I don't own Kuroko no Basuke.
Everyone knew about the Generation of Miracles. A team at the strong Teiko Middle School Basketball team, who were all known to possess great talent like you would see once every ten years. However, what people didn't know was that the Generation of Miracles not only made Boys Basketball a huge boom in Japan, but they overshadowed the efforts of Girls Basketball. They weren't recognized in Middle School, but they have risen up and are here to prove their worth.
Students began walking through the gates of Shuutoku High School, some greeting their friends, some avoiding eye contact with others. The new students were bombarded by the numerous numbers of uniformed upperclassmen asking them "Do you want to join our club?" or "You look like someone who likes reading!"
In the group of new hesitant students, a silver haired girl passed by ignoring all the persistent students, heading towards the one booth she had her eyes set on. Her short silver hair flew behind her as her white eyes showed excitement and determination.
"WHY THE HELL DO ALL THESE GIRLS ONLY CARE ABOUT BOYS!?" A black haired girl slammed her hands on the table, frustrated with the number of girls coming up to their table.
"It might be irritating, but you don't have to be mean, Nao." A long brown haired girl, taller than Nao said with a smile.
"You're too nice, Yuina! We need members who at least have the guts for basketball, not some fangirls!" Nao exclaimed sighing and resting her head on the empty club forms. "We need people or else the school's going to shut us down!"
"If we're that desperate why don't we just accept those fangirls?" Yuina questioned.
"I don't want girls joining just because some basketball boys look hot. We need to win this year. We need to prove what we're capable of!" Nao said shooting her head up towards Yuina.
"But we need enough members first, to show what we are capable of." Yuina said with a smile as Nao glared at her, knowing she was right.
Shuutoku High Basketball team was of course, known for entering Interhigh and the Winter Cup every year, but the big problem was that their boys team was famous. The girls team, constantly was overshadowed by them, losing more and more members every year. This year was their last chance to prove that they were worth something, or else the school threatened to disband them. And that wasn't even the worse part.
"This year I heard that one of those famous Generation of Miracles is joining the Basketball team." Yuina said.
"Well, that explains the fangirls." Nao sighed.
"Hi!" Yuina and Nao almost jumped in surprise when a high voice suddenly called them. "Is this the Basketball Club?"
The two girls looked up to see a girl about normal height with short silver hair smiling back at them and slightly jumping up and down in place.
"Yes, yes it is." Yuina was the first one to talk. "Do you wish to join?" Without waiting for the girl's answer, Yuina brought out a pen and explained what to write. The girl's silver hair fell as she followed every instruction and wrote down all her information.
"Thank you!" She happily said as she walked away from their table. Waving until they saw her back disappear in the crowd, the two girls looked down on the paper.
"Shiratori Tooru…?" Yuina looked at Nao to see if she knew the name but she just shrugged.
"Kuriyama-senpai! Kikuchi-senpai!" A girl with light brown hair in a low ponytail came rushing towards the table, almost colliding with it. She put her hands on her knees and repeatedly gasped for air.
"Suzuki! You're supposed to be helping us get members for the Basketball Club!" Nao exclaimed at the Kokoro.
"I'm sorry, Kuriyama-senpai! I overslept!" Kokoro apologized bowing over and over again. As Nao was scolding the underclassmen, Yuina looked around to notice someone was missing.
"Suzuki-san, where's Tachibana-san?" She asked the apologizing girl.
"Oh, Tachibana's over at the gym practicing!" Kokoro explained.
"She's already practicing? Doesn't she know that if we don't get members she won't even be able to practice at the gym!?" Nao sighed once again slumping back into her seat. Yuina chuckled at the commotion and tried to comfort her best friend.
"You know that something like the disbanding of the Basketball team is not going to stop that basketball idiot."
XxX
Tooru hummed to herself satisfied that she was able to sign up for the basketball team and leaving enough time to look around the school. Making sure she remembered her path, Tooru looked around and at her feet trying to memorize how to get back to her the other gym. This school was famous for their boys basketball team, she knew of course. So famous that although the school is pretty old (very historical) the school had two gyms, one for basketball and another for assemblies and other gym related clubs and classes.
Tooru widened her eyes with excitement when she saw a large brown building.
"That has to be the gym!" Tooru said to herself, picking up her pace towards the building.
As she got closer to the open door, her ears perked up when she heard the sound of squeaking shoes and the thudding of something hitting the court.
