AN/: I was having a bit of a writers block so I decided to give this a try. For those who are reading my other story sorry for the wait, life got in the way but don't worry, I'll update soon I just have to check a few things and then is out. I promise

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basket or any of it's characters, this is just for fun

Taiga was five years old when his father took him to his first football game.

His father had come back earlier that day. He had found Taiga sitting in front of the TV, inhaling what was left of that day's lunch, eyes glued to the screen in some kind of trance that only kids with a television could pull off. He had had to clear his throat at least twice for his son to acknowledge him and even then in a blink of an eye and a quick hello his eyes were back to the cartoon rabbit dancing on the screen.

(The rabbit was forgotten though, as soon as his father took out the two tickets from his back pocket.)

Apparently Taiga's father had a friend who knew a guy who was a friend of some other guy that had two tickets for that day's football game and, having no one to give them to and not being interested in football himself, had decided to give them away, and so the tickets had found their way into Taiga's fathers hands.

That night an overly excited Taiga had pulled his fathers hand all the way up the stadium's stair as fast as his short legs could carry him. Dogging flailing limbs and the eventual hot dog Taiga had fought his way up the stairs. Heaving, both Taiga and his father took their seats. They were close enough to the football field to see the players moving around without looking at the screens (something which Taiga did anyways, because well, they were huge and flashy and kids liked huge and flashy) that hung high in the air. Taiga couldn't remember between who and who the match had been, he did remember the flags, though, they seem to wave at him, red and proud across the stadium. Taiga had stare at them for a while before his attention had moved to the other side of the stadium where part of the crowd had begun to chant something Taiga had not quite made out, they stood together as one and screamed, he had screamed alongside them and he had laughed alongside them too and he had cheered every time a player scored a goal, it didn't matter which team did it, Taiga screamed anyways.

That is until half time began.

The players where gone and in their stead there were skirts and pompons. There had been human pyramids and flying men. There had been cartwheels and backflips and things Taiga couldn't even name. There had been voices ablaze with joy and there had been shouts filled with such a raw, pure, wild feeling that Taiga had been left numb, his ears ringing and his heart beating faster, louder. He had gone still with awe and his eyes had been wide open, wide to try and see it all.

Then it was over.

In a flash of color they were gone. Taiga hadn't been sure if it had happened at all, because really, thing like that couldn't be possible.

(The glitter on the ground proved otherwise)

-What was that?-

-Cheerleading-

His father had not been amused when Taiga took up cheerleading. He said it wasn't manly, he said it wasn't for boys; he said that he should go pick up a ball and act like a man instead of dancing around with those things.

(Taiga answered they were called pompoms)

His mother though had been kinder, much more accepting.

She was the one who drove him religiously to his practice- practice which his father allowed after uncountable tantrums and crocodile tears and, of course the whispered conversation with mom at the dead of night- every Monday and Thursday.

She didn't mind him dancing around the kitchen table, didn't mind his loud screams (chants, they're called chants mom!) that became louder and louder every passing day. She had always clapped for him at the end of his childish untrained routines (incoherent screams and the usual failed cartwheel they were) smiled at him, patted him on the back in encouragement and send him to bed with a goodnight kiss.

Live outside his house had been a nightmare.

They other kids laughed at him and called him names, Princess being their favorite.

The other boys his age were all into sports and video games (they went to football games for the football, Taiga, well Taiga simply didn't) and the ones that did shown interest in the same things Taiga did, they stayed clear of him, afraid of earning the Princess title for themselves too.

At first Taiga got into a lot of fights, he arrived home covered in bruises and scars; Band-Aids soon spotted their way across his knees and face, his clothes dirty and torn up.

His mother tried to help (talks with the school's principal became almost a daily event for Taiga). His father though had looked the other way and said this wouldn't have happened if he had taken up karate like the other boys.

After a while Taiga learned to ignore certain types of comments.

He also learned that a glare and a fuck off could get him rid of the assholes.

(A good punch in the jaw or a kick between the legs worked fine too, specially for the most persistent ones)

When his parents told him that they would be sending him back to Japan for him to learn about his true home- total bullshit- Taiga's first concern was that he would be leaving without participating in that year's Annual Cheerleading Contest.

