Pairings: Takao/Tamaki

Warnings: AU Universe. OOC. Gender swap. Nice Akashi. Semi dark Tamaki. Some character bashing.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke and any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me

Chapter Nine: This is the Reason Why

Kuroko Tamaki sat on one of the hard and uncomfortable waiting chairs in the waiting area of the hospital like how she did every month, her mind wandering. It still astounds her to this day how only in a hospital could one find uncomfortable waiting chairs that will make one prefer to stand instead.

"The drawings for the final league of the Inter High tournament are out." Tamaki announced to the Seirin Basketball Club, standing by the side of the board in their clubroom, with Riko standing on the other side, an equally grim look on the face of the brunette coach.

With this statement, every single pair of eyes was fixated on the petite teal haired girl.

Tamaki looked at Riko who nodded to her—the coach had been the first one that Tamaki had filled in on what she'd found out.

"And?" Kagami asked. "Who are we playing next?"

Even as he spoke, he winced before rubbing at his bandaged knees, and Tamaki's gaze sharpened. Their match against Shutoku and Midorima wasn't without its price, as Kagami had paid dearly for it with his legs by pushing his body beyond its limits.

Muscle tears all down the calves and hairline cracks around the knee areas was what the doctor had informed them when Riko had all but dragged Kagami to the hospital the day after their match when the redhead had shown up at practice the next day limping. Thus, Kagami had been stuck in a wheelchair since, as Riko wants him to keep his weight off his legs so as to ensure that he'll be recovered by the time that they have to play in the Final League.

"Our next opponent is Touou Academy." Riko announced grimly. "On the surface, they're pretty much a new team too, but has been scouting aggressively for the last few years. And to top it off…" She trailed off, looking at Tamaki uneasily.

Tamaki gave a sigh. "It is also the team of Aomine Daiki, the ace of the Generation of Miracles!"

The eyes of every single person in the team save for the two girls went wide at the mere mention of the 'Generation of Miracles'.

"Aomine…Daiki…" Kagami murmured, recalling what Midorima had told him at Rising Sun after the Seirin versus Shutoku match.

"Tokyo is also home to another member of the Generation of Miracles, apart from myself and Tamaki. Aomine Daiki, the ace of the Generation of Miracles."

"Is he strong?"

Midorima hesitated, his hand pausing even as he placed down the money for the meal that he and Takao had ordered. "Strength isn't even close to describing what he's capable of," he said at last. "He's the same type as you. And you'll soon understand what I mean soon enough. That is only if you can even comprehend the true meaning of strength."

Tamaki fiddled with her fingers.

The sound of the bell jingled even as the door of Rising Sun slid opened once more.

"Sorry, we're closed—" The words were cut off as Tamaki met with the visage of a weakly smiling pink haired girl. "Satsuki."

"Tamaki-chan." Momoi Satsuki gave a weak smile, glancing around the familiar restaurant that had been the usual hangout for the Teiko regulars, spying the curious looks from the waiting staff who were helping with the clean up. "Can we have a word?"

Tamaki stared at her once best friend for a long time before sighing deeply. "Himiko-san, can you handle the rest?"

"Of course."

"Come on." Tamaki urged Momoi, leaving the restaurant, with the latter following her meekly. Both girls said nothing for a long time even as Tamaki headed straight for the convenience store located just a few stores down even as Momoi waited outside. The teal head came out after just a few minutes, with a pack of popsicles in hand.

"Here." Tamaki broke the popsicles apart cleanly, handing one to Momoi. For several moments, both girls were then silent, licking at their popsicles, with the bitter taste tanging on their tongues before it then gave way to sweetness.

"It's almost nostalgic." Momoi said at last, staring at her half-eaten popsicle, being the first one to break the silence. "I remember that we always went for popsicles after practice or even after a match with the rest of the team. When did we stop that routine?"

Tamaki said nothing for several moments, chewing onto the remnants of the popsicle within her mouth, not even cringing at the brain freeze that it caused before she swallowed. "Sometime during summer of our second year." Tamaki answered, and Momoi cringed. Tamaki don't even have to explain why. "Why are you here?"

"The Final League is coming up." Momoi said unsurely. Honestly, she isn't sure why she's here either. "It's only a matter of time before Seirin meets up with Touou."

