Triple Threat (KnB Various x Fem Reader)

Basket 32

Third POV

Though the game was starting to take a rather ugly turn, the only good thing that came out of it was that by the time halftime had approached, Seirin was leading with a score of 45 while Kirisaki stayed at a mere 40 points.

"Looks like Seirin managed to pull ahead five points," Kasamatsu commented, feeling some sort of relief that they had pulled ahead against such a formiddable opponent.

"By the skin of their teeth. They're still far from out of the woods," Kise reminded the captain as he leaned his chin on the back his hands while keeping a hard gaze on the court as the starters made their way back to their respective benches.

The blonde copycat kept sparing glances over at the sole female player. She seemed to have recovered from the shock of seeing her friend take a hard elbow to the face. The tall girl was now handing Izuki and Hyuga their water bottles, but it was clear to those watching her that she was still shooken up, her hands trembling slightly.

Hibiki couldn't even imagine what was going through his sister's head right now. It worried him, since seeing that Naoki basically had the same thing happen to him and he had some really bad repercussions from it. (Y/N) was praying it wasn't the same with Kiyoshi.

Aomine had seen quite enough for now, and since it was halftime, the navy haired boy didn't hesitate to stand up and head towards the stairs. And like always, Wakamatsu was the first to catch the ace as the pale blonde boy stood up from his seat.

"Hey, where the hell are you wandering off to now?" the second year hissed, actually trying to stay quiet so he wouldn't make a complete scene of himself like he sometimes did in games.

"Bathroom," Aomine simply answered as he climbed up the stairs and made his way towards the exit of the gym.

Wakamatsu kind of slumped down, thinking he could maybe reprimand the ace, but he couldn't stop the boy from using the bathroom if he needed to. Plus, if Momoi wasn't getting after him, then the navy blue haired boy would probably return to the gym. Dammit, the Touou center was kind of looking forward to yelling at Aomine at some point, but it looked like he wouldn't be able to get his wish.

Down on the court, Hanamiya was a little less than pleased, and it could be picked up the other members of Kirisaki Daiichi. Their captain was in one of his moods, and they also knew who was to blame for it. Furuhashi looked over at Kiyoshi, who still had a smile on his face despite just taking an elbow to the head. Guys like him were the ones Hanamiya hated the most.

The captain was in his own head before he felt something run into him. Oh, and he was not in any mood to have people stand in his way. Hanamiya didn't even realize he hadn't seen Kuroko standing there until the two of them collided.

"Get out of the way!" Kirisaki's captain barked before harshly grabbing the phantom by the shoulder and shoving him off to the side.

While it caught the light blue haired boy off guard for a second, Kuroko wanted answers and wouldn't hesitate to ask them.

"Hold on a second!" he called out, not using his normal tone of voice.

This was much louder, and (Y/N) had picked up on it as she turned towards her phantom friend. God, it made her heart leap once again when she saw it was Hanamiya standing there in front of Kuroko. And she became even more concerned when she noticed that the dark haired captain had stopped just short of a couple feet in front of the light blue haired boy.

"What?" Hanamiya snipped back, just deciding to amuse himself when he saw the look on the phantom's face.

"Tell me why. Why do you choose to play such an underhanded game? I understand wanting victory, but how's this fun?" Kuroko finally asked the captain.

Oh, this was just perfect bait for Hanamiya. But the triple threat felt a chill go down her spine as she watched the older boy turn back towards her best friend. As he walked along the main walkway to find an exit, Aomine had noticed it too, and it was enough to get him to stop in his tracks in order to watch what was going on.

Back down with the two players, Kuroko watched as Hanamiya's hair covered his eyes, his hand then coming up to grip his jersey right by his 'heart'.

"Of course playing that way could never be fun. But unless I do this, how else am I supposed to beat a team with two members of the Generation of Miracles? I might as well just give up. If only I hadn't promised...promised to place first in the Winter Cup," the Kirisaki captain explained in such a heartfelt and sad voice.

Kuroko was kind of caught off guard by that. Hanamiya didn't seem like the person who had such...aspiring goals, if that even made sense. From seeing the captain's actions, something wasn't adding up here. And someone could see right through it from a mile away.

"You are such a bull shitting liar," a girl's sharp voice suddenly stated from behind the phantom.

With his sky blue eyes widening as he recognized the voice, both boys looked back to see a very unimpressed triple threat walking towards them. Even Seirin was caught off guard as she approached the two. Aomine too as he arched an eyebrow at the girl. (Y/N)'s brother and cousins became very tense when they saw her pulling off such a move.

No one had seen her like this before, she was upset, and there were emotions she was trying her absolute hardest to keep under the wraps. The triple threat soon took the phantom's side as she placed a hand on her hip, facing down a seemingly 'hurt' Hanamiya.

"Why don't you start again and tell us the real reason why you're doing this? 'Cause I can tell you right now, Hanamiya, your acting skills are awful," the tall girl spat.

She could see right through his terrible act and if he thought that he was going to try and fool anyone, then the (h/c) haired girl was going to prove him wrong. After she had called him out, Kuroko heard Hanamiya beginning to laugh quietly that then turn into a full on cackle as that sinister smirk appeared in its ugliest form on the captain's face.

"As if I'd ever say that, you dumbass," Hanamiya finally showed his true colors as he stuck his tongue out at Kuroko.

The phantom couldn't believe what he was hearing. A fellow player of basketball who didn't play the sport just for the fun of it, but for another dark reason altogether. The triple threat knew it was only a matter of time before this side of him really came out and his whole evil reason for playing basketball.

"Truth is, your misfortune tastes like honey to me. I couldn't care less about winning this dumb game. I'm after something that feels way better than that. The teeth grinding looks on your faces as everything you work for crumbles in front of you, that's what I want," Hanamiya explained to Kuroko like he had done it every day.

Just nonchalantly like it meant nothing to him. The other Seirin members had stayed quiet as they listened to the Kirisaki captain go on about his evil reasons why he 'enjoyed' basketball. It was sick, he was truly like a villain you'd see in the movies. And every second of listening to him kept getting on some people's nerves, especially a certain red head as he grasped his water bottle even tighter, glaring even harder.

But everybody soon held their breath as they watched Hanamiya step forward and get down into Kuroko's face. (Y/N)'s eyes widened a little bit as she stayed frozen in her spot. Her eyes would be burning right through the Kirisaki captain if he wasn't so unbothered by it. What he was about to say next was what he did best when it came to searching for the honey he spoke of.

"As for whether that's fun for me, well duh. I mean, come on, you gotta admit what I did to your seniors last year was a damn masterpiece," Hanamiya smiled deviously, causing an instant reaction from Kagami.

The tiger was furious, this guy was the worst of the worst. How could he enjoy inflicting pain on others? It wasn't right.

"What'd you say?!" Kagami roared, beginning to take a step forward, ready for a fight.

"Kagami, don't!" Izuki was quick to stop the tiger by grabbing the taller boy's arm.

Starting a fight wasn't going to do anyone any good, but that wasn't to say that pun loving second year wasn't angry. In fact, he was just as furious as Kagami and everyone else was. He expected Kirisaki Daiichi to show their dark side, but not like this. It was bad enough that Kiyoshi had gotten an injured knee that almost put him out of commission for good, but a blow to the head was even more dangerous.

And then there was the fact that the triple threat had now confronted Hanamiya, which was the last thing anyone wanted right now. There actually was the possibility of a fight if the captain started something up with (Y/N). There would not be a repeat of another basketball player going after her with the intent to do her harm. No one would allow that.

But the tall girl was doing a very good job at keeping as calm as she possibly could. However, she was not going to allow the dark souled captain to square up to any more of her friends. Taking a step forward and kind of getting Kuroko behind her, the (h/c) haired girl put her hand on Hanamiya's shoulder and pushed him away from the light blue haired boy.

"Back the hell off. God, how trashy can you get?" the triple threat spoke, her voice much deeper from its usual upbeat tone.

Everyone was watching this closely, because no good was going to come out of the two of them squaring off with each other. The other members of Kirisaki Daiichi thought the girl had a lot of nerve to even consider getting in Hanamiya's way. And they could feel it as the older boy stood back up and scoffed at the tall girl.

"Oh, so I'm the trashy one? You've been nothing but mean to me this entire game. If anyone here is trashy, it's you, (Y/N)," he insulted her.

