SUP!
Follower here!
And today I'm bringing you a new short story about an anime that I was rewatching a few days ago. I really liked the characters and I wanted to write something related to it. The problem is that I'm not really a basketball game, so I never really attempted to write anything.
But then I started writing and, well, I got really happy with how it turned. I know it's not really accurate, but I think it's a nice little read to pass the time.
Well, now that I (hopefully) lowered your expectations, here it is, chapter 1 of 3.
AVANTI!
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-
It was a warm day.
A young man with red hair was walking alone, his headphones blasting hip-hop so loudly that even the people passing by him were able to perfectly hear the songs.
That young man's Taiga Kagami, and he's currently enjoying his vacation in Japan.
Right now, the boy was walking towards a group of people with quite different hair colors.
"Hey, Kagamicchi!", a blonde shouted.
"Damn, Kise, quit yelling!", one other guy, with dark blue hair said, smacking the blonde in the back.
"You're so mean, Aominecchi!", Kise whines, "he's finally back after one year!".
"Even so, you're too loud!".
"Hey, everyone!", the redhead greeted, enthusiastically, at the five people in front of him while taking off his headphones and pausing the music.
Kagami was standing next to the Generation of Miracles, a group of five absolute prodigies in the field of basketball.
All of them had already been scouted by great teams, from Japan or abroad. The general consensus was that it was a matter of time before they debuted in the NBA.
Midorima and Murasakibara only nodded at him, the latter while eating chips.
"Came to cheer Tetsuya on as well?", Akashi inquired, even though he already knew the answer.
"You bet!".
Today, a small cup was being held. A number of schools were invited, and alongside them, Seirin High.
"I'm so glad I'm on vacation! I really missed Japan. Too bad I couldn't watch the matches from yesterday".
"Well, you came back at just the right time. I'm sure Seirin will be over the moon with you here", Akashi states.
Kagami smiles.
"But you're still late. I ate most of my sweets already", Murasakibara complained.
"Sorry, I stopped for a one on one with a guy a few minutes ago and lost track of time", Kagami apologizes.
"Well, now that you're here, let's go inside", Midorima says.
"Lead the way".
They enter the venue.
This little tournament was being held on a public park. Since it was free, a relatively large crowd was present.
The games themselves would be played on an indoor court of a public gymnasium, with stands on the sides and on an upper floor.
The six chose to sit in the stands on the lower floor, opting to pick a place as close to the court as they could. Aomine leaves a chair vacant between him and Kise, who doesn't seem to mind.
There were all kinds of people entering the place. Old, young, wearing basketball or football jerseys...the public probably consisted of people who were on the park already or lived close by.
Not long after the stands were pretty much filled, a voice resounded from the speakers put around the gymnasium.
"And now, for the first game of the semi finals, I want everyone to give it up for Seirin High and Maitatsu High!", a feminine voice announced. Her voice seemed commanding, but at the same time it was pleasant to hear.
Both teams walk in, and everyone around whistles and claps, cheering.
Maitatsu's uniforms were quite simple: predominantly green with red lines along the sides. All the players seemed to be about the same height, with the exception of four of the starters, who were a bit taller.
One starter in particular, though, the one with the number 32 on his back, was shorter than even some players who were on the bench.
Seirin, on the other hand, was wearing their black uniforms for this. There were noticeably new players around, but none of them were in the starting five.
The Seirin starters consisted of Junpei Hyuga, who was the captain, Koki Furihata, Shinji Koganei, Izuki Shun and Rinnosuke Mitobe.
These were the only players who participated in the Winter Cup victory a year back that were available for the game today. Tsuchida and the others were not present due to prior commitments.
"Hey everyone!", Kagami yells, almost vaulting to the court. This action spurs a security guard to come and remember him about his position as an outsider.
Everyone from the Seirin team quickly looks towards the shout. Once they saw who it was, they greeted back.
Even the new first years were aware of who he was because of the constant video chatting he did with the team.
"So you really did show up, huh?", Riko says, smiling.
"How could I miss my teams game?", he smiles back.
It's then that Kagami notices something.
"Where's Kuroko? This time I'm sure he isn't around", he says, looking everywhere on the court for the short player.
"Momoi-chan needed help with something, so he stayed behind for a bit", the manager answers, exasperated.
"Momoi-chan?", Kagami inquired. He didn't remember the coach and the pink haired manager being in such good terms.
"Both of them got much closer with each other after our game with Jabberwock", Midorima explained.
"Oh, I see".
"But he's playing today, right?", Kise asked.