"I know that. I'm an information specialist and strategist, if you hadn't forgotten." Tamaki answered curtly, flinging the empty popsicle stick into the nearby trashcan. It went in neatly, and Momoi's gaze sharpened. For an item as small and light as a popsicle stick to go into the trashcan like that… "Is that all that you came to tell me?"

"Tamaki-chan!" Momoi called out desperately even as Tamaki turned to leave. Why did things turn out like this? "Will you really not forgive them?"

There were several long moments of silence even as a cold wind blew by. "You were there throughout everything." Tamaki spoke at last. "You saw everything that happened. You know what they did. It's true that Sei and myself have as much blame as they did, but I never dreamt that they would take things this far! I will never forgive them." She looked over her shoulder at Momoi. "We'll meet on the court. Tell Aomine this."

"At least talk to Kise-kun!" Momoi called out desperately, and Tamaki stopped dead in her tracks. "Please, Tamaki-chan! He doesn't understand anything! In so many matters, he is like a child that doesn't know right from wrong. Wasn't that why you've always fussed over him and was stricter on him than you were on the others? Please. Do it for me at least."

Tamaki said nothing for a long time before she turned to face Momoi. "Tell him to meet me at the hospital tomorrow then. I have a scheduled appointment at three in the afternoon. He only has this one chance. If he still doesn't understand anything after that, that'll be it."

Kise Ryota fidgeted two seats away from Kuroko Tamaki, almost uncomfortable with both the uneasy silence as well as the chair that he is seated on. 'What is this uneasy atmosphere?' The blonde thought, bewildered.

"This is your last chance, Ki-chan. Probably, out of everyone else, you stand the best chance at reconciling with Tamaki-chan, because you honestly have no idea what is going on. You were just going with the flow—just copying Dai-chan like you did all the time. If you still don't understand why Tamaki-chan and Akashi-kun were so furious, that'll be it."

"Tama—"

"The final championship. Against Meiko Middle." Tamaki was the one to break the silence, though she never looked at Kise, but continued staring at the wall in front of her like seeing something fascinating there. "Who's idea was it?"

The final championship? Was this why Tamaki and Akashi were so furious for months? Kise was bewildered, but still answered, "Uh… It was Aomine-cchi's idea." Kise squeaked as Tamaki turned to face him for the first time since he'd first entered the hospital over an hour ago, though he wished that she hadn't now as he met with cold ice with the flames of fury burning behind them. Scratch Aka-cchi! Tama-cchi is a hundred times scarier!

"And why did you bunch of morons go with it?" Tamaki's voice was controlled and calm, but there is no mistaking the underlying fury within. "When did Aomine become your captain? I definitely don't remember assigning another vice-captain either. And I definitely don't recall either myself or Sei resigning from our positions."

Kise gulped. Okay, scratch furious. Tama-cchi is pissed!

Though honestly, as sad as it is to say, Kise is getting used to having Tamaki angry with him.

"Aomine-cchi said…that it is boring…to have opponents give up all the time the moment they're matched up against us. And that getting the scores matched up…would be a better game than the points game." Kise mumbled, feeling himself getting smaller. And is it just him, or is Tamaki getting angrier?

"…I see… So it's that utter moron without a brain that came up with this?" Kise squeaked, wondering if he should start running now. "Did Satsuki tell you why you should come here?"

Kise plucked up his courage to look at Tamaki. "She said…that I should understand what I—what we did wrong last year," he mumbled. "Tell me. What did we do that is so wrong? Why are you and Akashi-cchi so angry? Why did Coach Kashitori throw us out? What did I do that is so wrong?"

Tamaki stared at Kise for a long time without speaking, recalling what Momoi had told her last night: He doesn't understand anything! In so many matters, he is like a child that doesn't know right from wrong.

And honestly, Tamaki can definitely agree with that statement. For all of Kise's high-end career as a model and probably had fangirls in every part of Japan that would cater to his every whim, he himself is lonely and doesn't have any real friends until he'd joined the basketball club.

Tamaki had done a background check on Kise as well when he'd shot through the promotional exams so quickly when he'd first joined the basketball club, and had learned that Kise's parents were pretty much non-existent in his life, devoting most of their time to their careers instead of their only child.

His father had been a pilot captain and his mother a famous fashion designer. Kise had likely been brought up by nannies and caretakers for much of his childhood before he was deemed old enough to take care of himself. Little wonder why he doesn't even know right from wrong.

