#1 What is passion? [Knb fanfiction]

Chapter 22

Akashi Seijuro's POV

"Quit the basketball club." I advised Haizaki who was whimpering like a scared little puppy in front of me. 

"N-no. You... You can't tell me what to... do." He stuttered, shaking uncontrollably. 

"I suggest you quit it now or there would be one day where you will make a fool of yourself." I highlighted the word 'suggest'. 

The gym was dark. Practice was already finished. A thin skein of moonlight shone upon us. 

"No... Hahahaha." Haizaki laughed idiotically.

"One day Kise will beat you. Leave. Quit this club. And here." I handed a slip of paper to him. The grey haired boy stared at the name and phone number on that paper in confusion. 

"Dr. Matsuo?" He blinked and scrutinised at my face, eyebrows knitted together as if waiting for an explanation.

"You should go see him. He is a psychiatrist." I informed him. "Which... is?..." I sighed. With Midorima and Mizushima, none of these needed explaining. 

"Someone who specializes in mental health. Who treats patients with mental health disorder?" I asked a rhetorical question. Haizaki nodded slowly as if processing the pieces of information. 

"Okay..." He muttered before losing his temper. "WHAT?! YOU'RE SAYING I HAVE MENTAL HEALTH DISORDER?!!!" I nodded. My eyes narrowing at his late reaction. To be honest, I swear I could hear crows' grating caws in the sullen night sky.

"You... You little..." He glared at me and stomped off. 

"Scaredy-cat." I muttered, smirking. Hopefully, he will be nowhere to be seen from now on.

***

"Here is the matchup we have for the district tournament." Mizushima announced and handed everyone a piece of paper. 

"We can beat any opponents. No need for this." Aomine began but shut up immediately after seeing Mizushima's expression. 

Practice went on as usual. Aomine and Kise were having a showdown again. At the start, they were evenly matched for the fact that Kise already warmed up and Aomine hasn't. When Kise scored, Aomine scored back. Once Aomine warmed up enough, the point difference gradually increased. They were both having lots of fun. And as usual, Aomine won. Kise who was just a rookie could play this well against Aomine was at first quite shocking, no extremely shocking for all of us.

Timeskip: District tournament

***

Third Person's POV

"Pass! Pass!" A tall tanned male called out. His teammate passed the basketball to him, seeing he was free. The dark blue haired figure sprinted down the court at an unbelievable speed, dodging the arms of several defenders. 

"Aominecchi!" A certain blonde haired teammate called out. Aomine, who currently was in possession of the ball ignored the calls from his teammate and continued to dribble all by himself. He jumped up about to shoot, a defender followed suit, blocking the basketball hoop. Aomine smirked, his body leaning backwards until almost parallel to the floor. Then, just a split second before he crashed onto the floor, the ball left his hands, followed by the swish of the net.

When the opponents were attacking, it was as if Teiko's ace grew a thousand arms, he snatched the ball from the attacker in the least expected of times and scored instantly, just throwing the basketball into the basket with both hands.

That game was the first in middle school basketball history where the score was tripled. 

Yes, Teiko had tripled the opposing team's score. All thanks to their one and only ace - Aomine Daiki.

A black haired girl rose from her seat on the bench, her eyes wide from excitement. She was the first to notice that he had bloomed. Only, at that time, that girl was too naive as for she thought it was for the better. Little did she know, her best friends were about to change.

After the match, that girl, Mizushima told everyone that Aomine had reached a whole new level in basketball and everyone shared her joy and excitement of hearing this marvellous news. Aomine grinned, proud of himself.

"I'm going to bring our basketball to a whole new level." 

He had promised.

For the next games in the district tournament, Aomine crushed their opponents with three to five times their points but as the points he scored in each game grew, something else lessened - his passion for the sport. He gradually drifted farther and farther away from the rest of the team.

"A rival... I need a rival..." 

***

"Where's Aomine?" Akashi asked at practice one day, seeing that one figure seemed to have gone missing. 

"He skipped practice..." Momoi informed the furious captain, her eyes drooping down sadly. After Aomine skipped practice for the first time ever, he started to not try in matches as well. 

The boy who once couldn't live a single day without playing basketball now didn't bother to even pick up one. The past basketball maniac now did the minimum to just ensure Teiko's victory. The cheerful basketball player who previously played every single match with a smile now frowned all day. Basketball which was once his world was now nothing to him. 

The Aomine Daiki once upon a time was no more. He had changed, changed into someone indistinguishable.