The sound of the ball hitting the floor followed by the squeaking of sports shoes echoed within the gym. The acidic smell of sweat had invaded the atmosphere, and by now the matches had begun, the previous physical only tests being over.

Stretching Mikaël's golden eyes calmly observed his team members. None of them were mind-blowing, and he hadn't spotted any of the future first-stringers either. He sighed, what a disappointment. Even if none of them compared to the GOM, to have none and only deal with some second-hand players was a bit frustrating. Well, it just meant more work for him if he wanted to win the match. Mechanically rubbing his earlobe, he let his golden hues trail to the adversary team.

At least captain isn't part of them, he pondered, mentally cheering himself. Trying to remember any of their faces he was met with utter failure until his eyes rested on a tall raven head. Most probably the tallest of their batch he mused as he quickly remembered the other he had met while running. If he remembered correctly the boy was the second string's future captain, his path was similar to Shuzo's the only difference being the string they were assigned.

A deprecative smile bloomed on his face before he smoothed his features into his usual sham grin. He would do with him. No challenge meant no opportunity to show his skills off and be promoted to first string. Taking a gulp of his water bottle, he wiped his face off of sweat before nearing his current team.

He felt a bit reluctant. The only teams he had ever seriously played with were Kaijo's, Vorpal Sword, or Teiko's and even then at least one of the GOM was there or someone almost on par with him. To play with these nobodies who, since they were appointed to the same team, kept on judging him was getting on his nerves.

Ryota liked to have people staring at him, gossip about him, it boosted his ego to new lengths. But to have others look down on him? That wasn't something he tolerated. Sure his body made him seem weaker, more feeble than other players and had they been on different teams he would have used the piled up anger to kick their asses. But that wasn't the case, and he had to deal with them.

He sighed, deciding to dismiss them and instead observe how they played before entering and showing off his skills. He had some remaining copies from his former life, Perfect Copy being one of them, but it wasn't complete, he had to see the real thing at least once to have it reach its peak. Well, even without it he would pass with flying colors.

::

The sound of the ball hitting the floor echoed as another whistling sound went off, announcing the opposing team's newly gained points. Ryota felt his blood boil, were they kidding him? Since the beginning of the game, he hadn't touched the ball once, his "teammates" seemed to flee him like the plague, denying his existence on the court.

Did they think he was that worthless? He wanted to laugh, never had he played a match where the margin between himself and the other team was this big when he wasn't on the winning side. Each game lasted approximately thirteen minutes, by now a bit less than twenty minutes had gone by, and the score was 25-06.

A joke, Mikaël felt strongly humiliated. If they wanted to play without considering a teammate, he would too. How do you think he played while in Teiko in his last year? He snorted, right, he would show them just who the trashes were. Feeling his resolve build up Ryota's golden eyes flashed pure indigo, the shade not scattering the way it did before as his eyes remained this distinctive hue.

Not carrying who was on his team anymore, Mikaël grinned. A feral smile that sent chills down the players' spines who looked at him. Taking off running, he stole the ball before executing a perfect dunk. A dunk oh so similar to the one the adversary team had made a second before, but oh so much more powerful than the previous one too.

25-08

Letting go of the basketball hoop, Mikaël made himself drop to the ground. Standing, he turned away from the ball, not sparring his dumbfounded "teammates" any side glance he only sent the previous dunker a challenging smirk. He didn't need his team if they didn't want him. What's more, Teiko's motto was "ever victorious," not "let teamwork rule." So long as he emerged victoriously, all was forgiven. And it's not like he didn't try to work with the others.

Like that, dunk after dunk, sometimes adding three-pointers in the mix, Ryota closed the gap, the score being a satisfying 25-26 for him. Although he couldn't help the content grin from creeping up his face, he soon frowned. Gulping some mineral water, he concluded he needed to score six more points.

Right, six more and victory would be his. His only. Putting his bottle down, he went back on the court. The opposing team had requested a time out a minute before the end of the game, most probably to counter him, but Mikaël didn't care. In fact, having them so warry was great.

He didn't bother listening to his teammates, having deemed them as unworthy of his time already. Six points and victory was his. Six points and he was one step closer to the Generation of Miracles. One step closer to them. Right, he would do it.

Taking a deep breath, Ryota waited for the referee to blow his whistle.

::

"Not to be rude or anything, but I didn't expect you to be this good," Nijimura said as he took his sports outfit off, he put his uniform shirt back on. Both males had been accepted into the first string and were now getting ready to go home.

Hearing his old senior's remark, Mikaël laughed. "Right, the guys who played with me didn't too," he chirped, making his temporary teammate shrink for a bit. "But well, all that matters is that I joined the first string!" he finished as he tied his tie loosely before reaching for his phone. "Also, good job Shuzocchi!" he congratulated, giving the raven a pat on the back before checking the time.

Crap, he had a shot after school and judging from the time he wouldn't make it if he stayed any longer. "I'll see you tomorrow!" he bid as he ran out of the changing room, his green hair which wasn't held in a ponytail anymore swished with the wind as his right hand held a hairbrush and hairband.

Sending smiles and winks the girls way, he ran to the nearest station. The green brushed his hair before tying them, the desired bus arriving a second later. Getting in, he took his phone out before dialing his manager's number. Damn, he mentally cursed as his hand reached for his left earlobe, Claude was going to kill him.

