"Wow, good job dodging that," the redhead praised, a critical smile on his face as he gave the taller male a sidelong glance. "For moving like that, I'll forgive you this time," he magnanimously acknowledged, casually walking around the teen, the pair of scissors dangling at the edge of his fingers.

"But there won't be a next time," the smaller of the two warned. "If I say leave, then leave," he asserted.

With fluid moves, he flicked the pair upward, readjusted his grip on it with used practice and in one swift motion, cut the tip of his bangs.

As if he was reciting a well-written text, Akashi continued. "In this world winning is everything," he ignored the frosty expression adorning the Seirin Ace's face. "Winners are validated and losers denied," he factually enunciated, boringly looking down at the reddish hair that fell to the ground.

"Until now, I've never lost at anything," he stated. "And I won't in the future," Blinking his heterochromatic eyes, he straightened his back to look a the taller male.

"Since I always win, I'm always right," two pairs of eyes met in a staring contest. "If you oppose me, I'll kill you no matter who you are."

A heavy silence settled over the group. Kagami could feel himself almost shaking in both fright and excitement. The feeling of blood carefully threading down his cut cheek kept him from going off track.

Aah, so this was the infamous Akashi Seijuro. The Captain of the Generation of the Miracles. There obviously was more than a ten-centimeter difference between them, yet Kagami couldn't help but feel towered by the Rakuzan player.

It was his presence, his aura. If all of the GOM were intimidating on the court, to the point of sending chills of excitement down his spine, then Akashi Seijuro was both intimidating off and on the court—

The image of the smaller boy playing fashed through Kagami's mind. He repressed a shiver. Just imagine, if he was already this frightening off the court, then how much of a monster was he?

Had he not been stuck into place after Akashi's number, Kagami would have probably grinned and laughed— manically cackled—

He could feel it, how much of an opponent Akashi was.

How worthy he was.

"My oh my! Isn't that Jurocchi?" came an overly excited voice before an arm slung itself around Akashi's shoulders.

The first-years' eyes snapped to look at the newcomer, both incredulity and surprise tinting their colored irises.

Ryota merely beamed at his former underclassmen, with ease he dodged Akashi's elbow, taking two steps back he hummed to himself, unimpressed.

Akashi refrained his twitching hand from going for another hit as he recognized the older male. He felt both aggrieved and slightly intrigued by the teen's presence. When did he come? When did his reflex become so good?

"Oh," he vocalized, voice unwavering as he seized the older's figure. "Are you here to oppose me too, Lamarre?"

Ryota mentally cringed. The way his surname sounded was strange, he was so used to people addressing him by his first name these days that it felt sort of out of place.

"Mou, I always knew that Seijurocchi was a cutie, but Tsundere Jurocchi remains the most adorable," he cooed, ignoring the previous question and the way every other player sharply inhaled at his words.

"What?" he enunciated, the temperature around him dropping by a few degrees.

Mikaël grinned, chuckling. With steps light as a feather, he closed the distance between himself and the smaller boy. His hand stretched out to ruffle the younger's hair. "I said—"

Akashi's eyes momentarily widened from the sudden close proximity, he hadn't seen Mikaël step closer to him, and from the look of the other boys, he wasn't the only one.

"Jurrochi is the sweetest," he sang.

This time Akashi didn't bother to swat the hand away, with one glare Mikaël took his hand off, a mischievous smirk on his lips.

The younger's face twitched before his lips stretched into a sardonic smile. "Ah, it's a shame you don't play anymore, Lamarre," he reminded, making Mikaël's grin unnoticeably falter.

"Really now, Jurrochi? Do you miss me so much?" Ryota chided, golden eyes narrowed as a thin veil of mist came to cover his irises— he felt like crying.

Please, please, say yes, the voice in his head begged. He didn't know how much he needed to hear Seijuro— his Seijuro, say those words until he came face to face with the current one.

"Is this what you want me to say?" Akashi asked, unimpressed, his heterochromatic eyes taking in every change in his complexion.

Of course, ofcourseofcourseofcourse—

"Whaat? You didn't?" he pouted, this time the mild sadness and disappointment in his eyes weren't faked.

Silence.

I beg you, say something Jurocchi.

A soft yet self-deprecating smile on his face, Ryota chuckled. Perhaps before he had had some trouble understanding how his Future self gave away so much for Akashi's sake, but now— now that he stood before the teen, he perfectly understood the helplessness his Future self felt.

The emptiness he thought was filled suddenly hollowed out, living him gaping open as he eagerly waited for something— no, someone to fill it up.

Akashi stared before disinterestedly looking away— Mikaël felt himself dying inside as if his oxygen supply had dwindled to nothing.

"I didn't."

::

"Mmm? Everything's alright Mika?"

Two pairs of eyes slid to rest on the green head's figure as he silently took his seat beside the pink head.

Shura inquisitively tilted his head, his blue eyes minutely narrowing as he felt the unusual vibes coming off his Sky. Although it wasn't the first time he felt them, they had never been so bad before.

"Yeah, it's nothing-ssu," Ryota dismissed, flashing both perceptive teens a sham grin. Although deep down Ryota knew that there was no way he would trick them, it didn't prevent him from lying. "I only met some of my underclassmen outside, had a small chat."

Junichiro raised a contemplative eyebrow. It took him a second to decide whether or not he should push the subject, but he refrained himself. For some reason, he felt it would be better to leave Mikaël alone— for some reason he felt as if someone was missing.

A piece in the puzzle. He closed his eyes, inhaling as he blocked the sound of the stadium for a moment. He didn't know why, but he couldn't help the image of a raven-haired man from coming to his mind.

