A/N: Hey guys, pleas take this chapter and enjoy I had fun writing it. Although I will admit it turned out very differently to how I expected. Well at least you get an introduction to Masaru outside flashbacks. Anyway on with the show~

-Chapter Six-

Las Angeles, California, United States of America

Mahogany coloured eyes flick open only to be greeted by the darkness of early morning. Masaru's breath rattles in his chest, t-shirt glued to his skin by a thin layer of cold sweat. The glowing numbers on his clock read 04:54. He groans, running a long-fingered hand through naturally messy raven-black hair. It's the third time in a week he's woken before 5am, not to mention the countless times he's woken like this since the end of March. Nightmares aren't uncommon, he's had them his entire life, at least as long as he can remember anyway. The frequency however, had gotten worse since Kisa had left for Japan nearly 2 months ago. It was strange, how his sister seemed to correlate to comfort. Then again they'd never been separated like this before, an ocean apart from each other without a steady means of contact thanks to time zone differences.

On the other hand, it wasn't like his life was exactly stable either. Kisa had been the only stability he really had outside the tiny group of friends he'd managed to gather in the year he'd been in LA so far. And now, once grade 8 finished and they'd have to split apart for high school that would all change. It pained him to admit just how much he missed her. But, there were studies that said twins had more trouble being separated than normal siblings and for him that rang true. Kisa on the other hand was probably doing completely fine; she always had been more independent anyway. Most of the decision to go back to Japan had been hers too, their Dad had just donated the money to send his youngest child halfway across the world.

Their Dad, Miyazaki Torou, wasn't exactly the greatest person to rely on for stability either. For one, Masaru had absolutely no idea what the man actually did, aside from the fact it required copious amounts of travel. More than half the time Masaru was left to fend for himself, in a house the size of a small mansion. As someone who had had people around his entire life, be it Kisa, Shiro or one of his friends, being left along didn't bode well. He was a naturally sensitive, people orientated person, and he craved the company of people no matter how much they didn't wish for his. Kisa was a classic example of someone who disliked company and often blatantly refused even that of him, her twin brother, with a blandly sarcastic and often offensive comment. Over time, growing up together he'd gotten used to it. Verbal abuse really didn't faze him anymore, to be honest not much did.

He breathed deeply in an attempt to slow his rapidly beating heart. The nightmares all ended like this. Just as there was about to be some kind of end, a gunshot, a final splatter of blood landing on the already stained ground, the line on a heart monitor going flat, something, the dream would stop. Then he'd wake up, drenched in cold sweat, clothes clinging to his skin. His alarm clock would mock him, glowing electronic numbers usually reading something pre-5:30 if not earlier. Afterwards, the comforting blanket of sleep would refuse to wash back over him. Masaru would spend the rest of the night tossing and turning, thoughts running through his head at breakneck speed. The lack of sleep was starting to affect his life. His grades were still high, yet all A's was just outside his reach. Even basketball wasn't as effortless as usual, being team captain didn't help either. The other players looked to him for leadership and advice, what use was he for that when shooting a three pointer took effort, as a shooting guard none the less.

A hand scrabbles blindly on his nightstand in search of his phone. Deft fingers wrap around the device as Masaru brings it into his line of sight flipping the screen open mindlessly. He clicks through his contacts automatically, he continues scrolling until a familiar number appears on the screen Nee-chan the only indication of a name. The call button is pressed without a second thought before the 14-year-old raises the device to his ear. The calling tone sounds a few times before the other end of the line is picked up, the sound of a book being slammed shut the first thing Masaru hears before any words are spoken.

"Isn't it about 5am over there Masaru?" Kisa sounds exasperated, as if talking to someone is the last thing she wants to do… which, to be honest, it probably is.
"Hello to you to, Nee-chan." A soft chuckle escapes his lips as he reaches his other hand out to flick the switch on the lamp beside his bed. Instantly the room is illuminated in a soft, warm yellow glow painting the white walls a comforting cream.
"I'm trying to do homework. 'Sides, you should be asleep." Masaru can almost see Kisa looking at him, muscles trained into a scowl. This sort of discussion is so familiar, starting off cold on one end, caring on the other before they'd dissolve into the banter of normal siblings.
"It's Saturday, and you're studying. You get the highest grades in the year without doing unnecessary homework." He replies easily, flopping back onto his back head landing squarely in the centre of his pillow.
"Yeah well… I've been doing basketball stuff all day and I actually need to do a physics assignment, not to mention I have an English test on Monday." Kisa retorts with absolutely no venom in her voice. Just a vaguely fond tone he's gotten accustomed to her using with him, Ryou and anyone else she actually deems likeable.