Tooru peered inside the gym to see a girl dribbling an orange basketball across the court and running up to the hoop, lightly shooting it in. Her blonde ponytail whipped around as she caught the ball once more and did a small lay up. The ball swished through the hoop and bounced off the ground. The ball landed in the girl's hands once more as she ran back towards the three point line. She took a deep breath and was about to shoot when a voice called to her.
"Hello!" The high voice rang through the blonde's ears as the ball left her hands and hit the rim of the basket, obscuring its path of going into the hoop. She gritted her teeth in frustration to look at the person who dared messed her up.
"Aren't you supposed to be getting ready for the entrance ceremony?" Tooru tilted her head towards the blonde girl. She glared back and grabbed the ball from the ground.
"The entrance ceremony is only for first years." She said as she bounced the ball and shot it, this time through the hoop with only the swish of the net following it. The blonde picked up the ball, giving one glare to Tooru.
"You better head off over there, first year." And with that she left the silver head girl behind as she exited the gym.
Tooru smiled at the door, she disappeared and spun on her heel, heading towards the entrance ceremony.
"Tachibana Mayumi-senpai…"
She chuckled remembering the blonde haired senpai's face when she interrupted her practice.
"She's perfect!"
XxX
"Okay! Is everyone here!?" Nao shouted seeing a number of girls stand in a line before her. She held a clipboard and saw that the number of forms didn't match the number of girls.
"Most of the girls ditched because some of them wanted to see the one of the members of the legendary Generation of Miracles." Yuina said with a smile.
Nao gripped the side of the clipboard and aggressively scratched out all the names of the people that didn't come.
The boys basketball team started their new members line up today, but of course they didn't do it in the same gym. The boys had the new gym while the girls were stuck with the older one.
"I don't care. We got enough to keep this team going, anyway!" Nao said with enthusiasm. She then looked back to about six girls standing before her, one that she remembered clearly her silver hair. She had a different atmosphere from the others, and it bothered Nao.
Tooru remembered three of the four people standing before her.
"Okay, let's start with introductions. I'm Kuriyama Nao, third year and the captain of the Shuutoku Girls Basketball Team." The girl with black hair said in a commanding voice.
"I'm Kikuchi Yuina, third year. Nice to meet you." The tallest girl out of the four said with a smile that seemed a little too familiar for Tooru's liking.
"I'm Suzuki Kokoro, second year!" The girl with light brown hair energetically introduced herself. However, through Tooru's eyes she didn't seem as happy as she seems to be.
"...Tachibana Mayumi, second year." Tooru couldn't hide her excitement when she saw Mayumi introduce herself. When Mayumi saw her and glared, all Tooru did was smile back.
"The coach is not here today, but we'll introduce her when she comes."
"If she comes."
Nao seemed nonchalant about it but the other new members were worried. Shouldn't it be normal that the coach is at every practice?
"Since we finished our introductions it's your guys turns." Nao said.
"Wait, there's only four members!?" One girl with black hair longer than the captain's came forward, surprised. The four members just nodded to their underclassman's question.
"I thought this school was known to be one of the three kings of Tokyo! I didn't think the line up would be this pathetic!"
The girl continued to rant, not noticing the menacing aura the senpais started emitting. The other freshmen girls looked like they wanted to run away but Tooru just watched the scene amusingly.
All the freshmen jumped when they heard a loud thud slam the court. Nao glared holes into the talkative underclassman and pointed at her.
"What's your name, brat."
"I-Imayoshi Fuuka!" Fuuka suddenly felt the great pressure from the upperclassmen and lost all her confidence, however she never took back her words, because she would never speak nothing but the truth.
"Well then, Imayoshi." Nao emphasized every syllable Fuuka's name as she picked up a basketball from the cart. She held the ball with her small right hand and thrusted it towards her.
"Instead of just spouting out insults to our faces, why don't you prove it with basketball." Fuuka caught the ball and gulped. She didn't mean it to get this far, but it was something she started and she was going to end it. Before she could answer from the corner of her eye she saw something silver pass by her and stand in front of the captain.
"Why don't we make it a 3-on-3, senpai." Tooru said with a smile, suddenly having one of the freshmen's arms in her hand. She looked scared and confused in contrast to Tooru's oblivious smile.
