28 TWENTY SEVEN

After Midorima and Takao's departure, Kise called over Takumi to their table wanting to chat with him. Takumi didn't mind and excused himself before walking over and plonking down next to Kagami.

"What did ya want to talk about?" He asks stealing some of Kagami's food.

"I wanted to ask about what you said to our coach that day of our practice game. The guy was in a foul mood for weeks because of that," Kise leaned on his palm.

"Yes, I must admit I'm curious too." Kuroko added.

Takumi raised an eyebrow, not expecting Kise to bring up what happened months ago.

"I merely gave him a warning about some things. It's better off you don't know." Takumi replied. Though the Kaijo coach had gambling issues, the guy wasn't a bad person at heart and was admittedly a good coach. He didn't want to ruin his image for his players.

Besides, Takumi regretted how he had acted that day and knew he was too arrogant.

'I should probably apologise to him.'

"So Takumicchi, how'd you feel after completely destroying Midorimacchi which was pretty awesome by the way."

Takumi leaned and stretched his arms.

"It was okay. He was a good opponent,"

"Humbleness doesn't suit you." Kagami snarked. Brat.

"Hey, I'm not lying. It took quite a percentage of my actual power to beat him." Takumi was not helping his image with his words.

"Only a percentage?" Kise whistled. "You're a different breed of human."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I've been meaning to ask you something for a while now Takumi-kun." Kuroko said dabbing his lips with a tissue.

"No I will not go on a date with you,"

"....."

"Bad joke. Shoot,"

Kuroko hesitated and asked, "Do you.....love basketball?"

The table was silent as the three persons turned towards Takumi waiting for his answer. With his level of skill and his insistence on hard work, he must love the sport to a certain degree, right?

Takumi was expecting a question like this to come from Kuroko one day but this was pretty quick.

He pursed his lips and looked Kuroko in the eye.

"Love is a rather strong word. I enjoy the sport, yes, but I can't say I love it. It's fun to play and for a while, it was just a way for me to pass time. Maybe I'll come to love it one day but for now, it's just a hobby for me." Takumi answered honestly.

"I see." Kuroko and the others didn't seem too surprised at his answer. It was such a Takumi-like reply.

"I hope that satisfy's your curiosity."

"It does." Kuroko nodded. If anything, the pale boy was just glad that Takumi didn't disrespect people like him who were weak yet insisted on playing the sport they loved.

Right then, Takumi's phone began ringing and he dug it out of his pocket to look at the name. His eyes narrowed and his expression turned serious.

"I'm afraid your Q and A session with me will have to stop. I need to take this call, please excuse me." Takumi smiled and hurried out the restaurant.

Outside, he walked a few feet away from the entrance and tapped the 'Answer' button.

"Joon?"

"Young master! Thank goodness you picked up!"

"What happened?" Takumi asked.

Joon's voice was filled with urgency when he replied, "It's your Uncle. Some bastards ambushed him outside the High Life Casino. He managed to fight them off but they got him good on the head."

Takumi was furious, "F***! Where the f*** was everyone else?!"

"They weren't around him since he wanted to take a call alone outside,"

"Which bastards were brave enough to attack the head in the White Tiger's territory?!" Takumi growled.

"I don't know but Hosen's working on that now."

"Tomorrow morning. He better have answers by tomorrow morning."

"I'll inform him Young Master. We're sending a car to pick you, it should be there soon. We don't want you to be in danger as well."

"Very well. I'll let my team know." Takumi didn't fight the transport this time. He knew it was the safest option so as to not put his friends in danger.

After he ended the call, he walked back in the restaurant with a stiff face which didn't go unnoticed.

"Is everything alright Takumi-kun?" Kuroko asked.

Takumi gave a fake smile, "Everything's fine phantom. But I'm afraid I'll need to leave now, just a minor family emergency."

"You're going?" Riko had stood up from her seat.

"Yep but I'll see you guys tomorrow." The tall boy grabbed his bag and discarded jacket.

With an exchange of a few more farewells, he walked out the door and rounded a corner to see a black car waiting for him.

'Those bastards who dared hurt my Uncle, they're dead meat when I find them.' Takumi thought darkly.

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

Leaving the restaurant later that night, the boys were in a cheery mood having had their fill of okonomiyaki after a wonderful match. As they chatted while waiting for Riko to settle the bill, they didn't notice their smallest member wonder off.

It wasn't until Koganei noticed someone wasn't there.

"Hey, where is Kuroko?" His question prompted a groan from the group but they stopped when they heard the said boy's voice.

"I'm here,"

A small round of yelps sounded and the group turned around to see their trump card looking as blank as ever but holding a box. Their eyes zoomed in on the box, more precisely, on what was in it.

"A dog?"

It was a pup of husky descent.

"Hey, doesn't it look familiar?"

That's when they looked closely at the pup's eyes and the eyes of their phantom.

"The eyes!! It's the eyes!!"

"They're the same!!"

"His name should be Nigou!"

"No, stop getting attached."

Riko had finished paying the bill and walked out to see the boys in a ruckus. Her eyes landed on Kuroko with an incredibly adorable puppy on his head. Instantly, her eyes became hearts.

"KYA!! He's so cute! Ara, he's eyes are like Kuroko-kun's."

It was unfortunate Takumi wasn't there to see but aside from him, there was another person missing from the group. The said person was busy crouching down behind a garbage pin looking like he suffering from some PTSD.

"Eh? What's wrong Kagami-kun?" Riko asked.

The boy was pale faced as he stammered an answer.

"S-Sorry, I just can't deal with dogs."

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

a/n: Okay not a great update but this was written some time ago and decided to leave it. The second part of this chapter is completely useless and you could just watch the scene in the anime but I had changed it when I first wrote it but then I screwed up something and it went back and now I'm too lazy.

Also, no other chapters for a while because author-san is a dumbass who cut her finger trying do some anime shit with a knife (bad idea) and she got assignments due for the next few weeks. Don't worry though, I'll probs do a mass upload like last week when I'm done with my shit.