Original prompt: while playing basketball, kagami accidentally knocks out kuroko and he loses his memory. he slowly regains it, remembering the good times at seiren, but his memories of kagami are spotty and he forgets all the lovely moments he's had with his boyfriend and only remembers times when kagami was mean or hurtful or scary and becomes terrified of kagami, who is feeling guilty and heartbroken.

Author's Note: Before I say anything more, the actual story of this is 5,555 I can't believe that a story that uses numbers ends up even. I'm good. So this really is my last story before I go to school. I finally figured out how I wanted to fill this prompt so I'm glad I could write it before I had to return to school.

Disclaimer I do not own KnB

Zero months. Three weeks. Twenty one days. Five-hundred four hours. Thirty-thousand two hundred forty minutes.

That's how long it took Kuroko to remember something about his life. It had been that long since I had accidentally hit him in the head with a basketball, knocking him unconscious. Two days of that time he had continued to be 'dead to the world.'

Unwillingly my mind flitted back to that time.

I had to ask the doctor why he was unconscious for what should be just a very painful bump on the head. He responded with it was just an unlucky shot that hit the right part of the brain. I couldn't believe that the fates hated me that much.

I remembered that I hardly ever left the hospital waiting for Kuroko to wake up, while dealing with the overprotective miracles. Honestly they hadn't been this bad when we started dating. They accepted it quietly, though it showed when we played them that they weren't happy about the situation at all.

Once again I was aware of the fact that the fates hated me because it had to be Aomine in the room with me when Kuroko woke up.

I sighed in relief forgetting the argument that I had been having with Too's ace. I hurried over to the side of the bed waiting for Kuroko to yell at me for being a 'Bakagami' or something of that sort. Instead I was met with an even blanker stare than normal. I guessed that he was still sort of waking up.

Aomine shoved me out of the way, I shoved him back. We scuffled for a few moments trying to gain the upper hand in who Kuroko was going to address first. I won on pure size alone, I was only a little wider than Aomine scowled as he was shoved off to the side.

I grinned in triumph as I leaned over the bed. Kuroko's eyes were still blank, flicking back and forth between Aomine and I. He furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Kuroko?" I asked uncertainly.

His eyes flicked to me, staring at me in what I knew to be concentration, it rivaled that of when he was a in a game. Then his gaze flicked to Aomine giving the other power forward the same treatment.

Aomine seemed to sense the same thing as me. "Tetsu?"

Kuroko returned to staring at the bed sheet. I wondered if he was trying to figure out what happened. I was about to open my mouth to tell him what happened but he spoke before me.

"Do I know you?" He looked at me and the Aomine squarely.

I felt my jaw go slack, everything that I was about to say flew out of my head. I could only stare at my shadow, partner, and boyfriend, my everything as I struggled to comprehend what had just been uttered.

Aomine recovered first, well he was able to speak, I'm certain he was almost as shock as I was.

"Tetsu? You're joking right?"

Kuroko turned his gaze to Aomine scrutinizing the other. "I cannot recall if I know you."

"Kuroko, do you know who I am?" I finally was able to speak.

"No." Was the blunt answer.

I couldn't help myself I collapsed into the chair that was next to Kuroko's bed.

He's forgotten me?

I shook my head. It wouldn't do to dwell on things that couldn't be changed. Aside from that the Doctor said that eventually he'd gain his memories back, though for a time there would be one area that would be the hardest for him to recall. So as a therapy the doctor said to bring him to places that he knew well.

I was put in charge to monitor Kuroko because his parents were out of the country for an extended period of time and they like and trusted me.

So when I brought him to another one of Seirin's practices I wasn't expecting him to remember something, it hadn't worked before.

I was watching as Kiyoshi got a rebound from Furihata's shot when Kuroko tugged on my shirt. I turned towards him wondering what it was that he wanted.

"Kiyoshi-san founded the team and he's a little strange. Right?" Kuroko looked deep in thought as he watched the center.

I was stunned for a few moments before I was jarred into action. "That's exactly correct, only you tend to call him Kiyoshi-kun."

Kuroko looked pleased that he could remember something. I was relieved that he was finally getting his memories back. The team looked over to us when they heard us talking. I still went to practice but sometimes during practice games Coach made me sit out.

