"Those losses made me hurt," Shira muttered, almost only to herself, as she bit at her water bottle's mouth. She'd gone to watch Seirin's matches, but the team recieved a thrashing both games. Ishimura had stormed off during the last game halfway through, muttering about how useless the boys were and how they shouldn't have been so disheartened by their loss to Touou. Shira almost felt sorry for Ishimura, the girl lived and breathed the victories of Seirin and to see them get disheartened would have pissed her off more than anything.

"How would you know?" Kazuki Katsuo let out a laugh, eyeing his friend in earnest. He had played against Seirin early on and the team was completely thrashed. Shira looked to him for a moment. Although Kazuki's team had finished basketball for the year, he wasn't overly upset about the fact. She could still hear him beaming through the phone after his loss to Seirin - he had been pissed off with Ishimura unsurprisingly - about how he had next year to get to the finals.

"Know what?"

"Hurting from the loss of a game," Kazuki laughed again. Shira blinked twice, letting his words sink into her mind. Losing, the word seemed foreign to her and the emotion definitely wasn't one she had felt before. The closest she came to it, like Ishimura, was when they watched Seirin fall from the pedestal they had carefully crafted themselves.

"I guess I don't."

"There's no guessing about it Tamiko. We don't know how to lose a game." Shira and Kazuki both jumped and turned around quickly, seeing that Meyer Victoria had walked into the gym. Her grey eyes lingered on Shira for a moment, seemingly wondering if she was interrupting something before she walked over to the pair. Shira raised one eyebrow at her friend, wondering why she was late for her usual time but didn't press the matter. Why Meyer was late, only Meyer knew.

"See, at least one of you Queens gets it," Kazuki teased, poking his tongue out. Meyer laughed, shaking her head at him as her eyes shonefor a moment. Uh oh, Shira thought, I know that look.

"And you, my dear Katsuo, don't know what it's like to win." In return to her sly, and only slightly true comment, Kazuki grabbed Shira's bottle and flicked water towards Meyer. She laughed again, easily dodging the waters trajectory before wrapping her fingers around his wrist. Before he could react she'd snatched the bottle from his hands and emptied the contents on his head.

"Ah, Meyer, it's cold," Kazuki whined as he shook his head, splashing water droplets onto both Meyer and Shira. Shira squealed in irritation, kicking the back of his knee annoyed but Meyer just laughed again.

"Such slow reflexes for a basketballer," Meyer tsked but she broke into another laughed when Kazuki shook his head at her. Nodding his head back to the door that had just opened, he notified them to the arrival of Jo and Takami. Meyer looked over her shoulder to her team mates, nodding slightly, before looking to Shira.

"Suppose we should start getting ready. You staying to watch Katsuo?"

"Hmm, you're offering to let me stay and watch five beautiful girls get all hot and bother playing basketball, what do you think my answer is?"

"We'll meet with you at Maji after practice," Jo commented as she walked past Kazuki, clamping her hand on his shoulder. Kazuki looked up to her, smiling feebly before looking back to Meyer and Shira who were stifling laughs. No matter how many times he attempted to watch them practice, Jo would always chase him off before long. At least Ishimaru was running late today, he didn't have to listen to her grumbling about Seirin's loss consistently.

"Nice talking to you Jo, you're always the charmer," Kazuki called after the tall centre, only to hide behind Meyer when she stopped and glared back at him. Meyer laughed again, unlatching his hand from her shoulder and looking over her shoulder up to him.

"You know, if you're going to hide behind someone it should be Tamiko, she has a good four centimetres on you," Meyer pointed out. Kazuki nodded only half paying attention to what she said, but he had to admit she was right. Meyer was the shortest girl in the basketball team, standing at one hundred and sixty four centimetres and a good twenty centimetres under Kazuki. He had always thought, the first day she had come up to speak to him earlier in the year, that she looked quite short and cute compared to him and his basketball friends, until he saw her next to Jo. He had never met anyone as tall as her and she made him look tiny.

