Kise: *glomps Yoruko* Yay~ Thank you Yorukocchi!

Yoruko: O-oi, get off! *blushes and pushes Kise away* And please don't say anything, Kise. You don't want to give away spoilers to the readers do you?

Kagome: *giggling*

Kise: *sheepish and red with embarrassment* Sorry, Yorukocchi.

Kuroko: I've told you that you shouldn't cause people trouble, Kise-kun.

Yoruko: It's fine.

Disclaimer: Yoruko doesn't own anything her readers recognize.

Chapter Two:

Copy Cat

It had a few days since the abrupt announcement Riko made. Kagome and Kuroko, who had been let into the locker room since the boys were done changing and were currently putting their things away while they waited for the boys to vacate so they could have their turn to change. The captain had found an issue of a sports magazine from when Kagome still attended Teiko. The darker haired female was sure that had been brought by one of the other first years, because it included an all too familiar series of articles about the Generation of Miracles. (More like a series of profiles and interviews complete with the usual ridiculous speculation news media was famous for.)

"Kuroko and Higurashi... were left out, huh?" the captain noted.

"Even though you two were the sixth and seventh players?" a first year asked, "Didn't someone come to interview you?"

"The magazine meant to, but the person who came forgot me." Kuroko said.

'So painful!' the guys thought sympathetically in unison.

"What about Higurashi?" another senpai asked.

"Teiko's opponents and followers of Jr. High level basketball may call me the 'Mysterious Seventh Player', but the reporter pretended that a reserve player wasn't important enough to be included in such a big feature." Kagome explained, "It's kind of my fault Tecchan ended up left out. The sleaze ball tried to get me to bribe him, but I gave him a black eye when he said something perverted and then he had to get out of there in a hurry because our friends looked ready to tear him apart."

"He what?!"

Kagome just smirked. "He got what was coming. I hear his paycheck got halved for leaving Tecchan and me out of the article, and a month later he was fired for his methods and lack of honesty. Last I heard he's been booted from janitorial job to janitorial job because even though it's the only job he can get he's lousy at it."

"Besides, someone like me is completely different from those five and Kagome." Kuroko added, "They are true geniuses."

Kagome sighed and a sad look entered her eyes.

"You were the lucky one, Tecchan. Even though we're equal in skill, both considered part of the legendary team, I was only considered a reserve." the green eyed girl refuted, "To use drama terms to make it more clear, you were allowed on stage, right amidst the sparkling brilliance they used to exude. But I was stuck backstage, barely reaching the spotlight's shadow."

Kagome's words confused most of the males, but the captain and one other senpai frowned. The rumors had gotten pretty sour last year, especially after the Winter Cup. But the most disturbing rumors you had to have actually been on a Jr. High boys' basketball team to hear had been ones surrounding Kagome that mainly circulated during the team of prodigies' second year right at the last stretch of the Inter High. Right after the finals of that year's Inter High had been when the Generation of Miracles' talents seemed to have reached their peak. The pair exchanged a glance, both wondering the same thing- did those rumors have anything to do with what had been said by what was usually their most cheerful kouhai?

#########

The team was having another practice match amongst its members. Kagami was once more giving the senpai trouble. Most all of the guys were impressed by the redhead. They were so optimistic they were speculating whether or not he could beat the Generation of Miracles. But Kagome doubted it. He only matched the level they were at in their first year of Jr. High, and if all he could do was dunk he would reach a wall very quickly in his fight against the five boys that Kagome had once called teammates and friends. Still, though, she thought of Kagami's predecessor back when the infamous Miracles were making waves but not yet properly accepted as regulars by the stubborn senpai no matter what Akashi's predecessor said or did, and the similarity in play style to the boy Kuroko's previous light used to be was uncanny.

'Maybe one day he can match them after all…' Kagome thought as she watched Kagami do an impressive maneuver to be free to make a dunk.

Kuroko's words showed that she had noticed it too. "… I believed it when I said it, but…"

Kagome looked the blue haired girl out of the corner of her eye.

"Maybe." the green eyed girl agreed, "But something bothers me about his playing style. There are times when he looks surprisingly awkward for someone of his skill level and experience."

"Huh? Higurashi, where's Kuroko? We told both of you we were meeting here." Hyuuga said when he finally remembered the blue haired girl.

But before Kuroko could point out that she'd been there as long as Kagome had Riko showed up. She made the official announcement about the practice match against Kaijou to the half of the team that hadn't taken the advisor's offer to leave early when Riko first mentioned the practice match the other day. Thinking of Kaijou Kagome became conflicted, unsure if she was ready to reunite with even one of the boys who had practically turned into strangers.

"More importantly, Coach," the captain said, effectively ending his short lecture on Kaijou to the freshman, "Is what you said when you came back before true?"

"What?" Kagami asked.

"Ah, Kagami-kun, didn't you hear?" one of the other first years asked.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "He was there, he obviously just wasn't listening."

"Of course!" Riko said, ignoring the first years, "Kaijou is one of the schools that got one of the Generation of Miracles, Ryouta Kise."

Kagami's interest was immediately perked. Kagome herself felt relieved.

'If it's only him then it won't be as bad.' she thought, noticing absently that Kuroko seemed both anxious and excited, not that anyone else could tell. 'What's this? I had expected her to be more indifferent.'

Meanwhile, the other first years were shocked. Hyuuga mentioned Kise's modeling career, which added fuel to the fire. Something about being both talented at basketball and good looking being harsh. Riko and Kagome shared a look, rolling their eyes at a case of typical male stupidity, only to be jarred from their thoughts by a noise that the younger girl could recognize anywhere, though she held hope she was wrong at first… They looked and low and behold, true to Kagome's fear it was a crowd of blushing, squealing, annoying fangirls.

"Huh… What?! Why is there a big crowd here?!" Riko exclaimed.

That was when a familiar voice sounded. "Damn… I didn't come for this but…"

Low and behold, there was the blonde haired, golden eyed Ryouta Kise signing multitudes of autographs for empty minded girls who liked the magazines that published his photo shoots. The older members of Seirin and the more timid first years were shocked.

"…..This guy…!" Izuki exclaimed.

'What's a member of the Generation of Miracles doing here?' Riko wondered.

Kuroko on the other hand seemed as nonchalant as ever. Though Kagome could read in her eyes that the other girl was actually happy to see him.

"… Hisashiburi." the pale girl greeted, as a couple of girls screamed the blonde's name in the background.

"Long time no see." Kise returned, raising his hand in greeting and giving a wink that didn't match the sheepish look on his face, "I'm really sorry… Err…. Do you mind waiting a few minutes?"

Kagami finally put the pieces of the puzzle together. 'This guy is…!'

A few minutes later Kise had finally shooed the fangirls away. He jumped down from the bleachers.

"Why are you here?" Izuki asked.

"I remembered that Seirin was the school Terukocchi joined when I heard that it's our next opponent." Kise explained, "So I came to say hi since we had something for each other in Jr. High. Right, Terukocchi?"

"Not really." Kuroko denied.

"So cold." Kise whined, crying anime style waterfall tears.

"Kise-kun." Kagome said sharply, "Aren't you skipping your own practice?"

Kise immediately perked up. "Kagomecchi! You came to Seirin too? It's been way too long!"

Before Kagome could reply, they were interrupted by the second years. They were talking about how the article said Kise only joined in their second year. And that he's an all-rounder that keeps improving.

"You've only played for two years?!" a first year exclaimed.

"No… Well…. The article's an exaggeration." Kise claimed, "I'm happy to be considered one of the Generation of Miracles, but I was the weakest of the bunch… That's why I tended to get picked on, though Terukocchi and Kagomecchi always stopped it. Ne?"

"Please stop making things up." Kuroko said, denying his claim, "I never saw anything like that."

"What?! I was the only one who noticed?!" Kise exclaimed, crying waterfall tears.

Kagome rolled her eyes, even just remembering how her friends had picked on the blonde annoying her. "You're being surprisingly modest. The fact that you stand as their equal in spite of having far less experience only means that you have the most potential to get stronger. And of course I stopped it, I will never approve of bullying."

Kise visibly brightened. "Kagomecchi! It's been so long!"

Suddenly a ball came flying towards Kise, passing dangerously close to Kuroko's face since she was standing next to him. The blonde caught it with one hand, but it seemed to have been thrown harder than Kagome thought since it seemed to have nearly hurt Kise's hand. For a moment Kise's expression was actually serious, and those who saw it were so surprised form the difference from how he had been mere moments before that they were almost shaken. Kagome could tell that he was angry at the close call Kuroko had had.

Kise was the first to break the silence. "Itai… You okay, Terukocchi? Wait, what-"

Naturally, the culprit turned out to be Kagami.

"Sorry to interrupt your reunion after so long, but you didn't come all this way just for a greeting, right?" Kagami said with a predatory smile Kagome thought made him look evil, "How about playing a little with me, Ikemen-kun?"

