Warning: Spoilers for some of the later manga chapters. I don't own Kuroko no Basuke.
The Light to His Shadow
"Walking with a friend in the dark is better
than walking alone in the light."
- Helen Keller
Kuroko wonders that if he had never watched that fateful game of basketball when he was child, that he would had gone through his entire life unnoticed. It would have saved him from a lot of pain and sadness. If he had never seen that basketball game he would have never experienced the feeling of being betrayed and that he would always be alone in this world, but he would have never met so many great people and gone so far beyond his limits.
It was thanks to those three people. Those three bright lights that shone in his world of darkness and shadows. The one who brought him out of the shadows. The one who made him stronger than he ever thought he could be. And the one allowed Kuroko to stand beside him and shine just as brightly.
Kuroko always had trouble making friends. Most of the kids in his neighborhood barely noticed he was there much less tried talking to him. By the time he was in 5th grade, Kuroko was used to being forgotten and ignored by everyone.
Everyday Kuroko would go to the streetball courts and watch the other kids play and laugh and Kuroko longed for that. Longed for that sense of camaraderie and friendship made by playing the game that you love.
Then one day, the basketball rolled out of the court and landed at Kuroko's feet and he picked it up. The boy who ran over to get it had vibrant orange hair and crumbs on a bright, smiling mouth.
"Excuse me," Kuroko said quietly holding out the basketball. The other boy jumped back a few feet, which was the usual reaction to Kuroko's presence. Kuroko didn't expect anything to come out of this encounter.
"Thanks," the boy took the ball and looked at Kuroko. "Do you like playing basketball? You can play with us you know. We are missing a player."
"Okay."
"I'm Ogiwara Shigehiro."
"Kuroko Tetsuya."
And it was the beginning of a glorious friendship after that game. Ogiwara-kun always went out of his way to pass Kuroko the ball though Kuroko couldn't do anything with it. They spent hours together after the other kids were long home to help him practice and never got frustrated with Kuroko's lack of skill.
It was those summer days that Kuroko first really loved basketball. It didn't matter to him or Ogiwara-kun if he wasn't very good. It was basketball that made him his first friend and Kuroko loved the sport with every fiber of his being.
"Promise me that we will face each other in an official match."
"Of course."
Ogiwara-kun was the first person to find Kuroko's presence in the shadows and to pull him to the light. . . and he wasn't the last.
Kuroko had heard about the Teiko Middle School's famous basketball club and he decided that he would try to make the team as a starter and fulfill his promise to Ogiwara-kun. Who knew that it was this decision that brought him to the Generation of Miracles.
Kuroko started in the third string like most of the other first years. He was disappointed, but he truly believed that if he loved this game he could become strong.
He spent months in the gyms practicing long after all the other students had gone home. Practicing until he could barely stand and his muscles throbbed with pain. It didn't matter. He could barely do a lay-up and had absolutely no stamina at all.
Kuroko was nothing if not determined. He still practiced everyday for hours on end until one fateful night he met Aomine Daiki.
Kuroko could remember that night clearly. He had been practicing when the door open and a particularly tan boy peeked inside. He remembered appearing next the boy and seeing the taller boy crouch shouting mantras against evil while waving his hands around to repel ghosts.
That was when he first met Aomine Daiki, one of the miraculous first years in first string.
They were as opposite as day and night. Literally with Kuroko's pale skin and light blue hair and Aomine's tan skin and dark blue hair. But they compliment each other perfectly. It didn't matter if Kuroko was in third string and could not even do a lay-up and Aomine was in first string and could shoot even without a form. They were both love the game with all their hearts and that was all that mattered back then.
It was Aomine-kun who stopped him from resigning because of his lack of skill. It was Aomine-kun who showed him how much he mattered. Aomine-kun's strength made Kuroko stronger than ever before.
Kuroko could remember when he finally learned how to specialize in passes. The days of practicing and the broken wrists he suffered through to perfect the Ignite Pass. The hours he spent to make sure that he could keep up with the rest of his team on the court. He was a shadow to Aomine-kun's light.
For once he was not a burden. He was the one everyone depended on to make the pass that would win the point.
Along with Aomine-kun, Kuroko met Akashi-kun, Murasakibara-kun, Midorima-kun, Momoi-san, and Kise-kun. He had a team like he had always wanted when he was a child. They cared for him and he cared for them.
Basketball was the center of Kuroko's life. It brought him Ogiwara-kun and Aomine-kun and an entire team of great if a little crazy teammates.