"Yeah but Shira-chan would hand me over like that," Kazuki clicked his fingers before laughing, "but I also know when I'm no longer welcome. I'll meet you at Maji's later." His last comment was directed to both Meyer and Shira, but he continued his gaze towards Meyer. He couldn't help it, not because he was attracted to her but because there was this thing residing in her iris'. He'd noticed it slightly at the beginning of the year but whatever it was had grown larger throughout the year. Nothing physical of course, but there was something. It bugged him.

"We'll catch you later Kazu-Kun."

...

Kazuki didn't know what possessed him to go to Maji burged early. Hell, most of the time he left ten minutes after the time they were meant to meet because the girls had a tendency to over train. But there he was, standing in the line at Maji burger, trying to think of something to eat, when a stack of what seemed like a thousand hamburgers was brought to the counter. He was staring wide eyed at the meal when someone walked past him. He recognised the hulking figure and the red hair, and when the teen turned around Kazuki immediately placed his face.
Kagami Taiga. The last Kazuki had seen of him, Kazuki had been desperately trying to block any form of attack he was administering. He could still see the ferocious look in Kagami's eyes, although now he looked rather gentle and not all to ferocious. Kazuki was still confused as hell about his eyebrows though.

His eyes followed Kagami as he sat down and dove into his stack of burgers, munching happily and looking up occasionally to say something. Kazuki frowned before stepping out, looking to the seat across from Kagami. His body stiffened as he recognised the blue haired teen sitting down, sucking on a shake. Kuroko Tatsuya. That kid haunted Kazuki more than Kagami had, the deadpanned expression pinning him with terror. He'd rather face a wrathful Jo than... actually he probably wouldn't.

His feet began moving before his brain gave him permission to do so. He didn't know why he was heading to the pair, well a part of him did, deep down. He wanted to talk to the pair, offer words of comfort for their loss, encourage them to do better, something. Damn Yuki, I'm hanging around her way too much.

"Hello." Kazuki snapped out of his thoughts as he heard someone speak to him. Looking to his left he saw Kuroko looking up to him with that expression. It creeped him out a little but Kazuki smiled to him nonetheless. He would hate to think of Ishimura's reaction if she thought he had been rude.

"Hi, you play for Seirin?" He didn't know why it came out as a question but he didn't want to seem weird. Of course, walking up to them while they were in the middle... wait was something going on? They were here, just the two of them, they weren't... were they? Kazuki felt his cheeks begin to flush as he thought he might be interrupting something, but Kagami put the burger he had been eating down, narrowing his eyes to Kazuki.

"You look familiar," he commented, still looking at Kazuki. The latter let out a chuckle, raising his hands and nodding. He felt slightly more comfortable. If he had interrupted something, they probably would have told him.

"I'm from Iwozuka, you played us earlier in the year. Well, we played, you just destroyed," Kazuki laughed again. Kuroko was blinking at Kazuki, attempting to remember who he was but Kagami's lips pulled into a big grin.

"I remember, it was one hundred and three to fourteen. An easy game, we didn't even..." Kagami cheered before letting out a scowl. He glowered in Kuroko's direction, who looked as though nothing happened and continued to look up to Kazuki.

"I apologise, it wasn't-"

"Don't worry about it. I mean basketball is fun but we're not the main team. It did hurt at the time though," Kazuki added the last part mainly for himself but it was obvious Kuroko had heard. His eyes lowered for a moment as though he was trapped in a memory from a while ago, but Kagami was just sitting there staring at Kazuki in confusion.

"What do you mean you aren't the main team?"

"You don't know?" Kazuki almost choked out, but then realised exactly why. As far as he knew, Seirin didn't have a female basketball team so Seirin would have had little contact with Iwozuka outside of the male basketball club. Smacking his hand to his forehead, he wondered how pissed Ishimura would be if she was here. Lucky she wasn't. Kagami looked like he was about to press the issue when Kuroko leant forward, capturing Kazuki's attention.