"I think that's a great idea, right Tachibana-san?" Yuina asked to the blonde girl beside her. Mayumi happily nodded.
XxX
Tooru wore the yellow vest over her workout clothes with excitement. She heard so much about this school! She looked at Fuuka who suddenly showed competitive spirit in her eyes. Next to her was Hayashida Hikari, the freshman Tooru forcibly put into this game. Tooru was expecting her to be panicking her quivering in fear, but she saw her breathing in and out heavily with a determined look. She smiled noticing this change and began focusing on her opponents. Mayumi, Nao, and Yuina were in front of them in their blue vests, staring at them as though observing their underclassmen.
"Imayoshi-san." Fuuka whipped her head towards Tooru looking conflicted on if she should scold the girl for interrupting her concentration or to see if she had any idea on how to beat their upperclassmens.
"If I pass the ball to you, MAKE SURE you pass it back to me, unless I tell you not to. Okay?" Before Fuuka could retort back, they were all lined up ready for the game.
Fuuka was surprised when Kokoro tossed her the ball.
"So that you can have a slight advantage." Kokoro winked. Fuuka gritted her teeth in irritation. Kokoro was definitely looking down on her, she didn't believed that Fuuka could beat them. She was going to show them.
Tooru frowned seeing that Fuuka seemed ticked off. She just hoped Fuuka remembered the plan Tooru told her.
With the sound of the whistle, Fuuka tried to charge forward but before she could do anything she suddenly lost contact with the ball, she widened her eyes to see the 180 cm Yuina steal the ball from her. Tooru quickly tried to block Yuina but she turned and easily dunked the ball into the basket.
Fuuka looked down on her hands and trembled. That speed, that strength, she never went against someone like that, except…
Fuuka gripped her hands in frustration and got ready for the comeback. However, no matter how much she tried to go offensive, the upperclassmen had the upper hand. Yuina was fast for her height and she had the ability to block any of her shots. Nao was always one step ahead, ready to steal the ball from her. And Mayumi was…
"Another three pointer!" Fuuka gritted her teeth in anger. She hasn't been able to get one point yet and the upperclassmen were already at 15 points.
"Imayoshi-san."
"What!?" Fuuka was annoyed and the voice of Tooru wasn't helping. Tooru suddenly burst into a smile and put her hand on Fuuka's shoulder.
"Isn't this fun!?" She said happily.
"Losing is not fun!" Fuuka shouted back at Tooru. Tooru's smile faded and Fuuka found herself faced with the energetic girl's serious expression.
"If you don't like losing, why don't you look at your surroundings." With that Tooru went back to her position.
"Look at my surroundings?" Fuuka caught the ball and dribbled it, this time taking her classmate's advice and looking around. On her left side she saw Hikari, breathing heavily not from tiredness but to calm herself down. On her right side she saw Tooru, staring straight back at her.
Seeing those white eyes irritated her but not only that, she remembered what Tooru had told her before the game started.
"If I pass the ball to you, MAKE SURE you pass it back to me, unless I tell you not to. Okay?"
She didn't know what that meant, but there was only one way to find out. Fuuka faked her attack and quickly switched to pass the ball to Tooru. She smiled as she caught the ball, but what surprised Fuuka was that she passed it straight back.
"What!? If you're just going to pass it back, what was the meaning of that!?" Fuuka thought in anger until she felt the basketball perfectly fit straight into her fingers. Almost too perfect. Fuuka looked up and saw three blue vested girls running towards her. Fuuka gripped the ball and acting on instict, jumped into the air lifting the ball over her head. She knew she wasn't the tactical type player, but for some reason, she knew that wherever she threw the ball, it would go in.
The whole gym fell silent as the ball swished into the net. The upperclassmen just stared at the hoop in shock.
"What, just happened?" Nao looked at Fuuka confused.
"It was just luck, don't worry about it." Yuina assured Nao.
However, the point gap began getting smaller and smaller. Fuuka continued to throw the ball at Tooru and Tooru easily passed the ball to Fuuka or Hikari. Suddenly the points were underclassmen 18 and the upperclassmen 17. They were all drenched in sweat, but the upperclassmen seemed less tired. They finally noticed Tooru's supporting pass, but what they didn't understand was why wasn't Tooru trying to make any shots?
"We got this game." Fuuka said high-fiving Tooru.
"Yeah!" Tooru smiled happily.
