Happy 2018!

HI, I KNOW I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN SEVEN MONTHS, I KNOW. I had a lot of shit that happened this year. Not going into specifics or it'll take too long. But I'm glad I can finally get back to this story.

I hope everyone is having a good first day of the year, last year was a big ass roller coaster. Anyway, it's 3:30 a.m. and I'm so tired that I can't read. I will get to correcting any mistakes when I wake up. For now, sorry in advance.

Before I get into it, I just wanna say thank you to all the support I got when I was out, and I apologize for the long wait. I'll try not to do that again. Anyway, without further ado...

Please enjoy!

Episode 4- Take Care of the Counter Attack!

After the opening and recap of the previous episode finished, the title for the current episode popped up on screen.

Episode 4- Take Care of the Counter Attack!

"Take care of the counter-attack, huh?" said Otsubo. "Are we to expect a good turnaround this episode?"

"Well there should be," said Miyaji. "Seirin won, didn't they?"

"I can see that both teams are getting equally fired up so we should expect something good!" Kiyoshi told them. With that, everyone's attention was turned towards the screen to see how the match would turn out.

After Kagami declared that he had figured out Kise's weakness, the whole court stood there in silence. Kise, along with all the other players, was looking at Kagami in shock after what he just said. Even his own teammates were surprised.

"Kagami's powerless against Kise," Hyuuga began, "But his weakness is…"

"Aside from passing," Riko continued, "the weakest guy on the court, Kuroko-kun?"

"And of course, every episode Seirin never fails to highlight Kuroko's weakness," Imayoshi sighed. "And you guys call me evil."

"We should give them a new nickname," Hayama suggested. "How 'bout 'Savage Seirin'?"

"Yep, that works for me," said Nebuya.

"We didn't ask for a nickname though," Kagami grumbled.

"You need one," said Takao. "I need something to call you every time you roast another team member."

The screen flashed to Kuroko, who was still being grabbed by Kagami, looking fairly unamused.

"Tetsu is not impressed by your head-grabbing, Kagami," Aomine said to him.

"Shut up," said Kagami. "You don't know how he was thinking."

"Actually, it's pretty spot on, Kagami-kun," said Kuroko. "I don't like having my head grabbed."

"Oh…sorry…"

Kise was still staring at Kagami, but finally shook off his initial shock and smirked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"So?" he said. "It's true Kurokocchi's style is the only one I can't imitate. But what does that change?" The whistle blew from the sidelines by the referee.

"End of the first quarter!" one of the students called from the table. "Take a two-minute break!"

"It changes everything," Kagami retorted. "We'll bring you to tears in the second quarter." He then turned around and walked away, leaving Kise to stare at him as he left.

"Ooohh, a plot twist," said Mibuchi. "I'm excited about the turnout."

"Out of curiosity, Kuroko, did you really bring him to tears in the second quarter?" Akashi asked the Phantom Sixth Man. Kuroko shook his head.

"Unfortunately, it was a figure of speech, Akashi-kun," Kuroko replied.

"Yeah, we didn't really bring him to tears in the second quarter," said Kagami, but then paused and added under his breath, "We actually brought him to tears in the fourth quarter." Kise jerked his head towards Kagami.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing," Kagami said.

While the gymnasium floor was being cleaned during the break, the screen panned back to the score between Seirin and Kaijo. It was 27 points to 35.

"An eight-point difference."

"Seirin's not bad."

Those were the kinds of things being said by the bystanders.

"Well, eight points aren't good, but at least you didn't suck as much as they thought you would," said Fukui. Seirin sweat-dropped.

Are we supposed to feel honored?

"What the hell are you doing?" Coach Takeuchi yelled. "They're closing the gap!"

"Yes, sir!" the team replied.

"Your fundamentals suck! Hands up! Screen out! Rebound!"

"Yes, sir!"

"You're taller than them, so get the rebounds!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Jesus Christ that guy's loud!" Wakamatsu grumbled. "How can anyone listen to him?!"

"I hope you know you're just as loud," said Susa.

As Kaijo continued to get told off by their coach, Kasamatsu glanced over at Kise, who seemed to be thinking very heavily about something. Meanwhile, over on Seirin's end, the rookie team seemed to have come up with something.

"I see," the screen switched to Riko, who was smirking as she was talking to her own team. "Yeah, that could work." She turned to Kagami.

"Kagami-kun looks like you've finally cooled down." Kagami seemed surprised.

"No, I was always—"

"You were really pissed!" Hyuuga and Izuki simultaneously interjected.

"Honestly Kagami," Hyuuga sighed. "How can you not know when you're angry?"

"I do know when I'm angry, captain!" Kagami grumbled.

"Everyone else knows when you're angry," said Tsuchida. The first-year trio nodded in agreement.

"It's true," said Furihata.

"No offense, Kagami, but you do have a habit of taking out your anger on innocent bystanders…" said Fukuda.

"But Kuroko-kun and Kagami-kun, your coordination will be key," Riko reminded them. "Can you do it?" Kagami shrugged and gave a half-assed expression.

"Yeah," he said slowly. "Probably. We'll wo—" Suddenly a hand jabbed Kagami's side out of nowhere, making him choke on his words and make a pained noise. He glared over at Kuroko, who had his hand outstretched, his expression neutral as he stared back at his light.

"You bastard, where did that come from?"

Everyone in the room started chuckling.

"There it is," said Kise. "Kurokocchi's trademark jab-ssu."

"Is it really that painful?" Moriyama asked.

"It's like getting stabbed," said Aomine, a shudder going down his spine. "It's even enough to bring a giant like Murasakibara to his knees."

Everyone looked over at the purple-haired giant in question, who just nodded sagely and continued eating whatever snacks he had left.

How scary, they all thought.

"You want to beat Kise-kun, don't you?" Kuroko asked him. Kagami then became serious and then looked back over at the court.

"Of course I do!" He said, and then gave Kuroko a jab of his own, causing Kuroko to bend forward in pain.

"How childish, nanodayo," said Midorima. "Was it necessary to retaliate?"

"He clearly started it!" Kagami exclaimed, pointing a finger at Kuroko. "How come you're not telling him off?!"

"Okaa-san, turn off your maternal instincts, will ya?" said Takao. "Let the children watch the episode."

"What did you just call me?"

Once the break was over, Riko and the rest of the benchwarmers watched as the regulars went back onto the court.

"Well, then." The referee called them back onto the court.

"Let the second quarter begin!"

"Take care of the counter attack!"

"There it is!" Hayama exclaimed in excitement. "I was waiting for someone to say it."

"And I was dreading for you to point it out," Mibuchi grumbled. "Sei-chan, how many episodes do we have left in this series?" Akashi looked back at the DVD case and the note that came with it.

"Around eighty?" he answered. Mibuchi groaned and lolled his head back in despair.