"I believe we have not introduced ourselves properly. I am Kuroko Tetsuya," Kuroko said simply, shuffling further towards the window and giving Kazuki a look that said 'sit down'. Kazuki heard Kagami mumble his name and looked to see he had devoured the burger whole in the time that Kuroko had spoken. Kazuki slipped into the booth beside Kuroko, wondering how he was going to tackle explaining them.

"Kazuki Katsuo," Kazuki offered before letting out a sigh. He shook his head, a smile playing on his lips as he looked between Kuroko and Kagami. "I can't believe you don't know about them."

"Who?" Kagami frowned, his left cheek full of food and his eyebrows furrowing together again. Kazuki pulled his head back slightly as his gaze landed on those split brows before glancing to Kuroko.

"Iwozuka's female basketball team. The Queen's of the Court." Kagami let out a laugh and Kuroko looked like he was as equally confused. Shaking his head, Kagami stopped when he noticed how serious Kazuki was.

"The girls are better than the boys?" he prodded, putting down the burger he was about to bite into. Kazuki laughed, but it wasn't light hearted like usual. He sounded dark and cynical, the sound was strange even to himself. He could feel Kuroko's intense gaze on him but he ignored the little player as he focused on Kagami.

"There is no team better than them. It's as simple as that," Kazuki muttered, leaning against the chair, "and easily hell of a lot better than Seirin." It was almost as though Kazuki was eliciting a challenge, poking and scratching at Kagami's freshly broken ego. Kagami narrowed his eyes dangerously, his lips pulling back over his teeth as the words bounced around in his head.

"What makes you think a bunch of girls can..."

"They've been in the same team as each other for the past seven years and have been undefeated every time. The Queens of the Court have never lost a game." Both of the teens were leaning towards one another. The news of the girls accomplishments seemed to hit Kagami like it was a fly. Of course Kagami wouldn't take the girls seriously, even after hearing that, no one did until they saw them play. Kazuki didn't until he saw them play.

"So what, that's in the girls tournament, up against us..."

"Their centre is two hundred centimetres tall, they have three three-point shooters who can shoot from the centre line with near perfect accuracy. One of their players can pick every injury, every weakness, all tiny details about her opponent within minutes of playing them. Their captain has a stamina that lasts longer than any game she has ever played and she's quicker than you could ever imagine. On top of that, their game play is completely unpredictable. So yes, Kagami-San, if the girls were up against Seirin it would be an easy game, just not for you."
Kagami was staring at Kazuki. Kuroko was staring at Kazuki. Kazuki felt as if everyone was staring at Kazuki. It wasn't until someone cleared their throat that Kazuki realised that there were more people staring at him. Well, two people. Shira and Ishimura were standing about a metre away, looking at the trio, Shira with interest and Ishimura indifference. Something must be under her skin.

"I think that's the only time we're ever going to hear you say something nice about Jo, Kazu-kun," Shira laughed as she walked over. She nestled herself on his lap, grinning broadly to both Kuroko and Kagami. Ishimura hesitated for a few moments before slipping into the booth, almost shouldering Kagami to the side to fit. She did not look impressed at all. "I'm Shira Tamiko, the Power Forward for Iwozuka, and that's Ishimura, our Small Forward."

"Kuroko Tetsuya."

"Kagami Taiga."

"We know," Ishimura sounded incredibly irritated and didn't spare a glance up to the pair. Instead she began eyeing up Kagami's hamburgers with a glint in her eyes. Kazuki wondered how long it would take until Ishimura's hand would itch out, snatching one away without Kagami realising what had happened. Speaking of the red head, Kagami seemed quite surprised by Ishimura's angry quip. I wonder how long they were standing there for.

"Is it just you two?"