::

"Hello?" Mikaël greeted as he entered the studio. He didn't have trouble finding it as he once came there for shootings as Ryota Kise, making himself as small as possible, he glanced at the time before heaving a sigh of relief. Safe, he was two minutes early.

"Ah, there you are Mika," came Claude's stern voice as he called out to the teen in French. "Do you know what time it is?" he questioned, his voice filled with what seemed to be undisguised contempt as he pushed his glasses' rim up the bridge of his nose.

A dry laugh escaped the green's lips as he followed the blond to the lodge to change. Today was his "pilot" shot, whether he kept being a first-class model or not depended on his popularity in the next issue.

"You are going to be with another model for this shot," Claude explained as Mikaël started to change out of his uniform and into the desired clothing. "She's your senior by a few years in both age and the industry so be respectful," he reminded as he glanced up to see the said female walking into the studio.

"'Kay," Ryota answered as he got out of the changing room before sitting in front of a mirror, the makeup artist walking up to him at the same time. "Anything else I should know?" he asked as he got into his model persona.

Humming, Claude went on. "We'll have you shot two different scenes. The first one aims to be casual, it's to promote a handbag, the theme would be a harmonious couple," he paused. "You are anything but the center of this one, got that?" he reminded, his blue eyes narrowing as he glanced at the green.

The golden-eyed teen evaded the other's insistent gaze as he waved his hand dismissively. "Right, I got that."

Claude sighed at his charge's detached behavior. "Whatever, the second one will have you as the main focus. You could say it's the real deal. It will determine whether Zunon Boy keeps you or not," he explained before standing up. "Follow me, you need to greet the crew."

Mutely nodding, Mikaël sent the stylist a bright grin before following his guardian out. Who knows, perhaps out of all the crew members he already knew some from his past life. As for his co-model, maybe he knew them too.

::

"I tell you mamiecchi," Mikaël explained as he laid on his bed, a red cased tablet sitting in front of him on his yellow pillow. "Teiko's awesome, and modeling is just as fun as in France!" He praised, a childish smile etched on his lips as he went over his photoshoots done earlier in the day.

On the other side of the screen, the grey-haired madame nodded in understanding. Few hums slipped past her lips as her palish green eyes crinkled in joy the more she listened to her grandson. "Have you made some friends already?" She questioned as her hand expertly cut some onions. It currently was 12:04 pm in France.

At the word friend, Ryota's already hyped expression became bubblier. His grin turned wider if possible as he automatically shouted positively back. The unexpected outburst gained him a yell from his blond guardian which he ignored as he focused on his grandma.

"Yeah! He likes basketball too!" he chirped happily before taking a sip of his sitting hot cocoa on his bedside table. Gulping the hot liquid down he didn't mind the brown mustache drawn above his lips as he continued. "He's a power forward, and his drives are simply insane!" he added before furtively licking his lips.

Renée laughed at her child's enthusiasm, her hands swiftly chopping some carrots she glanced at the screen, briefly meeting the boy's golden eyes. "That's good," she muttered, earning a joyful hum from her kid who now sat crossed legs on his black blanket. "Well here nothing has changed," she began before pausing. "Oh yeah, little Fran said his first word—"

"For real?" Ryota asked, cutting his granny off as he leaned into the screen excitedly. "Oh my god, how could I miss Francchi's first word? Will I miss his first steps too? And friends? And love?" he muttered to himself, his voice getting higher as he went on before he paused dramatically. "Mamiecchi, we need to freeze him until I come back!"

Renée stared at her green-haired grandson a bit surprised. She knew he was overly dramatic at times, but still. Shaking her head she only laughed, eliciting another wave of words from the golden-eyed teen.

::

The basketball hit the ground as the ringing sound echoed within the stadium, announcing the end of the match. Grabbing his light blue jersey, Mikaël wiped the sweat off his face, his golden eyes staring at the score before he looked back at his team.

Another victory, he absentmindedly thought as he went to sit on the bench, taking a gulp of water he readied himself to go thank the adversary team for the match. He felt a bit bored by the game, the excitement he had at the beginning of the year had slowly dwindled as he faced off against people who weren't his opponents.

Well, maybe except for them, he mused, a smirk creeping up his face at the thought of the males. It is true each face off against their respective teams were more entertaining. Though they had yet to reach their peak.

"Mikaël, hurry," a familiar voice called out to him as a hand went to rest on his shoulder to grab his attention. Turning to face his only real friend, Ryota hummed, beaming before closing his bottle and putting it back down.

As he jogged to where his team was lined up, his mind drifted to them once more. When he received this second life, he hadn't thought about them at all. After all, as Ryota Kise, they weren't that close. He had played one or two games against them all at least, but outside of basketball and the minimal contact Seijuro, Tetsuya and Taiga provided as their teammates nothing prominent came to mind.

They were strong, no doubt about that, he acknowledged as he walked back to his locker. But were they his rivals? Unquestionably not, the only people he considered as such were the Generation of Miracles and maybe Kagami.

Those fives... If anything he could admire their skills.

Well, although this time they did belong to the same generation, the media did seem to slowly but surely place them in the same batch of new rising players. Considering the GOM had yet to be born he supposed it was an honor.

Well, out of the five the closest to a rival would be Kotarocchi, he mused as he walked back to the van, absentmindedly sipping on his juice as he sent the reporters and fangirls smiles, winks and waves. After all, both were small forwards.

Though he supposed since he saw more of them than the GOM, they in a way were his rivals.

Thanks for reading, until next time^^