The team headed over to the gym while talking amongst themselves. Howaito took the head of the group while humming happily as the rest of the team hung back to discuss the kind of skills Howaito would have.
"Maybe he jumps high like Kagami!" Fukuda exclaimed.
"Or maybe he's super fast on the court!" Koganei wondered. Kuroko made his presence known.
"It's more than that," he said while the team jumped in surprise at his sudden appearance.
"Stop doing that Kuroko!" Kagami yelled out even though he was more used to it than his teammates were.
"Why don't you tell us what he can do Kuroko?" Furihata questioned. The team looked at Kuroko desperately while Howaito seemed unaware of what was happening behind him.
"Well... I can tell that Howaito-kun has improved greatly since middle school, but I never knew the extent to his abilities so... even I don't know what to expect," Kuroko said with a thoughtful look in his eye but kept his usual blank face on.
'Just what can this guy do?!' the Seirin members thought impatiently.
They finally arrived at the gym where Howaito immediately changed into his gym clothes and started stretching in record time.
"Can you have someone with the best defense on the team try to man-mark
me?" Howaito asked while doing a runner's stretch. Riko looked at the silent third year, Mitobe, and he nodded silently, changing into his gym clothes and warming up a bit too.
After they finished stretching, Howaito and Mitobe stepped onto the court and faced against each other with Howaito dribbling the ball. The moment Howaito stepped onto the court, his whole demeanor seemed to change. His bright, positive demeanor turned more serious and calculating.
The bright, easy-going aura he carried seemed to morph into something like a bird-of-prey when hunting: calculating, silent, and deadly. Mitobe inwardly started to get nervous, but maintained his composure.
Howaito dribbled the ball with Mitobe tightly man-marking him. Then, Howaito gave a small smirk, feeling the familiar thrilling rush as he started to dribble faster, creating realistic after-images of himself, making it hard for Mitobe to follow Howaito's movements. Mitobe's eyes widened. He couldn't tell which image was the present Howaito since they all looked in motion.
In the instant of confusion, Howaito dashed straight through the opening Mitobe created due to his confusion and shot a three-pointer.
"Yosh!" Howaito fist-bumped the air. The team gaped at him. Kuroko slightly grinned although he was slightly surprised to see that his after-images were much more realistic than in middle school.
"You've really improved Howaito-kun," Kuroko lightly praised. Almost instantly, Howaito reverted back to his cheerful self.
"Arigatou, Kuroko-senpai!" Howaito gave a sheepish but proud grin to Kuroko. The team sweat dropped at his change of behavior but let it slide.
"What was that drive just now and how does it work, Howaito-kun?" Riko questioned Howaito. He turned towards Riko and began to explain to everybody.
"I call it my Illusion Drive," Howaito explained carefully, "I suddenly increase my dribbling pace drastically to create the after-images. With a little sleight of hand of course," Howaito slyly winked at his blue-haired upperclassman.
"Did you teach him this Kuroko?!" Riko shook his shoulder wildly. Kuroko couldn't respond due to his dizziness caused by his coach's action.
"No, but Ao-senpai and Kuroko-senpai gave me many tips when they heard about what I was trying to attempt," Howaito explained for Kuroko. Kagami did a spit-take from the water he was drinking.
"That Ahomine can give useful information?!" he roared out in disbelief.
Kuroko jabbed him at his side after he had recovered from his dizziness, "Please refrain from insulting our teachings towards Howaito-kun," Kuroko said with a hint of annoyance in his words. Kagami stared a Kuroko in surprise but concluded it was because he and the GoM were fond with their 'student'.
Kagami grunted, "Sorry." Kuroko returned to his norm and everybody turned to Howaito once again.
"Is that all that you've got, Howaito?" Hyuuga questioned. Howaito slightly smirked and looked over at Izuki. The third-year returned the look with a raised eyebrow.
"I actually also have a type of Eye as well," Howaito replied, gesturing towards his left eye. Izuki was surprised but smiled slightly as he realized that he might be able to teach something to Howaito as well.
"Well then, I guess I can give you some pointers too," Izuki slung his shoulders over Howaito. In a way, Izuki was glad that there would be someone as skilled as Howaito to fill in his position in the future. He smiled fondly at his underclass man.
"Yay~ The person who helped me with my Eye was Sei-chou! I could probably give you pointers too," Howaito informed them. The team paled at the mention of the red-haired emperor.
"How does your Eye work, Howaito-kun?" Riko questioned slowly, thinking of Takao with his Hawk Eye and Akashi with his Emperor's Eye.
"Well... How should I put this... It's like a combination of Takao-senpai's Hawk Eye and Sei-chou's Emperor's Eye," Howatio awkwardly replied, knowing what their actions would most likely be.
"EEEEEHHHH?!" The team exclaimed once again. They seemed to be doing that a bit too often recently.
☆彡
A certain hawk-eyed Shuutoku member sneezed during basketball practice.
"Are you catching a cold? They did say something bad may occur to Scorpio today. Nanodayo," the horoscope-obsessed tsundere commented while pushing his glasses upwards.
"No! Somebody must be talking about me~ Wait... do you actually care enough to see my horoscope for today Shin-chan?" Takao teased the green-haired male.
"I-it just happened to catch my ear when they announced today's horoscopes!" Midorima retorted weakly and went back to practice.
☆彡
This time Howaito covered his ears so he wouldn't go deaf from his new team.
"No wonder Akashi had an interest in you!" Riko laughed maniacally while muttering new play ideas out loud. Kuroko nodded in realization, he always knew that Howaito had a sharp eye on court, but Akashi had kept the specifics of Howaito's ability a secret.
"Mind giving us a demonstration?" Izuki asked while throwing the ball towards Howaito. Howaito smiled and nodded in agreement, his eyes turning a blue-gray color, although it wasn't obvious with his glasses, signaling the activation of his Eye.
They played a short 4vs4 game with the same lineup as last time. The triplets did the same run-and-gun passing except Howaito was in the middle of their triangular passing, controlling the passing routes with his Eye, causing the flow of the game to be leaning towards the freshmen. Even though Kuroko was on their opposing side, Howaito could easily sense his presence from their numerous practices together in the past, effectively cancelling Kuroko out. At the decisive shot for the freshmen, Howaito jumped up and dunked it in at an opening the second years didn't notice. Howaito's dunk was swift enough to cause the players nearby to feel a slight breeze, yet was obviously very powerful from the thunk sound that resounded the gym as the first, second, and third years watched in awe of the falcon-like maneuver.
At that moment, Howaito's silhouette looked like a white falcon's.
☆彡
"There's a reason I call his Eye the Falcon Eye," Akashi told Midorima while moving his hands to shogi piece.
"It spots openings in its prey's movements.."
He lifted it.
" ..exploits them.."
Abruptly, he slammed it into a space, signaling his win.
"and goes in for the kill."
Word Count: 1226
☆彡 EDITED
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Their Kouhai | KnB
Fanfiction» "At its core, the Falcon represents visionary power, wisdom, and guardianship. This powerful bird awakens visionary power, and leads you to your life purpose. The Falcon carries with it a message of transition and change - perhaps in your vocati...
