"Right. I saw your first match would be against Shogocchi," Mikaël casually stated from his seat next to the blond Small Forward. "Aren't you excited? Which one of your skills is the most powerful, mmm?

Kise's gulping of his water bottle momentarily halted, he scowled. How come Haizakicchi got a nickname but he didn't? Screwing his bottle cap, he mindlessly set it aside, a visible pout adorning his face. Unlike his usual mask, this pout had in it more genuineness than fakeness.

"Mou, why would I care about him?" he whined, snapping his head to look the green's opposite way. "It's not like Haizakicchi and I are close or anything. Shouldn't you call him if you want to know?"

Ryota blanky stared at the younger before bursting into laughter, he doubled over himself, finding the scene particularly funny when he compared to his past. "Now, now, Ryota-kun, no need to get all pouty on me," he teased, his hand carefully combing the blond's sweaty locks.

Kise rolled his eyes, nevertheless waiting for Mikaël to arrange his hair, he grabbed a dry towel to wipe some sweat off before standing up. He stretched his arms, carefully massaging his wounded knee for a second before he jogged up to the court, 'I don't hear you!' he sang on his way.

Ryota chuckled, golden eyes slightly darkening when he saw the special attention the teen brought to his knee. His eyes traveled downwards to look at his kneecap before his attention shifted to his left wrist and prosthesis hand. His brooding mood brought his mind back to the Mafia with whom he frequently got entangled recently, then the Bratva.

He thought back on the silvery blond man back in Russia, presumably his 'father,' progenitor was more appropriate he mused. Thinking of Aleksey made his mind drift to Devdas, then Natalia and Makariy, all three of them that he wasn't well acquainted with. There was also Zhihao, his 'Martial Brother.'

He sighed, when did human relationship turn so hard— no, it was better to say that previous relationships didn't involve possibly dying from one misstep or foul word. He closed his golden eyes, leaning back on the bench to look up at the ceiling.

In the 'Future' that he saw, he was the Pakhan of the Bratva. Under him were two of his closest friends, a kid with whom he felt an indescribable connection, and two males who more or less tortured him once in Tokyo when he first got involved with the Underworld.

Did he really need to be part of the Mafia?

Did he have to lead part of the Underworld?

Did he want to?

To put his friends and family in danger?

Live, himself, in fear and danger every day?

Put his life on the line for something he couldn't grasp?

No, of course, he didn't!

But wasn't his dear Francchi part of one of the strongest assassination unit?

Weren't all of his acquaintances more or less linked to the Underworld?

Wasn't his Fate already decided?

Did he even have a say in this?

He scoffed. He was sure that if Aleksey decided that he would be the heir, then he would. Speaking of which, the fact that he was still alive and breathing, or that Zhihao brought him to Hong-Kong to train him, all of these elements proved that Aleksey was testing the word.

Heir.

An heir.

Of course, he needed one. And who was more fit than himself who inherited the man's blood? The legitimacy of the blood. Strength would prevail, that was for sure, but Blood would keep them united.

One Lord to serve.

"The Bratva follows an almost religious hierarchy, and as the Boss, Mika is considered the Lord. Someone untouchable, nearly a sacred existence for some of the members."

He was that Future 'Lord.' That Future 'God.'

Shura's reverence was enough proof.

"Are you okay?"

Ryota questioningly hummed as he got pulled out of his spiral-like musing. Blinking his golden eyes, he went back to a normal sitting position to meet a pair of familiar and somewhat nostalgic pair of steel-blue eyes.

"Ah, Yuki-chan!" he beamed, loving the way Yukio's cheeks would dust themselves in light pink before he fake coughed to dismiss his embarrassment— if not for the fact that the raven didn't hit him and insult him, the illusion of the past would have been perfect. The green's eyes crinkled in fondness as he silently looked at the Kaijo Captain. "Sorry, what did you say?"

As expected, Kasamatsu fake coughed before facing the green's deep gaze head-on. He couldn't help but get uncomfortable under the affectionate look the younger teen displayed. It seemed out of place, uncalled for. They didn't know one another after all, and the overly familiar attitude the green displayed, it was a bit much for Yukio to cope with. Then again, he supposed it came from the western education and modeling jobs the French took.

"I was asking if you were alright, we are about to wrap everything up but you seemed spaced out," the raven paused. "Ah, I'm sorry, were you bored?" he questioned, the fact hadn't occurred to him before. After all, Mikaël was an old player and came to watch their training session, he wasn't dragged there against his will.

