Felt Like Something is Missing
The what if's of Kurobas. One Shot. Tetsuya woke up and the scene is different. He never realized that one person can change their future…
….
I was reading something in Tumblr last night and I saw this WHAT IFs scenes, so my bored mind, since I have nothing to do today, come up with this idea. Again, if there are similarities to other fanfics out there, I'm sorry, it was pure coincidence.
Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke is not mine
Warning: AU/possible errors/not edited/no-pairings (sort-of) and mainly focused on friendship/OOC
Hope you enjoy the read :D
…..
Kuroko Tetsuya woke up with a throbbing pain at the back of his head. He did a fast replay of what happened yesterday night. He was with his Seirin teammates in one of the Shrines to pray for good luck. Winter Cup had ended and they've been in many challenges before finally tasting their goals.
While praying, he suddenly remembered his middle school days at Teiko with the Generation of Miracles. As he looks at his captain and Kiyoshi senpai arguing with each other, he can't help but to feel sad.
'What if coach Shirogane didn't die.' He forcedly erased the thought. If their coach didn't die, the GoM would never end up like that. Still, he can't help but to think about it. Deep inside, he still wishes for a possible change of scenarios.
"Uggh.." Kagami Taiga grunted beside him.
"Kagami-kun." He looked at his partner.
"Wahh! Ku-kuroko! Stop doing that!" The red-head didn't hide his shocked face.
"What is your wish Kagami-kun?" His face shows no interest but in fact, he is indeed.
"Err, I don't really know, I mean I'm okay with what I have now." The taller man mumbled. "You?"
"Nothing really, I just thought about possible things." He looks up at the sky.
"Huuh?" Kagami being Kagami, didn't understand a thing about what his shadow just said.
"Kagami-kun… do you think things will be different if only our previous coach at Teiko before didn't die?" Kuroko knows his question is a bit off and never expected Kagami to answer at all.
"I don't know, but, maybe… well that is what happened anyway, it's not like you can change the past." Kagami scratch the back of his head.
"I think that maybe if that didn't happen, then—"
"You all are playing together happily…" Kagami ended his speech.
Kuroko nodded. Kadami was silent for a moment and for a point five second, Kuroko saw sadness run in the crimson eyes of his light. He felt guilty about that, he has Seirin now, and they're slowly doing their best to achieve their dreams, and while doing so, they're also changing the GoM's attitude towards basketball.
Kagami cleared his throat. "Well, I kind of think like that sometimes, what if I never met Tatsuya, then there will be no basketball for me… what if I won my game before going back here in Japan, what will be left for us, or what if I didn't pass in Seirin's entrance exam!"
The smaller boy gave him a small smile. There may be many what ifs, but his partner is right. They can't change the past.
At least that's what he thinks….
Going back, he look at the clock hanging in his bedroom wall, it's still early but decided to take a shower. Something is different. He looked at his surroundings, nothing change, he checked his physical appearance after taking a bath but nothing is wrong.
His speculation that something is odd was proven the moment he opened his closet. Instead of Seirin's uniform hanging in there, it was the Teiko high school's. He felt his heart beat stops for a moment.
"What is going on?" He whispered with shocked eyes.
He doesn't know how long he stayed like that. His chain of thoughts was cut when he heard a soft knock, "Tetsuya, you should get up now. Today is Saturday but you said yesterday you're meeting with your teammates at one of the street courts and hang out after that." His mom said.
"Y-yes mom." He managed to get up and put on some clothes. Still shaking, his eyes once again wonder around his room. At the side tables of his bed, he spotted a framed photo. In his horror, instead of his Seirin basketball team, it was him, Momoi, and the GoM after their graduation in middle school. They all look happy and contented.
…
But he is Kuroko Tetsuya. He managed to recover from that shock, checked his phone for extra details. He found one of Akashi's previous messages:
-Hello everyone. Let us meet tomorrow at the street court in the park, let's discuss matters.-
He knew that place. Before the designated time, he managed to arrive an hour earlier. To his surprise, Aomine Daiki and Momoi Satsuki are already there. More than surprising is the thought of Aomine not being late.
