Kise dabbed the ointment over Kagami's wound and wrapped a new bandage over it. Kagami winced as the pain shot through his body but relaxed once it was all finished.

"Thanks,"

"You know you don't have to thank me Kagamicchi," Kise replied, he bundled up the bloody cotton wool and dumped it in the bin.

"I'm being polite," Kagami deadpanned.

The redhead stood up from the bed and started packing the last of his things in his sports bag whilst Kise waited on the bed listening to some music. Kagami shoved his bathroom things inside the outer pocket of his bag and zipped it all up. Swinging the bag over his shoulder, he turned to Kise.

"Let's go. We're already late. Coach might kill me if I keep the team waiting any longer,"

Kise shivered at the thought of the small flat-chested coach of Seirin. From what Kagami's told him over the past couple of days, he knew for a fact that Riko was one girl to never mess with - not that he was planning on doing that.

"I think senpai will kill me too," Kise muttered with a pitiful expression.

Kagami only rolled his eyes, "Well who told you to come here? Kaijo is the school that's hosting us and you literally live the closest to it."

"How can you be so ungrateful to me? If I wasn't here, who would help you redress your wound?" Kise wailed then smiled mischievously.

"...Hmph, like I can't do it myself," Kagami muttered or rather whispered to himself.

The two boys exited the hotel room and made their way to the lobby where Kagami checked out. After that was done, they opted to take the 12 p.m. bus straight to the nearest bus stop outside Kaijo.

Setting his bag on the bench, Kagami plonked down on the seat and leaned back. He took out his phone and started scrolling through his messages to see if he missed anything. Aside from a 'Good Morning' message from Kuroko, there was nothing else.

Well...nothing important.

The redhead's face morphed into pure irritation as he found his phone full of Kise's spam texts.

"What the hell is all this?" He shoved the phone in front of Kise's face. "Why are you sending me this stuff?"

"What do you mean? I just want to chat with my most favorite person~" Kise pouted. "And those videos I sent are funny!"

"What favorite person? I thought Kuroko was your favorite person,"

"Yeah but now you are too," Kise gleamed.

Kagami just stared at with eyes full of disbelief and utter bemusement. If there was anything Kagami could wholeheartedly say about Kise, it was that he was a weirdo and someone Kagami would never understand. At times like this, it was best to ignore what the model was saying and change the subject.

"Tsk, whatever," Kagami huffed. Glancing at the blond from the corner of his eye, he suddenly asked, "By the way, how did it go yesterday afternoon?"

And just like that, the atmosphere changed. Kise's face darkened considerably and Kagami mentally slapped himself.

'Way to go idiot!'

"Sorry. If it's too early to discuss tha-"

"No. It's not early...it's actually overdue if you think about it," Kise replied. A frustrated sigh escaped his lips, "I confronted the girl who kissed me. Her name was Tachibana something - I don't really care - and she admitted that she knew that guy who attacked me...and stabbed you. Apparently, it was her ex-boyfriend. A possessive and controlling guy."

"So you were right. She knew that that bastard was watching and deliberately kissed you for him to see," Kagami suddenly grew angry. "What the hell was she hoping for?! For him to just walk away?! If he was off in the head then she should have told someone or asked for help!"

Kise inwardly agreed.

That girl, no matter the reason behind her actions, shouldn't have dragged other people - innocent people, into something that they had nothing to do with. Her actions caused two people to get hurt and one could have had a fatal injury.

And because of this, if Kise disliked her before, he completely hated her now.

"I'm sorry," Kise repeated. His eyes started to water but he felt a comforting hand land on his head ruffling his hair.

"Don't apologize. Now that you've gotten the truth, you can now feel free of any more stupid guilt. My stabbing was never your fault but that girl's fault and that crazy ex of hers," Kagami told him firmly. "So I don't want to hear another dumb apology from you."

His tone provided no room for the blond to argue so Kise could only grin with teary eyes.

"Very well Kagamicchi. I won't apologize again,"

"Good,"

Their conversation was cut off with the arrival of the bus. The boys stood up from the bench and climbed inside the mildly empty public transport before taking a seat near the back. Kagami leaned his head on the window and closed his eyes. Kise wore some earphones and listened to his music whilst keeping an eye on the teen next to him.

"Kagamicchi?" he suddenly said.

"Mmm?"

"You know we won't be able to hide your injury forever, right? To be honest, I'd rather you lay off on the training so your wound can fully recover," Kise said, his eyes gauging Kagami's expression.

The red-haired boy opened his eyes and looked back at the blond, "I wanna play though...but I won't go too hard."

"When it comes to you, I find that hard to believe," muttered Kise. "Once Aominecchi provokes you, you'll definitely end up playing all out."

"I...!" To his annoyance, Kagami couldn't refute his friend's words. Kagami knew the blond's words were very true. "I can tone it down...I think."

"But then everyone will know something is wrong with you,"

"If I don't play at all, they'll be even more suspicious!"

Kise resisted the urge to groan. Kagami really needed to get his mind off basketball for a second.

"Kagamicchi, please, don't push yourself," he begged.

At his pleading tone, Kagami's expression softened. He knew Kise was genuinely worried for him and deep down, he knew it was better to lay off basketball now instead of worsening his injury and prolonging it. Eventually, the redhead sighed and said, "Fine. I won't play much."

"Tha-"

"BUT...you owe me ten teriyaki burgers,"

"...Kagamicchi, you're gonna make me poor,"

"I'm pretty sure you're wealthier than me. And aren't you a model?"

"..." Kise pouted and sunk into his seat.