For some reason, the senpai were surprised.

"Kagami?!"

"Kagami-kun!"

"Bakagami, you almost hurt Tecchan!" Kagome scolded, a tick mark appearing when the redhead ignored her.

For a second, Kise almost looked like he was going to be mature and turn down the offer.

"Eeh, even if you say so, so suddenly… Ah, just before, you…" Suddenly Kise got serious, a sharp look in his eyes that only Kagome and Kuroko realized was annoyance as he took off his blazer and tie, "But then again, you nearly hit Terukocchi. Fine, let's do this. It'll be thanks for showing me something good."

"…Geez." Riko looked almost as annoyed as Kagome felt.

Kuroko, however, just looked thoughtful. "This could be bad."

Kagome was surprised for a second, but when she remembered the last thing Kise said before getting ready to play she understood.

"That's true." Kagome agreed, "After all we have no idea when he got here."

Meanwhile, Kise and Kagami were having the typical face-off players did before really trying anything. Said blonde was the one in possession of the ball.

"Eh?" Riko was confused; showing she probably only knew the most basic of rumors surrounding the Generation of Miracles.

"It's not quite right, but it would be closest to the truth to say that Kise's a copycat." Kagome explained, "Only this isn't a simple case of 'monkey see monkey do.'"

"Once he sees a play, he can instantly make it his own." Kuroko elaborated.

"Wha?!" That was when Riko noticed that the younger girls hadn't been exaggerating; in fact what they said was almost an understatement.

Kise was pulling off an improved version of Kagami's finishing move from the match earlier. Riko and all of Kagome and Kuroko's teammates, the redhead currently playing included, were in shock. Kagami almost managed to keep the ball from making it into the basket, but Kise was faster and stronger so he missed it by a margin.

"This is the Generation of Miracles… Kuroko-chan, Higurashi, isn't your friend to incredible."

"Don't call him my friend. That guy isn't Rikkun." Kagome said coldly.

"… I don't know him." Kuroko agreed, meaning something different, "Honestly, it seems that I was naïve before. It's only been a few months, yet he… It seems the Generation of Miracles is improving quicker than I thought."

Meanwhile, the only difference in Kise from before he played was that he looked bored and disappointed.

"Letting something like that go doesn't feel right… I can't leave with just a greeting after all." Kise said, "Please give me Terukocchi."

Kuroko and the rest of Seirin were shocked speechless.

"Come to Kaijou. Let's play basketball together again." Kise elaborated.

"What?!" Riko shouted.

"I'm serious; I like you a lot, Terukocchi! Your talent will only be wasted in a place like this!" Kise insisted, "In fact, it's a waste for Kagomecchi too so you should join us. I really respect you, and I miss being on the same team. So? How about it?"

A fond but sad look entered Kagome's eyes.

"If you were Rikkun, your words would be tempting and I would actually consider it." but then Kagome's eyes hardened, "But you're not the goofy friend that helped me try to bring Tecchan out of her shell, Kise-kun, so it's not even worth giving one thought."

Kise's eyes widened as he remembered an incident that had happened when the first Inter High tournament he was on the team to be part of had just started. It had been just a couple of months after the accident caused by neglect that had resulted in her father, who had been a police officer, dying in the line of duty…

"Well if it isn't little Kagome. It's been a long time. Would you like me to treat you to some ice cream so we can catch up?" The man Kise later learned had been the partner of Kagome's father had said.

"I'm sorry, Daiyama-san, but Okaa-san taught me never to trust strangers. If you'll excuse me." Kagome had walked away to go to the group's destination ahead of everyone without another word.

"What happened to 'Ji-chan'?" the man had murmured, only to seemingly be ignored.

"What's wrong with Kagomecchi?" Kise had asked, more bothered by the silent tears he'd caught streaming down her face than her cold expression or the strange feeling that he gained in the pit of his stomach as he watched her walk away which he would only realize when it was too late had been something like an omen.

"It's her habit." Akashi had said simply, and then turning to address the man added, "I don't know who you are so I don't know what you did, but if you used to be close you royally screwed up with her."

"Kagome's always been mature for her age when she's serious and has a strong sense of camaraderie and justice, but that's a double edged sword." Midorima had elaborated, "When she's truly close to someone she uses their given name or a nickname. If she feels they betrayed her trust, lost the right to be considered friends, or no longer resemble the people they were when she cared for them she treats them like strangers or mere acquaintances. Considering this man was her father's partner, he should consider himself lucky."

"What does that mean?" Aomine had been the one to voice the question that everyone was thinking.

"Shintarou means that if someone has truly gotten on Kagome's bad side she gives them a nickname that uses their last name or doesn't use their name at all." Akashi had said, "Kagome might seem friendly and outgoing outside the court but getting close enough for her to consider you dear to her heart is much more difficult than people realize. (Here he had looked at looked at the four who had known Kagome for the shortest amount of time) Tread carefully, she had fewer friends than you'd think in elementary and if someone breaks her, making her angry will be the least of your problems."

The threat had made even Kuroko shiver. However once they caught up to Kagome Kise doubted anyone but him had given the incident a single thought. Even he had forgotten about it quickly, but the reality and meaning of what he had learned that day was suddenly hitting him like a ton of bricks. He frowned, a light of understanding he could tell no one but Kagome and Kuroko could see in his eyes, and dropped the matter. Instead, he turned to the blue haired girl.

"What about you?" he asked.

"I'm honored you feel that way." Kuroko said, but then she bowed, "I'm sorry but I have to turn you down."

"Doesn't that sound strange in this context?" Kise asked, crying, and then more seriously said, "Beside, this isn't like you! Wasn't winning everything? Why didn't you pick a better school?"

"My eyes have been opened to a different perspective. More importantly, I've made a promise with Kagami." Kuroko replied, "A promise to beat the Generation of Miracles. I made a promise to Kagome, too."

"It's really not like you." Kise said, confused, "Saying such a joke."

Kagami, meanwhile, laughed and was approaching the trio.

'This is the Generation of Miracles… Awesome.' the redhead thought, 'He wiped the floor with me and he says there're still four stronger guys?'

"Don't steal my lines, Kuroko." Kagami reprimanded.

"Have you ever known Tecchan to be anything but serious when it comes to basketball, Kise-kun?" Kagome pointed out.

"The fact that I'm bad with jokes hasn't changed." Kuroko said, "I'm serious."

"…. What about Kagomecchi?" Kise asked apprehensively.

"The boys called the 'Generation of Miracles' when I left Teiko and today are not the same boys that were some of the best friends I ever had." Kagome admitted, "But meeting Tecchan again unexpectedly gave me hope. If my friends are still out there somewhere I'll bring them back no matter what…. Even if I have to do it forcefully against their wills, and the method leaves them bruised and whining."

Kise looked at her sadly, reminiscent of a kicked puppy. "Kagomecchi…."

A fond look crossed her face for a moment, and a part of Kise dared to hope. But quickly enough her expression hardened. She turned away from him and walked towards the girl Kise had realized must be the coach. But Kise had known Kagome for almost two and a half years. The silence, he knew, was the most telling of all. A storm was headed for the Generation of Miracles, and though he was confused the blonde still knew that they had brought it upon themselves.

A flash of Kagome with shorter hair and wearing shorts and the skirt and button-up shirt of Teiko's girl uniform flashed through Kise's head, a bright and cheerful grin on her face. "Ne, Rikkun. My godmother got me a new videogame. Want to hang out at my house with me and Shikkun? Tecchan's coming too."

'What have we done?' he wondered, 'I came for Terukocchi but now that I've seen her after so long, I find myself missing Kagomecchi's smile… Why didn't that guy say anything?'

Five minutes later, the blonde was holding his phone as he approached the gates leading out of Seirin. He had sent a text to three people, each a member of the Generation of Miracles, not realizing that the one who should have known the most was just as clueless as Kise himself had been before he'd arrived at Seirin. The content was short and to the point: 'I found her. She's at Seirin with Kurokocchi.'

He knew he would get in trouble later for not mentioning that something was wrong, Akashi was sure to be angry he had withheld information, but he just couldn't do it. Kagome was a nice, friendly girl but she was a force to be reckoned with when angered. The model may not be the smartest but he knew well enough that whatever she was upset over was their fault, and he knew better than to get between an angry woman and the target of her wrath. No matter what the non-regulars back at Teiko said or what the former captain of Teiko did, Kise was much more scared of Kagome than he was Akashi. He just hoped she'd go easy on him.

Kise sighed. "I really hope Kagomecchi forgives us…."

#########

Finally, the day of the practice match had arrived. Kagome and Kuroko, since Teiko put just as much emphasis on athletics, were the only ones not surprised at the size of Kaijou's campus. Even Kagami seemed impressed in spite of himself behind how his face looked fiercer than ever.

"Kagami-kun, your eyes are worse today..." Kuroko noted.