Kagami glared even harder as did almost everyone else that knew her. Who the hell just calls someone 'trashy' unless they absolutely deserved it? And Hanamiya was definitely someone who deserved it.

Up in the stands, Touou and Kaijo were definitely starting to feel the heat of the situation. Aomine had stayed glued to his spot as he continued to watch the situation unfold, a glare beginning to settle on his face.

"Did he just call her 'trashy'?" Sakurai asked out loud as his brows began to furrow a little bit, not sure if he really heard that right.

He had never really been a witness to such a hostile game, it wasn't enjoyable to watch. But he didn't think it would come down to the sole female player facing off with the ruthless uncrowned king. Plus, she wasn't in any way trashy, so the shy boy had no idea where that had come from. Even Wakamatsu was getting upset.

"What the hell's his problem with her?" the pale blonde piped up as Imayoshi kept a slightly sharp expression on his face.

If he knew his old schoolmate, the glasses wearing captain knew he didn't in any way appreciate it when girls talked back to him. And also knowing (Y/N), Imayoshi knew she wouldn't let that keep her from voicing her opinions. The solution to this whole equation wasn't a very good one. Momoi didn't like it either as she began to feel worry eating at her gut.

The triple threat wasn't really a confrontational person, but when her friends and those she cared for started getting involved, the tall girl certainly wasn't afraid to square up with someone. That's what Masaru was worried about, he didn't want another member of his family to suffer at the hands of Hanamiya, and he knew his cousin wasn't one to do just nothing when it came to stuff like this.

"Hachi, please don't egg him on," the gray haired twin begged his cousin quietly as he closed his eyes and put his hands together in a praying motion.

Oh, there was so much more to this that her friends didn't know about. (Y/N) stood there in front of Hanamiya stone faced, not at all reacting to what he had just said to her. And she knew she was pushing buttons, because that's exactly what she was trying to do in order to give the boy a taste of his own medicine. Blinking once, the tall girl let out her own scoff.

"Honestly, real mature of you, Hanamiya. Have you just become so cowardly that you've resorted to nothing by violence since you can't seem to win at anything?" the triple threat mocked as she whispered the last part of her sentence.

Oh yeah, she was going there. This girl could be just as devious when it came to the safety of others. And Hanamiya fell into her trap. He didn't care that they were standing in front of everyone, the captain was not going to have this girl look down on him. He was ready to show her who was the boss here. And why not use the same tactic he had used all the times before that?

Gritting his teeth and glaring at (Y/N), everyone watched on as Hanamiya's eyes became crazed, making contact with the triple threat's own burning gaze. The captain soon raised his hand.

"I thought I told you not to run that damn mouth of yours!" the Kirisaki captain yelled before quickly aiming his hand right at the tall girl's face, ready to grab it.

Everybody's eyes widened as they watched that happen, and thanks to (Y/N)'s fast reflexes, before Hanamiya's hand could reach her, she grabbed the boy's wrist and had a vice grip on it. Still, what the boy had just pulled didn't go without its reactions.

The red headed tiger felt something in him snap, and his mind flashed back to when he saw the triple threat right after her accident. He had made himself a promise to not let anyone touch her and he wasn't going to allow someone like Hanamiya to harm a single hair on her body because that's exactly what he was trying to do.

"What'd I tell you about touching her?!" Kagami snarled, taking another step forward ready to raise hell with the captain.

"Kagami, hold on!"

It took both Mitobe and Izuki to keep the angry tiger where he was, but they were beginning to seeth too. After what had happened the year before, they were not going to allow the girl they held close to them to become a target of his evil plans. Hyuga had his own ferocious look as he bared his teeth, even Kiyoshi was beginning to become upset. (Y/N) did not deserve to be a target of such an attack. Not when she had done nothing to deserve it and only wanted to hold him accountable for his actions in a more proper way.

Up in the bleachers, Kise soon saw a beyond furious look on Hibiki's face as the younger twin began to stand up, ready to pounce on the Kirisaki captain. Moriyama and Hayakawa had to hold him down in his seat as Kasamatsu looked over to the younger twin while putting his hand on the (h/c) haired boy's chest.

"Hibs, calm down," the captain instructed Hibiki to do.

But trust him, he was upset about this too. Kasamatsu could only speculate what had happened between the triple threat and the uncrowned king, since he went straight for her face. That was never a good sign and that something bad had happened in the past. It was disgusting, sickening.

Kise felt anger bubbling as he glared down at Hanamiya as well. He had never seen the triple threat look this bloodthirsty, but he never would've guessed a player could stoop to this level of using physical violence in order to intimidate someone.

Aomine, oh boy. He was in a whole other world, his blue eyes burning down through the uncrowned king. No one, and he meant, no one was going to put their hands on (Y/N) like that, even if she was doing a very good job at keeping calm as she firmly held Hanamiya's wrist. He was furious.

Kuroko was...stunned. His eyes were a little more open, more aware of what was going on right at the moment. He had never seen the girl like this before. She had a sharp yet blank look on her face as she stared down a now irritated Hanamiya. The grip she had on his wrist was a tight one, so much so that both of their hands tremble as he tried to force his way through her vice iron grip.

"(Y/N)..." the phantom breathed out quietly as he kept his eyes on her.

The triple threat was quiet for a few moments before moving the captain's hand down to where he couldn't escape her gaze. Hanamiya just kept glaring at her, but couldn't hide his shock of her pulling such a bold move against him.

"Don't even try that. And I'm only gonna tell ya this once, don't you even think about touchin' any of my friends again," the girl warned the captain, her accent on full display as Kuroko watched her pupils turn into slits just when her glare hardened.

She didn't want to have to resort to using some of her more powerful weapons in order to knock Hanamiya and the rest of Kirisaki Daiichi down a couple of notches, but she would if had to. Because the tall girl knew it would scare anyone.

The captain in front of her soon narrowed his eyes at the threat. Oh, he wasn't going to back down, not one bit. A couple of tense seconds later, Hanamiya ripped his hand away from (Y/N) just as she had finally let go.

"Whatever. You'd best be prepared. 'Cause the party's just getting started. I'll make you grind your teeth to dust," seemed to be Hanamiya's last words before he made his way back over to the starters, the rest of them following behind their leader.

Hanamiya had such a hold over them it wasn't even funny. Now, even Kuroko was clenching his fists tighter than he had ever clenched them before.

Once things on the court had calmed down, Seirin soon made their way back to their own locker room. But that didn't mean what they had just witnessed was forgotten. Not by Kagami, especially. He had to let his boiling anger out. After Seirin had all filed in and sat down, the tiger didn't even hesitate to kick the first bench that came into his view, sending it crashing into the lockers with a loud *BANG*!

"Bastards! I'll make 'em pay-AH!" the tiger's roar was interrupted by Riko since she had smacked on the head with her clipboard, not even hesitating to put Kagami in his place as she glared up at him while putting her hands on her hips.

"Ahem, don't take your anger out on the bench," she scolded the seething red head.

And Kagami knew well not to talk back to her, despite the urge of wanting to continue hitting something until he felt better. But here wasn't the appropriate time or place.

"Kiyoshi, are you alright?" Izuki's voice caught the two teen's attention as they turned to look over at the center.

The bruises all over his arms and legs had only become darker, and the cut on his forehead had been cleaned up and bandaged by Riko out on the court since (Y/N) was a little out of commission.

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay," Kiyoshi smiled back up to the punster, trying to assure everyone around him that he was alright.

"I really hope you mean that 'cause you don't look so good. They hurt you," Furihata voiced his concerns for his upperclassman.

He did not look okay at all. In no way did he deserve such a brutal beating that he had been taking this entire time. Especially not after what had happened the year beforehand. Riko soon came over to the center, running her eyes over his injuries as Kiyoshi looked back at the coach.

The second year coach was really in a tight spot, she had heard Kiyoshi loud and clear when he stated he'd hate her if she took him out of the game. And then, the older girl's mind flashed to what her younger cousin had said, that she would take the fall for her when it came to taking Kiyoshi's anger.

Riko was really put in such a difficult position. A part of her was fine that Kiyoshi would hate her because at least he wouldn't end up getting so injured that he wouldn't be able to play basketball ever again. But at the same time, she didn't want the brown haired boy to hate her, and then she didn't want the triple threat to take the brunt of his hate if he were to be taken out.

It all just sucked.

Kagami soon stomped over to another bench and plopped down right next to Kuroko.

