Shout-out!

Ninja99

Hanna Takamura

Kintoki Kin

Cemre

Savage Kill

Thank you all for the reviews and feedbacks! I'm glad to know that you enjoyed my story and sharing with me about your thoughts. It really fueled me to write more! xD

Edited: 1/04/2014

Disclaimer: I do not own KnB. Except for my OCs and my plot-desu.

Mastering others is strength.
Mastering yourself is true power.
- Lao Tzu

Kaijo VS Seirin

Third Person's POV

"Woah. What's up with your eyes? I thought I just saw a zombie walking on day light." Izanami gasped as she gazed upon a zombie-like figure standing beside her with bloodshot eyes. Probably due to lack of sleep.

"Shut up, Izana." Kagami hissed. Stifling a few yawns that came along the way. "Don't tell me you're too anxious about your opponent today that you couldn't fall asleep, eh?" Izanami teased. Despite already knowing the answer. She snickered when she caught the sight of Kagami's veins throbbed from her taunts.

"Aren't you the one to talk? You looked like an undead who just crawled out of its own coffin." Kagami retorted. Leaning in closer on her to scrutinize the exact same red eyes as his and those pair of panda eyebags hovering down her eyes.

"Shut your trap, Taiga." Izanami snapped back at the redhead with a fluent English and its accent. Oh, how she reminisced those days when she would curse in English and no one would give a damn- I mean, no one would care what she does or say. However in Japan, where mannerism, conservatism and modesty is highly emphasize on. She has to always mind her behavior whenever she's out. Much to her discontentment.

Anyhow, both of them were in no rights to criticize on the shape they were in.

When Kagami and Izanami were engaged in a sort of 'glaring contest' with lightning bolting through their fiery eyes, a cheery voice broke through their showdown.

"Ah! There you are! Kurokocchi! Namicchi!"

"-cchi?" Surprised by hearing her name being called out in such a overly-familiar way and the unexpected suffix added behind her name. Izanami shifted her gaze now to the blondie with a scowl etched on her face.

The reason for the gathering was that today is the day when Kaijo and Seirin's practice match begin. Thus, all the Seirin's main players, including the first years, Kagami and Kuroko were told to assemble outside the school gate of Kaijo High early in the morning. When you could hear the crickets chirping, and feel the moistness and freshness of the morning air. However, if you aren't an early riser, you might find the morning air quite stifling and uncomfortable. Just like what Izanami was going through. Apparently, she's used to the polluted mid-noon/afternoon air. Those suit her the best.

"Kise-kun has the habit of adding the suffix '-cchi' to anyone he respected. As a sign of acknowledgment." Kuroko explained calmly. It seemed like he's fairly used to the way his former teammate addresses him. And has paid no mind to it. Because Kuroko knew the Copycat won't listen to him even if he does complain about it.

"I-I see..." Somehow, she doesn't feel the least bit of happy being respected by him. She gave out a long sigh, before being greeted by a bright beam emitted from his gold orbs. "Namicchi! You should have bid us farewell before you left the other day! Mou~" Kise pouted. Flailing his arms around in an exaggerate manner.

The rest of the others all sweat-dropped comically. "W-Well, sorry about that. By the way, what are you doing here?" Izanami changed the subject quickly before he could launch another one of his kawaii facial expression. Her heart couldn't afford to take it. As if a million worms were crawling underneath her skin. Just from the thoughts of it was enough to make the manager to puke out blood. What is he? A child?

Her hatred in ikeman is embedded deep in her DNA after-all. It's not easy to change.

"Ah! That's right! I came here to escort all of you to the gym. Let's go then~" Kise grinned. He wove his fingers at the back of his head as he leaded the opponent he was going to match-up against to the gym. It's not like I've not gone there before though... Izanami shrugged. But decided to keep those thoughts to herself and for now just let the model guides them.

"Kurokocchi, you seriously don't want to re-consider transferring to our school and joining our team?"

"No thanks. I'm very content with the way I'm now." Kuroko rejected curtly. Swatting his hand in the air as a gesture of 'no'.

"Mou~ Do you know how much I've cried since you've turned me down since that day~?" Kise launched himself into the arms of Kuroko as tears trickled down his pretty face.

'Why do I feel like I've seen this scene somewhere before...?' Izanami pondered as she tapped her finger on her chin. Then her mind traveled to the past when she had met Kuroko and Kise at the arcade. And everything else starts to connect. Maybe it's better if she hadn't recalled it...