"Urusai. I was so fired up I didn't get any sleep." Kagami said, proving himself to be as tired as he looked.

"… Are you supposed to be an elementary student before a field trip?" Kuroko asked incredulously; of course since her expression was as neutral as ever it just came across deadpanned.

Kagome on the other hand just snorted in amusement. "Tecchan, elementary students looking forward to a field trip get more sleep."

Kagami stuttered indignantly for a moment, and started to open his mouth. But he never got a chance to retort. Right at that moment, one of the last people Kagome wanted to see before she had to showed up. Kise was approaching the Seirin team, cheerful as always.

"Konnichiwa! I'm counting on you guys today." Kise said as a greeting.

"Kise!" a couple members of the team exclaimed in unison.

"This place is pretty big, so I came to guide you." Kise explained, then turning to Kuroko said amidst comical tears, "Terukocchi, I've been crying myself to sleep every night since you rejected me so easily... Not one girl has turned me down, you know?"

"Would you please stop talking like that?" Kuroko requested.

"Mou, Terukocchi!" the blonde whined, only to get over it quickly and turn to look at Kagami, "For that reason, since Terukocchi apparently has faith in you and even Kagomecchi seems to have faith in you... I'm slightly interested. I don't really care about the title "Generation of Miracles", but if you're so eager to pick a fight... even someone like me can't let such a thing go. Sorry but I'll have to seriously beat you."

"Of course!" Kagami exclaimed, eager for the upcoming match and pleased that his opponent was taking him seriously.

Kagome glanced at Kuroko out of the corner of her eye. Noticing the attention on her Kuroko diverted her attention and the female athletes shared a look. Both being experienced with super competitive, egotistical boys they knew that things would likely get troublesome quickly.

That was when they made it to the gym. Riko and Hyuuga had stopped in their tracks, shocked. When the inside of the gym finally came within eyesight, they found out why. A gigantic net was dividing the gym in two, and on the other side of it practice was clearly going on as normal. The fat, lazy-looking man passing himself off as a coach revealed that he thought it would be a waste to just have the non-regulars watch. The board holding up the net was old, the fading paint and the cracks suggested that it was due for a replacement. Riko seemed shocked.

'The nerve of this guy.' Kagome thought.

'That man had better watch what he says or something bad might happen.' Kuroko thought, looking at Kagome warily.

"It's still the regulars even though I said it's a warm up, however." the man said, "Please don't let us triple the score."

With that the man had angered and alienated the whole team. Even a stranger could tell that Kuroko was bothered. Then, he noticed Kise already dressing in his regulars' uniform. The man ignorantly added fuel to the fire.

"Hm? Kise, you're not playing! Why are you putting your uniform on?" the coach demanded. (He seemed genuinely confused to Seirin's ire.)\

"Eh?" Kise seemed shocked.

"You're on a completely different level even for our school that's known for gathering aces." he elaborated.

Kise looked at Kagome nervously out of the corner of his eye. "Wait a minute, Coach. You really need to stop saying things like that."

"With the other regulars playing it's already unfair." he claimed, "It won't even be a match if I put you out there too."

Riko shouted, incredulous. "Wha-"

"Why that jerk, I oughtta give him a piece of my mind!" Kagome said, rolling up her sleeve.

Fortunately Izuki had the foresight to grab onto the back of her jacket. "Easy there, Higurashi-chan. You'll get your chance."

"Gomen ne Kagomecchi, minna. I'm seriously sorry." Kise said placatingly, "I'll probably be allowed to play if you knock him off his pedestal. Sorry if this sounds self-centered but… you won't have any right to say that you'll take down the Generation of Miracles if you can't even get me to play today."

"Hey, Seirin! I'll show you to the locker room now!" the coach shouted.

"You won't have to wait long so please stay up." Kuroko said.

"Ano… excuse me. I think a warm up might be impossible." Riko told the coach at the same time.

"Because I don't think you're going to be able to afford holding back." the two girls said in unison.

"You'd better be prepared, Kise-kun. I'll be mad if you hold back just because I haven't played in so long." Kagome said over her shoulder as she followed her teammates.

The coach didn't understand, not even that he'd made his team's opponents angry. "What?"

Kise, however, had a serious expression on his face that confused and surprised his new teammates. He has a satisfied smirk on his face. He was really looking forward to this.

'Let's see what's changed. It's been almost two years since the last official match Akashicchi put Kagomecchi in.' the blonde thought, 'This should be interesting.'

#########

When Seirin arrived back in the gym, Hyuuga and the guy who always had his eyes mostly closed were the only second years on the court. Of course, the referee failed to notice Kuroko.

"Where's your fifth player?" he asked, only looking at the three boys and Kagome.

"Ano… We are five." Kuroko said, revealing her presence.

"Did you think that I was just standing here for show?" Kagome added.

Kaijou's reaction was prompt.

"Eeehhh?!"

"Wait, are they really saying that we'll be playing a girl?!"

"Who's practically invisible."

"Is someone like that really a regular?"

"What am I a fish?" Kagome asked.

"Wait… That's a girl too?!"

"If you actually look at her it's obvious."

"What is she wearing?"

"It's weird for a basketball player, but you've got to admit that it suits her somehow."

"I bet she's cute when she takes that hat off."

"I bet this'll be easy." One said, summing up what all of Kaijou seemed to think.

Kagome was wearing fingerless black leather gloves. Her hair was pulled into a braid, and a black ski cap with a white and blue skull-like shape some of the guys recognized from the anime Bleach.

'Kagomecchi changed her hat.' Kise noted from the side, 'She must have gotten it during one of her trips to Akihabara. And she still doesn't really like the attention she inevitably gets.'

"Ridiculous… I thought there would put better players into play with all of that big talk." the coach sighed.

"… I wonder about that." Kise said, gaining the coach's attention, "Though… He might not be a decent one after all. It'll all be up to…"

On the sidelines, the stats of Kaijou's players was making her worry. 'But… I should have expected something like this from a national level team.'

When the game started the first person to get the ball was Kaijou's captain, a boy named Kasamatsu. "Let's begin by scoring once! Let's do this properly!"

But the words had barely left his mouth when Kuroko had taken the ball from him. At first he looked like he might catch up and steal it back. But the blue haired girl had already passed it to Kagami. He immediately dunked it.

'Take that!' the redhead thought viciously, still annoyed at being underestimated so severely.

Kagami had grabbed onto the hoop after the ball was through. As Kagome had long since learned those who could dunk were wont to do. But when he fell back to the ground an amazing and ridiculous thing had happened. Something even Murasakibara had never accomplice, not even when Akashi had made the Miracles hold a weekend practice at a street court. Kagami had failed to let go of the hoop, and it came down with him.

The shocked shout resounded throughout the court. "He destroyed the goal!"

'Bakagami…! He even has the gall to look confused! It's only natural that such a weak basket would break when someone with that much physical strength holds onto it for so long!' Kagome thought incredulously, 'I would expect the other first years to react like that but even Aida-senpai is shocked and she should have the best idea of what he's capable of!'

"What now, Kuroko? Look at this." Kagami asked casually, marveling at how a hoop was bigger than he expected.

"What? First we apologize." Kuroko pointed out.

Kagome sighed. "Well, at least it gets things done. We might have even done them a favor; if that thing's so weak someone could have been hurt eventually if it fell on its own."

"Gomen nasai, we seem to have broken the goal." Kuroko said, doing the talking for Kagami, "Would it be okay if we used the other half of the court?"

Kise didn't look surprised but rather pleased. 'Things are getting interesting.'

And in that manner Kagami single-handedly destroyed Kaijou's coach's plans. Ego bruised, the fat man had the whole court rather than simply the other half of the court prepared. And true to prediction, this time Kise was in uniform and ready to play.

"You really surprised him." Kise said, smiling sheepishly, "That was the first time I've seen the coach make a face like that."

"Well he was looking down on us!" Kagami defended, "Take that!"

Kagome hit Kagami on the head. "Baka, normally I would agree that it serves the jerk right but you're not looking at the big picture!"

That was when Kuroko broke the news of what the full consequences of Kagami's actions were. "Kagami-kun… Do you know… how much a backboard costs?"

Kagami was shocked for some reason. "Eh? We've got to pay for it?!"

Angry at how Kagami was acting, Kaijou's coach called Kise over. "Kise! Come here for a second!"

"He's finally here." Kagami said, satisfied.

"With so much pressure now that he's serious, you wouldn't think that the guy's a model." Hyuuga noted.

"It's not just for show; he's the same on the inside." Kuroko said.

"Kise-kun was never one to put up a front; he's too honest for that." Kagome agreed.

On the sidelines, Riko was processing just what she'd gotten her team into as Kise's uniform finally allowed her a better reading of his stats. But the atmosphere was broken by the sound of squealing and shrieking. Fangirls had shown up on the upper level.

"What the hell?!" Hyuuga said.