"May God have mercy on me."

As the players walked back on the court, the cheering from the bystanders began to start back up again.

"Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, Kaijo! Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it, Kaijo!"

"Go! Get them!" Kawahara shouted from the bench. The first-year trio refused to be out-cheered. "Go get them, Seirin!"

The second quarter started without a hitch. Kaijo took possession of the first ball. Kise dribbled down the court passed all the defenders and dunked with ease.

Hyuuga had the ball in the next cut, trying to get past Moriyama who was marking him. He managed to take a step and shoot a three-pointer.

Kise had the ball again, dribbling while Kagami was on his tail and Kasamatsu was backing him up. The Kaijo ace leaped and made a successful jump-shot, the ball swishing cleanly through the net. By the time forty-five seconds had passed, Seirin had 29 points while Kaijo had 39.

"Uh-oh," said Liu. "Looks like Kaijo has a 10-point lead."

"Once the lead gets to 10 points it starts getting depressing," said Mayuzumi.

"But they won, didn't they?" Himuro asked. "We can expect them to wipe the lead eventually."

"It's how they wipe the lead which is the question," Okamura reminded them, crossing his arms as everyone continued to watch.

Riko continued to stand and observe as the players ran back and forth on the court. At this point, Hyuuga had the ball in possession and was being marked by Moriyama.

Kaijo's defense is still man-to-man, he thought. He looked around and passed the ball to Izuki, who caught it and then passed to Kagami, the ace catching it with one hand, as he faced off against Kise.

"Ohoho~! A showdown!" Hayama exclaimed. "I'm ready for some action!"

"Something is actually gonna happen, right?" Miyaji asked. "I don't wanna get my hopes up."

"I think so," said Furihata. "This was the part where we started trying to turn the game around, right?"

"Yeah," said Kawahara. "I remember this part."

"Me too," Fukuda chimed.

When Kagami caught the ball, he locked eyes with Kise.

"Something's changed, right?" Kise asked him. Kagami didn't say anything and just gritted his teeth, ready to begin his counterattack. He charged forward and began dribbling down the court, Kise tailing after him.

Just another drive? Maybe another fadeaway? He thought to himself, contemplating the options in his head. But then suddenly, as Kagami was dribbling, he threw the ball back, past Kise. Kise's eyes went wide in shock, turning his head to see what was going on. However, as he was doing so, Kuroko caught the ball behind his back, and pass it back towards Kagami on the other side, leaving Kise lost for words.

He's coordinating with Kurokocchi!

Before Kise could even react, Kagami ran towards the basket and made a lay-up without wasting a second.

The room made noises of awe as they witnessed Kuroko and Kagami's signature coordination.

"That was pretty cool," said Fukuda. "It can be pretty tricky to pull off maneuvers like that in actual games."

"Yeah," Kise said, giving a nervous laugh. "It really threw me off that day-ssu. It was an unexpected tactic."

"Tetsu-kun and Kagamin are in sync as usual," Momoi quipped. Kuroko and Kagami fist-bumped.

"That's just how we roll," said Kagami.

As the score increased by two points for Seirin, the audience was equally as surprised as the players. Riko pumped a fist in the air as she smirked in triumph.

"Yes!"

"Nice shot!" Tsuchida said from behind her.

Going back to the game, Kagami was in possession of the ball once more, locking eyes with Kise before he threw the ball to the side and ran forward.

Again? Kise thought in frustration. It won't work this time!

Unfortunately for Kise, it wasn't like last time. When Kuroko got the ball, he didn't pass to Kagami. Instead, he passed to Hyuuga who caught the ball and made a shot before anyone could come to mark him.

"Alright! A three-pointer!" someone shouted. The score went up by three points, leaving the current scores at 34 points for Seirin and 39 for Kaijo.

"A five-point difference!"

"Hmm, for a practice game, this is rather entertaining," said Akashi. "To be able to coordinate with each other to this extent, despite the fact that you hadn't known each other for very long, I'm impressed."

"The almighty one is praising us," Koganei whispered to Mitobe. "What do we do?"

Mitobe blinked twice and waved his hand in a circle. Koganei nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, I hear you. We should probably say thank you." The rest of Seirin looked at him in disbelief.

How do you come up with these translations?! They all thought.

"Thank you, Akashi-kun," Kuroko said, saving the rest of his senpai the trouble. "Our coordination was good, but we had to work a lot for it since we were fighting Kise-kun."

"I can only imagine," Kiyoshi laughed. "It must have taken so long. But it was worth it for the results it gave."

When their score went up, Hyuuga smirked and pushed his glasses him with his finger.

"Have you changed your minds, first-ye—"

"Nice!"

"Alright, defense!"

Hyuuga turned around to find that the first-year duo had completely ignored him and was walking back to their positions with Izuki.

"Oi!"

"See? Like I said, sit-com," Kawahara deadpanned as a few people snickered. "Our team can't do anything serious without comedy mixed in for an unintentional humorous effect."

"Don't you mean pun-intentional humorous effect?" Izuki suggested with a grin on his face. Hyuuga smacked the back of his head, giving him a death glare to stop talking.

"No, he did not," Hyuuga answered gruffly, ignoring the whimpering Izuki rubbing his head beside him. "And I'll hit you harder if you say that again."

"Sorry, captain…"

"Number four's really going for it," Kobori said to Kasamatsu.

"We should be worried about Kagami," Kasamatsu replied back. "He and Kuroko have started passing back and forth to each other."

"Kagami's just started passing the ball instead of just receiving it. Does that really change much?"

"It changes a whole lot, dumbass!" Kasamatsu told him. "Kuroko's passing and Kagami's one-on-one were two separate offense patterns. They only had two options. Now that they pass to each other, they both have more options, making their offense stronger."

A devilish smirk made its way onto Riko's face as she watched the players.

And Kise-kun can't copy Kuroko-kun, the linchpin of the play, she finished. It's his bane.

"Wow, that's seriously incredible that you managed to think of something like this, Aida-san," said Takao. "Now I really wished I could have seen the game."

"Like I said, you would have if you hurried up, nanodayo," Midorima said. Everyone kept staring at those two. Seriously, what did they keep talking about?

Kuroko and Kagami ran down the court while Riko and the rest of the team watched on in silence.

Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun, Riko thought to herself. With these two we can…

Suddenly Kagami passed to the wrong side, the ball bouncing out of bounds as Kobori chased after it. The light-shadow duo stopped in their tracks and watched the ball bounce away before exchanging looks of equal shame. Riko sweat-dropped in the background.

Well, we'll probably just barely make it.

The whole room started laughing at Seirin's usual antics.

"And here I thought you guys were gonna be serious," said Aomine. "At least you don't make rookie mistakes like that now. I'll give you that much."

"Whatever," Kagami grumbled. "I don't need acknowledgment form you to know that I'm good."