It is probably why Kise is so clingy to Tamaki and Aomine as well—probably because they were the first ones to even show him any bit of genuine affection and concern. The dumb blonde is also probably the most hurt when Akashi had thrown the rest of the regulars out of the club and banned them from the gyms after the disastrous match, and following that, Tamaki had taken to pretending that any chair with them in it is empty.

"Put yourself in the shoes of our opponents." Tamaki said at last when Kise thought that she would ignore him. "What will you do if a group of talented basketball players whom you respected treated you as if you're lower than dirt and started a game amongst themselves on which one of them can score more, basically ignoring and disrespecting their opponents?" She looked at Kise who had a look of dawning horror on his face. "Will you be happy with a game like that? Will you be happy that the basketball players whom you respected or idolised treated you just as a stepping stone? Or the worst one—fixing the score just because they could?" Tamaki breathed heavily. "Kise-kun, that was what you did throughout the second half of second year and all of third year. That was what all of us did. That is not basketball. Basketball isn't a tool meant to be used to spread hatred and sadness."

"I…I didn't…" Kise whispered, horror struck as he stared at his hands like he's seeing them for the first time. "We…didn't…"

"You did." Tamaki said tiredly. "That was why Sei and myself were so angry. None of you understand anything at all—"

Kise's eyes sprang back to his former instructor, as her words seemed almost like déjà vu to the blonde.

"None of you understand anything at all! I'll never forgive you for what you did."

"—That isn't the basketball that either of us wanted you to play!"

Kise stared down at his hands, almost startled to realise that it was shaking. "W-Was that why after the championship league…"

"We kicked you out?" Tamaki finished his sentence, a wry smile on her lips. "Part of the reason. The other part of the reason is because we wanted you to know what you did was wrong, and to repent for it. But I guess we started it too late. By the time the championship league match is over, it was near the end of our third year, and the School Board can't do anything to me and Sei any longer—not if they want both public opinion and school opinion to turn on them, considering that both of us are scholarship students, and are amongst the top ten percentage of Japan's middle school population. For three years, we cannot do anything or even enact punishment as long as the team kept winning because the School Board had our hands tied. Even Coach Kashitori is helpless. The only thing I could do to minimise whatever damage that the team has done is to make sure that those who tried to off themselves because of Teiko didn't succeed."

Kise flinched. So people even tried to commit suicide over them? How many of them? How many lives did they actually ruin? Did Midorima know? Was this why he had cut off contact from all of them as well? How long has this been going on? Why didn't Tamaki ever say anything about it?

"'Winning is everything'. I taught you that once, so I can't say that everything that you did was solely your fault. We should have tried harder at least. Or when things started going out of control, head to the authorities or something." Tamaki refused to look at Kise; merely staring at the opposite wall. "The team is one that both Sei and myself created with our own hands, becoming the top team in Japan's middle school basketball scene in just three years. That's why we can't bring ourselves to destroy it. We tried. Both of us. Coach Kashitori and Satsuki as well. But by the time we're in our third year, we were all tired. None of you listened to us any longer. Teiko's doctrine of winning is everything and that as long as you produce results, you can do what you want has been deeply ingrained in you lot by then. We…couldn't undo the damage even if we wanted to. That's why…"

Tamaki quickly blinked tears away to prevent Kise from seeing them. "That's why we wanted to cut you loose after Teiko, making sure that you go to decent teams that could fix the damage that Teiko did to you at least. Or at least, that was the plan. But then the championship league match happened. You lot did something unforgivable in that match." Tamaki turned angry eyes onto Kise again, and he flinched. "Playing the points game, I can tolerate. It's what you lot has been doing throughout third year, and no matter what we said, you refused to listen anyway. But fixing the score the way you did, and now, you're telling me that it's Aomine's idea. Even if it isn't our childhood friend's team, even Sei and myself will feel that you've gone overboard. Do you know what you've done to Meiko after that match? Every single one of them quit basketball after that. And our childhood friend… It has been months since, and Sei and myself haven't even heard anything from Shige-kun since. We only know that he's still alive." Kise flinched with that remark as Tamaki bit on her lip. "He…was our first friend. He was the only light in our lives, especially when our family lives were turned upside down during our elementary years. But you went and did that to him when all we wanted—all that Shige-kun wanted is to have a good honest match against us—against Teiko."

