"Nakamura... Nakamura... Nakamura!"
"Huh?"
Nakamura snapped out of it when she felt Koganei shake her. Looking at the team, she could see worry was written on all of their faces.
"You're hurting yourself."
"What?"
Koganei pointed at the girl's hands and she realized that she had clenched her fists so tightly together that she actually broken through her skin. Opening up her fists, she noticed the small dots of blood on the palm of her hand and pulled out her handkerchief.
"Nakamura-san, are you really okay? Do you want to go home ahead of us? You don't have to review our opponent with us tonight."
"No, I want to stay. Sorry. I was just worried about Ryouta."
"Kise's gonna be fine. He wouldn't be beaten by someone like Haizaki."
"... It's because I know what Haizaki is capable of, that's why I'm worried for Ryouta."
The buzzer rang, indicating the fourth quarter was beginning, and Seirin focused their attention back on the court. Seeing Kise be thrown off his rhythm, Nakamura clenched her teeth together and sank into her seat.
This isn't good. Ryouta isn't acting like himself...
"Overwork?"
"The Kaijo and Touou game back at Inter-High... I don't think Aomine-kun was the only one to injure himself in that battle."
That's right... Daiki had injuries that would take at least a month to heal properly... How did I not think that Ryouta had suffered too?
Seeing Kise continue to be knocked down by Haizaki, Seirin couldn't believe that Kise was powerless against him. As Kise kneeled and attempted to stand up, Nakamura could see his body shake.
He's struggling to stand... It's his ankle
Haizaki looked at the blonde-haired male and laughed at his current state.
"Come to think of it, you were crawling around like that back when we were in middle school, Ryouta. Right, right. And I took your chick as well, didn't I? You are just down and out pathetic. And I totally dumped her as soon as I boned her too."
"That (guy)... How far is he gonna press (his) luck!"
Hearing what the player was saying, the referee went over to Haizaki and gave the boy a warning.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be careful from now on."
As Kagami tried to believe that Kise wouldn't lose to Haizaki, Nakamura clenched her hands together and prayed that Kise was going to be okay.
"Ryouta..."
Seeing someone move out of the corner of her eye, Nakamura turned to see Kuroko stand up in his seat.
"Tetsuya? What-"
"I BELIEVE IN YOU, KISE-KUN!"
Silence engulfed the stadium before people looked around and tried to figure out who it was. Looking up, Kise was able to easily spot Kuroko in the crowd and didn't miss the look the boy had.
Kurokocchi...
Glancing to the person next to him, Kise could see Nakamura sitting there with a scared look and her hands clenched together.
Nakamuracchi...
Kise took a deep breath before he got up and faced Haizaki.
"Shogo-kun, you know... I'll tell you before I win. You've totally got things wrong. Like about that girl... She just plastered herself all over me and started calling herself my girlfriend. To be honest, I was fed up with her. She was so full of pride, and all she could do was brag about the status of 'dating a model.' Just because you managed to peel off one girl that flocked over based on looks, don't get carried away."
"'Cause it wasn't Yuyan, right?"
"What?"
"You think I didn't notice when you suddenly started to stick yourself next to her in middle school before she left? You got in my way."
As Haizaki licked his thumb, Kise noticed the scratches that he had on his hand.
Those look fresh... It must've been recent
"That's right, I saw her earlier. If it wasn't for Tetsuya and Shintaro, I could've hung out with her again."
Kise couldn't understand what he meant and Haizaki only smirked.
"It was nice to see my hand wrapped around her throat again."
"YOU BASTARD!!"
Haizaki laughed as the Kaijo team struggled to hold back their ace from doing anything.
"Kise! Stop!"
"Stop (it) Kise!"
"Kise! We're in the middle of a game!"
"But he-!"
"KISE! SNAP OUT OF IT!"
Kasamatsu gave the boy a swift kick on his back, knocking him over and snapping him out of his rage temporarily.
"Do you really think your friend wants you to fight this guy in the middle of the match?!"
Kise took a second to recollect himself as he thought about what his senpai had said to him.
That's right. Nakamuracchi wouldn't want me to stoop to the same level as Shogo-kun
Seeing the boy calm down and put on a determined face, Kaijo knew that their ace had was going to be fine for the rest of the game. As the game resumed, Haizaki taunted Kise as his team ran back to defend the basket.
"You're nothing but a scrap with nothing good left, Ryouta!"
Everyone on the court paused when they noticed the blonde-haired player smirk.
"Who is? Then, maybe we can get along together with this? Our styles are completely different!"
