Okay, I swear this is the last one I'm posting today. Hope you enjoy!

"I told you we weren't going to beat them," Koganei whined as Riko blew her whistle.

"Yeah, yeah," Hyuuga sighed as he wiped sweat off his forehead. "We know. You told us." He glanced back at Koganei. "But you're also the one that wanted to play."

Koganei rolled his shoulders and looked up at the scoreboard. "Playing in matches is fun, even if it's practice and you're going to lose."

24:39. The second years were getting better.

Kagami grinned. He was out of breath, but his eyes were bright. No one knew how, but they were all certain that he had grown more over the summer.

He was the only one who didn't seem too exerted on his team. Everyone else was bent over their knees, panting for breath.

Riko scowled at them. "Didn't you practice over the summer?"

"I practiced with Kagami nearly every day," Kuroko panted, looking up at her.

Riko sighed. Kuroko's physical ability hadn't gotten any better. She turned to the other second years. "You all need to do better. Kagami and Kuroko carried you during that match."

"We can't help it if we're not up to their level."

Oh. Hyuuga tensed. That was not going to end well.

Kawahara seemed to know that he had messed up the second the words had left his mouth. He dropped into a bow. "I'm sorry! I just meant Kagami has a better physical ability than us!"

"That's true," Riko agreed, walking towards him. "But that doesn't mean that you get to slack off. After this year, you'll be the seniors. You'll be the ones on the starting line, leading by example. And right now, you're in nowhere near the stage you need to be at." Her gaze flickered to Fukuda, but when it landed on Furihata, she nodded. "You did well." Then she turned away. "I'll go get the first years."

Kagami blinked and snorted. "I almost forgot about the try-outs," he admitted as Riko walked away.

Kuroko sighed and stood, still out of breath, but no longer gasping to fill his lungs. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kagami glared at him.

Kuroko shrugged and looked towards the door as Riko led the troop of first years into the gym. He counted eight.

"Not a bad lot this year," Hyuuga murmured, watching them line up. "Still less than we should have gotten."

Kiyoshi chuckled. "You can't expect everyone to show a sudden interest just because we won the Winter Cup."

Hyuuga folded his arms and Kagami scoffed. "Yes we can."

"Welcome to the try-outs for the Seirin Basketball Team." Riko smiled at the first years, ignoring the older players. "I'm Aida Riko – the team coach."

Just like the previous year, mutters and shocked looks ran around the group.

"I thought it was that guy!"

Riko looked back. Takeda. Again.

Kuroko didn't even know how the first years thought he could coach them when he couldn't walk.

"No, he's our advisor. Takeda-sensei. If you have a problem with that, you can easily leave." Riko's smile grew. "Now, take off your shirts."

There was less of a shock to this than the previous year, though Kuroko noticed a few first years still staring at Riko as she watched. One hesitated, lowered his shirt again, and left the gym.

Seven students were left.

"She's enjoying this too much," one snickered to another.

Riko shot him a glare. "You can't even do fifty side-lunges in a minute. You'll need to do a lot better if you want to make the team." She continued through them before her eyes landed on the final one.

Kuroko watched. She didn't react the same way as she had to Kagami. He didn't expect her to.

But she did seem surprised by the numbers she was seeing.

The boy raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?" He was smirking.

Riko turned away from him. "No. Shirts back on; let's start warm-ups."

"She was checking you out," a first year snorted to the one Riko had paused at.

Kuroko frowned at them. "Please concentrate on the warm-up." He turned away from them, but he didn't miss the mocking look on the first boy's face.

Riko ignored them. After the usual lunges, stretches, and short sprints, she clapped her hands. "Let's do a one-quarter practice game. Hyuuga, Mitobe, you're team captains." The two walked to opposite sides of her. "Koganei, with Hyuuga. Izuki, Mitobe." She listed out everyone until she got to Kagami and Kuroko. "Kuroko, Hyuuga. Kagami, Mitobe."

Kagami's head snapped towards her. "What? But we've been working all summer-"

"And there are going to be some matches where you won't be able to play at the same time, so you need to get used to that." She smiled. "Kuroko, Hyuuga. Kagami, Mitobe."

