Seirin-27 Shutoku-45

Hushed whispers could be heard around the gym as the first half of the game ended. Most believed that Seirin was finished and Midorima stood with his shigaraki raccoon with confidence.

The scene changed to the Shutoku locker room "This is simply the results of our abilities, it's not bad. It's not good either. The other side hasn't given up yet. Otsubo play offensively during the second half. Finish them. That's all."

"Yes sir."

No one made a single comment for some reason the beginning of this episode had spread an uneasy feeling around the room. It was so silent like every person in the room was holding their breath and waiting for the inevitable.

Midorima looked at his nails for a moment before filing them "Hey what are you doing?" Takao asked curiously. "You didn't even listen to the coach."

"As you can see I'm fixing my nails. My shots depend on my nails." Midorima replied seriously.

"You have nicer hands than even Momoi, she's kind of jealous." Aomine commented off handedly having heard Momoi rant about it once or twice. Midorima didn't comment.

That's why he always tapes his fingers. Takao thought to himself observing Midorima This is more than fastidious it's obsessive. Takao laughed to himself.

"Ouch" one of Midorima's teammates stubbed his toe on his lucky item and glared at the green haired man "I've been wondering about it the whole time but what's the deal with this raccoon."

"It's my lucky item."

"What?! This thing was on the bench all during the first half. It's in the way."

"Why don't we break it." Shinsuke smiled.

Midorima rolled his eyes at the screen. He missed his seniors more than he'd ever care to admit.

The scene changed again to the Seirin side. Everything was quiet and there was an aura of depression over the whole team.

No one's talking. Riko looked down at her toes. What should I do? I have to say something to raise their spirits. What should I… Riko shook her head No, Focus, focus! She stopped and blinked Fo-kiss. I said I'd kiss them during the seiho game! What should I do? I can't do the same thing again, can I? Or maybe… But wouldn't that be more than a kiss.

"What are you thinking about?!" Hyuga looked at Riko who blushed

"NOTHING!"

Riko clenched her fist shaking "Hey Everyone…" Her voice shook.

"Coach it's ok" Hyuga interrupted her. "You're probably going to say something stupid anyway."

Kiyoshi laughed "Come on Hyuga that's no way to get the girl." He teased bumping his shoulder against the captains. Hyuga glared.

Riko pouted at Hyuga's words on the TV.

"Read the situation." Hyuga told her and Riko looked even more embarrassed. I'm glad you're trying to cheer us up, but honestly I can't imagine us winning. Hyuga sighed

Izuki was beside Hyuga looked around and noticed Kuroko looking at a recording on a video camera he glanced over the blunette's shoulder "Kuroko what are you doing?"

"Someone taped takao kun during the first half." Kuroko responded eyes not leaving the video.

"Do you have a plan?"

"I don't know."

There were scattered laughs.

"You don't know."

"I have thought about winning, but I have never wondered if I can win or not. Even if we lose by a 100 points there's a chance a meteor will strike the team's bench in the last second."

The whole room face palmed.

"You're right." Izuki smiled and the others nodded all except Kagami.

"Don't give me that!" Hyuga said standing up. "There isn't going to be a meteor. That's a crazy thought."

"But what if they all get stomach aches" Tsuchida mused.

"Don't get carried away that won't happen either!" Hyuga urged.

"Well compared to that, a second half comeback is way more realistic." Koganei smiled

"You're really good at saying the right thing Tetsu." Aomine commented after a moment. Only a team like Seirin. He shook his head at their train of thought.

Kuroko looked confused "I really meant what I said though." Everyone laughed.

"Let's keep running." Hyuga gave an exasperated half smile. "And think after the game is over. Let's go!"

"Yeah!"

The screen focused on Kagami who had been unusually quiet during the whole affair.

"LET THE THIRD QUARTER BEGIN" An announcer yelled out as the buzzer sounded both teams back out on the court.

"Huh? Kuorkocchi's on the bench?" Kise spotted the blue head from the stands.

"Well he can't do anything as long as Takao's there." His captain commented. "But they don't even have a strategy."

