Warning: mentions of blood
Third POV
Tatsuo Okami. While (Y/N) remembered a majority of her opponents from the past, this guy stuck out in particular. In short, Okami was a malicious player that only played basketball in order to make other players suffer. And his teammates had been far too afraid to confront him about it given the nature of his temper. However, the triple threat had brought the God of Despair to his knees during middle school, utterly destroying him when he had gone after Kuroko and Hibiki during their game.
She had shown no mercy, and even left the boy with a message in her thick southern accent that he kept in his memory to this day.
"Don't you ever go after my friends again. Because I will end you."
The girl never took any crap when it came to someone hurting innocent people, let alone those she held close. But (Y/N) didn't realize that her little message would be seething in the boy for so long. She didn't even know he lived near here. And the large dog next to Okami put her even more on edge. The triple threat knew better than to take the danger of a large and angered canine lightly.
She couldn't tell what type of dog that it was, but the only thing that she could compare it to in her head was almost like a hellhound.
This was a bad situation. The (h/c) haired girl wanted to leave, the feeling in her gut was telling her to go. But she couldn't. She was frozen in her place. Usually, something like this wouldn't scare her, but the girl was injured, and that was a weak point.
Okami kept the crazed smile on his face, his grip on the dog's leash loosening as the canine let out barks that could be described as thunderous. The ex-basketball player fed off of the girl's tense reaction, letting out an evil chuckle under his breath.
"Just...what do you want?" (Y/N) asked as she began taking a couple of steps backwards.
Even if this was the main trail, the girl knew of different ways that she could take to escape. The only concern was...how far would her knee allow her to go?
"Like I said, Ms. Triple Threat, I'm here to return the favor that you handed down to me back in middle school."
She saw his eyes go dark, a dangerous aura suddenly filling the atmosphere. With her eyes widening, (Y/N) quickly turned on her heel and bolted down the trail. Once Okami saw his prey running, the boy let go of the leash holding his dog, letting the canine charge after the running girl.
Her knee didn't even hurt, her adrenaline was pumping so much that one wouldn't have guess she had such a bad knee. But she had to get away, that's all she cared about. Sprinting down the trail, (Y/N) jumped over every obstacle in her way. The only thing that mattered to her right now was to find someone else that was out here in the forest. It was a popular trail, so there had to be at least another person out here, right?
As she ran, the (h/c) haired girl heard something galloping from behind her. At first, the footsteps were faint, and she thought she could outrun whatever was coming after her. But they soon became closer and louder, and seconds later, (Y/N) felt a huge weight followed by a burning sensation on her back as she was knocked to the ground.
Hearing the growls, the triple threat knew it was Okami's dog now attacking her. Feeling the canine's claws digging into her back and side, along with its teeth driving themselves into her left shoulder, the triple threat now entered survival mode. Reaching her arms and hands out, she managed to grip the dirt in the ground and began trying to pull herself out from under the ravenous dog.
But that only seemed to anger the canine as it let out another loud bark before digging it's claws into (Y/N)'s into left thigh.
"AHHH!" She screamed, feeling the pain from her now newly formed leg wound.
Turning around on her back, the girl tried her best to push the dog off of her, but that didn't help at first. In fact, the dog was now trying to bite at her face and throat. The animal managed to land a few swipes at her face, leaving scratches, but (Y/N) managed to throw her right hand into the dog's mouth, feeling it bite down, and seeing the blood seep out of her wounds.
Feeling it shake her now wounded hand, the (h/c) haired girl was able to use her other hand in order to grab a rock from off the side of the trail. Keeping the dog distracted, (Y/N) used her strength to slam the rock into the side of the canine's head, knocking the animal off of her and subduing it. She just needed that opening, and knowing it would only be a matter of time before the dog would gain consciousness, the girl managed to stand up.
But she was able to see the extent of her injures, yet the adrenaline pumping through her veins wasn't letting her body feel any pain. She was, though, a bloody mess. Her shirt was ripped, the fabric was stained scarlet, as was her injured leg. Not only that, but (Y/N) had blood pouring down her face and over one of her eyes.
The girl knew she needed some help, but she couldn't do anything here. In fact, once she was able to stand up, the triple threat saw Okami running towards her, a menacing look on his face that scared her.
She honestly thought she was looking at a monster, and the girl took off running once again. It wasn't like she could try to hide, though. Okami knew she was bleeding quite a bit, and that only provoked his temper.
Once she had thought she had gotten a decent distance away, (Y/N)'s wounds were starting to catch up with her, causing her to become tired as she leaned up against a tree over looking more of the forest from the hillside as she held her injured shoulder. At this point in time, the weather had started to take a rather dark transformation, dark gray clouds covering the sun.
Catching her breath, the (h/c) haired girl then felt someone yank her injured arm harshly, throwing her to the ground as a great force landed on her cheek.
"You little bitch!" Okami's voice growled as he slammed his knee down onto the triple threat's left ankle.
And she heard and felt something crack as a sharp pang shot through her already injured leg, causing her to let out a yelp.
"Get..off of me!" (Y/N) yelled as she landed a few punches on the black haired boy's face.
She may have been injured, but this girl sure as hell wasn't defenseless. She was strong, but her little attack sent Okami into a rage, his eyes seemingly glowing red as he stared down at the bleeding girl, who was glaring right back up at him.
"Oh, now you've done it," he roared as he raised his fist once again.
And that began a rain of punches to the girl's face and abdomen, but (Y/N) wasn't backing down, despite one of her eyes now being swollen shut and the red streams of blood pouring down her face as she continued punching Okami to try and get him off of her.
Little did she know, the assault would be over soon. That same day, the Touou starters plus their manager had decided to go out and train on their endurance on the trails, splitting into two groups. Imayoshi, Wakamatsu, and Aomine went one way while Sakurai, Masaru, Susa, and Momoi went another.
The captain was trying to make sure that the center didn't end up killing their ace, since Aomine was making his usual snide remarks, which only increased Wakamatsu's level of wanting to land a fist on the navy blue haired boy's head.
