A/N: Hey guys^^ I just wanted to write something for Halloween, so this is what I could come up with. I hope you'll enjoy it, tell me what you think of it :)

Anyway, here we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke

Chapter 1: Unexpected Encounter

It was already getting dark on the streets of Tokyo. Many people were occupying the bustling streets, wrapped into heavy coats to keep the cold winter wind from reaching their skin. Everyone was busy, not paying attention to what was going on around them. Nobody noticed, nobody cared.

Kagami felt himself sticking out like a sore thumb.

He was towering above all those hurrying, busy people, slowly making his way around. A big bag was thrown across his shoulder and he looked around a little helplessly. Kagami knew that his new apartment was somewhere around this part of the city but he wasn't really that good with directions, to be honest.

The redhead contemplated asking someone for help but he didn't really see anyone who looked willing to listen, let alone show him the way. The hectic pace these people displayed was already irritating Kagami. He just wished he hadn't come here, everything was so different over here in Japan and Kagami expected the worst.

Grumbling, he turned on the spot walking back the way he came. This was hopeless, he had to admit that he was completely lost. He knew he should just ask someone but something was keeping him from it.

His crimson eyes suddenly fell on a boy on the opposite side of the street. He was pretty small, at least from Kagami's perspective, and much too pale to be healthy. His hair was a light teal, his eyes a bright cerulean, void of any kind of emotion. The boy started walking, probably in order to cross the street.

Kagami didn't know why, but he found himself staring intently at the boy. He watched as the boy crossed the street together with a couple of other people, all cars having stopped to let the pedestrians continue to wherever they were heading. Suddenly the boy dropped something, Kagami couldn't really see what it was. A phone? A book maybe?

All the other people had already crossed the street, the boy being the only one left. Of course, the cars would have to wait for hi-

Kagami gasped in shock and dropped his bag as all cars suddenly started driving at full speed again, a big truck leading them. Time seemed to slow down at this exact moment, like it did in action movies and the like. Kagami heard himself shouting, completely out of reflex. "Watch out!"

The boy must have actually heard him, seeing as cerulean eyes suddenly met crimson ones before slowly being averted to the right where the truck was. If Kagami hadn't known better, he would've almost described the look in the boy's eyes as mildly annoyed like one was when it suddenly started raining or when someone bumps into you.

Suddenly, time decided to go back to normal and Kagami watched wide-eyed as the truck hit the boy full force, the driver had to be blind! And apparently, that wasn't enough. Ten cars followed until the lights turned red again.

Kagami felt his own hands shaking, this wasn't something he had ever expected to see this close in front of him. There was no way the boy was still alive, was there? Kagami wanted to look away, avoiding the certainly gruesome view of the completely destroyed body. He couldn't.

Which was good, otherwise none of the following would have happened.

The pale boy was sitting in the middle of the street, his belongings spread all around him in a mess. Nobody noticed, nobody cared. He was hastily stuffing everything back in his bag, a slight frown on his face. Kagami couldn't believe his own eyes. The boy sat there like he simply fell down instead of having been hit in the face by a giant truck. Hell, he didn't so much as scrape his knee! Kagami seriously questioned his sanity at this moment.

Without a second thought the redhead picked up his bag and headed over to the teal-haired one who finally arrived on this side of the street. Kagami grabbed him by the collar of his coat, pulling the boy's mildly surprised face closer.

"What was that just now?! Why aren't you dead?" Kagami asked roughly, glaring down that the expressionless stranger.

"That is a very rude thing to say." The boy deadpanned, staring up at Kagami with blank eyes.

Kagami let go of the boy, averting his eyes as he realized how that had sounded. "Sorry, didn't mean it like that…" He mumbled under his breath, unnerved by the boy's big cerulean eyes.

The boy didn't really smile, but his eyes seemed to lighten up the tiniest bit. "It's fine. You don't have to worry, this happens all the time."

Kagami tilted his head in confusion. This guy was pretty weird, now that he was actually talking to him. "What do you mean? What the hell did happen just now?"

"People tend to overlook me. You saw me though, I am genuinely surprised." He didn't look like he was. Also, he was avoiding Kagami's question. Damn, this guy was irritating. Before Kagami could say anything else though, the boy continued talking in his monotone way.

"It seems I have not yet introduced myself. I'm Kuroko Tetsuya, nice to meet you."

Kagami sighed as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Kagami Taiga."

"Say, where is Kagami-kun heading with that really big bag?" The guy named Kuroko carried on, obviously not willing to grant Kagami the time to ask any more questions.

