AUTHOR'S NOTES~ holly **** I've never had so many viewers in any of my fanfics before- nor favourites- or followers- or REVIEWS OMG. I love you all seriously *Bows, sobbing with joy.* I COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT THE SUPPORT HONESTLY. coughcough~ Anyway so thanks for reading up to here so far! I hope you enjoy the next chapter my friends! I must admit it does have a different feel to it, but.. Yeah, i'm getting into some plot kinda thing to get this kinda.. goal scenario and stuff.~ I'M SURE YOU WILL ENJOY WHEN IT'S FINISHED AND THE FEELS ARE SATISFIED.

The Seirin boys humbly awaited their coach in the gym for their session to begin. They were more like waiting to see what hellish kind of news she had for them that called for a morning practice in exam period. Most of the second years were sitting in a circle in the middle of the court with textbooks, pens and paper scattered everywhere as they had math and chemistry exams that day (God bless them), and literally were sweating with nerves as they had to keep their grades up to remain in the club. Then again the exams that day- that WEEK were only mock ones to go down as their predicted end of year exams, but never the less were just as important.

The first years were also keeping quiet in a way, trying to help their upperclassmen in doing so. Kuroko was even helping them in some of their studies since.. Well he was somewhat smart- and Teiko had also taught him a couple of revision techniques that helped him, so he helped them by teaching them and assisting when they wanted to test each other. Whilst the nattering and occasional laughter was happening, the doors flung open and instantly the males stopped talking as the bang from the door smashing into the stone walls of the sports hall echoed through the space.

The worst sight ever for the team was when their female coach was /smiling/. From ear to ear-. They knew so well that it was never a good sign, and even more terrifying when she began to /SKIP/ over to them. Shit was going down- and they weren't going to like it. The group of boy students simply watched in silence as Riko approached them, overjoyed at whatever she had to tell them RIGHT before their exams. The sound of her happy feet engulfed any possible sounds that could be made in the room- aside from the rapid heartbeats from the boys black Then again—there was an acceptation with those heartbeats. One lying not so far from where the doors were on a wooden bench, snoozing away- was an overly tired Kagami Taiga. Nobody really bothered to disturb him though until they doors pretty much burst his ear drums- but he never really noticed until all was silent and the footsteps came to an end. The redhead sat up with a grumble, and tiredly gazed over at the group of people in the centre of the room. "Wha..?"

"I'm sure all of you want to be the best of the best when you're older, right? Well there's an opportunity for us to go to a camp with some NBA players as the teachers~" She chimed, and the group quickly became enthusiastic about this—well.. Kagami became enthusiastic, and the other first years.. Even Kuroko! Plus a couple of others—But then Hyuuga stood up from the rest to face their coach properly with a serious expression on his face. "And what's the catch?"
"No catch.~ You just have to qualify to be entered. There's a competition on Saturday- you only have to beat a couple of teams in a mini game and they judge whether you're in or not.~

"Only a couple? There aren't many able to participate?"
"Well yeah, but they're only taking 9 teams so it'd take forever if they made everyone play everyone- it's more like a points system.. You get a point every game you win- and a point deducted when you lose.. The top few schools with the highest points included bonus points awarded by the judges get to go through."
"Sounds complicated.."
"All we have to worry about is playing our best and that's all.~"

The redheaded first year in the team stepped into the conversation from behind Riko with his hands on his hips, smirking at the idea that he could play more games AND get a foot up into professional basketball. Why were they all sitting down still? "Well then why not? I'm in." He said with his usual booming voice. With this, Kuroko as well as the rest of the team began to get excited for the new challenge ahead of them- a new goal that was possible if they worked harder. Of course, they knew that it wasn't going to be easy—of course- the three kings would be involved, and god knows what other strong team around not only their prefecture, but others all over Japan. It was bound to be one of the biggest tournaments they'd be involved with in their high school careers. However, with that in mind would there not need to be like.. Two weeks for such a big competition? There had to be more to it. Or maybe there were things going on like this all over the country, so maybe it wasn't as extreme as one would think. . Who knows- they just had to do what they were asked to, right? That was enough for them. The boys began to pack away after more discussion about the 'competition' too place- agreeing that they should meet up at 10 on the day to sign up officially together. Not a soul in the room wasn't eager about the new challenge facing them that week-but they also had to tackle exams, so it didn't exactly help them with their nerves. Apparently only a few teams could actually sign up, so the 'competition' was pretty much the preliminaries- and then there would be some sort of finals round after that to root out which would be participating in the camp.

"Good luck on your exams today boys!" Riko finally cheered as the crowed began to drag themselves toward and out of the doors. "Thanks!" They all replied and filed out of the hall.

~TimeSkipToCompetition~

"yes, we're going to be there at ten to sign up.. I'm on my way now." A quiet voice travelled through the yellow phone and into Kise's ear drums. Well this was great- he could see Kuroko play in more games AND there was the possibility in him being able to participate in a camp with his beloved bluenette for god knows how many days! Maybe they could even be roommates?
"That's great, Kurokocchi.~ I'll be there to cheer you on! My team's participating as well, but we'll be in different sections.~ aw Kurokocchi this isn't fair, this means I can't play against you~!" He whined playfully down the phone with his usual excitement as he began to pack his bag and gather everything he'd needed for the day ahead.