Kuroko strode over to Hyuuga and Kagami huffed but walked over to the other captain.

Riko hummed and looked over the first years. "Fujimoto, Hyuuga. Watanabe, Mitobe. Tachibana, Hyuuga."

Tachibana. The boy Riko had paused at.

Kuroko managed to get a good look at him as he walked over. Bright orange hair brushed and gelled into a comb-over, dark brown eyes. His skin was similar in colour to Aomine's, maybe a little lighter. A lip piercing hung from his mouth, and two studs rested on his left ear.

He gave Kuroko a smirk as he walked past him. Surprising; aside from Kagami and Riko, he seemed to be the only one to notice him unless he spoke.

Hopefully that would last into the match.

"Alright, Hyuuga, your team is bibs. Mitobe, no-bibs. Let's go!"

Kuroko fell into the game process quickly. They played with everyone, so it was crowded, but it was the best way to watch the first years playing with and against everyone.

Kuroko found himself easily passing to Tachibana more than anyone else. The boy just seemed to always be in the right place, or able to get to the right place in time for the pass.

But Kuroko forgot that he couldn't use some of his passes and ended up letting Mitobe's team score a few points at the start.

"Dude," Fujimoto complained as Kuroko panted for breath in the pause after a point was won. "Do you want us to lose or something?"

"No. You're just not as good as I'm used to." Kuroko used the hem of his shirt to wipe his sweat away and let it fall back into place. "I'll try to remember your level."

Fujimoto opened his mouth to retort, but his eyes dropped to Kuroko's shoulder. "What the fuck?"

"Fujimoto, are you playing or not?" Someone complained. Kuroko didn't know their name yet.

"That guy's a girl! See, she's wearing a sports bra!" Fujimoto called, pointing to Kuroko.

Kuroko quickly pulled his shirt so it hid the strap as the game fell to silence.

"Aren't you guys going to do anything?" Fujimoto looked around at the second and third years.

"Kuroko's part of the team. What do you want us to do?" Hyuuga folded his arms.

"She's a girl and it's a boys' team!" Watanabe snapped.

"Do you want to fucking go?" Kagami growled, stalking towards him. Kuroko caught his arm, stopping him from reaching the boy.

Riko locked eyes with Kuroko, and he looked away. The coach blew her whistle. "Practice game is over at a draw," she called. "Go change. Practice is for two hours after school every Wednesday and Friday, and one hour every other day."

Hyuuga's team threw off their bibs. The older players folded them and the younger threw them into a pile.

"I'm not changing with her in the room," Kuroko heard Watanabe mutter as he passed.

If he hadn't still been holding Kagami's arm, Kuroko knew he would have grabbed the first year. "Leave it," he muttered. "It's better than being called it."

"You still shouldn't have to deal with that shit," Kagami protested, looking down at him.

Kuroko wouldn't meet his gaze. "Let's just get our bags and go for some burgers. We don't need to change." Kagami didn't argue.

"I can't believe you got away with not having your summer homework done," Kagami grumbled, dropping onto the floor of the roof.

Kuroko was already sitting and didn't look up when Kagami spoke. "Detention ended early today."

"Yeah, 'cause it's the second day." Kagami glared at him. "And that wasn't my point."

"It's not my fault if the teacher didn't check my homework." There was a small smile on Kuroko's lips and Kagami grabbed him, ruffling his hair as much as he could.

"You little asshole, you used your misdirection so he wouldn't see you!"

Kuroko started laughing and pushed at Kagami's chest, trying to get out of his grip. "No I didn't! I was just lucky, I swear!"

"Sure you were," Kagami scoffed but released him.

Kuroko brushed out his hair with his fingers. "At least they don't cut extra-curricular activities if you get too many detentions. The only reason Aomine was never cut was because of how good he was."

"Jerk." Kagami unwrapped his first sandwich.

Kuroko rolled his eyes. "I don't know why you two still pretend to hate one another."

"What do you mean 'pretend'?"

"I mean I saw you guys kiss at the fourth of July party you threw." Kuroko smirked. It had been for Alex mainly – she always got a bit homesick, so they had invited a few friends over, ate cake, drank a little, and pretended to know what they were celebrating.

Kagami's face started to burn. "We were drunk as hell, that doesn't count!"