When I went home that night I felt like some of the weight in my heart had been lifted. Kuroko had begun to remember his life again, he wasn't permanently damaged.

I breathed in relief at least something was going right. The accident that I caused wouldn't ruin Kuroko's life.

After that day, Kuroko seemed to remember at least something random each day, sometimes more than that.

We could be walking by a basketball court in a park. "Aomine played in the rain once and the cold that he got was so bad he couldn't play basketball for a week.

There was also the time that we passed a middle school and Kuroko paused for the longest time before saying "I went to Teiko and was in the basketball club."

Though he remembered a lot more when we played basketball. He'd remember at least two things about Seirin's team when he watched them play.

Though the thing that I was happiest about was when we were walking by a Maji burger heading home from school when Kuroko looked at me with determination.

"I like their vanilla shakes."

I was so incredibly happy that he remembered something like that. Before the accident he used to call me his personal milkshake provider. I hadn't failed to notice that while Kuroko continually called me Kagami-kun and was used to my presence, he still knew nothing about myself from before the accident. I was told not to feed him more than what was necessary. I could tell him my name and that we played basketball together. Anything else had to be recalled or asked about.

I was as supportive as I could be given the circumstances. But it still hurt a lot when I went home and realized that yet another day had passed that he didn't know anything about me or our relationship.

Four months. Seventeen weeks. One hundred twenty one days. Two thousand nine hundred twenty one hours. One hundred seventy-five thousand three hundred sixteen minutes.

That was how long it took Kuroko to regain his first actual memory of me from when he was knocked unconscious. Where it was only me and not something where there was someone else in the picture.

It had happened every other time that he had a flashback. I looked around for a trigger. The only thing that I found was a basketball court; which I instantly recognized to be "ours." At some point Kuroko and I had just begun calling it that. It's where we had our first basketball encounter. I remembered thinking that he was rather weak. But after our partnership was affirmed it became the place where we practiced together after we got kicked out of the gym because it closed.

He looked at me seriously, and I knew that out of all the possible things Kuroko could've remembered it was one of the more important ones.

There were several things that immediately came to my mind such as our confession, the first kiss that we shared, the heavy make out session that led to our first time(thankfully we made it to my bed.). I knew that we also had less pleasant memories associated with the place, so I stood still waiting for Kuroko to ask me or tell me what he remembered.

"This where we first played against each other."

Shit. Out of the things that I thought about this is the one that I wanted him to remember least.

"You said that you could smell the strength of people, and that you couldn't smell me. Then after we played you said that I was weak or maybe pathetic, I can't really recall."

I winced. Yeah, that was not the thing that I wanted him to remember when I was still praying that we would be able to salvage our relationship.

"Yeah, that's true." I responded I desperately wanted to say something more but I was under strict orders that I was not force feed memories.

"You seem nicer than you were back then." Kuroko said mildly before starting to walk again.

At least he has some faith in me.

I followed after him. Mixed feelings bouncing around my head. I was happy that he got one of the memories back about me, but I was also sad that it was one before we were together.

After I dropped Kuroko off I texted Aomine what he had remembered throughout the day. As much as I don't like to admit it, Too's ace was actually being helpful during this time.

My phone buzzed alerting me to a call. From Aomine no less.

"Yo."

"So Tetsu remembered something specific about you?"

"I told you that."

"But it's not a good thing to remember."

"It's a start."
"Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful to you for staying with Tetsu while he recovers, but you've been given a chance to have your relationship completely forgotten."

"So I leave Kuroko, then you'll come in and play hero?" I sighed in annoyance.

"Exactly."

"No. Good bye Ahomine!"

I slammed the phone shut. Walking to my home in annoyance. The nerve of that guy. But the words made sense to me. Some people would leave their other half seeing it as a chance to have more freedom before settling down. Those people annoyed me more that Aomine and Kise having a conversation. I didn't know how someone could do that to the person they supposedly loved. If anything this is going to make our partnership stronger.

It was that thought that comforted me while I made dinner for one and fell asleep in a cold bed.

When I awoke in the morning I went through the motions of getting ready and making breakfast. It really was lonely in my house now, I was used to another presence; even if it was a small one.

I headed to Kuroko's house. As I approached the phantom player's house I got the feeling that something was distinctly wrong I tried to shake the feeling off but it wouldn't go away. Inhaling I knocked on the door.

