroko said calmly tilting his head to the side eyebrows furrowing ever so slightly in confusion. Kise grinned light sparkling off his freakishly white teeth.
"I wanted to talk to you." He replied straightening adjusting the strap of his messenger bag as he did so. "There's a street ball court near here. Lets go talk there." With that the blond turns on his heal walking away down the street. Kuroko follows like an obedient dog a few steps behind Kise thanks to his shorter legs.

They walked in silence. It was unusual for Kise to be this quiet evidently lost deep in thought staring off into the distance. Kuroko makes no comment on the oddity of the situation. Usually the blond would be hanging off his shoulder spouting some kind of nonsense about being Kuroko's self proclaimed best friend. No matter how pleasant the difference was Kise's out of character acting was starting to get on Kuroko's nerves. He almost longed for the blond to turn around and tackle hug him.

A minute later they reached a park. Kise lead them over to a bench beside a street ball court placing his bag onto the seat before vaulting onto the back of the chair sitting on the thin wooden plank balancing on his hands and bottom leaning back legs flying in the air. Kuroko looked on mild disapproval tainting his gaze.

"You should sit properly Kise-kun." Kuroko stated blandly. Kise responded by slipping down onto the bench seat tucking his legs up beneath himself Indian style. The pair was then locked in an intense staring contest. Neither broke for nearly a minute. Kise appeared to be searching for something in Kuroko, golden eyes narrowed in determination as if attempting to stare straight through to the pass specialist's soul.

"I saw Midorimacchi earlier." Kise started fiddling with a basketball as he spoke looking at Kuroko with deadly serious eyes. "To be honest, I have trouble getting along with that guy." Light amusement sparkled in Kuroko's eyes at that comment. Neither he or Kise had gotten along with Midorima; most of the team hadn't gotten along with the horoscope obsessed shooter really.

"But his left hand is the real deal, especially on good days for Cancers." Kise continued spinning the ball on the tip of his right pointer finger before letting it roll back into his palm.
"Yes…" Kuroko replied trailing off slightly trying to figure out where Kise was going wit the discussion. It was unlike Kise to want to simply have a chat about another former teammate. Usually he had ulterior motives. Despite the blond's straightforward outward appearance he was one of the schemers amongst the miracles. He had a good head on his shoulders, even if he did choose not to use it most of the time.

"Well, seems like he just came to watch today, more importantly Kurokocchi dumped me. I lost a match." Kise sighed in a melodramatic fashion leaning back on the bench staring up at the sky for a few seconds before continuing. "It's just one thing after the other in my high school life."

"Hmm…" Kuroko blinked watching Kise briefly wallow in self-pity. If there was one thing he would give the model credit for it was being a fantastic actor.
"I said it because I had nothing to lose but I was still serious, you know?" Kise returned his gaze to Kuroko eyes deadly serious. The pass specialist blinked in mild confusion before their discussion from the brief encounter at Seirin popper into his head.
"About transferring to your school…" Kuroko trailed off waiting for Kise to respond. The blond nodded golden eyes boring straight into Kuroko with the most intense gaze he could muster. "…I am sorry." Mild hurt shone in Kise's eyes for a moment before he smirked, winking playfully.

"I'm kidding." Kise chuckled eyes twinkling mischievously before the deadly serious expression returned. "I have something more important I want to talk with you about. I want to hear your reasons." Kuroko blinked in mild confusion. There were many things the copycat could want his reasons for. Going to Seirin, choosing Kagami as his light, openly challenging the entire Generation of Miracles. He just hoped the blond wasn't after his reasoning for leaving the team after the Middle School Championship.

"Why? Why did you disappear just after the Middle School Championship match?" Kise's tone was dark, voice a few notes lower than his usual cheerful tone. Kuroko blinked in mild surprise tilting his head to the side in thought. He didn't want to give Kise the truth. That would take too long to explain and give him his motives to soon.
"I do not know." Is the answer Kuroko eventually comes to speaking in his usual blank, emotionless tone.
"Eh?" Surprise shone in Kise's eyes. The misdirection master must have had a reason for evaporating into thin air. It was impossible for a person to not have reason right? Everything had a logical explanation, right?