"Oi, Kise, shut up! I can hear you from the other side of the street!" Replied an uninvited voice-. Before the blonde could reply, the soft voice which belonged to Kuroko came into the picture once more, asking for his phone back and a little ruffling was heard in the background before Kuroko's voice was pitch perfect—in his own way that was.

"I'm sorry, Kise-kun, he snatched the phone from my hand.."
"It's okay, Kurokocchi.~ Where abouts are you? I can catch up to you."
"I'm with my team passing Maiji burger.."
"fwa- You're with your team? Hmm.. I'll see you there; you're like ten minutes away from there anyway. "
"Okay, Kise-kun. I'll see you there."

And without further ado, the conversation ended and Kise's phone snapped shut into the palm of his hand and he flung his bang over his shoulder and made his way out the door and down the road in the direction of the competitions location.

~With Kuroko and company~

"Kuroko, is Kise joining us then?" Kagami questioned as they continued to walk down the concrete path alongside the busy road. If Kise was going to be there, he'd hoped he could play the male and his team. Seirin and Kaijo as teams got along well with each other- simply because the two teams had similar ethics and values when playing. With this in mind, it was always enjoyable to both parties and the onlookers to watch their matches.

"Kaijou's participating.. But we won't be playing them." Kuroko replied simply as he slipped his phone into his jacket pocket. The duo was walking towards the back of the line of players, everybody nattering amongst themselves as they walked in paired file to let other pedestrians pass them.

The duo joined the wave of first year chatter closer to the entrance of the stadium, and then the group gathered at the bottom of the stairs that lead toward the doors. A silence overcame the group of teens as they studied the modern looking building swimming with groups in different uniforms. It seemed energetic- all the teams looked ready to play anyone. But what did you expect when NBA teachers were on the line here? It was a bright blue sky that day, nice enough to actually play outside even- like that saying though 'the calm after the storm' or however it went. . . Wasn't it before?

Kagami shook his head as he made his first steps up the fresh concrete steps ahead of everybody else, clearly more enthusiastic to get the games over with. Soon enough more people flooded the building along with the curious Seirin basketball team, and familiar faces like Shutoku, Too and Kaijou appeared soon enough to participate. Hyuuga left the group for about half an hour with Kiyoshi, and they were given time to prepare themselves for playing a match- have some food, drink, go to the bathroom etc- and so they did so. Kagami and Kuroko stayed together with the first years during this time span in the cafeteria- fuelling Kagami for the matches to come. Though the day seemed easy, only 10 minute matches right? That was only a mere quarter. But the difficulty was they had to play non-stop. Five games, that's 50 minutes of playing with only little break time to cool themselves off and re-charge. It honestly wouldn't help if they had to play difficult opponents as well.

Gradually the team began to gather around the first years in the food area, last to arrive being Hyuuga and Kiyoshi with a load of papers for the team to fill out- personal information and school information for Riko to fill out.

The sheets were only basic information about the players, like addresses, name, age, school name- so the group had the forms filled in 10 minutes later. Their attention turned to the final paper that had information about the competition, requirements, scoring system and so on.

Basically, each game was judged by three scouts- one of which would be the man to focus on individual potential. Then towards the end of the game, the judges would give the teams their scores, announced what court they would be in and that was it until the final announcements where they'd find out whether they'd won or not. It honestly didn't sound like basketball to Kagami as he read through his copy of the paper. Why the hell couldn't they just play BASKETBALL? The system went into further detail, boring detail which Kagami didn't bother reading since he was simply going to play how he usually did. The baskets were counted towards the final scores and that was all he needed to know.

Score as many as we can.

"This scoring thing is stupid.. Why the hell can't we know if we won?!" Kagami complained as the others looked like they'd read the same thing with their faces being baffled. With this, a pale hand smashed into Kagami's face, forcing him to stop complaining as the team looked at the redhead with a serious expression. They didn't really care if the scoring system was a little odd, or the methods of the tournament were odd, they just knew that they had to be one of the best to be able to participate in the camp.

"Kagami-kun, it doesn't matter.. As long as we play hard we don't have to go home with regrets if we don't win at the end of it.."

These words shadowed through the group as they sat in silence surrounded by the noisy teams around them enjoying their meals. It was true- if they were not accepted; they didn't have to necessarily be upset about it. It was indeed a great opportunity for them, but at the end of the day, things happen that nobody can predict.

The team made their way out of the canteen when they'd finished going through the papers and headed back to the line to hand in their documentations. Once this small task was done, they were given their first sheet declaring when and where their first match was, as well as who they would be up against. They still had one HOUR to kill.. Once away from the line, the group decided and agreed to meet at the dedicated match location 10 minutes before the game was due to begin. This gave them time to prepare as a team at least- few words from the coach and all that.

