-Emiko POV-
Kagami couldn't practice for 2 weeks. My dad's orders...
After our exams, we resumed practice.
"Damn, I'm itching to play" said Kagami.
"You have to wait until your legs heal!" said Riko.
Every time something good happened during practice, Nigo barked happily, making Kagami flinch.
"Nigo, you know how to play basketball?" said Hyuga and Nigo barked again.
"You're quite the talker!" said Koganei.
Kagami ran away...
"You really don't like them that much?" I asked.
"Yes..." he admitted.
"Kagami-kun..." said Tetsuya and he held Nigo, even Tetsuya was showing his puppy face... "Don't day that"
"Don't look at me with those eyes!" shouted Kagami.
"He's cute" said Tetsuya and ran after Kagami with Nigo.
"Don't, Kuroko!" shouted Kagami. "I'll kill you later!"
"He's definitely doing it on purpose" we all said.
~
I put on my swimsuit and sat down on the edge of the swimming pool with my legs in the water, while the boys were doing their exercises.
"Make sure you pay more attention to stretching than usual" I said.
"We'll start with squats!" said Riko and blew her whistle.
Every time she blew her whistle, the boys did their squats.
"Okay, take one minute break" said Riko.
"These pool exercises are tough" said Izuki.
"Kuroko! Don't sleep! Don't just float there!" shouted Hyuga.
After the break, they started again.
Even Nigo came to watch.
"What a cute dog" I recognised that voice...
I looked up and saw Satsuki...
"Momoi-san" said Tetsuya.
"Satsuki?" I said at the same time.
"You know her?" asked Koganei.
"Uh, who are you?" asked Riko.
"Um... how should I put this..." said Satsuki. "I'm Tetsu-kun's girlfriend. And Emiko-chan's best friend. I couldn't wait for the championship league, so I came here"
"Tetsu-kun?" said Riko and they all looked at Tetsuya.
"What?!" they all shouted.
"You have a girlfriend?" asked Furihata.
"I thought you had a crush on Maeda!" shouted Kawahara.
'Heh?'
"No, she was also a manager in middle school" said Tetsuya.
Tetsuya came out of the water.
"Tetsu-kun! It's good to see you again!" shouted Satsuki and hugged Tetsuya tightly.
I ignored the pain in my chest when I saw them hugging, I had seen it a lot back at Teiko...
'So why is this bothering me now?'
"I missed you!" she shouted.
"I can't breathe, Momoi-san" said Tetsuya, but he didn't hug her back.
"Wait, why Kuroko?" asked Koganei. "He's dull and invisible and boring!"
"What? That's what's so good about him" said Satsuki. "But isn't the way he becomes a different person when he plays striking? Besides... he gave me a popsicle"
"Oh yeah" I said. "I remember that"
"Emiko-chan!" she shouted and hugged me tightly. "I missed you so much! Why didn't you tell me you were going to Seirin? I was so surprised when I found out from Akashi-kun. I missed you so much! It wasn't fun without you around!"
"Not so loud, Satsuki" I said and hugged her back.
"I wanted to go to the same school as you and Tetsu-kun" she said. "But, but..."
She began to cry...
"Momoi-san, your voice echoes inside the pool, so please don't yell" said Tetsuya.
"Yeah, and don't yell in my ear" I said and patted her back.
Riko suddenly pushed Hyuga in the pool...
"You'll kill Hyuga-san!" said Satsuki.
"Huh? How do you know my name?" asked Hyuga.
"I know all of you" said Satsuki. "Seirin basketball club captain and clutch shooter, Hyuga-san. The eagle eyed point guard, Izuki-san. The silent and hard working hook shot artist, Mitobe-san. The power forward with incredible jumping power, Kagami-kun. Also Koganei-san and Tsuchida-san"
"What?" said Koganei.
"That's all?" said Tsuchida.
"Finally... the barely-B coach, Riko-san" said Satsuki.
"D-don't be ridiculous!" shouted Riko in embarrassment.
"Momoi-san" said Tetsuya. "Did you really go to Aomine-kun's school?"
"Yeah" said Satsuki and walked to Nigo. "I really did want to go to your school. But who knows what he'll do if I don't watch him? The dog looks just like you"
She wanted to pet him, but Nigo didn't like her, so he walked over to me.
"He's so cute!" she said.
~
Everyone left the pool, so Satsuki, Tetsuya and I stayed behind to talk.
"Congratulations on advancing to the championship league" said Satsuki.
"Aren't you going too?" I asked.
"Huh? Did I already tell you?" she asked.
"You just said you couldn't wait until the championship league" said Tetsuya.
"Did I?" she laughed.
"Yes" said Tetsuya.
"The next time we meet, we'll be on different benches" she said.
"Yeah" I said.
"I watched a video of your game against Midorin" she said. "It was a great game. Kagami-kun... he plays just like he used to play"
"Yes..." said Tetsuya.
"Watching you two play brought back memories" she said.
I smiled, those were the good days... when Aomine and Tetsuya played so well together, when everyone was a team...
I put my hand on Tetsuya's shoulder, he was looking at his fist. He looked up and smiled.
