Hi y'all, it's been six months...so sorry about that! To make up for it, I've decided to treat you all to a double update! I hope you're ready, I know I am. And again, thanks to my amazing beta reader, coco_coco_coconut, for putting up with me and my terrible schedule 3! Enjoy!

Chapter 19: Sakura That Bloom in Adversity

In the wake of Touou's defeat of Seirin, not a single Miracle in the entire gymnasium spoke.

Kuroko had gone numb.

Aomine was lost to apathy.

Momoi could feel her heart breaking.

Kise barely managed to remain standing.

Midorima only watched on in cold resignation.

"See you later, Kise," he said, turning away from the court after what felt like an eternity of silence. He slid away from Kise's warmth with not a hint of touch between them.

"That was quick!" Kise cried, his shock and disbelief creating a small burst of starlight through the bond. "Aren't you shocked at all by the results?"

"You should be worried about Kuroko instead of me," Midorima countered, turning his head slightly to meet Kise's eyes. Kise's eyes widened and Midorima knew he was remembering his own reaction to losing, as well as Midorima's own.

Kuroko, no doubt, was currently in the same state as they were.

"What?" Kise gaped. If Midorima was reading him correctly, Kise was probably shocked that Kuroko would react in a similar way to them. It shouldn't have been surprising though. After all, Kuroko was a Miracle. And Kuroko, just like the rest of them, was thought of as infallible.

"Kuroko's basketball was useless against Aomine," Midorima explained. "It must have been quite psychologically damaging. Not only that, but Seirin is still a young team. It won't be easy for them to come back from that overnight. We can only hope that it won't affect their remaining two games."

"We defeated our opponents in our first game of the championship league!" Wakamatsu shouted when Touou had returned to their locker room.

"We know. You don't have to yell," Imayoshi scolded.

"What?" Wakamatsu gaped.

"I thought they'd be stronger, considering they beat Shutoku," one of the benchwarmers who Aomine didn't know suddenly drawled. "Especially No. 11. Kuroko, right? He was absolute shit towards the end! He was real uptight about it until the very end. He should've given up sooner."

Faster than anyone in that locker room could blink, Aomine had grasped the player's collar and hoisted him off the ground against the lockers.

"You sure talk a lot for someone who didn't play. It's annoying, so shut up," Aomine spat. He could feel the anger under his skin, a roaring wave that wanted nothing more than to become a tsunami and wash this asshole away.

They may be separated, but they were still seven. One soul split between seven individuals, destined to be there for each other as friends and enemies alike.

Nobody, nobody , was allowed to insult a single member of those seven in the presence of another. If Momoi gave him the word, Aomine would have no regrets killing this bastard right here and now.

"Aomine!" Wakamatsu cried. "What are you doing? Let him go!"

The very air shook with the force of Aomine's rage, and he was sure if their bond was opened that Momoi would be experiencing the same emotions. Her complete silence at this moment spoke volumes to anyone who knew her.

But still, Aomine did not kill the punk. Instead, he dropped him, and left the locker room.

Kuroko had been numb since the game ended and he barely heard anything Riko said in the locker room.

He had lost…and everything felt so far away.

"Hey," Kagami said, drawing Kuroko back to reality when all he wanted to do was sink into Kise's sunlight and Midorima's trees. "This might be our limit. I thought we could go further. But look at us. In the face of overwhelming power, I don't think we can win just by working together."

With those parting words, Kagami left the locker room.

And all Kuroko felt was another stab in the heart.

"Tetsu…I don't think you were wrong, but…I can't. I'll never find what I'm looking for. The only one who can beat me is me."

Momoi looked around the empty stadium, her heart racing in her chest. From the atrium roof, the stars twinkled down, giving the whole place a romantic air.

But she couldn't find them.

There wasn't any time, they all had to go soon, but she just…couldn't leave without seeing them.

She couldn't leave any of them alone.

It felt almost as if she had been running endlessly when she finally found them.

Kuroko was sitting in the shadow beside Seirin's locker room with his arms wrapped around his knees. At his side were Kise and Midorima, Kise trying to get Kuroko to talk while Midorima played uninterested even as he passed what Momoi knew was Aquaius' Lucky Item for the day to Kuroko.