"You, who's been bilingual English/Japanese your entire life studying for and ENGLISH test. Jeez Nee-chan, what next, the apocalypse?" Masaru jibes in return laughter in his tone. If they'd been in the same room Kisa would have thrown something at him by now, or slapped him with a ruler.
"They're grammar Nazi's over here. Also, I got full marks on the last two, can't afford to let my reputation fall apart." She replies tone warming slightly. He can almost see the faintest hint of a smile playing on her lips, eyes twinkling with mischief.
"Sure, Nee-chan, sure." Masaru mocks, grinning broadly nightmare completely forgotten, at least for the moment. Kisa growls playfully on the other end of the line, breaking into chuckles only seconds later.
"Seriously though Masaru, you must have had a reason to call me other than mocking the fact I actually study." Her tone returns to normal, emotionless, cold, unforgiving. Sometimes he wishes Kisa would stop treating him like any other human. Then again they've both lost so much, her guard system was just to push people away.

"Oh yeah, when's Inter-High?" Masaru asked casually, running a hand through his hair brushing some of the wayward strands out of his eyes. Kisa doesn't respond for a moment instead the sound of shuffling papers can be heard.
"Mid June, Why?" She replies, curiosity in her tone. He chuckles, typical Kisa, always wanting the why or how, not just the what, where or who.
"Dad said I could go over for either Inter-High or Winter Cup depending on whether I had a tournament or not." He sighs sinking further into the mattress.
"So can you?" Kisa's tone is surprisingly hopeful. At least she actually wants to see him; maybe the separation is affecting her just as much as it is him.
"Nope, I've got a tournament. This means I'll definitely come to Winter Cup though; there aren't any tournaments in December. It's probably easier anyway given its always in Tokyo." Masaru exhales with a breathy laugh. Even if he can't see his sister that soon he will eventually. Besides, Winter Cup (at least as he'd been told) was the more interesting Japanese high school level competition. It also gave him something to look forward to, something to help him get through the rest of the year.

"I should go, it's getting late and I have stuff to do tomorrow." Kisa speaks up after nearly a minute of silence. Masaru can imagine her looking off to the side at her clock, narrowing her eyes in annoyance before turning back to her work. Evidently living alone had given her some sense of responsible time keeping. Otherwise he can see her never getting more than an hour of sleep.
"Yeah, I should try to get another hour of sleep. I've got practice at 8." Masaru replies taking a glance at the clock on his bedside table. 05:47, they've been talking for nearly an hour, a miracle when it comes to Kisa. "Bye, talk to you again soon."
"Bye." Is the only reply he gets from Kisa before she hangs up.

Masaru sighs reaching across to place his phone on the bedside table before turning off the lamp. Even if sleep continued to evade him at least he had one of the answers he needed. Now, he just had to wait, seven months, seven months until he'd get to see Kisa again. In the meantime he'd just have to tough it out on his own. He could do it; at least he hoped he could.

Tokyo, Japan

Sunday, the day of the week Kisa absolutely loathes. No school, no basketball practice, no nothing. Yes, she admittedly didn't like people but she also found the interactions of the human species particularly entertaining. At least she had something to do in the afternoon. The Kaijou regulars had agreed to meet at a street-ball court for two reasons. One: A secondary de-brief after the game on Friday concerning each member's individual performances and two: to get to know each other a bit more before Inter-High. She'd been invited because she had the performance notes. Kasamatsu had also mumbled something about needing to get to know the manager if she was going to be working with them.

But now, at 10:00 in the morning she had absolutely nothing to do. She'd read every single book in the apartment within the last year, done all her homework and had no reason to study for anything. The next three tests she had were English, which she was fluent in, Physics, which was just basic applied mathematics and maths, the one subject she could actually do in her sleep. No seriously, she had done advanced algebra when basically asleep before and gotten it correct, mathematical logic was the one thing that never evaded her.