"I prefer the way Aomine-kun used to play with you" she said. "He started playing basketball by himself. Isolated from the team, I thought losing would change him. But he doesn't lose. Even by himself, no one can stop him. Oh, sorry. Conversations about the past always turn dark"
"Will he change?" asked Tetsuya.
"Huh?" said Satsuki.
"If someone stops Aomine-kun" he said.
"What? But..." she said.
"I know Aomine-kun's strength, but... I won't be fighting him alone" he said and he looked at me, before looking at Satsuki. "I promise I will beat Aomine-kun"
"Okay" she smiled.
~
"Hey guys! The names of all the schools appearing in the championship league are out!" shouted Riko when we were back at the gym. "As you can see, A block is us, B block is Touou Academy, C block is Meisei, and D block is Senshinkan. These four schools will compete to represent our region"
"This is a different looking league chart" said Hyuga.
"Until last year the Tokyo representatives always included the three kings: Shutoku, Seiho and Senshinkan" said Izuki.
"I've been thinking..." said Koganei. "We beat two of those teams, right? Do you think we could make it all the way this year?"
"You!" shouted Izuki.
"You said it!" shouted Hyuga.
"Even if we lose to the other king with Momoi and Aomine... If we beat the others..." said Koganei.
"It's not Senshinkan" I said.
"What?" said Koganei.
"Those two go to Touou Academy" I said.
"What?!" they all shouted.
"I thought all the Generation of Miracles went to well-known schools!" said Koganei.
"I thought he would have gone to a strong school like Midorima" said Izuki.
"Satsuki told me" I said. "Before the end of middle school"
"I've never heard of them" said Hyuga.
"Their history isn't impressive, but they've been putting energy into their scouting efforts recently" said Riko. "They've been recruiting promising athletes from all over the country. In the last few years, they've rapidly improved, and this year's line-up is comparable to Shutoku's"
"Hey!" Kagami came back and I saw that something was wrong.
Even Nigo noticed it.
I angrily gave my map to Koganei and walked to Kagami.
"Kagami, did you play basketball?" I asked and everyone was surprised.
"N-no..." he said.
"You've gotten worse" I said.
"Well, I..." he said. "A little..."
"You idiot, Kagami!" I shouted, I tackled him to the ground and twisted his arms. "How many times did I tell you?! Are your ears just for decoration?! Are they just holes in your head?!"
"Ow!" he shouted.
"You'll just be watching today!" I said and got off him. "Get a heating pad from the nurse's office! Since you can't sprint, walk all the way there on your hands!"
"Seriously?" he shouted.
~
-Tetsuya POV-
It has been a while since I had seen Emiko so angry at someone.
Everyone feared her when she noticed you hadn't listened to her medical advice.
They knew she cared, they just didn't like seeing her angry.
Kagami actually walked on his hands to the nurse's office.
"I can't believe she actually made me do this" he said.
"Your own fault for making Emiko mad" I said.
"Geez" he said.
"Kagami-kun" I said.
"Kuroko" he said and got back on his feet.
"Kagami-kun, you're stupid, but..." I began.
"Where did that come from?" he asked.
"But I don't think you'd do something so reckless for no reason" I said. "Did something happen?"
"I played Aomine" he said. "He said he used to be your 'light'. It sounded to me like you weren't just ordinary teammates. What happened between you two in middle school?"
"None of the Generation of Miracles started off as extraordinary players" I said. "But... Aomine-kun bloomed sooner and more suddenly than the rest of us"
-Flashback-
"Here" said Aomine and he gave me a popsicle.
"Aomine-kun, you've started skipping practice more lately" I said.
"Yeah, it's cool" he said. "If I practice, I'll get even better. The harder I try, the more boring basketball gets. What I want must already be... Basketball is just a game anyway. I'm going to start skipping games too"
"You can't do that" I said and put my popsicle in his shirt. "It takes everything I have to keep up with everyone else, so I don't know how you feel, but... no matter how large the difference in our skill, if I were your opponent, I would never want you to do that. Besides, I'm sure you'll meet someone more amazing than yourself soon"
"You little jerk" he said. "No wonder you and Emiko get along so well. You're right"
He laughed and bumped my fist.
But then... during the next match...
The opponents gave up... and Aomine... changed...
He didn't return my fist bump.
"Tetsu" he said. "I don't think you were wrong, but... I just can't. They all suck. I'll never find what I'm looking for. The only one who can beat me is me"
-End of flashback-
"We swept the tournament that year because of Aomine's strength" I said. "The other four started to change after that too. Shortly after the last one changed, Emi left the club. Then because of a certain event at the national tournament in our third year, I also quit the Teiko basketball team"
"Well, if I could say one thing to him, it'd be, 'Don't get ahead of yourself, you idiot!'" shouted Kagami. "It's boring because you're too strong? 'The only one who can beat me is me'? The Generation of Miracles is full of those guys! It's so funny I could bust a spleen!"
He held out his fist. "Let's go beat him and wake him up" he said and I bumped his fist.
"Kagami!" I heard Emiko shout and I chuckled. "I see you walking on your feet, you idiot!"