"Of course! I wouldn't dream of benching our ace!", she thumbs up, "now excuse me, we'll start the warm-up".
Kagami waves at her, but his face shows confusion.
Ace?
"What, you don't think Tetsu got what it takes?", Aomine asks, jokingly, and Kagami realizes that he vocalized his thoughts.
"Course I do, but... isn't that the opposite of being a shadow?".
Aomine smiles.
"You're right. And that's why, after you left, Tetsu modified his play style".
Kagami looks down.
"He did, huh?".
"What's wrong, Kagamicchi?".
"I knew, when I left, that I had left a gap in our team. But I always thought, well, hoped is the proper term, that some first year was gonna fill that. Kuroko never said they were having troubles, so I thought everything had worked out".
Both of them had kept in touch, often discussing what happened on both their teams.
Kagami had often talked at length about his difficulties adjusting with his new team, but Kuroko never really talked about any problems. Sure, they lacked chemistry with the first years in the beginning, but that was only natural.
"Things weren't so smooth. Seirin was a wreck on their fist post Winter Cup official match, but since it wasn't against a particularly strong school, they managed to win".
"Kurokocchi realized that the team needed someone like you, so he's now filling your gap".
"Then who's doing his part?".
"Himself, of course. No one has the ability Tetsuya has with passing and vanishing, although Mayuzumi comes close", Akashi said.
The Rakuzan player had been a sure thing for Akashi, a new, upgraded model for Kuroko. But as the Winter Cup showed, one could never count Kuroko Tetsuya out.
"Wait", Kagami says, putting his hands up, "you're telling me that he's doing both the work of the shadow AND the light?", he almost yells.
"Yes", Midorima answers, simply.
"How does that even work? Wasn't being a shadow the only style he knew?".
"It's not being both per se", Akashi explains, "what Tetsuya did was make the game more fluid, working with every player on the court even more than before. When everyone else is the protagonist, he gets plenty of lights to obscure him".
"But that wouldn't work for long, though".
"That's why Daiki said that he was the light now as well. After some time, his misdirecting loses efficacy, and the opponents start to figure out that he's the one at the center of Seirin's attacks. So at that point he starts shooting and dribbling to completely gather their attention".
"Kind of like Misdirection Overflow, right"?.
"Right. And now his whole team is cloaked, albeit less strongly then before. The opponents get rash, start paying them more attention, and Tetsu vanishes again. When the trick isn't working anymore, he gets subbed, entering again after a quarter. It's very simple and with some solid flaws, but somehow it works", Aomine completes.
"Wouldn't doing all that be extremely tiring?", Kagami says, scratching his head.
"It is", Aomine nods, returning his attention to the court.
"But...how can he handle that? He didn't even last three quarters normally".
"Tetsu has grown. He trained like hell, and it payed off", the ace said, grinning proudly.
Kise smiles.
Murasakibara just kept eating, but eagerly watched the door for the time their fellow player entered.
Midorima didn't show any emotion, but his eyes seemed a little happier knowing about the number 11's evolution.
"Today, we can affirm that Kuroko Tetsuya is, undisputably, a Miracle", the Rakuzan captain said, smiling.
At seeing their reaction, Kagami went from befuddled to excited.
"Well, if that's the case, then I'm really glad that I will be seeing this today".
The match starts.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-
First quarter was rough for Seirin.
The spiderweb strategy Hanamiya Makoto had implemented with Kirisaki Daiichi had stuck with the players in this team, and they were implementing it flawlessly.
Now, Kirisaki had changed their underhanded ways to favor only the cerebral, tactical part. But their dirty philosophy had made an impression on a lot of teams.
Seirin had went over plans to counter this, but they all mostly either involved Kuroko, which still hadn't arrived, or individual plays.
And individual plays were being squashed by their ace.
This school's ace was a first year called Maiko, who wore the number 32 on his back.
As dirty as the Uncrowned King, Maiko was the one making sure that Seirin didn't advance, and on the majority of their confrontations, Maitatsu won.
The boy didn't have any astonishing abilities, nor was much more gifted than anyone else on his team.
His only true gift was observation. He saw patterns really easily, and adjusted defense and offense accordingly.
While Hanamiya Makoto forced the opposite team to act the way he wanted, Maiko broke their strategies and plays, and then when their will was also broken, the game was his.
Basically, what he did was compensate his team's flaws by making the other team fail.
Right now, the score was 17 to 9 for Maitatsu, and the second quarter had just begun with both of the teams being wary of each other.
After opening some advantage, the team had closed itself tight, and so the possibility of cross court passing or even alley oops were all but nullified.
