The Demon Sixth Man (KNB)

Episode 13

Sei calling...

Kamiko looked up from her iPod in surprise as she saw the name on her phone calling. She slipped her iPod into her bag as she answered the call with a smile. "Sei." She looked at her duffel bag, picking it up to place it on her lap.

"So you've won the first three matches, Kami. Congratulations." The redhead's smooth voice echoed into the line.

The sky-bluenette giggled softly, and that sound made him smile through the phone. It has been a while since he's heard her giggle and somehow it never failed to amaze him, as the sound was melodious to hear unto his ears. "Thanks but I don't think you would only be calling me just to congratulate me, Sei." She said, making him snort at the comment then.

Akashi wasn't particularly interested in anything by then, but he heard the obvious signs of fatigue on the other line and grew concerned. "You sound tired. How did the matches go?"

"Seirin made it through our first game of the preliminaries," Kamiko answered, leaning against the backrest of the bench. "Our second game was against Jitsuzen High, we won 118 to 51." She looked at her fingers as she counted. "The only time I was benched was during the third game against Kinga High," She puffed her cheeks in annoyance, almost forgetting that her best friend couldn't see it.

"Kinga, huh?" Akashi mused. "They are the school that ranked in last year's top 16, one of those schools that had a good balance of offense and defense."

Kamiko smiled and nodded. "Right, but it didn't stop Seirin from beating them with the game count 92 to 71."

Akashi continued. "You don't sound particularly happy being benched at the third game," he teased and Kamiko rolled her eyes. "Did you just roll your eyes at me, young lady?" He mused warningly, causing the girl to widen her eyes in surprise. "You should be happy I'm not physically present or I would have to gauge your eyes out."

The girl gasped in mock horror. "You wouldn't dare hurt your beloved best friend!"

To that, the redhead chuckled lightly. "I'm glad you know that quite well. I should go. Good luck with your next match, Kami."

As the fourth match in the Inter-High preliminaries, Seirin High had beaten Meijo Academy to a pulp, with the game count 108 to 41.

Riko marked out the chart listing the schools that are currently participating in the Inter-High, and she froze when she saw just who their future opponents might be if they continued winning all their matches.

"We're doing well," Kawahara commented.

"At this rate, maybe we'll make it through the preliminaries all the way to the championship league," Fukuda said.

"How naïve," Izuki groaned.

"It must be nice being so young and carefree," Koganei commented, oblivious to the weird looks from the rest of his team at that. Wasn't he just a year older than the freshmen?

Seeing no one about to explain the situation, Hyuuga took over. "For the last ten years, the same three schools have moved onto the championship league from Tokyo," he explained. "King of the East, Shutoku. King of the West, Senshinkan. King of the North, Seiho. They're evenly matched, so the top team changes every year, but they never let anyone else get better than fourth place. They're the three immobile kings of Tokyo. After our fifth match, are the semi-finals, then the finals, we'll likely come up against..." Kamiko knew what Hyuuga is about to say. "... the King of the East, Shutoku, that had acquired Midorima Shintaro of the Generation of Miracles."

Upon hearing Midorima's name, Kamiko tensed up, an action that caught Kagami's attention. Kamiko stared at her left hand, slowly clenching it into a fist.