Looking for a Miracle
Chapter Seventeen
It was Obvious

Soon after term began, it was announced that Kuroko was now officially a member of Teiko's first string. The look on his face was priceless - at that moment, he looked like the happiest person on earth. I was quick to congratulate him, hugging him tight. He deserved it, he really did.

It was also announced that Sei and the others would be the main starting lineup for all future matches, while Nijimura and the other third years would be mostly used as reserves.

"Apparently there's someone else joining the first string today," Aomine commented that same day as he and the others stretched and warmed up. "And he's only been on the basketball club for two weeks!"

My interest perked.

"Really?" I chirped. "What's his name?"

"Kise Ryouta."

I blinked. "Kise?"

The blond model...

"You know him?" Aomine asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Sei stiffen where he was talking with Nijimura, and look back at us.

"I know his name, but I don't know him per say, exempting a few run-ins."

I'm not sure running into him a few times and calling hello to each other in the halls could be considered as knowing someone.

The tension left Sei's body, and he returned to assisting Nijimura with practice.

I had heard the school talk about Kise, and knew that, on top of his good looks and modelling career, he was a natural sportsman. I hadn't thought he'd be interested in basketball though, since from what I'd heard, he'd never settled for long at one sport.

Still, he must be really good to make it to first string after only two weeks. I shook my head. "So he's joining us now, huh? That's pretty incredible... Has Satsuki gone to bring him over?"

The others confirmed that she had. My head swivelled around to the door at regular intervals as I eagerly anticipated my friend's arrival with Kise. I was curious to see what Kise could add to the team.

I was talking with Sei when a loud voice called so loudly everyone in the gym heard, "Hey, they're here! I was really looking forward to this! After all I joined the basketball club to play with you Aominecchi!"

I looked over my shoulder and saw the tall blond model approach Aomine, who looked taken aback.

"-Cchi?" he muttered, stunned. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, sure... looking forward to it Kise-kun."

Wanting to save Aomine from his discomfort, I raised my hand and waved. "Kise, been a while," I called.

Kise's head shot up, and his eyes widened. "Akanecchi?"

I choked. Akanecchi?

Behind me, Sei had gone still.

I raised an eyebrow. "Hang on, I can understand why you'd refer to Aomine that way, but why me?"

"I've heard about you from the others and Akashicchi!" Kise exclaimed, undaunted. "You're one of the top students, aren't you, as well as the manager!"

"One of the managers," I corrected quietly with a glance at Momoi, since Aomine had just stepped forward. I took the chance to step a little closer to Sei.

"Ah, Kise-kun, you should properly greet this guy!" Aomine said, clapping Kuroko on the back. "He's apparently your mentor from now on!"

Kuroko is going to mentor Kise? Since when was this decided, and why haven't I heard anything about it?

Kise frowned and looked wildly around and, just like everyone else, his eyes slipped over Kuroko. I sighed.

"He's next to you," I supplied blandly, jerking my head in Kuroko's direction.

Kise practically jumped out of his skin when Kuroko approached him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," my friend said, bowing. "I'm Kuroko Tetsuya."

Kise yelped like he'd seen a ghost and hastily jumped back. I covered my mouth with my hands to smother a giggle.

"Eh?" Kise exclaimed, eyes wide and almost fearful. He pointed a Kuroko with a shaking hand. "Who are you? Since when have you been there?"

"I'm Kuroko Tetsuya," Kuroko repeated, in such an indifferent tone I felt giggles threaten again. "I've been here since a while ago."

"And also... eh? Mentor? Who is?"

"Me."

Kise looked so incredulous I actually snorted. He sent a look my way, but I just shrugged and folded my arms, a smirk on my face.

He might be doubtful now, but I doubted it would last for long.

'"Make sure you listen to what he says!" Aomine said, grinning. "Even though he looks like that, he's a fully-fledged regular!"

Kise actually choked.

"Regular? No way!"

His disbelief and disdain rubbed me the wrong way.

Just you wait Kise Ryouta. You'll see why Kuroko Tetsuya is so special soon enough. I snickered, imagining Kise's reaction to Kuroko's misdirection if he was already reacting in this manner. He'd be left speechless.