"Will you two knock it off already?" Imayoshi scolded the two, but suddenly stopped in his tracks once he noticed something staining the ground.
Seeing that the glasses wearing boy had stopped in his tracks, the two boys stopped their bickering as Wakamatsu arched his eyebrow.
"What's wrong, Imayoshi?" The pale blonde boy asked as he walked up to the captain's side.
That was when the second year eyes widened too as he noticed the red color staining the soil and some of the grass.
"Is that...blood?"
"I think so. But...why would there be-"
"AHHHHH!!! GOD, GET OFF!!!" A girl's blood curdling scream followed by the loud yell cut the boy off as the trio's heads all shot up in the direction the voice had come from.
And they all recognized it too. When they all did finally look up, Imayoshi noticed that red trail of blood lead towards the direction of the yell.
"Hey, that sounded like-"
All of a sudden, before Wakamatsu could even get all of his words out, Aomine sprinted forward, quickly disappearing from sight.
"Aomine, wait!"
The navy blue haired boy didn't listen to his upperclassmen, however. He knew that was (Y/N), there was no doubt in his mind. Even if the two of them weren't on the best of terms at the moment, that didn't shut off his protectiveness and feelings towards her. Following the trail up to the edge of where the ground suddenly turned into a hillside, the ace's eyes widened when he saw the scene before him.
Okami was sitting on top of the (h/c) haired girl's stomach, digging his nails into her face as kept a firm hold on her chin as he raised his fist once again. (Y/N) weakly held his wrist to try and get him to let go, but it was to no avail. Her injuries were weakening her.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?! GET THE HELL AWAY FROM HER!!" Aomine yelled as he glared down Okami.
That seemed to halt the assault as the black haired assailant turned to look back at the furious and now protective mode ace. The triple threat, though there was blood in her one eye that was still open, was able to make out the figure now confronting them.
"Daiki..." she let out.
On another trail down at the bottom of the hill, the Touou group of four heard the commotion from where they were and had gone over to see what was going on. And that's when they were able to make out Aomine's figure as well as (Y/N) on the ground with a boy that Momoi remembered quite well from her Teiko days.
Okami recognized Aomine quite well, and that only caused the crazed boy to let out another one of his psycho laughs.
"Well, well, if it isn't the famous 'Unstoppable Ace', Daiki Aomine. Don't mind me, we were just working out some unfinished business."
"I don't give a shit. Get away from her. Now," the navy haired ace demanded as he took a step forward.
Aomine was ready for a fight. And he needed to get to (Y/N), seeing she was gravely injured by the amount of blood she had lost, considering the trail he had followed to find her here. Luckily, Okami turned his attention to the ace, getting off of the triple threat's stomach, blood on his fists and some coming from his nose and lips from the girl's hard hits to his face.
The triple threat then turned onto her side, the pain starting to erupt throughout her body as she let out soft cries. Just when she was hoping it would be over...
"You want her? Then you can go get her."
"Bastard! Don't you dare!"
Okami pulled a quick one and turned around to shove (Y/N) down the ten-foot hillside with his foot, sending her rolling down as the Touou group at bottom watched in horror as Momoi began crying.
"SHIRARIN!!!" She screamed as Masaru ran over to his cousin's figure once she had reached the bottom of the hill.
The dark gray haired boy quickly knelt beside the older girl's side, his eyes shooting open from looking at her now battered and bruise face, along with her bleeding wounds. She was hurt, bad. And she wasn't moving.
"Hachi...Hachi, wake up!" Masaru cried out as he tried to shake her awake.
But it was to no avail as the others rushed over to the injured girl. Masaru had tears streaming down his cheeks as he buried his face into her uninjured shoulder. Momoi was crying as she cupped her hand over her mouth to suppress her sobs. Sakurai, being as that he was apart of the health committee at school, had some medical experience and knew what to do, despite being distressed as well.
"Masaru, don't move her around too much. She probably hit her head on that fall. Let me see her," the usually timid boy was able to say as he shakily knelt down near her head, gently placing his hands on the sides of her neck and slowly turning her head so that she was facing the sky.
"I'm gonna call an ambulance," Susa stated urgently as he pulled out his phone while also looking around to make sure the assailant didn't try to pull any sneak attacks.
Momoi bent down and took Masaru in her arms as the two first years continued crying while Sakurai felt the triple threat's pulse. Luckily, it was strong, so he was able to breath a little easier. But that didn't mean she was out of the woods. Blood was beginning to pool out from under her, staining what was left of her clothes.
Sakurai tried his best to stay calm, but even he had let a tear or two fall. Even if he hadn't known her for all that long, the timid boy knew that (Y/N) did nothing to deserve this. And he had experienced her kindness first hand before their game together had even started.
Susa was able to get ahold of an ambulance, and informed everyone that they'd be here in a few minutes. A few seconds later, the rest of the team ran down the hill, Imayoshi and Wakamatsu being first as their eyes fell upon the injured and unconscious girl. But it was Aomine that seemed to be the most distraught as he came up from behind the two upperclassmen.
And it was safe to say from the shocked and heartbroken expression on his face that this was hitting him the most.
"No..." the boy muttered before taking a few steps forward.
Concerned that he may do something rash, Wakamatsu and Imayoshi put their hands on his shoulders and got in front of him in order to block his path.
"Get out of my way," Aomine stated quietly at first as he kept his gaze on (Y/N)'s figure.
"Aomine, you don't want to see her like that-"
"I DON'T CARE!! I NEED TO GET TO HER!!" The usually tough and snarky ace's voice cracked as he shouted.
The reaction coming from Aomine shocked everyone. No one had ever heard him sound so...weak and fractured. The ace didn't wait. He instead pushed past the two older boys as he slowly approached (Y/N) and Sakurai.
"(Y/N)...wake up," the navy blue haired boy told her quietly as he fell to his knees, leaning down and reaching his hand down to put it on the girl's head.