There was a pause before the door opened slightly and I could see a light blue eye poke out from behind it.

"I'm not going to school today Kagami-kun." Kuroko's voice to my ears sounded like he was in pain.

"Why not?" I ask, making sure to keep my voice even.

"I remembered something and I rather not go to school." Kuroko deadpanned.

"What did you remember?" I inquire, hoping that it wasn't something about me.

"We have a practice game against Shuutoku today. I'd rather not see Midorima-kun. Or any of the Miracles." Was Kuroko's answer.

It took me a second to figure out how that answered my question before I figured out he probably remembered something from Teiko's break up.

"What part of Teiko did you remember?"

Kuroko seemed hesitant to answer. "The final game that we played."

"Ogiwara right?" I say.

"Yes."

I sigh before standing up straight. "I can't make you go to school, but if you did come you wouldn't have to play. I think watching Midorima play against Seirin might be able to jar your memories of something better than the Teiko breakup."

"Kagami-kun is right." Kuroko responded after a few minutes. "Please wait for me while I get ready."

I nodded and leaned against the side of the house. It only took Kuroko fifteen minutes to get ready. He walked out of the house and locked it before looking towards me.

Though as we headed to the school I didn't fail to realize that Kuroko was walking further away from me today than other days. It wasn't that hard of a guess for me that while he recalled the split he also remembered something about me as well that was making him this way. I could only offer more of my prayers that Kuroko would eventually end up recalling our relationship. Though it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't, after all I was the one that put him in that state.

I didn't pay attention that much at school to busy thinking about the game that was about to take place. He looked back in his seat a few times to check on Kuroko who was staring out of the window apparently lost in thought. I wanted to comfort him, but because at the moment I was only a teammate or perhaps a friend to him I had to turn back to the board.

Finally the final bell rung and I almost bolted out of the classroom before I remembered Kuroko wouldn't be enthused about the game, so I took my time in packing my things up. Kuroko looked at me a little warily before he packed his things up as well.

We were walking to the gym, in silence. I couldn't stand silence between the two of us. I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

"The game is here today. No bus rides or walking. That's good."

Kuroko looked surprised at the sudden conversation. "It's a lot less of a hassle."

I winced at the tone that Kuroko was using. It was odd to think that when actually told Seirin about Teiko he sounded distant, broken, and like he accepted. But now he sounded like he was pissed. I summed it up it the fact that for him it was like yesterday when happened instead of course of years where he was able to adjust. Especially if he got his entire middle school back in one night. I can't imagine what hat must be like.

We headed to the gym where the rest of the seniors were already warming up. Coach looked and me and Kuroko here irritation clear.

"Why are you late?" She asks and I knew that had only a few seconds to respond before I got triple training menu.

"I was feeling ill and Kagami-kun escorted me to the nurse's office."

I looked at Kuroko shocked. The other male had said that same excuse once before, and I didn't know if he recalled that time or if it was just pure coincidence.

"Right, so you'll be sitting out today then?" Coach inquired looking a little concerned.

"For the first half at least." Kuroko nodded.

I rolled my eyes, even without most of his memories he was still an honest basketball player. I figured that he wouldn't be able to give up a chance on the game. Though it also made sense that he didn't want to play Midorima today.

I shook my head thinking about it wasn't going to change a thing. I headed over to join the other first years in their warm up. Kuroko was sitting on the bench, and if I didn't know him as well as I did I would've missed the look of boredom that passed across his face.

Eventually Shuutoku's team walked in. The loudest being Takao who was clinging onto Midorima talking about something. The point guard quickly let go and bounded over to me before Midorima could protest.

"Hey Kagami-kun!" Takao greeted in a sing song voice.

I nodded in greeting, picking up a ball that had rolled my way.

Takao got close to me and looked towards where Kuroko was sitting. "Shin-chan's not going to ask but I know that he wants to know about ghosty's condition."

Midorima had come over spouting some excuse about bring Takao back over to their side of the court, but Ii ignored the shooter in favor of answering the point guard.

"He's fine. Recently he's been getting more of his memories back, big parts instead of the small pieces that he has been." I shrugged.