Further arguments were prevented with the commencement of training, and I was left with Momoi while the boys played. The two of us watched Kise with particular interest, and I was astounded to see how good he was after only having played basketball for two weeks. If I wasn't seeing it with my own eyes, I would say that that

"Kise's pretty good..." I mused with a shake of my head. "I can't believe he's only been playing for two weeks."

Momoi nodded. "His natural talent for sport helps. He has huge potential."

About halfway into practice a practice match was started, taking place across two courts. When Sei's court finished, I was next to him in a minute, drink bottle at the ready. He inclined his head gratefully and accepted it.

A sudden outburst a yelling made me jump and whip around. The practice match on the other court had come to a standstill - and Kise and Kuroko were apparently having a disagreement.

"What's going on? Why are they yelling?" I mumbled, furrowing my eyebrows.

Midorima glanced sideways at Sei. "Akashi..."

Sei sighed and rubbed his forehead. "This is unfortunate. I can't imagine he'll understand if we explain it to him."

I bit my lip. Kuroko's misdirection was definitely a difficult thing to explaij... And you couldn't fully appreciate it unless you saw it with your own eyes. I hadn't until I had.

"Should we give him a different mentor?" I asked tentatively.

"No... This is fine," Sei said, after a thought. "I'll think of something." He scanned the building. "By the way, where's Nijimura?"

"He went to go talk with the coach about something," I said. I'd seen him leave for the coach's office. I didn't know what for but it must be a serious matter if he was going to the coach's office instead of approaching him during practice

Sei frowned. "I see..."

See checked his watch. "I'm going to find Nijimura," he resolved. "I'll probably be a while, Akane, so there's no need to wait for me."

"No, that's no problem." I smiled at my best friend. "I'll wait for you."

Was I imagining things, or was he smiling ever so slightly at my words?

"Thank you, Akane," he said sincerely, and left.

I lingered why the exit, playing on my phone while I waited. I checked the time anxiously as I waited. Two minutes passed, then five, ten... I pursed my lips. He was taking longer than I thought a discussion with Nijimura would normally go on for.

About fifteen minutes later, Sei reappeared. He was barely paying attention to anything, and appeared lost in thought.

I bit my lip. That doesn't look too good.

I was next to him in an instant.

"Sei? What's wrong?" I demanded.

"Nothing." Sei paused then added quietly, "Nijimura-san just requested to the coach that I be made captain."

I stopped in my tracks. Sei noticed this a few seconds later, and turned to face me.

"What?" I squeaked, eyes wide.

"He doesn't feel fit to be captain any longer, so he requested that Coach pass the role to me. He says it's pretty much guaranteed."

He was trying to pass it off like it was nothing, but I knew him better than that. I could see the telltale signs in his expression and actions - he was stunned. A little overwhelmed. Worried for Nijimura.

"Whoa," I breathed, though I was watching Sei closely out of concern. "This is incredible. Second year and already captain... Congratulations, Sei!"

Second year and captain... it was unheard of. I could only imagine the pressures that would soon be placed on Sei's shoulders to take responsibility for the entire team. It was now up to him to ensure Teiko continued to win... With the team we had now, I saw no reason why we shouldn't, but if for some shock reason Teiko should lose... Eyes would turn to the coaches, and to Sei.

I wondered if any of those thoughts had passed through Sei's head. I was sure at some point, they had. Sei understood the expectations better than anyone. I hoped they weren't bothering him too much - he now had those concerns and expectations of the school on top of his father's ridiculous expectations of him.

I checked the time and sighed. "If it wasn't so late I'd love to go out and treat you to something, to celebrate."

That was what was important right now; to ensure that he didn't feel too burdened. To ensure that he didn't feel a constant niggling of worry, to make sure that every once in a while, he could do something he wanted to.

But Sei rested a hand on my shoulder. He wasn't smiling, but something in his eyes softened. "Your support is more than enough, Akane."

I couldn't explain why I suddenly felt warmed by his words.