Ryota hurriedly denied the statement, he seemed almost frantic to clear the misunderstanding, as if extremely careful of the way the Kaijo Captain regarded him. "No, I was just thinking-ssu," he justified, slipping into his former speech in his hurry.

"-Ssu?" Kasamatsu echoed with a raised eyebrow before snorting. "Oh my, now I know who Kise got that from," he laughed.

Ryota joined his laughter with a chuckle. Ah, when did he last speak to Yuki-chan like that? Without care for anything?

"Ne, ne, Yuki-chan, give me your number!" he beamed.

::

A few weeks later.

"Whoah, it's still as big as I remember-ssu!" Ryota marveled as he stood a few feet away from the entry of the stadium. His golden eyes gleefully took in the imposing structure, finding each and every curve of the building more nostalgic than the other.

Truth be told, it hadn't been that long since he last came. After all, he did take part in Teiko's matches in Junior High and dropped by to see the GOM's final match as a team. At most, it had been a year.

"Can you feel it, Juncchi?" he beamed, snapping his head to look back at the raven head who followed him.

Junichiro looked at Mikaël with a slight deadpan. He yawned, both tired from their trip and cold from the freezing weather. Although Mikaël was the one who drove this morning, it didn't change the fact that he had to wake up at four before dealing with an unusually hype green head.

He breathed, absentmindedly observing the cloud of white that formed upon his hot breaths contacting the cool air. He hummed in answer, not really understanding what 'it' was.

Shura who nestled himself in a fluffy snowy white coat with dark blue lining merely beamed at his Future Boss' statement. He pulled his comfy headwear down to keep his ears warm before stuffing his gloved hands in his coat's pockets.

The lack of vocal answer didn't seem to bother the green head who enthusiastically led the way inside. They had come early, so early that the place was almost deserted save for some teams and sanitary employee.

Ryota a noticeable skip in his steps waltzed up the bleachers with ease to find the best seat. It was important to find a seat from where he could overlook the whole court, lest he missed some decisive moves on his Juniors or acquaintances' part.

With used practice, his eyes glided the many seats before precisely settling on a couple of empty ones. He grinned to himself. Fortunately, they came early and nobody had taken them yet.

"Hurry, hurry!" he chided, pulling Shura's arm (who was the closest) with him as he ushered his two companions to take the seats. "Before someone takes them!" he practically whined.

Junichiro yawned, much too tired to deal with Mikaël. He usually didn't mind as he was as much of a chatterbox as him, but now that he was almost sleepwalking he couldn't help but find the green's voice obnoxious.

"Why so stressed, no one's gonna take them," he mumbled, rubbing his red from the lack of sleep eyes.

Ryota ignored him.

There was undeniable excitement bubbling at the pit of his stomach. Butterflies fluttered from one side to another, making him unable to relax as he kept on searching for something, anything, with his golden eyes. His curiosity wasn't satiated and he decided to fiddle with his phone instead, sending some texts to players he knew would appear and whatnot.

Junichiro, who had long since decided to take a nap before the gym got nosier, soundlessly closed his eyes. His breathing got more regular, and in a matter of seconds, he was out like a light.

Shura's blue eyes took some time to scan the, for now, empty stadium. He committed the many corridors and emergency exit to his mind, his now gloveless hand fiddled with a few lollipop sticks before he leaned into a more comfortable position.

Both his mind and body were alert, ready to jump and defend at any moment as he carefully rested his head on the raven's shoulder beside him for some rest. His breathing turned lower, he contentedly smiled to himself. Maybe that guy wasn't so bad, he mused, thinking back on their previous 'talk.' He wasn't as dumb as he made it seem at least.

::

The buzzing sound of chatter had long since invaded the grand stadium as the seats soon filled out. Looking around, it wasn't easy to find some empty ones, after all, although it wasn't the finals yet, the opening ceremony remained just as symbolic.

Ryota waltzed out of the bathroom, his slightly damp hands rubbing against his pants as he dried them off. There was still some time before the first match, enough for him to take a tour of the stadium grounds at least— he didn't feel like watching a bunch of teens parade around as an old man gave an introductory speech. Either way, it probably was over already.

Gently humming to himself as he skipped down the corridor to go outside and breathe in the fresh air, Ryota ignored the probing glances sent his way. He was used to attention, be it for being one of Teiko's Captains while the GOM was there, his career as a model or his reputation in Junior High, he didn't care much.