Momoi's heart broke as she approached them silently, kneeling directly in front of Kuroko.

"Oh, Tetsu-kun…" Momoi whispered. Kuroko looked up and met her eyes, his own swimming with tears that silently fell down his cheeks. Momoi wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'm sorry, Momoi-san. I couldn't keep my promise," Kuroko whispered.

"That's not important right now," Momoi shushed, gently running a hand through Kuroko's hair. The phantom shivered in her arms.

"Momoicchi is right," Kise agreed. His own hand came to rest at the back of Momoi's neck, his fingers threading through her loose hair. Momoi could feel goosebumps arise at his touch. "We just want to make sure you're okay, Kurokocchi."

"I'm fine." Kuroko shook his head.

"It is perfectly logical to expect this to hit you hard psychologically," Midorima cut in. Slowly, he stepped closer and bent down to his knees, as if he were approaching a wild animal and not three of his soulmates. "Not only is this your first loss, but it was against your partner as well."

"See? Even Midorin wants to help you cheer up," Momoi smiled, still keeping her voice soft.

"I do not!" Midorima whispered sharply. His words, however, were belied by the hand that reached out to gently squeeze Kuroko's shoulder.

Kuroko's head shifted the slightest bit, showing the small smile on his lips.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Always, Kurokocchi," Kise promised as he leaned down to gently kiss the top of Kuroko's head.

Midorima clicked his tongue, but his hand never left Kuroko's shoulder.

Momoi's heart melted at the sight of the three of them and, without thinking for even a second, she leaned in and gently kissed Kuroko's forehead.

Kuroko gasped the instant her lips touched his skin and Momoi couldn't pull away even if she wanted to as her pale pink aura lit up. Instead, she laid her forehead against Kuroko's own, feeling as if her very breath had been pulled from her lungs.

"We can all still be saved, Tetsu-kun. Even you and Aomine-kun," Momoi whispered, staring directly into Kuroko's eyes.

They were so expressive when you knew him inside and out, and right now, Momoi could read him as clear as the light blue sky. She could see his sadness as clearly as she could see his joy at having her there with him. She was helpless to the smile that spread across her lips, so full of the love she carried in her heart for her six boys.

"Thank you, Momoi-san…" Kuroko whispered, his voice as soft as the wind on her cheek before he leaned up and kissed her forehead.

Momoi couldn't hold back the gasp that left her and she didn't even bother to try.

Kuroko's kiss seemed to singe her skin as she felt the bond travel from that spot to her ankle, where she could feel his name reprinting itself on her right ankle. His ice settled into place right after, soothing away any regret and pain she held as it glittered in the shape of a beautiful flower.

Momoi grasped even tighter onto Kuroko as the bond settled between the two of them once more, unlike any previous bonding she could ever remember.

Was it always meant to be this way? She shivered at just the thought of experiencing such a sensation five more times, even as her heart and soul begged and pleaded desperately for it.

She was so very tired of feeling incomplete.

"Momoicchi…" Kise whispered, drawing her attention to him.

"Ki-chan…I've missed you, so much," Momoi whispered, smiling up at Kise even through the tears that now fell from her eyes.

"You don't have to miss me anymore," Kise smiled softly. His fingers threaded through her hair once before he gently turned her enough so he could kiss her forehead in the same way Kuroko had.

Momoi couldn't stop herself from pushing her face into Kise's neck even if she wanted to. The sunrise now warming the ice flower within her soul was a sensation she could never forget. Her body was trembling and she desperately clutched to Kuroko's hand even as she couldn't bring herself to move from Kise's neck as his yellow aura wrapped around her and his name burned into her left ankle.

Her body felt limp and completely out of her control, but she desperately wanted Kise to feel this , so she kissed desperately at his neck. She wanted to leave a mark, something that would say that Kise belonged to someone, to many someones. Momoi wasn't even aware as her kiss turned into a bite before she was soothing the pain away.

Kise was clutching her hair tightly in his hand, his face desperately pushing into her hair as he panted for air. She could just barely see his free hand, reaching out to squeeze the back of Kuroko's neck.

Almost there, they were almost there.

Momoi turned her face so she could see Midorima, who was staring at the three of them with such longing in his eyes that she knew, if she didn't complete the bond between them now, she would break.

