"Aomine will be tough without Kuroko. Can we even manage it?" Hyuga asked in slight doubt.
"Two quarters back to back..." you mumbled, not sure if this plan could work properly.
Hyuga turned to Kuroko who was sitting next to you on a bench, "Your misdirection won't work throughout a whole game, right?"
"Izuki we should do it. I've been watching with my eagle eye. But your effectiveness has already dropped off quite a bit. You ou should sit out for a while." Izuki proposed that Kuroko should stay out of the third quarter and come back in the middle of the fourth.
"I can do It. No, I will do it." Kuroko stated, being certain he wanted to stay in the game, "I will do anything to beat Aomine."
"Tetsu-kun..." You were a little shocked to see this side of him but knew he'd do this ever since he made that promise.
"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but..." Hyuga started.
"Coach, could I get those?" Kagami asked Riko, "What?" Riko asked in confusion.
"Kuroko." Kagami was seen shoving a lemon in Kuroko's mouth, "Just eat those on the bench, you idiot. You're the one who said you can't play basketball by yourself! Leave it to us!"
"Kagami...Let's try to not kill someone with food..." you scolded Kagami lightly.
"Okay! We'll take Kuroko out for a bit during the second half. Our battle will begin in the fourth quarter! But it's meaningless if we pass the point of no return. Be ready to play at any time in case we get close." Riko told the team as Kuroko nodded at that.
"Have some lemons." Hearing made Kuroko flinched slightly, looking at the lemon with the others.
"Don't worry. I'll cut some later on..." you whispered in reassurance to him, making him smile, "Thank you."
"Their inside is really strong. We'll put in Tsuchida during the third quarter. You and Mitobe will guard under the net!" Riko told the two, both of them giving determined nods to each other.
"Hyuga and Izuki, keep doing what you did in the first half. Keep marks on mushroom number nine...and glass number four. The biggest problem is Aomine, but there's only one guy who can handle him. Kagami, we're counting on you!" Riko told the rest of the team.
"Got it!" Kagami replied.
Holding a determined gaze Riko nodded at the males. "Let's go, Seirin! Fight!"
"Yeah!"
You set the bench as usual before seeing Aomine, "Let's do this already."
Kagami and Aomine were only a few feet away from each other, "Did you finish warming up?" Kagami smirked.
Aomine only smirked back, "Keep playing until the end. If you have it in you."
You made eye contact with Aomine before breaking it and turned to the benched players.
Kagami noticed that and couldn't help but ask, "What's up with you and my manager? You got some deep history or some shit?"
Aomine only looked back at the redhead, "Huh? I guess you could see that. We were best friends before."
Kagami looked slightly surprised at that but he knew since he heard of Kuroko's stories of you and the ace, "Oh. Well, I'm titled as her best friend now."
Aomine fully looked at Kagami giving him a smirk, "Oh?~ You're Her Majesty's new best friend? Well, she makes friends everywhere she goes."
Aomine started walking, "You're nothing special. One day, you'll part ways like we did as well." You could hear the slight venom in his tone. Hearing what Kagami said made him a little agitated but he pushed it aside, focusing on the game.
'There's no way you could replace me when it came to our bond.' Aomine thought.
"What is wrong with you?! You can't help but attract trouble wherever you go, huh?!" You hit Kagami on the head with a clipboard.
"Ow! Are you trying to pick a fight with me, shrimp?!" Kagami yelled, holding his head before butting heads with you.
"Maybe I am, you dim-witted strawberry head!" You replied, the two of you holding an irritated face.
"HA?! Dim-witted?! You're gonna regret that! Oh! It's ON you short-ass monster woman!" Kagami looked at you.
"Oh yeah?! Come on, big guy! Let's go!" You retorted, the two of you verbally arguing as the group only looked on.
"Jesus, this is like the third time they've pettily argued..." Hyuga sighed.
Izuki and the others only smiled, seeing the both of you so full of energy brought them some light in their gloomy world.
Aomine seeing the scene looked on in remembrance of moments where you two fought as friends.
"You stupid Aho-mine! That's your third foul in less than 20 minutes!" You hit Aomine's shoulder on the side which made him flinch since he's in his jersey that didn't cover that part of his shoulders.
"Hey! It's just that these guys like to make us have fouls! They purposely moved in front of me to get fouls can't you see that?!" Aomine retorted, pointing a finger at you.
"Of course, I do! That's why I'm mad that you didn't do anything to prevent it! I mean, come on! Ryo-kun can do better!" You crossed your arms and gestured your head towards Kise who was casually drinking his water bottle.
"Huh?! Why am I involved?!" Kise flinched now surprised, "Don't bother. They're always like this." Midorima stated, drying off the sweat of his hair.
"I find it quite amusing. They're best friends but act like enemies." Kuroko smiled.
"Is that a good way to put it...?" Kise mumbled in uncertainty.
"Ha?! Kise can't do better than me! He sucks ass! Last time he was the only one under 20 points under his norm!" Aomine was pissed you compared him to Kise.
"HEY! I was trying my best!"
