"Where the hell did Ishimura get to?" Shira muttered as she jumped from foot to foot. They had all agreed they would wait for Touou to get out of their change rooms after the match so Meyer could speak personally with Harasawa Katsunori but Ishimura had disappeared almost straight after the game. Shira thought that she would have been pleased that Aomine had lost against Seirin, but the small forward had looked more despondent than ever.

"I don't know, but Takami should be back by now," Jo commented as she readjusted how she was leaning against the wall. The centre's lips were pressed into a grim line, her gaze staring off down the hallway. Meyer was already talking to Touou's coach, and Takami had said she needed to go to the foyer quickly. Jo wouldn't usually be so worried, but the look on her face after texting on her phone was like the one she had when they were at the beach.

Jo sighed, tilting her head back. The beach match, it seemed like a millennia ago. She could still see Ishimura running down the beach and Kuroko's flushed face as he wore Takami's hat. She thought that was the last time they had really been together, not just as team mates but as friends. When did everything begin to feel like it was some competition they had to win? When did everything stop being so much fun?

"Should we be worried that we're the only two hanging around?" Shira questioned quietly, kicking her feet at the ground. Jo looked to her, feeling worry spread through her veins like poison. Ishimura being distant was hard on them all, especially coupled with Meyer being weird, but she forgot how hard it must have been for Shira. Jo reached out, gently punching Shira's arm.

"I'm sure it's nothing."

"Yeah, I'm sure," Shira flicked her a weak smile before shrugging her shoulders, coming to a stop from bouncing. She looked down the hall then back to the room Meyer was in with Harasawa, glancing to Jo. "I'm going to go find Ishimura."

"Text me if you're coming back or not," Jo smiled as Shira wondered off, but her grin dropped quickly. She sighed again, sliding down the wall until she was sitting on the ground. She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them tight, her gaze lingering on the door. The coming matches would be it. She didn't know when she realised it, but this was it. This would be make or break.

...

Ishimura didn't know why she had left the stadium. She should have, considering how she had always felt, been pleased that Aomine had lost. It was what she had thought about for so long, but there was no great joy that had spread through her. She just felt empty. The idea of hanging around afterwards and risking the chance of running into Aomine made her feel sick, and for some reason so did the idea of talking to the other girls. Ishimura just wanted to be alone, and she didn't know why.

"Don't know a lot of things any more," she muttered under her breath as she felt her mobile vibrating again. She pulled it out of her pocket, seeing that Shira was trying to call her again. She slipped it back into her pocket and looked around her. She had wandered further than she had initially intended and had to take a moment to get her bearings.

She didn't know where she wanted to go, but she knew where she didn't want to. She didn't want to go back to the stadium, she didn't want to go home and she didn't want to see the girls. But she needed to talk to someone, someone who could tell her what she needed to hear and not what she wanted. Someone who wouldn't take her immediate feelings into consideration. Ishimura's eyes flicked from the sign on the shop closest to her and her lips set into a grim line. She knew who she needed to talk to.

Ishimura started jogging, not knowing if they were going to be home yet. She had been there once, so she was hoping she would figure out the way to get there again. She wasn't too pleased about going to go see them, but it was what she needed and there was no denying they wouldn't sugar coat anything for her. Especially not now.

...

"Is there any particular reason you needed to talk now, or did you just miss me so much?" Takami questioned as she at on the bench in the foyer. Katsumi dug her hands in her pockets, kicking at the ground gently before looking up to Takami. She looked awkward, which was strange because Katsumi never usually had a problem talking to Takami.

"Saku told me about Meyer. Is it true?" Takami tilted her head to her side, frowning slightly. Katsumi would have gone straight to Meyer under any other circumstance, but Saku must have told her that he had told Takami. Was everyone going to come to her instead of going directly to Meyer?

"I asked Jean. He said yes."

"Fuck man," Katsumi breathed, pulling her hands out of her pockets and smacking them against the back of her head. She turned away for a minute, sucking in a deep breath as though she was trying to wrap Takami's answer around in her mind. Takami sunk against the bench a little, trying to gauge Katsumi's reaction. If she was reacting this way, how were the girls going to react? Worse, what was going to happen with Shira? "I'm guessing the others?"

"No. I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything," Takami said, patting the space next to her. Katsumi shook her head as she sat down, pulling one leg to her chest and resting her chin on her knee. "Meyer doesn't know I know either."

"Jean didn't tell her?"

"No way. I'm pretty sure she wants to keep it to herself, at least until after."

"The matches." Takami nodded. She looked around to all the spectators that were leaving the stadium, and wondered if this many people would come to watch them when they played the Miracles. She hoped so. She liked a crowd. Katsumi sat fidgeting next to her, still trying to come to grips with the confirmation. "They're not just about facing new opponents are they?"

"They were, but I don't think they are anymore," Takami whispered, brushing her fingers gently over her knuckles. When she had realised the true meaning of these matches, she couldn't believe she hadn't realised it earlier. Jo had, it was Jo who had suggested it after all. Maybe deep down Ishimura knew the truth as well. "These matches are going to the best we've ever played."