This is the moment you've all been waiting for folks! I couldn't decide if I wanted to make this a two parter or not. So for now I'm going to just leave it as a long chapter and if I come back later to edit then I'll split it up. For now I hope you all enjoy and please don't hate me too much now if you feel disappointed in the short length.

~*Rematch*~

'Funny how this all started with an empty gym.' Mira thought to herself as she looked around.

The arena was empty and so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. There was an hour or so before the public would be allowed in. Only the teams were allowed inside at the moment. Mira had the sudden urge to step out to the court to just take it all in. She looked around at the high stands, the pristine court, the sparkling backboards, and the stillness of it all. Mira felt the imagery shift before her eyes as she was suddenly back inside Kaijo's empty gym. Recalling the day she'd met Kise for the first time and had begun her journey back into the game of basketball. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as a smile graced her lips.

"What'cha doing?" Mira turned to see her boyfriend looking at her with her favorite lopsided grin. Kise stepped up beside the red head as she turned back to the empty court.

"Just taking it all in. Hard to believe how far we've come." Mira said softly as she felt a hand wrap around her own.

"Yeah. Let's see just how far we can go." Kise glanced down to see a fire in Mira's violet orbs. She gave him a hard nod before turning and heading back to their locker room.

Mira had to constantly remind herself that even though it was the semifinals, this was the biggest game she'd play with her team. They were getting their rematch with Rakuzan. Mira would get to finally face off against Akashi on the court. She could barely contain herself when she thought about all the hard work they'd all put in since that loss during the summer. Kise especially. Win or lose, Kaijo was going to leave it all on the court.

The two made their way back to the locker room to see the same sentiments reflected in their teammates eyes. They let out one rallying cry before going over their game plan. The Mira game plan. Depending on how Rakuzan played, they had two counter options. As for how well it would actually work once it was put into action was another thing entirely. But they didn't put in all that hard work just to fall short now. They were going to make Rakuzan earn their win. It was going to be much different than the last time they faced. Especially since their alpha was back.

The doors to the stadium were opened as the teams were given the all clear to head on to the court and start warming up. The volume of voices grew as the place was slowly filling up. But even with all the noise around them, all the teams could focus on was the adrenaline pumping through their veins. Even Rakuzan could tell there was something different about Kaijo. An almost predatory feel filled the air as they focused on their warmups. Normally other teams were wary of the prestigious school, but for once they were taking notice of someone else. Not even facing Seirin last year had they felt what they felt now from Kaijo. They were excited. They were ready to just get things started. They were expecting an all out war. As was the rest of the stadium—the face off everyone wanted to see though? The two red heads currently locking gazes with each other.

"You've grown. All of you." Akashi noted as he held his hand out to Mira.

"Of course. We're here to pay you back for the summer and the training camp. Tenfold." Mira smirked, revealing a fang as she gripped Akashi's hand in return.

"Good. We won't hold anything back then." He chuckled as the two released each other.

"Who asked you too?" Mira called over her shoulder, winking at Akashi before jogging back to her team to finish her warm up.

"Not gonna lie, you two gave me chills staring at each other." Nebuya said as he got the shivers.

"Looks like we're going to have to be on our toes this time around." Reo noted, sensing a difference in the rest of Kaijo as well.

"Good. It's no fun if it's easy." Kotaro snickered, cracking his knuckles in excitement.

Chants for either team were flying around the stadium as the formalities were knocked out of the way. It was finally time for tip off. An eerie calm seemed to fall over both teams as they took their spot for the jump. The whistle blew, the ball was tossed, and the game began.