Kagami was very nervous.
"It sucks, doesn't it?", he hears a voice from his right say.
He just looks at Aomine, who's seeming bored out of his mind.
"Sucks to see them in trouble and not be able to go and help".
"Yeah", he says, feeling down.
"If it wasn't for Tetsu, I think not one of us here would even be in this place. The other final is just as boring, and this game is just of a low tier".
"Where is he, anyway?".
"From what Satsuki told me, they're finally arriving. Something about helping some old lady and his dog chasing some cat had them late".
"I still honestly think they were on a date", Kise quips.
"Kuroko on a date with Momoi?", Kagami laughs.
But no one else laughed.
"Well, they have gotten closer lately, but I don't think he would do that while his team is playing", Midorima considers.
"Wait, you guys are serious?".
"Tetsu has been hanging with us a lot. Mostly with me and Satsuki. Although he's still pretty much treating her as a friend, he's also been a little more forward, in his own way".
Kagami looks at Aomine with a straight face.
"I do not believe you. Like, not a word".
"We came here with Kuro-chin. He was the one who asked Sa-chin to go with him".
"And also, he started paying more attention to her. The other day, he took her to a clothing store she had wanted to go".
"For me, he was being stealthy and just wanted to see Momocchi in different outfits".
"Don't be stupid. He may be more assertive, but he's not at that stage yet".
"I don't believe anything you're saying, but at the same time I am amazed at the possibility of that being true".
"Guess you'll see for yourself during your vacation".
"HEY!", they hear a yell, turning their attention back on the court.
"Number 6 just elbowed Izuki! How is that not a foul?".
Riko Aida, Seirin's coach, was not happy at all. Her face was red and she was staring down the referee.
"Coach, I will have to ask to lower your voice. If you don't want to be sent off, I suggest you mind your tone", he started, "I did not see the foul, and neither did any of my assistants. Therefore, the game continues".
Riko grinds her teeth. She wanted to say SO MUCH to that guy, but her team was a priority. She had a lot on her plate as it was.
Different formations or marks could slow the other team down, but offense would be sacrificed for that, which was unthinkable.
Run and gun or individualistic approaches might balance the game, but it was too soon for that. She couldn't afford to let her best players get too tired that soon. High intensity meant high effort which caused a higher strain.
Also, a problem with run and gun is that, if done poorly, it can allow a counter from the adversary, which usually would result in more points for them.
So, to summarize, it was a glass cannon.
And on top of that...
'They play even dirtier than I had anticipated. If our players get hurt, then there's no way we'll win. Just how can we win this?'.
Even if they used the glass cannon strategy, the opponents were still making an effort to hurt Seirin players. If that strategy was dangerous before, with this information it became downright suicidal.
Kagami was nervous, squirming in his seat.
All the other star players beside him didn't seem to care much about the game, but were also carefully observing it.
"Akashi".
"Yes, Shintaro?".
"How would you disable this situation?".
"If I was the coach?".
"Yes".
"I wouldn't. They don't seem to have what it takes. Seirin did not do any substitutions, which implies that no one on the bench has what they need", he starts, "plus, Seirin is starting to slip. They have missed two easy passes that caused them four points. They're stumped".
"So, we reached the same conclusion then".
"Oh? And what conclusion is that?".
"That without Kuroko, they will lose".
Akashi smiles.
"Well, seems like we are more alike than I thought".
"Seems so", he gives a sly grin in response.
"Kuro-chin is here, though", the purple haired giant said, offhandedly.
"How would you know?", Kise asks, looking around for the Seirin ace.
"I can smell him".
"Yeah, right", Kise laughs, "good one".
"I'm serious".
"I'm not falling for that".
"But I'm not joking", Murasakibara complains, "he and Sa-chin are going to open that door right...now".
Sometimes in life, we are presented with what could only be described as the impossible. Little happenings that defy not only our expectations but reality itself.
Some call it fate.
Some call it the supernatural.
The fact remains that, at that exact moment, the door opened, and the silhouette of two people emerged from within.
"No way!", Kise shouts. The blonde had been skeptical, but to actually see the doors opening made him a believer.
Almost in slow motion, the silhouettes started to become more and more visible.
A boy and a girl. Blue and pink on their heads. Walking together.
But it was just a couple of children wearing colored caps.
"Tch, I timed it wrong", Murasakibara angrily whispers to himself.
"Satsuki texted you saying they were here and you tried to fool Kise, didn't you?", Aomine deduced.
"Yeah", he said, picking a chocolate bar from his bag and munching on it.
Both the Touou ace and Kagami laugh out loud.
