A/N: Welcome to the first chapter of season two! Enjoy!

Bold = Speaking English.

edited on march 12th, 2022 @ 10:23am

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

CHAPTER TWELVE - I NEVER THOUGHT WE'D MEET HERE.

SEIRIN WAS CURRENTLY DOING A practice match against Komada. Up above in the stands, two men from the press were watching from above.

"The strongest teams of the Winter Cup are Kaijo High, led by team captain Kasamatsu Yukio... There's Kise Ryouta, their prodigal ace."

"Oh, but didn't Kaijo lose to another team the other day?"

"They lost to Touou Academy. It was a fierce battle. They have the prodigy Aomine Daiki."

"Speaking of prodigies, Shutoku High's..."

"Midorima Shintaro. What a terrifying shooter."

"They're all from Teiko Middle School's Generation of Miracles, aren't they?"

"Yes, and there are two more members of the Generation of Miracles. At Akita's Yosen is Murasakibara Atsushi. At Kyoto's Rakuzan is Akashi Seijuro."

"One of those teams will surely win, then."

"Don't be so sure. Kiyoshi Teppei. He damaged his knees and couldn't participate in the Inter-High, but he's a strong center. There's their captain Hyuga Junpei, a clutch shooter."

Hyuga is seen making a basket, scoring a point for Seirin.

"Their point guard with the eagle eye, Izuki Shun."

Izuki passes the ball towards Daigo, who immediately gets marked.

"They also have one player who was also apart of the Generation of Miracles, but wasn't well known as he sat on the bench. Aomine Daigo."

"Aomine? Is he—"

"Aomine Daiki's twin brother. Outside, he may seem like a normal player with the speed and agility. It makes me wonder what he's like when he's serious."

"Taiga!"

Daigo calls out Kagami's name, who was running past him. Daigo passes the ball over to the red head, who jumps up to make a shot.

"And their new player who has gone toe to toe with the Generation of Miracles, Kagami Taiga."

The whistle blew, signaling the end of the match with Seirin emerging victorious in which they cheered.

"Remember their name. They're the dark horse of the Winter Cup, the Seirin High basketball team."

The two men began to leave. However, one of them noticed Kuroko on the other side of Kagami. "Have they always had that player?" He wondered.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Kagami was picking up a piece of broccoli with his chopsticks before it fell, making him scream in frustration. "Damn it!" He exclaimed.

"Kagami, shut up already!" Hyuga told him.

"Uh, sorry about that." Kagami apologized.

"Broccoli is so slippery." Kiyoshi commented.

"Is that the problem?" Hyuga questioned.

"What is he doing?" Koganei asked.

"He's practicing." Tsuchida replied with Mitobe nodding in agreement.

"Practicing?" Kawahara repeated as Kagami tried picking up the broccoli once more.

"He's practicing using his left hand."

The broccoli slipped, going past Daigo and Kuroko before Number 2 grabbed onto it. "Damn you, Number 2!" Kagami shouted as Kuroko shushed him. "Give that back!"

"Kagami!"

"By the way, what do you want to do tomorrow?"

Kawahara's voice brought Daigo's attention as he turned towards him.

"We finally have the day off." Kawahara stated.

"Well, I'll probably sleep mostly." Fukuda replied.

"H-Hey!" Furihata suddenly said, reaching over towards his sports bag and holding up a flier. "Why don't we do this?"

Daigo glanced at the flyer, seeing it was for street basketball, causing him to smirk. "Street basketball, eh? Been awhile since I've done that." He commented.

"You've played street ball, Aomine?"

"Lots of times when I was younger with Daiki." An irked expression appeared on Daigo's face. "I always lost against him, however."

"Hey, first-years." Riko spoke up. "Don't you know what a holiday is? Rest. You have to rest."

"We know. We know, but..." Furihata paused before he looked down. "Kagami, Aomine, and Kuroko always get to play in games, but, well, we'd like to play sometimes."

"Good! Good for you!" Kiyoshi exclaimed. "That's the spirit, first-years! Right, Hyuga?"