That's right. The day before, Kise came to Seirin all of a sudden. Attracting all the bees. Aka fan girls, glue around him and bombarded their gym. Causing a huge ruckus in the process. Thence, Seirin's daily training routine were thrown off the schedule due to the blonde male unexpected appearance.

Well, Izanami was being Izanami. She pinched the bridge of her nose in disgust and hid herself behind Kuroko. Distancing herself as far away from the blondie as she could through out the day.

It was the most disastrous and hectic day...

Izanami shook her head rapidly to halt herself from thinking yesterday's event. Because of the model, she had a nightmare of a horde of lustful fangirls chasing the soul out of her. She almost peed her pants when she awakes from her daunting dream. Hence, it explained why she was looking like a dead corpse this morning.

"Kagami." Kise, who has been ignoring Kagami's presence up till now, called out to him suddenly. Making the redhead raised his brow curiously at him, "What?"

"Be prepared. Because I will definitely crush you with everything I've got." Kise said with an ever serious tone and face he could muster. Izanami, who was just walking beside Kagami, widened her eyes for a fraction from seeing the change of attitude from Kise. At first, she thought that the air around him changed for a second there. Or it could be just her imagination playing a trick on her.

However, it doesn't change the fact that she was starting to feel unease about it...

...

"W-Wait. What's going on here...?" Riko's mouth agape upon entering the gym where the match would be held; Only half of the court was vacant and the rest of the courts were all occupied with players practicing as per normal. Just... What the hell is going on?

While Seirin was at a loss of words from the scene before them, Takeuchi Genta, the coach from Kaijo Team raised himself off the bench and greeted them. "Ah. You're finally here. We've been waiting for your arrival, Seirin." Though his expression ain't a genuine one, Coach Takeuchi put on a small smile nonetheless. "As what you've seen, we will be playing on a half court. Since the non-regulars probably won't learn much by watching the match. I had them continued to train as per normal so that they wouldn't waste any time by watching an unnecessary match." Takeuchi disparaged tersely. As if what he had done was only natural.

We're being underestimated...!

All of Seirin's twitched in agitation. Clearly didn't expect that they were being looked down that much by their opponent. Clenching her fist tight, Izanami's knuckles had gone white due to lack of blood circulation.

This shitty old fart...

As if his speech earlier didn't make it clear to them. Coach Takeuchi then caught Kise changing into his uniform and stopped him immediately, "Kise, you won't be playing in the game. So change your school uniform back."

"E-Eh? Why?"

"Because if you play, it won't even be a match anymore."

*Snap*

"What the fuc-!" Koganei clamped his hand over Izanami's mouth in the nick of time. It would be pretty bad if the Kaijo's Coach had heard what she said. Silently, everyone expressed their gratitude through their faces to Koga. Having had his confidence boost up significantly, Koganei flashed a thumb-up back to his fellow teammates. Reliably.

"What did you do that for, Koga-san!?" Izanami asked irritatingly after they had walked away from Coach Takeuchi's earshot. Unable to comprehend why did he stopped her after their opponents' Coach had made a fool out of them. She wasn't going to let it slide just like that. She has to at least kick the shit out of that fatass of his.

A little startled by the manager's outburst, Izuki quickly quelled the gray-haired down. "C-Calm down Nami-chan. You're not the only one who felt that way, you know? We're all suppressing our anger so that we could pay them back later in the game!" Somehow, Kaijo's remark has the opposite effect on Seirin. Instead of getting disheartened and depressed about it, Seirin turned the insult to their source of motivation.

Izanami was rendered speechless. She couldn't retort to Izuki after seeing the look on their team's faces; They will definitely teach him a lesson for taking them lightly.

Her lips that was supposed to twitch and frown, was now tugged into a faint smile. If it's them, they will do it fine.

"Sorry everyone~" Kise apologized. Clapping his hand as he bowed apologetically at Seirin's, "How 'bout you guys force that geezer to put me in? If you can't do that, then you can't go around saying that you will defeat the Generation of Miracles so lightly." His taunts were mainly directed to Kagami, who took his provocation and just grinned. "You don't have to say it. I was already planning to do so from the start."

...

"I could give two shits on fatso like him. 'Tch." Izanami maliciously cussed under her breath as she bit her fingernail in annoyance. It seemed like the fury was still seething in her and won't die down for a while.

Riko, who was sitting beside her on a bench, was now trying hard to hold back her laughter from bursting through the stiff atmosphere. Once her chuckle has subsided, she massaged her aching temples as a smile curled up on her face. Who knew that the new appointed manager could be such a short-tempered?

