Eyes closed, Mikaël slowly exhaled, his hands instinctively moved as he calmly dribbled his basketball. It was one of those rare moments the green found himself focused and devoid of any sham grin and cheeriness. His mind went to the sport, and he felt free. Unbothered by his surrounding, his duties, his life, he felt like himself.

Opening his eyes at once he failed to notice, like every other time, the light indigo that coated his golden hues for a second, turning his eyes a strange green shade momentarily.

Since his transfer to Teiko and his first match against one of the future "Uncrowned Kings," the green had developed a strange ability. It was oh so odd how he didn't notice its effect until his teammates pointed it out. 

Exactly, how could he fail to see his double popping up on the court, a foot behind him, shamelessly grinning and taunting the player he was marking.

The real question was, who was this doppelganger which appeared without warning before vanishing into thin air as soon as Mikaël dribbled past his opponent.

It took a few official and practice matches before Ryota started to grasp this ability of his. This skill which he didn't fully understand, enabled him to fool his surrounding. To deceive their every sense, even his if he wasn't careful. It was different from Perfect Copy which he had yet to master as he hadn't seen the original techniques in this lifetime.

To tell the truth, when he first saw his skill, Ryota wondered if he had developed a knack for misdirection. The theory vanished as quickly as it came. Unlike Tetsuya, Mikaël didn't go unnoticed to the point he would disappear from plain sight. What's more, his skill had nothing to do with passes. It seemed a bit too passively offensive, even actively aggressive to be so.

In the end, Ryota had settled with one simplistic explanation. After death, perhaps the Gods had taken pity on him, or it was karma, Ryota received this strange unheard off ability. It didn't seem all that plausible, but when he remembered how he came back from the dead, the former blond could only nod in understanding.

The orange ball hit the tar a few more times before Mikaël dashed forward. The goal was to 'awaken' this skill. His grasp of it was shaky, and Mikaël knew that if he didn't work on it, instead of becoming a weapon it would turn into a liability.

Shuzo who was waiting for the other's attempt remained guarded. His grey eyes never left the green's figure as he kept a side-eye on the ball. He didn't remember how he ended up spending his weekend with his classmate, but he didn't care for all it mattered. To help Mikaël meant he would perhaps get a better grasp of his teammate's game.

And to have the green grasp his skill meant making him stronger. Making the team stronger.

"Then I'm coming, Shuzocchi!" The green announced, his golden eyes holding a seriousness he only wore while playing or deep in thoughts. With these words, the two clashed, and like his last attempt, Mikaël failed to summon any semblance of a light or magic trick.

As the ball hit the ground, the raven turned to face the green. "That's another point for me," he stated coolly, he picked up the ball before walking to the bench where their bags were. Throwing the orange ball at the green, he gulped some of his water before wiping his face off some sweat.

"You know Mikaël," he started as he closed his duffle bag. "Perhaps you should try to remember the condition you were in when it happened," he exposed for the nth time today. Each time he managed to score a point he would tell the green the same thing, although the wording was different, the content remained the same.

Hearing this dreaded phrase again, the golden-eyed teen sighed, a whine escaping his lips in the process as he jogged to the bench before slumping down on it. "You make it sound so easy Shuzoocchi," the green complained as he stared at the orange ball, almost glaring.

Nijimura didn't bother to answer the boy, swiftly stealing the basketball he made his way to the middle of the court, ushering the teen to follow his lead. "Kay, listen here Mikaël," the raven called out seriously, the tone made Kise unconsciously straighten as he saw the teen's older version through his friend.

"I'm going to do this once, and if you fail, I'm going home," he threatened. As he slowly dribbled, his grey eyes never leaving his friend's golden ones, he resumed his speech. "First, close your eyes, and breath."

Mutely following his past senior's command, Mikaël complied. "Now, remember the adrenaline, the court, the squeaking sound of the shoes against it," he listed calmly. "The way you breathed, who stood beside you, the court's configuration," the precise orders made the green slightly frown as he began to imagine his past match.

"Who were you marking, their height, how they stared at you. Was your mark condescending? Or did he fear you?" Shuzo inhaled slowly, as not to disturb the teen who seemed immersed in his thoughts. "Now you. How did you feel? Did you think it was an easy victory? Did you have troubles scoring? What did you think of him at that moment?" He questioned before gently humming as he awaited an answer form the green.

The question which had sent Mikaël's mind in a whirlwind elicited a sly smirk at the mention of his vision of the match. His mind a bit numb and devoid of the censors he usually imposed himself, the boy's uncensored thoughts slipped out of his lips. "I thought the victory was, obviously ours. The player in front of me didn't deserve to face off against me. He was weak, and I only wanted to laugh at his foolishness for believing he could stop me."

As he listened to the green's smooth voice, Shuzo didn't once frown. It seems he knew what he was getting into when he forced the green head to express his inner feelings. Though he had to wonder what he did think of everything when he cleverly hid all his thoughts behind an unbelievably believable fake grin, false compliments, and pretty words smoothly rolling off his tongue.

Mikaël was a musician, and his words and gestures a perfectly executed partition. He was a prodigy of his art.

"Therefore, instead of the match, all my attention was focused on keeping a straight face," he mumbled before slowly fluttering his eyes open. "You know Shuzocchi if I wanted I could beat you in less than a sec,'" the green ridiculed with a smirk, his eyes flashing this distinguishable indigo color before it faded, leaving instead a curious shade of reddish-orange for a moment as the teen licked his upper lips in anticipation.

Nijimmura merely raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit dubious at the boy's confidence. Right, as if, he mused as he eyed the green skeptically. The thin male wore a smug grin, his tied hair swishing with the wind. The staring contest between the two men lasted for a bit more than a few seconds.

And the sound of a ball hitting the hard concrete came to his ears.