"Dammit! I'm so mad!" the tiger huffed, keeping the glare on his face.

Kagami was also pissed at the fact that he wasn't able to do anything when Hanamiya confronted (Y/N). And to hear him calling her 'trashy' just infuriated him to no end. The phantom on the bench next to his red and hot headed partner hadn't said or done much since Seirin had entered the locker room.

"I know, but you still shouldn't break stuff," Kuroko finally spoke up in a low voice.

"Shut up, I didn't do it on purpose, okay? I have no idea how you're managing to stay so calm when that guy literally-"

The tiger, when he turned to face the light blue haired boy, froze. There was a very, very noticeable and angry expression on the usually peaceful phantom's face. Glaring hard at the ground, there was a fire around Kuroko that Kagami never thought he'd see such an expression on the light blue haired boy's face.

If there was one thing Kuroko hated more than anything, it was when basketball players turned to the dirtiest ways possible in order to win or destroy another team altogether. Not only that, but Kuroko had thought back to an incident that occurred in middle school with (Y/N).

She hadn't spoken about it to him until she and Hyuga spilled everything about Hanamiya the night before. But there was a day when she had showed up to practice at Teiko with a couple of small bandages on her face. A couple of days later, when the bandaids did come off, there were a couple of small, crescent shaped cuts on her lower cheeks near her chin on both sides of her face.

The dots started to connect that it was Hanamiya who had inflicted those cuts. All because she wanted to put a stop to his reign of dirty playing and scheming.

The girl in question was also being rather quiet ever since she had confronted Hanamiya on the court. In fact, the triple threat was sitting on a bench by herself, her back facing everyone else. But there was a whole wave of an emotion she had never presented before. An impenetrable forcefield of different emotions that prevented anyone from getting through.

The tall girl had finally turned her head a little bit to where she could lay eyes on Kiyoshi, seeing his bruises as he held an ice pack to his arm. Oh, just looking at what Kirisaki's captain had done just made her so mad that words couldn't even describe it.

Finally, in an attempt to calm herself down just a little bit, (Y/N) stood up before turning towards the door. And Kagami caught the angry look in her eyes, her pupils looked like that of a feline's. A very, very angry feline. Like with Kuroko, the tiger found himself to be rendered speechless. The two members of Seirin that usually had the coolest heads were now madder than anyone else.

"Riko, I'll be right back," the tall girl informed her as she walked past her cousin.

"Where are you going?" the coach asked, though she was being a bit wary.

The brunette had never seen the taller girl get this mad in a long time, and it was scary. Plus, Riko was worried about what could happen if the triple threat went off on her own. But (Y/N) didn't seem to care as she kept walking, putting her hand on the doorknob before she stopped. The girl kept her back to the rest of her team.

"I need to cool my head," her accent stated before she opened the door and disappeared down the hallway.

The sole female player just thought getting away from the crowd would help in calming down her temper since it was getting ready to come out. And that wasn't going to be pretty if that were to happen. And it wouldn't help with anything. Plus, the girl didn't want to become blinded by her anger to where she risked the entire game. It was all just a lot.

Finally, the triple threat found a quiet space by the bathroom, so she decided to grab a drink from the water fountain. Brushing some of her baby hairs back that had come loose from her headband, the girl pushed the button and bent down to get a well deserved drink.

Feeling satisfied with the drink she had gotten, (Y/N) stood back up and swallowed the rest of the water in her mouth, using the back of her hand to wipe any excess water off her chin. As she did that, the tall girl heard footsteps approaching her from behind.

Thinking it was just an onlooker, the triple threat turned to get out of their way, but she froze when she realized who it was standing there just feet away from her once again.

"Well, well, look what we have here," Hanamiya smirked at the girl who stood at the same height as he did.

Great, just when she thought she couldn't feel any worse or angrier. The triple threat soon sent the captain a nasty look right back.

"Oh god, you are the last person I wanna deal with right now," the (h/c) haired girl growled as she stood her ground.

While the girl just wanted to stay away from Hanamiya, another part of her also wanted to give him more than a piece of her mind when it came to what he did to Kiyoshi. And Hanamiya could read that and decided to play on top of her hostile behavior.

"Well, too bad, 'cause here I am. You put on quite a little show out there, getting all huffy like that," the captain began to taunt her, getting closer with every step he took.

He was making it seem like she had done something wrong, like he was the one being beaten up in this situation. Oh, that irritated her so much. But (Y/N) didn't waver as Hanamiya stopped just about a foot away from her. She wasn't afraid of him, and she wanted him to know that. Besides, if the captain was going to play mind games with her in order to get a rise out of her, then she surely was going to do the same to him.

"You're one to talk, getting all mad that someone finally decided to stand up to you. That's just what pisses you off more than anything," the triple threat mocked, keeping the fierce look on her face.

If she could just slug the captain right now, she would. But the (h/c) haired girl knew she was a much better person than that. And her plan was to rile him up so that Hanamiya would just stop his attack on Kiyoshi since the center hadn't really done or said much to infuriate the dark haired boy until that last moment when Furuhashi smacked Kiyoshi in the head.

Hanamiya was smart, he could see the tactics she was trying to use. And he was about to spin it back around on her as his smirk only grew while staring the girl down.

"It does. And you're the one person that makes me want to crush your team even more. Kiyoshi was just the opening act," the captain declared.

That statement struck a nerve in the triple threat. How dare he say that about her friend? Not on her watch, hell no. The uncrowned king then watched as the girl who stood at his height closed the distance between the two, getting in the older boy's face, much like she had done when he had confronted her the first time before Seirin's game with Shutoku.

She was not going to take any of this anymore. Her plan was now going to take a little turn.

"You know what, Hanamiya? If ya think yer such hot shit, send all of yer guys after me. I will crush you and Kirisaki Daiichi if ya think you can just do whatever the hell ya want to my friends. Try me," Hanamiya heard her now very thick southern accent speak from her vocal cords.

Now, the captain then felt something he had never felt before when it came to the sole female player. (Y/N) had never been this bold before when it came to standing up to him, and he was beginning to experience something that all humans did at one point or another in their lives.

Fear.

The boy had never felt fear when it came to another player, and it had to be the girl he had always scared whenever she got too nosy in his business. Ludicrous, this shouldn't be happening. Why did he feel so scared of this girl when she was just another obstacle in his way?

Seeing that she had left him stunned as his hair covered his eyes, the triple threat felt satisfied with herself, and finally backed off. (Y/N) knew the battle Seirin still had to fight, but she would be proud to take the lead as its warrior. Turning around to head back to the locker room, the triple threat wasn't expecting what came next.

Hanamiya was not going to take that lying down, he refused to admit that the triple threat scared him. And he would prove it. Finally looking back up at the girl's back, the captain's hand became a claw as he reached out and gripped her shoulder, digging his nails into her exposed skin and even through the fabric of her shirt.

It only made the tall girl glare once she felt that, slowly turning her head around to see him full on baring his teeth like a rabid dog.

"Oh, you wanna play that game, you mouthy little bitch? I'll show you exactly what happens if you get in my way, right here when no one's watching," Kirisaki's captain threatened her as he tried to pull her back.

But (Y/N) was much stronger than he was and quickly turned around, giving her own ferocious expression as she began to reach for his hand. Little did the two know, there was someone else watching. And he had quickly decided that he was going to intervene once Hanamiya had raised his hand toward the girl.

"Don't you frickin' touch me-"

The tall girl's bark was cut short when she felt a much gentler yet firm hand grab her arm. With her (e/c) eyes widening, (Y/N) allowed herself to be pulled to someone's chest as a large arm wrapped itself around her shoulders, keeping her close to him as the newcomer used his other hand to keep Hanamiya back and away from the triple threat.

"Touch her again, I dare you," a familiar deep voice boomed to the older boy just as the triple threat looked up to see a tanned face that had a glare sculpted into it, his navy gaze becoming sharper than any sword.

"Daiki..." the tall girl whispered under her breath, not really believing what she was seeing right now.

The two miracles hadn't seen each other in person since the game between Kaijo and Touou. And even then, the two of them didn't really speak to one another during that time. Not very much anyway. However, even though he looked more than a little mad, the triple threat didn't feel afraid, not one bit. Instead, the girl felt protected, something she hadn't felt from Aomine in a long time.