But, once he felt something wet, Aomine pulled his hand away as saw that it was now crimson. Sakurai then saw his teammate's body beginning to tremble as the ace looked back down at the girl's face. She looked peaceful, but her injuries painted a very different picture. There were cuts littered across her face, bruising becoming apparent, her one eye swollen shut. She looked like she had been through hell.
"No...(Y/N), I'm sorry...I'm so sorry! I should've been there! Please...you can't leave me!" The ace pleaded as tears started filling his eyes as he put his hands on either side of her head, looking down to see if there were any signs of her waking up.
This was a life or death situation, he knew that. But all of the guilt and pain that he had put her and himself through started bubbling up and coming to the surface. His real feelings. Momoi knew he was being genuine too, because the boy never cried and broke down like this. She knew he had been feeling guilt for what he had done to (Y/N), but his ego had gotten the best of him, causing him to shut that side of him off.
After Seirin's loss to them, she wasn't so sure he wanted to reconcile with her, because her best friend was in a fragile state due to her injured knee. But clearly, that wasn't the case at all. And the pink haired girl was glad to see that.
"Don't....cry...." A weak voice suddenly said.
Even if she had been unconscious, the (h/c) haired girl somewhat heard everything that everyone around her had said. And she wasn't in any pain either, she just felt tired. In fact, something in (Y/N) gave her a little strength to reach her uninjured hand up, her finger tips touching Aomine's cheek.
Catching the ace off guard, Aomine looked down and saw a small and weak smile on her face, one of her (e/c) eyes open, looking up at him.
"I'll be fine...I'm a toughie, remember?" She assured him and everyone around.
That's right, she was a toughie, and while she was injured quite severely, the girl didn't seem to be in much pain. And her smile had such a power that it was able to put some nerves at ease, but that didn't erase the fact that she could still be fighting between life or death.
Aomine heard the slightly joking tone in her voice too, that same tone that he had come to love. It brought him back to the good and fun times of their middle school days. The navy blue haired boy had to apologize to her at some point. Properly this time.
"Alright. I get it," the ace responded to her as he gently grabbed her hand, holding it to let her know that he was there.
"Just don't talk right now. You don't need to act all tough."
That was all that he said. And all that (Y/N) really needed to hear as she kept the smile on her face. Wakamatsu and Imayoshi, along with the others couldn't help but to smile slightly at the girl's will to fight. And the fight that she had put up against Okami. Aomine was able to scare him off, but that didn't mean the black haired boy would be left off the hook that easily.
"Hang in there, (Y/N). We've got some help coming," Imayoshi affirmed as he crouched down beside Aomine, not using her nickname since this was no time for jokes.
"Mmhmm..." the (h/c) haired girl hummed as she let out a breath through her nose.
And the whole time up until she was loaded into the ambulance, the triple threat kept ahold of Aomine's hand, not once letting go until she had to.
Watching the vehicle rushing away to get the girl to the hospital, Masaru was able to calm down enough to pull out his phone and went straight to his contacts as he broke out into a run. Finding the person he needed to call, the anxious boy pressed the name and held the device up to his ear, hearing the phone ringing.
Back at (Y/N)'s house, the rest of the Bashira siblings were wondering where the heck the youngest daughter was. It had been well past forty-five minutes, and that turned into an hour, and then another hour. Aneko was kind of pacing back and forth, trying to figure out where her sister could've gone. Her footsteps stopped, however, when she heard her phone ring from its place on the kitchen counter.
With her brothers perking up, Aneko picked up the device, and seeing the familiar name, she quickly answered.
"Hi, Masa. Hey, do you know where (Y/N) i-"
The older sister was cut off, though, when her cousin began rambling on in an attempt to try and tell her what had happened, but the black haired sister couldn't make out what he was saying.
"Hold on, honey, slow down. You're going too fast."
That was when Masaru was able to get out the words that (Y/N) was being sent to the hospital. Aneko's eyes went wide once she heard those words. It was one of the worst things one could hear when they didn't know where a loved one was. Hibiki and Hayate stood up from the couch once they saw their older sister's sudden change.
"Is she okay? What happened?" Aneko frantically began asking.
"I-I don't know what all happened. There was just this guy there and he was attacking her, and he pushed her down one of the hills on the trail. I ran to the all the way to the hospital. Kitty...I'm scared," Masaru's small voice peeped over the phone.
Aneko's (e/c) eyes went wide when she had heard that. If this was about her knee giving out or that she trip over it, she wouldn't have been as worried. But this was worse than she could've ever imagined.
"Okay, Masaru. We're on our way, stay where you are."
And with that, the older sister hung up the phone and hastily grabbed her purse to pull out her car keys.
"So? Where is she?" Hayate asked, not liking the way his sister was acting at all.
Aneko was never all over the place like this, so it was obvious that something bad had happened. The oldest Bashira child turned toward her brothers, trying her best to stay as calm as she could.
"We need to go. Now. She's at the hospital."
Meanwhile
Back at Seirin, practice had started as it usually did. Riko knew that her cousin was going to be taking the day off, so it wasn't surprising when she didn't see (Y/N) amongst the team. Kiyoshi had made his entrance fully clothed in his uniform. It was...interesting for the rest of the first years, and Hyuga wasn't too impressed.
Kagami had actually shown up to practice that day too, his period of rest being all finished. However, there was a clear change in the tiger's way of playing. In fact, as the boys played a little practice game, the red head was barreling through them like it was nothing, making dunks all on his own.
Koganei was the first to point out that the red head was extra edgy that day while Izuki was brought back to the first day the tiger had joined the team. Kagami was playing all by himself, not relying on others whatsoever. Maybe it was a good thing that (Y/N) wasn't there that day. No telling how the tiger's new attitude would sit with her. While this seemed to discourage some of the other players on the team from going up against Kagami, one player had a very different view.
"Hey, Kagami, right?" Kiyoshi called out, gaining the red head's attention as he turned around.
"I've been waiting to get back out on the court too. But to be honest, I don't think it's fair for me to play just because I'm an upperclassman. So how about this? We can play for it, one-on-one. Winner starts," the second year center challenged with a smile.
