Fragile Toughness

Preparations

Practice did not start immediately that day as Hyuga called for a meeting. As the team gathered around their Captain and Coach in anticipation, Kuroko pulled out several sheets of paper and gave them to Hyuga to hand them around.

"The Inter-high preliminaries start out as a tournament. Once we lose, we're out. So we can't let our guard down for even a single game." He went down the long list of schools that they currently had in their hands.

Kuroko smirked slightly under his monotonous expression. He was sure that ever since they, the infamous Generation Of Miracles of the basketball circuit disbanded, the high school basketball circuit were all sighing in relief and petting themselves on the back when all of them went to separate schools. After all, they were a force to be reckoned with, with no sane team who would want to face them on court. He saw firsthand the look of fear, anger, and anguished as all the teams against them were brutally thrashed. Facing just one of them was painful enough, but facing all six of them was close to suicidal.

"Tokyo has blocks A to D." Hyuga continued. Kuroko flipped the list to the other side, gazing at the different teams that would go up against them. "The winner of each block will go to the championship league. The top three winners from the championship league will participate in the Inter High. Only three schools are chosen out of the hundreds of participating schools. And only the chosen 1% will get to stand out and onto the court of their dreams. That, is the Inter High."

The Seirin players looked at each other uncertainly, even the freshmen trio gave each other rather doubtful looks.

"Correction Hyuga-senpai." Kuroko quietly voiced out from the bench. He glanced at his teammates, looking at each of them dead in the eye. "They are not the chosen few. They win it."

Hyuga smiled at his junior. "We have three weeks until the Inter High Preliemaries." He continued. "We fell one short last year, but with you all, we will definitely go this year. We will be facing a lot of strong schools, but our biggest threat right now is our nation's top eight. And also a school that has a Generation Of Miracles member. That is, Shotoko High."

Kuroko tensed upon the name of the school.

"Oi Kuroko!" Kagami caught sight of his shoulder drooping ever so slightly. "You know who he is, don't you."

Kuroko jolted up.

"Ah," Kagami felt rather foolish once those words left his mouth. Of course he knows those players are! Hell, he played on the same team as them for three years!

Kuroko looked away. "Shintaro Midorima. He is renowned for his half-court shots. However, it has been much time since I last saw him, and he may have improved and gotten better from the last time I saw him."

 "Say... Where's Riko?" Izuki looked around the gym.

"She went to observe the practice game for the first team that we are going to be up against," Kuroko replied. "Ah, there she is." As he said it, the gym door burst open.

"I'm back."

"You seem unhappy." Hyuga mused at her expression. "Are they good?"

Riko sighed heavily as she handed him her phone.

"You know my password, don't you."

Hyuga quickly keyed in the password, only to be met with an adorable picture of a puppy.

"Awww!! So cute!" Furihata gushed.

"Wait! Wrong picture!" Riko grasped for her phone and swiped on the next picture, but the whole team was met with another equally adorable picture of a kitten. "Wait!" Riko swiped and swiped until she got to the correct picture.

"You were out taking pictures of guys?"

"What- NO!" Riko glared at Koganei indignantly. "We shouldn't even be worried about Shutoku when our first match may give us trouble. Especially that guy that you are looking at."

The team saw the picture of a tall foreigner with dark skin and a shaven head. He had black hair and eyes, and a long face with prominent cheekbones. He wore Shinkyo's Academy signature dark green and black jersey and held a basketball in a shooting position.

"His name is Papa Mbaye Siki, isn't he, Riko-san?"Kuroko scanned his notes. "A foreign exchange student from Senegal, two meters tall and 87kg. He is born on June 6 and is blood type O. His favorite food is hotdogs and his hobby is birdwatchi-"

"Why are you so talkative these days," Kagami grumbled. "And where the hell did you find this information!?"

"Research."

"Senegal... Senegal... Where is that place? North Africa? South Africa?"

"West Africa, actually, Izuki-senpai."

"Oh."

Kagami snorted. "So what? He's just big."

Height has always been an important factor in basketball. A sport where those who have height have the greater advantage. And this Papa guy was an exception. Kuroko was glad that he had been trained to go against players taller than himself in middle school, though... what was the point if he was not allowed off his wheelchair often?

"Anyways, what was his name again? Papa Mbaba?" Hyuga asked.

"Panapa?" Tsuchida supplied cheerfully.

"Papa Try-hard." Koganei tried, snatching and hurling Izuki's pen much to his disappointment. "And don't you dare-"

"Give Papa a cup of proper coffee in a copper coffee cup. Nice, don't you thin- Owww..."

Kuroko observes in silence. "Why don't we just call him Dad for short? Since 'Papa' in English is Dad."

Kagami laughed. "So 'Dad' it is!"

Riko banged her clipboard against her knee. "LISTEN!"

Everyone stood upright in attention. "He's not just tall, but his arms and legs are long too! Everything about him is big. More and more schools are inviting foreign students like him hoping to increase their power. For a middle-tier school such as Shinkyo High School, such an addition may mean a complete tiebreaker between them and us. So we must be prepared."

The team fell silent. Kuroko's mind was whirling as he anticipated Riko's next request.

"Kuroko-kun, I need you to plan out a schedule for the team, weigh out their strength and weaknesses, as well as a couple of plans if something goes wrong."

"Yes, Riko-senpai."

"Also, Kagami. I will personally plan out a schedule just for you to help to improve your jumps when you go against them."

Riko smiled cheerfully as she watched Kagami's face fall apart. "Preliminaries start on May 16th! And until then, you won't even have the time or strength to complain!"

~~~

And for the next few days, the team was put under Kuroko and Riko's intense training, almost to the point of it being referred to by them as 'Hell's Week'. Indeed it was. The team underwent different hellish exercises and training dedicated to improving their strength, flexibility, and speed. They had drills in the early mornings, arriving at school even earlier than usual. They left school later than anyone else after countless practice matches, almost tired to their bones and unable to walk out of the gymnasium without collapsing. Classes were equally terrible as they were half asleep the entire time and their muscles ached.

Kuroko and Riko were also busy. While Kuroko went for his physical therapy, Riko made meal plans for the team, and once they were together, they planned out several plans. Riko tore through sheets of paper, much to Kuroko's horror, as she thought of countermeasures to take until Kuroko mysteriously smiled. 

"I will need you to give me till the end of the week to get my thoughts together, Riko-senpai. But I believe that I might have found a fool-proof method to take home victory."

Riko looked doubtful but eventually trusted her junior. After all, what was the worst that could happen> He was after all the brains behind this team and what's more, the Coach and vice-captain of Seirin's Basketball team.

"Whatever you do, don't exhaust yourself."

"I won't." And I also can't as he may be watching too...