"Ah, them? It's always like this when he plays. Actually…" Kasamatsu said, turning to Kise and kicking him, "When are you going to stop waving at them?!"

"Itai! I'm sooorrry!" Kise cried.

"I'll hit you!" Kasamatsu threatened.

"But you already hit me…" Kise pointed out.

Kagome, having noticed, headed towards the duo.

"Don't you understand the situation? With an introduction like that, it would be rude not to return the favor!" Kasamatsu lectured.

Kagome arrived right then, grabbing the opposing captain's wrist to stop him from hitting Kise's shoulder, "Watch it Bub! There's no room for violence on or off the court in basketball, especially towards a teammate!"

"What do you think you're-" Kasamatsu tried to question her but she didn't let him.

"He may not be Ryouta but he's still a former teammate. I won't forgive anyone who hurts him, so keep it up and you're in for a world of hurt!" Kagome threatened.

"Oi, Higurashi! What do you think you're doing?" Hyuuga shouted, "Get over here, it's time to start!"

"Coming!" Kagome called back, and then looked over her shoulder as she walked away, "Kise-kun, keep letting people do things like that and you'll give off the impression of being a masochist."

Then the game played. Kise immediately got the ball and headed to the basket.

"Now for our greeting." he said, copying Kagami only without breaking the hoop.

"Aho, I told you to break it like them!" Kasamatsu complained, "Do it again!"

'No, his had more power…' Kagami observed.

"What did I say about violence?!" Kagome threatened, "And since Kise's got more physical strength and it's still standing that just means you tried to make us play with an expired backboard before."

"Are you implying something?!" Kasamatsu protested.

"I'm saying that if it fell naturally one of your players would have could have been hospitalized, that's all. Don't get your panties in a twist." Kagome said.

"Kagomecchi, you're still so rough on court." Kise sighed, before he turned to Kagami, "I can't do the same with girls, but… in basketball, I never fail to return a favor."

"Fine!" the redhead shouted, "Kuroko, give me the ball!"

As asked Kuroko came and shot the ball towards him. Yet again, Kagami and Kuroko pulled off an almost miraculous combo move. Kise failed to react, surprised an annoyed at having not accounted for something he knew he should expect, and Kagami made yet another dunk.

'Where does she keep coming from?' Kasamatsu wondered.

"Let's go full power too!" Kise encouraged.

For the next three minutes it was all offense, not guarding at all. Riko was shocked at the pace. None of Kaijou's defense was doing any good, and the only moves that ever got pass Kagome involved Kise. Even then he lost the ball to her half the time. She was amazed at the sight of what happens when members of the Generation of Miracles goes against one another. On court, Hyuuga was getting worried. Even without Kise the pressure from Kaijou was intense to the point that it was insane. Seirin, he knew, would never have stood a chance without Kagami, Kuroko, and Kagome.

'How long will the match stay balanced...!?' Hyuuga wondered.

Meanwhile, Kagami was challenging Kise, who only copied the moves he did and repeated them, only better. Kagome and Kuroko exchanged a glance. That wasn't good. At Kagami's current level, if things continued the way they were it would only lead to ruin. If they didn't want the redhead to wreck Seirin's chances at winning, they had to slow down the pace of the match.

'This could be bad…! Why do I always end up working with hot heads?!' Kagome thought.

"Buchou, I'd like to request a timeout." Kuroko said.

"Uwah! Wait, why ask me?!" Hyuuga exclaimed in shock.

"The game's current high pace isn't good for our health." Kuroko stated.

"Huh?! What's with saying something so weak hearted?!" Hyuuga asked.

"If we don't get Kagami-kun to cool his head…" Kuroko explained.

"Eh? What are you saying?" Hyuuga asked.

"If Kagami keeps getting mad and challenging Kise-kun, he'll only reply with more and more strength." Kuroko pointed out, "At the rate things are going we'll keep pursuing Kaijou like this and the situation will worsen."

'She's not usually so talkative… Are things worse than I thought?' Hyuuga thought.

"Tecchan's right, Buchou. The way things are now it's a vicious, never-ending cycle." Kagome said, "If Kagami's and Kise's competitive streaks keep the game set at this sort of pace it will only wreck our chances."

"Yeah, so it seems." Hyuuga agreed, and then he looked towards Riko, "The coach seems to think the same thing."

"Time out asked by Seirin!"

Back at the benches, Kuroko and the boys were all exhausted. It was only natural, playing like that in a span of only five minutes.

Back at Kaijou's benches the coach was furious. "What's with this mess, guys?! How many points will you allow them to take?! Is the defense asleep?!"

"Even if you say that, those three first years are trouble." Kasamatsu said, then turning to Kise added, "You're handling number 10 well and there's not much we can about the black haired girl's acrobatics. We're lucky she's concentrating on defense, but… What the hell, that transparent girl isn't normal…"

Kise, naturally, perked up at that. "Ne? Back at Teiko, Kagomecchi and Terukocchi were actually…"

"What the hell, don't act so happy baka." Kasamatsu said, shaking his fist at Kise but for once not hitting him out of fear of Kagome's wrath.

'She seemed normal enough at first, but that chick is scary!' Kaijou's captain complained mentally.

"Okay, okay!" Kise protested, not wanting to be hit again, "It's probably all right, since if Kagomecchi hasn't tried to score by now she probably isn't going to. As long as it stays that way the balance will break soon… because…"

Back with Seirin, Riko and the team were now having a strategy meeting. "First the problem is Kise. Kagome's needs to continue as she has been because otherwise our defense is really weak, and to think that even Kagami can't handle him…"

"Wa-wait a damn second… please!" Kagami tried to protest, though he only got funny looks for his attempt at correcting his impolite language.

"…No, there's a way out of this." Kuroko stated, not knowing that back at Kaijou's bench, Kise was about to say the exact same thing.

"Huh?"

"This guy/girl has a weak point."

"Weak point?!"

"In that case why didn't you say something sooner?" Hyuuga asked.

"It's not quite a weak point." Kagome said.

"More importantly, I'm sorry but there's another problem." Kuroko said, "With this unexpected high pace, I'm already starting to lose my efficiency."

"Misdirection isn't something she can use the whole 40 minutes." Kagome and Kise were each explaining.

It was revealed to each team that misdirection wasn't by any means magic. Kuroko simply redirected attention away from herself. Even Kagome and Kise could to an extent do such a thing. It was as simple as throwing the ball. Kuroko uses such tricks and her higher than average perception to make herself disappear as if she'd been an illusion. It was why she could only relay passes. She was already hard to notice, but if she used misdirection too much in a single sitting the opponents of the match get used to it. Thus the longer Kuroko uses her ace in the hole, the less efficient her technique becomes.

"Why didn't you say something so important sooner?!" Riko exclaimed.

"Gomen nasai. You didn't ask…" Kuroko apologized.

"If we don't ask, you won't say anything?!" Riko raged, trying to strangle Kuroko only for Kagome to interfere.

"Please forgive us. We're so used to it that it didn't occur to tell you until now, so since you didn't ask for details about how misdirection actually works it never came up." Kagome said.

Riko sighed. 'I was careless too… Of course something like that isn't without risks.'

"Any more surprises like that, Kagome?" Riko asked pointedly.

"Hm, as long as we don't play someone with enough of a reach to grab at me when I'm in the air who's willing to take the risk of a foul, I'm good." Kagome said, "After all that's the most likely way to stop me and it's almost impossible to stop me while I'm high up like that without hurting me."

"Well, at least we have that much to be thankful for." Riko muttered, "What about your stamina?"

"Even when I was still in Teiko I could play two consecutive games in one day and hardly be out of breath." Kagome said, "My stamina's really improved since then so I can guarantee that there won't be any problems on my end."

"Timeout is over!"

"It ended while I was scolding Kuroko-chan!" Riko shrieked.

Without any more time to plan, it was time to get back to the game. Kagami just decided on his own to continue trying to mark Kise without hearing anyone else's opinion. Riko told the team to change their defense from man-to-man to zone. With some more advice and a request that Kuroko slow down as much as she could without letting a big point difference grow, she sent the team back out to the game.

"Oh?" When Kise went to score his first basket of the game, he found the entire team working together on defense.

It was obvious to Kaijou that Seirin had strengthened its center in an attempt to stop or slow Kise.

"Damn, I'm bored…" Kasamatsu muttered, and then he jumped up and shot the ball.

"A sudden three pointer…!" a spectator pointlessly pointed out.

"There's a limit to naivety, you know? Don't underestimate Kaijou's regulars." Kasamatsu reprimanded.

Kagome jumped towards the basket and grabbed the ball just before it made it in, barely making it in time.

"Speak for yourself! An average three pointer like that is easy to reach!" Kagome said, "Don't underestimate me just because I'm a girl! Tecchan and Kise-kun aren't the only ones from Teikou here!"

"Tch… Damn, I forgot about her." Kasamatsu complained.

"How does she even do that?" Another of Kaijou's regulars asked, "I've met gymnasts who can't do half of what that girl pulls off."

