CHAPTER ONE

"Coach, I have something important to tell you and the team."

It was after practice that Kuroko called Riko's attention, and the second year wondered what kind of important announcement that the younger teen has to say. She is very curious and half-fearful of what Kuroko has to say, and hopes that it wasn't anything ominous. She nodded at her kohai's request and called for the team. "Gather around! Kuroko has something important to say!"

The team glanced at one another in curiosity before gathering a little closer and listen to what their team mate has to say.

"I..."


"Did I hear that right? You're going to transfer to Kaijo?" Hyuuga asked, still processing what the younger teen had said.

Kuroko nodded. "Yes. My mother and I have to move to Kanagawa due to family reasons. It is doable to take the train from there to here, but it would be too costly. Next week, I would no longer be a member of Seirin team and of this school."

Silence. They took a couple of moments to process what the teal haired teen had announced. Their team mate is going to move...to Kaijo, of all schools. It has been less than a year since they have been together as a team. Less than a year of playing basketball with their precious team mate who they all got close to. Riko silently thought that she is thankful that such a thing didn't happen before the Inter High (even though they had eventually lost against Touo Gakuen in the Final League).

"Family reasons...it's not bad, is it?" Riko asked in concern. She at least hopes that it's not something bad, for the Kuroko family to move to a different prefecturals.

Kuroko shook his head. "No. It's not something bad. My mother simply met the man of her life and they decided to join our family before they get married."

Oh.

"Congratulations for your mother then, Kuroko-kun." Kiyoshi was the first to greet, and the rest followed.

"But what about basketball?" Kagami asks.

Of course. Basketball. That would always be Kagami's main concern.

"Kaijo has an excellent basketball team." Kuroko deadpanned.

The idea of his partner playing with the annoying blonde in a team suddenly irked Kagami. Not from the fact that he would be facing against his partner starting next week, but he just...well, Kise just rubs him the wrong way. He's just worried for Kuroko...he doesn't understand anymore.

"Man, we're going to miss you Kuroko." Koganei said as he pats the teal haired teen's shoulder.

"Yea! We're going to miss you like-"

Before Izuki could finish his puns, Hyuuga had punched him on the face. "NO PUNS!" (A/N: CAUSE I SUCK AT PUNS IM SO SORRY)

This earned a laugh from half the team while Nigou barked in unison, as if he agreed with Hyuuga of no more puns.

"Alright team, clean up, and let's go home!"

After cleaning up the gym, the rest of the high school basketball players parted ways to their own destination. Kuroko and Kagami in particular, have decided to head over to Maji for some dinner. They remained silent throughout their journey towards the fast food chain.


It was until they got their food on the table that Kagami had decided to break the silence.

"So, Kaijo..."

It was awkward. Kagami and Kuroko's friendship is mostly based on basketball. Their love for it, their passion for it, everything about it...and they hardly know anything about one another, personally. Kagami only knew things about Kuroko that are basketball related. Like the Kiseki no Sedai. And to talk about Kuroko's family so suddenly...its so awkward. But by next week, they would no longer be team mates, school mates even. And Kagami wants to spend whatever little time there is left to know more about his partner.

"My mother is dating a man named Kasamatsu Yuuta." Kuroko said. He knew that the red haired teen wants to ask a lot of questions, but is too awkward to ask them. So he decided to just lay the facts on him. Kagami-kun sometimes may say things without thinking, but all things considered, he knows that there are things that you can not outright ask people.

"Kasamatsu? As in...Kasamatsu from Kaijo?" Kagami briefly recalled the shorter senpai who violently kicks the hell out of Kise.

Kuroko nodded. "They both said that it was fine for me to keep attending Seirin. The train fare is costly, to be honest. And my mother's job doesn't really allow that kind of luxury as much. And I do not want to impose on...on my future step father for something like that."

Kuroko's infamous politeness and consideration. That was one of the things Kagami had learned first thing about the teal haired male...is that he will not ask for other people's help if he thinks that they would be wasting their time or their effort. A firm believer that he can do things by himself. Except basketball. Kagami isn't sure what to say about that though. It's not like his father is dating anyone at the moment. If your single parent suddenly finds a partner, you would normally be happy for them. But if you're a teenager who had grown up in a single parent family, it's...well, awkward. So he's not sure if Kuroko feels the same. All the more akward if your future step brother is the Captain of the team they defeated in a practice game. Kagami is glad though. Glad that Kuroko isn't making things awkward between them by being the forward one, by telling him things he wants to ask about but cannot spit it out.

"Oh. Are you...are you going to join the Kaijo team?"