The redhead would've liked to tell him that it was none of his business but then he remembered what he wanted to do all along: Ask for directions.

"I'm heading towards my new apartment, somewhere in this area. I've only just returned from America, so I don't really know my way around yet…" Kagami grit his teeth, not wanting to meet Kuroko's eyes for he feared they could stare directly into his soul. "So, umm…would you give me a hand?"

"Of course, I don't mind." The pale boy answered politely before he started walking down the street, wrapping his black coat a little tighter around himself. It almost looked as if he would fall apart if it weren't for that coat.

Kagmai followed the stranger through the crowds of people, a few heartbeats passed before he realized what was off about this. "Hold on a sec, Kuroko. How do you know where I live?!"

The teal-haired suddenly stopped in his tracks, slowly turning around to the bewildered taller one.

"Your address is written on your bag." He deadpanned once again, emotionless eyes lighting up with a mischievous glint.

Kagami's face matched the colour of his hair as he continued walking, embarrassed by his own stupidity. He had almost thought that Kuroko was some kind of secret agent or part of the Japanese Mafia, which really was ridiculous. He did survive being hit by a truck however, Kagami wouldn't let that matter drop so easily but right now he needed Kuroko's help. He would have enough time to drown the smaller boy in questions later.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Kuroko suddenly spoke up again. "Is Kagami-kun going to high school in Tokyo?"

"Yeah, I'll start attending Seirin this spring." Kagami answered while shoving his hands in his pockets to shield them from the growing coldness. "What about you?"

"I heard Seirin was only recently built, correct? If I were a high school student that would have probably been my first choice too." Kuroko explained nonchalantly, leaving Kagami more confused than he already was. Maybe Kuroko was still in middle school? But then he would've just said so, right? He still had that mafia member theory… Damn it, now Kuroko knew where he lived! If he really was in some kind of organization, that couldn't possibly mean anything good for Kagami. He somehow wished he would've just stayed in America, everything about this whole situation he found himself in right now was creeping him out. Still, Kuroko seemed like an overly ordinary person… Maybe even too ordinary, in fact-

"Kagami-kun, are you listening?" A voice that suddenly appeared next to Kagami asked, making the red-head jump in surprise. "Geez, Kuroko, don't scare me like that! Err, sorry, what did you say?"

Kuroko rolled his eyes and pointed towards their left. "We've arrived at your apartment. I hope you memorized the way."

Kagami nodded, although he had absolutely no clue how they even got here. "Thanks a lot, Kuroko. Man, who knows how long it would've taken me to find the way on my own! I owe you one, seriously."

The smaller boy smiled up at him and Kagami grinned in return. He suddenly remembered that he wanted to bombard Kuroko with loads of question.

"Say, Kuroko, bout what happened earlier… You still owe me an explanation for that." Kagami crossed his arms in front of his chest and stared down at Kuroko, determined to get his answers now.

"Look, isn't there smoke coming from your apartment?" Kuroko asked monotonously while glancing at something behind the redhead.

"What?! Where?!" Kagami whipped around in panic, confused to find everything as it should be. "What the hell, Kuroko? There is no-"

As he turned around, the returnee noticed that Kuroko had vanished. There was no trace of him left, as if he had never been here to begin with. Kagami looked around frantically, even searching behind a couple of trees in hope of finding the boy hiding somewhere. He had no luck.

"Damn this guy! He just disappeared because he didn't want to answer my questions, and I was stupid enough to fall for such a simple trick… Ugh, I'm such an idiot!" Kagmai mumbled to himself as he headed over to the building he was living in as of now.

Kagami lay awake in his bed, aimlessly surfing trough the World Wide Web on his smartphone. He just couldn't fall asleep, Kuroko, that creep, was still occupying his confused mind. He was a complete mystery to the redhead.

Without realizing what exactly he was doing, Kagami typed Kuroko's name into his preferred search engine. Apparently, there were a few Kuroko Tetsuyas living in or around Tokyo, but none of them looked like the one he met and none of them matched his age. (Kagami guessed he was his age, or maybe a year younger.)

The one he had met though… A true enigma. It made Kagami doubt his sanity once again, maybe he was hallucinating, after all.

Unable to stop the thoughts in his head from running in circles, Kagami decided that he needed some fresh air.

After he got fully dressed, he exited his apartment and went out onto the street. The air was icy and Kagami wondered if he should just go inside once again, he didn't want to catch a cold or anything like that. Still, he decided to at least walk to the corner of this street and then back again, just to calm his mind a little.

The redhead didn't get far, however, as he heard a loud scream coming from the opposite direction. It was a female's voice and all kinds of horrible pictures flashed through Kagami's mind, from robbery to murder and rape.