(Then, of course, Taiga realize he would have to bid Alex farewell and God was that a nightmare)

Taiga learned soon enough that Japan was not America and Japanese Cheerleading was not American Cheerleading. He wasn't even sure if they would let him join the cheerleading squad being male and all, Japan was a conservative country after all and Taiga was a man. That alone had caused him more trouble than he could account for.

In America Taiga had been the first guy to join the Cheerleading squad, it took a while for the girls in the team to fully accept him but after proving himself capable of waving pompons without falling flat on his face Taiga was given an uniform.

Back in America he learned how to properly throw someone up in the air and how to catch them when they fell. He learned the basic dance moves and, after some of the most embarrassing practices he had ever had, he learned how to sway his hips. His gruff loud voice allowed him to be heard over to others, gaining him a spot as one of the regular members of the squad.

He began to improve, little by little. He gained muscle and his reflexes grew sharper. He was given the tittle of vice-captain in his last year of High School.

Mom had been proud.

His father had not

He left him alone for the most part, giving up on his son, he said. He drove him to his practices now and then, when his mom couldn't. Still, Taiga never saw him in a single one of his performances.

(He didn't expect him to anyways)

Taiga joined the Seirin's Boy Cheerleading Squad with a tentative step.

The coach, Aida Riko, couldn't dance to save her life (her shouts, tough, were a different matter altogether, they were on par with his). Apparently she had grown up surrounded by sweaty men and data. Her eyes were trained to see the smallest details, scanning him from the moment he stepped through the door, analyzing him form head to toe. She was the one who made their routines with some help from their captain; she made their training menus (which usually had them throwing up that day's lunch and breakfast on the gym's floor cause holy fuck Kagami hadn't know Cheerleading could be so exhausting).

She ruled them with an iron fist, shaping the team into perfection and pushing them to their limit, leaving the pulling the their captain.

Hyuuga Junpei, megane captain, and shouter extraordinary. He led the cheers and the chants, pulling the team along and serving as the stronghold and the base of the whole squad. Together with Izuki and his eagle eye, which allowed him to control and spot any weaknesses in the squad, saving them an embarrassing number of times midway through the performance, made the team whole.

Then there was the ever-silent Mitobe, one of the strongest throwers Taiga had ever seen. He had the complete trust of the team and it didn't take long for Taiga to trust him too.

Koganei was a Jack-of-all-trades. He could do cartwheels as well as he could do air acrobatics. His enthusiasm was contagious and his cheers were always one of the loudest. He was an important part of the team, one, which didn't seem to fit anywhere but one the team couldn't function well without.

Along with Taiga there had been three more first years to join. They were all relatively good, they composed most of their cheers and did basic ground routines. They were the manpower of the team.

Later he would meet Kiyoshi.

He had been hospitalized since mid season due to a knee injury. (Something that went unspoken between the members of the Seirin's Boys Cheerleading Squad)

He became (well, he retuned to be) the unyielding pillar that supported the whole squad; he was the one to catch them when they fell and, more importantly, the one to help them stand up again. His worrisome ways, though gave the whole team a headache. There wasn't a single practice, which wasn't interrupted by Kiyoshi's screams of panic when someone was thrown up in the air. Riko had been this close to sending him back to the hospital after he stopped them midway through the routine after seeing Koganei doing a backflip into Mitobe's arms. Poor guy ended up at the hospital anyways, cause Kiyoshi took being caring to a whole other level.

That apparently included not only worrying for his team only, on the other hand he seemed to worry about the other squad at the opposite end of the court even more. His chocked gasps of barely contained worry could be heard even above the cheers of both the teams.

(The Iron Heart almost had a stroke when he saw Kirisaki Daichi's beautiful yet live endangering air acrobatics from the other side of the court. All of this, of course, was accompanied with Hanamiya's knowing smirk and a snap of fingers.)

Taiga had always thought Cheerleading was all about flashy and big and attention.

Then, of course, he met Kuroko.

The little shit threw Taiga's every concept about cheerleading out of the window.

He called himself a shadow, and so it seemed, he had chosen Taiga as his light.

Kuroko Tetsuya's cheerleading was neither big nor flashy, and attention wasn't a concept know to the bluenett.

With his lack of presence he could manage to climb on top of the pyramids unnoticed so he could later do a fucking backflip and catch every single eye in the whole dam place, landing perfectly on Taiga's arms with his blue hair ruffled to the side and a small satisfied smile on his lips, and of course the usual whisper of Thank You Kagami-kun (which was not causing his heart to leap into his throat) was ensued.