Every word from Tamaki made Kise feel as if a knife had stabbed itself into his heart. So this is why Tamaki and Akashi were so furious? Aomine was the one to come up with the points game to begin with, especially after that one team gave up fighting in the middle of the match back in second year. He was also the one to come up with the idea to fix the score after returning from the infirmary where Tamaki was laid up with a head concussion after the match against Kamata West, with Akashi accompanying her.

Could it be…that Aomine knew that Akashi and Tamaki's childhood friend is their next opponent?

"You asked why we were so angry. This is the reason." Tamaki sounded exhausted. "Anything else you want to know?"

Kise swallowed a lump in his throat. "I…"

The door to the doctor's office opened just then, and a nurse stepped out, with a clipboard in her hands. "Tamaki-chan, the doctor will see you now." The nurse called out, smiling at the teal head that she is familiar with by now.

"Okay." Tamaki got to her feet, picking up her bag by the strap as she did so. She turned to study Kise who looked as if he'd just been clobbered over the head. "You wanted to know. This is the reason why. If you're no longer the little idiot you'd been in Teiko, prove it to us. Until then, I…cannot forgive you. Any of you."

"Tama-cchi—"

The door to the doctor's office slammed shut.

XXXXXX

'The match against Touou is in two weeks.' Tamaki thought to herself even as she made her way towards the gym on a Saturday morning, nose half-buried in her notebook. 'It's probably going to be one of the toughest matches we're going to have. Unlike Shutoku or even Seiho, Touou is like us—an offence orientated team. Are we ready to take them on?'

"Morning, Tamaki!" Kagami's gruff voice greeted Tamaki from behind even as she approached the doors of their gym, and she turned only to see Kagami approaching her from behind, already in practice clothes.

"Morning—" Tamaki's gaze sharpened as she narrowed in immediately onto Kagami's legs—Kagami who was just released from wheelchair-prison a week ago, and who was just told by both Riko and Tamaki and even the doctor to be careful and not attempt any jumps just yet.

"Kagami-kun."

Kagami flinched at the sound of that tone that Tamaki always uses whenever he or his fellow freshmen did something wrong, and which they feared more than Riko's suicide drills.

"You did jumps?"

"Uh…"

Tamaki let out a long suffering sigh. "…I'm taking you to the hospital," she decided. "You're not practicing today." She turned around, and pulled Kagami by the arm back towards the entrance of the school, despite the redhead's protests, also pulling out her cellphone to let Riko know of their absences and the reason why.

"I feel fine! My legs are fine!" Kagami protested all the way to the bus stop, but a sharp look from Tamaki silenced him.

"Kagami-kun, is a single match worth the sacrifice of your entire basketball career?" Tamaki questioned coolly, and Kagami winced. "We told you repeatedly again and again to not exert yourself and to not do any jumps until either Coach or myself or even the doctor give you the all-clear! Are we not clear enough?" Kagami winced, and Tamaki sighed, feeling rather bad at venting her ill mood on Kagami. She is still in a bad mood after what she'd told Kise the day before. "What happened? You're not the type to disregard orders."

Kagami scowled, his temper flaring up again at the mere reminder of that asshole from the day before. "That…bastard insulted you and Seirin! I can't just let it go!" he argued. Sure, he doesn't know what had exactly happened to Tamaki in Teiko, but even as much of an idiot as he is, he knew damn well that whatever that had happened in Teiko is bad. Bad to the point that even gentle and timid Tamaki will get so worked up and furious whenever a Generation of Miracles' member is in the vicinity. "Even Kise and Midorima have never made me as furious as that no-good bastard! Are all Generation of Miracles this much of an asshole, or is that bastard just special—"

"Kagami-kun." Tamaki interrupted Kagami in the middle of his tirade about one of her former teammates. "Who is this 'he'?"

Privately however, Tamaki had a pretty good feeling that she knew just who Kagami had met. The last remaining Generation of Miracles' member in the Tokyo region…

Kagami turned solemn as he turned to face Tamaki even as the bus arrived, and both teens got to their feet to board. "…I met Aomine," he answered at last. Even Kagami gulped at the dark expression close to hatred that appeared momentarily on Tamaki's face at the mere mention of that name.

Tamaki was silent even as she paid for her bus fare and waited for Kagami to pay for his. As it is an early Saturday morning, the bus is almost empty. Save for a dozing middle-aged woman probably on the way home from the market, the bus is devoid of all passengers.

"Tell me everything." Tamaki said at last even as the pair sat on one of the seats.