Kagami accepted the deal, obviously, but the others couldn't help but to think what Kiyoshi's intentions were. With everyone standing off to the side, they all watched as Kiyoshi dribbled the ball with the tiger getting down into position in order to defend.
The red head had to admit, the center was big and fast, but that wasn't going to shut him down. When Kiyoshi went for a layup, the tiger was quick to jump up and smack the ball to the ground. It caught Kiyoshi off guard as he was stunned by actually witnessing Kagami's super jump in person for the first time.
Even though he had been out for a while, the second years knew that the center was going hard at it against Kagami. But the red head wasn't letting up either. Hyuga noticed something off though.
When Kagami had the ball, it was time for him to show off a little. Breaking past Kiyoshi, the red head went for a layup, but the center jumped up to try and block him. No way, the red head already had a plan. Spinning mid-air, the tiger then slammed the ball through the hoop, meaning that he was the winner.
"I concede. You beat me fair and square. Starting spot's yours, as promised," Kiyoshi smiled as he patted the tall first year on the shoulder.
"Awesome..."
Even though he had won, the red head didn't seem all that excited. In fact, instead of celebrating, Kagami just went straight for the door.
"That's it for me. See you later, everybody."
And with that, he was gone, leaving the rest of the team with some unanswered questions. Mostly aimed towards the center of their team.
"So what's going on in your head, Kiyoshi?" Izuki was the first to break the ice.
"Well for one, he's stronger than I imagined," the center answered.
But that answer didn't satisfy Riko as she brought out her large paper fan and smacked Kiyoshi right over the head with it.
"The point was to get you back in!" She scolded.
Rubbing the now sore spot on the back of his head, the brown haired boy had somewhat of an explanation for his actions.
"I'm sorry, guys. The problem isn't just that I'm out of practice, that was the best I could do," he answered.
Hyuga wasn't buying any of that bull crap coming from the center.
"Man, how stupid do you think we are? You know we can all see what's on your feet, right?"
Pointing down to the center's feet, every one of the members of Seirin's team saw that Kiyoshi had made a little mistake in his attire.
"Those aren't athletic shoes, moron!"
The first years all just sweat-dropped at the center's aloofness as Riko dropped her fan from being just utterly stunned at Kiyoshi. Letting out a sigh, Hyuga should've seen something like this coming.
"Geez, I never pegged you as a guy who would lose on purpose," the captain sighed.
"But I've changed."
"Wait, it wasn't?!"
"I swear," Riko joined in as she let out a sigh at Kiyoshi, who was sheepishly scratching the side of his face.
If (Y/N) were here, she'd probably be trying to defend the center. That or be on the ground laughing. The team had to admit, the atmosphere wasn't as lively without her there. Not even bothering to say anything more about the little stunt that Kiyoshi had just pulled, the brunette coach was about ready to call it quits for the evening when she felt her phone ringing from her pocket in her skirt.
Pulling it out, the second year girl saw that she was getting a call from Hibiki. Random, but not unusual.
"Hey, Hibs. What's up?" She answered casually like she normally did.
But what she was met with was completely unexpected. She could hear the younger twin breathing rather heavily, and he was talking at a hundred miles an hour, sounding quite panicked.
"Woah, Hibs, slow down. I can't understand a word you're saying," Riko coaxed the boy to do.
Hearing their coach on the phone, which was a little odd, the rest of the team turned towards the brunette and saw that her eyebrows were furrowed as her brown eyes widened once she had heard what the younger Bashira twin had just said with regards to the triple threat.
"Wait, what happened?" Riko asked in an urgent tone of voice as she rang her hand through her hair.
Seeing and hearing the coach talk like that was a little concerning, being as that she never really freaked out all that much. A few tense seconds later, what came out of her mouth next made everybody else worry.
"Which hospital are you guys at? I'll head over right now. Is she out of surgery yet?....Okay, I'm on my way."
And with that, Riko quickly hung up and jogged over to grab her bag from the stage along with her other belongings.
"Is everything okay?" Hyuga asked first once he noticed that something wasn't right.
Riko shook her head as she threw her whistle into her bag and hastily put on her navy blue sweater. This was not the news she had wanted to hear right at this moment. No one did.
"(Y/N)'s in the hospital," the coach revealed, causing the team's eyes to widen with concern.
Her surgery wasn't for another couple of days, so why was she in the hospital now? By the looks of it, it was something serious, judging Riko's frantic state.
"Is she okay?"
"I don't know. Hibiki just said that Masaru called and said that she got attacked by someone. I need to go. I'll be sure to let you guys know how she's doing."
And with that, nothing more was said as Riko dashed out of the gymnasium, leaving the team worried for their sole female player. Kuroko, you could see the worry on his face. He had just talked to (Y/N) that morning, and remembered her saying that she was going to go hike some trails. What could have possibly happened? Who could've attacked such a beautiful soul?
Outside of the gym, Kagami stood frozen in his tracks as he watched Riko run off towards the exit of the school. (Y/N)...got attacked by someone? Who? The red head wanted to know. Even though Kuroko had told him that Aomine would never hurt the girl on purpose, the thought of it being him lingered in the back of the tiger's mind.
He kind of wanted to apologize to her for his wording that caused her to go into full blown panic mode, but he could just never find the right time. And the tiger had to admit, he was a bit awkward when it came to sentimental stuff. At least, if he was thinking too hard about it anyway.
Kagami had to make this right. But right now, he was just hoping the triple threat was okay. Everybody was hoping and praying for that.
The next day, many, many questions were asked about the girl's condition. So much so, that Riko had to stall the beginning of practice just to give them everything she had learned from the night before. When she had arrived that the hospital, Aneko and Hayate were talking to a surgeon with Hibiki and Masaru sitting down in the waiting room, waiting anxiously, both boys looking like they had been crying.
Luckily, (Y/N) had pulled through like the champ that she was, but she had some bad injuries. A concussion from the fall along with the punches she had sustained to her face, about six broken ribs, her ankle was broken, and she had multiple large and deep lacerations from the dog attack. Her whole body was just bruised and battered.