"And stop saying such foul language! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?! You're gonna end up being some 90s delinquent in the movies if you keep this up! And you have poor grades, and it's also involved in how you play! Can't you try and NOT get agitated for a SECOND?!" You ranted like a mother towards him.
"HUH?! You calling me dumb, short stack?!" Aomine butted heads with you.
"YEAH! And I'll say it again! AHO-MINE!" You replied.
"THAT'S IT! LET'S GO, YOU SHORT ASS ELF!" Aomine retorted, his tick mark growing bigger by the second with yours as well.
"BRING IT!" You replied.
The two of you were seen squabbling around like 5-year-olds. Comically moving around the side of the court. You weren't hitting each other. It was more of a dramatic display of pettiness.
"Not again...! Aomine-kun! Don't hit (Y/N)-senpai please!" Momoi held a worried face, seeing the two comically squabbling and rolling around like children.
"Let them be. Aomine will be better in his plays when he knows (Y/N)-san is caring for him." The captain told Momoi.
"True...But they can get seriously injured..." Momoi nodded to what the captain said.
"It'll be alright, Momoi. They're reconciling in their way." Kuroko assured Momoi, making her do a 180, "Okay!"
Seeing you and Kagami made him think of the past, how he whispered things hadn't ended like they did before.
The new older Aomine gazed at her, not sure what to do. 'I already screwed up our first meeting...I can't screw the rest up...'
"Let the third quarter begin."
It was the third quarter, and Kuroko was seen beside you on the bench.
Sakurai passed to Wakamatsu who was being marked by Mitobe. Not seeing an opening, the blonde passed to their ace: Aomine.
Kagami is the one marking him. 'I bet they're going to make Aomine make most of their in the second half. It wouldn't be surprising. And with Tetsu-kun subbed out, we will barely hang on. But if we sub him too early it'll be worse in the last quarter.' You thought, writing down the date you acquired.
Kuroko glanced at you, seeing how stressed you were from all this. He held your hand, "It'll be fine. Kagami will surely pull off something."
You smiled softly at Kuroko, "Yeah...Thanks, Tetsu-kun."
"Are you sure you're all right after your encounter with Aomine?" Kuroko asked.
Your gaze narrowed sadly at his question, "I'm not sure. I told myself that I'll be strong when I see him...But..." you clutched your clipboard.
"But...I can't help but feel sad and angry that we had to end our friendship..." you spoke, taking in a shaky breath.
"It will be alright. I may not know how to make you both reconcile. But I do know that you Aomine will patch up soon. Have faith." Kuroko smiled gently at you.
"Right..." You nodded, agreeing with him before looking back at the one-on-one of Kagami against Aomine.
Kagami was passed by Aomine again, but he still couldn't keep up with Aomine's speed.
"The help is fast!" Fukuda stood up in confidence of his seniors, "And there's two of them." Kawahara said.
"But it's proven useless." You stated, making them see Aomine do some sort of formless shot.
"When it comes to movement, speed is not all about maximum speed. Your acceleration from zero to max, and your deceleration from max to zero. Agility, how quick you are on your feet." Midorima explained.
"Even among the Generation of Miracles, Aomine transcends the rest of us. Even (Y/N) couldn't keep up with her data." The green-haired male added.
Kagami jumped to try and block Aomine but he was still too agile for him. 'But...He still was able to catch up to him...! There might be a chance if Kagami could try and time his attacks.' You thought, writing down the data you acquired.
9 minutes and 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Tōō - 51
Seirin - 39
"Fast break!" You called out to Hyuga, knowing Imayoshi and Touou would get startled by the sudden change of pace.
"Oh no...!" You gasped seeing Aomine catch up and block the dunk.
"No, you don't," Aomine told Kagami who looked at him in irritation.
"You think it's that easy to make a fast break?" Aomine taunted Kagami but he grew serious seeing how far Kagami jumped.
'Is this guy serious? He just jumped from the free-throw line. Don't tell me he eas trying to dunk from there. Come on, now. (N/N) must've told him to do that. She's grown better at her data thing.' Aomine thought, before taking a small glance at you.
"Damn it, almost." Kawahara huffed, "But we're doing better than I expected! At this rate, we could..." Fukuda said, trying to cheer up the others.
Aomine smirked while chuckling, "Enough. Honest basketball just isn't for me."
'This aura...! No...It's too soon for that! What is he thinking? He looks too different from before.' Your eyes widened in shock to see the new aura you felt from Aomine.
Aomine purposely bounced the ball from behind him shocking Kagami. He then was able to agility get the ball back and shake off Kagami.
'These mouvements...They're unconventional tricky movements. Streetball...!' You thought, before being shocked to Kagami trip over his feet.
"Kagami!" You called out in worry.
Aomine went to get the basket, but Mitobe, Hyuga and Tsuchida blocked him. But of course, three people weren't even enough to stop the next shot he made.
That's when you noticed a change, your eyes seeing the visions and seeing the possible shots he could make, "No! Don't make him go behind the net!" You warned but it was too late.
Everyone was shocked when Aomine threw the ball from behind the net, making the shot.
Kagami smirked, "The Generation of Miracles is full of ridiculous guys."
Aomine only smirked in response, accepting Kagami's challenge.