Even the collection of video games she'd brought with her in both English and Japanese were failing entertainment factor. She'd played them all before but still, usually at least some entertainment came from breeding Pokémon or strategically defeating enemies in Fire Emblem. Boredom was the one thing Kisa would never learn to deal with. As far back as she could remember boredom had been the bane of her existence. Genius intelligence may have been a gift when it came to strategizing and academic endeavours but in general life, where boredom was an unfortunate reality, it was much more of a curse. Her overactive mind refused to stop, leading to a need to be perpetually entertained. It wasn't unusual to find herself staring off into space in an attempt to find something interesting to do. Over time the continued habit had lead to an incredibly overactive imagination.

"Dammit." The English slipped off her tongue instinctively as she tossed her dark grey 3DS XL onto her bed for the tenth time in the last hour. Unlike 'normal' teenagers she wasn't one for sleeping in on the weekends, preferring instead to get up at around 7am as per usual. Normally, finding something interesting to do was easier than this but apparently, today was one of those days. She just couldn't find something that kept her concentration for more than ten minutes, and even that was a struggle.

Maybe she was anxious about seeing the guys. Actually wait, that was illogical. She doesn't like people, never has never will. So why would she be looking forward to seeing them now? Kisa knew as soon as she got to the court and started the individual player debrief she'd want to leave. Dealing with people wasn't her talent. The only reason she could deal with Kise so well was because they'd grown up together and he knew what she'd been through. He understood when to keep his distance.

Thankfully, there was only three hours left of the tortures state of mind known as boredom. Then she'd go and see people, individually debrief the regulars after the practice match, watch them play some basketball to let off steam then go home hating people once more. The circle of life would just continuing going after that until a slump like this would hit again. That's just how her life played out, with a couple of moves half way around the world and traumatic events slot into the middle.

Now, she just needed to find some entertainment.

"Hey, didn't think you'd come and wait for me." Kisa greets the blond teen leaning against a signpost outside her apartment building. Kise just grins sheepishly adjusting the strap on his yellow and white messenger bag.
"Well, you live halfway in-between my house and the court so… I might as well escort the team's maiden." He winked cheekily golden eyes twinkling. Kisa just smirked, whacking him on the shoulder before starting to walk off down the street.
"You, coming." She looks back over her shoulder to see the blond rubbing where she'd hit him animatedly. Kise nods taking off in a jog to catch up before falling into pace with her. Kisa has to take two steps to his one but still manages to keep pace, she's used to hanging around tall people whose legs are twice as long as hers.

"Anything interesting happen since practice yesterday?" Kise starts the discussion easily running a hand through his hair, sunlight reflecting off the silver band he wears on his left wrist.
"Masaru called." She replies bluntly, fiddling with the edge of her jacket. They get a few strange looks from passers by. The neighbourhood they live in isn't exactly filled with teenagers so having two of opposite genders walking past who evidently aren't dating is an unusual sight. Not to mention the fact their dressed like sensible people, in jeans, basketball shoes, t-shirts and jackets rather than the usual scene style clothing most young people in the area wear.

It wasn't the safest neighbourhood out, but then again it also wasn't the worst. Compared to LA where Kisa had spent most of her time growing up anywhere in Japan was incredibly safe. At least there were no random people toting guns around. Even if she did live alone, that fact by itself made her feel about five times safer. Those who'd only lived in the safest areas of Japan like the centre of Tokyo would never understand.

"Masacchi doesn't call me!" Kise looking sideways at Kisa. The smaller teen just chuckled shaking her head in amusement.
"Because, I'm his sister, you're just the irritating childhood friend" She retorted, tone teasingly fond. Kise laughed, Cheshire cat like grin splitting his face in two.
"Did he have anything important to say?" Kise asked shoving his hands in the pocket of his dark blue jacket, sleeves rolled up to the elbows.
"Just asked me when Inter-High was. Apparently Dad said he could come watch either Inter High or Winter Cup depending on tournaments." Kisa replied just as they turned the corner into the street the court was on.
"So can he? Come to Inter-High that is." The blond queried starting to increase his pace once he realised they were the last to arrive.
"Nope, has a tournament apparently."

"You do realise your late." Kasamatsu yells as soon as they enter the court kicking Kise in the small of the back without a second thought. Neither first year offers a reply. Kise too busy whining about something or other while Kisa just laughs at the blond's predicament. "Be glad I'm scared of squashing you Miyazaki, otherwise your fate would be no different." With that, Kisa promptly shuts up instead choosing to hide behind Kobori and Moriyama. The two third years just looked on in amusement. Meanwhile Hayakawa rolled around on the ground in fits of manic laughter. They'd all given up on the over-excitable second year ages ago, to be honest, lost cause was an understatement.