It was nostalgic, something she didn't realize she missed until now. (Y/N) soon slowly turned back toward Hanamiya, who quickly saw that he was now outnumbered and getting pushed into a corner. Jerking his arm away from the navy blue haired ace, Kirisaki's captain fixed up his team jacket to make it seem like nothing had happened, as well as placing his signature expression back on his face.

This was going to be war, alright.

"Well, seems like I've exposed my plan a little too much. I'll see you back on the court, Triple Threat," Hanamiya turned and waved back to the girl, his voice hinting at what was possibly coming next when the teams faced each other again.

After the captain had disappeared, Aomine still kept his arm around (Y/N)'s shoulders. That is, until he heard her let out a sigh as her entire figure seem to relax a little bit. Feeling her wanting to step away, the navy haired boy released her, not intending to make her uncomfortable of that were the case.

The triple threat didn't meet his gaze at first, opting to look down at the ground in front of her as she placed a hand on her forehead. She had very mixed feelings swarming around in her brain right at the moment. Both the feeling anger and relief and even accomplishment in a weird way.

The miracle ace couldn't really read her thoughts in the moment, not having any knowledge of what the two's conversation had led to. The last thing Aomine wanted to do was to stir up anything. Things between the two of them still weren't fully mended, so he still wanted to tread carefully.

"You okay?" The navy blue haired boy asked the girl, causing her to finally meet his gaze.

It was kind of weird with it just being the two of them alone, that hadn't happened in a while. Not since middle school, since that day where it all went down. However, the hostility both teens had felt towards each other that day wasn't apparent now.

Nope, not one bit. After a couple moments, the tall girl finally nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks. But you didn't have to do that, you know," she told him, thinking she was handling the situation perfectly fine before he showed up.

Aomine just put his hands in his pockets as he gave his old teammate a serious look, not at all agreeing with her statement.

"Yeah, I did," the miracle ace responded.

Not expecting an answer like that from him, it made the triple threat give Aomine a look of confusion and shock, if you want to call it that. Seeing that she didn't really seem to have a clue what he had meant by that, the navy blue haired boy closed his eyes and let out a small puff of air through his nose.

"Look, I don't know a hundred percent what happened between the two of you, but I can tell this isn't the first time he's put his hands on you. So I couldn't just do nothing," he stated, accurately reading the situation.

Besides, going for someone's face was more personal than many would think. And like Kuroko, Aomine had kind of connected the dots that Hanamiya had pulled a similar stunt before.

Not to mention the fact that even though the Okami incident was behind them, the scars from that day weren't. In fact, the miracle ace saw (Y/N)'s beaten form laying on the ground when he had watch the Kirisaki captain try to grab at her face. It scared him, Aomine admitted that to himself. He was scared to see the girl he cared for so much end up like that again.

When she heard her old friend say that, the triple threat was taken aback by that a little bit yet it warmed her heart. A small blush even appeared on her cheeks. Felt weird hearing Aomine say that when he acted the way he acted sometimes. When she believed he had so much animosity towards her.

But it made her happy that the Aomine she had become so close with was still there. He was just reshaped into an older version of himself.

Still, the girl was gonna let her stubborn side show a bit.

"I appreciate it, but you know I can handle myself. What he says doesn't scare me," the triple threat tried to reassure the boy, pointing back in the direction where Hanamiya had slithered off to.

"It may not scare you, but think about what others who care about you might think, you hard headed cowgirl," the miracle ace argued back, calling out her bull headed side.

Comically, the triple threat froze for a second, not expecting to be exposed like that by Aomine. And where the heck did he come up with that nickname? The tall girl formed a little bit of a pout on her face as her eyebrow began to twitch a little bit.

"I'm not a hard head," she retorted, not noticing she was just proving Aomine's point as he raised his eyebrows at her.

Oh crap, she let it slip out. The tall girl only realized her mistake after she had opened her mouth. Dammit.

"You're being a hard head right now. I can hear the accent in your voice," the navy haired boy made his point, finding it just a little funny that she had only stacked the odds of her winning this argument.

She always did that, always managed to put a smile on Aomine's face. He was having a hard time holding one back as he kept his hands in pockets of his pants.

But the triple threat kind of noticed something. The way Aomine was talking sounded a lot like someone else she knew very well. The resemblance was uncanning. Losing the irritated look on her face, (Y/N) put one of her hands in the pocket of her shorts.

"Geez, when did you start acting like Momo? Giving me lectures all of a sudden," she lightly joked, much they had when they were younger.

This wasn't really the time for jokes, and you could say the tall girl used trying to lighten the mood as some sort of defense mechanism. Guess she just didn't want to concern anyone with her own problems. But that was harder said than done in a lot of people's books.

"Can't help the fact that I worry about you," the navy blue haired ace had no issue in admitting, which really threw the girl for a loop as her jaw dropped a little bit while looking back at her tan skinned friend.

His face was kind of what it always looked like, that lazy expression having no interest in anything. But there was definitely a much more softer tone to it as the girl looked a little longer. In that moment where the two of them were just looking at each other, the (h/c) haired girl thought they were in middle school again, just by the way the boy's facial expressions were speaking to her.

It was nice, but (Y/N) still wasn't going to let up on the issue here. She soon threw her hands out to the side more dramatically in order to make her case once again.

"Will you just trust that I know what I'm doing?" She questioned the ace.

It wasn't about if he trusted her or not. This was about a player who had the potential and means to go after her when she finally got to play. Call him selfish, but this came down to Aomine not wanting to see the girl get hurt again. He had seen it way too many times, and if he could find a way to prevent it, then he would.

However, the girl stubbornness played a big factor in this too. Not wanting their argument to carry on forever, Aomine finally decided to make a deal.

"Will you just be careful?" He finally requested.

Look at him showing his concern and feelers show a little bit. (Y/N) wasn't really expecting him to back down so quickly from one of their bickering sessions. But she also knew what he had said earlier about considering the feelings of others wasn't completely wrong and that she also needed to think about that whenever she pulled stunts like the one she just did moments beforehand with Hanamiya.

Finally giving in, the triple threat soon began walking off a couple of steps before turning back to the navy haired ace, pointing to him with a small smile on her face.

"Yes. For you, Daiki Aomine, I will be careful," the triple threat agreed before letting out a small laugh as she continued back the way she had came.

Aomine kind of stood there blushing a little bit, reliving the whole having her actually close to him for the first time in over a year. Their somewhat playful arguing, he missed that too. Hearing her say his first name sounded like music to his ears. And finally, that smile. Oh, the smile that made his heart race so fast he'd thought it would pop out of his chest.

Aomine was so in love with her, it might as well have been considered an illness. He was hoping she'd keep that promise she had just made.

"Ah, geez..." the miracle ace grumbled a little bit as he scratched the back of his head before turning and making his way back to the gym.

These feelings were only getting stronger by the minute. It was getting a lot harder to just hold them back any longer in her presence.

When she had made it back to Seirin's locker room, (Y/N) took in one last breath in order to make sure she was as calm as she could be before opening the door. Hearing the creaking of the metal hinges, the boys and Riko looked to see the triple threat coming in as she turned to close the door behind her.

Turning back around to face her teammates, the tall girl could see that some of them looked a little wary to approach her considering how she basically looked like a ticking time bomb about to explode. Giving everyone a small smile, the triple threat waved her hand a little bit.

"I'm okay, guys. I have calmed myself," the (h/c) haired girl lightly joked, bringing some light into the dark situation Seirin was in at the moment.

Kiyoshi had to grin a little bit as he moved his ice pack from one bruise on his arm to another. It was good that the sole female player was doing her best to remain calm and level-headed because if she was, then she would be able to calm the others down if they got too worked up.

While she made her way back over to the rest of the group, the center noticed something near the collar of her shirt that wasn't there before she had left to just take a quick breather. He couldn't tell exactly what it was except that it seemed to be reddish brown in color.

"Teddy, what's that on your shirt?" Kiyoshi inquired, causing the girl to stop and arch an eyebrow at her taller friend.

As far as she knew, she hadn't done anything messy since she left, so there shouldn't be any stains on her clothing.

"My shirt? Uh, there's nothing on my shirt," (Y/N) answered with a confused and unsure tone in her voice.

Had she forgotten to wash her t-shirt or something? Not that she was aware of unless she was sleepwalking and decided to eat something while using it as a napkin. No, that was a very unlikely scenario because she never sleepwalked unless she was feeling guilty about something.

Seeing that she wasn't really believing what they were saying at first, some of the others began to see what Kiyoshi was seeing.