"I was waiting for the comedy part to happen," said Otsubo. "I didn't know when it'd happen, but I know that when they're serious for too long then it means there's something funny coming up."

Kise was panting as he stood there on the court before turning around to face Seirin.

"Kurokocchi…" he breathed out. Kuroko did nothing but return the look Kise was giving him, his face remaining neutral as always.

"Kise-kun, you're strong," he said after a long pause. "I'm powerless, and Kagami-kun can't stand against you. But when we work together…" The screen panned up to the two of them glaring intensely over at the Kaijo ace. "We have a fighting chance."

"Hmm, humble, yet bold in their declaration," Imayoshi said thoughtfully. "I like it."

"You really have changed, Kurokocchi," Kise replied. "We never played basketball like this at Teiko, but you still can't stop me! I will be the winner!"

Kuroko and Kagami held their ground, keeping up their intense staring competition. The screen flashed to the scoreboard as the clock was ticking backward from six minutes and twenty-four seconds.

"It's true I can't copy your coordination," Kise continued. "But since you'll lose your effectiveness after forty minutes, you'll lose this game in the second half!" Kise caught the ball, taking possession and attempting to drive down the court. Kuroko also turned on his heels and took a running head start.

"Not so fast," Kagami said with a smirk. Kise stopped in his tracks as his mouth flew open.

"What?" he squawked. There, in all his glory was none other Kuroko Tetsuya, who had stood in front of Kise ready to mark him.

"So, I'm just gonna assume you guys lost your minds, right?" Takao deadpanned. "There's no way you put this guy up to mark Kise."

"Don't underestimate me, Takao-kun," Kuroko told him. "I can be very intimidating when I want to be."

"Oh yeah, those five feet and six inches have us real scared," Mayuzumi mumbled, rolling his eyes.

The entire court was shocked at Seirin's decision.

"Kuroko's on Kise?" Kasamatsu said in disbelief.

As Kise stared at Kuroko and Kuroko stared back at him, whispers flew around the audience members.

"Who's the guy on Kise?"

"Isn't he the guy who passes a lot?"

"I don't remember him doing anything other than pass."

The three boys whispering to themselves stood there for a moment before realizing.

"He doesn't stand a chance!" the cried simultaneously.

"There's always at least one person underestimating this kid every episode," said Nebuya. "It's kinda sad…"

"Maybe I should make a list of how many people underestimate my skills," Kuroko pondered aloud.

"There isn't enough paper in the world for a list that long," Hyuuga retorted. Everyone in the room nodded.

"Amen," they all said.

Kise grinned as he faced Kuroko.

"I never dreamed we'd play together like this, Kurokocchi," he said.

"Neither did I," Kuroko replied.

"I don't know what you're up to, but you can't stop me, Kurokocchi!"

Kise side-stepped to the left and drove past the Phantom Sixth Man, disregarding the unusualness of them putting Kuroko to mark him. But as soon as he did, Kagami ran out in front of Kise and stopped him.

"Wrong," he said. "We're not gonna stop you."

Riko smirked. "We're taking the ball!"

Before Kise even knew what happened, suddenly, Kuroko came up from behind and smacked the ball out of his hand. Kise whipped his head around in surprise.

What?! A back tip?! They took advantage of the second I hesitated!

A few whistles went around the room.

"Not bad, not bad at all," said Kiyoshi. "You kids sure do come up with some interesting strategies, huh?"

"You sound like an old geezer when you say that," said Hyuuga. "But yes, we do."

"It even surprised me, and I knew about it anyway," said Tsuchida. "They've just got a way of going above people's expectations."

"I'm actually so mad I missed all of this," Takao grumbled. "Shin-chan, it's all your fault."

"Be quiet, Takao."

"Seriously, what the hell have you two been talking about the past two episodes?"

"It doesn't matter how amazingly you play against us," Kagami said to Kise. Izuki grabbed the ball and began dribbling to the other side of the court. "We're trying to let you through!"

The ball swished through the net, making the crowd gasp in awe.

"Nice shot!"

"That was really impressive!" Sakurai exclaimed in delight.

"I'll be honest," said Wakamatsu. "In a practice match like that, I might have fallen for it too."

"You guys are really good at coordination, Taiga," Himuro said. "What do you think, Atsushi?" The purple-haired boy nodded through a mouthful of potato chips.

"Mm-hmm," he managed to say.

Kasamatsu was a bit peeved that the Seirin duo one-upped them.

"Damn it," he hissed. "A simple double team would've been better." Riko smiled.

Not even Kise-kun can react in time to an invisible guy coming up behind him.

Kise, who seemed to have caught on to their tactics, decided to switch up his own in order to avoid being intercepted.

"I just won't run by you, then," Kise said, dribbling the ball. "No one said I couldn't shoot a three-pointer!" Kuroko gasped as Kise began getting into shooting position, about to shoot a three-pointer from where he stood. But then when he was ready to shoot, Kagami put a hand on Kuroko's head, using it as leverage to hoist himself up into the air and knock the ball out of his hands.

"Wow, you really have a thing for using Tetsu's head as leverage," said Aomine. Kuroko eyed him from where he sat.

"You do as well, Aomine-kun."

"Yeah, Aominecchi!" Kise said, piping up suddenly. "Don't be a hypocrite-ssu!"

"I'm just surprised you don't have a migraine," said Kasamatsu.

"I hear you," said Moriyama. "All that head-grabbing and it doesn't hurt? You're one tolerant person, Kuroko-kun."

As the shot was blocked, Kise stood there dumbfounded by their tactics once more.

They got me, he thought solemnly. Kurokocchi's cover below and Kagami's covering up top.

Kasamatsu was also watching from some distance.

An outside shot takes too much movement. These guys are a pain! Kuroko's the one making this happen. He's the most worthless guy on the court, and he can't do anything by himself but… I don't believe this!

"I mean shit, they keep roasting him but at least they're getting somewhere this time," said Nebuya. Mibuchi hummed in agreement.

"I think so too," he said. "Maybe Seirin is coming back after all!" Kagami narrowed his eyes as he was watching this bit.

"Wait, if this is the part when I intercepted, then doesn't that mean…"

Kagami landed back down on the ground and made a run for it.

"Fast break!"

Kise tried to follow him, but in the process of turning around, his hand whipped back and hit Kuroko in the face. Hard.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Kuroko began falling, and everyone watching had a look of horror in their eyes, including Kise. His body hit the floor and suddenly everyone was rushing over to him.

"Kuroko-kun!" Riko cried out. The whistle blew to stop the game.

"Referee time-out!"

"Kuroko!"

At this moment, the whole room was silent. Kise could physically feel everyone staring at him, even if he couldn't see everyone. His smile had faded, and he suddenly felt extremely small.

