30 TWENTY NINE

The preparation for the upcoming final league was going well. The training sessions were proved to be effective and the Seirin team members were showing an improvement in their physical stats.

Kagami especially. While he hadn't had the chance to test it fully, he was completely convinced that his jumps were higher than before and his movements on court felt a lot smoother. Takumi took credit for this of course.

The morning runs continued and Kuroko ended up joining them, later on, to build up stamina. The blank-faced boy was extremely slow and found it difficult to keep up with the other two. But Kuroko was motivated to keep going every time Kagami showcased his commitment and determination.

It really was a win-win for everyone.

Today however, things were a bit different. Takumi canceled their morning run because Riko was going to be holding a pool training session at the local aquatic center. And they were going to start quite early.

Now, this event was probably one of the more important ones that Takumi was anticipating. At the pool, Seirin meets the ex-manager for the generation of miracles - Momoi Satsuki.

A beautiful girl who immediately becomes the center of attention, especially when she becomes intimate with the ever blank-faced invisible boy.

Takumi snorted when he thought about it. To him, that girl was a wolf in sheep's clothing. Innocent and naive to the eye but scarily smart and observant. Her skill in data collection was something Takumi wished he had.

She made a formidable opponent with her knowledge alone.

"How troublesome," Takumi muttered to himself from the bench. He had no interest in joining this training so he opted to sit on the bench while the others did squats in the pool.

Riko stood in front of him, a couple of feet away, blowing her whistle. Takumi unashamedly checked out her body which was in modest swimwear. She was a little on the flat side compared to other anime girls but it was Takumi's type. (*wink*)

Nigou, the newly added Seirin member and mascot, sat next to Takumi wagging his little tail and letting out a small yip every now and then.

He reached out his hand to pet the husky's head when he heard a voice.

"My, what a cute puppy,"

So she's arrived.

The boys in the pool, not including Kuroko and Kagami, blew out bubbles and blushed to see the pretty pink-haired girl.

"Momoi-san," Kuroko muttered with a hint of surprise.

"Huh? You know her?" Furihata gaped.

"Eh? Who are you?" Riko asked Momoi directly.

Momoi wore a fake thoughtful expression as she replied, "How do I say this...I'm Tetsu-kun's girlfriend."

"Tetsu..."

"Kuroko Tetsuya,"

...

Everyone yelled in sync; "WHAT?!"

"An unrequited love. How sad," Takumi was the only one who didn't seem at all surprised at the pinkhead's statement. "What you should be saying is: 'Hi, I'm Momoi Satsuki, the ex-manager of the generation of miracles and someone who enjoys gathering data of opponents in order to destroy them'."

Momoi turned to face the teen with a smile, though it looked a little forced in his opinion.

"It seems I'm not the only one who gathers data, Yoshida Takumi," she replied wryly.

"Gather data? As if I have time to do that. No, I only got my information from what I've heard here and there. And, I know you've done extensive research on every member of Seirin but I'm sorry to tell you, Touou won't be winning. Your little bff won't win," Takumi grinned.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kagami asked - he was totally lost the entire conversation.

"I'm talking about the school we'll be playing in the final league. And the guy we will be going up against; Aomine Daiki, the former ace of the generation of miracles."

"You seem confident you'll beat us," Momoi said, her eyes narrowed slightly. "I like Tetsu and out of my respect for him, I'm not going to go easy on Seirin. Also, I saw your game against Midorin. While I admit that you're good, Da-Aomine-kun is on another level."

"Oh, but I'm not the one who'll beat his tanned ass," Takumi smirked and threw an arm around Kagami who had climbed out of the pool with the others. "Kagami will."

"Takumi-kun..." Kuroko looked at the teen with a hint of shock and confusion. It was obvious that his old manager and his new manager were not friendly with each other. Takumi was at fault for this as he provoked the pinkette with his unfiltered words.

But, Kuroko didn't want to stop him. While Momoi was a good friend, she, like the other miracles, carried an air of arrogance and the belief her team would win no matter what.

"Kagami-kun...will beat Aomine-kun? No offence to Kagami-kun but he isn't ready to take on Aomine," Momoi replied softly.

"Ha?!"

Takumi silenced the redhead with his palm before giving the girl a mysterious grin.

"Well, we'll see about that."

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

[Touou Gym]

'Urgh! I hate that Takumi guy!' Thought Momoi as she angrily stomped into the gym.

Momoi was a normally calm and rational person but somehow, that boy managed to get her riled up with his arrogance and provocative words.

Grabbing a bottle of water, she flipped off the cap and drank a big gulp before wiping her lips and dumping her clipboard on the bench. Her actions garnered the attention of the team who were in the middle of training.

Imayoshi pushed up his glasses and shared a confused look with Susa.

"Uh, did something happen Momoi-san?" Wakamatsu, the Touou center, asked stiffly with a blush. "Did that bastard do something again? That little shit who thinks he doesn't need practice, tsk."

The bastard being Aomine.

"No, it's not him," she sighed and pursed her lips. "But, our upcoming game against Seirin is a bit worrisome."

"Oh? It isn't like our manager to be unsure of such things. I take it your visit to the Seirin team did not go well," Imayoshi stated.

"I met 'him'. The guy who thrashed Midorima-kun and the one person who doesn't have a single record from before he joined Seirin. He was annoying and his words got on my nerves but what irked me was his confidence to beat us or rather, Aomine-kun." Momoi explained.

"I saw the match and I have to say, that guy is without a doubt on the level of the generation of miracles,"

Momoi shook her head, "But that's the thing. He told me that it was Kagami who would beat Aomine."

"Kagami?"

"Kagami Taiga, the Seirin ace."

Susa frowned, "Him? I highly doubt that."

"Even so, there's only one Kagami. The rest of the team will be easy to take on," one of the bench players snickered.

"And this is why you're not on the starting line-up," Imayoshi said mercilessly. "You clearly have not done enough research. Seirin is a new school that was able to make it to the championship the first time they played. I don't think you'd call a team like that; weak."

The player smartly shut his mouth.

"There's nothing to worry about though. We'll just do what we've been doing," Imayoshi turned to Momoi. "I'm confident in Aomine's abilities."

'I am too. But Yoshida Takumi is a dangerous guy. Who knows what he's planning.' Momoi thought with a frown.

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A/N: Okay so I'm not hating on Momoi here but I do think she seemed a little arrogant in the anime. And it's rare to see novels where Momoi is portrayed in a bad-ish light so I just wanted to tackle a different side of her. But I do love her regardless. Don't worry though, she and Takumi won't be at odds forever. Takumi is very arrogant as well but he's only like that to people who he thinks needs to be knocked down a peg and Momoi just so happen to fall into this category.