"I certainly began to doubt Teikou's policies because of that final. I thought that something was lacking at the time." Kuroko's eyes began to look distant as he thought of the past. Kise moved to say something but thought better of it. It was hard enough to get Kuroko to talk in the first place, interrupting would ruin the flow. "Sports are all about winning! Is there something more important than that? That was what I also thought before that time. That is why I still do not understand clearly what was wrong." Kuroko stopped for a moment as if collecting his thoughts. Kise looked on expression frozen in place. Of all the things he expected Kuroko to say it wasn't this.

"I hated basketball at that time." Kuroko continued regarding Kise with a steady gaze. "Even though the feel of the ball, the squeak of shoes on the court, the sound of the ball going through the net was all the same." The monologue continued. Kise just stared blankly at Kuroko letting the teal-haired males words sink in. Kuroko loved basketball didn't he? That's what Aomine had told Kise upon joining that club.

"I began playing basketball because I loved it. That is why I really thought Kagami-Kun was incredible when I met him." Kuroko didn't pause this time. His usually blank eyes held a determined light within them. Kise just nodded along with the pass specialist's equivalent of a rant. "He loves basketball from the bottom of his heart. It appears he has had some scary and bad times with it, but I think it is because of this that that he is more serious about basketball than anyone else." Kuroko finished looking pointedly at Kise waiting for the blond's response.

"I guess…I don't get it after all." Kise spoke almost solemnly hair shading his eyes from view. He chuckled almost darkly shaking his head so his bangs fell to the side away from his face. Sky blue met golden hazel as the pair regarded each other calmly "I sill want to tell you one thing." The blond continued tone rising back to his usual cheerful tone. Yet, a steely edge hid on the ends of his words, only noticeable to those who knew him well. "Even if his attitude towards basketball is why you value that guy so much Kurokocchi. There will come a time, when that guy and you…will have to part."

"Don't move." Kagami jumped about a meter in the air when the quiet, almost ghostly female voice rang out from his left. A cold, sickly pale, spidery hand gripped his left wrist in a vain attempt to hold him in place. "Don't worry, I'm not a ghost." The redhead whirled around to face the small, raven haired girl watching him closely with pale jade coloured eyes. Kaijou's manager looked up at him calmly single visible eye reflecting the setting sun.

"I wasn't planning on interrupting." Kagami responded struggling to keep his voice to a whisper. The last thing he needed was for Kise or Kuroko to know he was there. Their discussion was proving to be very interesting.
" You appear to be a reasonably brash person who doesn't think about their actions. I just wanted to make sure." Kisa let go of his arm stepping forward slightly out of the shadows to stand right at his side. Even if Kagami were used to Kuroko now he didn't think the small teen would have the ability to appear out of nowhere as well. She had certainly had enough presence whilst refereeing the game.

"Listen." Kisa commanded quietly dragging Kagami back into the shadows having noticed Kise's straying gaze in their direction. The redhead complied shuffling backwards upon the younger tugging his sleeve. It was clear just by looking at her that Kisa wasn't physically strong, incredibly fit, most definitely, strong? No. She wouldn't have been able to drag him back alone. Together they watched Kise and Kuroko. Kisa with the intensity of a hawk, Kagami incredible interest.

"There is a definite difference between me and the other four guys…this isn't about physical ability, that all have a special talent, that no one, not even me can imitate." Kisa took in a sharp breath knowing shining in her eyes. Kagami just looked on in mild shock. What on earth could Kise possibly be implying? That he himself had a special ability.

"I understood in the match today, this guy is still evolving.' The blond continued golden eyes boring into Kuroko. The pass specialist simply tilted his head to the side ever so slightly, Kagami took it as a sign of either understanding or confusion, he really couldn't tell. "And just like the rest of the Generation of Miracles…He hides a talent only he has."