Midorima looked interested but tried to hide it. "So Kuroko's getting his memories back. Good, I don't want this to affect his playing, he's dismal as it is without distractions."

I rolled my eyes at the tsundere. "Yeah."

Midorima gave me an even look. "How much do you think he's gotten back?"
I thought about the question for a little while. Then I answered. "He remembered most of his middle school last night and I think he's got most of his childhood back. High school is the worst. So maybe three fourths he's gotten back?"

Midorima nodded but then stopped. "He remembered middle school?"

"Yeah."

"Is that why he's not playing?" Takao asked bluntly.

I shook my head quickly. "No. He says that he feels ill."

Midorima and Takao share a look.

"Is that so?" Midorima said before he turned on his heel and went to join his teammates. Takao waved at me before he followed the shooting guard.

We gave Shuutoku fifteen minutes to warm up and the Coach blew her whistle signaling that it was time to start the match. We lined up, I spared a short glance at Kuroko his eyes were trained on the ball as it flew up.

The moment both centers jumped for the ball my attention was on the game fully.

It was a challenge to play one of the miracles without Kuroko, but somehow we were managing not to get slaughtered. We were trailing by six points when half time was called.

I walked over to the bench along with the seniors. Kuroko looked at me then he looked away quickly. I frowned puzzled by the reaction. I was about to ask him about it when Coach spoke over me.

"Kuroko-kun are you well enough to play?"

Kuroko didn't answer right away, he looked at me once again and then to Coach as he answered. "No. I do not think that I'll be able to play."

Coach looked disappointed. "It's fine. Alright boys you aren't loosing terribly but there's still twenty minutes left in the game. Seirin fight!"

The team echoed in agreement as the resume was called I gave Kuroko another curious glance. He wasn't looking at me. A feeling of dread washed over me. I guessed that he had remembered something, about me and that's why he was acting weird.

When the game resumed I put my heart into the last twenty minutes making the first dunk of the half. In the end we won the third quarter but lost the game because of Midorima's threes.

I sighed in disappointment. We would've won the game if Kuroko had entered the second half like I was planning on. But instead he let his past dictate him. I shook my head as I entered the shower. That wasn't right, I didn't know what he remembered while he was watching.

I took a quick shower more for Kuroko, I could always bathe at home anyway and I have a feeling that Kuroko wanted to leave as soon as possible. I dried my hair, silently as I was lost in my thoughts.

Kuroko was standing by the locker room door when I came out.

"Hey Kuroko, ready to go?" I say as a way of greeting.

He flinched at the sound of my voice and I felt my heart drop to my stomach. He had never done that before.

My mind whirled with the possibilities of what he could've remembered to make him flinch like that. He looked almost fearful of me.

Six months. Twenty-six weeks. One hundred eighty two days. Four thousand three hundred eighty two hours. Two hundred sixty two thousand nine hundred seventy four minutes. Fifteen million seven hundred seventy eight thousand four hundred forty seconds.

Since I delivered the blow that would unknowingly change my life. It had been decided that since Kuroko had most of his memories back he didn't need a care taker any more. The news couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I didn't know if I meant that or it was sarcasm.

Since the game with Midorima, each day Kuroko grew more and more distant from me. Whenever I asked him about it he seemed fearful of me. The only thing that I could come up with was there was someone who means to sabotage me and fed Kuroko false memories.

Then the other day while we were waiting for the doctor to do his examination. Kuroko said something out of the blue.

"I know it was you that hit me with a basketball. You don't have to force yourself to be nice."
I stared blankly at him. Unsure of what I should say, but the doctor walked in with his cheery attitude and got straight to work.

The line still rung in my head. That's why I thought that someone had sabotaged me, because it sounded like Kuroko thought that I wasn't a nice person and I thought taking care of him was a chore. I had never thought that. He also sounded like I threw the ball at him on purpose.

What Kuroko said had me so shaken up that it was affecting me during basketball practice. I actually was missing passes and letting the attacking team slip by me on defense. Coach wasted no time in calling me over to the sideline to ask me what's wrong.

I looked away. "Something Kuroko said is bothering me."

Coach tilted her head. "What did he say?"

"He said that I didn't need to force myself to be nice, and it also sounded like he thought I injured him purposely." I sighed.