Shuzo blinked, and the Mikaël he thought was before him, shattered in a cloud of indigo. The soon to be captain smirked. Well, at last!

::

"How are you feeling?" The taller boy asked as the two took their water bottle out for a gulp. Grabbing his towel to wipe the sweat off of his forehead, he stole the green a glance.

Mikaël's answer was a small humming sound as his eyes dropped slightly. Stifling a yawn, he rubbed his eyes tiredly before untying his ponytail. His green hair fell to his side as he put his gourd inside his back. "I'm tired," he whined before putting on his sweatshirt.

The sun had almost set, and the temperature had dropped a few degrees, making the atmosphere a bit chilly. Especially to the teen who had been running and sweating for the past hours, stretching, Ryota swiftly tied his hair in a messy bun before stuffing his hairbrush in his bag.

At the less than energetic reply, Shuzo chuckled. It was unusual for the green to be so unresponsive. After all, the boy prided himself in his stamina, from all the recruits he surely was the most dynamic after their practice sessions.

It felt refreshing, almost tease worthy, but Shuzo wasn't the teasing type. He too was tired and couldn't wait to get home, have a shower and slump on his couch or bed. "Well," he yawned. "At least we managed to get a grasp of your 'skill,'" he muttered.

That seemed to brighten the teen's sleepy mood as his face broke into a genuine grin. "True," zipping his back and slipping it over his shoulder, he spun before striking one of his 'handsome' poses he kept for modeling. "But I am Mikaël Lamarre after all!" He stated before chuckling and stifling yet another yawn.

The raven merely smiled in amusement before shaking his head defeatedly. "Right."

::

"Mika," the blond growled as he rubbed the bridge on his nose in an attempt to calm himself. His glasses rested on his desk as he leaned on the black couch, a glass of whiskey in hand. "Would you mind repeating what you just told me?"

Ryota scoffed before turning his head to the side. "I'm not doing it," he repeated childishly. "I'm not shooting with anyone named this way," he added as his golden eyes caught his manager's blue ones.

The half Italian raised an eyebrow as his charge began to throw another tantrum, ushering him to develop his argument. "I mean..." he paused before continuing, more resolute than before. "Oha-Asa said I shouldn't hang out with people whose names comported a 'K' this week."

The older man stared at the teen unimpressed before sighing. Wasn't his name Mikaël, with a K? He pondered for a second. Whatever he would need to get in contact with the agency, he could allow his charge one or two whims from time to time.

"I'll call the agency," he said as he stood up, his right hand reaching for his sitting glasses as his other went to look for his phone in his pants' pocket.

"Yay! Thank you Claudecchi!" Mikaël exclaimed as soon as his desired words slipped past his guardian's lips. Jumping onto the blond's back, he gave him a koala style hug. "You're the best!"

Dragging his body out of the living room, Claude hummed, the teen still on his back. "Don't get your hopes up though. I don't have the final say in this, nor do I know how well the higher-ups will react."

Ryota nodded, not caring what the man said, he let his body hang on the male's back. "'Kay, I'll do whatever you want Claudecchi," he answered absentmindedly, not noticing the devious smirk that crept up his manager's lips.

::

Sipping on his smoothy, Shuzo stared at the rambling green-headed teen in front of him. The boy was munching on fries, his right hand held a cup of soft drink, as he whined to his classmate and teammate. "So they took you off the official line up," Nijimura summed up, his features seemed unbothered but his tone betrayed the surprise he felt at the announcement.

"Yeah!" Ryota agreed, his voice was a bit whiny as he took a big slurp of his iced tea. "Can you believe them, they said I was a liability!" He complained, his voice feeble as he stuffed his face with fries. Gulping them in a flash, he turned his face slightly before flashing the staring girls a smile and a wink.

Squeals escaped their glossy lips as the teen waved at them. Seeing him act this way, Nijimura sighed. He stole the green some fries before calling out to him in the form of a questioning humming sound, his fingers snapping at the same time.

"Right," the green turned his head back at the raven head. "I was saying—" As he kept on rambling, Nijimura stole the clock wall a glance. It's getting late he mused. "—anyway, I can't wait for the captain to graduate," he concluded as he leaned in his seat, his hand holding onto his almost empty drink as he took a hard sip. The slurping sound echoed in his ears, but he didn't care.

Nodding, Shuzo waited for his friend to calm down a bit. "You know, maybe until you show them you have mastered this random skill of yours nothing will change," the regular said as he hinted at the green to train harder and to stop slacking off. Since he began to understand how his ability worked, Mikaël had almost stopped practicing it. Something about not needing any more training.

Knowing how right the raven was, Ryota could only hide in his seat as much as possible.

"Didn't I ask you how it was going? And didn't you tell me you had it all under control?" He rhetorically asked as he got into nanny mode. "When I suggested to help you practice, weren't you the one who -oh so magnanimously- declined?"

Ryota felt his frown lessening as his face instead morphed into a dissatisfied pout.

"Listen carefully, Lamarre," the soon to be captain began seriously. "You better train seriously or I won't be able to help you anymore. Got that 'wizard?'" He questioned.

Mikaël refrained himself from clicking his tongue, knowing it would only trigger the raven head more.

"I didn't hear your answer," the grey-eyed teen reminded as he strongly gazed at the green head.

Mikaël gulped. "Yes, sir," he answered instinctively, his back unconsciously straightening.

Man, he didn't know whether he should be grateful Shuzo considered him enough of a friend to help him out, or if he should be fearful to see Nijimura's captain mode before anyone else.

That was not the type of premiere he fancied.

I feel like I'm really taking my time putting the plot into place. Though, do not worry next chapter should (from my point of view) get more... "interesting," plot-wise.

Thanks for reading, until next time^^