"Nami, I understand how you feel. Don't worry though. We will prove that geezer wrong and made him swallow everything he had said back then. Trust them." Riko reassured the girl as she patted her shoulder. Well, it wasn't like Izanami doesn't have faith in them. She's more prone to use her fist rather than sorting it out with other alternatives. Maybe sticking with a certain redhead for too long was rubbing off on her. Of course, Izanami wouldn't want to show this side of her unless it's necessary. That side of her doesn't look elegant at all.

Izanami sighed in resignation, before giving a curt nod at Riko's reassurance.

Izanami now turned her attention back to the court. The regulars of Seirin and Kaijo were all lined up in two single file and facing each others with the referee stood in between the two teams. A orange basketball held in his hand.

Taiga, Kuroko-kun, show them what you've got! Make them regret ever taken us lightly!

Izanami closed her eyes. Pointing her fingers to her head as she attempted to telepathy her thoughts to the redhead and bluenette. Watching at a sideline, Riko and the reserved players could only sweat-dropped at her outlandishness.

Beep!

The sound of the whistle being blown, reverberated the entire gym. Signaling everyone the commence of the game.

"Yosh!" The game starts with Kaijo getting the first possession of the ball. Which ended up Kaijo on the offense and Seirin on the defense. However, it was short lived. While Kasamatsu, the captain of Kaijo's team was organizing the offense, his ball was quickly stolen by Kuroko.

"Wha-!?" Unable to detect Kuroko's presence from the start of the game till now, Kasamatsu was completely caught off guard when Kuroko made his strike.

Kuroko then goes on a fast break as he dribbled through the opponents swiftly before passing the ball to Kagami, who was sprinting toward the basket with his long strides. He caught the pass, before jumping high in the air and did his favorite shot; A Dunk.

"Yosha! Did you see that, Izana!?" Kagami subconsciously called out to his childhood friend. It's an old habit of his. Since Izanami was always watching him played back in the states ever since he could remember. Whenever he won, he would find her beamed at him brightly with a toothy grin. Then jumped onto him with as much joy as he felt for his victory. Or even greater. However, his pride wouldn't allow him to say that he missed those days to anyone. Especially the girl he's facing now.

Izanami face-palmed, "You Bakagami! Look at what's in your hand!" The gray-haired shook her head at her idiotic friend who only knew how to grin and was oblivious to the damage he had done.

Kagami quirked a brow at her statement, then looked at his hand. Needless to say, he was shocked to find the broken rim in his hand.

The game was soon paused due to an accident caused by a certain redhead. All of Seirin's now looked at the bold freshman in awe, "Man! Nice dunk Kagami!" Koganei commented with two thumbs-up. Mitobe who was seated beside the cat-faced, nodded in agreement. Whereas Hyuga was smiling softly as he wiped his sweats off his face with a towel. All in all, everyone was pleased with what Kagami had done instead of reprimanding him for damage on school properties.

"I wonder how much does a replacement hoop cost..." Kuroko said nonchalantly. Which earned a short gasp from the main culprit of the broken hoop, "W-We have to p-pay for that...?" Kagami gulped nervously. As if the logic of paying back something whom they broke was foreign to him.

"That's right. Since you're the one who broke it, you will be the one responsible for it." Izanami said in a-matter-of-fact tone. Everyone concurred as they nod their head unanimously at what their manager said.

"W-Wait! Why're all of you standing at her side now?!" Kagami swung his head left and right. Only to find himself all alone as everyone has without a doubt, made themselves clear that they won't help the poor guy by herding themselves at another corner. Drawing an invisible line between Kagami and them. Although initially they praised the redhead for showing a thing or two to Kaijo, that doesn't mean they'd take responsibility for his action. That's where the line of 'Looking/Helping-out-one's-teammate' lie. Unfortunately.

"But still, nice job on breaking it, Taiga! It seems like my telepathy has gotten through that thick skull of yours~" Izanami slapped her hand hard on the redhead's back in excitement. Making the poor guy coughed in agony. She thought she heard him mumbled something but paid no heed to it and just continued smacking his back playfully.

She was beyond joy after seeing the distorted face of Coach Takeuchi to even realize Kagami could almost cough out blood from her monstrous smack.

"Woah! I can't believe you actually broke our rim so easilly!" Kise came and spoke to Kagami after putting on his jersey. Eyes sparkling with amazement from the performance earlier. He didn't know that the redhead could do this well... Kagami has definitely surpassed his expectation.

"So you're finally playing?" Izanami asked. Arms crossed as she waited the blonde to affirm her assumption.

"Yeah. Our Coach couldn't hold it down after what your boyfriend had just did to our hoop."