The coach from Shutoku observed "Conventional strategies won't work, but to use an unconventional strategy they'll need something to make it happen. However…"

Something… We just need some kind of opening. Riko looked at the court desperately.

Takao looked bored What's this, I thought they'd try a little harder.

Their eyes aren't' all dead yet, but what is this? Midorima questioned looking at Kagami who looked fierce. This is more than just not giving up. Well no matter, I will simply crush him.

Seirin tried to make a play but they were shut down as Takao stole the ball passing it off to Midorima. Midorima lined up the shoot but Kagami was there trying to block his shot. Midorima's eyes widened as Kagami nearly tipped the ball only just missing as he scored.

I won't lose. Kagami thought to himself teeth grit

Seirin scored a point right after with Koganei.

"He made this time"

"Why do you have to say that!"

Seirin all laughed. Riko looked around the room this was the most they'd gotten through without so much as a single comment or argument. If this was how it was watching a game against Midorima she couldn't imagine the tension when they got to Too or Yosen. She wanted to say something but she remembered the scene from earlier and figured it was along the same lines. It was better to just remain quiet at a time like this. She sighed and looked back toward the TV.

Hyuga noticed and smiled he put his hand on her shoulder giving her some comfort.

Takao once more passed the ball to Midorima but Kagami was there. The redhead remembered Kuroko's words from earlier as he watched Midorima start to shoot.

'I have thought about winning, but I have never wondered if I can win or not.'

You don't give up until the very end. But that means if you give everything you have and still can't do it you accept the loss. Playing against an opponent who's impossible to beat excited me, but ultimately there's no point if I don't win. Kagami jumped his hand tipping the ball and Midorima's eyes widened.

Ridiculous, is this even possible? Midorima looked shocked. He's been getting higher and higher all game!

The basketball hit the rim and circled it, everyone watched in stunned silence. Finally it went in but it had been close.

"That was close." Takao said

"I've never seen Midorima's shot go in like that."

Riko stared wide eyed. There's our opening.

Kagami walked past Midorima who stopped him.

"Hey. You, what's your sign."

"Me? I'm a leo"

With you're lucky item you have nothing to fear. However you're compatibility with Leo is very poor. Be careful if you run into one.

"Hmm now that's kind of creepy." Izuki couldn't help but comment.

"Hmph. Maybe this oha asa is legit." Kagami gaped

Midorima smiled pushing up his glasses. "She's never wrong."

Kuroko hid a small smile behind his hand watching as Midorima clutched at his Hello Kitty charm.

"Oi Kagamicchi not you too, Miromiacchi is enough." Kise complained.

Hyuga caught the ball that was thrown to him and scored.

"He may not be as good as Midorima but he does make a lot of shots." One of the Sieho members said from the stands.

"He's the one who finished us off."

"Well done but our Midorima is even more unstoppable." Takao grabbed the ball. Kagami was on Midorima just as before.

I won my game against Kise, but that was because of Kuroko. I didn't win by myself.

Kuroko bristled with anger but he waited wanting to hear what else Kagami had been thinking. Seirin noticed Kuroko's change in attitude and forced themselves to be silent knowing the bluenette would call Kagami out on his stupidity.

Kagami was feeling too guilty to notice much as he concentrated on the screen.

If that's what it takes to win fine. But if I don't have Kuroko. If kuroko's basketball doesn't work in the future, will I lose? No, I refuse to lose!

Kuroko hit Kagami over the head. "OW! What the hell!-" his teammate jumped and grabbed his aching head finally seeing Kuroko in front of him fuming silently.

"You can't win at basketball on your own! There's no point to winning if you're all by yourself. Basketball is a team sport Bakagami. And my basketball isn't something that won't work it's passing and sharing victories as a team. If we lose then we come back stronger" Kuroko normally wasn't so outspoken but hearing Kagami's inner monologue made him angry.

"I know that, I was just frustrated Kuroko. I wasn't really thinking-"

"Obviously." Kuroko deadpanned and Kagami winced. The bluenette went back to his seat and Kagami looked over at Seirin who all had their arms crossed none of them offered him any help or pity. He shouldn't have expected any.

None of the GoM even attempted to speak. Nor did they wish Kuroko's wrath to fall on them.