Nebuya easily won the jump, but that's what Kaijo had been hoping for as they began to move. Sensing Mira on Akashi already, he turned to toss the ball to Kotaro to kick things off and give them a chance to set up. The minute the ball left his hands though, the big man knew he'd made a mistake. Kise came blazing by and made the steal as Kotaro couldn't believe what he was seeing. He thought only Mira had speed like that as he quickly chased after Kise and pulled him into a one on one with the others chasing after them. It wasn't just Kise, all of Kaijo had managed to increase their speed just enough to take Rakuzan by surprise as Kise passed the ball off and dived into the key. Akashi himself was slightly taken off guard, but knew he couldn't afford to let Mira go and add to their problem.

"You planned for this didn't you?" Akashi asked as he watched out of his peripheral as the ball was moved around between the other four as he kept Mira isolated by herself.

"Any idiot can tell we're the biggest threats on the court. Take each other out and even the playing field. My boys weren't slacking this entire time Akashi. They may not be the Uncrowned Kings, but they're a solid pack. They know how to move with each other to secure a kill." Mira's eyes flashed dangerously as Akashi turned to see the ball kicked out to an open Kise who pulled out Mira's quick shot and sunk the first basket.

The crowd roared to life as time slowly ticked down on the first quarter. Akashi could tell Mira had worked her team hard. While keeping each other at bay and not allowing the main leaders to participate in offense, the rest of the team was forced to pick up the slack. And Kaijo was doing remarkably well as the score never fluctuated more than a few points at a time. The boys in dark blue were moving as a whole unit, not getting too greedy on a fast break and sticking to what was working to keep the score pretty much even. As the buzzer rang for the first quarter, Rakuzan couldn't believe the score was sitting at 45-43 with Kaijo only behind a basket.

"How in the hell did they improve so quickly?!" Kotaro griped while pulling at his hair. While he was glad for the competition, it was driving him nuts as to unphased Kaijo was by this match so far.

"Something tells me Mira probably enacted the help of her American friends." Akashi noted as he recalled similarities in how Kaijo moved compared to when he'd seen Mira's American friends play. "I may have to break 'that' out sooner than planned."

"We need to do something if we want to turn the tides." Reo noted, slightly annoyed by how well Kaijo was doing.

"Get ready then. The demon is going to come out to play." Akashi noted as the Rakuzan boys felt a shift in the air.

"Demon?" Keito, a senior, asked while looking to the others for clarification.

"You're about to see a demon and emperor go at it. Word to the wise, stay out of their way." Nebuya said before heading out to the court.

"You were right." Nakamura noted as he fixed his glasses, feeling a slight tinge of fear when he looked to Akashi.

"There's only so long Akashi can stand not being involved. Which is fine. I was getting tired of hanging back anyways." Mira giggled darkly as the boys felt her own aura spike.

"It's scary how she can just activate that any time now." Hayawaka shivered while rubbing his arms.

"Just be on your toes." Kise chuckled as the whistle blew.

For those in stands that knew anything about the point guards down below, they knew things were going to get ugly. Akashi's Emperor Eye, as well as Zone, was active and so was Mira's Demon Zone. This would be a much different quarter than before. The one vs one matchup everyone had been waiting for was now about to take place. It was Rakuzan's ball as Akashi crossed the half court line with Mira meeting him far above the three point area. Those on the court with the two knew better than to get in their way, almost clearing half the court to let the two forces clash. All anyone could see were two red blurs going at it on the court as Akashi used his Emperor Eye to trip up Mira and the boost from zone to try and break away from her. Fade to the left, backspin to the right, immediate stop for an ankle break to catch her off guard, move in for a shot only to be stopped by Mira who wore that sadistic grin on her face as she stuck to Akashi like glue. In her Demon Zone, Mira was just as dangerous as Akashi as she could recover much quicker and would be right back on him. It was during a quick break when Mira slipped was when Akashi managed to get a shot off and finally break the stalemate between them.