[-A-]

If Kise hadn't stuck with Kagami the past few days, the latter wouldn't have any incentive to stop playing basketball. Thankfully, the blond kept dropping various hints and brought up the topic various times in order to convince the redhead that playing in his condition was not the best idea.

Had Kise not made the effort, the conversation in the bus would have gone very differently.

But now came the difficult part.

Arriving at Kaijo, the pair entered the gates wearing nervous expressions. From their vision, they could see multiple buses already lined up at the parking lot from the other schools. Because the duo spent a little too much time mucking around in the hotel, they were nearly an hour late. And for Kise who lived closeby, it was certain that he would get the worst of the lectures.

"We're so dead," Kise muttered.

"We wouldn't have been late if you hadn't played around so much!"

"Who knew there'd be an accident that would hold up the whole traffic for 40 minutes!"

Yes, they would have been on time had they left just five minutes earlier but it seemed fate was not on their side. They reluctantly made their way across the school and over to the main gymnasium where they could hear the sound of balls bouncing and shoes squeaking.

Kise pursed his lips and opened the door for the two to go in.

"Well well well, look who finally decided to show up!"

Almost immediately, everyone's eyes in the gym turned to the two teens who walked in. They wore sheepish expressions but froze when they saw their various captains stalking towards them dangerously.

"S-Senpai-"

"KISE!"

The poor model received a swift kick to his side from Kasamatsu who...why was he here? Wasn't he supposed to be in university?

"Aren't you supposed to be in Uni senpai?!" Kise cried massaging his sore side.

"SHUT UP! I was invited! And that's no excuse for you to come late!"

Meanwhile, Kagami was slowly backing away from a very angry Hyuuga and a pissed Riko.

"You better have a good explanation Bakagami," Riko hissed.

The other players and teams in the room watched with pity and amusement as the two basketball players shivered in front of their respective seniors. Those who were playing in a match momentarily stopped to watch the drama unfold.

"Heh, the idiots are in for it now," Aomine snickered.

Kuroko glanced at his former light, "You get similar grades to them Aomine-kun."

"Damn you Tetsu,"

On another side, Himuro watched his non-blood brother get reprimanded and hit on the head and the pretty boy couldn't help but squint his eyes in suspicion. As a guy who knew Kagami from childhood, he was familiar with the redhead to the point he could tell what Kagami was feeling.

And right now, he could see that there was something very wrong.

"I should ask him later..." he muttered.

"Hmm? Did you say something Muro-chin?" Murasakibara was sitting on the bench shoveling a handful of potato chips into his mouth.

"It's nothing," Himuro smiled but briefly glanced at Kagami before turning back to his team.

At the gym entrance, Kagami thanked the heavens that Riko and Hyuuga only attacked his head. It was much better than a boston-crab hold and he wouldn't have to worry about others finding out about his injury in such a manner.

After a five minute long lecture, Kise and Kagami were finally released to join the others. However, their punishment for their late arrival was that they had to clean the courts by themselves once everyone was finished.

Grumbling some incoherent words, Kagami trotted over to the rest of his team and dumped his bag on the bench.

"Why were you late Kagami-kun?"

Kagami let out a manly shriek at his shadow's sudden appearance, "Holy shit Kuroko! Why must you do that?!"

Kuroko tilted his head seemingly confused at what his light was saying, "I'm always like this though."

"That's the point!" Kagami growled. "I was late because there was an accident and it took forty minutes for the road to be cleared."

"I see. Then why were you with Kise-kun?"

"Uh...i-it was a coincidence," Kagami sweated nervously.

Kuroko cocked an eyebrow, "A coincidence?"

"Uhuh. He was in the area and we happened to take the same bus," the redhead chuckled awkwardly.

"But Kise-kun lives close by," Kuroko pointed out.

"T-That...h-how am I supposed to know what the blond moron was up to?" Kagami immediately retorted.

Kise who overheard the conversation glared at Kagami, 'Way to throw be under the bus.' He suddenly received a swat to the head and he turned around to see Kasamatsu glowering at him.

"What the hell you looking at? Get ready for the match!"

"You're so mean senpai-ssu!"

Meanwhile, Midorima and Takao were standing to the side with some other players unintentionally listening to the conversations. The bespectacled teen adjusted his glasses and muttered, "Those fools. It seems there's no hope for them maturing."

Miyaji sneered at him, "As if you're more mature than them you selfish bastard."

"Ahaha, come now senpai, Shin-chan's a whole lot better than when he first arrived. Kagami and Kuroko beating him definitely knocked him down a peg or two," Takao's unfiltered mouth said.

"Urusai Takao!"

"Shuutoku, Kaijo, you're up!" one of the coaches shouted from the front.

Seirin and Touou's match had just finished when Kagami and Kise arrived. The winner was Touou with a score of 100 to 80. The margin would've been larger if Aomine wasn't made to sit out in the first half. But Seirin wasn't too upset because at least the score showed a much greater improvement from the previous year's Inter-High. They didn't even have Kagami there and they were able to score that much.

Kagami cursed his bad luck. Even if he didn't play, he would've happily watched the match from the bench. At least he could watch Kise and Midorima now.

Speaking of the blond, Kise finished his warmups and stretches and walked onto the court facing Midorima.

"Ready to go down Midorimacchi?"

"As if I'd lose to you," Midorima glared.

Sparks between the two flowed making every other spectator sweatdrop. Wasn't this just a practice match?

The centers of the two teams positioned themselves in the middle of the court for the tip-off. Riko, the assigned referee, walked up to them with a whistle and glanced at the two before throwing the ball in the air.