"No, Buddy, it's, like, right here," Koganei told her before pointing to the side of his collarbone.

"Yeah, I see it too," Izuki agreed while nodding.

Well, geez, maybe that sleepwalking scenario really did happen. Putting her hand up to where Koganei had directed her, the triple threat definitely felt something that was a little damp, but when she put more pressure on it, there was a jolt of pain that sprang through her shoulder.

"Ow..." the (h/c) haired girl hissed a little bit as she jerked her fingers away from the area that she was just touching.

When she looked down at her fingers, trying to figure out what was in her shirt, the triple threat's shock factor went up a little bit. There was the faint color of red staining her fingertips, and that could only be one thing if she was feeling pain.

Blood.

"Hey, can one of you look at this?" the girl made the request.

Riko volunteered to do so as her cousin sat down next to Hyuga, leaning her head out to the right as she pulled the collar of her shirt down away from her left shoulder. The coach bent down to get a closer look, and she did not particularly like what she saw as her brown eyes went wide.

"Oh my god..." the second year girl muttered under her breath, not believing what she was seeing as Hyuga and the others looked down to get a closer look at what their coach was seeing.

Okay, something was definitely up if everyone was mirroring Riko's concerned expression. Kiyoshi's too, he knew what had caused those scratches. Or more so, who had caused them. Some of their brows began furrowing too with anger, like they had already figured out what had happened or something.

"What?" the tall girl spoke, trying to get an answer out of anyone so she could be filled in on what they were seeing.

"Kiddo, you've got, like, three cuts on your shoulder," the captain finally answered as he ran his fingers over the irritated skin, but not the actual wounds, his cold fingers feeling good and soothing to the (h/c) haired player.

There on the girl's shoulder, closer to her collar bone, were three small, crescent-shaped scratches, like someone had grabbed the girl and their nails were ripped away from her skin. There were also red spots near the scratches that were irritated, but the skin hadn't broken.

With her own eyes widening at the new information, (Y/N) quickly stood up and found the first mirror she could lay her eyes on. Keeping the collar of her shirt pulled down, the triple threat saw exactly what everyone else was seeing.

"Ohhhh, crap," the girl cursed under her breath.

She didn't realize Hanamiya's grip was that tight when he had latched his hand onto her shoulder. Oh, this was the last thing the team needed right now. She didn't want them to know what she had told the Kirisaki captain because then she knew there would be no way that Riko would let her play.

But Hanamiya thought this was just a way to scare her, little did he know, this was the biggest invitation he could ever give her. With a serious look now settled on her face, the triple threat stayed quiet as Kuroko approached her a bit cautiously.

"(Y/N), did he..?" the phantom started.

However, he wasn't able to finish before the tall girl took a quick turn and rushed out of the locker room, probably to a bathroom where she could clean herself up. Once Kagami heard the phantom's words, that angry vault of lava down in his system was beginning to boil once again.

"That son of a bitch!" the tiger roared.

Hanamiya was now getting a new target, and he was not okay with that in any way, shape, or form. For a captain, of all the players, to be going after other younger basketball members like this just wasn't right. And the red headed tiger was upset with himself that he didn't just go with the triple threat in order to keep the uncrowned king's filthy hands off of her.

First, he tried to grab at her face, and now he was pulling this crap. No way, not on any of Seirin's watch.

The boy soon drove his fist into the wall, but not hard enough to cause any damage. That son of a bitch was going to get what was coming to him, no doubt.

Riko knew the tension was only rising in the room now, but if she knew her little cousin, well, the second year thought of really only one scenario that could come out of it. Because (Y/N) wasn't one to back down from a fight.

"I don't have a good feeling about this," Riko sighed as she began biting her thumbnail.

Well, she knew they couldn't win the game without the triple threat, so it looked like they were all just going to have to pay even closer attention to what would be going on with their opponents once the tall girl did finally enter the fight.

The coach was just going to have to keep that in the back of her mind because it wasn't like she could stop the game from going on. So, when the sole female player finally returned from treating her little cuts, Seirin made their way back out to the court where their opponents were waiting for them.

Kiyoshi was still playing too, he wasn't going to back down yet. Not when there were now threats toward the girl he called 'Teddy'. The starters were soon marching back out onto the court as the buzzer sounded off. Kirisaki wanted to fight? Well, Seirin was going to fight them the best way they knew how.

"Now then, how do you think it's gonna go?" Imayoshi asked as he leaned his chin down on his hand.

Aomine had returned from his bathroom break, but he wasn't speaking of what went down between the triple threat and the uncrowned king. So, like he always did, the miracle ace let out an obnoxious yawn while Momoi elbowed him to get him to knock it off and stay awake.

Everyone was going to be watching this closely. With Kiyoshi injured and the possibility of the triple threat entering the ring, it was definitely keeping them on their toes. The ball was soon in play once again.

Kuroko didn't waste any time catching it, and everyone was paying very close attention now. Because when the phantom caught the ball instead of misdirecting it, that meant he was going to be using his Vanishing Drive.

"Move it! I got it from here," Hara was quick to shove Yamazaki out of the way since he thought he knew just how the Vanishing Drive worked.

It wasn't very effective if Kuroko couldn't see his eyes, so Hara put his arms out in order to keep the light blue haired boy right where he was. The bubbling blowing starter just thought it was all about the blinking, so if you mixed up the rhythm of your blinks, you could stop the Vanishing Drive. At least, that's what made the most sense.

Kuroko hadn't moved from his spot, and that wasn't like him at all.

"Come on, Kuroko. What's the hold up? Vanishing Drive past him already," Koganei pleaded, but quickly saw another problem along with everyone else.

Yamazaki was closing in to steal the ball from the phantom, seeing that the shorter boy wasn't going anywhere. This was perfect.

Oh, but Kuroko wasn't as predictable as these boys thought he was. Just as the hot headed player went to grab the ball, the phantom had used his trick and blipped right through both him and Hara, stunning the two of them as they stood shell shocked in their places. Hara's bubble couldn't even handle it as it popped.

"GO, KUROKO!!" Kagami yelled to his partner as the light blue haired boy ran and dribbled, getting ready to confront Matsumoto.

Kuroko threw in a couple of moves in order to throw Matsumoto off his groove before tossing the ball up where someone was waiting for it. Kagami didn't waste any time in leaping into the air and reaching up to where he was kind of leapfrogging over the phantom in order to slam the ball through the hoop. Seirin got the first points of the second half.

"Way to go!"

"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"

The other members started cheering with Koganei and the triple threat taking the lead in throwing their arms up and clapping a couple of times. Now, this was what they wanted to see when it came to playing basketball.

"Alright. Excellent work, you two," Hyuga complimented the two first years since they were starting to show their stuff.

"Thanks," Kagami grinned over to the captain as the two of them shared a fist bump.

Now it wouldn't be a Seirin game without someone else throwing in a comment or two to rile up the other. And Kuroko was going to do just that. He had barely missed being kicked the tiger's foot when the red head used the phantom as a platform to jump over.

"Personally, I think you can tone down the leapfrogging just a little bit," the light blue haired boy finally piped up as he jogged beside the taller boy.

Kagami, well, he didn't exactly react like he normally did. Because this time, he didn't see anything wrong with what had just occurred.

"Huh? Of course I'll take it to a ten when you pass like that," the tiger told the phantom.

And that was able to put a smile on Kuroko's face as he continued making his way back to defend with his other teammates. From her spot on the bench, (Y/N) had to smile when she saw that. Looked like her team was starting to calm down a little bit by showing their usual sides when it came to the game.

On Kirisaki's side, Yamazaki couldn't figure out what had gone wrong. Hara was so confident that the phantom's Vanishing Drive worked when it came to blinking. But Kuroko was still able to get past them both.

"But...wait. I thought your move only worked when it came to your opponent's blinking!" the hot headed boy spoke over to the phantom, catching both his and the triple threat's attention.

She had no idea where they thought that came from. Not exactly how the Vanishing Drive worked, that'd make it too easy to predict.

"Is that what I do?" Kuroko asked back to the opponent, genuinely sounding like he had no idea what the boy was talking about.

Honestly, he didn't really watch his opponent's eyes when it came to passing the ball all that much. Well, Yamazaki was just pissed now as he turned his temper towards Hara.

"Looks like you were completely off the mark, you stupid idiot!" he barked over at the shaggy haired boy, who was keeping his head turned away in order to avoid anyone's wrath.