30 seconds were left and it seemed like there was no hope for the upperclassmen. However, what was weird was that, none of them seemed to be panicking.
"Pass me the ball." Yuina and Nao both nodded at Mayumi's words. Tooru saw that interaction and was ready to put her theory to the test.
"Tachibana!" Nao who had the ball quickly passed the ball to the blonde. She was ready, catching the ball easily and bending her knees.
What she didn't expect was to have the silver haired freshman to be in front of her. Mayumi clicked her tongue, knowing that someone like her couldn't block her ball. She lifted her feet off the ground, watching Tooru follow in suit.
Seeing Tooru follow, Mayumi suddenly felt a weight of pressure on her shoulders. She couldn't miss this shot. They were depending on her. Mayumi gulped hearing distance cheers and the lights that seemed to be getting and brighter. Before she could get back to her senses, the ball left her fingertips. It flew through the sky and almost as calculated, directly hit the rim, failing to fall into the hoop. The freshmen were ready to cheer when they say Yuina's hand reach for the ball and lightly push the ball in for a score.
Kokoro blew the whistle and showed the score to be 18 to 19, the upperclassmen victory.
Nao and Yuina gave each other a high five and gave Fuuka, Tooru, and Hikaru a handshake as they sighed with a smile of defeat.
Tooru came up to Mayumi who was still standing at her spot with her head down.
"Good job, Tachibana-senpai." Tooru said with a smile, offering her hand. Mayumi just turned around and left the gym.
"I'm sorry, Shiratori-san. Tachibana-san can sometimes be overdramatic." Yuina sighed. Expecting Tooru to agree, she was surprised to see the younger girl's confused expression.
"It's not her fault. I would be made if my teammates don't believe in me." With those words, Tooru ran out of the gym after Mayumi.
XxX
"Tachibana-senpai! Wait!" Tooru said trying to catch up to the blonde haired girl. Tired of the persistent girl, Mayumi turned around and glared down at Tooru.
"What do you want." She asked hoping for her to go away. Tooru took out her hand with a smile.
"I never got that handshake." She said with a smile.
"You're probably thinking I was just overreacting, it was just a small practice match after all." Mayumi gave Tooru a sad laugh.
"I don't think you're overreacting at all." Tooru said running behind Mayumi as she waved her arms like a bird.
"It is irritating when you put so much hard work into something and it still never is enough." Tooru then turned around and smiled at Mayumi. "And it's even more irritating when you're teammates don't even believe in your efforts." Tooru said the last part, her eyes looking down to the ground, not matching the smile she had plastered on her face, but Mayumi was too irritated to even noticed. She gripped her hands in a fist and was ready to slap the smiling girl but held herself back.
"You don't know how I feel!" She yelled unintentionally.
"I do know how you feel, that's why I'm here." Tooru came up to Mayumi with an oblivious smile.
"I know you're a great shooting guard, senpai. You're just not used to pressure."
"I know that! It's just no matter what I do…" Mayumi rubbed her right arm, remembering last year.
"Senpai. I can help you." Tooru peeked into Mayumi's line of vision and smiled. "Don't underestimate what I can do."
XxX
"Tachibana-san." Mayumi turned around to see the tall brown haired senpai. It was already the next day and she knew Nao was in a good mood. They were able to have all the new members join and kick out any girls that had no intentions of focusing on basketball. The team had practice after school where Mayumi would have to see everyone but for some reason, Yuina couldn't wait until then.
"Kikuchi-senpai. Something wrong?" Mayumi asked. Yuina seemed to hesitate when she suddenly bowed.
"I'm sorry if I made you feel anything bad yesterday." She apologized.
For a second Mayumi didn't know what she was talking about until she remembered yesterday. Her running out of the gym and Tooru making that deal with her.
"It's not your fault, senpai. If you didn't make that shot, we would've lost." Mayumi said sympathetically.
"Still, I shouldn't have done that to you. I hope I didn't make you feel like I don't believe in you-"
"Senpai. Seriously, it's okay. I'm fine." Mayumi slightly smiled as she turned her back on Yuina and walked towards her class.
It wasn't Yuina's fault, Mayumi knew that, but still she couldn't shake of the feeling of disappointing them. It was her fault and it was thanks to Yuina that her mistake didn't end up hurting the rest of the team. Mayumi continued walking, her pace becoming faster and faster.
She turned the corner when suddenly she almost fell backwards, bumping into someone.