"Oi, Kise," Aomine began. His voice sounded deep and serious, the complete opposite of how he usually sounded. "You didn't do that on purpose, did you?" No noise was heard in the room except the occasional sounds of breathing. They were all waiting for an answer.

"Of course I didn't!" Kise protested. "I swear I didn't hurt Kurokocchi on purpose! I'd never do that-ssu!"

"That was seriously careless, man," Takao reprimanded. Even the usual humor in his voice was replaced by concern. "You hit him really hard."

"I-I know I did," the Kaijo ace persisted. "I know I hit him hard, but I really didn't mean it. I promise. You guys believe me, right?" He looked around the room at all everyone, but they all seemed to be giving looks of doubt, or they just weren't looking at him at all. Kise slumped in his seat as he heaved a sigh and looked at the floor.

"I really didn't do this on purpose you know…"

Unknowingly from the side, Kuroko was gazing over at him with a pondering expression.

As his teammates began to rush over, Kuroko sat there on the floor, stunned for a second. But then after Hyuuga had called his name, he looked up. It was only when he raised his head that Riko gasped in shock. From where Kise had hit him, blood was already running down his face.

A few people in the room winced at the injury that Kuroko had.

"Damn," said Wakamatsu. "That does not look good."

"But how is an injury like that possible?" Himuro wondered aloud. "If he just hit him then how did he end up bleeding?"

"Kise's nails must have been super sharp," Hayama replied. "So when he hit him it must've broken skin."

"That sharp?" Imayoshi said with an eyebrow raised. "Shouldn't that be a hazard? If it's bad enough to break someone's skin then those aren't nails, they're claws."

As everyone continued to mutter about what was going on, Kagami glanced over to Kise and frowned.

"Hey Kuroko, Kise doesn't look too good," he whispered.

"I can see that Kagami-kun," Kuroko whispered back. As he continued to stare at Kise, he realized he was getting more and more unhappy by the second. He wasn't even making eye contact with anyone as his hunched figure seemed to curl in on itself from where he was sitting. If you put Kise and a kicked puppy side-by-side, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between their expressions. The Phantom Sixth Man blinked, eyes softening at the sight, but he wasn't going to say anything to him just yet. Instead, he went back to the episode.

As Kuroko stood up from the ground, Hyuuga cautiously approached him.

"Are you okay, Kuroko?" he asked. Kuroko swayed a bit trying to keep balance.

"I feel light-headed," he answered. As Hyuuga cupped the boy's face in his hands to inspect the injury, Riko turned around to the people on the bench.

"Get a first aid kit!"

Kagami walked over to Kuroko while Hyuuga was still looking at his cut.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Kuroko closed one eye so the blood wouldn't get into it as he pulled away from Hyuuga's hands to face Kagami.

"I'm fine," he said. "The game is just getting star…ted…" he trailed off and tilted back before landing on the floor in a very comical and unceremonious way. Hyuuga and Kagami were speechless.

"Kuroko!"

The very somber vibe in the room took a comical tone as a few people in the room began to snicker.

"Wow Tetsu, you fall like a freaking pansy," Aomine bluntly commented. Momoi heard his remark and elbowed him in the side.

"Don't make fun of him, Dai-chan!" she exclaimed, a disapproving frown on her face. "He really was hurt at the time!"

"For once, I agree with this guy," Mayuzumi interjected suddenly. "I mean look at him, he even stuck his leg up. Even Disney princesses don't faint that way."

"It really doesn't matter what this kid does, huh?" Hyuuga said, shaking his head. "He's always the target of teasing."

"He kind of makes it easy," Takao replied.

As Kaijo watched the opposing team fall apart before their very eyes, Kasamatsu began wiping the sweat from his face with his jersey.

"You're finished," he sighed. "It's not what should have happened, though. Without that first-year duo, the score difference will only grow." Kise watched Seirin tend to their Phantom Sixth Man from where he was standing on the court, a worried expression on his face.

Kurokocchi…

"Gosh, this sure is getting intense," said Sakurai.

"I hear ya," Kiyoshi continued. "Who knew so much could happen during one practice match? The very first one at that."

"Poor kid, though," Eikichi mumbled. "Getting injured is the worst way to get sent off. I'm sure it must've felt pretty sucky."

"Damn Kise," Aomine said. "You really gotta watch where you swing your arms man."

Kuroko didn't miss the way Kise's mouth twitched into a frown as he hunched his shoulders up slightly, looking rather small. He was about to open his mouth to say something until he saw Kasamatsu put a hand on the Kaijo Ace's shoulder and began glaring at the rest of the people there.

"Hey, just leave him alone and drop it, will you?" he said in a low voice. "He clearly did it by accident and he was sorry for what he did. Now go back to watching before I hit all of you."

Since Kasamatsu was a third-year, no one in the room wanted to chance disobeying him, so they all went back to watching the episode without another word spoken. Kise straightened up at his captain's authoritative voice and looked up at him with round doe-eyes.

"Senpai…"

Kasamatsu glanced down at his kouhai with furrowed brows before he huffed and looked back at the TV again.

"I know you're gonna say something cheesy, so don't bother. Just watch the episode, you big baby."

Kise began to pout at the insult but then lightened up when he felt the hand squeeze his shoulder a little bit before resting there, fingers tapping on it idly. Kuroko, who was watching their interaction, gave a small smile before turning back to the TV himself.

The members of the Seirin basketball team stood around a motionless Kuroko as they tried to figure out their next plan of action.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Izuki.

"Kuroko-kun can't play anymore," said Riko. "We'll have to make do with the members we have left."

"Make do?" Kawahara parroted.

"Isn't this gonna be tough without Kuroko?" said Fukuda.

"Everything is always hard without Kuroko," Kagami grumbled.

"You guys rely on him too much," Fukui chided. "You always believe he's gonna be ready to play so when he gets injured you guys never have a backup plan. Isn't that dangerous?"

Everyone sat there as they digested this comment.

He's not wrong, they all thought.

"The second years will be our offensive core," said Riko. "It's only the second quarter, but we can't let them get too far ahead of us." She turned to the Seirin captain. "I know it's early, but it's game time, Hyuuga-kun." Hyuuga nodded in understanding. Riko then turned to Kagami after she was done.

"Kise-kun will just copy you, so don't play offense, Kagami-kun. Focus on defending. Do everything you can to stop Kise-kun from scoring."

"Good plan, I'd say," said Imayoshi.

"I second that," Akashi concurred. "It's good to attack, but defending when necessary is also vital."

"Indeed, nanodayo," said Shintarou. "Defending is one of the most vital tactics that can shut down even the strongest of teams."

"Are you sure that will work?" Kagami asked her.

"Why is it that every time someone mentions any strategies involving defending you think it won't work?" Himuro asked.

"Kagami-kun only cares about making a basket," Kuroko responded with a slight eye-roll.