"Does too!"

"Well..." Kagami fumbled for words. "I saw you kiss him too!" He snapped in English.

Kuroko blinked. "What was that?"

"I said I saw you kiss him at New Year's," Kagami translated.

Kuroko shrugged and looked up at the sky. "So?"

"So? So you kissed!"

"So did you."

"Doesn't count." Kagami folded his arms.

"Does too." Kuroko cracked a smile. "And anyway, everyone was kissing someone."

"Still." Kagami opened his lunchbox and tore into his sandwich. "You looking forward to practice?"

Kuroko hummed. "Sort of. Coach's planning a game with another school, right?"

"I think so." Kagami swallowed hard. "And what was with the lukewarm reaction?"

Kuroko's gaze flickered to him again. "Nothing."

"Don't nothing me." Kagami shifted to look at him. "Did what those guys said bother you?"

"A bit."

"How much is a bit?"

"Just that." Kuroko shrugged one shoulder. "A bit."

Kagami watched him for a moment and sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't do anything."

"I didn't want you to." Kuroko stared up at the sky though the brightness made him squint. "You can't fight all of my battles for me, Kagami-kun."

"I know but I can help with some of them." Kagami kicked the ground.

Kuroko shook his head. "I really don't mind," he mumbled. "I had similar reactions at Teikō."

"So? That doesn't mean you should have, or that you should have had to deal with that yesterday." Kagami's natural scowl deepened.

"I'll get used to it."

"You will in your fucking ass get used to it," Kagami snapped in English. Kuroko didn't even have to look at him before he corrected himself again. "Sorry. You're not going to have to get used to it. We're sorting this out during practice."

"I don't want to draw attention to myself."

He knew from experience what attention did. Attention was bad.

Attention made characters like Haizaki notice him. The experience still terrified him – and it had grown with age. He never went near the incinerator anymore. He always refused to bring anything down there as a classroom chore, so eventually, the teacher had stopped asking.

Attention made characters like Akashi notice him. That only drew more attention, which drew more attention, which drew more attention. He couldn't deal with that.

"You won't." Kagami hesitated. "Well, maybe a little. But if we don't do something, it'll get bigger until it's too hard for you to handle."

"I don't think it'll be that bad."

"You're right. It won't. Because we're not going to let it." Kagami stood and walked around Kuroko until he was looking down at him and the other boy was meeting his gaze. "Just let me handle it. Just this once."

Kuroko sighed – long, low, and slow. "I really don't think this is a good idea." He knew it was a losing battle. Once Kagami had an idea in his head that he was doing the right thing, that was it. There was no convincing him to do anything else.

"I'm sure that it is," Kagami insisted. "Please."

Kuroko closed his eyes for a moment. "Okay," he mumbled. "Okay, we'll try to sort it out at practice." Despite Kagami's smile, the sinking feeling in his chest only got worse as he agreed.

Kuroko avoided the boys' changing rooms that day. Kagami didn't try to talk him into it – he went into the boys' bathroom and changed in the cubicles with him instead.

Once in the gym, they both made a beeline towards Riko. Riko didn't even look up. "Kagami, your shirt's on backwards."

"So?"

"So fix it." She sighed, her eyes flicking down and across a sheet full of statistics.

"Later. Coach, you saw what happened yesterday," Kagami snapped.

"And I didn't react because I didn't think Kuroko would want that." Riko looked up at Kuroko. She had calmed down a lot since their first year. "Was I wrong?"

Kuroko looked away. "No."

"But we want you to do something today," Kagami jumped in. "Can you talk to them before practice? They'll listen to you."

Riko hummed. "I'll try," she assured him, "but you're giving me too much credit." Her eyes flickered to the group of first years as they walked in. "I think they're going to be more of a challenge than any team we face this year."

Kuroko followed her gaze and locked eyes with Tachibana for a second. The other smiled, cold and hard, while his eyes glinted bright and intelligent.

She was right, and it scared him.

"But you'll talk to them?" Kagami confirmed.

Riko snorted. "Bakagami. Of course I'll talk to them." She stood up and walked over to the first years. "It's your first official practice, and you're already late."

"But we had to change," Watanabe protested.