The doctor assured them that she'd pull through, but they had to go ahead and complete the surgery on her knee as well while she was under, which thankfully, was successful. They wanted to keep her in the hospital for a few days in order to make sure infection didn't set in.
As for Okami, the Touou team was able to give a good description of the guy, and he was taken in by authorities later that evening, charged with assault and battery.
"So yeah, that's about the gist of it. She'll be bedridden for about a week before she can come back to school," the coach finished explaining.
Kuroko kept his gaze to his lap. He remembered Okami well, and how much he had infuriated his best friend. To think he would target and go after her like that. It made Kagami's blood boil. How dare someone even think of going after her like an animal? And to go that far by making her go through two separate attacks. It was just sick.
While the team wanted to go see her, Riko had to remind them that she needed rest and that they shouldn't remind her of what had happened to her. It was hard to say how long it would take for her to heal up.
About a week past before (Y/N) was finally able to go home, and she was quite happy to go home too. But she had to be in bed for another frickin' week. UGH! Well, it was better than her being dead, that was for sure. She really didn't remember the hospital stay all that much, her pain meds were pretty intense. She knew that Riko had come, and she was pretty sure Aomine and Momoi might've come, but that little point in time was a bit foggy.
When she did arrive home, it was a big welcome home, for sure. That day, she saw Kuroko for the first time since she had been attacked, and she was a little self conscious due to her appearance. Her bruises had only darkened and she had bandages wrapped all over too. Plus, she had this big boot on her ankle along with her now upgraded leg brace.
It was great. Sarcastic smile and a thumbs up for sure.
From that day on, the phantom along with a lot of other people came to visit her, bringing her little treats and meeting her family in the process for those who hadn't met them at all. Everyone on Seirin, excluding Kagami, Kaijo's starters, Shutoku was texting and calling. Heck, some of the Touou guys had called to check up on her too. Aomine didn't come to her home, however, but (Y/N) understood why. Momoi, Kuroko, and the other Seirin guys were probably her most frequent visitors.
She was hoping Kagami was doing okay. She understood if he still needed some time to think, but it would've been nice to see him.
And the girl would soon get her wish.
With about two days left of her little bed rest period, Kagami had finally gotten the nerve to head over to her house in order to pay her a well deserved visit. Though, it was safe to say that he was a bit nervous. The last time they had interacted didn't end quite well.
Stiffly standing outside of her front door, Kagami took a deep breath before he knocked on her door.
"Coming!" A different voice came from the inside, followed by a couple of barks.
Oh yeah, he had her dogs to worry about too. Great...Seconds later, the front door opened, revealing a woman who looked a little familiar to Kagami. She had the same structured face as (Y/N), though it looked little more mature. She had short black hair with her bangs clipped up, but she was about the triple threat's height.
"Well, you must be Taiga Kagami. It's good to see you again," the woman smiled as she stood in the doorway.
Welp, she knew who he was, but he couldn't figure out who she was.
"Kitty, he probably doesn't remember us. That was when (Y/N) was like ten," a male's voice informed his sister.
Peering towards the source of the voice, Kagami was then met with another boy with (h/c) hair that wasn't Hibiki sitting on the girl's couch holding the two excited pooches' collars. He looked familiar too.
"Oh, I guess you wouldn't remember us, would ya? That's okay, though. I'll just reintroduce myself. I'm (Y/N)'s older sister, Aneko Bashira. And that idiot holding the dogs is our other brother, Hayate. It's nice to meet you again, Kagami," Aneko greeted the boy at the door.
"Excuse me! I'm nineteen years old, I can introduce myself, thank you very much," Hayate stated to his sister after he nodded his head over to the tiger as a greeting.
Ah, now he remembered. Kagami distinctly a couple of teens always hanging around to watch him and the triple threat duke out on the LA street courts. Actually, it was kind of cool that they still remembered him, and it kind of put the red head's nerves at ease.
"Oh, nah. I remember you two. It's nice to see you both again too."
Giving the teen a close eyed smile, Aneko stepped out of the way in order to invite Kagami inside.
"Don't just stand there, come on in, hon. (Y/N) told me you're still not a huge fan of dogs, so don't worry about them," Aneko assured him as she closed the door once the red head came inside, taking his shoes off and placing them on her rug.
"Geez, you've bulked up quite a bit since you guys were kids. I wish my muscles grew big like that," Hayate commented as he closed his eyes to let his imagination wonder.
"Your girlfriend certainly thinks otherwise, mister. Plus, you're a freakin' beanstalk and a former basketball player, so I don't think you should be saying anything."
Kagami watched as Hayate's cheeks turned a bright pink at the mention of his girlfriend, and the fact that Aneko had just called him out on a whole plethora of things. The red head had to admit, even though the (h/c) haired college freshman was sitting down, Hayate had to be around Midorima's height. And (Y/N)'s sister was pretty tall too. Guess he could see that height definitely ran in her family.
"Well, you probably didn't come here to talk with us old folks so we'll let you go see (Y/N). Hey, Sis! You've got someone coming up to see ya!" Aneko called up the stairway that led to the upper level of the house.
"Kay!" Kagami heard the girl's voice cheerfully respond.
"She's upstairs in her room. Let me know if you two need anything."
Nodding his head, the red head turned to go and head up to see the triple threat. But anxiety was kind of eating at his gut. He hadn't spoken to the girl in a couple of weeks, and the condition that she was in right now wasn't exactly ideal. As he made his way up the stairs, the tiger had a lot of thoughts going through his mind. Would she be mad? Did she even want to see him? Everything one could think of and ask was going through Kagami's mind as he reached the doorway of the girl's bedroom.
"Oh, frick you, Yoshi! Throwing a blue shell at me like that. I was in first place too," the (h/c) haired girl grumbled to herself in her usual tone of voice.
Reaching up the doorway and peering into her room, the red head saw her sitting up in bed with a couple of pillows behind her back and neck, as well as one under her left arm. Kagami could only see her side profile, but he did notice that in her lap was a Nintendo Switch and that she had been holding one of the controllers.