Mira giggled darkly as she licked her lips. It was now her turn to attack. While Akashi was poised and polished, Mira was a beast. She moved in a controlled type of chaos as she mixed in street moves with her fast pace. Akashi had to work much harder than Mira to hold her down as she kept up the attack. Cross between the legs, around the back, fake roll to the left to come back to the right, and pulling up for a three pointer as Akashi made a rushed jump in attempt to block her. He knew the minute he saw her smirk however, that he'd forgotten about a key thing that only Mira could do. She could swap shooting hands in the air. She quickly passed around her back to her left hand and sunk a one handed shot from the three point line. The crowd roared to life as they realized what a show they were in for.

It was a points battle again as the two went back and forth, pushing each other to their limits as they used minimal assistance from their teammates, relying more so on their own skill to get the job done. Shot after shot, counter after counter, the two battled it out. Pushing the other two the limit as they were dripping sweat. With Mira mixing in her street shots, as well as her switching hands constantly when shooting, she was slowly taking the lead for Kaijo. Many were in disbelief that a girl was better than Akashi, let alone leading her team in a now twelve point lead against Rakuzan. As much as Akashi hated it, it was a calculated move on his part as he felt his zone run out during the last couple of minutes in the second quarter. He could afford to sacrifice a few baskets in order to accomplish his real goal. Tire Mira out. The buzzer rang out as Mira felt her legs go wobbly on her. Even if she had mastery of when she could enter her Demon Zone, there was only so long she could put her body under that strain. Especially since he knew her ankle was still hurting her.

"You know Akashi did that on purpose. There's no way he'd activate his own Zone that quickly unless he had a strategy." Midorima commented from where he was sitting with the others. By now Seirin and Touou had gone down below to warm up during half time.

"Well it worked. Mira is tired and you know her ankle is still bothering her." Tatsuya sighed. He'd really been rooting for Mira during the last quarter. "If she can't hold Akashi down, then they'll lose the lead she worked so hard to give them."

"Mi-chin can do it." Murisakibara said in between bites of his chips that he was munching on. All eyes turned towards him, wondering why he was rooting for the feisty little demon over Akashi. "What? She scared me more than Aka-chin did the first time we played."

"Who's to say Mira didn't have her own plan in mind for a scenario like this?" All the Japanese turned towards the cocky group of Americans wearing matching grins on their faces. Now they were definitely curious to see how the next half was going to play out for this game as the stadium roared to life with the arrival of the teams back on the court.

"If I were Akashi, now would be the time he'd pull out his other trick." Mira noted as she rolled her still bothered ankle around.

"I'm suddenly glad for your spartan training." Kise chuckled as their team gathered up.

"Same." The other three echoed, causing the whole team to start laughing.

"Let's not lose this. We've worked too hard to flop now. Kise, buy me a quarter before we can seal the deal on this." Mira held her fist out as her boyfriend bumped it with his own.

"Consider it done." He smirked as the rest of the team added their fists to the pile.

"Time to put our own training to work now." Hayawaka chuckled as Nakamura nodded in agreement.

"Can't let these two have all the fun." Nakamura grinned as the buzzer rang.

Mira couldn't help the small laugh she let out as felt the slight shift in the air. One more of a coordinated front vs the solo attack she'd just fended off. She could see it in the stances of those behind Akashi as well as she slowly brought the ball down. She took the step across the half point line and dribbled as Akashi slowly stepped up to meet her. It felt like silence fell over the two as they stood relaxed in front of each other as their teammates settled into their positions, waiting to see what their leaders would do to break the stillness.

"Seems I was right. You were just running me ragged earlier." Mira said softly as she moved into a ready stance. "Hoping to make me use up all of my Demon Zone?"

"I didn't though did I? You've really made that tool your own. Zone itself has a time limit, but something you've perfected and crafted with your own hands? That's harder to beat. But I'd say I'm pretty well prepared." Akashi chuckled softly as the slight shift Mira felt earlier became more noticeable.

"If this was a few months ago, I'd say you got me beat Akashi. But we've both grown since then." Mira smirked as she prepared to move.