Riko shrugged. "So did the second and third years, and they were in the gym at exactly five and are already finished stretching."

"They're not." Fujimoto pointed to Kuroko and Kagami.

"That's because they came to me to raise an issue with me." Riko's eyes narrowed and she clapped her hands. "Everyone, gather up. Second and third years too." Everyone circled around her. The first years were trapped in the middle so they couldn't escape. "We never really addressed this last year, so I want to make this perfectly clear to everyone – although we haven't had any issues until now." Riko folded her arms. "Kuroko is a transgender man. He plays on the boys' basketball at Seirin. He played on this team last year. He played on the boys' team at Teikō middle school when he attended. He wears the boys' uniform, uses the boys' bathroom, and changes in the boys' changing room. He's a boy and he has just as much right as everyone else to be on this team, if not more." Her eyes moved from Fujimoto, to Watanabe, to Nakamura, to Kuroda, Akimoto, to Saruwatari, to Tachibana. "His name is Kuroko Tetsuya. His old name is none of your business. He wears a sports bra during practice because it's not particularly safe for him to wear a binder during it. His chest and genitals are none of your business. Where he's at in his transition is none of your business. The only thing that is your business is what he chooses to disclose to you himself, and then, it is no one else's business so you don't tell anyone else. He uses he and him as pronouns. Not she and her, not they and them, and certainly not it. Understood?" The second and third years nodded. Riko glared at the group of first years. "I said understood?" Tachibana was the first to nod, but his eyes hadn't changed. "Good." She looked to each one of them again. "Anyone who has a problem with Kuroko can leave. We don't want you on the team. Kuroko is one of our best players. Anyone bullying him in any way will be kicked off. Understood?" Again, Tachibana led the round of nods. "Good. Start stretching and warm-ups. Fifty side lunges." She blew her whistle.

Everyone lined up on one side of the court and began. Kuroko ended up between Fujimoto and Kagami.

"So your name is Tetsuya?" Fujimoto asked.

Kuroko didn't like the grin on his face. "I'd prefer if you called me Kuroko."

"So why did you transition, Tetsuya?"

Kuroko gritted his teeth. "That's my business."

"Oh come on, I'm just trying to be friendly." Fujimoto's grin grew.

"Please let me just warm up."

"Fujimoto." Fujimoto glanced to the side and Kuroko followed his gaze to see Tachibana beside him. "Lay off him."

"Well then I don't want to be near her." Fujimoto grumbled and used his side-lunges to move around Tachibana so he was no longer beside Kuroko.

"Him," Tachibana corrected before Kuroko could.

Kuroko hesitated, watching the orange-haired boy. Maybe he had been wrong about him?

But when Tachibana turned to him, his eyes were bright and face cold again. "Just know this," he murmured so even Kagami and Fujimoto couldn't hear him. Kuroko could barely even catch what he was saying. "We only get kicked if we're caught bullying you. Watch your back, Kuroko Tetsuya."

"Morning, Kuroko," Takeda greeted as he stepped into her office.

"Morning." He nodded as he sat in his usual armchair. Takeda shook her hair behind her shoulders. Kuroko noticed she had dyed it blonde. "Your hair looks nice."

"Thank you." She smiled. "So does yours. Did you get it cut recently?"

Kuroko ran a hand through his hair. "Yes." He had shaved it tightly at the back and a little at the sides so it didn't hang at the sides of his face.

"It suits you a lot better." Takeda nodded. That brought a small smile to Kuroko's face. He preferred it this way, and so did Kagami. His mother didn't. "So, it's been two weeks since we last saw each other. How did school start off?"

Kuroko hesitated. "Really good. We had basketball try-outs and we got some... really good new players. One's called Tachibana-san. He's almost as fast as Aomine."

Takeda's eyebrows arched. "Really? Do you think he could become like Kagami?"

Kuroko chewed his lip. "I don't know." He hoped not. "He might."

"He sounds like he'd be a good asset to the team if he did." Takeda crossed her legs. "How did he and the others react when they realised Takeda-sensei wasn't your coach?"

Kuroko pretended to chuckle. "Someone left."

