ELEVEN

"This..."

"It's huge!"

"Too much! Too much!"

The Seirin boys paled at the massive piece of meat in front of them that could feed two to three other people. The only ones who seemed delighted were Takumi and Kagami who found themselves drooling.

""Itadakimasu!""

Hyuuga cut a piece of meat and placed it in his mouth. 'It's good! But I don't think I can finish this all.'

Izuki chewed on his piece, "This steak is steakalicious!"

"Please not now," sighed Koganei.

The boys would need to pay a fortune if they couldn't finish their food on time and they only had three coins on them. This was close to impossible.

Right then, Kuroko placed his utensils down and elegantly wiped his mouth. "Ano..."

"Oh Kuroko, do you need something? Water?"

"No...I give up,"

"K--KUROKO!!!" cried Hyuuga.

Kuroko didn't react and only said, "I'm sorry."

But then, a chuckling from his right brought his attention to his seat mate whom was Takumi. Takumi grinned and took Kuroko's food before emptying it into his plate which was EMPTY?

"Since you can't eat it, I'll finish it for you. I was feeling quite famished from the match," said the boy before gracefully eating his second serving. The table seemed thankful until they heard his words.

'Famished? You didn't play!!'

Fifteen minutes in and the boys were on the verge of collapsing. Their stomachs were filled to the brim and anymore would be catastrophic for their digestive system. But then....

"This is delicious!! I want more!"

Hyuuga recovered to see Kagami stuffing his cheeks with steak.

"Hey if you're not gonna finish that, give it to me."

At that moment, it was like Kagami instantly became their saving grace and the boys handed their plates over until another voice stopped them.

"Ha? I want more too. Gimme your leftovers as well," Takumi licked his lips.

'Oh my gosh! There's two of them!'

The boys divided the leftover meat between the two who eagerly devoured it as if they hadn't eaten in months. Takumi had a big appetite which he concluded was a side-effect of being starved most of his childhood. (It was his own theory)

In this time, Kuroko had managed to slip out of the restaurant without anyone noticing...aside from Takumi of course who didn't bother stopping him. He was too lazy to care and continued his meal.

...

The owner had kicked them out the moment all the meat was finished and apparently they weren't welcomed back. It was unfortunate the owner had to meet two boys with black holes in their stomachs.

Hyuuga stepped out onto the sidewalk and stretched his arms, Izuki doing the same.

"Is everyone here?" asked Riko looking around.

"Hai,"

But then Izuki looked around. "Where's Kuroko?"

"Eh?" Everyone paused as if waiting for the blue-head to suddenly pop up and say his trademark line but were met with silence.

"Unbelievable. How can he just disappear?" Riko muttered massaging the side of her head. "Alright, everyone split up and find him. If anyone has his phone number then call him. Maybe I'll put him in a Boston crab hold,"

Hyuuga visibly flinched hearing the last bit of her sentence.

-------------------------

Kagami muttered a grumble walking on the side-walk feeling irritated of having to go look for his shadow. He stopped upon reaching a basketball court and watched as three boys, probably his age or a bit younger, played together happily. A small smile appeared on his face as he recalled his time in America.

He didn't notice a presence behind him and jumped when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Geh! Who...Takumi!"

"Yo, what are you doing staring at those guys with that weird smile?"

"Ha?! Who's got a weird smile?!" growled Kagami. 'Tsk, this bastard is teasing me again.'

Takumi wore his signature smile and glanced across the court. "It seems we've found our missing teammate."

Kagami turned to where Takumi was looking and his eyes narrowed seeing a certain blonde with Kuroko. Without waiting for another word, Kagami headed straight to them, walking around the court's fencing but stopped his approach when hearing his name.

Takumi followed after and eavesdropped on the conversation behind Kagami. He didn't feel anything in particular about what the copycat had said as it was basically the same as in the anime and following the canon, Kagami couldn't seem to take his words anymore and made his presence known by delivering a swift shove to Kuroko.

"The hell you disappeared off to?" he said to the smaller boy who rubbed his side.

"You were listening?" asked Kise with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure as hell was! What do you even know?"

'At least he's honest about eavesdropping.' Takumi thought. Then he too made his presence known.

"Yo, copycat. Trying to steal our teammate again?" asked Takumi. "Let me guess, he rejected you...again."

"Yes he did. I -- "

Kise stopped talking when they heard the commotion on the court. The group turned around to see the three boys who were playing, in an argument with another group of boys who looked like delinquents.

"Who are they?" muttered Kagami with a frown.

They watched as the boys decided to settle the disagreement with a round of basketball but scowled when the newer group basically cheated and started taunting them.

Kise and Kagami's eyes widened when the saw a familiar lob of blue hair confronting the bullies and immediately rushed off to the court. Takumi couldn't help but sigh and followed after them and arrived just in time to hear the bullies offer to settle everything with another game.

Takumi snickered when Kagami and Kise came and stood behind the phantom asking to join.

"Oh? You guys are playing?" asked Takumi walking closer to the group. The bullies who were already intimidated by the red and yellow guys, paled more when they saw the new addition and this guy was even taller than the other two. Their pride didn't allow them to back out and they felt they had the advantage with greater numbers.

"Yeah. To teach these punks a lesson," Kagami cracked his knuckles.

"Oho, in that case, could I join as well?" Takumi asked dropping his bag.

This gave shock to Kuroko and Kagami who have been waiting to see how well the boy played.

"Actually, let me rephrase that. I'll take them all on and you guys can sit on the side," Takumi removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves revealing strong forearms and a tattoo on his right arm.

"Eh? By yourself?" asked Kise.

"You've been wanting to see me play, so here's your chance. Besides," Takumi glared down at the group of delinquents, "these brats are too weak."

A sudden chill went down everyone's spines as Takumi's presence seemed to overwhelm the atmosphere.