"Nah, the others are ordering and Saka will be meeting up in a minute. She played today, y'know," Ishimura commented, visibly brightening as she began talking to Kazuki. Shira was still looking at Kuroko out the corner of her eye and for a few minutes the five of them fell into silence. Kuroko seemed completely unfazed, Kagami was shuffling as he was now stuck in the seat and he settled on eating his hamburgers instead, Shira seemed to be deep in thought and Ishimura was watching the girls at the counter with interest. They weren't hard to spot, except for Meyer, and Jo was stopping down to talk to the girl behind the counter.

"Kazuki-San was telling us that you are all exceptional players." The silence was broken by Kuroko and Shira and Ishimura both looked over to the quiet, unnoticeable boy. Only Shira had noticed him straight away, and no doubt Ishimura would have too. Ishimura raised one eyebrow.
"That's because we are."

"As you can see Ishimura is very modest."

"It's true," Ishimura retorted with a kick to Shira. It was meant for Shira at least, but she actually hit Kazuki instead. Shira let out a cackle, poking her tongue out at Ishimura who looked as though she was about to burst and start yelling profanities at Shira but shrunk back when a new presence was near them. Kazuki hadn't seen her walk over but she looked as though she was irritated, much like Ishimura had been earlier.

"Don't," Meyer warned before she sucked at the straw pocking out of her shake. Her grey eyes shifted from Ishimura, who twitched uncomfortably, to Shira, who pouted and rolled her eyes, before landing on Kazuki. Tilting her head, Meyer's brows pulled together as she saw that Shira was using him as a seat. "Tamiko, get off Katsuo."
Shira slipped out from the booth obediently, pulling Kazuki up with her. The latter stumbled slightly, almost falling into the taller girl but he managed to steady his feet. Ishimura huffed as she too slid out of the booth, glowering at Kagami as she did so - she must have heard part of the conversation before then - and stomped over to where Jo and Takami were waiting at the door.

"Decide to shift training to the court then huh?" Kazuki commented and he pulled his sleeve out of Shira's grip. He flicked Kagami and Kuroko a small, genuine smile before walking over to the group of girls, almost hesitating when he caught Jo looking at him with furrowed brows. Shira and Meyer were about to walk over as well, but were brought back when Kagami drew their attention. At least the weird, choking noise would have come from Kagami and not Kuroko.

"Kazuki-Kun said your team was good, better than Seirin. Prove it, let's play a game," Kagami challenged, standing up. Shira looked to Meyer, who pulled the straw from her mouth and looked at Kagami with those scrutinizing grey eyes. Shira was glad she wasn't on the other end of them.

"No."

"No?"

"Do you want me to repeat it in English? Maybe French," Meyer scowled, "no we will not play you."

"Why not?" Kagami looked genuinely puzzled, as though he couldn't comprehend why Meyer was saying no but she had already turned to walk away. His eyes narrowed and Shira could almost see the cogs in his mind churning as he tried to think of something. Shira shrugged and followed after Meyer but only for a moment before Kagami thought of something. "Are you afraid you'll lose?"
If there was one thing that Shira knew not to do with Meyer, is that one should not try and provoke her. Especially if it was something about basketball. Meyer seemed to freeze mid step, her foot hovering just above the ground as Kagami's eyes floated around in her head. Shira instinctively stepped to the side, not wanting to catch a corner of the words that would be coming out of her mouth. Slowly Meyer turned, her eyes seeming to grow darker than their usual grey as they narrowed in on Kagami. Shira could see him twitch backwards, even if it was ever so slightly, and she tried not to laugh. Even though she was easily a foot shorter than Kagami, Meyer had this presence when she was irritated that evoked danger.

"My team won our interhigh championship, Kagami Taiga, I do not see Seirin even making it to the finals," Meyer bit back with irritation, spinning on her heel and stalking off. Shira followed, not even glancing back at Kagami and Kuroko. Meyer had made her decision, and it was one that even Ishimura had come to as well. After their disastrous game play at the semi-finals, Seirin was not of interest to Iwozuka High.