The Lost Shadow

12

{Kagami POV}

"First years, meet, Kiyoshi Teppei." Coach said.

He was taller than I was. He waved, smiling.

"Hello!"

"Let me just ask you one question, Kiyoshi..." Captain said, an irk mark appearing on his head. "Why. In the WORLD. Are you wearing. Your freaking. UNIFORM?!"

"Ahh, I got a bit excited, haha." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "You know, since I'm coming back!"

I noticed Kuroko watch him carefully.

"Well then, now that he's here, let's get some serious training down!"

(Time skip)

It was time for our first game. I was beyond excited.

"You haven't slept at all, haven't you?"

"Shut up." I muttered.

We entered the gym, and saw the other team warm up. They were shooting baskets and dribbling. Some were dunking, while others were practicing rebounds.

"Alright! Let's show everyone how much we've improved as a team!" Coach said, pumping her fists.

"Yeah!"

After warmups, the game officially started.

Kiyoshi-Senpai played extremely well. He was a talented center. His training really payed off.

During the training, Coach told me that I need to try coordinating with Kuroko more. I was the only one who could catch his passes perfectly. We were each others' 'strengths'.

The ball came into my hands, passed by Kuroko, and I dunked it perfectly.

And that ended the game: 108-61

"Nice game!"

"Save your energy, you guys." Coach said in our locker room. "Good job, today!"

(Again, I'm sorry for the countless mistakes I make, I just don't want to/can't copy the exact style of the anime, so...)

Our next game was against Senshinkan, and again, we won. It was harder than the first; but we managed to beat them 78-61.

Our next game was tomorrow, and we were playing against Shuutoku. They managed to beat Kirisaki Daiichi.

{Kiyoshi POV}

We were exiting the stadium when someone caught the corner of my eye.

"Oi, Kiyoshi, hurry up."

"Ahh, go up ahead first, okay? I'll catch up." I said, smiling. Hyuuga rolled his eyes and the team left. My smile slowly faded.

"It's been a while." I said to the figure. He snickered.

"Kiyoshi Teppei." He said, standing up. I turned my body to face him. "How's your injury?"

I didn't respond, my guard up.

"Well~ Shuutoku beat us." He said, shrugging. "And if worse comes to worse..."

He leaned in, his tongue sticking out all evilly. "You'll be playing us next."

I looked down at him, since he was much shorter than I was. "We will beat you, Hanamiya."

"How exciting. A fight between two of the Uncrowned Kings." He said, smirking. "We'll see."

I glared at his figure as he walked away.

"Hanamiya..."

(Time skip)

Hanamiya's words were right. Sometimes I wondered if he was able to tell the future for EVERYTHING, not just basketball.

Our game with Shuutoku resulted in a tie, so we were playing against Kirisaki.

It was very silent in the locker room. We had a few minutes before playing.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat my words for this game." Riko said, her arms crossed. "This team is a strong team. They hurt their opponents to win."

I unnoticeably turned to Kagami and Kuroko. Kagami was glaring at the locker room, and Kuroko was petting Number 2.

"We'll start and see how they play. The starting lineup will be Kagami, Kuroko, Hyuuga, Izuki, and Mitobe."

I jerked my head toward her. "Wait. Why am I not in the lineup?"

She sighed. "Baka, you need to tape your knees. I'm not about to send an injured player out onto court."

"I'm not injured anymore! I can play—"

Hyuuga hit the back of my head.

"Ow..."

"Do you know not trust your team at all? Idiot." He said. "We'll lead the game in the first quarter, and you can go bash their heads in the second quarter. Got that?"

I hesitated at first. I didn't want this. I wanted to play as much as possible.

"Ok..."

"Good! Let's go win again!"

"Yeah!"

{Kuroko POV}

"Let's have a good game!"

I fixed my wristband and took a deep breath, watching as Kagami-kun snagged the ball. Izuki-Senpai caught it and we started to run to the hoop.

Before Izuki-Senpai could pass to Captain, however, a player on the other team managed to steal the ball and turn the game back.

Izuki-Senpai has his Eagle eye...he couldn't have messed up.

Flashback

"Be careful of Hanamiya, number 9." Kiyoshi-Senpai said. "He could predict his opponent's future moves."

Just like Akashi-Kun I had thought.

But this was different from Akashi-Kun, in a way. His predictions were more...beautiful. Graceful.

Number 9's moves were really creepy, and felt "evil".

Kirisaki scored their first point. The crowd went wild.

"Tch." Kagami-kun said. "We'll get the next point. They fricken' stepped on my foot! What the hell?"

"Coach warned us." I reminded him. "Please don't get so riled up."

He sighed. "Right."

(Time skip)

Currently, the scores were 37-39, with Kirisaki in the lead.

It was currently break time, and we had 10 minutes before the start of the last half of the game.

I was wiping my sweat, and trying to calm my beating heart, when suddenly, the doors slammed open. I closed my eyes, guessing it was probably one of the senpais.

"Tetsuya."

My eyes shot open and I abruptly stood up, facing the door. His flashy red hair entered my line of vision, and he smiled his calculating smile as we made eye-contact.

"Excuse me, who are you?"

My mind went blank and I felt my breath come out in shaky exhales.

"I'm looking for Tetsuya." He said. His voice...It sent shivers down my spine. His heterochromatic eyes gazed into mine in its calm, familiar manner. "Long time no see, Tetsuya."

"A-Akashi-kun..."