He filled the weak spots of the team with kites and cartwheels that, though they were left unseen, gave the routine and the even the squad as a whole a sense of fluidness and well, Taiga had to say it, perfection.

(And although he was a master of surprise his screams, he left them to Taiga)

But even Kuroko, as amazing as he could be, came with a disadvantage.

It was called ex-teammates.

Kise Ryouta was the very embodiment of cheerleading.

He was the first one of Kuroko's friends (Taiga wasn't sure what to call him really, to be honest he seemed more of a stalker than a friend) he met. A practice match against Kaijou High that got a bit out of hand and some bully-beating later he was Kagamichi.

And though Kise may be a bit (a lot) annoying he was a hell of a cheerleader.

He smiles, all flashy white teeth, made people stop and stare. Actually, the sole idea of Kise, skirts and pompoms made people stop and stare. He was an innate dancer, seemed to glide across the court, twirling and spinning and swaying leaving people slacked-jawed from awe. And, with the whole of blue veteran Kaijou High School backing him up, he was unstoppable.

And for fuck's sake, the idiot was a model. As if his teeth weren't white enough already. The hordes of fangirls that came hot on Kise's tail, overflowing with smiles and compliment and squeals that were even louder than coach's screams. It was hell.

But then of course, the challenged that Kise ensued, was something Taiga couldn't let pass. His whole body itching to rise up to the challenge and prove to the pretty boy that he too could cheer, he'll be dammed if something as Kiseki no Sedai was going to stop him from becoming the best in Japan.

(And then somehow, someway -it was Kuroko; Taiga knew- Kise had gotten a hold of Taiga's phone number. It meant the beginning of incessant text messages late at night and too-cheery phone calls at the break of dawn)

(But then, Kise was always up for some late night practice)

Taiga never thought there could exist a guy stiffer at dancing than himself.

That was before he met Midorima Shintaro, though.

The green haired cheerleader was by far one of the strangest persons Taiga had ever met, and dam he had lived in LA for God sake, there wasn't a place more packed with weirdoes on earth.

With his lucky items under his arm he had strolled into Taiga's life leaving him to try and understand the sole weirdness that was Midorima Shintaro, because there was no way in hell someone as stuck up and dignified as him could be a cheerleader.

He was proven wrong as soon as they faced each other off, though Kuroko tried to warn him. He didn't listen of course, so he wasn't prepared to see that.

(There was no way he could have prepared himself for that either, had he listened to Kuroko)

Midorima had taken the vulgar art of throwing someone up in the air, turned it around and twisted it into something so extraordinary elegant. The precision, which with he could throw Takao in the air, had been breathtaking. The man had reached heights previously not know to man and done backflips and splits and turn-arounds before landing perfectly back on the ground next to Shin-chan.

I

t hadn't been only just Midorima, though; Shuutoku was one of the strongest squads in the whole of Japan, King Shuutoku they called them. Besides he doubted anyone could be paired up with Midorima, Takao was sure as hell the bravest man Taiga had ever met if he trusted Midorima to throw him, never mind catching him.

Later in life Taiga would think back at the moment Seirin was left crushed at the Inter High by the monster that called itself Touo's Cheerleading Squad.

They were given no warning of the threat that meant facing Touo High before meeting them face-to-face at the court. Well, they were kind of warned if one could call Momoi Satsuki a warning, but then, no one could take her seriously when she was cuddling Kuroko.

(The pinkett proved herself to be quite the opponent, though; if coach's incoherent angry screaming was taken into account.)

He had given that match his all, they all did, but all that effort proved to be worthless in the face of Touo's Ace, Aomine Daiki. The man was everything Taiga aspired to be, everything Taiga had fought toot and nail to become, and yet he seemed to do everything with so little effort he made Cheerleading seem easy.

Seirin learned that willpower could only carry them so far and they were shown they gap in strength they could only hope to surpass.

Ahomine had said so himself. Leaving Kuroko down in the floor with that parting statement and crushing his teammate's hope he had brushed Seirin away like they were a mere piece of dirt that didn't deserve a minute of his time.

But they did.

They came back to face the monster at the Winter Cup and they won, even if it had been a close call Taiga would always remember how his teammates face's had shone with proud albeit relieved smiles.

From that day onward and thanks to a pair of shoes Taiga somehow found himself calling Ahomine a friend.