The cold air of the morning had slightly warmed up, merely sending a chill down his spine. He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket, indicating a new message.

With ease, he pulled the device out, switched it on without looking with the help of his fingerprint lock screen. The phone vibrated a few more times as he made his way around the stadium.

Without looking up from his screen, Ryota smoothly navigated around, he knew the grounds so well already, everything was instinctive. Maybe not muscle memory, but something close enough nonetheless.

His golden eyes glinted with mirth as light smirk danced on his lips, he chuckled. His eyes bypassed the sender's name, Yaksha, as he quickly typed back his answer. Out of all of the Uncrowned Kings, Mibuchi Reo was the one with whom he shared the most things. They had similar interests and their line of thoughts usually alined of complemented one another quite well.

As he was about to type another answer his phone rang, signaling an incoming call from the said Shooting Guard. Not thinking much of it, Ryota accepted it, with a raised eyebrow he brought the phone to his ear.

"Reocchi?"

"Mhm, himself," the male greeted on the other side of the line. "It's been a while, Mi-chan, how have you been?"

Ryota hummed in thoughts, his eyes taking in his surroundings as he went on his walk. "Nothing really, anyway, I was thinking about it but shouldn't you be preparing for your matches-ssu?"

"Ah, yes but Sei-chan's not there yet. He said he had some things to take care of and simply vanished," the raven lamented.

"Mou, is that so? Then aren't you busy now, Vice-Captain-san," he teased, a sly grin dancing on his lips.

He heard a sigh and a dry laugh, from afar he could discern some familiar voices and deduced that Reo was probably right out of the locker room at the moment.

"Yes, yes, I'm so busy," the male raised. "But whose fault is that now, hm? It's because you didn't raise Sei-chan well enough, Mi-chan!"

"Ahaha," Ryota gave a dry laugh, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the statement. "Now don't be so pouty, Reocchi," he coaxed.

Although he wasn't there to see it, Ryota could picture the male rolling his eyes from his tone of voice. "Whatever—"

"Also, Reocchi," Ryota cut before the male went on another rant. He didn't Reo to scold his childishness when he hadn't done anything to warrant it. "I saw that Makoto-chan didn't make it?" he changed the subject.

Reo minutely paused. "Oh, Hanamiya?" he echoed. "Yeah, from what I heard he basically threw away the match against Shutoku. Something about analyzing another team or whatever," he shrugged. "What can I say. Weak teams tend to go after small fishes. A shame they couldn't even take the small fish down," he laughed.

"Oh," there was a beat of silence as Ryota registered the information. "Wait, the 'small fish,' isn't that Teppeicchi's team?"

"Mmm? Ah, I don't know, maybe. I haven't looked into Seirin too much yet— that's his team's name right?" he rhetorically asked, as if unsure of his statement.

"Ah, yes, it is."

"Either way. Sei-chan only said to look at them for a bit if we had time between our matches, in case they make it to the finals," he laughed, seemingly not believing the claim. And Ryota couldn't come out to refute him because from Rakuzan's point of view it was impossible for Seirin to make it. And even then, Rakuzan couldn't possibly picture themselves losing with Akashi on their team.

"I see," Ryota's eyes suddenly darted to the side as he heard some voices a bit further down the road. He narrowed his golden eyes before humming. "Anyway, you'll be staying in Tokyo for a while, won't you?" he questioned, carefully creeping closer to the source of the sound.

Reo hummed. "Yess, I think we'll even stay a bit after the Winter Cup ends instead of heading back to Kyoto directly," he asserted. It was obvious fro his statement that Rakuzan thought of victory as a matter of course. "Why? Want to take me out on a date?" he laughed before getting interrupted by another voice.

"Whaaat? Reo-nee you're going on a date?"

"Tsk, keep it down, Hayama," he scolded.

"Yosh! Then better beat those asses quick!"

"Nebuya, language!"

Ryota laughed on the other side of the line. "Sure, I'll take you out on a date if you want," he raised, loving the oohs and aahs, the two other Uncrowned Kings added after his statement.

"And don't encourage them, Mikaël!"

Thanks for reading, until next time^^

Rakuzan Team recap: (from left to right)

Mibuchi Reo (vice-captain); Akashi Seijuro (captain); Nebuya Eikichi; Hayama Kotaro; Mayuzumi Chihiro