"You noticed it to. Ne Ryou?" Kisa spoke quietly tone dark, voice half an octave lower than usual. Kagami just glanced at the girl out the corner of his eye. It was as if she was having a discussion with Kise without the other hearing. He briefly questioned the girl's sanity before deciding to drop the subject. The redhead had come to the conclusion very quickly that anyone connected to the colourful bunch known as the Generation of Miracles was at least mildly insane, including one Kuroko Tetsuya even if he was the sanest of the lot.

"Right now he's still an incomplete challenger." Kise's voice rang out loud and clear across the area. Almost as if he knew Kagami was there and wanted him to hear his words. "He's just playing recklessly and enjoying playing strong opponents. But one day…He'll definitely reach the level of the Generation of Miracles. He'll be in a different dimension to the rest of the team. Do you think that guy will still stay the same to how he is now when he reaches that level?"

"Bastard, disappearing when you're not even steady on you're feet." Kagami roared striding up behind Kuroko and slapping him on the back. Kisa trotted out after him, look of mild guilt plastered on her face. Kuroko blinked in acknowledgement stepping back out of the way giving Kagami a direct route to Kise. The blond himself looked surprised for a moment before schooling his features into a smirk, gaze razor sharp.

"Yo." Kagami half-said half-growled staring down the copycat without hesitation.
"You were listening?" Kise matched Kagami's gaze with equal intensity. Kisa just looked on from the sidelines leaning against the chain-link fence of the outdoor basketball court. She had no reason to get involved in the fight.
"Like hell I was! Why the heck did you kidnap Kuroko all of a sudden?" Kagami snarled venomously. Kise just tilted his head to the side in confusion.
"Eh? Isn't it alright just for a little while!" Kise whine-yelled looking up at Kagami questioningly. Kisa face palmed, of course Kise Ryouta logic would state that deciding to have a talk with Kuroko just as Seirin was getting ready to leave would be all right.
"We couldn't go back because of this!" Kagami roared. After hat Kise and Kagami appeared to be locked in some kind of never-ending rotating argument leaving Kisa and Kuroko to look on as mildly amused spectators.

"Shit, seems there's already trash here." The unexpected yell from the other side of the outdoor court startled both Kuroko and Kisa. They whirled around only to watch a series of disturbing events on the court. A group of thugs had walked in on the trio of teens that had been happily playing street ball demanding they leave in order to give the thugs the court. Calmly one of the thugs had decided to settle the dispute with basketball. Which they had, until the three that had been on the court previously were winning. Then things had gotten messy.

One of the thugs that had been standing on the sidelines leapt into the game elbowing one of their opponents in the face whilst blocking a dunk. Then an argument broke out about the fairness of the match. The thugs resorting to violence in order to subdue the three who had been playing. In the end the trio ended up fleeing the court, covered in various scraps and bruises.

"Huh? Where'd Kurokocchi go?" Kise queried once he and Kagami had finally finished their argument. Kagami looked around not seeing Kuroko until his eyes landed on the street ball court. Kisa just blinked in realisation. Usually she was one of the few people, like Akashi who could keep track of the invisible teen but apparently he'd gotten even more invisible in her year of absence.

"No matter how you look at it, it is unfair." Kuroko's bland voice rang out from the centre of the court. He spun a ball on the tip of his finger hitting the lead thug on the nose as it spun. The larger teen recoiled at the ball's touch exclaiming something along the line of HOT with a large number of expletives on the side.
"What the hell? Where do you bastards keep coming from?" The thug roared glaring at Kuroko moving to swipe at the small teen. Kuroko dodged to the side easily blinking impassively.
"I do not believe this is basketball. More than anything, it is not good to use violence." Kuroko stated staring up at the thug emotionlessly. The larger just stared back in shock as if he'd never been challenged before, certainly not by someone of Kuroko's stature at least.

"What the fuck do you want?" Another one of the thugs roared from the sidelines. The calmest of the group looked on in disdain before a smirk spread itself across his sly features.
"We'll settle it with basketball then." The calm one stated taking the ball from Kuroko with ease.