"This has got to be some kind of joke." Aomine Daiki sneered, basketball in hand even as he looked at the heavily panting Kagami, legs trembling. "Did you really beat Midorima and Kise?"

Kagami's temper reared its head again. "You bastard—"

"Ah right. Because Tamaki is there too." Aomine said uncaringly. "What she sees in you and in a backwater team like Seirin is beyond me. A team like Seirin can't make use of her abilities to the fullest."

"Hey!" Kagami glared at Aomine. "Don't you dare to insult her or Seirin! I don't know what happened in Teiko to make Tamaki turn out the way she is now, but I know for a fact that she is happier in Seirin than she had ever been in Teiko! At the very least, we respect her opinions and listen to her, and we will never abandon one of our own!"

Aomine seemed taken aback by that sentence before he scowled. "Che. This is pointless." He tossed the ball above Kagami's head that soared into the net. "We'll test your resolve in our match. Let's see if you can live up to your claims."

"Tamaki choose us. We will not fail her." Kagami growled.

"Whatever." Aomine scowled even as he left the streetball court as Kagami fell heavily to the court behind him, clutching at his knee. "This is your team? What the hell are you doing or planning with a mediocre team like this, Tamaki?"

XXXXXX

To: Seirin Basketball Team
From: Kuroko Tamaki
Subject: None

Kagami-kun's legs got worse. He's going to be back in the wheelchair for the next week. The doctor isn't impressed. He threatened to tie Kagami-kun to a hospital bed until he fully recovers.

I'll also recommend that Kagami-kun stay in a wheelchair until our match against Touou for complete recovery. I'm going to head to Touou myself to lodge an official complaint. If things had gotten serious, Kagami-kun might even have lost the usage of his legs entirely.

XXXXXX

All of Seirin were very upset after they got the entire story from Tamaki over the weekend, and have seen Tamaki wheeling Kagami around in a wheelchair once more come Monday, much to the redhead's embarrassment, as every single student in Seirin was staring as they walked past.

Aida Riko on the other hand, after she'd read the medical report from the doctor and had gotten the complete diagnosis and story from Tamaki and Kagami, was ready to breathe fire, especially after hearing that Kagami accepted Aomine's challenge for an one-on-one despite knowing full well that his legs are still injured and that he is in no condition to jump, let alone have an one-on-one!

But as Kagami had already been scolded enough by Tamaki, Riko had let it slide, since he looked guilty enough already when Tamaki had wheeled him into their gym for their after school training session on Monday.

Tamaki looked angry as well—and for the first time, the entire team could see it. Honestly, Riko knew what had happened in Teiko from Tamaki, especially after Kiyoshi had gently coaxed the story out of her before Tamaki's graduation. And seriously, it honestly scared Riko—to know just how far gone that the Teiko graduates are and none of the Teiko officials did anything about it.

Little wonder why Tamaki had been angry since. And so had Akashi Seijuro.

The freshmen were really upset as well, especially after Kagami had admitted that he'd only accepted Aomine's challenge because that asshole had the audacity to insult Tamaki and Seirin in the same breath. Unlike the second years, the freshmen didn't know of the exact details of what had gone down in Teiko, but Fukuda who had been in his middle school's basketball club's second string knew the basics of the Teiko fiasco, and the rest of the freshmen were smart enough to put the pieces together to know just why Tamaki is so agitated whenever a Generation of Miracles' member is in the vicinity.

Just what kind of school is Teiko that they turned mere middle school students into monsters like this?

It is no wonder that Tamaki didn't want to talk about Teiko at all.

"This is going overboard!" Izuki snarled, clenching one hand into a fist as the entire team gathered for an emergency meeting after Tamaki had excused herself, stating that she is heading to Touou to lodge an official complaint. "If the injury had worsened any further, Kagami might never be able to walk again!"

Kagami flinched, as he was there when the doctor had solemnly told both Kagami and Tamaki the extent of his injuries and how close he was to becoming a cripple.

"That's why Tamaki-chan is heading to Touou on our behalf to lodge an official complaint." Riko said grimly. "I understand your feelings in wanting to beat Aomine up, but let's do it on the court—in our match against Touou."

Hyuuga nodded. "You heard the coach. Back to practice!" he ordered.

Riko's sharp eyes caught Kagami about to get up from his wheelchair. "I…feel fine. So—"

"Sit your ass back in that wheelchair!"