Takeda's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah. Riko-san told them that if they didn't want her as their coach, they could leave, and one kid did." Kuroko nodded. "She didn't seem all that bothered though."

Takeda hummed. "Still. It sounds like a bad group this year – or at least worse than last year."

"They're not bad." Kuroko shrugged. "They're just... different. That just happened to be one bad person, and they're gone now."

"True," Takeda agreed. "Do you have any matches coming up?"

Kuroko hummed. "Yeah. Riko-san was skipping the whole way down to the gym because she got a practice match with Kaijo."

"That's Kise's school, right? Have you talked to him?"

"He hasn't stopped texting me since he found out." Kuroko took out his phone and flicked through it for Takeda to see. "See what I mean?"

"Wow, you weren't kidding," Takeda laughed. "He doesn't know when to stop."

"Nope. And Kagami-kun just eggs him on by indulging him," Kuroko sighed.

"Are they friends now?"

"Kagami-kun still pretends to hate all of them," Kuroko replied, "but yeah. He, Kise-kun, Aomine-kun, and I hung out all summer. Especially in the past few weeks."

Takeda nodded. "I remember you saying that. How does he indulge him?"

"Texts back, calls him to tell him to stop texting, fights with him over text," Kuroko listed. "Their new thing is playing basketball on messenger. Their high score is over a hundred, and they keep one-upping each other."

"That sounds like hell." Takeda chuckled. "How can you stand being in the middle of all of that?"

"It's not bad." A soft smile adorned Kuroko's face. "It's funny when you get used to it. Most of the time." He looked away. "I just hope they'll stay friends this year and won't let competition get to them."

"It does sound like something that would happen," Takeda agreed. "Especially with Kagami and Aomine."

"That's the problem." Kuroko put his phone away again. "But I'm still glad that they're my friends."

"I can see why. They appear to care a lot about you."

Kuroko hummed in agreement. "I think they do."

"Good. You're going to need them through this journey." Takeda sat forward in her seat, the way she always did when she was excited. "Especially now."

Kuroko blinked. "Why now? Did something happen?"

Takeda shifted in her seat. "I had a phone call with your parents before they came in to check some things with them – nothing we've been talking about, don't worry."

"Then... what?" Kuroko raised his eyebrows.

"I had to check with them about parental consent to the use of drugs as you're under eighteen."

"What for?"

Takeda smiled. "Your diagnosis from the second psychiatrist came through." Kuroko stared at her. "I checked with the hospital near you and everything. You're starting hormone blockers."

"When-?"

"Next week, if that's okay with you."

A slow smile spread across Kuroko's face. "You mean...?"

Takeda nodded. "You're starting hormone blockers, which is a path to testosterone, which is a step to chest surgery, which is a step to genital surgery. You're already so far into your journey. Do you want to take this step?"

Kuroko's smile only grew. "Gods yes."

"Kagami-kun," Kuroko sighed when he saw the other. Kagami lived closer to Kaijo than the bus stop, so he had decided to meet them there.

"You didn't sleep again?" Riko groaned.

"I couldn't," Kagami muttered, though he was grinning.

Tachibana watched with arched eyebrows. "How can you play if you don't sleep?" He sounded amused, and Kuroko wanted to- no.

Fighting spirit is needed, yes, but it must be contained.

He had to remember that.

"Kagami-kun never sleeps before a good match," Kuroko muttered.

"Bakagami," Riko sighed. "You were meant to work on that over the summer."

"I tried," Kagami huffed, rubbing his eye. "It just didn't work."

"Why don't you take a sleeping tablet?" Fujimoto scoffed.

"That shit means you need an extra three or four hours sleep and gets you addicted." Kagami scowled. "Never used them, never will."

"And I don't recommend anyone on the team does either," Riko added, shooting him a look. Fujimoto shrugged. "Come on, let's go inside."

Just like last time, Kise met them at the gates. "Kagamicchi! Kurokocchi!" He ran up to them, throwing an arm around each neck.

Kuroko sighed. "Kise-kun, please let go."

"Bastard," Kagami grunted, pushing the blonde away from him.

Kise gave them a mischievous grin. "The coach had all of the nails in the rings replaced after last time and they're getting the full court ready."

Saruwatari tilted his head. Out of all of the new kids, he was the only one Kuroko didn't mind. "What happened last time?"