Takao passed the ball to Midorima and blocked Kagami "it's two against one now." He grinned.

"I'll stop you!" Kagami countered "Thank's to all the times you've showed me, I've finally found your weakness." Kagami dashed past Takao catching up to Midorima and jumping. "The Longer the shot, the longer it takes to make the shot." His finger touched the ball.

He touched it again, Impossible. Midorima stared wide eyes as the basketball bounced off the rim. Mitobe tried to catch the rebound, but Otsubo was there to catch it and dunk it.

Midorima smiled "Don't underestimate my teammates."

Riko observed the game as Hyuga passed to Koganei who tried to shoot but was blocked by Otsubo. Takao got the ball but both Hyuga and Izuki were on Otsubo.

The Shutoku coach actually looked minutely impressed "Not bad." He commented.

Takao passed to Midorima He's closer, he won't need as much time to shoot. He can make the shot. Kagami ran forward and Takao was thrown off guard. "Midorima!" He warned.

I caught a glance at it when he made that last alley-oop against me. Kise observed from the stands. The strength to stand against the generation of miracles. And one of the greatest weapons in basketball. His hidden ability is… His innate jumping power.

Kagami jumped just as Midorima let the ball fly from his hands. Kagami blocked him.

Izumi ran for the ball. "There's always a drawback no matter how strong the ability. They have another weakness." He grabbed the ball already at the other team's basket.

Kasamatsu gasped "Of course. Since he can shoot from so far away their own goal is that much closer. If they manage to block the shot it's the perfect opportunity for a counter."

53-34 Shutoku was leading but Seirin was catching up.

Kagami wiped the sweat away from his brow. I can't just rely on kuroko and the upperclassmen.

"Takao give me the ball." Otsubo commanded.

"But Otsubo san their double teaming you."

"It doesn't matter." He grabbed the ball and jumped to shoot.

Kagami ran forward to stop him. I'll become stronger. Strong enough to win without relying on others. Strong enough to win by myself.

"You little shit!" Hyuga grabbed Kagami around the neck in a choke hold. "Don't underestimate your seniors." Kagami struggled "It's ok to be strong but you can't just play a game by yourself dumbass."

He blocked the shot.

"Foal black 10"

Kagami didn't seem to care about the foul. I'll win even if I have to do it myself.

Back at the bench everyone was watching. "Kagami's amazing. With him we could…"

"Are you sure?" Kuroko cut off his teammate Riko and the other's looked over at him.

"Huh?"

Kuroko watched Kagami. "If he continues like this, I have a bad feeling about what will happen."

Kagami grabbed the ball and dribbled down the court scoring. The crowd went wild.

"He's pressuring shutoku all by himself!"

Koganei ran with Kagami. " Amazing. Nice Kagami."

"Could you give me the ball more." Kagami asked I'll do it!

Kuroko sat by himself on the chair his hands fisting in the fabric knuckles white. He had a sense of despair around him as he watched. He knew what happened and he knew it didn't last, but the fear had been very real at the time and seeing it again was just as bad. He had to actively remind himself that this was all in the past.

Shotoku's number 8 dribbled the ball and moved to shoot Hyuga jumped to block.

"No! Hyuga that position!" Izuki tried to warn his captain but he needn't have because Kagami was there blocking the shot. Hyuga grabbed the ball and passed it to Kagami who scored.

Seirin-47 Shutoku-56

It was Kagami against Midorima "I admire your strength however I will not let you close the gap any further."

"What did you say?" Kagami glared breathing heavily. Midorima jumped to shoot. "No you don't" Kagami moved to jump but stopped. The ball went in for 3 points.

"Sorry but it's the truth."

"Shut up I won't lose over this!"

You're pushing yourself too hard, and it's not time yet, you idiot! Hyuga thought as he watched Kagami go. "Kagami wait!"

Midorima blocked him and shutoku scored a counter.

"Damn it." Kagami growled. Kuroko watched silently from the bench.

"It's a good thing this happened now." Aomine said drawing everyone's attention. Had Kagami had this state of mind when he was stronger he would have been able to win over Shintaro and from there things would have just gotten worse. As it is he's still to weak to fight on his own against Midorima so it was the perfect time to snap him back into the idiot that he is."