"Mayumi-senpai?" Mayumi opened her eyes to see Tooru's white eyes staring up at her. To be honest she wasn't in the mood to talk to the first year. She said she would help her, but Mayumi had no idea how this girl could do that.
"Don't call me by my first name, Shiratori." Mayumi sighed trying to get away from the younger girl. However, without being hurt by the senpai's harsh words, Tooru continued to follow Mayumi with a smile. Getting tired of the girl's persistence, she just let her follow her to the rooftop. It was where she would usually go during breaks to relax, but with this annoying 1st year in the way, Mayumi knew she wasn't going to get the peace and quiet she wanted.
Mayumi sighed leaning her back against the railing. She looked up to the sky and let her blonde ponytail wave in the wind. Tooru silently threw her upper body against the railing and just hung there lazily. She looked down onto the ground then turned her gaze towards Mayumi.
"Mayumi-senpai…"
"Tachibana." Mayumi glared up to the sky, hearing the younger girl ignore her warning of calling her with her first name. However, Tooru didn't seem to care.
"...Why do you work so hard?" Mayumi paused hearing the tone of Tooru's voice. She could sense curiosity in her words, but she could felt more of a saddened atmosphere coming from her voice.
"Are you talking about Basketball?" The second year continued to stare up at the sky, but could see the freshmen nod from the corner of her vision.
"...In middle school, there were these… girls." Mayumi started watching the bright clouds swim through the sky.
"League tournaments, practice matches...nationals..., my team for some reason was always put against them." She looked down towards her own feet.
"They were so strong… they were unstoppable. In the three years of chances I had, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't even get close to their skill."
Tooru stared at Mayumi who looked so frustrated, gripping the railing.
"Then in our third year, we were close to beating them. So close...but then…" Her knuckles turned white as her grip became stronger. "I messed things up. Because of me, our team didn't make it to finals. Because of me, our team couldn't be champions. I let my team down…"
Tooru just sighed and looked up to the sky.
"That's where you're wrong, Mayumi-senpai." Tooru said. Mayumi didn't even bother trying to correct her, but instead glared holes into her. She tells the younger girl all her problems, all her troubles and all she gets back is that she's wrong?
"It's not your fault that you couldn't make it to the finals. It's not your fault that the team didn't become champions. Basketball is all about teamwork. If one person doesn't put a hundred percent into the game, then of course that team has a higher chance of losing. If your team lost, it's not your fault that you let them down, it's you and your teammates fault."
Mayumi widened her eyes at what Tooru said. Who knew someone who seemed so energetic could say something so serious?
"If you win, then you made an accomplishment. But if you lose, then all you have to do is become stronger and get your revenge."
Tooru pushed herself off the railing and faced Mayumi.
"I want to help you, Mayumi-senpai, because I know that you're a hard worker, that you're strong."
Mayumi didn't want to admit it, but everything that Tooru said is right. She was always stuck with this fantasy that everything was depended on her, maybe that's why she was hesitant on trying to rely on others. Now she knew, she wanted, no she needed a partner that she could depend on.
"Tooru. I want to be stronger. I want to bring Shuutoku to victory. Please, help me." Mayumi said sticking out her hand towards the silver-haired freshmen. Her once serious expression, suddenly turned into a large smile as she grabbed her senpais hand and gripped it firmly.
"Yes, Mayumi-senpai! I promise to make you and Shuutoku number one team in Japan!"
CHARACTER PROFILE #1:
Shiratori Tooru
The newest player of the Shuutoku Girl's Basketball Team. She has a strong belief in teamwork and usually supports the other memories, not standing out too much during games.
She has Short white hair reaching her shoulders with white eyes. She usually has her hair in a small ponytail during practices and games.
School: Shuutoku High School First Year
Height: 160cm (5ft 2in)
Weight: 55kg (120lbs)
BMI: 21.4
Birthday: July 1
Zodiac: Cancer
Blood Type: AB
Uniform Number: 7 (Middle School: 5)
Position: Small Forward
Motto: One for all, All for one
Favorite Food: Baguette
Disliked Food: Spicy Foods
Hobby: Drawing
Special Skill: Solving Riddles
Best Subject: Art
Dislikes: Selfish People
Basketball Specialty: Passing, Shooting
Favorite Type: Someone I will never get tired of being with
Family: Mother, Father