"And my hand is bandaged. You should let me win at least once.." she continued on with her little ramble.
The girl was on her nth tournament of of Mario Kart against Imayoshi. Hey, when you're bedridden for a week right after being in a hospital bed for so long, you tend to get just a little bored. Most of the girl's days consisted of being on her phone, playing some Animal Crossing and Mario Kart. And usually, she had a visitor or two.
Hearing footsteps near the entrance of her bedroom, the triple threat turned her head to see who the company was. And the girl was genuinely surprised to see Kagami standing there.
"Taiga," she let out before setting her little gaming device off the to other side of her bed.
"Hey," he greeted rather quietly before making his way into her room, finding a little stool near her bed for him to sit down on.
As he made his way over, Kagami could now see the extent of her injuries. She was wearing a rather loose t-shirt, so he could make out bandages wrapped around her left shoulder as well as bruising on her collarbone and arms. The injuries to her face were probably what took him back the most. Dark purple bruising around her eye as it could only open just a little bit, gnarly cuts on the bridge of her nose, and one large one that went across her mouth. She also had a bandage on her less bruised cheek.
(Y/N) looked like she had taken one hell of a beating.
Taking a seat on the stool on her side of the bed, Kagami didn't even know where to begin.
"You seem to be doing okay," he started out a tish awkwardly.
Way to go, Kagami. Just the way to start off a well needed conversation. The (h/c) haired girl didn't seem too impressed either, narrowing her eyes as best as she could and pursing her lips slightly. Yep, he should've seen this coming. Averting his ruby gaze from her for a second, the tiger was waiting for her to just yell at him to get out.
But that never came. Instead, he suddenly felt a soft tap on his arm, and looking up, he saw (Y/N)'s bandaged hand laying on his arm.
"I'd smack you a little harder, but my hand hurts and I can't move my shoulder all that well right now. I'm not mad at what you said after we lost. But you don't need to go and do everything by yourself. If you wanted to get stronger, all you had to do was ask and I could've helped ya," she explained as she let out a smile.
Looking back up at her, Kagami didn't know what to say. He knew the girl wasn't one to get terribly mad, but the way that the red head had acted wasn't all that acceptable during that point in time. Before he could even respond to her words, the tiger noticed (Y/N) was shifting around and her face contorted into one of discomfort. Seeing that she had wanted to lay back down a little bit, the red head instinctively took action.
"Here, hold on. Don't move around too much," Kagami told her as he scooted closer to her side.
The boy carefully took the girl's head in his hands, helping her to get into a position where she was comfortable. And as soon as she felt his hands on her cheeks, the (h/c) haired girl let out a relieved sigh.
"Oooh, that feels good. Your hands are cold, so they feel nice," she hummed as she leaned her more bruised cheek into Kagami's palm, causing the red head to smile a little bit.
But he knew he had to get out what he wanted to say to her.
"Back to your other thing, I shouldn't have been that harsh with what I said. I didn't know how much it was going to affect you. I'm sorry," the red head apologized.
"Oh, don't worry. I get it. I didn't want to lose either. But you know, crap happens. Plus, I'm...guessing Tetsu told you about what happened back in middle school? Between him and I?" (Y/N) guessed as she looked back at her childhood friend.
Looking down for a second, the girl felt Kagami rubbing one of his thumbs against her cheek as he looked back up and nodded. But she wasn't at all angry at him for knowing.
"I kind of asked him about it after we saw Aomine at the park."
"That's okay, Tigerhead. I figured you'd want to know eventually. I literally get too emotional talking about it anyway, but..it's getting better," she assured him.
It was truly getting better. But the girl had really gone through enough these past few weeks. Everyone thought that. Kagami could only nod as he continued to look at (Y/N), his ruby eyes going over her injuries once again. He had gotten the story from Riko, but just the thought of someone hurting the girl like this just made his anger reach a boiling point.
"So..how bad are you hurt? I mean, I'm surprised you're as active as you are right now," the tiger told her.
"*Pfft* It's not as bad as it looks, Taiga-"
"(Y/N), I'm serious."
The girl was caught off guard for a second. She was really trying not to worry anyone, but the seriousness in Kagami's voice clearly wasn't buying her little excuse. She couldn't hide it, obviously, her face kind of played a factor in that too. Losing her smile, the girl took in a breath through her nose as she averted her gaze for a second.
"I broke, like, six ribs. My ankle's broken, so I have to wear a stupid boot. Um, I got a concussion. And I just have a lot of big cuts and bruises. I can't even tell you how many stitches they gave me. They went ahead and did the surgery on my knee, so I'll be wearing a whole leg brace too. That's about the extent of it," (Y/N) listed off her injuries, trying her best to not make them sound terrible.
But it was bad. The doctors had told her that she was lucky no major arteries were hit during the dog attack, even if she was bleeding out bad. Kagami sat and listened, trying his best not to react with any sort of outburst since he still had the girl's face in his hands. All he could do was nod as his thumbs instinctively caressed her cheeks once again. And the triple threat smiled at his little gesture.
"You know what, Tigerhead? You act all tough around others, but around me, you're such a big softie," the (h/c) haired girl told the red head as she felt fatigue beginning to set in, her eyes becoming heavy.
Kagami couldn't help but to smile a little bit once he heard her say that. The girl then closed her eyes, the pain meds starting to kick in, and soon her breathing slowed as she fell asleep, her one cheek still leaning against the tiger's palm. The red head had to admit, he felt his cheeks heat up a little bit when he heard her words, but at the same time, he accepted the words that she had just said as he continued gazing at her sleeping figure.
"You're right. I am a big softie. Only around you," Kagami said quietly.
For him to agree with someone over something slightly sappy like that, it only showed how attached the tiger had become to the triple threat. The red head was no expert in love, but he sure as heck hadn't ever felt this way about a girl before. Kagami just loved being around her, her presence brought him joy. His heart raced every time she showed off her little quirks.
He thought she looked so cool whenever she stepped out onto the court and showed off her skills.