XXXXXX

"I am really sorry about this." Harasawa Katsunori apologised again even as he walked the grim looking petite teal head to the gym of Touou Academy where he knew his basketball team would be training at this time of the day. Or at least, most of them would be. "I should have kept a closer eye on him."

"Coach, you can't be everywhere at once, and Aomine-kun is already enough of a handful for both of us to handle from day one." Momoi Satsuki who is on Harasawa's other side argued. "If anything, I shouldn't have said anything about Seirin to him. Though I did tell him that Kagami-kun is injured." Momoi admitted the last part, and Tamaki's eye twitched. Momoi bit her lower lip before looking at her grim looking best friend. "I'm sorry, Tamaki-chan. Is Kagami-kun all right?"

"His injury worsened. He's going to be wheelchair-bound for the next two weeks at least." Tamaki answered. "And it's not your fault. You did tell him that Kagami-kun is injured, didn't you?" Momoi nodded reluctantly. "You should stop babying him so much, Satsuki. If he wants to ruin his life, it's up to him. You have your own life to lead. Stop fussing over him so much like how you did for most of your life."

'Cold!' Both Touou coach and manager thought in unison.

Harasawa Katsunori was never so surprised when he had received a message from his manager over the weekend, stating that Seirin's manager and unofficial vice-captain had requested for a meeting on Monday, stating that it is a matter of utmost importance. Then come Monday, he was then stuck in a highly unpleasant thirty minute meeting with Kuroko Tamaki when the girl had gone into every single detail of what his ace had done to their ace over the weekend, and had actually came this close to ending Kagami Taiga's basketball career or even costing him his ability to walk.

Thankfully however, Harasawa had managed to persuade Kuroko Tamaki from making an official complaint with the Basketball Association though he knew that Seirin had every right to do that first before approaching Touou. With their match so close as it is, most likely, Seirin wanted to exact revenge on the court for their teammate and their team's pride—something that Harasawa can respect.

"He's here today, right?" Tamaki asked Momoi even as the entrance of the gym came into view, and all three could spy the basketball club members training through the half-opened door.

"Yes. I made sure that he'd be there today, though I didn't say why." Momoi answered uneasily. This is the first time since the blow up back in Teiko when Tamaki and Aomine will be facing each other after all. And honestly, with Tamaki and Akashi's feelings or lack thereof at the moment towards their former teammates, there is no knowing what Tamaki will do.

"Here we are." Harasawa announced, though he did exchange worried looks with his manager as he did. He opened the door of the gym and entered after the two girls. All activity within the gym stopped immediately. The Touou coach then clapped his hands together. "Gather!"

It only took a matter of moments before the entire basketball club gathered. Or at least, most of them, Tamaki amended inwardly as she glanced over the assembled team, with most of them eyeing her curiously, no doubt due to the different uniform.

"Coach, is there something wrong?" Imayoshi Shoichi enquired.

Harasawa pinched the bridge of his nose to ease his headache, immediately noticing the absence of his ace. "Yes, there is a whole lot wrong," he said wearily, much to the team's confusion. "Where's Aomine? One of you go and drag him here. I don't care who."

"Hibiki, go and get him." Imayoshi ordered one of the second stringers who squeaked in shock, with the rest of his teammates giving him sympathetic looks. "No doubt he's on the roof again. Tell him that we'll burn his magazines if he doesn't get here within the next ten minutes."

"Uh… Yes sir." The second stringer nodded before leaving the gym.

"Coach, what is this about?" Wakamatsu questioned curiously, looking at the grim looking Kuroko Tamaki like the rest of his teammates. "And is this…?"

Harasawa gave Tamaki a nod before the latter stepped forward. "I'm Kuroko Tamaki," she introduced herself. It succeeded in causing the entire Touou team to give her wary looks. "I apologise for intruding in on your practice time. But I am here on behalf of my teammates in Seirin." She turned her attention towards Imayoshi. "I will try to keep it short. But… Can we have a word? It is about your ace."

A/N: Apologies for taking so long to update, but there is a good reason for it. I had a little accident nearly two weeks ago that ended up in a broken leg, so I'll be stuck in bed for the next couple of weeks at least. Also, sorry for no Takao in this chapter, but the main focus in this chapter is on Seirin, and the next chapter as well, I think. To Aomine fans, a fair word of warning, you won't really like him in this story.

I hope that you like this chapter, and please read and review! Reviews give me inspiration to update!