***

A week had passed, but so far no announcement had been made that Sei would be made the next captain. However, I had seen the coach of the first string discussing - it looked like the decision had been made, and would be announced the following week.

Even though I was worried for him, I still felt a small rush of pride whenever I thought about it. It demonstrated that there was great confidence in Sei if he would be appointed captain, especially when he was only in his second year. It was a huge accomplishment.

However, I had little time to worry about this. The atmosphere in the first string had changed since Kise joined. Since a practice game had not yet been played, Kise still refused to accept Kuroko. If that wasn't enough, Haizaki still hardly turned up, and now whenever he did, he and Kise had a blatantly obvious rivalry. Their play styles were similar, and they played the same position. Whenever they were in the same room, an argument was guaranteed to blow up. Kise had even challenged Haizaki to one-on-one challenges and Haizaki had beat him in all contests thus far.

Though to be fair, Haizaki had been playing basketball a solid year longer than Kise had. And Kise kept his ground remarkably well for someone who had only had two weeks of experience before.

So it was a pleasant relief when Momoi and I were asked to scout the next team we'd play for an upcoming practice match.

"Thanks heavens we can escape training for a while," I breathed to my friend, as we oversaw the team and made notes on him. "I don't think I'll be able to put up with Kise and Haizaki's arguments for much longer."

After the mayhem of the gym, it was just so nice to spend some time with Momoi in a relatively calmer environment; I hadn't been able to spend too much time with her alone in the past few weeks.

"This is more interesting, anyway," Momoi chirped. He glanced up from her notes to look at me, beaming. "And hey, I get to spend time with you!"

I grinned back. "Agreed."

We were at the game longer than usual and, to delay returning to the gym even more, we stopped by a shop for a coffee - we reasoned this by saying it was a time to compare data and assure compatibility, but really neither of us wanted to get a headache from Kise and Haizaki's constant arguing.

When we could no longer put it off we returned. The gym was mostly empty, but Sei was still there, waiting for us.

"Ah, thank you Momoi, Akane," he said, taking our data. "This will be useful, as always."

"Hey, you guys are so talented that you probably don't need us," I teased, and winked.

Sei smiled ruefully at me - I thought I could see him suppress laughter. "Akane, every little bit of data you and Momoi collects is invaluable - it truly is."

My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly pushed my hair into my face to hide the small blush on my face.

Momoi glanced at the two of us, a sly smile on her lips. She began to step back. "I just remembered, I have somewhere I need to be. I'll see you two later!"

"Satsuki!" I called, but my friend had already disappeared.

I couldn't understand, but I needed Satsuki by my side. After all the time I spent alone with Sei, right now I couldn't be left alone with him. My cheeks were prone to blushing, my legs felt a little like jelly. I needed Satsuki to remain calm - but she was no longer here, leaving me entirely vulnerable.

"Your data analysis is really very good, Akane," Sei said presently. I jumped and whipped my head back around, away from where I had been watching Momoi leave. "And Momoi has mentioned that you can tell exactly how players can improve?"

I laughed shakily and shrugged, trying to appear blasé.

"It's not difficult. I just pay attention."

"The detail you go into? Not many people go that far - it's incredible." I tried to ignore the way my stomach swooped at his praise. "It comes from your skills with biology and literature, no doubt - your knowledge of the human body and analysis." He glanced up at me. "Akane, soon we should have you analyse everyone in turn and point out areas to work on - everyone's performances really could improve."

It wasn't just my face that was heating up - it was my entire body.

"I guess," I stammered. "But I can't be sure - I haven't been able to prove anything yet."

I couldn't have Sei put all his trust on me, only for me to be unable to give results.

But he took my hand, and his eyes blazed with trust. "I have faith in you," he said, sincerity in his every word. "I always have, and this time is no different."

There was the slightest of smiles on his lips, and it was for that smile that I loved seeing more than anything that made it say, "Okay. I'll do it."

And then his smile widened, and it was then it hit me full on in the face.

Oh good lord.

Now I understood why I felt so funny around him.

Momoi was right.

I liked Sei.

I had a crush on my best friend.