"Oi!" the Seirin Ace growled, looking down at the baby blue-haired boy sitting next to him. "I don't know why you're getting mouthy with me anyway, someone has to make the baskets around here. Are you gonna make any? ACK—!"

Kuroko didn't respond verbally and instead gave his reply in the form of a jab to the pressure point in his side. Kagami leaned forward and groaned in pain, wishing that he would just keep his mouth shut sometimes.

"It'll be fine. Have some faith," said Hyuuga. Kagami looked over at him, still unconvinced.

"But—"

"I said it'll be fine, dumbass," Hyuuga interjected with a very creepy smile on his face. "Listen to your seniors once in a while or I'll kill you."

Kagami back away shocked, not knowing how to reply to that.

Everyone in the room laughed except Kagami, who was watching himself get scolded on screen.

"Oh boy, is it about that time?" Kiyoshi asked.

"You bet," Koganei replied. "It's clutch time!"

"Clutch time?" Liu echoed. "What kind of Japanese lingo is that?"

Mitobe waved his arms in a circle, shook his head and blinked twice. Koganei nodded and turned backed to Liu.

"Mitobe was just saying how clutch time is when Hyuuga gets all focused and serious in a pinch."

"Uhhh, yeah… Thanks…" said Liu, ignoring all the questions that just popped into his head after watching Koganei interpret Mitobe's version of sign language. "Anyway, that must be super useful to have in difficult matches."

"Yeah, if you disregard the cons…" Fukuda mumbled.

"Oh yeah," said Kagami. "When captain goes into clutch-time he gets super tyrannical. Suddenly he wants everyone to go on their knees and weird stuff like that. It's kinda scary."

The Rakuzan starters all began to stare at Akashi, who after a few seconds became aware of the attention he had drawn and turned around with an eyebrow raised.

"What?"

Oh, we know the feeling, they all thought.

The whistle blew to signal the end of the timeout, Hyuuga beginning to walk back to the court mumbling under his breath.

"First-years should show more respect to your seniors! Get on your knees!"

"You're showing your true colors, Captain," Izuki called after him, unbothered by his change in behavior. He turned back to Kagami. "Don't worry about him. He's always like that during clutch time." Kagami looked at him, confused.

"When he speaks his mind, he won't miss many of his shots. Leave the offense to him. Just defend like your life depends on it."

"Oh, so that's why he always makes his shots when he's angry?" Kasamatsu inquired, raising his eyebrows. "I guess that makes sense now."

"I guess that's also why Kagami was defending so hard," said Moriyama.

"Although, to be honest, my life sort of depended on it," Kagami muttered.

In the next possession, Hyuuga was being marked by Moriyama. After trying to shake him off for a few seconds, he finally broke free, Koganei moving into his place before Moriyama could get to him. Moriyama looked agitated.

A screen! He thought. And just at the right time.

Izuki passed the ball to Hyuuga, who caught it with ease. As soon as he caught it, Mitobe moved in front of his mark, Kobori, who was under the basket. He gritted his teeth.

Bastard!

"Not bad," said Aomine. "The screen was pulled off with perfect timing."

"Seirin most definitely isn't bad with defense at all, or sneaky tactics," Takao reminded him. "Even before the addition of the rookie duo that defeated us all, they were good on the inside and the outside."

Hyuuga finally jumped up and shot the ball, the camera panning to it making an arc in the air as it made its way towards the basket.

He's usually a normal guy, but when he gets going, he's amazing! Also scary! Riko thought as stats of him came up on the screen. He's the multiple personality clutch shooter, Hyuuga Junpei!

"Take that," Hyuuga said smugly. The ball swished through the net cleanly.

"There it is, Hyuuga's signature three!" Kiyoshi exclaimed. "They never fail to amaze me."

"I mean yeah, they're pretty cool," said Mayuzumi. "But did we need that character introduction just now? What was that?"

The camera panned over to Izuki next. Calm and collected, he never loses his cool! He may seem cool and in control, but he has a sense of humor! He's Izuki Shun! As his stats were shown on screen next he made another pun.

"Nice icy-hot Salon Pass," his eyes widened. "Oh man, that was a good one!"

"No, it wasn't!" Hyuuga told him. "I don't know how such nonsense can leave your mouth."

"I don't even think I can laugh at that," Takao muttered. "That was just too sad."

The next was Mitobe, who was standing there smiling. The hardworking unsung hero! A man whose voice no one has heard, Mitobe Rinnosuke!

"Oh yeah, this guy," said Wakamatsu. "Why does he never speak?"

"Is he mute?" Hayama asked. "Surely he would've been in a more special school if he couldn't speak entirely. Or he would've gotten some type of surgery, right?"

The entire of Seirin looked towards the man in question, who just looked at him and gave a small smile. Koganei blinked.

"He just doesn't prefer speaking," he said. "We've never heard him talk either."

And that doesn't concern you? The rest of the teams thought.

Next was Koganei. He can do everything and nothing! A jack of all trades, master of none! He's Koganei Shinji! Koganei looked offended at the narration for himself.

"You're so mean!" he cried.

"Ah, there goes Savage Seirin again," said Takao.

"Now that you've used the name, it actually sounds like it works," Nebuya quipped from the side.

"I like it!" Hayama exclaimed.

Riko grinned as she watched all of her players on the court.

Unfortunately, every last one of them never gives up!

"The one quality every basketball player should have," said Akashi. "A game is no fun if your opponents have given up."

"I'll say," said Aomine.

"Oh yeah true, Aomine has experienced the worst of it," said Tsuchida. "But he's right. As long you don't give up, that's what matters."

Switching scenes, the camera showed the outside roads, someone panting in the distance.

"Huh? What's going on?" Murasakibara asked. "Is the game over?"

"No, I don't think so," said Himuro. "But why are they switching scenes?"

"Wait," Takao interjected. "Is this what I think it is?"

The rest of them looked over to the Hawk-Eyed player in question. What did he mean?

The wheels of some vehicle rotated as someone in a black school uniform pedaled it down the road on a bicycle.

Kimura narrowed his eyes at the screen.

"Wait, hang on, that's our uniform," he said. The other two Shuutoku third-years looked closer as well.

"Oh? It is," said Miyaji.

"Well it's not me pedaling that thing," said Otsubo.

"Wait," said Kise. "If it's not you three senpai, then isn't that…"

"Damn it, we were supposed to trade at the signal," the unnamed biker panted, pulling along a green-haired person in the back. They passed a little boy standing on the sidewalk, watching them pass by.

"It's a rear car," he said, blinking owlishly.

"So it was you two!" Otsubo said to his two kouhai. "What are you doing pedaling that down the road? Where were you going?"

"We were on our way to watch the practice match!" said Takao.

"Eh? You were there?" Kagami asked him. "But I didn't see you there."