"Damn… This is really getting hard…" Hyuuga commented.

From then on the gap increased bit by bit. Kagome kept Kaijou from scoring as much as she could. But even with her stamina she had to watch how often she jumped, and she couldn't be everywhere at once. Kagami was really hurting things with his challenge to Kise which had so far been pretty one sided. And as predicted, Kaijou was slowly getting used to Kuroko. Sometimes they could see her before she could steal the ball.

"I see… We're getting used to it slowly…" one Kaijou regular commented.

"Shoot… The gap's getting bigger bit by bit…" one of Seirin's first years noted from the bench.

Right then Kise shot the ball out of Kagami's hand and out of bounds.

"…Isn't it time to admit it?" Kise asked, "You're 10 years too early to challenge the Generation of Miracles as you are now."

Kagami, never one to admit defeat, wasn't happy. "…What?!"

"You can't catch up with a point difference like this. More than strategy or team formation, basketball is a sport about 'size' first." Kise explained, "If you compare each team's five players, the difference in size and ability is too big. With Kagome focused on defense you're the only one who could have matched us, but I've already pretty much seen the extent of your abilities. I'll acknowledge your potential. But you're still no match for me. No matter the type of technique, if I see it I'll immediately pay it back twice as much. You can't beat me no matter how hard you struggle. Well… Just remember that reality isn't so sweet."

'You…' Kagome grit her teeth, 'Since when does the Ryouta Kise I knew treat his opponents like that?'

"What's with the look on your face, Kagomecchi?" Kise asked, "You know I'm right about his current strength."

"That's not the issue." Kagome said, "It's your superior attitude!"

Before the blonde could reply, Kagami started laughing. "Sorry, sorry. I'm kind of happy, you know. It's been a while since the last time I met someone who said that kind of thing."

"?!" Kise clearly didn't understand.

"Though, this was normal in America." Kagami added.

"Eh? You went to America?! Cool!" Kise exclaimed.

"I made assumption, when I returned to Japan and backed off from basketball. I regret that now." Kagami said, "After all, life is about challenges."

Then the redhead went on about how life was no fun without strong opponents. In fact, it was better if he couldn't win.

"I'm done! It starts for real now. Don't you think it's too early to say cheesy things like that?"

Kagome snorted, "Well, what do you know? Even you can say something impressive. You ruined it at the end, though."

"Oi, lay off!" Kagami protested, and then turned back to Kise, "Anyway, thanks to that I've understood your weakness. I sort of get why she didn't want to say it herself. You can do anything as long as you can see it? In that case what if you can't see? Since she's so hard to notice in the first place it's impossible to do the same, right? Even for someone with abilities like yours, you can't stay unnoticed so you can't use that style. Higurashi is a force to be reckoned with, but on the ground you're pretty much evenly matched. So it's this girl, right! Your weak point!"

Kagami had put his hand on Kuroko's head for emphasis. Everyone who could hear him except for Kagome and Kise were surprised. They never expected that the weakness of Kise, who even Kagami couldn't match, was Kuroko. The seemingly weakest player outside of passing.

"…." for a moment, Kise was silent, "So? It's true, that I only can't pull off Teruko's technique. But what does that change?"

"The first quarter is over! Two minute break!"

"It does change something!" Kagami said, "In second quarter I'll make you cry!"

"Have you forgotten? No matter who you're talking about, the best counter against someone is a former teammate of theirs. This is especially true among the Generation of Miracles." Kagome reminded him, "And there are two of us. Doesn't the fact that I can keep up for you even when I'm rusty from not playing for over a year say something?"

Back at Kaijou's bench the coach was mad again. He was shouting out instructions so that Seirin could almost hear him. Kise was silent, and had a serious expression on his face. Noticing and not being used to it, Kasamatsu looked concerned.

At Seirin's bench, Riko was thinking hard about the news.

"I get it… yeah, it could work." she said, "Plus it seems Kagami-kun has cooled down."

"No, I was calm from the start." Kagami refuted.

"You were completely pissed off!" Hyuuga and Izuki pointed out in unison.

"The dangerous pace we started with was all your fault." Kagome agreed.

Riko cut them off by returning to the matter at hand. "In any case Kagami and Kuroko's coordination is very important. Can you do it?"

"Ano… I… guess…" Kagami said, looking at Kuroko dubiously.

Kuroko hit him in the side. "Wha! What the hell, all of a sudden!"

"We are going to defeat Kise-kun right?" Kuroko stated.

"Of course!" Kagami shouted, hitting Kuroko in return.

"You okay Tecchan?" Kagome asked.

"Hai…"

"Second quarter begins!"

"I'm counting on you for the counterattack!" Riko said as she sent the team off.

With that the game started again. Kise and Kagami found themselves in another faceoff.

"…? …Something changed, ne?" Kise stated.

Kagami just headed for the basket.

'…? A normal drive? Is it another fade away?' Kise wondered as he chased him.

Kagami shot the ball behind him. That was when Kuroko did what she does best. She shot the ball towards the goal. Kagami ran, and grabbed the ball. Then he performed one of his dunks. Kise was shocked.

'Coordinated play with Terukocchi?!' Kise realized, unable to believe his eyes.

"Nice shot!" one of Seirin's first years shouted from the bench.

The same sort of thing happened… only, this time Kuroko had passed to Hyuuga.

"Here's a three pointer now!"

"There's only a three point difference!"

"Great shot, Buchou! If we keep up like this, we'll push these punks to the brink!" Kagome praised, shooting her captain a grin.

"Have you other first years changed your opinions of me?" Hyuuga asked, turning to Kagami and Kuroko only to see them walking away and being praised by Izuki.

"Number four is rather good…" Kasamatsu noted, "Don't lower your guard in the second half."

Both Riko and Kasamatsu had taken note of the difference the cooperative play between the newly formed 'light and shadow' duo was making. With Kagami not just receiving Kuroko's passes but also throwing passes for Kuroko to receive and redirect, the options open to Seirin had multiplied. This made for a very nice leap in attack power. If Kagome could break away from defense long enough to be added to the mix in order to aid the offense, Kaijou would be in some serious trouble.

Annoyed, Kise gritted his teeth. "Terukocchi…"

"You're strong, Kise-kun. Kagami-kun and I are each no match for you." Kuroko stated, "But working together... The two of us can fight you."

"You weren't like this in Teikou… You changed after all, Terukocchi..." Kise said, "…But… this can't stop me either! I'm the one who'll win…! I may not be able to copy Terukocchi's cooperation play... But… It's not like Terukocchi can do this the whole 40 minutes. In the second half it will only get worse!"

"That's no true either!" Kagami refuted.

With that Kuroko was marking Kise. The Kaijou regulars were incredulous.

"Even Tecchan can do this much, baka! You're underestimating her!" Kagome reprimanded.

"Eh… I would never have dreamed of facing Terukocchi like this…" Kise said.

"I didn't think it would end up like this either." Kuroko agreed.

"What in the world…" Kaijou's coach muttered, voicing his team's sentiments.

"I don't know what you've got planned, but… It's impossible for you to stop me, Terukocchi!" Kise declared.

Just then Kagami blocked him. "Wrong! We're not trying to stop you!"

"We're taking the ball!" Riko said, revealing the plan.

"You'll never be a good basketball player if you keep underestimating your opponents and making assumptions, baka! The fat lady hasn't started singing yet!" Kagome reprimanded.

Just then Kuroko stole the ball from behind.

"What?!" Kise was shocked.

'Stealing from the back in an instant, with Kagami-kun's help?!'the blonde realized.

"Not letting you through is our goal, so it doesn't matter that you can copy whatever you see!" Kagami pointed out.

"You may talk big, Kise-kun." Kagome said, "But it's obvious you've forgotten what playing with Tecchan is like! This is what happens when you get cocky thinking you can turn basketball into a one-man show!"

Everyone could see that Kaijou was in a troublesome situation. There was no way that anyone, even someone who knew to watch out for Kuroko, could do anything about her when she came at them from behind. She already was difficult to notice, so if she was sneaking up on someone they wouldn't know until it was too late. And Kagami on top of being a force to be reckoned with didn't know how to give up. Both were hard to deal with on their own, but working together was even worse.

"What if I don't get through? No one's forcing me to." Kise asked, and then he started to jump, "And I don't need to with three pointers!"

However, Kagami simply shot the ball out of his hand. Kagome leapt up to catch it, and with a somersault threw it to Izuki. Seirin was on the attack. Kise quickly turned to go on defense. But… he forgot about Kuroko, and hit her with his arm.

"Kuroko-chan/Teruko!" Riko and Kagome shouted.

"Referee time-out!"

"She's bleeding!"

"Are you okay, Kuroko?!" Hyuuga asked.

"Get a first-aid kit!" Riko shouted.

Kise and Kagami were both kneeling to see to Kuroko as Kagome ran to the blue haired girl's side.