Everyone kept quiet afterward. Actually, no one dared to make a sound as all of them exchanged wary glances to one another. They had a rough premonition as to how the supposed 'couple' would respond to such an absurdness.

This unusual silence was prolonged for a few seconds before a boisterous laugh broke through it.

"W-What... What the hell are you talkin' about blondie...? Oh my god. My stomach hurt so bad now~ Pffhahaha-!" Izanami was clutching her aching abdomen caused from excess laughter for dear life, as tears slowly slipped through and trickled down her face. That was the funniest joke she has ever heard in her life!

As for Kagami, he just stood there. Blank. Like a statue that has been frozen up by ice.

Kise scratched his cheek in confusion. Wondering whether he had spoken anything wrong to trigger such a reaction from them.

"Oi. Are you blind or something? There's no way this crazy bitch is my girlfriend- oof!" After his senses has returned to him, Kagami retorted with as much strength as he could. Only to get elbowed by his supposed girlfriend in the gut.

"Damn right. I should be the one saying that, you (1)boke! I would rather drown myself than to have you as a boyfriend."

"So... you two are not dating?"

"HELL NO!" The short-tempered duo retorted with a disgusted face planted on them. As if what the model had said was the most outrageous thing they had ever heard in their lives.

As Izanami and Kagami engaged in a tirade just like any other days, Kise's lips was then pressed into a smile. No one knows what that smile meant, and not even himself knew why he was feeling relief. Like a huge boulder had just removed off from him.

"Kyaaa~ Kise-sama~!" Kise then snapped back to reality. Eyeing at the horde of fan girls swarmed into the gym and situated themselves on the bleachers. Some were holding up banner with 'Kise-sama' carved on it, while some were just chanting his name and squealing at the top of their lungs. This wasn't a concert, though...

Being a friendly and gentleman he proclaims to be, Kise waved and thanked his supporters cheerily. Celebrity mode: On

"Izana, what's wrong?" Hyuga asked the manager worriedly. She has been trembling ever since those fan girls bombarded the gym from out of nowhere.

"E-Eh...? A-Ah. I'm alr-right..."

If you're alright. Then why are you hiding behind me...? The captain sighed and sweat-dropped as he peered behind his back to see his frightened kohai tugging onto his jersey for her dear life. Whatever happened between her and those fan girls, he would never know. And he wouldn't want to know since it's probably something unpleasant.

"Stop waving to them! I'll hit you!" Kasamatsu scowled. He warned the model darkly while colliding his knuckles against Kise's head at the same time.

The model let out a yelp before clutching his throbbing head, "T-That hurts, senpai! And you already did!" Kise cried. Though his captain always does that, it still hurt! The blonde male could never get used to his captain's way of discipline for sure.

"He sure is popular... Anyways. Nami, let's go apologize to their Coach for the broken hoop." Riko beckoned. Which Izanami gladly obliged and began following the coach in tow, albeit with a Cheshire smile.

"We're really sorry about breaking the hoop. We will definitely pay for that! Please forgive us!"

Just kidding... who would apologize to a rude old fart like you! Bleeh~ Despite the fact that Izanami was bowing her head along with her Coach, her heart was shown otherwise. Making all sorts of mocking faces to the man before her imaginatively. She was rather proud of herself for having resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the man.

"I'm sorry that we broke your hoop," Kuroko apologized, albeit in a deadpan way as he sauntered over next to Izanami. "Since we can't play like this, can we use the full court instead?"

The three of them swore that they saw Coach Takeuchi twitched uncontrollably. As if he had a cramp on his face. Coach Takeuchi then gritted his teeth in rage as he couldn't find himself making up any words. What a priceless expression he's now wearing~ Izanami really wished she could just fish out her phone and take the picture right now!

'Nice one, Kuroko-kun!' Izanami winked knowingly at the bluenette. She knew that there was a prick hidden in those sentence of his. If what Riko and her were doing just now was wrapping up a gift, then Kuroko's final words were like tying a ribbon on top of their gift box; A bonus!

Unfazed by Izanami's wink, Kuroko merely nodded his head in respond. Now, their first objective is done. The next would be... winning the match. No?

…

The game has finally resumed and was now using a full court as per Kuroko had requested. The only difference other than the changing of court, was that the 'main cast' has joined the stage now.

Kise Ryota's present in the game has boost the morale and confidence in his team. To make matter worse, the match started with Kasamatsu got his possession of the ball again. This time round, he stood his ground and cautiousness brimming at its peak. He won't make the same mistake again!

"Kise!"

When did he-!? Izanami's eyes were as big as saucers now. Kise penetrated Kagami's screen so easily and fast that she had no time to register everything that was happening in her head.