"Kagami broke one of the hoops of the half-courts," Koganei laughed. "He gave the other team a good scare."

"No, he cost the school payment for a new hoop," Hyuuga scoffed.

"Still." Koganei patted Kagami's back. "You should do that again."

Kagami laughed. "I'll try."

"And I'll try just as hard to beat you." Kise's smile slipped into his trademark smirk and Saruwatari blinked. Then the smile was back. "Come on; I'll bring you over to the changing rooms."

"I wasn't imagining that, right?" Saruwatari mumbled to Kuroko, pulling his curly brown hair up into a ponytail.

Kuroko shook his head. "Kise-kun has many talents. One of which is his acting ability. He's able to put up a friendly façade for as long as he wants, dip into his real personality, and jump right back to the façade."

"Sounds... mildly terrifying."

"That's one way to put it." Kuroko looked over at him. "Don't worry – I don't think you'll need to play him."

Saruwatari gave him a feeble grin. "Thanks. I'm Saruwatari Hernan."

Kuroko nodded. "You're from Europe?"

"Spain," Saruwatari confirmed. "My mom is, anyway. I came to live with my dad a few years ago."

Kuroko nodded. "I see. I'm Kuroko Tetsuya."

Saruwatari stuck out his hand. "Nice to formally meet you." He grinned.

Kuroko hesitated before taking and shaking his hand. "You too."

Kise turned to them as they reached the gym. "Your changing rooms are just down the hall. I'll see you guys inside." He gave a wave as he jogged into the gym.

Riko pushed into the changing room with the boys. A few of the first years muttered to themselves but didn't protest. "I have the first line worked out already. Kuroko. Kagami. Hyuuga. Kawahara. Furihata."

"What?" Tachibana turned to him, halfway through pulling on his bib. "I'm not in the first line?"

Fujimoto elbowed him as Riko raised an eyebrow. "Is that a problem?"

After a moment, Tachibana pulled down his bib. "No."

"Good." Riko smiled. "We'll start off on a basic one-on-one defence. Kagami, you'll mark Kise again."

Kagami nodded. "You sure he'll be on the first line?"

"He will be after last time." Riko's smile grew. "I trust you to work out who you're marking yourselves when you get out there. Hyuuga, if there's any trouble-"

"I'll handle it." Hyuuga nodded.

"Good." Riko adjusted the files in her arms. "I'll see you out there."

Tachibana shot Kuroko a glare as she left the room, but didn't say anything. Not until they reached the gym, and everyone was going to line up.

"I'm going to fucking play in this game," he muttered.

Kuroko's gaze flickered to him. "Good luck with that."

Kise watched as he followed his teammates into the starting line. "Everything okay?" He mumbled.

Kuroko nodded. "Yes. Of course." He moved past the blonde before he could be pressed further.

Kagami was scowling as he stood across from Kise. "They're pricks," he explained when Kise shot him a questioning look.

Kise looked over at Tachibana. "Gender stuff?" Kagami nodded and something flickered in the blonde's eyes, but he looked back to Kagami and grinned. "Let's just make this a good game."

He and Kagami battled for the ball first. Kagami got it, and of course he passed to Kuroko first. Kuroko passed to Hyuuga, who shot a three-pointer and landed it.

Kise was grinning.

The battle began and stopped, and began and stopped in quick, staccato bursts of energy. By the start of the second quarter, Kuroko was already out of breath, but his misdirection wasn't fading yet. He had worked at improving its range all summer.

He grabbed the ball and shot. The phantom shot scored two more points. Already, the score rested at fifty six to fifty four in their favour.

They needed to widen the gap more. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and turned to catch another pass.

Something caught the corner of his eye and he glanced to the side to see Tachibana waving at him.

He frowned. Did Riko want him? What did Tachibana need his attention for?

A weight slammed into the side of his head and he hit the floor.

Oh.

Well that explained it.

Well, hope you guys are enjoying this story of pain and misery so far. This is going to be a fun ride! Sorry, I meant hell. It's going to be hell. There weren't any votes or reviews on the last chapter, so I'd really appreciate a few votes and reviews. See you next time, Murdering Majestors!