"Takao was too slow, so we arrived a bit too late, nanodayo," Midorima told him. Takao grunted in annoyance.

"It was because you decided you didn't wanna switch at the signal and my stamina ran out halfway! That's why we didn't make it in time!"

Everyone finally realized what Takao had been talking about with Midorima this whole time. That's why Takao was complaining about missing the game. But still…

"If you had taken public transport, you would've gotten there on time," Furihata pointed out. "Why did you guys take a rickshaw?"

"That's just their usual mode of transportation," Kuroko deadpanned. "Aside from when they're with their team, I've never seen them use any other form of transportation."

"Is it really that fun?" Mibuchi inquired.

"I remember once when I was in Tokyo for a few days, I ran into them and they offered me a drive around town in it," said Akashi. "I'll be honest, it was slightly embarrassing at first and many people stared us down on the streets, but it was an experience I'll never forget."

"Also I'm sure it exercises Takao-san's legs a lot," Sakurai added. "No wonder you move so fast during a game!" Takao smirked.

"Heh, I guess that's one way to look at it," he said.

"You haven't pedaled once!" Takao continued to complain.

"Of course I haven't," Midorima told him, holding up the can of red bean soup he was drinking. "Today's Oha-Asa horoscope predicted the greatest day for Cancer's like me."

"What does that have to do with this?!"

"It must suck to be this guy's lackey all the time," said Nebuya. "All that complaining, and you still pedal him around? You must be one loyal dude."

"Whose rickshaw even is that?" said Kawahara.

"Yeah," said Fukuda. "Where did they get it from?"

"You know, I heard there was this one dude who sells them in Tokyo. His name is Rick Shaw."

"Izuki shut up."

"Anyway," Takao continued. "If we're coming all the way out here to see a practice match, your middle school teammates better be good!"

"It's the copycat and the invisible man," Midorima told him.

"Copycat?" Kise echoed.

"Invisible Man?" Kuroko parroted.

"We both have names, you know," they said the same time. Midorima faltered.

"I know that!" he retorted. "I was explaining who was playing in more simplistic terms so someone like Takao would understand, nanodayo."

"What do you mean 'someone like Takao'?!" Takao exclaimed. "I'm not stupid, you could've just said Kuroko and Kise and been done with it!"

"No fighting, you two!" Miyaji scolded.

"Are they good?" Takao asked him.

"Hurry up or the game will be over," Midorima reminded him.

"It's your fault for reading horoscopes!" Takao shouted back.

"Reading horoscopes is really that big of a deal, huh?" Liu said.

"The way he follows its every word, it might as well be his religion," said Takao. "This guy won't leave his house until he's absorbed every word from this Oha-Asa program!"

Going back to the game, both teams were still going at it, neither side refusing to back down. Kasamatsu looked on at the players in front of him.

They're not as good without Kuroko, he thought. But their offensive team isn't bad. They're putting No. 4's shooting ability to good use.

While both teams continued to fight, Kuroko lay still behind Seirin's bench as the subs along with the coach continued to monitor the game. Tsuchida looked at the scoreboard.

"There's a minute and a half left in the second quarter."

Kuroko was still lying down on the mat, unmoving.

"Damn, he really knocked out hard," said Imayoshi. "Just how low is his stamina?"

"Very low, unfortunately," Riko sighed, rubbing her temples.

Hyuuga managed to make another three-pointer, but he was still exhausted.

This isn't easy, he thought to himself. On top of that, we lost power when we lost Kuroko. I'm starting to lose focus. I'm don't think we can make a comeback.

"Wow, the old Seirin used to give up pretty quickly back then compared to now," said Mibuchi.

"I agree," said Mayuzumi. "Even during our match against them, they were still hopeful despite being down by twenty points. But even in this match, they're only down by six points but they're on the verge of surrendering."

"Not to mention it's only a practice match," said Kotarou. "It sucks to lose, but even if you did, it's not like it's a big deal."

"It seems like you guys needed Tetsu-kun more than any of our teams did," Momoi said with a laugh. "If it wasn't for his fighting spirit to keep you going, you guys would give up pretty quickly."

The benchwarmers were beginning to get concerned. Kawahara turned to Riko.

"Coach, isn't there anything we can do?"

"They don't have any energy left for plays after the first half's pace," she said. "If only we had Kuroko-kun…" Suddenly, a voice came out from behind Riko while she was watching the game.

"Very well."

Riko blinked and turned around with the rest of the benchwarmers to find Kuroko standing up from the mat on the floor. He faced them with one eye open, looking slightly disheveled from the sleep.

"Good morning."

A few people snickered at Kuroko's appearance on screen.

"Is it me, or does he look like a puppy here?" said Imayoshi. At that, a bark was heard from the far side of the room that made everyone turn their head. Padding towards the large group, was Nigou, happily running up to his owner.

"Nigou," said Kuroko. "How did you get out of the room?"

"Oh? If it isn't the exact puppy we were thinking of," said Takao. Kagami began shaking and scooted away from Kuroko.

"D-Dammit, why does he have to sit here?" he stammered.

"Don't be mean, Kagami-kun," Kuroko reprimanded. "Nigou can stay here if he wants." Imayoshi looked back and forth between Kuroko and Nigou and raised his eyebrows.

"Wow, Aomine was right. They really do look alike…"

"I'll be going then," Kuroko announced and staggered towards the court.

"Hey, wait!" Riko cried. Running in front of him in a panic when he didn't stop. "What are you talking about?" Kuroko looked confused.

"But you just told me to go."

"I didn't tell you to do that!" Riko responded. "It just slipped out."

"Then I'm going."

"Hey!"

"If I can change anything by going out there, please. Besides, I promised Kagami-kun I'd be his shadow."

"You know, now that I think about it, that line sounds pretty cheesy," said Susa.

"Out of context it doesn't make any sense either," said Okamura.

"Well that's our team for you," said Hyuuga. "Masters of shitty puns and cheesy lines."

"Hey! My puns are funny!"

Riko looked at Kuroko in exasperation, helpless and not knowing what to do. Even the benchwarmers could see the determination in the boy's face. But after a moment she finally came to a decision. She sighed.

"Fine," she said. "But, if I think you're in trouble, I'm switching you out immediately."

"I suppose that's a fair gamble," said Himuro. "Sometimes in basketball, you have to prioritize emotion over strategy."

"That's been happening a lot these days too," said Fukui.

"It's (n)ot surp(r)ising (th)ough," said Hayakawa.

"I don't know what you just said, but I think I agree," said Kobori.

The whistle blew once more, and the players stopped the game. Koganei waked over to switch out with Kuroko, high-fiving him as he went back to the bench. Kuroko then walked up to the court, where Kagami was waiting for him. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Kagami nodded.

"Let's go," he said. Kuroko nodded as well.