Everyone in the stadium was shocked to see Kise shoot a three pointer, similar to "The Generation of Miracles... Midorima Shintaro's High Projectile Three!"
He overcame the obstacle. However, those moves are a huge burden to his body, so there is a limit. Probably no longer than five minutes. but right now... Kise can use all of their moves! The absolutely impeccable imitation... The Perfect Copy!
~Time Skip~
Nakamura let a sigh escape her lips as Seirin exited the stadium, tightening her grip on Kuroko's shoulders.
"Nakamura-san, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I'm just relieved Ryouta wasn't seriously hurt."
"...... Coach, I'll be bringing Nakamura-san home, so everyone can go on ahead."
"Wha- No Tetsuya. I'm fine."
"No, you're not. You're injured."
"Kuroko-kun is right, Nakamura-san. You should go home and rest."
Nakamura let out a soft groan as she wanted to help the team prepare for tomorrow.
"I'm fine."
"You need to finish talking with your mom though, right?"
"...... How'd you know?"
Remembering that she cut off the phone call with her mother earlier, Nakamura was confused how Kuroko was able to figure that out.
"... Fine. Let me give the team my notes on Kaijo then."
Struggling to open her bag, Mitobe walked over to her and took it from her. As he zipped it open and held the bag for her, Nakamura thanked her senpai as she shuffled through and found her notebook on Kaijo.
"I'm sorry that I didn't write down any notes during the game. I didn't record anything on the Perfect Copy. There's only data from when Kise-kun copied Aomine-kun during the Inter-High."
"Don't apologize Nakamura. It's fine. Just rest at home."
As Mitobe closed Nakamura's bag, he patted the girl's head before slipping in back onto her shoulder. Bidding the team good night, Kuroko and Nakamura made their way to the train station as the team headed over to Kagami's apartment. As they reached the entrance, Nakamura forced Kuroko to put her down.
"Tetsuya, I'll be fine walking, don't worry. You can't carry me through the gate anyways."
Finding her shoe in her bag, she put it on and the two of them walked through the gate. Walking to their platform, they didn't have to wait long before their train arrived. Seeing the train slightly crowded from the game, Kuroko had Nakamura take an open seat as he stood in front of her.
"Tetsuya, we could've gone with the team to study Kaijo."
"No."
"Why not?"
"How are you doing?"
"What?"
Nakamura was confused when Kuroko suddenly changed the topic.
"I'm... fine? I was able to walk, wasn't I?"
"I'm not talking about your ankle, Nakamura-san. I'm talking about you seeing Haizaki-kun again."
"Oh."
Nakamura looked away from Kuroko as she tugged at her sleeves.
"I've had better days."
"You're just going to ignore what happened today until the end of the Winter Cup, aren't you?"
"...... You're so unfair Tetsuya."
Nakamura pouted as Kuroko grasped her hand and intertwined their fingers.
"I'm just worried for you. A lot happened today. You should rest at home."
"...... I know."
Nakamura tightened her hold on Kuroko's hand as she looked at him.
"I'm sorry about earlier. During our match with Yosen when I pushed you away. I didn't want to, but-"
"I know. You keep your emotions out to focus on the game. You don't need to apologize for it."
"But I do need to say sorry. I shouldn't have done that when you were just trying to comfort me."
Looking down at her shoes, Nakamura felt Kuroko tug her hand up when the train announced their stop. Getting through the crowd, they were able to exit the train and continued walking to Nakamura's house.
Reaching her front door, Nakamura let go of Kuroko's hand and dug around her bag for her keys before pulling it out and unlocking the door.
"I'm home, mom."
Poking her head out of the living room, Xiuying greeted both her daughter and Kuroko.
"Welcome home Yuyan. Hi Kuroko-kun. I heard from my daughter that the team is advancing to the next round. Congratulations."
As Nakamura took off her shoes, her mother didn't miss the banadages around her foot.
"Oh no. Yuyan, what happened?"
Explaining how she fell and landed on her ankle weird, Xiuying pushed her daughter into the living room and onto the couch.
"You brought Yuyan home to make sure she got here safely, right? Thank you for always taking care of my daughter, Kuroko-kun."
"It's not a problem. I'll be taking my leave now."
"Of course, of course. Get home safely."
Xiuying locked the door behind Kuroko before she grabbed the first aid kit and brought it into the living room. Setting it on the floor, Xiuying bent down to undo the bandages that were wrapped around her daughter's foot.
As her mother looked over her ankle, Nakamura relaxed on the couch and asked what her mother wanted to discuss ealier. Listening to what her mother was saying, the girl suddenly sat up when she heard the last part.
"What? Hong Kong?"