-Emiko POV-
Teiko Middle school days
"Why are you standing there?" Midorima and Murasakibara were fighting again... "If you had screened him, I would've been wide open!"
"What?" said Murasakibara. "I wouldn't need to do that if you'd just pass me the ball!"
They both grabbed the other ones shirt...
"I should be the one to decide!" they both shouted.
I pushed my folder into Seijuro's hands and walked to the two boys fighting.
"That's enough you two" I said and pushed them away from each other, making them both fall on the ground. "Jeez, no need to get physical"
"I've had enough" said Murasakibara.
"I don't like this either!" shouted Midorima.
"Hey!" I yelled and they both sat on their knees in front of me.
"Maeda-san is right" said Kuroko. "Even I could beat you right now. Play me after practice, and I'll prove it to you. The team that scores ten points first wins"
"That'll work for me" I said.
Kise, Aomine and Kuroko were a team. And Seijuro, Midorima and Murasakibara were a team, but they were losing.
"Aka-chin, are you holding back?" asked Murasakibara.
"Don't be ridiculous" said Seijuro. "I'm playing how I always do"
They were all having fun, it was warming my heart.
~
Something was different about Aomine when he came back from the second-string game...
"Satsuki?" I said. "What happened?"
"I don't know" she said. "Aomine-kun was playing amazingly... but... I don't know..."
"Let's go to them" I smiled. "Sei said he's going home late, so I can walk with you guys"
"Great!" she smiled.
We saw Aomine and Kurko, and Satsuki ran to Kuroko and hugged him.
"Tetsu-kun!" she said.
"You've been all over Tetsu lately" said Aomine.
"Jealous much?" I teased.
"I can't help it" said Satsuki.
"Let me go, please" said Kuroko and tried to get up.
"You interrupted our conversation" said Aomine.
"Huh? What?" said Satsuki.
"Oh, right" said Kuroko.
"What were you talking about?" asked Satsuki.
"Hey, Maeda-san" said Kuroko and I looked at him.
He was just looking into my eyes, it was kind of getting embarrassing...
"What are you doing, Kuroko-kun?" I asked.
"When people look at you, you tend to look back. And when you're nervous, you fiddle with your necklace" he said.
"Heh?" I said.
"Everyone has their own habits and reactions" he said. "I observe and analyse them. It's a necessary part of directing someone's attention"
"Do you know what my habits are too?" asked Aomine.
"You always avert your eyes when you lie" said Kuroko.
"You got me" said Aomine.
"But I won't make you tell me" said Kuroko. "Tell me when you feel like it"
"Got it" said Aomine.
"There you are!" it was Kise. "You guys want to get ice cream on the way home?"
"Yeah, good idea" said Aomine.
"What about you, Momoicchi, Maedacchi?" asked Kise.
"I need to take this game data to Akashi-kun" said Satsuki.
"Sei has been asking you to collect a lot of data lately" I said.
"Good work" said Midorima.
"Apparently I'm pretty good at it" said Satsuki.
"Another time then" said Aomine.
"And you, Maedacchi?" asked Kise.
"Me? Sure" I smiled.
~
"Congratulations on making it through the first round!" said Satsuki when we were back at lunch.
"Yes" said Midorima.
"You don't seem very excited!" said Satsuki.
"Actually, why are you so excited?" asked Aomine.
"We always win" said Murasakibara.
"Kurokocchi's been really happy since yesterday" said Kise.
"It was his first time in an official game" I said.
"Winning is good" said Seijuro. "We'll keep doing what we're doing. That's what I'd like to say, but I do have one suggestion. This team is strong. Once our victory is certain, we become unmotivated. So I'm assigning a quota. Each man must score 20 points per game"
"Why not? Sounds fun" said Kise. "Right, Aominecchi?"
"Sounds like a pain in the ass" said Aomine.
"Huh? You're not into the idea?" asked Kise. "Normally, you're all over this kind of stuff"
"Who cares, as long as we win?" said Aomine.
"I don't like having to do this either" said Seijuro. "But frankly, you seem especially unmotivated. When scores don't care about getting buckets, it affects team morale"
"Fine. You want me to score, right?" said Aomine.
I was beginning to get a bad feeling...
~
Soon, we qualified for the national championship.
When the opening ceremony was over, the reporters stormed our team.
"How was it? Your first opening ceremony?" I asked Kuroko.
"Exhausting" he said and I chuckled.
"Kuroko!" someone shouted and hugged Kuroko. "Long tome no see!"
"Ogiwara-kun!" said Kuroko.
"It's been two years" said Ogiwara. "You've changed"
"So have you" said Kuroko. "You've got rice on your face. You haven't changed"
"Yeah, well... now that we're here, I don't know what to say" said Ogiwara.
"Yeah" said Kuroko.
"But, I've really been looking forward to this" said Ogiwara. "We'll definitely win"
"So will we" said Kuroko. "Let's do our best"
"Yeah!" said Ogiwara. "I've been meaning to ask, who's the pretty girl?"
