Ｌｉｇｈｔ

seventy three - winter cup, start

The stadium was packed as Seirin came onto the court for their match. Cheers for them were shouted, but Sasaki knew the spectators were there to watch Touou, and just wanted Seirin to give them a good show. "Th-this is amazing!" Kawahara stammered as the three non-starting first years looked around them in awe. "Their cheers are like nothing I've ever heard."

"It's only the first day but the seats are practically full," Fukuda observed.

"Are we popular?" Furihata questioned.

"Idiots, of course not," Hyuuga reprimanded as he took off his jacket.

"'You can do it' probably doesn't mean what you think it does," Izuki added.

"Unfortunately, most of the spectators are here to see our opponents," Kiyoshi agreed. Suddenly, the cheers went up several notches as the Touou team made their entrance. This time, Aomine wasn't late.

"How many points will they score today?"

"The rising tyrant, Touou Academy!"

"And the prodigal scorer of the generation of miracles, Aomine Daiki!"

"No one can beat him one-on-one!"

"They say no one can tell what Imayoshi will do next. I've never seen a center run like Wakamatsu, either."

"Bahumbug," Sasaki stretched out his arms above his head, then did his legs with some side lunges.

"You can tell they placed second in the Inter High," Hyuuga muttered as the starters sat on the bench.

"Don't lose your cool," Riko's hands were on her hips, "We knew..." She trailed off, surprised by the looks on the boys' faces. They were relaxed, but also seemed ready to go. "Alright, everyone's consented, right?"

"Yeah," They nodded, all eyes going to Sasaki. "Lead us well, Mr. Telepath."

"Will do!" Sasaki grinned. During the time they'd spent with Riko's father, Kagetora, the team had started making use of Sasaki's ability so that he could relay orders to everyone and be able to confuse the opponents by having no one actually open their mouths to communicate.

"It's time. Both schools, please line up," The referee called, and soon the ten starters faced each other on the center line.

"Yo," Kagami smirked at Aomine, who raised an eyebrow.

"You seem to have improved a little," He mused.

"Well, yeah."

"And of course, Aya's the same as ever," The two looked at the point guard, who was exchanging a shrewd smile with Imayoshi.

"We definitely won't lose this time," Kuroko stood beside Kagami, in front of Aomine. The two flinched, their focus having been on Sasaki.

"Damn, it's been a while since that happened," The redhead chuckled.

"Fine," Aomine's eyes burned as a devilish smirk appeared on his face. "In that case, let's settle things once and for all."

"The game between Seirin High and Touou Academy will now begin," The ref announced, so the two sides bowed.

"Thanks for the game."

"We made it just in time!" Kiyoko panted as she, her mother, father, brother and a few of the Karasuno boys entered the stadium. When the volleyball team had heard Kiyoko was taking a day or so off to watch Sasaki's game, some insisted on going with her to see their new friend. Those that came along included Hinata, Kageyama, Daichi, Sugawara, Tanaka and Nishinoya.