But she couldn't be the one to reach out, not without permission, no matter how frantically her heart was beating in her chest, desperate to find his branches where her sakura petals could bloom.

Slowly, Midorima reached out and set his Lucky Item down before he wrapped his free arm around her waist. Just his touch alone had Momoi trembling in his grasp, but none of that compared to the moment when his lips gently kissed her cheek.

She couldn't stop herself from crying out, desperately turning her head so her own lips brushed Midorima's cheek, completing their bond of four. She could feel his name burning into her left ankle as his forest bloomed so beautifully within her very soul. Midorima himself was pulling her almost frantically closer, as if he wanted to fuse her into his body, until all four of them were one single being.

It wouldn't be so bad, the four of them all being one, in Momoi's opinion.

But for now, she was content with being here, clutching onto Kuroko's hand with her face buried against Kise's neck and her shoulder to hip being pressed into Midorima's chest.

Her heart was racing, tripping over itself and beating their names one after the other in repeat. She couldn't move a single muscle, and given how closely her boys were, they obviously couldn't either. She had no idea how any of them were going to be leaving the stadium tonight.

But at that moment, Momoi didn't care. She simply held onto her boys and relished in the bonds now burning firmly within her soul.

She was halfway home.

"Hey!" Kise called out to Kasamatsu as he entered Kaijo's gym, only to find his senpai practicing.

"Kise…" Kasamatsu seemed surprised.

"Would you like to play some one-on-one?" Kise asked with a smile.

"Would I?" Kasamatsu repeated, looking lost. "I thought you went to watch the final game of the championship league."

"I did," Kise confirmed as he stopped in front of Kasamatsu.

"How'd it turn out?" Kasamatsu asked.

"It made me feel like playing basketball," Kise answered, hedging around the answer he knew Kasamatsu wanted and the one he could not give. Even a day after Seirin and Touou's game, Kise still felt off-balanced, as if he was being crushed by disappointment and yet still buzzing with the returned bond within his mind. Momoi's sakura were thriving as, no doubt, Touou crushed the league.

"That's not what I'm asking!" Kasamatsu countered, just like Kise knew he would. At the same time, however, Kasamatsu's eyes were staring suspiciously at Kise's neck, as if trying to see beneath the makeup he had used to hide the evidence of Momoi's bonding.

That was for the eyes of the Miracles only.

"You're not curious about the results?" Kise asked, playing dumb.

"I can't deal with you," Kasamatsu sighed, his entire being screaming his exasperation.

"Let's go!" Kise grinned as he took his bag off his shoulder and stole the basketball from Kasamatsu.

"You bastard!" Kasamatsu shouted as they started to play.

But as soon as they started, Kise's mask slipped away into the cold expression he wore so well.

Kuroko's disappointment was a crystalized pond within his mind.

Seirin lost all of their games in the championship league.

When they returned to practicing, Kuroko did what he could to keep up, but it was painfully obvious that he wasn't okay yet.

The ramifications of losing that game against Aomine were still weighing down on him, reminding him of how stupidly arrogant he had been against his partner.

Kuroko himself was known for insisting not one person could play basketball alone, and yet here he was, disappointed that he had lost against Aomine. Was this what losing always felt like? How was Kuroko supposed to continue on with everything?

But…he already knew the answer to that. He'd shown it to Kise and Midorima, after all, and now Aomine and Momoi had shown it to him.

Kuroko glanced up at the rest of Seirin's team.

None of them had given up for an instance, even as Kuroko failed to be as miraculous as he could've been. Using them as tools hadn't worked out.

But perhaps if Kuroko worked with them as true teammates and friends, like he had with the Miracles…maybe then he could do it. After all, he had only become strong in basketball because he had relied on Aomine and Akashi, then formed genuine bonds with the others.

Seirin may not be the same, but Kuroko knew they were strong.

So yes, he'd give it a try.

Following the practice where Riko announced the return of Seirin's ace, Kuroko stayed back in the gym when the others left, his mind racing.

He could feel Kise, Midorima and Momoi through their bond, but he didn't focus on them.

Instead, he focused on the basketball in his hands and the voice of Aomine within his mind.