This was one thing that nagged Kagami's mind the most. Basketball. He knows how important basketball is to Kuroko. And they've just gotten better at coordinating with one another. Inter High proved that (though they were defeated by Touo in the end, but that doesn't matter cause Seirin's going to get back at them at Winter Cup) and now...now they're going to separate ways.

Kuroko paused his drinking. When his mother had asked him if he's fine with moving in with her future husband, he had considered about getting left behind and live by himself in their little apartment with Nigou as company. But he was curious. Curious as to why his mother suddenly wanted to move in with Kasamatsu-san. He met the man a couple of times from the past when his mother invited him over for dinner. Kasamatsu-san is a nice man and Kuroko likes him after the first meeting. Kuroko is happy that his mother finally met someone nice.

His mother and Kasamatsu-san thinks that its a good idea to move in together for the sake of their children. Yes, Kuroko is going to have a future step brother. Older brother. His mother (and Kasamatsu-san) is being considerate enough for him (and Kasamatsu-senpai) to move in the same house for them to get to know one another since they're going to be family. Kuroko doesn't want to...he doesn't want to tell his mom that he doesn't want to move out of Tokyo because of basketball. Family is much more important than that. It brought incredible headache to Kuroko. Basketball and family. These are two very important things to him. But at this moment, he's torn in the choices he made. He loves Seirin. He loves the team that he came to play with and trained with since the beginning of the year. But he also loves his mother very much and wants her to be happy. So he chose his family and his soon-to-be family.

When he finally announced it to the team that he would be no longer in the team next week...he knew that it would cause Kagami-kun to think lots of awkward questions for him but does not really know how to ask behavior.

"Kagami-kun...basketball is very important to me, but my family...my mother is just much more important than that. We may not be team mates anymore soon, but we still have basketball, don't we? Even if...even if I have to break the promise of helping Kagami-kun and the team to be the number one. So long as we continue to play basketball...we'll always be partners. You'll always be the light to my shadow."

Ugh. So embarrassing. But Kagami is satisfied. Satisfied with his partner's resolution. "You're going to be team mates with Kise." he added with a grin.

The teal haired teen turned to one side, facing the window with a vacant look on his face. "Ah, right...Kise-kun."

'What's with that look on your face?!' Kagami thought.


"Are you sure you're alright with this arrangement, Yukio?" Yuuta asked his son in a serious manner. Sitting by the dining table with his son across him, his glasses glinting ominously with his arms crossed over his chest.

Yukio nodded in vangue amusement. He knows that his father recently started to see someone over the past few months, and is very happy with the relationship. He never really personally met the lucky lady, but he knows that she works in Tokyo. And said lady has a son, two years younger than him apparently. And so, his father proposed that they move in with one another, here in their house, so that he and his future step brother can get to know one another. And as fate hits the ball to a homerun, his future step brother is none other than the Seirin's number eleven. The former Phantom Sixth man of Teiko. What small world they live in. He was very surprised at the mention of the other's name, but was later curious as to what it would be like to have the younger teen as his younger brother. Awkward, that's for sure. They're already in their teenage years, too late to set up for play dates in the afternoon where they can play games and talk about the things they like throughout the whole afternoon until next time they have another play date.

"Yes, I'm sure. I know Kuroko Tetsuya, actually. He plays for Seirin. That's the team we lost to in a practice match a while back."

This time, it was his father who was surprised. Well, will you look at that. "Really? If that's the case, then this is great! The two of you can easily bond over basketball!"

Well, that's true, Yukio thought. But from the fact that the other would be moving in with his family in Kanagawa does that mean that Kuroko would be moving schools as well? If that is the case, the possiblity of the phantom player playing for the Kaijo team is there. Oh god, wait til Kise hears about this, he thought. Or maybe not, he'd rather not tell the blonde about it on second thought, knowing what the other's reaction would be once he finds out that one of the people he looks up to is going to transfer to their school and might possibly become their team mate...Yukio doesn't want to think the headache that he would be sporting from all the unending questions and fantasies that Kise would undoubtedly mutter and squeal about.

Yea, he's going to keep this information to himself for a while.


"Alright, I've got the cake! Come on, set the rest of the balloons before Kuroko gets here!" Riko places the box of cake (Vanilla flavored icing and cream, of course) on the long table, together with the other food and drinks the other members brought (Mitobe insisted to bring more, but any more and they would need more tables than necessary). The rest of the team are busy doing things she had assigned them to do. Hyuuga, Izuki and Kiyoshi hanged the sign, streamers and many more decorations in the gym, the freshmen trio handled the balloons, Mitobe, Koganei and Tsuchida settled on keeping watch, while Kagami was tasked to keep Kuroko distracted for as long as they can while they're finishing up.