"Mind if we join." Kise's overly cheerful voice rang across the court as he and Kagami came to stand behind Kuroko.
"Don't go jumping in on things like this all of a sudden." Kagami scolded Kuroko grabbing the smaller teen's head, ruffling already naturally messy blue hair. The thugs seemed to recoil backwards at the appearance of the Kaijou and Seirin aces. Various exclamations of HUGE! And expletives rang across the court. Kisa just chuckled from where she stood on the sidelines fiddling with her watch. This match would prove to be entertaining.

The next ten minutes was a whirlwind of complete and utter domination. Kise, Kagami and Kuroko easily managed to curb stomp the thugs without even breaking a sweat. One of the most amusing parts is when Kuroko decided to use his misdirection to completely mess with the thugs' heads. He'd run through them passing the ball at high speed between Kagami and Kise. At one point one of the thugs even looked dizzy from trying to follow the ball.

"Well done, looks like you didn't even need to break a sweat." Kisa drawled from the sidelines clapping sarcastically. The thugs were a pile of sweaty, panting, absolutely exhausted bodies on the ground sprawled in a variety of unfashionable ways. It really was amusing, to think that they'd been acting all tough ten minutes ago and now looked like nothing more than scared little mouse ready to be eaten by a predatory cat.

"Thanks, Kisacchi!" Kise exclaimed leaping at the girl in an attempt at a tackle hug. Kisa dodged to the side with ease letting the blond crash into the chain-link fence.
"One would think you'd learn by now Ryou." Kisa sighed looking across at the blond crying crocodile tears in order to mourn his precious, handsome face. In reality he hadn't even attained a scratch. "We should probably go."

Kise nodded dragging himself back to standing. Kuroko and Kagami simply waved them away before the pair left walking away into the sunset. No one bothered to make any ironic comment about cheesy, cliché romantic films for fear of Kisa slipping arsenic into their tea…or something. She seemed like the kind of person to play not quite funny practical jokes on people.

"I'm surprised you didn't decide to join in playing." Kise commented out of nowhere as the pair made their way down the street towards the building Kisa's apartment was located in.
"They didn't need any more curb stomping. Adding me into the mix would have been overkill." Kisa replied calmly flipping her phone open absentmindedly clicking through her texts. "Besides they probably would have targeted my physically." Kise just watched on, as Kisa seemed to visibly deflate slumping slightly as she glared at her phone screen.

"What is it?" He queried looking over the girl's shoulder. She flipped her phone shut again instantaneously straightening shoving the black and purple device back into her messenger bag.
"Nothing." Kisa replied checking her watch just as they reached the door of her apartment building.
"Well, see you at practice tomorrow." Kise called back over his shoulder as he started walking down the street hands in pockets sunset reflecting off his hair creating a golden halo around his head.
"You too." Kisa yelled back slipping into the lobby of her apartment building.

The chandelier was almost alarmingly bright compared to the evening light outside as she stepped into the lobby making a beeline for the staircase. It was good exercise, racing up the staircase to the sixth floor. She'd nearly gotten it down to an art form in fact managing to get up in less than two minutes if no one decided to take their sweet time in front of her.

At least the game hadn't worked out too badly in the end. Sure they'd lost but at least it was just a practice match right? They'd have another chance sometime. Victory tasted even sweeter when it was in revenge, at least in her experience.

"Don't worry Ryou, we will get our revenge. For you, for Kaijou."

A/N: Thankyou so very much for reading please follow, favourite and review if you enjoyed. Also I have a question for you guys about romance in this story, I am leaning towards pairing Kisa with someone (If you read between the lines a bit I think it's pretty obvious who I'm leaning towards) but I want your opinion. If it's inconclusive I'm going to go with my gut. Basically who would you like Kisa to be in a romantic relationship with noting that Kise is out of the question, as I want to keep their relationship strictly platonic. So please answer that in your review if you choose to leave one. (another option is also having no romance whatsoever.)

Thank you
-Angel