Coach looked thoughtful for a second. "The doctor did say he may forget someone or something for a time after he's fully recovered. You might be that thing."

I gave her an even look. "That's not exactly comforting."

She shrugged. "Is that why you and Kuroko have been having such trouble with your team work?"
"I may be one of the reasons."

Coach didn't miss my slip up on words. "One of the reasons? There's another?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "He keeps flinching every time that I talk or touch to him. Some days he just misdirects away from me."

The coach looked thoughtful once again, before letting out an annoyed breath. "I'm sorry Kagami, but I can't think of anything to help."

Even with coaches words I couldn't help but think that Kuroko had permanently forgotten me. Or had some memory that I couldn't recall that made him afraid of me. I'm certain that I would remember scaring Kuroko. The only thing that sprang to mind was when I may have done something Aomine-like which stuck with him. Especially if he got a memory like that right after the Teiko ones returned.

When I reached my house I instantly flopped onto my bed. The mattress doing nothing to appease my stress. There was only one thing that was running through my head.

"Kuroko is going to hate me!"

Those words were heard by the gods apparently because every time that I entered a room Kuroko disappeared. He may not have left but he used his misdirection so that I could never find him. It was really wearing on my nerves.

It got so bad that I had to once again all Aomine in for help.

"So your saying Tetsu always runs off when you enter a room? He also flinches away from you?"

Aomine's voice was pissing me off with how lazy he sounded.

"Exactly." I heaved an annoyed sigh.

"So he obviously remembered something that you both forgot which makes him want to break it off with you."

I held the phone away from my face while I tried to reign in my temper. "It's not like that. You just want him to end it so you can have a go at him."

Aomine chuckled. "So quick on the up take Kagami."

I closed the phone and tossed it across the room. That had been a bad idea to begin with. I knew how Aomine was so I didn't know what possessed me into thinking that it would be a good idea to talk to him seriously about anything other than basketball and breasts.

I decided that confronting Kuroko about it was the best option, but tracking the guy down was proving harder than I thought.

After three days of waiting around I finally caught him.

"Kuroko!" I said the moment that I saw him.

Kuroko for his part whirled around, looking terrified, he wanted to run but his manners were keeping him stationary. I wanted to figure out why he had that face when he saw me. I took one long look at his face, he wasn't pulling a joke.

I sighed. "Never mind."

Kuroko stayed a second longer before walking off at a brisk pace. I could only watch him go.

Damn it. Why is he scared of me? I yelled in my head as I slumped down the wall I was leaning against.

I wanted to lash out at the world and ask what I had done to deserve the punishment of having the one that I love most only remember things that made him afraid of me. I folded my hands over my ears and cried.

I couldn't help it. Knowing that everything that I had worked for was falling apart faster than I could fix it.

The worst part was I had no one to blame but myself.

If I hadn't thrown that ball, if I had thrown it with less force, or if I had missed the pass then nothing like this would've ever happened. I had made the decision to pass and that had cost me my most important person.

The tears flowed harder. I wanted to stop them or at least wait until I was in a place that couldn't be seen by anyone walking by.

Though as much as I may want to seem strong I couldn't even stand on my own feet.

Ten months. Forty-three weeks. Three hundred and four days. Seven thousand three hundred four hours. Four hundred thirty eight thousand two hundred ninety one minutes. Twenty six million two hundred ninety seven thousand four hundred sixty seconds

I had lived that long without Kuroko by my side. Before this I had claimed, mentally, that I wouldn't be able to live a day without my shadow. This was proof that I could do it but I wasn't happy about it. I needed my partner. He was my other half. Now that I found him I couldn't live without him.

It had been almost four month since I realized that I terrified him. We made no more contact than was needed. We didn't talk outside of classes or basketball. Hell we rarely talked at basketball out team work was still perfect, but that was because it was only natural for us to work so perfect on the court, but everyone who was on the team knew that something had happened.

Even though most of the time I wanted to go off and cry every time that Kuroko looked at me with those fearful eyes, I stood firm in my belief Kuroko would eventually remember what we shared.

When the winter high rolled around again I had to put my thoughts behind me while I helped Seirin hold our title as the national championship. It was easy to devote myself entirely to basketball, but it still didn't stop that little twinge that I got every time Kuroko moved so that he was behind Kiyoshi.