"Hey, are you all right?" Kagami asked.

"Terukocchi I'm so, so sorry!"

"I'm okay. We're still playing the match…" but then as she was starting to walk away she collapsed.

"Kuroko!"

Finally at her best friend's side, Kagome knelt beside her. She started to lift Kuroko's torso slightly to see how badly she was hurt. But suddenly, Kise was there. He put his arms around the unconscious girl before his ex teammate could, and started to pick her up.

"Please Kagomecchi, let me. This is all my fault." Kise begged.

"Are you starting to understand, Kise-kun?" Kagome asked, "The Ryouta I knew was more in tune with Teruko's presence than even her shadow. Something like this would never have happened."

Kaijou didn't like how it happened. But they were relieved that Kuroko was out of the picture. Kuroko obviously couldn't play so Riko told the others that to 'just do what they have to do.' This discouraged the rest of the freshman. (The Benchwarmer Trio, Kagome decided to dub them.) However, Kagome knew the most likely route her coach would take with the limited options left.

"The second years will take care of offense. It's only second quarter; we can't let them get carried away." Riko said, and then she turned to the captain, "Hyuuga-kun, it's slightly early but consider it a 'critical time'!"

Seeing this strike a chord with the captain, Kagome's interest was piqued. 'Interesting… Let's see what the senpai have got!'

"Kagami-kun, Kise-kun will just copy you so you're not part of the offense!" Riko told Kagami, "Focus on defense! Higurashi-chan, for now I'm benching you, okay?"

"Hm, I suppose Kagami needs to practice his defense skills, he seems like the type to do nothing but attack recklessly." Kagome mused quietly to herself, "Hai, Aida-senpai!"

Riko smiled, "Good girl. I know you've been critical so far but for now leave it up to us, okay?"

Kagome just nodded.

"Will that really be okay?" Kagami asked.

"It's fine, believe in us a little!" Hyuuga said.

Kagami tried to protest. "But…"

"I'm telling you it's alright, you fucking moron!" Hyuuga said with a closed-eyed smile, "Listen to your senpai once in a while or I'll kill you."

"…?!" Kagami turned around to look at the captain, shocked.

"Give 'em hell, Senpai-tachi!" Kagome encouraged from where she was bandaging Kuroko's injury, "Show those jerks what Seirin's got!"

"Now that's how a kohai should act." Hyuuga beamed, and then turned to return to the court. "Let's go!"

"Aren't you surprised at the 180 he just pulled?!" Kagami exclaimed.

"Hm, no. I've seen too many weird things to be phased by something so small." Kagome said, "Besides, I think you've bruised our senpais' egos too much."

Meanwhile on court Hyuuga was muttering complaints, apparently he had very traditional views of how kohai/senpai interactions should go. "Geez, first years these days! Listen to your senpai properly! And bow down in front of me!"

"Buchou, you've snapped and you're saying what you're thinking." Izuki said.

"…..?!" Kagami clearly didn't know what to make of the captain's change in attitude.

"Don't worry; he's always this way during clutch time." Izuki reassured, "His shots improves when he speaks his mind like that so leave the offense to use and defend like crazy."

"Sorry, but all of our players are bad at giving up." Riko was saying as Kaijou found out just how much it had underestimated Seirin.

No one amongst Kaijou or Seirin's first years- except for Kagome and perhaps Kuroko- were prepared for just how good of a team the second years were. For the first years' benefit Riko finally introduced the second years properly. Junpei Hyuuga, the captain and shooting guard, was pretty normal when in a good mood but when he snapped he could easily scare the living daylights out of the faint-hearted. Shun Izuki, the point guard, was always calm and level headed but loved making puns. ("So he's actually a goofy guy?" Kagome asked.) Rinnosuke Mitobe, the center, was good at what he did but no one on the team or any of his classmates had ever heard him talk. Shinji Koganei, the forward, rather than having any special skills or something he was a master of was a jack of all trade- he could do everything but he didn't excel at anything. (On court he cried anime tears upon hearing the way Riko said it.) But even so it wasn't exactly sunshine and daisies. Hyuuga summed up what everyone was thinking.

"This is still difficult… Our power decreased without Kuroko and Kagome." he muttered.

'And I'm starting to lose my focus. It feels like we won't catch up.' Hyuuga thought to himself.

There were three minutes left in the third quarter. Things were looking bad for Seirin. The first year boys Kagome didn't really know were worried. One turned to Riko.

"Coach, is there a way out?" he asked.

"Due to the pace from the first half they don't have the stamina required for a complicated plan." Riko said, "If Higurashi and Kuroko were playing, though, at least…"

Kagome and Kuroko exchanged glances. Both made to head to the court.

"…Understood." Kuroko said.

"Roger that, Senpai." Kagome said.

"Huh?" Riko turned around to see the taller girls standing up.

"Konnichiwa." Kuroko said, "Well, I'm going."

Kagome put a hand on her coach's shoulder. "Just leave it to us, Senpai."

That made their coach freak out.

"Matte, Kuroko-chan! With you injured that's impossible! Look at how unsteady you are on your feet!" Riko said.

"But you said we should play now…" Kuroko pointed out.

"However you look at it it's true." Kagome agreed.

"That was just a 'what if'!" she protested.

"Then I'm playing." Kuroko said.

The blue haired girl's insistence only seemed to distress the female coach. "Oi!"

"Our chances will improve with the two of us on court." Kagome pointed out.

"I'm begging you, please let me play." Kuroko said, "Besides… I made a promise to become Kagami-kun's shadow."

"And I need her help if I'm going to get through to Kise." Kagome added.

Riko remembered Kagome's goal from her little 'test': … And I'll knock some sense into my friends in the process even if I have to literally beat it into them!"

Faced with the girls' determination to accomplish their goals, Riko couldn't bring herself to argue. "Fine…! But even the smallest sign that you're not doing well and I'm pulling you out again, Kuroko-chan!"

With Kagome and Kuroko back on the court, Seirin quickly caught back up. Finally, they were tied with a score of 82. All of Kaijou, even Kise, was in disbelief. Suddenly, Kise got serious. Even his aura in the sense that normal people could sense them was different. The blonde sped past Kurko and Kagami. He approached the net… but right as he jumped Kagome approached. He simply threw the ball, making a basket.

"I'm not going to lose!" Kise declared, "Not to Kuroko or Kagome, not to anyone!"

'That guy can get stronger?!' Kagami thought in disbelief, 'He even saw through Kuroko's pass and dodged Higurashi!'

"Stop underestimating us so easily, baka!" Kagome half-yelled, "Beating us isn't so simple!"

With that Kagome, who had caught the rebound, jumped into the air. With a triple somersault she was landing at the half court line, the ball sailing towards Seirin's goal. It went in and they were once again tied. She smirked at everyone's reactions. Hyuuga used his shirt to wipe some of his sweat off of his face.

"I hope you're ready, guys. It's going to be a repeat of first quarter right up to the end." Hyuuga said.

What ensued was a frenzy as both teams scurried to rack up points. Eventually they were tied again with 98 points. It was a desperate situation. Seirin didn't have enough stamina to risk overtime. Luckily however, Kuroko had one last ace up her sleeve.

"There is one more thing Kise-kun can't copy." Kuroko said, coming through for the team, "It's a simple, one-shot thing, but… we'll be fine if you just score a buzzer beater."

Kagami and Hyuuga worked together to steal the ball. Kise blocked Kagami's path to making yet another dunk, and he passed to Kuroko. She threw the ball towards the hoop, but as she was unable to make a basket Kagami raced pass Kise and made a dunk- an 'alley-oop'. Kise jumped to try to stop it, but in the end even though they jumped at the same time he fell back to the ground before Kagami.

'What the hell? How long will he stay in midair…?!' Kise thought in shock.

"You won't copy anymore! Because…" Kagami declared, "I'll end it with this!"

With that Seirin beat its first member of the Generation of Miracles at 100-98. They were all ecstatic. Not that any of them could tell with Kuroko. And Kagome was too busy to show it. She approached Kise.

"Do you see now, Kise-kun?" Kagome asked, "This would never have happened when I still attended Teikou. You made the very mistake even Teikou's most arrogant coach was smart enough to warn the Generation of Miracles against. You underestimated your opponents, even knowing what you were up against, and didn't even think it possible that you could lose."

Kise was in denial. "But I…"

"Don't." Kagome cut him off, "I know, you're stronger. Even as a newbie you could beat Kagami the way he is now in a contest of strength and skill. But…. You're weaker in the only way that matters."

"What do you mean?" Kise asked, confused.

Kagome sighed. "You still don't get it? … Teikou's brainwashing was worse than I ever thought."

Kise didn't understand her choice of expression. ''Brainwashing'? What does she mean?'

Kagome walked away, waving her hand in greeting without turning around to face the blonde. "Gotta go. I don't want to keep my team waiting."