"Yeah, alright. That one's on me, you guys. I'm really sorry," he shakily apologized, as if it solved all the issues.

"Oh great, you're sorry. Problem solved!"

Kuroko just decided to ignore it as he went back to join up with the rest of his teammates. Riko knew it was time to switch things up, so she had gotten up and headed over to the refs in order to switch members out.

Now it was time for the triple threat to shine. The tall girl had been waiting and quickly stood up, pulling her t-shirt over her head, exposing her proudly presented scarred shoulder as well as some of the bandaids she had placed over the tiny little gifts Hanamiya had given her earlier.

Watching the tall girl jump up a couple of times, Riko noticed something on her younger cousin's right bicep. There was a red and black tattoo that looked like to be still covered in its clear bandage. When the heck did she get that?

(Located on right inner bicep and stops just above her elbow)

Well, (Y/N) always did rock her tats, so the coach could ask questions later. Kind of made the brunette coach feel a little bit of relief that she was seeing the triple threat getting so pumped up. Kuroko was going to be swapping with her, so the miracle phantom came over to her while wiping his face with his jersey.

"My mark's #8," the light blue haired boy told her as the two of them did their own simple handshake, a fist bump followed by a high five.

"You got it, Tetsu!" the cheery and excited girl smiled, holding Kuroko's hand as she shook it a couple of times.

Though he was happy to see her so excited, what had happened earlier was still fresh in his mind. He couldn't just forget about that bloodthirsty look on Hanamiya's face when he had tried to grab at her earlier, and now he had hurt her. It was safe to say the boy was worried. (Y/N) could see and sense the sudden change in her friend as they continued to hold hands.

"Tetsu?" the tall girl called out to him as she tilted her head to the side a little bit.

She knew that look and she couldn't blame him for being worried. Especially after what had happened to Kiyoshi. The boy's sky blue eyes soon looked back at her own (e/c) gaze.

"Are you really gonna be okay?" Kuroko softly queried, wanting her most honest answer as he held her scarred hand a little tighter, feeling the slight indentations in her soft skin.

In order to bring him some sort of peace and not have him worry about her while she was out there playing the game they both loved so much, the tall girl gave her phantom bestie a smile as her own eyes softened. Before he knew it, (Y/N) had taken his face in her hands and leaned her forehead against his, despite the boy being more than just a little sweaty.

She closed her eyes and stayed there for a few moments. This little move caught the usually collected phantom off guard, despite being used to her affectionate gestures. She hadn't done this in a while, so it made the boy blush a little bit, his pale cheeks still pink as the triple threat pulled away.

"I'll be just fine. These guys are nothing. Besides, even if they want to do something, they'll have to catch me first," the tall girl grinned as she winked at Kuroko.

(Y/N) was ready, and she had much more skill than these Kirisaki scum bags. And she was speed, so even though she knew Hanamiya probably had some sort of diabolical scheme for her once she joined the game, that didn't scare her.

But that didn't mean those boys would start with physical attacks. Hara soon peered over at the sole female player, quickly drawing his attention to her scarred shoulder, smirking a little bit.

"Yeesh, that's a nasty scar. Looks like she got into a fight with a dog and lost," the shaggy haired boy commented quite loudly for everyone down on the court to hear.

Some of the other Kirisaki players began to snicker behind their hands once they saw the irritated and annoyed looks of the other Seirin members, but the triple threat just kept her back to them as Mitobe watched her roll her eyes.

"Wow, rude much?" Furihata glared over to the teal team along with everyone else.

That wasn't even something one should be making jokes about that considering how she had gotten them in the first place. Not to mention that was one of the wounds that could've killed her. (Y/N) soon turned to the rest of the group with her usual bright grin, not letting the words get to her at all.

"Oh, let them talk, I don't care. I look more badass than those boys will ever look in their lifetime," the tall girl made her own little comment as she pretended to flip back her hair while putting her other hand on her hip.

She looked fabulous and no one was going to tell her otherwise, scars and all. And the others one hundred percent agreed. With everyone else calming themselves, the triple threat made sure to give each of them high fives before she joined the others on the court, ready to play as hard as she could.

Over on Kirisaki's side, Hanamiya simply peered over at the score, seeing that Seirin was pulling ahead of them by seven points. It seemed like it was time for them to begin playing more of the cards from their deck.

"Excellent timing. Hey, Kentaro, rise and shine!" the captain commanded the member that was on the bench sleeping.

That right there had woken the boy up out of his deep slumber as he sat up and pulled his sleep mask off. Riko thought that was kind of weird, she didn't think Kirisaki would sub anyone in, but she was hoping this wouldn't escalate the violence they had been seeing this entire game. Not only that but there was another weird thing she noticed. It was weird but familiar. Others started to notice it too.

"Did you see that? Hanamiya just gave him some kind of order. I guess their coach must be placing a lot of trust in him if they're letting him do that," Sakurai noticed as he pointed down to Kirisaki's side of the court.

This was when he noticed that there wasn't an adult with the team, which was very odd. Imayoshi didn't seem to think so since he knew Hanamiya a little better than some may think.

"Hmm? Oh no, you got it all wrong," the glasses wearing boy spoke up as he waved his hand.

Masaru's ears perked up too as he leaned forward, folding his arms on the back of the third year's seat and wanting to hear more.

"What do you mean, Captain?" the gray haired boy inquired as he tried to stay quiet so Wakamatsu wouldn't pound him into the ground.

"Still not sure what the circumstances were, but their coach quit last year. So now, he's pulling double duty as both captain and coach," Imayoshi explained as he pushed his glasses up on his face.

Hold up a second chief. If Masaru's memories didn't fail him, he had heard of something like that a while ago. Leaning back in his seat and putting a hand on his chin, the boy closed his eyes and dug deep into his thoughts. Finally, he found something in the old brain files.

"Now that I think about it, that was the case when I played him in middle school," he added as Sakurai looked back at his loud friend, not really believing what he was hearing.

"Really?"

The light brown haired boy could see that Hanamiya was already something, but he didn't think the uncrowned king was this powerful. Being a captain meant you already had a hold over your team, but to play the role of coach too was just a whole other level having the players under his control to do what he wanted.

Down on the court, Kentaro Seto was the player being substituted in, not a starter, but he was still a key player. The boy soon took out a thing of hair gel, taking quite a bit in his hands in slicking his hair back since he claimed he couldn't think straight with it in his face.

"Okay, I'm up and I'm ready," the boy declared as he stood up, taking a small strand of hair out of its gelled do and covering the mole on his forhead.

(Y/N) didn't know what her opponents were thinking, but her gut was telling her that Seirin was going to have to keep an eye out. The girl narrowed her eyes a little bit before getting into position to start the game back up again.

Hyuga still hadn't been able to make a three yet, and the ball had bounced off the rim of the hoop once again before falling towards Kiyoshi and the Kirisaki players trying to guard him. Seirin's center had no problem with getting the rebound. As he threw the ball, however, the tall boy couldn't help but feel that something was up.

Just what were they planning?

Seto wasn't a particularly strong player, so why did they even bother putting him in?

Izuki had the ball and backed up a little before throwing the ball out to the side, thinking someone was wide open. But Hanamiya was the only person there, and he had just stolen the ball and was now running to make a basket of his own.

Hyuga tried his best to run and catch up, but it was too late. The captain had just made a basket with no problem. Okay, okay, nothing to worry about. It was just one basket. Izuki would make sure it didn't happen again.

"Don't worry about it, Izuki. Change gears," Hyuga assured the point guard as he patted the boy's shoulder while running back past him.

"You got it," the punster nodded, but he couldn't help but feel that he should've seen that more clearly.

"Shake it off, Izu!" the sole female player's voice came to his ears.

Looking over to where she was, the second year boy saw the girl giving him a smile as she jumped up and down a couple of times in order to get him fired up for the next play. People made mistakes, and she wanted him to see that. Izuki finally broke out a smile seeing her do that. She was right, he had to shake this off.

Seirin's ball, and Izuki was the one who had it. Okay, he had to make sure he had a clear opening before passing the ball. Activating his Eagle Eye, the punster saw that the (Y/N) had gotten open first and was now running toward him. Perfect.

Throwing the ball, the tall girl was just inches away from grabbing the ball before she felt someone push her out of the way, causing her to stumble a little bit and miss the ball. The ref hadn't called that shove a foul, so it looks like Kirisaki had blocked his view once again.