"Oh, this is Maeda-san, our medical manager" said Kuroko.
"Nice to meet you" I smiled.
"Nice to meet you too" he blushed and I chuckled.
"We should go, Kuroko-kun" I said. "We have a game this afternoon"
~
Our first game...
The guys of the other team had given up...
Aomine was too strong, he was crushing them on his own.
'What is happening...'
"I had a bad feeling, but I wasn't expecting this" said Midorima in the changing room after Aomine had stormed off.
I laid my hand on Kuroko's shoulder, he was looking down.
"You okay?" I asked and he shook his head.
His phone went off and took the call outside, it was his friend, he had lost his game...
That year, we won the champion ship for the second year in a row...
After the head coach got ill, everyone was changing... I had a bad feeling in my stomach... Something bad was going to happen...
The second coach became the head coach.
~
My bad feeling was coming out...
Murasakibara was playing on his own, he was becoming stronger, like Aomine.
I looked at Seijuro, he didn't like the fact that he was losing control of the team.
I held my folder tighter...
A few days later, even Midorima was changing...
The atmosphere was changing... it felt like everyone was getting more and more distant.
Even Seijuro... he didn't walk me home as much anymore, didn't talk to me after practice...
"Murasakibara-kun was amazing today" said Kuroko when we were walking home.
"Yeah, he was" I whispered.
"But I'm afraid of his growth too" he said. "It reminds me of how Aomine-kun changed"
"Have you talked to him recently?" I asked.
"Not since nationals" he said. "I want to do something, but I don't know what"
I grabbed his wrist and he looked at me.
"Maeda-san?" he asked.
"You'll... always be together, right?" I asked. "You'll be friends forever, right?"
"Yes. We'll always be together" he said. "And you won't lose Akashi-kun either"
"I hope you're right" I whispered.
He held my hand while walking home, and it made me feel safe...
~
"Quit letting me past you!" shouted Aomine during practice. "Even if you can't stop me, if you do nothing, you're not helping at all!"
"I'm trying" said another member. "You're just too good. None of us can stop you"
"Damn it!" shouted Aomine and ran away from practice.
'What's happening...'
~
Coach told us that Aomine didn't have to come to practice anymore, as long as he won in games...
'What the hell is coach thinking?!'
"I'm not sure Aomine should be playing games whether he comes to practice or not" said Kise.
"I don't know what the coach is thinking, but I'm hesitant to agree" said Seijuro.
"About that, if we don't have to practice as long as we win, I don't want to practice anymore" said Murasakibara.
"Don't be stupid" said Seijuro. "He'll never allow it"
"But I can't lose" said Murasakibara. "Besides, I've only been listening to you because I thought I couldn't beat you. But lately, I think that might not be the case anymore. I don't want to listen to someone weaker than me"
"What did you say?" said Seijuro, things were getting out of hand...
"What are you talking about? You're joking, right?" I said and stepped between them.
"Move, Emi" said Seijuro and pushed me aside. "If I have to do it by force, I will. Don't flatter yourself. One-on-one, first to five"
But what happened next...
Sei was losing...
"I didn't think it'd be this one-sided" said Kise.
"Honestly, I'm pretty disappointed" said Murasakibara. "I can't listen to you anymore. Whatever. Once I make this, I'm doing what I want"
I saw the look in Seijuro's eyes change, into something I had never seen in his eyes...
"Sei?" I whispered.
He managed to tap away the ball from Murasakibara, and managed to score 5 times...
'Who are you? Sei, what happened to you?'
Seijuro looked into my eyes and I didn't recognise him...
"Sei?" I said with a trembling voice.
"Don't worry, Emi" he said. "Everything's fine"
"Well, I'm out" said Murasakibara.
"Wait, Mukkun!" said Satsuki.
"I just have to come to practice tomorrow, right?" he said.
"No, that's fine" said Seijuro. "You can do as you please as long as we win"
"What?" said Murasakibara.
"Sei, do you realise what you're saying?" I asked.
"The same goes for the other two as well" he said, totally ignoring me. "As long as we win, I don't care what you do. At our level, forcing everyone to cooperate is pointless. It's more effective if we don't"
"But it sounds like you're telling us not to use teamwork" said another member.
"That's exactly right" said Seijuro. "Teamwork will only get in the way of the Generation of Miracles. That's what I said"
I sat outside, in the rain.
I didn't know what to do...
'Sei... has he really changed? I don't understand...'
"Maeda-san?" it was Kuroko.
"Kuroko-kun?" I asked. "What happened? Where's Aomine?"
"He's not coming back" he whispered. "He's not going to come back to practice"
I hugged Kuroko tightly, he was wet from the rain, but I didn't care.
He was my friend, who needed someone to lean on.
"I'm sorry, Kuroko-kun" I whispered and he hugged me back.
"I'm sorry too" he whispered. "About Akashi-kun..."
I hugged him tighter and began to cry.