Kasamatsu passes the ball to the blondie in between Hyuga's legs and Kise caught it with ease. With him just standing under the hoop, he made no effort by jumping and gave a dunk hard enough to have the 'thud!' sound echoing through the gym.

"Aho! I told you to break the rim!" After the dunk, Kasamatsu came behind Kise and kicked his back. Why would they want to break their own rim? Izanami pondered deeply. Even though the basket temporarily belonged to Seirin as they were having a match now, it is still Kaijo's property nonetheless. The captain from Kaijo sure wasn't making any sense.

"I'm sorry, senpai!" Kise wailed. His captain can be quite a devil from time to time...

At this time, Izanami noticed the smirk etched on Kagami's perspired face. Both of them knew very well Kise is strong. Stronger than Kagami himself. Yet he doesn't feel the least dejected by the huge gap between him and Kise. Instead, it backfired and fueled the redhead more as he realized that he still have much room to improve. The thought of it was enough to keep him going and stay motivated.

That Bakagami... He really hasn't change. Izanami chuckled slightly. All of a sudden, those uneasiness she had been feeling since they arrived at Kaijo, has fade away.

Seirin now gets the ball. And they quickly returned the favor with Kagami dunking with one of his own thanks to the pass from Kuroko.

"What a high-paced game..." Izanami muttered. Watching attentively on the court as the players ran and dribbled on the floor back and forth. The friction between the floor and their shoes made a rather high pitch squeak. It sounded annoying at first. But as time passes by, those sounds became merge with their harsh breaths. Fountain of sweats flowing down from their bodies endlessly. Dripping a few droplets here and there on the court.

"Yeah. If this keeps up..." Riko muttered. Furrowing her brows as she drifted into a deep thought. After a moment has passed, she decided to ask for a time-out.

"Here."

"Thanks."

"Thank you." Izanami handed two water bottles to both Kagami and Kuroko. After plopping themselves down onto the bench, they started chugging down the water. It almost looked like they were walking on a desert for weeks without water. The rest of the second years, too, were beyond exhaustion and they could only use this little break they have to replenish their energy as much as possible.

"Kuroko-kun." The bluenette glanced up from the corner of his eyes to the owner of its voice calling out to him.

"You... Will you be okay if you keep on playing like this through out the game?" Izanami asked with hints of worry in her tone. She crease her brows when she noticed the amount of sweats Kuroko has been losing. It might also had something to do with the uneasiness she had felt earlier. She decided it would be best to check up on the bluenette before any thing worse could happen.

"Actually, I'm not okay." Kuroko deadpanned.

"E-Eh?"

"I probably can't use my misdirection for more than forty minutes due to the high-paced game." Kuroko stated calmly. However, this fact came too sudden for the senpais. As well as his partner and everyone in the team now.

Riko trotted toward the Phantom sixth man, and whacked him on the back of his head. "You fool! Why hadn't you told us sooner!?" Riko roared at the impassive man. Ignoring the huge red lump forming on his head.

"That's because you never ask." Kuroko replied monotonously. Indeed. All of them never ask him about it and Kuroko merely stated as a matter of fact. But to the ears of others, especially Riko, his words sounded as if he was rebelling. Hence, he got an additional lump formed on his head now.

"I'm going to strangle you to death!" Riko gave a headlock on Kuroko. Choking whatever breaths he had managed to suck in from a while ago.

Izanami watched the misfortune befell on Kuroko with sympathy. She then drew out a long sigh. Then joining the other senpais as they tried to break free of Riko's death grip off the poor freshman.

Before Riko could come up with a decent strategy, the time-out for them was up. With no other choice left, she sent Kuroko back to the game for the meantime. She also told the team to change their formation in the latter quarter in what little time they had remained in the time-out. With the advices given by their Coach, the regulars set out to the court determinedly once again.

The game is just getting started.

A/N: To all my dear readers, HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR!

And sorry for the late update. I thought that I could finally start working on this chapter after Christmas, but something got in the way and that's why it was delayed. :(

And why do I feel that my writing skills has gone worse!? NOOO~ So sorry that if this chapter didn't live up to your expectation... Also, please excuse my grammatical errors... as I had already mentioned in my first chapt. English isn't my native language. /bowed

Comment. Suggestion. Question. Feedbacks. Constructive criticism are all welcome and appreciated! Please do review so that I could keep this rusty brain of mine functioning. Thank you!

P.S. I had changed the title of this story! (I always have the tendency of changing the title of all my stories once. -.-)

-Soracchin