"Murasakibaracchi! I'm taking a candy as compensation!", the blonde shouts, pissed off.
"Back off!", the giant shouts back, holding his bag in a vice grip.
"Compensation!", the blonde yells, managing to whisk away a small chocolate wafer and biting it down.
The purple haired man's eyes flare with rage, while the blonde only grins back at him in a mocking manner.
"Kise-chin...".
But before both of them started a fight, the door swung open again, and two other people entered through it.
One of them was a girl with pink hair and slender figure. She was wearing a green hoodie and pale blue jeans. Around her neck was a little gold necklace with the image of a dog's paw, but in a cartoonish version.
The other was a boy with blue hair and a Seirin uniform. He was wearing black wristbands and a necklace similar to the girl's, with the color being the only exception (his was silver). He stood taller than the girl by a few inches.
He took the necklace off and looked at her.
"Momoi-san, could you please take care of this while I play?", he asked, in a monotone voice.
She takes the necklace.
"Of course, Tetsu-kun! You better score a lot of points for me, okay?", she said, sticking out her tongue and going towards the stands.
The boy smiles and goes to his coach.
"Okay".
On the stands, a lot of guys were down after realizing the two were probably a couple.
The girl started to make her way to the vacant spots on the upper level, but Kise called called for her.
"Yo, Momocchi! Come sit with us!", the blonde all but shouted, pointing to the spot between him and Aomine.
"Oh, hi everyone, so that's where you were! And is that Kagamin? It's been so long!", she greeted them with a beautiful smile.
"Hey there, Momoi! How you've been?", he smiles at her.
"Very nice, thank you. How about you, enjoying America?".
"It's amazing! There are so many strong players there and...", he stops at seeing the objects on her neck and hand.
"And?".
"Those necklaces...".
"Oh, you like them? The silver one is Tetsu-kun's! I saw this when I was walking Nigou a few months ago, but didn't buy it because it was too expensive", she then looks up excitedly with an electric smile, "but then the most unbelievable thing happened! Tetsu-kun just called me one day and said he won a pair on a raffle!".
"He was giving me both of them but then I suggested he kept one. And now everyone knows we are close like that. I knocked that one out of the park, don't you agree?", she says, raising her head proudly.
'She still has no idea that Kurokocchi was the real genius here, does she?', Kise thinks to himself, sweatdropping.
Kagami, on the other hand, was remembering something about those pieces of jewelry.
'Raffle? Didn't he say that he bought them with the money he had been saving?'.
When Kagami first heard Kuroko say he had bought two identical necklaces, he didn't understand. Since the boy didn't explain further, he just let it go as some eccentricity of his.
They spent so much time together and Kagami still didn't know much about the boy. No one on Seirin did, actually.
Hell, even the people from Teiko weren't much ahead from him in that department.
But now, Kagami understood the situation.
"A back off sign, huh? Really, he's a crafty one alright", he says to himself.
'Guess they were really telling the truth earlier', he thinks to himself.
Unfortunately, he spoke a bit too loud.
Momoi inquisitively angles her head.
"Huh? What do you mean?", she says, while putting Kuroko's necklace around her neck as well.
"Nothing, the sun must have fried whatever neurons he had left", Aomine interrupts, "and sit down already, you're blocking the game".
"You're mean, Dai-chan!", she says huffing.
Aomine ignores her and pointedly looks at Kagami.
The man with dark blue hair says nothing, but his eyes convey the message to him precisely.
Shut up.
Kagami didn't expect Momoi to hear him, so Aomine had really saved him with the misdirecting.
With another meaningful stare, he responds.
Sorry, and thanks.
The player from Touou merely gruffs in acknowledgement.
On the court, the blue haired boy gets slapped in the face so hard that he almost spins on the spot.
"WHERE WERE YOU?", Riko shouts, enraged.
"There was a elderly woman needing help, and also Nigou took off chasing a cat and then we had to take a taxi here", the boy explains, holding his cheek. A red imprint was very much visible on it.
His manager sighs.
"I know you did the right thing, but please try not to scare us so much. We are in the middle of a game, for goodness sake".
He gets serious.
"How is it?".
Riko sighs again.
"Bad. They have control of the game, and their number 32 is troublesome. Frankly, we need you if we want to win".
"I see. Well, let's not waste anymore time then".
She smiles.
A minute later, the stadiums sound system announces a change.
"Substitution for Seirin High: Rinnosuke Mitobe goes off for the entry of Tetsuya Kuroko".
Akashi smiles and looks at Midorima.
"Now, let's see if our deduction was correct".