With that Kagome left Kise to face the realization that for the very first time, he had lost an official or semi-official match. She didn't even pause or look back when Kasamatsu's shouting revealed that the blonde model was now crying. Kuroko just watched them silently from where she was standing near Kagami, a thoughtful expression on her face. She didn't let it show, but the sight of her former teammate so upset made her heart clench.

When Kaijou showed Seirin off, Kise wasn't with his team. Hyuuga seemed to delight in confusing Kasamatsu with mention of the penalty for failing to reach your goal after the opposing captain mentioned facing each other in the Inter High. Kagome never knew that a green haired, green-eyed boy with glasses had watched the last part of the match. Or that even then he was approaching Kise, complaining about all of the dunking and subtly scolding Kise for losing. And of course, bring up fate and his lucky item…

'To think that he's the Generation of Miracles' best shooter…' Kise thought in disbelief, having never gotten used to Midorima's quirks.

The blonde quickly shook himself out of his train of thought. "Anyway, am I really the one you should be talking to?"

"That's not necessary." Midorima dismissed, "A B-type like me and an A-type like Kuroko aren't compatible."

Midorima then went on to complain that while he respected Kuroko and her playing style, but her choice in school sickened him even if by chance fate carved the way to Seirin's victory. He felt Seirin was nothing special.

"I didn't just mean Terukocchi, Midirimacchi." Kise pointed out.

"Who else would you mean if not Kuroko?" Midorima asked.

Kise looked at his old teammate incredulously, starting to get the picture of why exactly Kagome was so angry she was treating him like a stranger. "Isn't it obvious that I'm talking about Kagomecchi, ssu?"

The green haired teen simply looked at Kise like he was stupid or wasting his time with something useless and unrelated to the situation, a look the blonde was sadly all too familiar with. "Kagome doesn't live anywhere near Kaijou, Kise. You know that."

For once is his life Kise was the one looking at someone like they were stupid. "Midorimacchi, how many girls that play basketball on the boys' team and use acrobatics do you know?"

Midorima looked shocked. "That was her? I didn't even know that she attended Seirin, or that she still played basketball."

"She's your cousin and you're like her big brother even though you're the same age. Shouldn't you know these things?" Kise deadpanned, "You can still catch her, you know. If they've left they can't be far yet."

Midorima looked away in either annoyance or discomfort, Kise couldn't tell which. "What's the point? It's not like I have anything to say to her, nanodayo."

Kise grit his teeth in an attempt to hold back his anger, "I knew you could be mean Midorimacchi, you've always picked on me… but I never took you for the type to be so cold."

Midorima flinched at Kise's uncharacteristically harsh words. Then he opened his mouth to respond. But whatever he might have been about to say, Kise would never find out. Right then a boy in the same uniform as Midorima showed up with a rigshaw. Apparently when they got stuck in traffic, Midorima abandoned the poor fellow. Not saying anything to his classmate, Midorima turned to leave.

But before he did, he turned to look at Kise. " Well I only came to watch the game today. But I'll apologize in advance. There's not a chance that we're fated to lose to Seirin. Unfortunately you should give up on revenge."

"…" Kise didn't say anything; he desperately wanted to tell his former teammate 'your cousin probably misses you, you know? You should talk to her.', but he knew that he would be ignored so he stayed silent, mentally beating himself up for his inability to defend the best friend of the girl he liked.

###########

Seirin's first stop when they left Kaijou was a nearby hospital to get Kuroko's injury checked. Luckily it was fine. The doctor wrapped fresh bandages around the injury and then waved off the blue haired girl and her concerned teammates with a smile. Kagome sighed in relief, if even the doctor said so then her best friend was fine. Kuroko was tougher than most gave her credit for. Even the Generation of Miracles tended to underestimate her. The moment they were outside the team finally started to celebrate its victory.

"Yeah-!We won!" Koganei cheered exuberantly, "Let's stop for food somewhere on the way back!"

"What do you want?" another second year- Kagome didn't notice which- asked.

"Something cheap, I'm broke."

In the end because the boys wouldn't let the girls pitch in and they had to save money for the train back they didn't even have 50 yen (AN: roughly 50 cents) between the entire team. The boys started talking about going home. But Riko noticed a so-called 'saving grace.' If you could eat a giant steak in 30 minutes it was free. Otherwise…. You had to pay 10,000 yen. (AN: about $100) In the end the entire team, except for Kagome who told the chef to exclude her because she 'already ate', (read: she planned to buy something cheaper and more to her wallet's and appetite's tastes once Riko let the team separate.) was found trying to force down steaks that were bigger than most of them could manage to finish. Upon being questioned, Riko revealed the truth: if they couldn't finish, they would be forced to dine-and-dash.

"I give up." Kuroko said, pushing her plate away after not even eating an eighth of hers.

Kagome sighed. "I swear, Tecchan, it's amazing you're so tall for a girl. You barely eat anything that's not a strawberry flavored snack or dessert or Maji Burger's vanilla shake."

In the end, they turned out to have a godsend in the form of Kagami's insatiable appetite. Everyone gave Kagami what they couldn't finish or just didn't dare even try to finish. While Riko and the boys were watching Kagami eat in horror and amazement, Kuroko and Kagome left without a word. But they stopped just outside the door, for there was an all too familiar figure- Ryouta Kise.

"Kise-kun…" Kuroko called out.

"…Terukocchi, Kagomecchi. Good timing." he said, "Can I talk to you?"

Hesitant, Kuroko looked at Kagome.

"It's up to you, Tecchan." The taller girl said, deferring to her best friend.

##########

A few minutes later, they were standing outside of a street basketball court located in a nearby park.

"It's been a while since we could talk like this." Kise noted, "Terukocchi is your injury okay? I'm really sorry about that."

"Hai, daijoubu." Kuroko reassured, "It's not your fault Kise-kun."

"…." for a second Kise considered keeping his news a secret but in the end he had no reason not to tell Kuroko and Kagome deserved to know, "Speaking of the game I saw Midorimacchi."

Kagome flinched, looking as if she wanted to ask something, but stayed silent. Only Kuroko spoke up.

"Honestly I have trouble getting along with him." the blue haired girl complained.

"Yeah, I remember." Kise said, "In any case that left hand of his is really something, especially on good days for Cancers."

"… Hai." Kuroko commented.

Kagome chuckled somewhat bitterly. 'If he's anything like the Shintarou I remember that hand of his could make him a fortune doing wood carvings if he ever bothered trying something like that. Shikkun was always good with his hands…'

The pair looked at her in concern. Kagome had told Kuroko everything, and she had a very idea of what was wrong. She wanted to send an Ignite Pass to the green haired boy's stomach. Kise didn't have any idea what exactly was wrong. But he could tell that something was very wrong, and that Kagome refused to acknowledge it given a choice. And it had something to do with why she left Teikou and talked like the Generation of Miracles were strangers. Not, the blonde silently admitted, that his former teammate was all that wrong.

"Well, the point is he came to see today's game." Kise finished, "More importantly Kagomecchi is mad at me, Terukocchi dumped me, I lost a match, it's one disaster after another in my high school life. I may have said it because I have nothing to lose, but I really meant what I said, you know?"

"You mean about us transferring to Kaijou?" Kagome asked.

"… Gomen." Kuroko apologized.

"… Time to get serious. There's something much more important I want to talk about. I want to hear your reasons." Kise said with a smirk, tossing the ball he'd been balancing on his head to Kuroko, "Why… Why did Kagomecchi transfer to another school? Why did Terukocchi after the final of our last Jr. high tournament?"

Kagome sighed, running a hand through her hair.

"Honestly what is there to say? The five of you changed. And you brought Teruko along for the ride, making her lose the optimistic attitude towards basketball I'd always respected. Your basketball changed with you." Kagome said, "The fun was lost and worse, what you five were doing was the sort of basketball I hate. I wasn't even sure that you were playing basketball anymore. Then a couple months after winter break, I realized something. Five of the six best friends I'd ever had had become strangers."

"Kagomecchi…." Kise muttered sadly, guilt welling up within him.

Kagome continued without acknowledging his interruption. "We hadn't talked or spent time with together outside of the club since before the Winter Cup. I never liked Teikou's cold, heartless atmosphere and the whole situation was making me miserable. I had to get out of there before I lost myself and closed off to others."

Kise winced. "I'm still not sure I understand, but I do remember that you always complained about Teikou's motto and argued with the coach. … What about you, Terukocchi?"

Kuroko, typically, managed to be both blunt and vague. "… I'm not sure."

Kise was dumbfounded. "Eh?"

"I started doubting Teikou's policies because of the last final. I started seeing what Kagome had been talking about before she left." Kuroko explained, "I realized something was missing. So I quit the club."

"The point of sports is winning!" Kise said, "Are you saying there's something more important than that?!"

"That was what I thought before that game." Kuroko said, "So I still can't put my finger on what was wrong."