"Since Kise and Miyazaki have finally arrived we should probably get started." Kobori stated staring down Kasamatsu who still had Kise pinned to the ground. The point guard glared at the taller for a moment before nodding removing his foot from Kise's back. The blond stumbled to his feet, brushing dirt off his jeans before chucking his bag to the side of the court and joining the group standing in a circle around one of the goals.

"Remember, this is completely informal and the coach isn't supposed to know. We're doing this in the interest of improving ourselves and our teamwork as the Kaijou basketball team." Kasamatsu spoke firmly, steel blue eyes observing the assembled players and manager before him. The other five people present nodded in sync, looking at the point guard with mixed emotions. "Miyazaki, you've got the performance reports." Kisa nodded exchanging places with Kasamatsu so she could look at each of the Kaijou regulars in turn. She momentarily thanked whatever gods had made her grow up around a bunch of giants. Otherwise she would have found the sight of 5 men all at least 20cm taller than her looking at her expectantly rather intimidating. Instead, the sight was honestly amusing, particularly Kise who was pulling a strange 'I don't wanna know' kind of face.

"Okay" Kisa started making eye contact with each player in turn. "Each of you did well, in fact there were basically no mistakes, so nothing huge to improve on there. You're biggest weakness is teamwork, no question about it. Ryou." Her eyes wandered to Kise who just tried to shrink back behind Kasamatsu. The third-year in turn prevented the blond from doing so by holding him in place with the assistance of Kobori. In the end he just settled for avoiding eye contact with the jade-eyed girl. A lesson he'd learnt very quickly was that despite her fragile appearance Kisa was not, under any circumstances, to be messed with. Her lack of physical prowess was made up for in intelligence, actually scratch that; her intelligence overcompensated for her lack of physical strength. Though, if one needed to be bought down a few notches she was definitely the one to ask.

"You're the broken link." Kisa continues, completely ignoring her childhood friend's antics. Calculating, cold pale green bores into unsure gold as Kise is forced to make eye contact with the small teen. It's an impressive sight to see. Kise Ryouta of the Generation of Miracles scared of a small, unremarkable girl. It just makes Kasamatsu wonder just how much each of them has seen. How much they've been through both together and apart. It's clear enough, just from watching them for a few weeks that they know each other well. But moments like this, when Kisa can pull the blond out of his arrogance that strike the other regulars the most. He didn't have this reaction to anyone else.

"There were multiple times during the match you could have passed off to one of the others but didn't. I don't know what happened to you. Before I left you would pass without thinking expecting someone to catch. Either you refuse to trust your teammates or something happened in the year I missed." Kobori and Kasamatsu let Kise go as the blond moved to take a step forward taking a swipe at Kisa's left wrist. The raven-haired teen dodges easily, drawing her arm behind her back in a protective fashion. They stand a meter apart from each other. Kisa's eyes are like ice, cold and calculating without so much of the usual fondness her gaze hold when facing the blond. Her voice and stance echo her gaze, she's still calm that's clear enough but her tone is edged with steel, stance defensive. Kise tells a completely different story. Defiance and hurt flash in his eyes, distant pain staining the golden depths. He stands slumped; completely unlike the peppy pretty boy they know him to be. It's as if being told he's weak, being told he's not perfect is one of the worst things someone can do.

"I'm not done yet." Kisa's tone is like a knife cutting through the atmosphere with ease. It's the closest anyone's ever seen her to angry and then again it's more of a creepy calm. None of them want to see what the storm is like if the calm before it is this intense, the storm after must be incredibly violent. "Something did happen at Teikou, after I left. The way Kuroko was acting gave it away. I don't know what it was, I don't know why, but I do know it changed you. If it changed you the whole Generation of Miracles probably changed as well. You're playing basketball as if it's an individual sport. Look around you, there's a team, ready and waiting to help." Kisa took a step forward glaring up at the blond defiantly. Kise moved to take a step back only to be stopped by Kobori who held the blond firmly in place.