When they have finished decorating the gym, with the most prominent being the banner that says 'Goodbye, but not Farewell'. and with balloons scattered everywhere. Riko is satisfied. It's not big, but she would not let Kuroko leave the team without a proper farewell party. She liked how Kiyoshi had said that they would be saying goodbye to Kuroko but at the same time, they're not saying farewell. It sounded ridiculous, but its the best way to describe it. For now, they wait for the basketball idiots duo to return.

And when they do return, they've never seen Kuroko so surprised in their entire time they've been team mates. It makes them feel very accomplished that they were able to draw such reaction as they pulled several party poppers and several colorful streamers decorates Kuroko's teal hair.

"Uhm..."

The teal haired teen is practically speechless.

After one party, laughter, comedy, a large cake, and a clean up, Riko gathers her team.

"Alright, one last thing before we all go home." she said with a large grin.

The public court. One last game with the team before one of their own leaves their nest.

This brought a smile to Kuroko's face, the kind of smile that the team has never seen before, and are proud of themselves to be able to get such an expression from their usually stone faced team mate. Not that Kuroko doesn't smile often, but this one was special. It looked more like contentment, and...and many positive things. And it made the rest of the team smile as well.

"It's going to be so weird without you around Kuroko." Kawahara said with a grin. He was honestly sad to see his team mate (and classmate) move away. Kuroko was the only one amongst the team and in his circle of friends who share the same interest regarding puzzles.

The rest of the team nodded. It would be weird not being scared shitless countless of times by his lack of presence and when he seems to pop out of nowhere. It may have given them near heart attacks, but they would surely miss it.

"So, Kaijo...Kise got his wish in getting Kuroko in their team." Izuki said.

The passive look that Kagami had seen yesterday returned.

They can all imagine the kind of reaction Kise Ryouta would make when he finds out that the very person he tried to ask to move to his school is actually going to move said school...

They pity the teal haired teen.

Before they could part ways, the team exchanged knowing grins and passed Kuroko a brand new basketball. With scribbles all over it.

Encouraging things from his senpais, and tearful messages from his fellow freshmen team mates. And a very emotional one from Kagami:

'We'll always be partners.'

"Kagami-kun..." Kuroko clutched the orange ball against his chest as he stared at the red haired teen's blushing face. "So shameless!" Then proceeds to jab said red haired teen's stomach particularly hard.

The ace fell on his knees, clutching his stomach and grunting in pain. "Kuroko, you bastard!"


Kuroko clutched the basketball given by the team against his chest as he laid on his bed, silently shedding tears. He had packed his remaining belongings in boxes, all ready to move out of their small little apartment in Tokyo to a family home in Kanagawa. The much more heavier things have already been moved to the other house for the past week, so that they wont have trouble moving in on the actual day.

"Tetsuya?"

"Yes mother?"

A teal haired woman enters the room, a large smile on her face. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

Kuroko nodded at his mother, reciprocating a smile on his own, albeit not as big and as enthusiastic. "Yes, mother. I'm ready."

Kuroko Manami has been a single mother for about ten years, raising her only son with the best of her abilities. She knows she's not the perfect mother, but she's doing the best she can to give everything for her baby boy. He didn't really have the most delightful or memorable childhood, so she's making it up by providing her teenage son with the things he needs and wants. From time to time, she would have thoughts on how lucky she is to have a son like Tetsuya. So obedient, hardly makes a fuss, doesn't get into any trouble. But he is so invisible. He easily blends into the background, away from people's sights, away from their awareness. And because of that, he is easily forgotten and overlooked. Manami thought of how lonely that must be. And she cant help but to blame herself sometimes for that. So when she had met a perfect gentleman with such a charming personality, Manami thought that its perfect. To rebuild a family with a man she is falling in love with.

She also knows how important basketball is to her son. So she was worried that Tetsuya might think that she's making her choose between family and his beloved sport. The sport is one of the little things from Tetsuya's childhood that kept her beloved son happy, so she's not going to take that away from him. But Tetsuya was also deprived of a father figure. That is one thing she cannot be for her son. A father figure.

Manami lays her hand on top of Tetsuya's before wrapping her much smaller hand with his. "Oh Tetsuya...I know that Seirin is important to you. And you dont really have to transfer to Kaijo. Don't worry about the train fare, we can afford it!"

The teal haired teen shook his head as he squeezed his mother's hand. "It's alright mother. Seirin is important to me, but you're more important to me. And it takes about an hour to get from here to Kanagawa. It is not very practical. And Kaijo is a very good school and has an excellent team."

What a good boy her Tetsuya is, Manami thought. She smiled at her son and leaned her head to his shoulder. "If you're sure. But I want you to be happy. It's alright to be selfish sometimes."

"I know mother. But if you're happy, then I'm happy. That's good enough for me."

What a good boy indeed.