Our preliminary opponents were an easy victory, we didn't even have to use Kuroko. Even though he regained his misdirection back, since he was out for most of the inter-high people forgot about him, we didn't want to risk him losing it before we needed it again.

It was odd to play without Kuroko when he was sitting there on the bench, but I could tell that he wasn't looking at me. I shook my head knowing that I should just focus on dunking.

Seirin had made it to the Winter Cup once again.

I spent most of the month interlude that I could training. What I really wanted to do was practice receiving Kuroko's passes. My shadow wouldn't go anywhere near me when there wasn't another person between me.

I slammed another ball through the hoop. Watching as the orange sphere bounced away on the ground. I sensed that something had stepped onto the court. I turned around swiftly only to see Kuroko's form standing at the half court line. His eyes glued to the ball.

The air was filled with an awkward silence.

Surprisingly it was Kuroko who broke it. Though I had to hide a wince when I heard that his voice was shaking.

"Kagami-kun. I only remember bad things about you, but I know that you aren't a bad person. I am trying to remember you. So you'll forgive me if this takes some time?"

I almost jumped for join but restrained myself. "Of course. Take all the time you need. But why are you telling me?"

Kuroko looked away from me. "Because I can see it in the way you act that I've somehow hurt you."

It was my turn to look away. I couldn't deny the accusation, but I didn't have to confirm it either.

Kuroko started to walk out of the gym. "That's all I had to say."

I let out a breath. I wanted to hit myself in the head. Kuroko wasn't the type to leave things as they were, he would know if his memory is spotty. I should've had more faith in him. Though with him flinching it was hard to find faith even within myself. Though he was the phantom sixth man of Teiko, I should always expect the unexpected.

Eleven months. Forty-seven weeks. Three hundred thirty four days. Eight thousand thirty five hours. Four hundred eighty two thousand one hundred twenty minutes. Twenty-eight million nine hundred twenty seven thousand two hundred seconds.

That's the length that I had to wait before I could call Kuroko mine again. It had happened right after we won the winter cup against Rakuzan (again). The entire team was celebrating, their spirits high as our senpais, the original Seirin basketball team, won their second and final victory.

Even I was held captive in the celebratory spirit, wearing a large grin that I knew I hadn't worn since Kuroko forgot about who I was. The relief of wining was taking its toll however as I slumped down on the bench, letting my aching muscles rest.

When I leaned back to bask once again in our glory I found myself eye to eye with a pair of baby blue eyes. As I stared into them I realized that they no longer held the fear that they had whenever they landed on me.

That's when I realized that Kuroko had placed his lips on mine. I was too overwhelmed to properly respond. With some many things happening within the space of each other my brain was practically fried.

Kuroko pulled back after only a second.

"Was I incorrect in assuming that we were still together?"

I quickly pulled him closer to me. "No I was shock is all. I thought you had forgotten."

Kuroko looks contemplative. I figure that having a heart to heart in front of hundreds of people was not the way to do things, but I couldn't bring myself to care.

"I don't think I ever forgot what it means. I just had the feeling, though I still don't recall a lot, I do remember kissing you on a basketball court." Kuroko finally answers.

I was maybe a few seconds from crying in relief but I reigned in my rampant emotions. "Why'd you suddenly remember us, you were terrified of me?"

Again Kuroko looks thoughtful while he tried to come up with a good answer. "I wasn't terrified you but of what you could do to me or did. When I got my memories back it was always you being hateful and reminding me of Teiko. As for why I suddenly remembered… I fell in love with your style of basketball!"

The smile Kuroko gave me was enough to cause me to smile again, fully aware tears of joy were tracking their way down my face.

"Isn't that what I said when we originally started to date?" I teased lightly.

Kuroko shrugged feigning a look of innocence. "Since I don't remember everything, there isn't an original we're starting from zero again."

I couldn't find it in myself to disagree. Starting from zero sounded like a good idea.

I leaned down to kiss him once again.

Zero months. Zero weeks. Zero days. Zero hours. One minute. Fourteen seconds.

Since the love of my life returned to my side.

Okay someone please explain to me what happened at the end because I don't even know myself. So that was fun, hope you all enjoyed, again sorry for any mistakes. So leave your thoughts below. See you next story! Later! ~IF