"If you haven't changed, it means you haven't improved. Your basketball will never win."

Perhaps that was true, but that didn't mean Kuroko couldn't change.

With this thought in mind, Kuroko threw the ball from the free throw line.

It hit the rim and fell to the gym floor. He followed its trajectory with his eyes, only to find someone standing behind him, kneeling down to stop the ball as Nigou barked.

"Come here," the student called out. Kuroko's expression didn't shift, even when he realized just who was standing before him. The reason he had chosen Seirin in the first place…who was currently petting Nigou's belly. "Good boy, good boy! Don't you think he looks like you? Just like I heard, you're not much good at anything besides passing. But who cares? I like your basketball." He threw the ball back towards Kuroko, who caught it after a single bounce. "You're not wrong. You're just inexperienced. That's all." He stood up then and took out a bag of Brown Sugar Candy. "Do you want some candy?"

"No, thank you." Kuroko shook his head, speaking for the first time since he entered the gym.

"Really?" the student asked as he took out a piece and threw it into the air, catching it in his mouth.

"Who are you?" Kuroko asked, because he had to be sure .

"Kiyoshi Teppei," Kiyoshi answered.

"Are you Kiyoshi-san?" Kuroko repeated, his heart rate picking up. He had thought Kiyoshi wouldn't be returning to Seirin, but here he was in the flesh, the Uncrowned King who Kuroko originally wanted as his new Light.

"Take the 'ki' from 'This tree, what is it? What is this tree?' Plus the 'kichi' of 'good luck', and it's 'Kiyoshi'," Kiyoshi proudly explained.

"I see," Kuroko stated. An awkward silence hung over the gym, before Kiyoshi broke it.

"Then the 'tetsu' from 'dumbbell' and the 'hira' in 'lowly employee' and you get 'Teppei'!" he declared, extremely happy to be explaining just where the kanji his name was derived from.

"Um, do you want something?" Kuroko asked.

"You're interesting," Kiyoshi smiled. Kuroko hummed in confusion. "Basketball is all about generalists. It's a sport for guys who can do everything. Put loosely, you'll be okay with five scorers who can pass. That doesn't always work, which is why you have positions, and sometimes teams keep a specialist as their sixth man. But I've never seen a specialist as extreme as you. It's extraordinary to specialize so thoroughly in a single thing."

Kiyoshi ran back a bit and held his hands out for the ball. Kuroko passed it to him without a word.

"But aren't you the one," Kiyoshi started to ask as he dribbled the ball. He drove past Kuroko and jumped to shoot the ball in as he continued, "assuming that's your limit?"

The ball bounced off the rim instead of going through the hoop. Kiyoshi briefly looked disappointed, before he smiled at Kuroko again over his shoulder.

"It's impressive you can view yourself so objectively and play in that way," Kiyoshi complimented as he turned the entire way. "But you may be taking it too far. We're still high schoolers. Believe in your own potential a little more." Kuroko could only stare in response, causing Kiyoshi to smile sheepishly. "I'm just talking to myself. See you next week, Kuroko-kun."

"Excuse me," Kuroko said as Kiyoshi began to walk away with a wave that brought the markings on the back of his right knuckles into sharp focus.

"Yeah?" Kiyoshi asked a second before he stepped on his candy. "I just bought these!" He then deflated like a balloon.

If nothing else, Kuroko would definitely say it was going to be interesting working with this Uncrowned King.

The next week saw the return of both Kagami and Kiyoshi.

It was an interesting experience for both of them, in Kuroko's opinion. As soon as he saw Hyuuga and Riko interact with Kiyoshi, he couldn't help the smile that wanted to bloom on his lips or the burn in his wrists. Seeing the three of them gave him hope, in a strange way.

After all, if the three of them could manage a relationship, why couldn't the Miracles?

But for Kagami, it was almost as if he had regressed back to those first days at Seirin, when he had been playing solely by himself.

And Kuroko wasn't sure how to fix it.

But Kiyoshi, it seemed, did, as he stepped forward and challenged Kagami to a one-on-one for the starting center position.

Kuroko could not deny he was intrigued. Perhaps…even he could learn something from watching Kiyoshi.

After all, the senpai were there for the kouhai to learn from and look up to.