Kagami hated to agree with Aomine but he was right, he didn't even argue when he was called an idiot.

The buzzer sounded "Third Quarter over." Kagami and the others sat on the bench drinking water and gasping for breath.

"Damn it" Kagami repeated.

"Kagami you're getting too worked up" Izuki told him. "Pay more attention to your surroundings."

"That's right. And that wasn't the right time to go, you should have passed first." Hyuga added.

"What good would passing the ball around have done."

"Now you really do sound like Aominecchi" Kise said.

"Don't compare me to that pervert!" Kagami argued.

"I'm the only one who stands a chance against Shutoku. We don't need team play now. We need me to score."

"Hey. What are you saying" Hyuga demanded

"That's different from being self centered" Koganei added

Kuroko stepped forward.

"Haha Kuroko is going to tell you off!" Kise laughed. He hadn't been able to see much of what happened on the seirin bench from the stands that day but he knew whatever Kuroko did had the desired effect. Midorima looked curious too as did the other GoM. What had Kuroko said to Kagami? They wondered if the same words would have worked on them.

Kagami looked up just in time to get a left hook to the face. The others gasped.

"Tetsu!" Aoimine stared at the bluenette in shock. He knew his previous shadow had the courage to elbow him or hit the back of his knees to cool him down but to outright punch someone in the face. Aoimine began to laugh. "You punched him so hard he fell off the bench."

Akashi let out a soft snort covering his mouth.

"That hurt!" Kagami complained.

"I didn't have the courage to do that in Teiko but I didn't want to waste my high school years hating basketball because I didn't stop you."

"Thank you." Kagami said Kuroko nodded back at him.

"Kuroko kun" Riko gaped at the usually docile player. Kagami was in shock but then he glared.

"Damn it Kuroko you bastard!" He grabbed Kuroko by the shirt.

"You can't play basketball by yourself." He said not concerned by Kagami's anger.

"As long as we play nice together. You don't care if we lose? There's no point if we don't win."

"There's no point if you win by yourself."Kuroko shot back. " You said you wanted to beat the generation of miracles, but you're thinking just like them." The players watched in silence.

Kuroko…

"That was the first time you'd ever really talked about them without being badgered" Hyuga remembered. It was the first time he'd really thought about how it would have been to play on the team at Teiko.

"Even if we beat shutoku as a team that can't trust each other, no one will be happy."

"Don't be naive" He lifted Kuroko up and punched him back. Kuroko hit the floor with an oof.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry Kuroko" Kagami apologized seeing it now it seemed a lot worse than it had in the moment."

Aomine decked him. "That's for hitting Tetsu."

"He hit me first."

"You're stronger than him Baka!"

"It's fine Aomine" Kuroko stepped in. "I expected him to hit me back."

"That doesn't make it ok, we've already established that you don't have any sense of self preservation. He's you're friend"

"So were you."

"I never once hit you!"

"You didn't have to."

"Damn it Tetsu I'm sorry."

"I know. It was in the past, and so was this. It's fine." Aomine grumbled but he settled down.

"If we don't win those are nothing more than nice words."

"Then what is victory?" Kuroko asked. "No matter how many more points you have at the end of the game, if you're not happy, that's not victory!"

Everything was tense until Koganei spoke up "That's right." He said "It's not as though we want to lose."

"We're just saying there's no reason for you to do it all yourself." Izuki added

"Do you have any objections" Hyuga asked

"No, but.. Well.." Kagami stuttered looking down at Kuroko who was glaring up at him "Sorry. Of course I'd rather be happy when we win." His teammates all smiled.

Hyuga stepped forward. "Now that Kuroko has calmed Kagami down… the situation hasn't changed. What should we do?"

Kuroko stood up "Excuse me. There may be one thing we can do." Kuroko took off his over shirt. "I can only pass the ball, but I can take it up another level." He looked at his team with new determination.

"I'm sure the next episode will be much more fun to watch." Riku announced happily. She preferred it when those around her were happy.

"Yeah for everyone other than Midorima."

The green haired shooter scowled.