A/N: Is it just me or does anyone else forget the other first-years names? Like, the only one I know by heart is Furihata. Oops. Anyways, enjoy!

edited on february 2nd, 2022 @ 2:58am

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CHAPTER EIGHT - ACE VS FORMER ACE

KIYOSHI WAS DRIBBLING THE BALL onto the ground while Kagami stood in front of him. He moved right past Kagami who was quick to react. "He's bigger than me, but he's pretty fast!" Kagami thinks to himself.

Kiyoshi jumped up to score a point but Kagami ended up knocking the ball out of his hands. "So high! His jumps really are unbelievable in person." Kiyoshi noted. 

"Amazing!" Fukuda exclaimed in awe.

"Neither one is budging." Furihata commented.

"They're evenly matched?" Kawahara questioned.

"Kiyoshi really is amazing." Hyuga stated. "He hasn't played in a while, but he's doing this well against Kagami."

"But Kagami's the one pressuring him." Izuki pointed out.

"Kiyoshi... Kiyoshi... I know that name is familiar to me somehow! His moves are familiar too." Daigo thought. He was scolding himself for not remembering where he heard that name.

Kagami now had the ball in his hands. "But what is this? Kiyoshi's movements..." Hyuga thinks to himself, narrowing his eyes in thought.

Kiyoshi was breathing heavily as he wiped the sweat off of his face. "This is harder than I thought it would be." He thought, before getting into position.

"He broke past him?"

"Crap, I responded too slowly!" Kiyoshi scolded himself.

Kagami jumped up to score but Kiyoshi jumped up to block him. "It's not over yet." Izuki commented.

Kagami moved up from behind Kiyoshi before slamming the ball into the hoop. "What?" Kiyoshi questioned in his head.

"That's amazing!" Furihata said. "He dunked from behind. Kagami wins!"

Kiyoshi sighed in defeat. "You got me. I lost." He said, placing a hand on Kagami's shoulder. "Just like I promised, you can start."

"Okay." Kagami replied.

"Hey..." Riko started to say.

Kagami opened the door. "I'm going. Good work." He called out as the door closed.

"What are you thinking, Kiyoshi?" Izuki spoke.

Kiyoshi turned around. "He really is strong." He complimented.

Riko slammed her paper fan at Kiyoshi's back. "And what are we going to do without you?" She asked angrily as Kiyoshi rubbed his head.

"I can't help it. Saying I haven't been playing isn't really much of an excuse." He responded. "This is the best I can do."

"That's not your best. You're acting too stupid. Look at your feet!" Hyuga pointed out, gesturing to his shoes. "Those are indoor shoes, you moron!"

"What?"

"Sheesh... Don't tell me you lost on purpose." Hyuga told him.

"Oh, crap!"

"It wasn't on purpose?"

"Sheesh!"

"Aha!" Daigo suddenly exclaimed, getting his teammates attention.

"What is it, Aomine?" Hyuga asked.

"I've been sitting here thinking why his name sounded familiar. But now it finally hit me." Daigo explained. "I went head to head with you in middle school! Man! It really is a small world!"

"Huh?!"

"What do you mean you went against him?" Izuki questioned.

"It was long before Tetsu joined us. Which is why he wouldn't remember him." Daigo answered. "I don't remember any of my opponents from middle school. Mostly because half of them weren't even worth remembering. But when we went against Shoei Junior High, there was one player who stood out to me. That was you, Kiyoshi-san."

Teiko was currently going against Shoei. Daigo dribbled the ball across the court as he was blocked by a younger Kiyoshi.

Daigo tried to go through him, but they were evenly matched as Kiyoshi was right on his heels. "Damn it! This guy is pissing me off! He's not like his teammates who's spirits are low." Daigo thinks to himself.

"Daigo!" Daiki called out to his brother as Daigo quickly passed the ball over to him. Daigo was able to pass Kiyoshi before Daiki passed the ball back over to him once he reached the hoop.

Kiyoshi jumped up to block him, but Daigo stepped back, using his Formless Shot as he slammed the ball into the hoop and gaining a point for Teiko.

"I see... So you were apart of them." Kiyoshi commented.

"Mmm. Unfortunately." Daigo sighed out. "I didn't think I'd run into you again. Much less be on the same side. I'm looking forward to playing with you, Kiyoshi-san."

"Same here."

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"I don't care if you're one of Tokyo's top four teams."

"You guys must think we're a joke."

"Hey, Furihata..." Fukuda began. "Us first-years want to play in games. We even got our uniforms."

"Yeah." Furihata agreed.

"But isn't this a little too sudden?" Kawahara asked.

"I can't believe all your starters are first-years!"

"I'm seriously pissed. Let's destroy them and send them home."

"Yeah!"

"What?"

"You better hope you win this match." Daigo spoke as he grinned. "Because it would be pretty embarrassing for you all to get your ass kicked by a bunch of pesky first-years, wouldn't it?"

"What'd you say?!"

"Daigo, stop provoking them." Kagami told him.

"Aww, Taiga! Let me have my fun!" Daigo complained.

TWEEEEET!

All of the second-years were sitting on the bench. "Coach, what are you thinking?" Izuki asked, looking over at Riko.

"He insisted on watching the first-years play." Riko replied, referring to Kiyoshi.

"Kiyoshi, what is this?" Hyuga questioned as Kiyoshi just hummed in reply.