"Yeah."

Meanwhile, from the other side of the court, Kise was looking at them with a serious expression, wondering what was to come.

"Something good must be coming up, right?" said Takao. "The opening song is playing in the background."

"Of course!" said Riko. "Our games always have curveballs in them."

"Golden rule of anime, when the opening music starts playing, something cool is gonna happen," Aomine informed them.

"You an anime fan?" Wakamatsu inquired. "That's interesting."

"Everyone has watched at least one anime in their lifetime," said Aomine. "Even this guy."

Everyone followed to where his finger was pointing, only to be baffled when they realized he was pointing at Akashi.

"You too?" said Koganei. Akashi shrugged.

"It was on TV once, but after watching an episode I got interested. I've seen a fair few animes at others' requests as well, but we'll talk about that later."

"As an anime fan myself," said Izuki "we've got a lot to talk about when this is over, Akashi," Akashi smirked.

"If you say so, Izuki-san."

Once Kuroko came back onto the court, the game went back into full swing, both teams doing their best on both defense and offense. Yet somehow, Kuroko's passing gave Seirin the extra mile. Even though he had just barely recovered, he was doing better than ever, and his passes kept breaking through Kaijo's defense. Kaijo was baffled.

"We were just getting used to him, but now he's back at full power," Kasamatsu said, realizing what was going on. "It must be because he stayed out the last two quarters."

With a bit less than five minutes on the clock, Seirin had almost closed the gap in Kaijo's lead. Exclamations of surprise were thrown around the gymnasium from spectators.

"Whoa, seriously?"

"Eighty to eighty-two?"

"They're catching up!"

"That was quick," said Kiyoshi. "You guys were really putting in work! Did you even need me at all this year? Haha!"

"Of course we needed you, dumbass!" Hyuuga said to him. "If you were there, we might not have even had to struggle as much. We might have even won with a bigger score!"

"Ah, imagine getting more than a one-point lead to finish the game," Kagami said in awe. "We could've won by ten points, or even twenty points if Kiyoshi-senpai was there! Imagine the look on Kise's face…"

"Hey, Kagamicchi, aren't you being a bit too sadistic right now?"

Seirin wasn't finished yet, Kuroko and Kagami continued to run, fully immersed in the game. The rest of the team wasn't slacking either as Hyuuga made another shot. Kise looked on in horror as the ball soared through the air.

"You're kidding!" said a spectator. Riko grinned in satisfaction.

The ball swished through the hoop as Hyuuga gave a devilish smirk.

"They're tied!" someone in the audience cried.

"Seirin finally caught up!"

Everyone on the Kaijo team was a mixture of shocked and angry while everyone on Seirin was the complete opposite and were rejoicing that they finally got back to square one.

"Well, well, look at that," said Imayoshi. "You really held on 'til the very end. I commend your perseverance."

"I won't lie," said Kasamatsu. "They sure gave us a run for our money."

Out of everyone on the court, the most shocked had to have been Kise, who stood there with his mouth open and his eyes wide.

We're tied?

He chuckled slightly, but then his face changed. Expression serious, he eyed the rest of the players on the court with an air of danger.

"Oh? Seems like Kise-chin is making that face again," said Murasakibara.

"What face?" said Liu.

"That face he makes when he doesn't want to lose."

"Uh-oh," said Fukui. "Seems like even after all that, winning the game still didn't come easy."

"But with only five minutes left in the game, what else could happen?" Liu asked.

"We've seen Seirin turn an entire match around with four seconds left in the fourth quarter," said Akashi. "Five minutes is plenty of time for something to happen."

Kuroko noticed the change in Kise's demeanor immediately, both him and Kagami turning around to look at him. At the next possession, Kasamatsu hurled the ball in the blonde's direction.

"Kise!" he shouted. Kise caught the ball and charged pass Kuroko before he even realized it. Kagami panicked and ran to assist.

"Kuroko!" he cried. Kuroko recovered from the shock and tried to use his back-tip strategy, but Kise crossed the ball to the other hand before he could touch it. Kuroko and Kagami were shocked, even Riko was surprised.

"Oh wow, he's getting faster," said Takao. "What is he, Sonic?"

"You watch too many cartoons," Midorima sighed.

Before they had a chance to defend, Kise had already driven past, dunking the ball with extra force. He landed back on the ground and stood himself up, sweat dripping from his face and hair as the ball hit the ground. Kuroko and Kagami could only watch as Kise made another basket.

He's even stronger? Kagami thought in disbelief. Did he see though Kuroko?

"I won't lose!" Kise told him, his body radiating rage. "Not to anyone. Not even to Kurokocchi."

"Ki-chan, your face is scary!" said Momoi. "It's even worse than Dai-chan's!"

"Oi, Satsuki! My face is not that scary!"

"It is too, Aomine-kun," said Kuroko. "There are a few kids at the park who get scared by your presence when we go there to practice on the courts." Takao snorted.

"Wow, that's tragic."

This isn't good, Hyuuga thought, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Give it your all, everyone. This'll be just like the first quarter from here on out. A back and forth run-and-gun game! Hurry up, defense!"

"Hyuuga-kun, hurry!" Riko shouted. "Mitobe-kun, post up!"

"Kagami!" Koganei cried.

"Go, go!" Tsuchida yelled from beside him.

"What are you doing?!" Coach Takeuchi fumed from his bench. "You're slow getting back!"

The ball finally came into Kasamatsu's possession, who passed it to Kise, dribbling as Kagami was on his tail. The game kept going back and forth between the two teams. First Kagami made a shot, then Kise. The clock kept ticking, however, and everyone made sure not to forget that.

Two minutes and eleven seconds left, thought Riko. She watched the game even more intensely. The rest of the players on the court were getting desperate as well, trying to keep up the place and prevent another's team from grabbing control. Soon there was one minute left and the score was 91-93.

"God, and here I thought the game would be over soon," said Miyaji. "Both teams really gave it their all."

"As it should be, nanodayo," Midorima concurred. "However, there is only one team who took home a win that day."

Even though the others' teams already knew the outcome of the match, if they hadn't heard of the outcome before watching this practice match, they would have thought it could have been anyone's game the way things were going. For a rookie team, Seirin really did apply a lot of pressure.

Basket after basket was made by both teams, and by this time, the score finally evened out once more at 98-98 with twenty seconds left in the fourth quarter.

"They're tied once more!"

"These resilient bastards!" Kasamatsu cursed. "Finish them!"

With fifteen seconds left, Seirin was getting desperate as well.

"There's no time left!" Hyuuga shouted. "Get them! If we don't take the ball here, it's over!" Kagami was about to run when a voice called out to him.

"Kagami-kun."

He looked down to see Kuroko standing next to him.

"If we can get the ball, there's one more thing we can do that Kise-kun can't copy." Kagami looked at him in interest.