It was those amazing days that Kuroko wish would last forever. The days he could feel the look of pride from his teammates. The days with the fast-paced games the ending in brilliant smiles and fist bumps. The days that ended with all of them walking home with a popsicles in hand after a long, intense game. The days when Aomine was his light, Kuroko became stronger than he had ever been before.
But all too soon it ended. Kuroko could sense it. Aomine-kun became too strong and in order to catch up the others developed their own special skills as well.
Instead of a beautifully strategized game of teamwork, basketball matches just became a way for them to compete against each other. After all no one could beat them now.
They were walking forward and Kuroko was falling behind. And there was no worse feeling then being distrusted by the friends you would do anything for.
Kuroko could see the broken eyes of the people they beat. He could see them growing more arrogant, more prideful and Kuroko could not believe that these were the people that he used to think of as brothers.
"Tetsu, I'm not going to practice anymore."
Kuroko's heart stopped. Aomine-kun, the basketball idiot, the one who loved the game with all of his soul, had decided to give up.
Aomine-kun, the one who he had admired had become too strong and Kuroko was thrown away.
Kuroko wonders if he had ever known Aomine-kun at all. He wondered if he had ever really known the person who he had pronounced his best friend and his brother.
Kuroko hated basketball. He despised basketball. The game he had used to love had broken Ogiwara-kun. It had twisted Aomine-kun beyond recognition. It destroyed the teammates he used to know into monsters who broke their opponents' soul without sparing a second glance.
The game took away the people he cared for.
Kuroko thinks of the Meiko captain who had given him Ogiwara-kun's wristband and decides to resign from Teiko basketball club.
He had let it go for too long. He had stayed silent to the Generation of Miracles harsh words. He had done nothing to help the broken spirits of their defeated opponents.
It was time to start over. He was going to beat the Generation of Miracles, his old teammates, and was going to show them what if felt to lose. Beat them off their thrones before they could destroy themselves with their arrogance.
Kuroko decided to attend Seirin, the school whose match he had seen at the Inter-High. He floated into the crowd and decided to join the basketball club. He followed a tall red-headed boy who shone with a confident, bright light. Maybe, Kuroko thought, this would be different.
Kagami-kun was a different kind of light from Ogiwara-kun and Aomine-kun. He shone with a fierce untamed light that could burn anyone that was not careful. Luckily, Kuroko had always been a cautious person and the betrayals he had experience wasn't going to change anything.
Kagami-kun combined Ogiwara-kun's good meaning actions and Aomine-kun rough and brusque kindness with a love for basketball that can never be diminished and Kuroko respected him for his unwavering determination.
Kagami-kun's powerful, brute strength combined with Kuroko's refined play made Kagami-kun shine on the court and with Kagami-kun's light Kuroko grew was the perfect equation.
They beat Kaijou and Shuutoku and Kuroko felt like he could actually do it. Take down the legends who had once been his teammates with the help of his new team.
When Aomine-kun destroyed them, Kuroko's world fell apart. He met Kiyoshi-senpai, the Iron-Heart, and realized that he can't take down the world without becoming even stronger.
Vanishing Drive and Phantom Shot. Offensive moves that Kuroko could never believed that he could have done before with the Teiko team. His new team didn't limit his potential like so many of his former teammates had believed. They showed him how to break pass that barrier and become stronger than ever before. With Kagami-kun as his light, his new skills, and his trustworthy senpais and teammates Kuroko was going to take down the Generation of Miracles.
That moment Kuroko's usual poker face was gone in exchange for a shining smile as he was being hugged by all his teammates. There he was, the winner, at the end of match against Rakuzan, and more importantly against Akashi-kun. That final alley-oop with Kagami brought the crowd to their feet as they clapped and roared.
He was being supported by Kagami-kun, the shining light to his shadow, and he could've asked for a better friend and partner. Kuroko looked up to the crowd and he could see Aomine-kun who was staring at him in awe and pride and Ogiwara-kun high up in the stands with tears in his eyes.
"Let's play basketball again."
That statement was not only for Akashi-kun; it was for everyone in the crowd. For all of their defeated opponents who had came to see the match. The reign of the Generation of Miracles was over. Basketball was for everyone to love and enjoy.
Kuroko owed so much to this sport. It brought him to Ogiwara-kun, Aomine-kun, and Kagami-kun, the brightest lights in his life and here they were all in the same room and they all loved basketball with all their heart. It was thanks to them he had not spent his entire life in the shadows, but instead is shining so brightly in light.
Thanks for reading! I really love Kuroko no Basuke and I decided to finally write a fanfic for it. Hope it was okay and that I didn't mess it up too bad. Remember to put your thoughts in a review please.
-SWP