Without noticing it, Junichiro fell into a slight daze. His eyes misted over as he looked up at the ceiling.

Shuzo— Nijimura Shuzo. That was the man's name.

Like the Rain, he would wash the pain away.

He didn't know why, but he had this belief.

"Aaah, come on, cheer up Mika!" le coaxed, leaning on the side to pat the green's shoulder, trying but failing to plaster a cheerful grin on his face.

"Mhm, thanks Juncchi."

"Aww, don't sweat it. Who's gonna take care of you if not me when Shuzo's not here," he shrugged off, not noticing his words until they slipped past his lips. "I mean— ah, that's my job as your friend."

There was a pause, and Ryota, who was too absorbed thinking of what his friend had said, didn't hear the sound coming from the speakerphone to announce the entry of the two teams on the court.

"Wait, how do you know Shuzocchi?"

Shura's eyes darted from one teen to the other. Shuzo, Nijimura Shuzo. Where did he hear this name already?

"No? I mean, yes? Maybe? I don't know really, it just popped in my mind," he chuckled before his eyes widened in recognition. "Wait, when you say 'Shuzocchi', do you mean Teiko's Nijimura Shuzo?"

Ryota blinked, incredulously looking at Junichiro as if to ask him who else if not him? "Weren't you talking about my Shuzocchi too?"

"Your—" he choked. "I don't even know who I'm talking about in the first place!" he cried, he didn't even know how the name came out of his mouth, to begin with.

"A-ah, yes. Yes, of course, you don't," Ryota mumbled, turning to better sit in his place as he turned away from the raven head to face the court.

After all, Junichiro had zero to no recollection of the Future.

Golden eyes flickered to rest on the court, his ears that previously blocked out the commotion of the gymnasium seemed to reconnect with the outside world. He heard cheers, speculation, chants and most of all the distinctive sound of shoe soles squeaking against the wooden floor of the court.

With ease, he first spotted Aomine's dynamic figure, closely followed by Kagami's fast movements. Supposedly he missed the tip-off because of his conversation with Junichiro.

Ryota's mind lost all thoughts, solely focusing on the match before him he never left the ball out of his sight. He didn't know when it began, but it seemed that even though he kept his attention on the ball, he still kept a perfect grasp of the player's position.

He didn't bat an eyelash at Too's keen playing, the way they would block every one of Seirin's strategy. After all, Satsuki was on their side. Although she wasn't a player and formally part of the GOM, much like Tetsuya, Satsuki remained an important member of the group.

Time passed, the 'ooh's' and 'aah's' of the crowd reverberated in the closed space as both sides relentlessly played against one another. Well, more precisely Kagami trying to escape Aomine's tight guard.

Ryota hummed to himself, eyes slightly narrowed as he took in the figures of the two younger boys' confrontation. Seeing the redhead throw the ball out of bounds before Seirin called for a time out made Ryota raise an eyebrow, both in surprise and appreciation.

It had been so long since he last played the American player, he wasn't sure what level of maturity he had when he faced the Winter Cup, but seeing that he didn't hesitate to put his ego down to loose the ball, Ryota felt immensely gratified.

At least, Taigacchi would be a bit fun to play against now, he mused. The match that was clearest in Ryota's mind, when it came to Seirin and Kaijo, was their first practice match. It was after all the one that tilted the balance, made him change his way. No matter how important and symbolic the Winter Cup was, it wouldn't compare. At the time, both him and Kagami were children, unaware, foolish— but now, perhaps Kagami wasn't as much of a baby as he used to be.

Watching on, Ryota couldn't help the chuckle from slipping past his lips. The Seirin Captain and Too Mushroom were both so childishly competitive, it lightened his mood. Three-pointers after three-pointers. It didn't take long for Kuroko's famed vanishing drive to close the gap before the whistle sounded the end of the first quarter.

Ryota carefully narrowed his eyes. If he remembered right, Too would break through Tetsuya's trick— no, Daiki would because Too's brains had found the secret behind it.

The rest of the match went as expected. From Aomine's boastful counterattack to the way Too completely overwhelmed Kuroko's technique from the second quarter to part of the third, he watched in mild boredom— finding the pace of the match a bit slow, specifically, shouldn't they run faster? React quicker?

The fourth quarter began, the rhythm except perhaps for Tetsuya's unexpected trump, Misdirection Overflow, wasn't enough to satiate Ryota's growing apathy. His eyes left the court yet again, in his peripheral vision he saw Junichiro who eagerly leaned forward to have a better look and Shura who disinterestedly kept an eye on the play.

Ryota paused, wondering when his reaction turned more similar to the pink head than the raven head when it came to basketball. On one hand, he wanted to play, on the other, he thought that playing against them, except perhaps for the melancholy and nostalgia wouldn't be much fun.

Either way, he drunk their moves, unconsciously copying them and discarding the 'lesser ones'. He glanced at his watch, feeling that the time seemed to stretch on. The vision of the other GOM players who patiently analyzed the match made him falter.

He slid his gaze back on the court, minutely taking a glance at the timer. One minute left. He should be able to keep his focus. The score was in Too's favor, the seconds ticked by, 97-98.

Ryota leaned forward with newfound interest, and as if feeling himself intrigued, Shura, who previously began to play with his fingers, took a closer look at the court.

Aomine was in the Zone.

Ryota grinned, his eyes flashing with dangerous red as felt excitement overwhelm him. His golden eyes flickered to the redhead.

Kagami was in the Zone.

Ah, he really felt like playing now.

Thanks for reading, until next time^^