He turned on his heels and sprinted to where he thought the scream came from as fast as he could. The cold night air burned in his lungs as he rounded the corner.

He expected to see all kinds of terrible things but the one thing he did not expect to see was-

"Kuroko?!"

The teal haired boy sat on a small wall that separated to estates, a heavy book in his hands. How could he even read like that, the only light source around here was the full moon above them and the street lamps on the other side of the street!

"Hello Kagami-kun, nice to see you again." He greeted nonchalantly, albeit seeming a little bit exhausted. It was the middle of the night after all.

"What the hell are you doing here at this time?! And what was that scream just a second ago?!" Kagami was almost yelling at this point, trying very hard not freak our right then and there.

"You're being too loud, Kagami-kun. You'll wake up your neighbours at this rate." Kuroko set his book aside and turned his huge, cerulean eyes towards the nervous redhead. "Also, you don't have to worry about that woman."

He made it sound like an explanation would follow, but of course that wasn't the case. Kagami gulped and started to fidget under Kuroko's intense yet emotionless stare.

"Don't say it like that, idiot. It sounds as if you killed her or something…" A nervous laugh followed and Kagami unconsciously took a step backwards.

"Are you scared, Kagami-kun?" Kuroko asked as he stood up, the heavy, black book pressed to his chest. He tilted his head, looking genuinely interested in what kind of answer Kagami would give.

He wanted to say that he wasn't and call the smaller boy a bastard and an idiot but he could hardly say anything so he just shook his head and glared down at Kuroko.

It must have not been very convincing, judging by the fact that a small smile appeared on his pale face. They say that animals can smell your fear. Apparently, this includes whatever species Kuroko belonged to.

"It is the middle of the night, after all." Kuroko started, inching closer to Kagami with every word that left his lips. "The crime rate is high in a big city like Tokyo as well. And, of course, you saw something strange today and heard this scream. It is only natural that my presence would frighten you. But rest assured, I won't harm you." Kuroko smiled again and took Kagami's slightly shaking hand. "Please, don't be scared of me."

Kagami was at a loss of what to do, say or think, really. His mind kept screaming 'Danger! Trap! Don't trust him!' repeatedly, but the feeling of Kuroko's warm fingers on his own icy ones made him deaf to the voice of his conscience.

The redhead sighed and frowned at the smaller one. "I wouldn't be if you finally told me what the hell is going on here. That would be a good start."

Kuroko seemed to think about this for a moment but then he nodded. "I'll answer all your question on one condition."

Kagami narrowed his eyes sceptically as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "And that is…?"

"Buy me a vanilla shake at Maji Burgers."

Kagami really didn't know why on earth he agreed to this.

He and Kuroko were currently sitting on a table at this completely empty Maji Burgers, except for the woman reading a magazine behind the counter. She had been pretty surprised when the two of them had entered at this time of the night, apparently the 24/7 opening hours weren't really lucrative.

Kagami had order himself a good twenty burgers for a little midnight snack and Kuroko, who sat opposite of him, was happily drinking his vanilla shake. His big black book was resting on the table between them.

While Kagami was eating, the two of them stayed quiet. He really doubted his life choices in this very moment, even though Kuroko's presence was actually pretty pleasant.

When he was finished, he rested his head on his hand and stared at Kuroko. "So, who are you, exactly?"

"I'm Kuroko Tetsuya." Kuroko deadpanned and Kagami would've laughed if it hadn't been so late and he hadn't been so frustrated with all of this.

"I know that. Let me rephrase: What are you, exactly?" Because Kagami was pretty sure that Kuroko wasn't an ordinary human, if he even was one.

Kuroko looked around as if he wanted to make sure that nobody was listening before he sat his cup down and looked Kagami right into his crimson eyes.

"I am a Shinigami." He whispered and there almost was a pained look in his eyes.

Kagami just stared at him, eyes continuously growing wider. "Come again?" The redhead was surprised, not by what he had just heard but by the fact that he found it quite easy to believe.

"I am a Shinigami, a Grim Reaper, a Death God." Kuroko explained exasperatedly as if he was telling a child that one plus one equalled two, not eleven.

Kagami didn't know whether to laugh (because imagining Kuroko with a scythe was actually funny, like, was he even strong enough to carry one?) or to cry (because if he was telling the truth then Kuroko was, well, a mass murderer and Kagami was probably already on his list).

Unsure how to react, Kagami settled for the 'I don't believe you a single word' strategy. "Yeah, right. You don't look like much of a god to me." A forced laugh followed and Kagami watched Kuroko start to frown.