Kuroko and Kagami parted ways with the other freshmen 10 minutes into the wait, heading outside to get some fresh air and to see if anybody else they knew were coming to join or be a spectator for the events. It wasn't till the two headed down the stairs and towards the green grass that they saw a certain blonde male leaning against a tree alongside a grumpy Aomine. It was a little strange for the two to be hanging together, especially before matches, but Kise probably bribed him to do so.. or just invited himself over as the male was resting in the lush grass. Once Kagami had caught eye of those two- since Kuroko seemed to be walking SOMEWHERE, he noticed the more tanned of the two sit up on the grass from his laying position as if to greet them. Was he waiting for them then?

"Yo, Tetsu, Bakagami.~" The male purred the last name with a playful grin as he watched the two approach. Kise then followed the greetings with "Kurokocchi! Kagamicchi~! You took your time."
"We didn't arrange to meet here though Kise.." The redhead replied shortly before stopping at a reasonable distance from the other two, right next to his shadow. "Did you want something?"

"When do you guys play first?" Aomine asked simply out of curiosity. He did want to play them, but then if they did it wouldn't be enjoyable because of the length of the 'games'—simply too short to enjoy in his opinion. Kise then made his way over to the smallest of the four and pulled the other into a hug from behind, enjoying the affection—even if he WAS the only one giving it.
"We're playing at eleven first with a school I haven't heard of.." The paler bluenette admitted as he ignored the blonde embracing him. He couldn't help but notice Aomine stare over in his direction as he replied—and after.

Kagami was also staring, a little freaked out by how... 'Affectionate' Kise was being—it wasn't normal for guys to hug other guys like they would girls (in his opinion) in public. Especially when they weren't together.. Kuroko wasn't even doing anything to defend himself either, but then Kuroko was probably used to such behaviours from the tall blonde. Either way it sort of irritated him.

"Kurokocchi~ we're playing our first at twelve, make sure you come and watch me~!"
"I will probably be playing when your games are on as well, Kise-kun."
"Oi, Kise stop nuzzling Kuroko's neck like that." Aomine butted in, now HE was even irritated. But they all knew that Kise was affectionate and loving, why was it so bothersome now? Maybe it was the heat.. Well it wasn't even that hot out but whatever.
"What's wrong, Aomine? Jealous?~" The slightly tanned male cooed teasingly, and Kuroko pushed the blondes arms away from him and stepped a few paces away. Aomine huffed in return and laid himself back down on the grass, tucking his hands under the back of his head. Moments continued to fly by them with the background noises of Kise whining for his Kuroko to come back to his loving arms, and Kuroko politely rejecting the requests.

"No.." He finally answered.

The four basketball players continued to chat for the remainder of the time the Seirin boys had left before they had to head back. The conversations varied from Kise's hair colour being lighter than what they'd remembered it to be in the winter, to who had bigger balls out of them all. Literally you could pick a random topic and they would have probably covered it in some sort of way.

A soft sigh escaped Kuroko's lips as he stood himself up from the grass, looking over at the redhead sitting beside him. "Time to get started, Kagami-kun.. We shouldn't be late." The bluenette interrupted the group's discussion of the latest music in the charts. Kagami quickly began to start grinning at the thought that it was their time to get playing. He was fed up with people walking out of the building boasting that they'd done well in their games so far. Kagami stood up and brushed himself down, and after a quick goodbye, the two were off, leaving Kise and Aomine to simply watch them leave in silence.
"Well, You gonna watch their games, Aominecchi?~"
"Nah.."
"Mean~ I'm going with them! I can't wait to see if they've improved even more now.~" The blonde chirped, then stood up as well before collecting his bag and walking off, waving to the tanned male still seating on the grass: Alone.

The first four games went pretty quick, consecutive games were tiring, but they weren't that bad since the teams they'd played with were... so to speak, easy? It wasn't exactly expected to be honest. All these teams were supposed to be the best of the best, weren't they? .. Or maybe they were just put into the lower level band for some reason..

Either way, the team was feeling good about them, and as Hyuuga went to collect their feedback sheet with the details of the next match and their ratings from the judges, the team gathered by the benches for a good drink. Though, even if they were enthusiastic and looking forward to the next game, they never could have imagined what was waiting for them on the white sheet of paper now in their captain's hand.

AUTHOR /AGAIN./
DUM DUM DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMM. Who do you guys think our boys are going to play?~ HAH. OKay guys, that's all for this week. I'm afraid that my sunday update might not happen this week because friends birthday blah blah won't be able to write like the awesome mofo i am. 3 ... Plus the next chapter will be something DIFFERENT. Like. Game~~ 3 And I must say that it will be partly written by my friend WHOM WE SHALL CALL 'FAGAMI' FOR THE TIME BEING.. Isn't that a fabulous name? it is isn't it? I know I know. 3 But yesh, so heads up two writers for the next chapter and probably FUTURE chapters also.~

Fagami want to say anything to round of this chapter?
fagami: BOOBEHS

.. Well there you have it folks. I'LL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT WEEK. SIT TIGHT. 3