"Why didn't you say something? You know I'm smart enough to figure things like this out on my own. I knew you were acting differently, I saw it from the time we got reunited in class. But I brushed it off as just a year of separation maturing both of us. Now, now I can see the truth." Kisa hissed grabbing her black and silver messenger bag, shoving her headphones on in the most violent manner possible and then bolting. Kasamatsu, Kobori, Moriyama and Hayakawa just stared after the small teens rapidly disappearing form. She could run surprisingly fast for someone so small, appearing more as a black and white blur than an actual person.

"Kisacchi…" Kise trailed off, golden eyes growing wide as if he'd suddenly realised what Kisa had meant. He sunk to the ground ramming a fist into the concrete, blood trickling from his split knuckles. "I'm not…I'm not turning into them." The blond whined honest, real tears spilling down his cheeks. The other Kaijou regulars just looked on in shock as their ace broke down at their feet. It made them wonder just how important Kisa's rant was. Something had obviously happened, in the past, something they'd probably never get the enigmatic girl to divulge. Something that she'd told Kise that now, now that the blond realised how selfish he was being, broke him to pieces.

Kisa's lungs burn from the lack of oxygen as she skids to a halt in the middle of a park far away from the rest of the Kaijou first-string. She stands hunched over hands on her knees nails digging into her skin through the fabric of her black jeans. As long as she could find her way back home it didn't matter how far she'd run. She just had to get away, away from Kise, away from the Kaijou regulars, away from people.

The world came in and out of focus as she stood attempting to force air into her screaming lungs. She wasn't made for running long distances, at least not in her memory. Her father had told her ages ago that the childhood sickness that nearly robber her of life did manage to stunt her growth and had a chance of completely ruining her lungs. Luckily, her lungs hadn't been affected, not yet, there was still a chance the illness could return and finish what it started. Still, there was a constant fear that her body was slowly destroying itself without her realising floating in the back of her head.

She hadn't wanted to say most of what she said to Kise. It just happened, the words came tumbling out of her mouth in an uncontrollable stream that she couldn't stop. It was as if her usual controlled composure had left her for that moment, leaving her emotions raw and her usually unspoken words forced to be said. It hurt, the realisation that even the self-control she prized so highly was wavering. But watching the game, watching Kise play as if he was the only person on court, as if he had no teammates. The scene bought back memories, memories she so badly tried to erase from her mind.

A pale, trembling hand reaches for the band on her left wrist peeling the fabric away from her skin before slipping it over her hand. The flesh beneath is even paler than her usual sickly complexion. Two scars mar the otherwise pristine skin, crossed over each other in the shape of an X. Both are faded, barely visible white marks, yet to Kisa they look as red and thick as the day she got them. Two surgeries, two scars, two times her dreams had been shattered, yet only once had she possessed the courage to bounce back.

Her knees buckled beneath her, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she sinks to the ground right hand firmly clamped over her left wrist. She can smell the scent of disinfectant and sterile cleanliness of a hospital even though she's nowhere near one. Hear Masaru talking to her in the calmest voice he can muster while tears trickle down his own cheeks. Even feel the burning pain in her wrist from shattered bones and damaged tendons. It's all so real, the events replaying themselves like a camera roll in her mind.

Then Kisa just goes numb. Her eyes dry of tears one final salty droplet falling to the grass beneath her. She glares at the ground, as if trying to find answers in the greenery. It's a fruitless effort; plants can't give her the answers she wants. She just wants to know. To know what happened, what made them change, what made them start to play basketball like it was a chore rather than a sport they loved like nothing else. Why? Why couldn't she just go back to her second year at Teikou? When everything had been so much less complicated, life had just been basketball, school and surviving.

"Don't, don't become like them. Don't step further into the darkness. Don't become like me. Don't fall so far that you can't even see the surface."

A/N: Well… I didn't plan for this chapter to be as angsty as it turned out. At least I got the plot moving a lot more, and gave Kisa a set of character building moments. Next time: a partial explanation, Kise and Kisa really don't know each other as well as everyone else thinks… and Momoi 'cause she deserves some love and it just feels right. Oh and the Inter-high starts soon!
Anyway, thank you a thousand times over for reading and I hope you enjoyed. If you did drop a follow, favourite or review it really encourages me to keep writing for you guys. I am also looking for a beta reader as I know I don't pick up a lot of grammatical errors (which honestly annoys me) so if you'd like the job please PM me.

Thank you again for reading
-Angel