"Do you want me to prove it?" Cerulean eyes darted from Kagami to the woman behind the counter and then back to Kagami.

"Jeez, no! Don't even think about that! That's terrible!" Kagami stared at the smaller boy wide eyed and vehemently shaking his head.

"How can you be so cruel anyway?!" Kagami didn't even notice that he was raising his voice until he saw the hurt look in Kuroko's eyes.

"I wasn't going to kill her. I just wanted to show you that I knew her name and when her time would be over." Kuroko explained offendedly and bit his lip. "Stupid Bakagami."

A blush matching the colour of his hair appeared on Kagami's face as he averted his eyes to the ground. "I'm really sorry… I guess I jumped to conclusions…"

"It's okay, at least you believe me." Like that, Kuroko waved it off and the two of them relaxed again. "You must have many more questions. Go ahead."

"Right. How does all of this work? Your job, I mean."

Kuroko opened the book and turned it around so that Kagami could see it. He gaped at all the names and numbers in awe, although he didn't really get any of it.

"This number is the hours a certain person has left to live… and these are the coordinates of the place they will die in. They number at the very back indicates which of us Shinigami will have to go there." Kuroko explained, pointing at all the numbers and it was only now that Kagami noticed how these numbers where moving and changing with every second that passed.

"How many of you are there?" He asked, unable to imagine how much work all of that would take, considering how big the population of the world was.

"There are hundreds of Shinigami all around the world, in and around Tokyo we are seven." Kuroko explained and Kagami wondered whether he was friends with those other six.

Kagami continued to ask all sorts of question ranging from how old Kuroko really was (347 years, which was apparently not much compared to other Shinigami), where and how he lived (in an apartment not too far away from here, together with a dog) and generally how Shinigami were 'born' (depending on the overall death rates of the human population, some human souls become Shinigami for additional help or very old Shinigami turn back into their former soul if they aren't needed anymore).

"Are you even allowed to tell me all of this? I could imagine that humanity shouldn't know about you." Kagami suddenly thought of secret governmental agencies locking Kuroko into a dark room, asking him all sorts of questions and x-raying his soul-book, how Kagami had started to call it.

"Well, it's not exactly forbidden. People find out all the time, but no one really believes them. Also, you are different." Kuroko explained and upon seeing Kagami's puzzled expression, he explained further.

"You actually saw me on your own. Usually, humans only see us when we reveal ourselves or when their time is up." Kuroko gave Kagami a curious look, as if he saw him for the first time. "I wonder, are you some kind of psychic?"

A chuckle escaped Kagami and he couldn't keep himself from grinning. "Nah, that's definitely not it. I'm not very perceptive, at least that's what people tell me all the time."

"Still, it's nice. I rarely ever talk to people and when I do, they are usually crying or already unconscious." Kuroko said with sad smile and Kagami felt bad for him for having such a hard job. But maybe Kuroko was actually the best person available. He seemed strong and kind enough and he must appear like an angel to those souls he escorts. A stoic and surprisingly smug at times angel, but an angel nonetheless.

"Kuroko, let's exchange phone numbers." Kagami suggested all of a sudden and Kuroko accepted immediately. He had never exchanged phone numbers with a human and it all seemed way to ironic to him. Oh well, maybe it would turn out to be fun.

"I hope we can keep in touch, Kagami-kun." The teal haired boy said a few minutes later when they were out on the street again, parting ways.

"Of course, idiot. You are the first friend I made in this city." A grin as bright as the sun made its way onto the taller one's face and Kuroko replied with a slight upward twitch of his lips.

"I'm quite honoured. Even if you didn't want to keep in touch, there wouldn't be much you could do to get rid of me."

"Seems like I'm stuck with you until the day I die, eh?" Kagami sighed playfully and ruffled through the smaller one's hair, much to Kuroko's displeasure.

"Maybe even after that. If we ever need a new staff member, I'll recommend Kagami-kun."

Kagami laughed as he waved goodbye to his new found friend and returned to his new found home.

Tokyo seemed much more inviting all of a sudden. Heck, what could be more exciting than getting to meet a Shinigami on his first day here? He could only try to imagine what else may await him in this big, bustling city.

Whatever it was, it could hardly top befriending a Shinigami, right?

Kagami had never been this wrong in his entire live…

A/N: Like I said, just a little something for Halloween. The end is kind of open though, so who knows… Maybe this'll turn into more than a simple one-shot ;)

Any kind of feedback is appreciated, tell me what you thought or if something needs fixing.

Anyway, Happy Halloween!

ByDarkChain