Kagome sighed. "Do I have to spell it out? Tecchan you already said it. Like all other sports, basketball is a game. Games are about fun. Even amongst sports if you play not because you enjoy it but out of some askew sense of obligation or some grotesque lust for victory you're doing something wrong."

"I couldn't have said it better." Kuroko agreed, "In any case… at that time… I hated basketball. Even though I started playing because I love it… the feel of the ball, the various sounds… So that's why when I was reunited with Kagome I found hope welling up within me. Why when I met Kagami-kun I thought he was incredible. He pointlessly denied that he plays because he likes it but he clearly loves basketball from the bottom of his heart. I can tell he went through a rough patch but I can tell it's because he's serious about basketball than anyone."

Kagome snorted. "Typical. He seems to be the type who's so desperate to look tough or whatever they're thinking that they tend to denies things so much they make themselves look like a tsundere."

Kise sweat-dropped. "Kagomecchi… Do you not like him?"

"It's not that I dislike the baka." Kagome denied, "More that I find him annoying. I won't put my faith in him like Teruko until he proves himself. But… Out of the rare few with the potential to help the two of us, he's the only one at Seirin I know of. And he seems the type of idiot who's too honest to betray Tecchan's trust. So I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Everyone deserves at least one chance."

Right around then Kagome noticed someone show up.

"… I still don't understand after all." Kise replied, "But I'll still say this… Terukocchi if his attitude towards basketball is why you seem value him so much… You two will have to part someday."

Kagome narrowed her eyes, wondering if he'd noticed what she had or seen something she hadn't. "What're you getting at?"

"You know very well that the difference between me and the others isn't about physical skill but rather that all four of them possess a special talent not even I can completely copy." Kise reminded the girls.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "News flash: you seem to be forgetting that we're the same as them in that regard."

"I know, I know! Kagomecchi is faster and more flexible than anyone else I've met!" Kise soothed, "Anyway I noticed it in the match today. Your new teammate is still progressing. Just like the rest of the Generation of Miracles he's hiding a talent unique to him. Right now he hasn't developed his potential, he's busy recklessly enjoying playing against strong opponents. But he will reach the Generation of Miracles' level eventually, and he'll stand apart from the rest of your team. When that happens do you think he won't change?"

'What will happen?' Kagome wondered, 'Normally I trust Teruko's judgment without question but if she used the criteria I think she did rather than the criteria she clearly intended to use...'

What Kuroko thought about it the two would have to wait to find out. Kagami chose right that moment to barge in on their conversation. Or to be more accurate, the team had probably noticed the female first years' absence and decided to look for them. But before things could progress into a full-scale argument, they heard a commotion. Some punks were arguing with some kids who were just playing around on who would use the court. The two groups ended up playng for it, but the punks started cheating using their advantage in numbers... by making it a 3-on-5 game. Of course, that was when Kuroko pulled her disappearing trick, this time slipping past even Kagome.

"Wait, where'd Terukocchi go?!" Kise asked.

Kagome looked around, and sighed when she finally spotted the other girl.

"I should have known." she groaned.

Kuroko was standing between the punks and their victims, their basketball spinning on her finger. "This isn't fair no matter how you look at it."

"Where the hell did you come from?!" one punk shouted in shock.

"I don't think this is basketball." Kuroko reprimanded.

"And more importantly, violence has no place on court." Kagome added, having joined her, "Didn't you learn that in school baka yarou?"

'What the hell are they doing?!' Kagami and Kise both thought in shock.

But honestly couldn't find it in himself to be surprised, rather he just had a deadpan expression. 'I should've known...'

Needless to say, the boys stepped in. What proceeded was a 3-on-5 match where the team with more people were totally crushed. And, of course, the boys proceeded to try to scold them afterwards.

"What were you thinking?!" Kagami raged, "If it had turned into a fight, did you think you could win?!"

"Of course I'd get beaten up. Just look at my biceps." Kuroko pointed out.

"Terukocchi, you're incredible sometimes..." was all Kise could say as Kagami raged yet again.

"That's why I stepped in." Kagome said, "I've faced things far scarier and more formidable than anyone or anything anyone you or they have met can deal with in far greater numbers than common sense says it's possible to survive."

"What're you talking about?! You don't look like your much tougher than her!" Kagami said.

Kise winced when he noticed the shark-like predatory grin that morphed into Kagome's expression at that. "That was the wrong thing to say..."

"Oh, how do you know how tough I am? Do you want to test my strength?" Kagome said.

Kagami wisely backed down. Then Kagome and Kise sat back and watched as the redhead scolded Kuroko over her lack of thought when she stepped in after he heard her reasoning. Realizing that he just might just what the girl he liked needed in a friend and teammate after all, Kise smiled. Kagome looked him out of the corner of his eye.

"What is it, Kagomecchi?" Kise asked.

Kagome shook her head with a smile. "Nothing. I'm just really happy you weren't really as far gone as I thought, Rikkun."

"So we're good now?" Kise asked.

Kagome grinned. "Yup~ By the way, don't give up on Tecchan okay? She just might like you more than she lets on or even realizes."

She winked at the last bit, making him look away to hide his blush. "Mou, don't tease me Kagomecchi!"

Her expression softened. "I'm serious, you know? Vanilla milkshakes are the only frozen treat she's willing to eat."

Kise's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. His blush was much more prominent. Kagome giggled quietly, finding how shy he was being in spite of being so open about how he felt about their friend adorable. After a minute he moved towards their bags and coats.

"Well, I should head back. I'm just happy I even got to play with Kurokocchi again in the end." Kise said with a grin as he grabbed his things.

And, of course, he added a comment about getting revenge at the Interhigh and graced Kagami with the acknowledging nickname 'Kagamicchi'. Right about then the rest of the team showed up. While she still had a chance she talked to Kagami about the conversation with Kise from before he showed up. What he said reassured her, even if the bit of arrogance annoyed Kagome. From the sidelines Kagome nudged Kise, gesturing at Kuroko with her head.

"Ne, Terukocchi! Your house is closer to here than Seirin is right? I'll take you back." Kise offered, getting the hint.

Kuroko looked at him contemplatively. "All right then. Arigatou, Kise-kun."

Kise grinned. "Yippee! If we see someplace I'll get you a vanilla milkshake, okay?"

Kuroko's eyes lit up. "Hai. Then let's go."

By the time the rest of Seirin arrived the pair was almost out of sight.

"Hey, where's Kuroko?!" Riko demanded.

"Sorry, coach... she didn't think it'd matter if she left and I went with to make sure she was okay." Kagome apologized, then a Cheshire-like grin came on her face, "As for where she is now... She's going home with someone."

Riko's mouth formed an 'o' as she realized what Kagome was implying. "I see... I guess you two are off the hook, then."

"Thanks, coach." Kagome said.

Kagami, however... wound in a Boston-crab hold for ditching the rest of the team while they were looking for the girls... And little did Kagome know, Kuroko was filling Kise in on what she knew regarding Kagome's situation with the Generation of Miracles at that very moment.

"You're kidding! It's our fault she left Teikou?!" Kise exclaimed, clearly upset, "It seems like us guys have a lot to make up for if we want her to forgive us..."

"Kise-kun." Kuroko said sharply, cutting him out of fantasies of elaborate plans to apologize to Kagome, "Are you sure you understand? She even doubts that she's even counted as one of the Generation of Miracles at all. Do you remember what people called her?"

"The Raven of the Court, Shadow Bird, things like that. How could I forget?" Kise replied.

Kuroko shook her head. "Not the nickname her opponents started. The one started by people who were never on the same court as her."

Kise's eyes widened. "You mean... the one the coaches and media used?"

Kuroko nodded. "It was what everyone knew her by, and it's how she's judging her place in regards to the Generation of Miracles."

Kise frowned, a serious and almost dark look on his face. Off court Kagome was one of the sweetest and most cheerful girls he'd ever met. She wasn't arrogant, but in their Teikou days the green eyed girl he remembered had never had or been close to having confidence or self-esteem issues of any sort. He knew the real people to blame were the other Miracles. Her cousin Midorima. Kuroko's own cousin, Aomine. Kise himself. Even, or perhaps most of all, the reason she'd attended Teikou to begin with, let alone joined the basketball club even though it was technically for boys. But even though the blonde model wasn't hot-headed that didn't matter to him, he didn't have it in him to be rational when he was upset. A bunch of punks had better start praying. If he ever saw any of those jealous ingrates that had been on the second string of Teikou's club he just might label them as responsible for making the green-eyed girl upset and punch them. Because they were the ones who had made up that stupid nickname that Kagome had come to feel described the distance she felt between her and the Generation of Miracles in the first place- the "Kiseki no Reserve" or "Miraculous Reserve".

Owari

Yoruko: *winces at seeing how long it is* What a doozy... this might be a personal record...

Kuroko: It's all right. I think you're doing really well.

Yoruko: *smiles* Thanks, Kuroko. Anyway, sorry this took so long minna!