"Y-Yeah." Hyuga replied.

"Hey, Riko. Out of respect for that spirit, let's send them off right." Kiyoshi said.

Riko raised her hand. "Hey, wait. I..." She started to say.

"The first-years really want to go. Let them do it." Kiyoshi interjected.

"W-Well, just the first-years, then." Riko finally agreed.

"All right! I got her approval. Do your best, guys." Kiyoshi told them.

"Okay."

Kagami smirked. "Okay, let's go!" He said.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

The next day, Kagami had an irritated look on his face. "So, what are you doing here?!" He asked Kiyoshi, turning to look at him.

"What, I can't be here?" Kiyoshi questioned.

"No, but... Where's Kawahara?" Kagami asked.

"He's got a cold." Fukuda replied.

"What?"

"Let's have some fun." Kiyoshi smiled.

"Right..." Kagami agreed.

They eventually arrived where the street basketball event was being located. "This isn't any different from America." Kagami thinks to himself.

"By the way, Taiga." Daigo spoke next to him, snapping Kagami from his thoughts. "I've been wondering about that chain I always see you wearing."

"Huh? Why the sudden question?"

An irk mark appeared on Daigo's forehead. "If it's personal, forget I asked!" He replied.

Kagami sighed, moving his finger on the ring. "I had a brother back in America who gave me it." He responded.

This caused Daigo to raise an eyebrow. "Brother? Didn't know you had a sibling." He admitted.

"He's not actually my brother. We were close. Always played basketball together, so it symbolizes that."

"What's his name?"

"Himuro Tatsuya."

"Dragon." Daigo suddenly said.

"Huh?"

"His given name means dragon, and your given name means tiger." Daigo elaborated. "In Chinese mythology, the Azure Dragon of the East and the White Tiger of the West are eternal rivals. It's further expressed in both of your surnames, "Hi" meaning "ice" and "Ka" meaning "fire." But the elements do not represent the mythological creatures."

(A/N: Credit to Himuro's wiki page for this information).

Kagami blinked at Daigo, who looked at him in confusion. "What?" He questioned.

"Nothing... You sounding smart just seems weird to me. Please never do it again." Kagami stated as Daigo whacked his head.

"Damn you! I do pick up a book once in a while. My ex-boyfriend had a huge house, so every time I hung out with him, I would read the books in his library." Daigo stated as he scoffed, knowing that his influence was rubbing off on him. 

"Ex-boyfriend?"

"Yes, Taiga. I did date before I met you. Granted it wasn't a real relationship and never felt like one, so I broke it off." Daigo sighed. "Going back on topic, I'm guessing you lost touch with Himuro when you moved back to Japan?"

"Last time I saw him, he shouted at me for losing on purpose in a match. Not to mention, he was injured."

"Can't say I blame him."

"Huh?!"

"Taiga, if I got injured and someone — for example, Daiki — went easy on me. It would piss me off." Daigo explained. "It would mean that person didn't take me seriously even at my worst, and being looked down upon irritates me more than anything."

The group eventually stopped at a table. "Please sign in here to enter." The man at the booth said.

"You idiot, you wrote it wrong, Tsugawa!"

Kagami glanced over, seeing some very familiar people.

"Oh?"

The two teams looked at each other with shocked expression.

"Seirin?!"

"Seiho?!"

Eventually, the two groups sat down after getting food, deciding to catch up.

"What a coincidence. Anyway, what are you doing here?" Kasuga questioned. "What about practice?"

"We have the day off." Kuroko responded.

"You can play already?" Iwamura asked Kiyoshi.

"Well, yeah. A little." Kiyoshi answered.

"What about you? Shouldn't you be practicing?" Kagami grumbled while eating a corndog. A hot dog was in his other hand.

"Huh?! Are you trying to pick a fight?!" Tsugawa asked in irritation.

"What?"

"Kagami, listen..." Kiysohi began.

"Ignore Tsugawa. The third years are retiring." Iwamura replied.