"Starting tomorrow, we'll have three consecutive days of practice games." Riko explained.

"Practice games?"

"Why are we playing again right before summer vacation?"

"So I know exactly what you guys need to work on." Riko replied before she giggled and gave them a closed eye smile. "During summer vacation, you'll all have fun practicing as hard as possible.

Kiyoshi then stepped forward. "Hey, Riko. I have a favor to ask of you." He began.

"What?"

"I know what Kiyoshi is thinking!" Koganei announced, causing the rest of them to look towards him in confusion. "We're probably going to lose this game, aren't we?"

Hyuga just nodded in reply. "Recently, Kagami's been playing selfishly." Koganei pointed out.

"Kuroko... you don't have to pass to me any more."

"Huh?"

"But they can't win that way. That's why you're making them lose on purpose, so he can realize he can realize he can't just win on his own, right?" Koganei questioned.

"I see."

"Huh?"

"That's amazing, Koga."

"Wait, but..." Koganei began to protest.

"You're not wrong, but..." Kiyoshi paused. "Do you think he's so stupid he wouldn't notice if we didn't tell him?"

"He didn't seem uncertain or worried to me. If there's anyone I want to notice something, it's him."

Kagami was dribbling the ball down the court before jumping up to score.

"He jumps so high! I can't stop this guy!"

Kagami slams the ball into the hoop, scoring a point for Seirin. Furihata had the ball before passing it over towards Kuroko who passed it over to Daigo, who grabs the ball and slams it into the hoop.

"The first-years are doing better than I expected. Kuroko-kun's movements aren't bad either, but... Our score is lower than I expected." Riko thinks to herself as Tokushin was in the lead by 34 points.

The ball headed over towards Kuroko as he took a glance over at Kagami for a moment before he passed the ball over towards Furihata.

"Is it because he isn't coordinating with Kagami-kun well?" Riko wondered. "No, this isn't just because of that."

The buzzer sounded as the final score for the fourth quarter was shown.

Seirin

43

Tokushin

41

"All right!"

"We won!"

"This is amazing!"

"We beat them!"

"Nice shooting!"

"Considering we didn't have the second-years, we did pretty good." Daigo thinks to himself as he wiped the sweat from his face with his towel. "I'm definitely not used to receiving Tetsu's passes, though. I hope Taiga's rebellious stage doesn't last through till the Winter Cup."

Later that night, Daigo was at a nearby basketball court alone. An image of him being on the court in defeat while Daiki looked down at him flashed in his mind as Daigo dribbles the basketball and throws it into the hoop perfectly.

He then thought back to when a certain red haired bastard had made a declaration before everyone went their separate ways.

It only made Daigo more agitated.

"That stupid oath..."

Daigo had swung his fist towards the red head after he spoke, making him stumble a bit due to the impact.

"Daigocchi!" Kise exclaimed out.

"You friggin' piss me off!" Daigo shouted. "Akashi!"

"Daigo."

"Who gives you the right to turn everybody against each other, huh? Was driving Tetsu away not enough for you?" Daigo questioned.

Daigo let out a huff in irritation as he began walking towards the door. "I don't care about Daiki, Kise, Midorima, or Murasakibara... But you, Akashi..." He started to say as he turned around and pointed towards him.

"I'm coming for your head, jackass!"

"I didn't think I'd come across you."

Kagami's voice snapped Daigo out of his thoughts as he looked towards him. "Playing basketball helps me think. As strange as that sounds." Daigo stated.

"Just thought you should know Kuroko and I are okay again."

"That's good to hear."

"There's something that's been on my mind lately, however." Kagami spoke, making Daigo hum in confusion. "I don't really know your story with the Generation of Miracles. Why you hate them."

"I don't hate them. At one point, I thought of all of them as my friends. Well, that is until that jackass made that oath. If I hate anyone on that team, it's him." Daigo claimed. "Back in middle school, I never really played on the court once Tetsu joined. Having the same talents as Daiki, I wasn't needed, so I was mostly on the bench."

"Why did you chose me?" Kagami suddenly asked.

"Hm?"

"To defeat your twin, I mean." Kagami explained.

"I believe you have the qualities to defeat him." Daigo admitted. "Of course, you're not gonna do it alone. You have me, Tetsu, the seniors on our team, and our fellow classmates. We'll defeat Daiki as well as the rest of the Generation of Miracles— together."

"Yeah."

Daigo placed the basketball on the ground before engulfing Kagami in a hug, making him confused.

"Daigo?"

"Thank you."

"Huh? What are you thanking me for?"

Daigo hugs Kagami tighter. "For not abandoning me like Daiki did." He replied. Kagami chuckled as he wrapped his arms around Daigo.

"Idiot. Don't thank me until after we get our revenge."

"Right." Daigo agreed as he released him and picked up the basketball. "Before we go, how about you and I have a one-on-one?"

"Huh?"

"I always wanted to play against you, and you want to defeat Daiki, so why not practice with me?" Daigo suggested. "And don't go easy on me just because we're dating! I want an honest match, Taiga!"

"I wasn't even thinking about it!"

"I don't believe you!"

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A/N: Another chapter is finished. Now you know more about why Daigo has a grudge against Akashi (sorta). I also wanted to add a scene with Kagami and Daigo, because this book is seriously lacking them.

Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 1879 words.