"It's a simple strategy that will only work once, though," he warned. Riko watched from the side with a grave expression.

There's less than 10 seconds left, she thought. We don't have the strength to play into overtime. The spectators in the crowd went wild.

"Good defense!"

"Don't let them score!"

"You can't just defend!" Riko shouted to them. "Take the ball!" Hyuuga paused in his running.

Six seconds left.

Kasamatsu had the ball and Hyuuga ran up to him trying to defend.

Worthless piece of shit! Hyuuga cursed internally. Suddenly Kasamatsu jumped out of nowhere. Hyuuga looked back to see him going for a shot.

Crap!

The ball left his hands, but as soon as they did, Kagami smacked the ball out of his hand. Kasamatsu's eye went wide.

"Oh! He got it," another spectator crowed.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously is right," said Takao. "With ten seconds left, you guys sure are cutting it close!"

"What do you expect? We're Seirin!" Kagami said. "We're the best at making comebacks."

"If you guys were better at maintaining control then you wouldn't need a comeback!"

Hyuuga caught the ball and hoped for the best, launching it towards Kuroko and Kagami, who was already getting a running start.

"Don't let them through!" Kasamatsu shouted. Before Kagami and Kuroko could do anything, Kise came in front of them to stop them, much to their dismay. But they still had a plan. Right as the two were about to pass him, Kagami passed the ball.

"Kuroko!"

This set off warning bells in Kise's head. He whipped his head around in surprise.

"Kurokocchi can't shoot!" Kise exclaimed. "With only two of them, he'll have to pass it back to Kagami!" But Kuroko seemed to have another thing planned. Betraying everyone's expectations, Kuroko threw the ball towards the basket.

"He shot the ball?!" Kise cried out.

"Eh? Were you doing Phantom Shots since then, Tetsu-kun?" Momoi said in bewilderment. Kise shook his head.

"You got it wrong, Momocchi," said Kise. "This was the move that really finished us off-ssu."

"Ah, I think I know the move!"

The whole court held their breath as they watched the ball soar through the air. There was one second left. Kasamatsu was the first to realize that this wasn't just an ordinary shot.

"No…," he said. Kagami got a running start and jumped up in the air. "It's an alley-oop!"

"I won't let you do that!" Kise shouted. He jumped in the air as well, trying to get to Kagami, but it wasn't enough.

He's still climbing?! How far will he go? Kise's eyes widened as he was in the air. We jumped at the same time, but I'm falling first. How can you stay in the air so long?

"You know," said Kobori. "I didn't think of it much 'til now, but that was the first time ever we got a glimpse of Kagami's jumping ability."

"Same for us," said Izuki. "It was the first time we saw Kagami's potential."

"Hasn't one second passed already though?" Mayuzumi asked, ignoring their comments. "How are they thinking in normal time but a second hasn't passed?"

"When you're playing basketball, all your thoughts come and go very quickly," said Akashi. "They probably slowed the thoughts down for the convenience of us viewers. Otherwise, there's no way this thought process could have gone on."

"Thank God explained it in a way I understand," said Fukui. "I thought I was gonna lose my mind over how long this was taking. How can someone be thinking for ten seconds but only one second has passed in real time?"

As Kagami reached for the basketball, he thought of what Kuroko told him before they ran for the ball.

"It's a simple strategy that will only work once, though."

"I don't need you to return the favor!" said Kagami. "Because…" The camera showed Kuroko's face once more during the flashback.

"We just have to score a buzzer beater."

Kagami grabbed the ball and his hand went towards the hoop.

"This ends now!"

Kagami dunked the ball at the very last second, the clock running out of time as Seirin's score changed from ninety-eight to one hundred. The whistle blew to signal the end of the game, leaving Kise with a horrified look on his face before the episode finally finished, ending song playing.

"Eh? That's where it ended?" said Kawahara. "It's a bit anti-climatic if you ask me."

"But at least we know the result," Furihata told him. "I mean, it doesn't matter to us, since we were there, but for the rest of the teams."

"Either way, that was a really good game!" said Kiyoshi. "You guys did a great job!"

"It was impressive the way you coordinated with Kuroko in your very first practice match," said Liu. "I doubt many of us would be able to utilize him that much."

"Uh, well, it was mostly thanks to coach," said Kagami. "She came up with the strategies and stuff, so…" Riko giggled a little bit.

"Ah, don't flatter me too much, Kagami-kun!"

While the others were busy chatting amongst themselves, Kuroko felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw Kise looking back at him, looking slightly sheepish.

"Um, Kurokocchi?" The boy in question blinked.

"Yes, Kise-kun?" Kise looked down for a moment, playing with his hands as he tried to collect his words.

"So, hey, about your injury…"

"Kise-kun, you don't have to apologize for that, it's totally healed."

"Yeah, but still, I was careless!" Kise insisted, Kuroko not failing to spot the slight pout on his lips. "I wasn't looking where I was going, and you still got hurt-ssu. I didn't properly apologize for it before so I'm saying it now. Not because I think I'll get in trouble, but because I'm actually sorry." Kuroko smiled.

"Did you think I was still mad?" Kise faltered.

"Well, I—"

"I could never really be mad with Kise-kun…" Kise's eyes went wide.

"Kurokocchi," he said in admiration. "I really—"

"I can only be extremely annoyed with Kise-kun."

"How rude!"

"But…" Kuroko continued, making Kise stop his sulking. "That doesn't mean I won't want to be your friend. I've long forgiven you, so you don't have to make things awkward for yourself." Suddenly a few people in the room began laughing, pointing to the screen in amusement.

"Oh my God, who took this photo?"

"Kuroko and Kise, you two are really something."

"I'm surprised Kuroko didn't kill him."

Kise looked to what they were pointing at and saw a picture of himself lifting Kuroko in the air with one arm, a basketball in the other. He remembered the day that happened. Kuroko and Kise got into a bet about how strong Kise was and the blonde copycat bets that he could carry Kuroko with just one arm. He had asked Momoi to take a photo of the triumphant moment when he succeeded. Just looking at that one picture made him snort. Soon, Kise was laughing with the rest of them.

"As usual, Kurokocchi weighs no more than a bag of feathers," he teased. Kuroko smiled.

"It seems like I underestimated Kise-kun that time."

"Figures." Kise finished laughing, sighing to himself in satisfaction.

"You know what?" said Kise. "I feel better already, thanks, Kurokocchi!" Kuroko smiled at him and nodded.

"It was no problem, Kise-kun."

"Hey, what are we waiting for? Let's watch the fifth episode-ssu!"

I hope you enjoyed! Idk when I'll see you next, just know I'm alive and well. But anyway I'm gonna go to bed and then reread this in the morning. Until my next update, you know what to do...

Read and review please! Happy New Year!