"What? You're not going to be in the Winter Cup?" Kagami questioned.

"I find that hard to believe, considering you guys are a fantastic team." Daigo added on.

"You mean you don't know?" Kasuga asked. "Only the top eight teams from the Inter-High can participate in the Winter Cup heats."

"In other words, only first and second place from the Inter-High. From our block, that's just Seirin and Shutoku." Iwamura elaborated.

"Which means because we lost to Seirin, we're automatically disqualified. We're taking a break from studying for exams today." Kasuga added on as he stood up.

Iwamura also stood up from his spot. "If we play each other today, we can play the game we missed last year." He told Kiyoshi.

"Don't play too hard."

"People don't forget that easily. I wish this coincidence could've happened while we were still smothering." Kasuga stated.

"Yeah, seriously!" Tsugawa agreed before he got picked up by Iwamura.

"I'm disappointed Hyuga and the others are missing, but we'll have our revenge, so we can focus on our without reservations." He declared. With those words, Seiho walked away from them.

"Bring it on!"

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Daigo was following his teammates towards the court, as Seiho was playing first. "Oh, crap! We're late! It's all 'cause Kagami said he was hungry again!" Furihata exclaimed, looking back at Kagami who had another corndog in his mouth.

"I bet Seiho's already won!"

51-32.

That's the score Daigo saw plastered on the scoreboard.

"No way. They beat Seiho so easily." Furihata commented.

"What..." Kagami started to say as he seemed like he was in a trance. Daigo looked at him with concern.

"You okay there, Taiga?" He questioned.

"What are you doing here?" Kagami asked, ignoring Daigo's question.

Daigo hummed as he followed Kagami's gaze. He spotted a male with gray-black eyes, and he had slick, black hair and one longer side-swept fringe that covered his left eye. He also had a mole under his right eye. He wore a white shirt and black jeans. Daigo noticed a ring around his neck on a chain — similar to what Kagami had.

"Himuro Tatsuya!"

"Huh? This is Taiga's brother figure?" Daigo asked himself. "Wow, he's really pretty."

Himuro widened his eyes at the sound of someone saying his name. "Taiga?" He questioned, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, well, Taiga. What a surprise to find you here." Himuro spoke in English.

"You don't look surprised at all, keeping the usual poker face?" Kagami countered, speaking in English as well.

"I ain't keeping a poker face. It's my nature." Himuro claimed.

"You must be Himuro, Taiga's friend from America. He mentioned you to me." Daigo spoke, getting his teammates attention as they stared in shock.

"Aomine, you know how to speak English?" Furihata asked in surprise.

"Huh? Of course I do. It's an easy language to learn once you get the hang of it." Daigo responded.

"Oh, I can speak Japanese. I just lived there for so long, I'm still not used to it." Himuro told Daigo.

"I see. That's a relief." Daigo answered.

"We're not friends. I guess you could call me his brother." Himuro said.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

Kagami had just finished explaining his and Himuro's backstory to the others. "I was disappointed then, but I came back to Japan this year, and now I attend Yosen High." Himuro explained.

"Yosen? That's the school Murasakibara ended up attending." Daigo thinks to himself.

"I thought we'd meet eventually... Let's fulfill that promise today." Himuro declared. Kagami gritted his teeth.

"Tatsuya!" Kagami called out his name, causing Himuro to stop in his tracks.

"What?"

"I... You..."

Suddenly, Number 2's paw slammed in Kagami's face. "Ow! Number 2?! You brought him?!" Kagami exclaimed.

"I don't like it when you're indecisive."

"What?!"

Kuroko placed Number 2 down on the ground. "I think I understand the situation. In any case... I think it's your fault for going easy on him." He stated, causing Daigo to snort in amusement.

"I told him the exact same thing." He said.

"I... If I had won..." Kagami stuttered, but was interrupted when Daigo whacked his head in irritation. "Ouch! Daigo!"

"Shut up, you fuckin' idiot! Do I have to repeat what I said earlier?" Daigo questioned. "No one wants their opponent to go easy on them in the sport they love. If Daiki pulled a stunt like that on me, I would've socked him right in the face!"

