Looking for a Miracle | Kuroko no Basket

19. Increased Stakes

Looking for a Miracle
Chapter Nineteen
Increased Stakes

Haizaki quit the club two days later.

No one except Midorima and I knew that Sei had initiated the decision, and had made Haizaki leave. No one was even suspicious - with Haizaki's lack of interest in the club, people were speculating why he hadn't left sooner.

Kuroko was the only one who appeared to be affected by Haizaki leaving - not because he liked Haizaki by any means, but because he was leaving. I couldn't help but smile when I heard my friend's concern. He was too kind hearted for his own good.

I truly felt blessed to count such a person as my friend.

"Everyone gather around!" Coach Sanada called, and all discussion about Haizaki's abrupt departure faded.

"I'm sure you're already aware of this, but there are less than two months until the preliminaries for the inter school tournament," the coach said. "From now on, practice will be even more demanding. As such, the head coach will be taking over from here."

An outbreak of muttering followed this statement and I smirked, remembering the last time the coach took over training. Oh, these boys had a rough time ahead of them.

"What sort of person is he?" Kuroko asked quietly, but we still all heard him.

"Ah, that's right," Aomine mused. "This'll be your first time meeting him."

I clapped a hand over my mouth to smother laughter as someone walked behind everyone else, quiet and undetected by Kuroko. The man rested a hand on Kuroko's shoulder, who stiffened in response.

"That's true..." the man mused. "Then I suppose I should introduce myself."

Kuroko turned around, eyes wide in shock to see the man behind him, who smiled. "I'm Shirogane Kouzou, the head coach. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kuroko-kun."

"How do you know my name?"

"I know the names of all the players. I always watch the practices, you see."

With that, Shirogane proceeded to the front. Kuroko watched him with interest.

"He looks kinder than I expected," the phantom noted.

I snorted.

You'll be eating your words soon, Kuroko.

The others looked faintly disturbed by his words.

"He's not," Aomine exclaimed lowly. "It's not like there's a crazy reason for it or anything, but..."

Up front, Shirogane clapped his hands together. "I see you've all been taking it easy up until now! Real practices will start today. They will be far more difficult, but don't worry. Whole you're young, no matter what you do, it won't kill you."

He was grinning as he spoke, a rather devilish glint in his eye. I saw the faces of many of the players begin to pale, no doubt recounting previous practices with him.

"... It's just that he trains us like the devil," Aomine finished, with humourless laughter. "He makes the other coach's practices feel like child's play."

Ah, I remember that all too well. I was glad I wasn't in the position of my friends right now.

"Also, I have one more announcement," Shirogane proclaimed. His eyes landed on Sei and he nodded. "Akashi."

Sei straightened. "Sir," he responded, and made his way toward the front.

My heart leapt into my throat. It's going to happen. It was going to be made official.

Sei took his place next to Shirogane, who was now looking at Nijimura.m"Nijimura, you've done well up until now," he said, and Nijimura bowed his head. "We'll be changing captains today. In Nijimura's place," he rested a hand of Sei's shoulder, "Akashi Seijuro will be captain."

An outbreak of whispering followed this statement, the third years incredulous, while the second years were astounded. I kept silent, but my eyes stayed on Sei's face, taking in his reaction. His face remained composed, but I wondered what thoughts were going on underneath.

"Did you know this, Akane-chan?" Momoi asked me in a whisper.

I didn't say anything, but nodded.

Shirogane cleared his throat, and silence fell once again. "I understand how the third years must feel, but remember the doctrine of our club. This decision was made in order to achieve victory. Accept it."

Some people still looked unimpressed, but I knew there'd be no further arguments.

No one could deny that Sei wasn't up to the task, at least.

*         *         *

With the preliminaries and national championship approaching, as well as being responsible for the team as captain and having the continuous high expectations of his father, Sei had a lot more weight on his shoulders than usual.

I could tell he felt the strain as he settled various arguments that continued to crop up amongst our friends - with everyone improving at an alarming rate, arguments occurred at the smallest of things. Midorima and Murasakibara were at each other first, and then Aomine and Kise. Sei managed to solve both arguments

But out of everyone, Aomine's strength was the most alarming.

Momoi had come to me and admitted she was scared for him - he won the second-string match almost single-handedly, she'd said. I'd swallowed and looked at my friend, who was currently laughing with Kuroko, and wondered if he knew just how dangerous he was.

I'd resolved to be there for Sei as much as possible following his appointment as captain, and tried to make even studying bearable by telling bad science joked and smiling even as we did endless, mind-numbing math equations. Whenever he'd smile, my stomach would flip, and every thank you for him made my heart falter.

On top of studying, demands of training had increased almost tenfold. I didn't see much of it, since Momoi and I were sent scouting more and more often to collect data for teams we'd face during the tournament, but what I did see made me feel exhausted. With the combination of the training menu Sei and I put into place (already I could see results and improvements) and harder training, I wondered how anyone was able to stand on their feet at the end. Several times I was worried that Kuroko might faint in the middle of the court.

Speaking of Kuroko... there was an unexpected development in the romance department.

Momoi liked Kuroko.

I hadn't seen it coming - just one day, Momoi started hugging Kuroko at every possible opportunity, and blushed whenever our blue-haired friend was nearby. This was a source of endless teasing from me, which she was roll her eyes but giggle at.

It was definitely entertaining, to say the least.

Everything was chaotic, but still going relatively smoothly, with everyone banding together and enjoying themselves. Kise fit so easily into our group of friends it was easy to believe he'd always been there. We hung out after the basketball club where they'd complain about how tough training was, talk about homework, Momoi would stick close to Kuroko, and Kise would keep everyone entertained bright personality.

And then there was Sei, and my stomach still performed somersaults when I saw him, and we talked so easily and spent so much time together I almost kidded myself into thinking we were dating.

There was nothing to suggest that a mere few weeks later, everything would start falling to pieces.