Ha.

I'm tired. Sleeping at 12:00 AM or later is definitely taking a toll.

BTW, I'm going to try my best to update chapters with several of the manga chapters at a time. One chapter per chapter of my story seems to be a bit too short... is that alright?

And sorry for the lack of updates. (x_x)

I am ashamed. I am thoroughly ashamed.

Chapter 15 - She's definitely strong

Kagami dunked the ball violently into the hoop.

Shinkyou and the audience stared at the continually shuddering backboard in shook.

"What... what just happened?" Papa demanded.

Shinkyou's captain ran past Kagami and Papa and caught the ball. "Let's get them back!"

Less than a second later, Kuroko knocked the ball out of his hands. He swiped it towards the hoop where Kagami already was.

Kagami dunked the ball again, shocking the opponents and audience alike.

"Did he seriously dunk a ball that was just stolen!?" One of the spectators gasped. "And he even dunked twice in a row... this is just the first round of the preliminaries!"

"This is pretty amazing," Hyuuga murmured. "Was Kuroko always this strong? Of was he just mad that he was called a kid?"

"I wonder..." Kagami pondered, recalling on what Papa said. "Maybe it's his way of saying to not underestimate them 'when you haven't even played against them?'"

"Damn it" Shinkyou's captain cursed. "Was Seirin always that strong!?"

"END OF THE QUARTER!" The referee blew his whistle.

"A 15 point lead!" Hazuki mused. "That's quite a gap."

Riko nodded. "We can't relax though."

"This is amazing!" Furihata said to the others. "Isn't this an overwhelming win?"

"What are you saying!? It's going to be troublesome from now on," Riko frowned. "Kuroko-kun, you're substituted."

He gave a short nod.

"We'll have to preserve Kuroko-kun for a while, but we can't let the difference in points go down during the period of time," she continued. "If you look at it, the other four players aren't as big as a threat to us. Hazuki, you'll substitute Kuroko-kun."

She looked up, now alert. I wonder who I will be guarding against?

"Kagami-kun, you have to defeat Dad," Riko said seriously. "You're the only one who might be able to counter that height!"

"Leave it to me!" Kagami announced.

Meanwhile on the Shinkyou Gakuen side, tick marks were sprouted all over the face of their coach.

"All of you guys... are you even motivated!?" He growled.

"Uweh!" One of the players jumped.

"Especially you... Papa."

He gave a shocking jolt of horror at the coach's thunderous face.

"I wasn't sleeping! No wait! I did sleep! Yesterday!" He protested loudly.

"As long as Papa is playing, we'll win the match with his height," the coach ordered. "Do it like we practiced!"

"YES!"

"The coach has been getting angrier lately," The captain of Shinkyou pinched his nose. "If we lose here, our training will be hell. Papa, you still want to play in matches right?"

"I don't wanna train!" Papa spluttered in broken Japanese. "Matches are good! We will win!"

Riko put her hand on Hazuki's shoulder.

"Kuroko-kun usually doesn't have someone to guard, since he uses misdirection. I want you and Izuki-kun to switch places and guard Shinkyou's captain. I already told him that he'll be guarding number eight."

Hazuki nodded, "Okay."

Papa walked onto the court, trembling from the wrath of his coach. He turned to look at Seirin wearily when he spotted Hazuki.

"Captain, are Japanese kids not only short but also girly looking?" Papa pointed.

"Papa, what are you talking about?" The captain asked incredulously.

"That number 14 looks like a girl!" Papa said.

"Papa, don't be ridiculous... WHAT THE!?" he jumped. "What is this!?"

"For some reason I feel like this is going to be standard routine for every match," Hyuuga muttered. "Just like how Kuroko is, appearing out of nowhere."

"I would have thought the other team would have researched us and found that out," Izuki said. "But to be honest I don't blame them completely."

"Coach..." Koganei said. "For some reason I'm beginning to feel like this choice of yours was because you wanted to see this."

"...I have no idea what you are talking about."

Seirin, except for Kuroko, all sweatdropped.

Shinkyou's team confusedly stared at her but there was no time for them to stay bewildered. They passed the ball from one end of the court and ran down towards the other hoop.

Their captain took the basketball and positioned himself to shoot.

That fast? As expected of a captain, Hazuki thought. "But..."

She swiped the ball out of his hands and swerved around him to run to the other basket.

"He's not as fast as Teppei," She muttered, thanking her brother in her head.

"What are you guys doing!" Shinkyou's coach yelled. "Get back the ball!"

Hazuki made a bouncing back to Izuki who threw it to Kagami. He grinned and made a dunk into the basket once again.

The audience gaped at the third dunk from Kagami, but their eyes were more fixated on Hazuki.