Never did Taiga Kagami ever think that he'd find a girl that he liked as much as he liked (Y/N) Bashira.
Watching the girl sleep, the red head once again gently caressed her cheeks with his thumbs, and then, he began leaning down towards her, his eyes on her lips.
God, this was so sappy, but his feelings were kind of overflowing at this moment. Stopping short of her lips, Kagami tightened his own together. Was it really right to do this now while she was asleep? Maybe it wasn't, but he could at least leave her with something. Standing up a little bit, Kagami then placed a kiss on the girl's forehead.
She might have been oblivious when it came to feelings of love, but this could just be a little secret that he kept to himself. Still, the urge to kiss her on the lips was there as well. And before the red head could even comprehend what he was doing...Taiga Kagami placed a gentle kiss on (Y/N)'s lips.
Pulling away kind of quickly while also trying not to wake her up, the red head slowly removed his hands from her cheeks and stood up, making an eternal vow to himself.
No one was ever going to hurt her like this again. And he'd make sure of that.
Timeskip
FINALLY!! It was finally the last day of the triple threat's required bed rest. She was ready to go back to school and get back in the swing of things. Not that she didn't like hanging out with her family, but she needed to be anywhere but her bedroom.
Feeling well enough, (Y/N) actually decided to go downstairs instead of being couped up in her bedroom for the entire day and night. Though she was not too fond of wearing a full leg brace on her right leg and a boot on her left ankle. Still, it was better than being stuck in bed all day.
Once Aneko had made sure her younger sister was comfortable, the (h/c) haired girl was acting rather lively all day, acting like her usual self. That evening, while her sister was making dinner, (Y/N) heard her phone ringing. Picking it up, the girl was surprised to see that it was Kuroko.
"Hey, Tetsu," the triple threat greeted happily as Tama jumped up on the couch and laid in her lap.
"Hey, you're not busy right now, are you?" The phantom asked her.
"Only counting down the hours until I can come back to practice," she joked.
But she soon got the hint that her best friend was being rather serious. Like, more serious than he usually was. Plus, she could tell that he was running or doing something, hearing his quick huffs of air over the phone.
"What's up?" She asked once again, this time in a more serious tone of voice.
Hearing that he grew quiet for a second, the triple threat patiently waited for him to gather his words. She knew that he sometimes needed a second to come up with his thoughts whenever he had something on his mind.
"I talked to the captain, and asked him to give Kiyoshi my place in the starting lineup," Kuroko began explaining, which caused the girl's eyes widen.
While it was shocking to hear him say that at first, it didn't really catch (Y/N) by surprise. Hyuga and Riko had told her that the phantom was still kind of in his slump and didn't know how to help him get out of it.
"I guess...I just feel like I'm holding the team back. What Kiyoshi said about my limits, I guess I don't even know where to start," she listened to Kuroko's thoughts.
Humming in order to let him know that she listening, (Y/N) nodded to herself. Kiyoshi's words had definitely gave Kuroko some food for thought, and she guessed that he was now starting to see it.
"You know, I had a feeling you'd get to a point like this, Tetsu. It's not a bad thing, I mean, we all get stuck sometimes. But...I know you have so much potential, Tetsu. I've seen it. It's just a matter of how we're gonna bring that out. And since I'm coming back to school tomorrow, I have an idea on where to start," the triple threat smiled over the phone.
On the other line, Kuroko couldn't help but to smile to himself too. (Y/N) had always been able to draw out the potential in powerful players, she had done it with all of the members of the Generation of Miracles. And if there was anyone that could help him to come up with a new technique, it was her.
"I'll see if I can think of anything. I have some ideas for Taiga too. Are you two talking again yet?"
"Well, that's actually where I was heading. I need to talk to him about a few things."
"Okie! Let me know how that goes, 'kay?"
With that being said, Kuroko told the girl that he would and ended the call, placing the phone into his pocket as he continued his search for the red headed ace. Coincidentally, Kagami had been practicing in the same little court where he had first met the two miracles of Seirin.
The boy was doing some individual training, the constant thought of Aomine's power was just sitting on his mind. He had to make sure he didn't stall, he had to become faster and stronger.
"Kagami!" A voice called out to the red head, causing the boy to stop what he was doing and turn back to see Kuroko at the entrance of the court, his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
"Kuroko?"
Kagami certainly wasn't even expecting to see the phantom, especially not since they haven't speaking to each other for the past couple of weeks.
"Can I talk to you for a little bit?" The light blue haired boy finally asked once he had caught his breath.
Making his way onto the court, Kagami rested the ball on his hip as he faced Kuroko.
"What's on your mind all of a sudden?" The red head questioned.
"Sorry, one sec. I haven't collected all my thoughts just yet. I'm not really sure where to start. Could you let me have a minute to think?" The phantom miracle requested.
Not that it impressed Kagami all that much.
"Seriously? A whole freakin' minute? Come on," the red head groaned before throwing the ball to Kuroko, the phantom catching it with a surprised expression on his face.
"I ain't gonna stand and stare for that long. Imma need you to play while you think. That's something you can handle, right?"
Kuroko was definitely caught off guard, but he certainly wasn't all that surprised. And so began his thought process while also trying to win against Kagami in a little one-on-one. For the phantom, the tiger quickly got the upper hand as he made it past Kuroko with ease before jumping up to make a layup.
"Alright. That's fourteen for me," the red head stated as the ball bounced back in his hands.
Clearly, it was having an effect on Kuroko as the phantom once again put his hands on his knees in order to catch his breath.
"Hey, could you maybe ease up on me just a little? I don't think I have enough bandwidth for this."
"I am going easy on you. You're just a weak player," the red head stated.
Somehow, Kuroko's mind flashed back in time once he heard those words as he looked up at Kagami. And it seemed that the red head had the same thoughts as he smirked down to his tired teammate.
"This feels a whole lot like the first time we played each other. Right before both you and (Y/N) blew my mind by showing me what you both could really do. On top of that..."