"Yes, we ha—" Akashi didn't even get to finish his statement as a blur of gold rushed past. Before he knew it the ball was gone from Mira's hands.

Akashi could barely believe what he saw as Kise took on Kotaro. But it wasn't the struggle of one vs one it had been the first quarter. No. Kotaro was struggling against Kise. And the more Akashi observed, the cleared it became. When Mira had said 'we' she wasn't referring to her and Akashi. But another person entirely. Kise had pulled out his Perfect Copy, but he wasn't using it to bring out the Generation of Miracles. He had successfully created another Mira. Kise tripped up Kotaro finally after pulling off a street move, forcing Reo to drop off his man. Kise made a perfect no look pass as he ducked in and moved about the mess of bodies while Nebuya gritted his teeth and moved to cover the open area, thinking a shot was going to be taken. They'd taken the bait perfectly as a pass was dumped to Kise who was poised and ready. The minute he caught the ball he turned and pulled off a one handed shot many had seen Mira sink before. The ball made a perfect swish as Akashi couldn't believe what he'd just seen.

'Those two just keep surprising me.' Akashi grinned as he quickly recovered and pushed forward.

While it was no Demon Zone Mira, a normal one was enough to trip up those caught in Akashi's Perfect Rhythm. Because Mira's play style adapted to the plays of those around her. Constantly changing, constantly shifting, constantly disrupting those around her to where they didn't know what she would do and how she would react next. Akashi could only imagine what Kise must've gone through to achieve this level of copy for Mira. And she wasn't the only one to grow either. The others had gotten strong as well. Mira's Alpha sense had bloomed in full. The others on the court didn't hesitate to move according to her will. Words barely needed to be said as Mira moved her team around beautifully to best help Kise and disrupt the flow Akashi had going on. While it wasn't a perfect plan, it was enough to allow them to keep the lead to at least two baskets as both teams were run ragged. Especially Rakuzan as they hadn't expected a fight like this.

"That little devil. Just when you think you have her pinned." Reo laughed, but smiling with pride from how much she'd grown from when he'd first met her. The third quarter came to a close with the buzzer ringing out.

"She really has thrown a wrench into everything huh?" Nebuya grunted as he watched Kaijo gather up and strategize. Not allowing the very minute lead they had get to their heads.

"She's grown from the little girl we first saw." Kotaro said, wishing he'd moved faster and been the one to confess to Mira as he watched her with Kise now.

"Let's give her one final lesson shall we?" Akashi said as he felt his fighting spirit renew as the thought of clashing full on once more with Mira.

"Still not ready to just hand us the win?" Mira teased as they stepped back on to the court.

"Never." Akashi grinned as he stepped up to her.

"Good." Both Mira and Kise said as Akashi felt their energies spike. Mira's Demon Zone was back and Kise was ready with his own Zone.

'West Mira, I couldn't have asked for a better rival.' Akashi thought to himself as his own Zone reignited.

Spirits clashed on the court as bodies moved fast and hard. Akashi and Mira battled it out on their own many times, but this time it wasn't just a solo fight. The ball was constantly being passed around to those around them. The teams were pulling their own weight as they did their best to hold each other down. With Kise quickly hopping from one opponent to the other as his teammates kept the damage to a minimum, the power shift was balanced. One team would score and the other would come right back. No one stayed in the lead for long as fans sat at the edge of their seats, wondering just which team was going to come out on top during this all out battle. Even after the three had fallen out of their Zone like states, they still fought and clawed at each other with everything had. Not giving in and running purely on adrenaline and willpower. It would all come down to whoever screwed up first. To add to the pressure of the already high intensity game, there was only a minute left…

"Ready?" Mira asked as she got ready to pass the ball in.

"Let's push it hard one final time." Kise said as he held his hands ready.