"That number fourteen... is a girl right?!" A spectator pointed.

"Is that even legal!?" Another demanded.

Hazuki briefly thought of their scheming (demonic) coach.

Probably not, she scratched her cheek sheepishly.

"Good job Fujidana!" Izuki said, giving her a high-five. Mitobe smiled and gave an encouraging nod to her.

"We'll get them back!" Shinkyou's captain yelled. "Papa!"

Papa caught the ball from their captain and leaped towards the hoop, towering over Kagami. He dunked over his head cleanly and glared at Seirin.

"I will not lose to a team with a child and a girl!" Papa shouted. "I'm serious now, I won't lose!"

Kagami only smirked. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear!"

It was Seirin's turn to go on the offense now. Hyuuga attempted a 3-pointer, but from his position and expression on his face, the timing was clearly off.

Kagami stepped in front of Papa and blocked him from the hoop.

"This... this guy!" Papa growled.

He lunged for the ball and grabbed it out of Papa's reach. He raced down to the other end of the court and shot it into the hoop.

"Nice, Kagami!" Kawahara shouted.

"Don't mind it Papa!" Shinkyou yelled as Papa got the ball from the captain. "Here's the ball!"

Kagami glared at Papa right in the eyes, startling him. He hesitantly threw it back to the captain.

"What's wrong Papa! Challenge him!"

Kagami-kun... is getting higher and higher each time he goes one-on-one? Hazuki frowned.

"Damn it, why can't we catch up!" A Shinkyou player cursed.

Riko stared at Kagami in astonishment. "Isn't he doing... too well?"

I knew he had great potential, Riko thought. But this progress is on a whole different level!

Kuroko recalled Kise's words after their practice match.

"One day... he'll definitely reach the level of the Generation of Miracles. He'll be on a different level from the rest of the team. Do you think that that guy will still stay the same as he is now?"

He looked at the court pensively.

A few moments later, Shinkyou's captain made a clean three-pointer making the score 51-62.

I missed the chance to take away the ball, Hazuki thought. He's much faster than I thought.

"I don't want to cut it this close," Riko muttered. "Kuroko-kun! Can you go in for the last 5 minutes..."

"I've been ready for a while now." Kuroko raised his hand.

"Ah... sorry sorry! Go! Go!" Riko hastily pointed to the court.

"Substitution!" A referee at the table shouted.

Looking at the number seven Kuroko made on his hand, Hazuki walked off the court and gave him a high-five.

That was a bit faster than I thought, Hazuki thought ruefully. But Kagami and Kuroko work together better than I do on my own.

Kuroko nodded to her, a little dazed and didn't raise his hand to meet her high-five.

"Are you okay?" she frowned and waved her hand in front of his face.

Kuroko blinked. "Yes."

"...If you say so?" Hazuki scratched her cheek and walked back to the Seirin bench.

The referee blew the whistle to signal the restarting of the game.

"Okay," Riko patted Hazuki on the shoulder. "How was facing off the other team's captain today?"

"I wish I was faster and got the ball before he made the three-pointer," Hazuki sighed.

"Don't underestimate how emotions motivate a player's skills, especially near the end of a game," Riko said. "Miracles generally happen then."

She nodded in response, a little pensive as Kuroko made his boomerang like passes between Seirin players, earning them points consecutively.

"What the hell are those passes!?" A Shinkyou player yelled.

"Stay focused!" Hyuuga ordered. "Charge!"

"I won't lose here!" Papa yelled as he jumped with the ball.

"You said that you were disappointed with the Generation of Miracles," Kagami shouted, jumping over Papa. "But you're way too full of yourself!"

"Those guys... are definitely strong!"

"End of the match!" The referee blew his whistle as the score ended safely with a score of 67-76.

Riko sighed in relief as the Seirin benchers cheered to their team on the court.

The Shinkyou players were despondent as they walked back to their bench. Meanwhile, Papa walked to Kagami.

"I lost," he said.

"Hah?" Kagami asked.

"Please play hard for me in your next game."

"Oh... oh sure," Kagami said almost sheepishly.

"I mean... you're an idiot! Idiot idiot!" Papa yelled as his captain came over to drag him back. "I won't lose next time!"

Tick marks sprouted over Kagami. "Why the..."

Seirin just sighed in exasperation.

"Kagami-kun is still a kid," Kuroko said.

"Shut up!"

Hazuki smiled and clapped happily. She looked around at the audience as well, curious to their responses at their victory.

She caught sight of a bespectacled greenhead staring at their end of the court.

Blinking in recognition, she remembered him another sports arena two years ago.

Competing against her brother.

Is he here to scout us? she wondered.

"Fujidana, we're leaving!" Kawahara shouted to her.

"...Coming!"