The red head then remembered back to what Kuroko had told him, back when the Kagami had asked the two miracles how strong their old teammates really were. And the words of the promise of how with him having Kuroko as a shadow and the triple threat as his right hand girl, they would make him the best in Japan. That was echoing in Kagami's mind.
"Hey, there's something I've been wondering about since you said that. Why did you both pick me to be your light?" The tiger asked.
In all honesty, it had been on the the red head's mind ever since that day. Kuroko and (Y/N) could've picked anyone, but they picked him. It just always made him curious, especially since the tiger and the phantom were basically polar opposites.
"I'm going to come clean," the light blue haired boy stated.
And now, it was time to find out that reason.
"Let me just start out by saying I'm sorry. In a way, I misled you. Back in middle school, they gave me a uniform and made me the official seventh player on the team."
"Yeah, I know that. You were the Generation of Miracles' trump card."
Oh, but there was more to it than that.
"That's not exactly right. They believed in me enough to let me join them on the court. But, other than (Y/N), they never gave me their trust. Or rather, after a certain point, they stopped being able to trust me. (Y/N) stuck by my side, but they were all slowly losing their trust in her too. I started out in my first year as a mostly unexceptional player. I eventually joined the bench in my second year. I think around then, they all still thought of me as worthy of their trust. But that changed when their individual talents began to blossom. And they stopped putting their faith in me. Instead, the other members of the Generation of Miracles put their trust only in themselves. If we were one point behind with only seconds left, one of them could pass. They had to do it."
"The truth is, it didn't necessarily have to be you. Mostly, I was using you for my own purpose. To force them to acknowledge my style of basketball. (Y/N) always sees the potential of other players, I think that was her main reason for going along with my decision in choosing you."
With his explanation all said and done, everything seemed to make sense now. If only Kagami wasn't expecting it.
"What the hell? I actually thought you'd surprise me. But turns out I was right on the money," the red head admitted.
Now that caught Kuroko off guard completely. Especially since this was Kagami they were talking about here.
"I've pretty much always felt it. And my head's in the same place as theirs are. You told me you and (Y/N) quit the Teiko basketball team because you both rejected the way they played the game. But I had a feeling there was more to it. I think I get why you both chose me," the red head told Kuroko.
Kagami did trust both the phantom and the triple threat quite a bit with their calls, but that didn't mean he didn't have the same mindset as any other strong players.
"Everyone's got a selfish reason to play. I'm no different-"
"You're wrong. You are different. No doubt about it. You've trusted us in all our games. You didn't mean to say that we should stop working together, you just realized we each needed to get stronger. So our combined strength would finally be enough to win. I guess I should clarify, I'm glad I went to Seirin. I'm grateful for our kind seniors, for our classmates working hard alongside us, for (Y/N) handing down her wisdom to us, and for the trust you put in me. I'm no longer Teiko Middle School's Seventh Player. I am Tetsuya Kuroko, a first year at Seirin High. And I don't want to just make someone else the best player in Japan. I wanna be the best in Japan. With you two and everyone else! We'll beat the Generation of Miracles, and we're gonna do it together!" Kuroko declared.
Yes, it was time that he broke away from the being known as a former miracle, and be known as the phantom player of Seirin High School. Those words, even though it wasn't as much, sounded a lot like (Y/N)'s, though she didn't quite keep making the mistake Kuroko made with his wording as Kagami was about to point out.
"All I'm hearing is that we've been on the same boat this entire time. Also, you keep saying it wrong. It really pisses me off," the red head scolded as he threw the ball to Kuroko.
The phantom quickly made an underhand pass as Kagami slammed the ball through the basket.
"We don't wanna be the best. We're gonna be!"
"Yeah!"
With the boys now made up, the strain being gone, they both decided to wrap things up and call it a night. That is, until Kuroko's cellphone rang once again. Taking it out of his pocket, the light blue haired boy was a little surprise to see who it was from.
"Hey, (Y/N)-"
"AHH! Tetsu where are you right now I have ideas and I need you to come over right now!" The triple threat shouted and spoke rather quickly.
In fact, she was so loud that when the phantom flinched and pulled his phone away from his ear, Kagami could hear her loud and clear.
"You are talking way too fast there," the red head teased the girl as he walked up over so that she could hear him too.
"PERFECT! Taiga's with you! I have ideas on how you both can improve and you need to come over before I lose them in my head!" The girl responded in her own goofy way, completely ignoring Kagami's little comment.
"Okay, we'll be right over," the light blue haired boy told her.
The court was near her neighborhood, so it wouldn't be that far of a walk. (Y/N) sounded really excited to share her new ideas with the two boys. That, or Kagami kind of assumed her coffee addiction was catching up to her. She didn't seem to remember what had happened a few days ago when he went to see her, which was good for now. It wouldn't make things awkward.
"You boys better hurry. I made dinner and the beast is hungry," Aneko's voice soon chimed in.
"Kitty!" The triple threat whined.
Shaking their heads and cracking smiles at the girl's usual goofy behavior, Kuroko let (Y/N) know that he and Kagami would be at her house in about ten minutes before they ended the call.
"So let's talk details, you have any idea what (Y/N)'s gonna say about how you should improve?" The red head decided to ask.
"I have no idea."
"Really?" The tiger groaned.
Of course he didn't, but then again, the tiger didn't know what the (h/c) haired girl had in store for him either.
"I'm sure I'll figure it out once she tells me. I have until the Winter Cup to do so," the light blue haired phantom stayed with determination.
It was summer, so they had a whole lot of time to come up with something. Kagami soon let out a sigh at Kuroko's answer.
"There you go again, talking like an absolute moron. I'm gonna up my game too, so you better try and keep up, ya hear me? Get to work before winter, 'cause I'm dying to see Tetsuya Kuroko's brand new style of basketball," the red head smirked as he held out his fist towards the phantom.
Smiling back up at his teammate, Kuroko bumped Kagami's fist, a symbol that they were all gonna start working hard in order to become the best team in Japan. With the triple threat's help, Seirin's terrific trio was about to become a force to be reckoned with.