Dreaming On - Kuroko no Basket

Old Friends, New Enemies

            “S-seiho?!”

            “S-seirin?!” Kagami and the others glared at Seiho’s team as they glared back at us.  I finally took notice of the familiar bald player and proceeded to shout, “Baldy?!”

Seiho’s team finally noticed me. “A-a girl?!”

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            I sat in between Kagami and Kuroko, not wanting to be anywhere close to Baldy, who kept shooting glances in my direction.

            “What a coincidence,” the blonde point guard, Kasuga Ryuhei, exclaimed. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

            “To play basketball…duh,” I softly muttered. Kagami snorted, hearing my comment. That caught the point guard’s attention as he looked over at me.

            “Oh! Who’s this lovely female? I’m Kasuga from Seiho,” he introduced, smiling at me.

            “Fujioka Masami from Seirin.”

            “Are you here to support your friends?” Now everyone was looking at me for my answer. I scoffed at Kasuga’s question.

            “No, I’m here to play.” I smirked at them, “Don’t go easy just cause I’m a girl.”

            “Shouldn’t you guys be practicing?” Kagami interrupted, asking the third years from Seiho.

            “You mean you don’t know? We’re retiring. We’re taking a day off from studying to play. If we play each other today, we’ll get our revenge,” the former captain of Seiho remarked. I casted a cheeky grin his way.

            “We’ll see.”

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            “Crap!! We’re late! All because Bakagami said he was hungry again!” I shrieked, running towards the court that Seiho was playing at. I pushed myself to the front of the crowd and gasped.

            51 – 32. I-impossible! Who could’ve beaten Seiho?

            “N-no way! They beat Seiho so easily!” Fukuda stammered. My eyes narrowed in on the black-haired male standing there. I can sense his strength from over here! I suddenly felt Kagami tremble next to me.

            “W-what…What are you doing here? Himuro Tatsuya!” He demanded. The black-haired male turned around, looking at Kagami in surprise.

            “Well, well, Taiga,” he replied in English. My brain automatically switched gears, switching from Japanese to English. “What a surprise to find you here.”

            “You don’t look surprised at all. Keeping the usual poker face?”

            “I ain’t keeping a poker face. It’s my nature.” I had to stifle a laugh at their weird use of English.

            Unexpectedly, Teppei jumped into the conversation in English, “Is it, uh, Himuro? Kagami’s friend?”

            “Oh, I can speak Japanese,” Himuro replied, easily switching back to Japanese. “We’re not friends. I guess you could call me his brother.”

            I swear that my eyes couldn’t get any bigger…

            After Kagami told us his story about Himuro, I could sense his indecision about wanting to win. Just as I was about to grab his hand, #2 punched Kagami in the face.

            “……”

            “……”

            “OW! Number 2?! You brought him, Kuroko?!” Kagami shouted.

            “I don’t like it when you’re indecisive,” Kuroko responded, setting Number2 down.

“I think I understand the situation,” I said softly to Kagami. “No one wants their opponents to purposely lose in the game they love. I think you going easy on Himuro-san was your fault, Kagami. Think about why you love playing basketball. It might be the same for Himuro-san.”

“You’re right; I play basketball because I like playing against stronger players.” Kagami gently placed his hand on my head. “Thank you, Masami. I’ve made up my mind! I’ll definitely play my best against you, Tatsuya!”

Himuro smiled at Kagami, “I look forward to playing against you today.” He glanced at Kuroko before shifting his attention to me. “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

“My name is Kuroko Tetsuya. Nice to meet you.”

“Fujioka Masami.”

“I see. You’ve found some interesting friends, Taiga.”

            Just then, the announcement blared through the speakers, “And now our last two contestants are high school groups! Just who will win?!” We stepped onto the court, eager to play. It was Kagami, Kuroko, Teppei, Furihata, and me playing for Seirin against the team from Yosen.

            “It’s the tip-off!”

            Just as Himuro and Kagami jumped up to reach for the ball, a large hand placed a candy bar on top of the ascending ball. The hand swiped the ball mid-air and I gaped at the person who caught the ball.

            A tall – no, giant – purple-haired male stood there with a feral grin on his face. His voice was slightly in the higher register of a male’s voice and had a lazy tone to it. “Sorry, could you wait a minute?”

            Himuro sighed, “You’re late, Atsushi.”

            “Sorry, sorry. I got lost.” The giant responded. I was surprised when Kuroko spoke up, greeting the newcomer.

            “It’s been a while, Murasakibara-kun.”

            “Oh? It’s Kuro-chin. You look as serious as ever. It makes me…” Murasakibara walked up to Kuroko, placing a massive hand on his blue hair. “…want to crush you.”