(Something which he would later regret when he found the blue-haired cheerleader unashamedly sprawled across his sofa lazily reading one of his porn magazines and picking his nail after having broken into Taiga's apartment demanding a serving of food)

Now seeing Himuro Tatsuya was something Taiga hadn't been planning on doing.

(Seeing him playing the role of babysitter for the purple giant wasn't on his plans either)

Clenching the ring around his fist tightly Taiga had gone off to face his brother for what it seemed to be the last time.

Both Kuroko and himself had trained themselves dead till they were left on the ground puking their guts out to ready themselves for the match against the absolute defense of Yosen High.

Himuro was something Taiga though he left in the past, back in LA.

Taiga still remembered how Tatsuya had found him hidden behind the school's gym crying his eyes out after another game of Girly Taiga. And after finding out Tasuya's interest in cheerleading Taiga had clung to him like a lifeline-which the older boy was-, because Tatsuya taught him how to be proud about his hobby and how to throw a right hook.

They became friends through their shared love for cheerleading and brothers through the ring that hung from his neck.

And then came a sudden goodbye between sobs and choked out "see you later" s a. A reunion on different sides of the court had them acknowledging that they no longer knew each other strengths and style of play and so their games became rougher and rougher as time passed and soon enough Tatsuya had drifted away. He left before they could complete their game and settle the score.

He left Taiga with a promise that they were now about to carry out with both Seirin and Yosen as guests.

With the beep of the timer and Seirin's win Taiga lost his older brother.

With a punch from Kuroko and a threat from Alex Taiga regained one of his best friends.

(And, of course, a purple giant to feed)

Taiga had heard a lot about Akashi Seijuro, how could he not? He practically lived surrounded by his minions. They all seemed to gravitate towards his blue-haired teammate and so, by association, to Taiga himself.

More than once had Taiga found one of them or more sitting comfortably at his apartment, claiming to be here only on basket related issues-bullshit- they all left with a plate of Taiga's homemade cooking and a smug smirk on their faces.

The thing was, Taiga had been expecting a grand, imposing, powerful player that could manage the Kiseki no Sedai. Because hell, if Taiga couldn't stand one of them at the time he could only imagine what their captain could be like.

Akashi was imposing that was for sure; poor Furihata had nightmares for weeks after meeting the redhead. He even had to go to the hospital for a panic attack after receiving a text message from said man inviting him out on a date.

(Furihata's number being provided by Kuroko, not that Taiga suspected otherwise)

Powerful was a word Akashi was made to fit perfectly. The captain of Rakuzan High had such control over his body all of his movements were perfectly timed and held so flawlessly everything one could do was stare.

He led his team to perfection with an unwavering confidence that made Taiga want to just bow down to the sheer power the redhead emitted.

But now, grand was something Akashi wasn't. The midget didn't even reach Taiga's shoulder. (That comment earned Taiga a pair of scissor directly in the face and a slash across his cheek)

The Seirin vs. Rakuzan match had been one of the most intense Taiga had ever taken part in. Every single one of Rakuzan's squad was a threat on his own, and together with being led by Akashi's eyes, Seirin found itself in front of a monster.

They won, though.

Taiga couldn't for the life of him remember how they did it.

(He did remember grabbing Kuroko by the waist and pulling him the his body for him to kiss, though. The already elated Seirin High had screamed it's lungs out and congratulated them with pats on the back in the aftermath of their victory)

All of Seirin ended up in Taiga's apartment to celebrate their victory, his being the closest and the only one that could fit them all. Somehow Koganei had found Taiga's alcohols stash, Alex's stash really, and it all went downhill from there. After consoling a crying Kiyoshi that no Hanamiya doesn't hate you and yes, you should totally confess Taiga managed to refrain the neighbors from calling the cops.

And then they came. Kuroko's rainbow teammates and Taiga's reluctant friends had somehow found Taiga's address (Thanks, Kuroko, really) and decided to join in the fun.

Even Akashi had shown up, after apologizing-albeit reluctantly- to Taiga, the captain did a 180-degree turn and after interrogating a frantic Furihata left sporting a smug satisfice smirk that promised nothing but trouble (mainly for Furi, though)

Because Taiga's life had never been easy, nevertheless normal, so a few more weirdoes to call family shouldn't be a problem, really.

(A crash, a bang and a Get Out! later Taiga knew he had spoken to soon)