Mira quickly passed the ball in as the seconds ticked down. Both sides were running on fumes as a full court man to man was enacted. But Mira and Kise made it work. Sliding in and out from their coverage as their teammates helped them to get the ball moved down the court. Akashi did what he could with the help of his team, but he knew that what had been the downfall the year before would get him once more. A perfect two man duo as they shifted the ball back and forth, keeping them moving and finally managing to trip them up as Kise made a hard push for the basket. Even though Akashi could see it, he wasn't near quick enough to stop it from happening. Kise passed the ball backwards as Mira took it up and shot the ball just as Akashi made for the block. She swapped to her left hand, launching a deep three point shot as Nebuya held Hayawaka at bay. Not that it mattered. Having learned from Mira, Nakamura and the others stepped in hard and boxed their man out as Kise out jumped Kotaro and slammed the basket down for a buzzer beater. The final score? 100-98 with Kaijo winning.

The stadium erupted into cheers as both Mira and Kise fell over. The upset of the year had just happened. Akashi himself could barely believe it himself if his own legs hadn't been shaking. No match that he'd played in before had ever pushed him so far to the limit. And it was over just like that. He turned to see Mira smiling up at him with an arm slung over her knee. Akashi reached out to help her up, only to be yanked down to Mira's level.

"Bet that's never happened before huh?" Mira asked breathlessly as Akashi righted himself.

"You could say that." Akashi chuckled. If he wasn't so tired, he was sure he'd have been full blown laughing. "Rematch again next year?"

"You got it." Mira grinned as the two slung arms around each other's shoulders while waiting on their teammates to come pick them up.

"Akashi—thank you. For everything." Mira said softly as she hung her head and leaned into him.

"Seijiro." The firey red head snapped her gaze up, looking at Akashi with wide violet eyes to make sure she heard him right. "You're my little sister and my greatest rival. I believe you've earned the right."

"Heh. Alright. Big brother Seijiro." Mira giggled as she watched a light flush cross Akashi's face. "By the way, once I can move I have some news for you."

"I look forward to hearing it." He smiled as he looked up to see Rakuzan's seniors looking down at them.

"Good game West-chan. I couldn't ask for a better match to retire with." Reo said softly as he helped the girl up before hugging her.

"If you lose next year I won't ever let you hear the end of it." Nebuya bellowed loudly as he slung an arm over the girl, almost knocking her down once more.

"West-chan." Kotaro sniffled as he pulled her into a tight hug. "Good game!"

Kotaro started bawling hysterically, causing the others to laugh. It wasn't long till Mira was yanked free from Kotaro's grasp and back into the arms of Kise. The over protective boy shot Kotaro a look, knowing exactly what the boy had been planning as the senior stuck his tongue out in a playful way. Akashi looked between Mira and Kise and immediately knew what she wanted to tell him. He couldn't wait to torture Kise once he 'officially' knew. But for now, he'd let Kaijo revel in their hard earned victory. The teams returned to their benches to clear their gear and make way for the next game. Both Aomine and Taiga were waiting for the Kaijo duo with outstretched hands.

"You two sure made it a hard act for us to follow." Aomine drawled as Mira and Kise bumped their knuckles.

"Guess we better not disappoint Aomine." Taiga grinned, only to be met with a yawn.

"Only you can do that." Aomine walked off with a wave over his shoulder as Kuroko took up his spot.

"Good game Kise-kun, Mira-chan." Kuroko said with a fire in his own eyes. He was ready for his next match as well.

"You guys better make it to the finals." Mira locked eyes with her cousin specifically as she said this.

"Don't worry. We'll see you tomorrow. Our match will make this one seem like nothing." Taiga boasted as the two cousins bumped arms before walking away.

"So Mira, what was it you wished to tell me?" Akashi called out in the hallway once they were out of sight of the rest of the crowd. The way his eyes trained on Kise made the model realize that Akashi knew already and was looking forward to torturing him every second he got.

"Be nice Seijiro." Mira chastised playfully as Kise's jaw fell open.

"Wait, what?!"