The triple threat soon grit her teeth and let out a soft growl as she saw who exactly it was that shoved her. Hanamiya had shoulder-chucked her out of the way and hit the ball to where Yamazaki would be the one to get it.

Riko couldn't believe it, Izuki wasn't one to get the ball stolen from him twice, but she also saw the captain shoving her cousin so that didn't help. Yamazaki quickly made a layup, bringing Kirisaki's score to 44 while Seiring stayed at 47. The teal team was beginning to catch up.

"Hey, you okay? Sorry, I should've seen him coming," (Y/N) soon heard the punster's voice, causing her to turn and face the second year boy right behind her.

Oh, she was not about to let her jokester friend get down in the dumps. Besides, she didn't even feel Hanamiya's little push. If anything, this just gave her a little inside as to what Kirisaki was doing. The triple threat soon gave the second year a smile as she patted his arm.

"Oh, I'm fine, Izu. Don't worry about it. I think I'm starting to catch onto what they're doing," the tall girl smirked a little bit, a flash of light going over her eyes.

From what she had heard, Hanamiya was no dummy. In fact, she knew he was a literal genius. Had she gone to Imayoshi to give her some of the deets? Yep! She sure did. And she had made the argument to him that the Touou captain liked her a lot more than the uncrowned king. Imayoshi couldn't disagree with her there, so he spilled the tea.

Hanamiya was able to remember a game after seeing it once, and because of that, he can make a formula to predict other players' moves.

And Izuki was the perfect target due to his Eagle Eye making things so accurate.

Well, it wasn't like Hanamiya was the only basketball genius out there.

"Looks like it's gonna be two big brains battling it out," the triple threat said to herself as she watched Kirisaki run back into position, ideas beginning to swirl around in her head.

The only unfortunate thing about that was that the girl couldn't prevent Hanamiya from continuing to steal Izuki's passes. And the captain had just taken another one from the punster and made another basket. How the hell was he doing that?

As she stood guarding her mark, (Y/N) managed to catch a quick glimpse of it as the second year dribbled the ball, getting ready to pass. It had something to do with Seto and the way he was running just as the punster threw the ball straight into Hanamiya's grasp.

The boy was getting frustrated, growling under his breath. His Eagle Eye didn't seem to be working, and he couldn't escape Hanamiya no matter how hard he tried. It was like the team was caught in some sort of web.

And because of that, the Kirisaki captain had brought the score for them up to 48, finally passing Seirin. Okay, now she was starting to get the picture. Looks like Hanamiya wasn't the only smart one out here that was on his team. Seto was too.

She knew very well when a player went to pass, there were many different directions they could pass to. However, when Seto moves, he decreases the number of passing lanes and allows the captain to steal the ball from Izuki. That also psyches the other players out, making them spiral out of control.

Dammit, (Y/N) could practically see the spider web she and the other starters were getting tangled up in. And the more they struggled, the deeper they would end up falling. She had to come up with something, and she was beginning to get an idea. Not one she particularly wanted to use, but it might just work.

By the end of the third quarter, Kirisaki had practically climbed further above Seirin. The score was 47 to 58, over a ten point gap.

"Not good. The only points Seirin managed to score during the entire third quarter was with that first dunk," Kise observed as he rested his chin on his hands while leaning down on his knees.

"On top of that, they've lost all sense of direction," Kasamatsu added.

Still, there was something weird about this. The triple threat had barely gotten the ball, and it wasn't like they had missed that first shove done by Hanamiya. The blonde was paying extra close attention to her and where she was. But then, he began realizing something as he thought back to whenever the starters would get into position.

"Hey, is it just me? Or do Kirisaki's guys seem to be more centered around (Y/N)cchi when they start out with their plays?" the copycat suddenly brought up, hoping it wouldn't rile up Hibiki like earlier.

The younger twin turned to look at his friend and thought for a second. Oh, and he soon saw it too as his (e/c) eyes widened a little bit.

"I sure as hell hope not," Hibiki managed to let out as calmly as he could, knowing that him putting on a show wouldn't help with anything.

But he wanted to make sure his sister was safe. They all did, that much was clear. The Kaijo captain crossed his arms, looking over to the younger boy before turning back toward the court.

"We'll keep watching her, Hibs. Don't worry. And have some faith in your sister. She isn't called 'Triple Threat' for nothing," the third year reminded the younger brother.

He understood that he was worried because of that little stunt earlier along with Hanamiya's reputation. It wasn't like Kasamatsu wasn't worried, but he also trusted that the girl knew what she was doing when it came to facing Kirisaki Daiichi. Kise did too, and faced his fellow first year, giving the boy a reassuring smile.

"That's right, Hibikicchi! She'll push through, just watch," the blonde boy stated confidently, pumping his fist.

Knowing her, she would definitely pull something off, no matter who was facing her. Hibiki couldn't help but to be stunned that his own teammates believed in his sister, despite them being rivals. Hayakawa, Moriyama, and Kobori nodded in agreement to their ace, and it seemed to do the trick in calming the younger twin down. The younger boy was soon smiling too.

"Yeah."

While things had calmed down up with Kaijo, it was anything but down on Seirins's bench. Izuki was beginning to feel the pressure of continuing to have the ball stolen from him. The second year punster soon went over and slammed his hands down on the bench right beside Koganei and (Y/N), which caused the girl to flinch a little bit.

"Dammit!"

"Hey, man, calm down," the cat faced second year tried to calm the angry boy down.

Oh, this wasn't good. The angrier everyone got, the more the triple threat knew they'd fall into Hanamiya's hands, letting him do whatever he wanted.

Riko hadn't anticipated this many steals, so she believed Seirin's best option was to attack from the outside. But the coach soon put a damper on that since she hadn't even considered that Hyuga wasn't really on a streak when it came to his threes. Looking over to the captain, the brunette could tell he was doing his best to keep everything in, but his slightly twitching eyes were telling a very different story.

The other option was to use (Y/N)'s long threes, yet the coach noticed something a little disturbing as she watched the sole female player play. Kirisaki's starters were beginning to gang up on her more than they had done with Kiyoshi. Seirin really was caught up in a spider's web.

However, the triple threat and phantom miracle looked at each other, both of them nodding to each other before the shorter of the two spoke up.

"Hear (Y/N) and I out, everyone. We may be able to break free," the phantom's words caught everybody's attention.

If there was a way for them to break free, the team wanted to hear it. If they could formulate something right now, that means they could make a comeback during the final quarter of this game. All the players and coach listened to what the two miracles had to say when it came to their next plan of attack.

"That is, if we both stop playing with the team," Kuroko declared.

Woah, okay. Not what anyone was expecting at all. Looking to the triple threat, Riko and the others saw her nod, meaning this was really what the two miracles wanted to do.

"Hope you both are about to explain what the hell you mean," Kagami spoke up first, not thinking he'd ever hear something like that coming from his two partners.

These two were all about teamwork, so for them to suddenly suggest both of them not work with the team was something no one knew how to feel about. Kuroko had a determined look on his face, not even bothering to wait for any other questions. The triple threat mirrored his expression to a tee.

"Nothing for us to explain. You guys just keep playing as you always have been," the light blue haired boy instructed the other starters as the triple threat nodded along before she took another drink from her water bottle.

Riko thought about it for a second, and it started making a little sense to her. But this would be the first time Seirin would have to deal with not one but two of their starting players not going along with team-coordinated attacks. Which was exactly what Seirin was known for.

"I get it. You're both taking a gamble," the coach inquired as she held her hand to her chin, starting to make sense of everything in her head.

Hyuga had noticed that (Y/N) hadn't said much about this, and he was a little concerned about what this could do to her. Playing like this could be a lot like Teiko, and God only knew what that did to her as a player.

"Kiddo, you okay with doing this?" the captain called over to the tall girl, taking the towel off his head.

It took her a couple of seconds, but the (h/c) haired girl finally took in a small breath and nodded as she looked back at the second year captain.

"It's the only way I could come up with when it comes to-"

The girl then stopped mid-sentence with what she was saying, her expression changing completely to that of a face of fear. The other players didn't understand what had caused her to freeze like that, but they didn't know that she was listening in on what the opposing team's captain was saying. His evil laugh is what caught her attention

"Oh, that's not a problem at all. Kiyoshi's covered in bruises top to bottom. All we gotta do is give him one more little nudge, and it's over," Hanamiya told his team while peering over to the sole female player.