"Besides, even if you're not brothers, it's not as though you would change." Kuroko adds on.

Kagami closes his eyes, taking in both Daigo and Kuroko's words. "You're right. Both of you." He said, clutching the ring around his neck. "I like basketball because I enjoy facing strong players. Even if Tatsuya's my opponent. Thanks, you two."

"I've made up my mind! If we go head to head, I'll play as hard as I can, no matter what, Tatsuya!"

"Sure. I look forward to playing you today." Himuro looked over towards Kuroko. "By the way... Sorry, who are you?"

"He didn't notice after all!"

"I'm Kuroko Tetsuya. Nice to meet you." Kuroko greeted.

"Aomine Daigo." Daigo introduced himself as well.

"So, you two are..." Himuro paused. "You've found an interesting partner, Taiga."

"Hey, Tatsuya! You know about Kuroko and Daigo?!" Kagami shouted out.

"Taiga, you're really slow, you know that?" Daigo insulted before Himuro had a chance to reply as Kagami irked at his comment. "There's only one way he could know about Tetsu and I."

Daigo looked over at Himuro. "How's that lamp post doing? Been a while since I saw him." He spoke as Kuroko seemed to realize who he was talking about.

"He's doing fine." Himuro simply replied.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

"The final two remaining teams in this tournament are high school teams! Who will win?!"

The two teams lined up. "Let's play for our 50th win." Himuro announced.

"My opinion on him just changed. I don't care if he's pretty. I hate cocky players. I'm totally kicking his ass." Daigo thought with irritation.

"Yeah!" Kagami agreed.

"Bow!"

"Kagami-kun, there was something bothering me about that story." Kuroko informed.

"Huh?"

"Don't be offended. You're strong." Kuroko spoke.

"What?!" Kagami exclaimed in irritation.

"But... He feels just like a member of the Generation of Miracles." Kuroko stated. "I don't think you can handle him yourself."

"Tetsu noticed too, huh?" Daigo thinks to himself. "He may have the capability to enter the Zone. If that's the case, he may become a problem if we face off against him in an official game. Hell, the team doesn't even know about the Zone's existence yet."

"I was wondering what you had to say." Kagami's voice brought Daigo back to reality. "Is that all, you idiot? I already noticed."

"He smells completely different now! What happened?!" Kagami wondered.

"We probably can't afford to be careless. Let's give it everything we have from the start!" Kagami declared as him and Himuro had a stare off.

"It's the tip off!"

Suddenly, a piece of candy was placed onto the basketball, falling into the newcomer's hands. "Sorry, could you wait a minute?" He asked.

"You're late, Atsushi." Himuro informed.

"Sorry. I got lost."

"It's been a while, Murasakibara-kun." Kuroko spoke.

"I was wondering when you'd show up." Daigo added on as Kagami widened his eyes.

"Oh? It's Kuro-chin and Ao-chin. What are you doing here?" Murasakibara asked. "You look serious as ever. You're so serious... I want to crush you."

Murasakibara then turned his attention towards Daigo. "Ao-chin, still chasing after Mine-chin's shadow?" He questioned.

"Huh?!" Daigo exclaimed in irritation before narrowing his eyes. "It seems nothing has changed since middle school, Murasakibara."

Murasakibara hummed in reply as Daigo had a serious look on his face.

"You still piss me off."

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

A/N: First chapter of season two is done! Also, I'm gonna change chapter four in which Daigo enters the Zone. When I wrote that chapter, I didn't really understand the Zone's properties (It's been a while since I've watched KnB).

I want Daigo and Daiki to have a Zone battle in the Winter Cup — obviously not taking Kagami's battle with him, because that piece of information is important, it will happen before Kagami enters the Zone. So please give me ideas of how Daigo can enter the Zone, I'm going towards him abandoning his memories he has with Daiki, any ideas you have based on that, let me know.

Wow, this author's note is really along. Anyways, thanks for reading!

Word Count: 2739 words.