He wanted to make sure she heard him, and it seemed his mission was successful. Because as she stood in her spot, Kuroko saw something he did not want to see again in her eyes. There was an aura change in the girl that could be felt by almost everyone.

"Oh, that does it," her voice deepened as the grip on her water bottle became so tight, Koganei was afraid it was going to break in her grasp.

No one except for Kuroko had ever heard this tone of voice from the triple threat before. It was growly, and her accent was thicker than ever. Hanamiya watched closely as he saw the girl slowly turn in his direction, his smirk glued to his face.

"If you dare carry out that threat, I swear to you," (Y/N) started as everyone else saw just the fiery expression full of fury on her face.

There was a shadow that was covering one of her eyes, and they weren't their normal shade of (e/c). Kuroko saw them turn a faint shade of gold, her pupils slit. The tall girl was furious, her anger rivaled Kagami's, if that was even possible.

Hanamiya smirked even more as he listened to the triple threat's own warning.

"I'll make sure you never get to speak of it," the tall girl growled a demonic growl in her Texas tone.

It froze everything, the other miracles present along with her family members felt chills running down their spines. The triple threat's anger wasn't one to scoff at. Sometimes the nicest people had the scariest sides when they were pushed just right. And the Kirisaki captain was doing just that.

"Ooh, she's pissed," Hibiki was the first to speak on Kaijo's side as he shrunk down in her seat.

Kise didn't think he'd ever feel such ferocity from the girl ever again. She had kept in very well for the majority of the game, and she could only keep it down and hidden for so long before she finally snapped.

"Is she gonna be okay?" the blonde voiced his concerns, but he also couldn't help but to feel tense, like that anger was directed towards him.

"I've never seen her this mad before," Kasamatsu piped up as well as he stared down in shock at the tall girl while she continued to glare daggers at the teal team's captain.

The captain knew she had a bit of a temper, but even he didn't think he'd see the sole female player like this. She was very good at keeping her temper at bay, but for as long as the captain had known her, (Y/N) had never exhibited such hostility towards someone else before.

"Uh, she doesn't get this mad very much. But it's terrifying when she does. For once, I'm actually glad I'm up here," the younger twin kind of squeaked but felt relief he wasn't the subject of his sister's anger.

If some people thought they had a temper, try making (Y/N) Bashira upset and come back in a week to tell Hibiki about it. Even Hayakawa was shaking in his shoes.

Over with Touou, Sakurai had damn near lost all the color in his face, beginning to tremble like he was the triple threat's target.

"You can feel it from all the way up here," the light brown haired boy peeped as he shrunk down in his seat.

Damn, even Aomine's temper couldn't compare to what this was. It was like everything in the gymnasium had gone red. Wakamatsu had never seen or felt anything like this before, and it made him freeze in his seat, but he could understand why the girl would be feeling like this.

"I don't blame her if that bastard's just taunting her like he's been doing," the pale blonde boy sympathized with her.

Heck, he'd be mad if someone threatened an individual he cared about. Momoi was worried because for her friend to be showing this much anger, it had to be really taking a toll on her mentally for her to have held it in for so long.

"Shirarin..." the pink haired girl said quietly as she gripped her skirt.

"I like to think I can annoy her at times, but even I didn't think she could be this ferocious," Imayoshi also spoke up, not really expecting to see such a side to the usually nice and cheerful girl.

And trust the captain, he had annoyed the absolute shit out of her before, and she still never showed this side before. Well, he also wasn't trying to be mean and hurt somebody. Oh, (Y/N), even though she was being a little scary, this just added to her character even more.

Masaru was a very different story. Momoi literally felt the boy beside her shaking as he held his head, bringing his knees up in an attempt to make himself look smaller.

"T-Trust me, H-Hachi's really scary when she's mad," the gray haired boy coward in his seat, hoping this would end soon.

The miracle ace had to hold back from flinching when he first felt that sense of rage. It brought back memories he preferred not to relive. He was kind of surprised it didn't come out when the triple threat and uncrowned king confronted each other in the hallway.

"Well, when you mess with her the wrong way, you're just asking for the beast to come out," Aomine spoke, kind of sitting up a little more to see how this would go.

And he could say that because he spoke from experience. No condolences to Hanamiya, none at all.

Back down on Seirin's side, the other first year trio had backed away while others tensed up and became rigid. The rage radiating off of the girl was almost suffocating. Riko was the brave soul that decided to act first.

"(Y/N), calm down. He's just trying to get a rise out of you," the coach told her cousin, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder.

Riko wasn't afraid when the triple threat got like this, and if she had to be the one to snap the tall girl out of it, then she would. The aggravated girl soon turned back to face her cousin, that golden tone still visible in her eyes as that deadly glare pierced through whoever came into her line of sight.

"How can I do that? He's threatenin' to hurt Teppei out of pure nonsense, and you want me to remain calm?" (Y/N) asked the older girl, her voice eerily calm.

If looks could kill, Hanamiya would've been long dead. And the triple threat was really trying to scare the captain more than anything. Kagami had to kind of sit back a little bit as he watched the angry girl right in front of him. He never thought he'd see the day where someone would outdo him in a rage fest.

Riko held her ground, not losing the serious look on her face. The second year was about ready to smack the (h/c) haired girl just to get her to come to her senses. She knew the triple threat was upset, but this wasn't the way to go.

"This isn't how the little cousin I know plays basketball. We're gonna beat him and the rest of Kirisaki, but you can't give that scum bag what he wants. You getting mad like this is only fueling him even more," the coach spoke to her cousin.

And that seemed to do the trick as the realization came to the taller girl's mind. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, (Y/N) and everyone else felt the anger and rage dissipate from the atmosphere. Riko was glad she wasn't going to have to smack her cousin and took a step back while smiling a little bit.

Go Triple Threat for getting her emotions under control.

Opening her eyes once again, everybody saw that their girl was back, her eyes their normal shade of (e/c). A second later, the tall girl felt someone grab her hand while another rubbed her back. Turning towards who she knew it was with the familiar touches, (Y/N) saw it was Kuroko holding her hand and the tiger moving his hand in circles on her back in order to get some of that tension to go away.

Both boys were giving her smiles, reassuring her that she was alright, she wasn't in trouble, and that she was justified for feeling angry.

"Sorry, you are very right, Riko. Okay! I need to not be mad and focus!" the taller girl exclaimed and slapped her cheek with her hand.

Yeah, she really did need to focus. It was the last quarter, the last opportunity for Hanamiya to make good on the declaration she had made to him. They still had some time left, so it would be used for making plans to fight against Kirisaki.

"We gotta find a way to keep those guys off of you," Riko started out, looking down and putting her hand on her chin in thought, addressing one of the main problems she was starting to see.

"Well, that won't happen," the tall girl suddenly spoke up, causing everyone to turn to her once again.

Was she going to reveal what she had done? Nope! But she was going to inform them that she knew what the opponents were planning as she turned back and looked at the teal team.

"They're gonna be coming after me during the last quarter," (Y/N) revealed.

Oh, that's not what they wanted to hear. Something told Hyuga those cuts on her shoulder and what was about to happen were connected to something that had occurred when no one from Seirin was with her.

"Kiddo, what'd you do?" the captain began to interrogate the girl, hoping he wouldn't hear what he thought he was about to hear.

Hyuga was not going to allow Hanamiya to hurt her anymore. But there was also the fact that he and everyone else had to consider that the triple threat was not one to back down from a fight if it was given to her. She just wasn't that type of girl.

"(Y/N), please tell me you didn't do what I think you did," Riko began growing concerned as well.

The tall girl wasn't saying anything, but the older cousin could tell just by the look on the taller one's face she had done something that no one else would approve of.

"If I tell you what happened, you're gonna slap the shit out of me," the triple threat admitted, and her saying one word was able to seal the deal with her cousin as the older one groaned.

Welp, now it was time for (Y/N) to become the best defense attorney she could be. Letting go of Kuroko's hand and stepping away from Kagami, the triple threat put her hands together and got ready to make her case.

"Please, please, trust me, Riko. I didn't pull anything too crazy. But," the (h/c) haired girl stopped again as she turned back to peek over at the Kirisaki team before smirking.

The captain, in particular, had already sealed his fate when he even thought about touching and hurting any of her friends.

"Let's just say, Hanamiya got himself a ticket to see Triple Threat."