The tanned boy looks different. He is smiling while playing alone, while the girl watches in awed and warm eyes.
"Oi! Tetsu! Good morning!" Aomine spotted him and greeted. 'This is not Aomine-kun at all.' He pinched his cheeks to make sure he's not dreaming, but like always, it still hurts.
'Guess I had to get going.' He puts up his straight looks and greeted them good morning.
"Want to play one-on-one?" Aomine patted him in the back.
"Dai-chan! Can't you see that Tetsu-kun is still catching up his breath?" Momoi reprimanded the taller boy.
"Sorry sorry." Aomine said.
"Tetsu-kun? Is something wrong?" Momoi waved her hands at Kuroko's dazed face.
"Nothing Momoi-san… I just have…" He remembered Seirin and he's sure he feels lonely.
"Oi Tetsu." Aomine stopped dribbling and looked at Kuroko with worried expression.
Kuroko shook his head. "I just had a weird dream." He forced a smile.
"You sure you're okay?" Aomine asked again.
"Yes Aomine-kun." He patted the head of Momoi as well. "Don't worry about me."
Not long before that, Midorima and Murasakibara arrived. Midorima, being so faithful to horoscope, is holding his lucky item, a small stuff animal, proudly in his left hands which is bandaged while Murasakibara is indulged in his snacks.
They greeted them with cheerful good mornings, more laughter with Aomine as he and Midorima argued while playing one-on-one now.
"It's good to see Mine-chin like that again." The giant purple-head said.
"What do you mean Murasakibara-kun?" Kuroko asked.
"Huh? You forget what happened before our graduation Kuro-chin?" Murasakibara asked in a very bored tone.
Kuroko just stared at him waiting for an answer. The taller man took a deep breath.
"Well, Mine-chin suddenly became so powerful inside the court, you remember that Kuro-chin…" He nodded, waiting for an answer. "Well, coach Shirogane punished him for slacking off and popping his growing ego." He laughed.
"Where's coach now?" He asked, paling more and more.
"Don't know, maybe he's busy with the new first strings… scary man indeed." The giant went back from eating.
It's a good thing that Murasakibara never asked Kuroko why he didn't know this.
'So, it probably means coach didn't die and he had prevented the fall of our team!' His mind is shouting, palm sweating, and lips smiling. He remembered something about yesterday, but suddenly, it was all foggy.
"Tetsu-kun!" Momoi sat beside them. "What is your dream last night?" The girl smiled.
"It was…" Kuroko furrowed his eyebrow.
"It was?" Momoi repeated.
"I…I can't…remember… Momoi-san" Kuroko scratch his head, he knew it is important. He knew it is something big!
Before saying anything, a cheerful voice caught their attention. "Good morning!" Kise runs towards them. "Already playing?! I want to join Aomine-cchi!"
Kuroko watched the scene happily. Everyone is enjoying and wearing such bright smiles. Akashi also arrived at exactly 9:30.
"I'm going to discuss something important."
Everyone gathered around. Kuroko stared a little longer at Akashi's eyes. "What is it Tetsuya, is something wrong?"
Aomine and Momoi looked at their friend with another unfathomable expression.
"Akashi-kun, your eyes..." Kuroko started.
"Huh? What about my eyes?" Akashi said.
Kise laughed at the side earning a smack in the head from the serious Midorima, Murasakibara eats his snacks, Aomine tried to suppress laughter, and Momoi paled.
Kuroko stared with straight face. He knew something is different. But what is it. "It has the same color."
"I don't know what you mean Tetsuya." Akashi sighed.
Aomine failed to hold his laughter and laughed loudly with Kise matching his volume.
"Ryouta, Daiki, better stop now or I'll double your training menus."
Both teenagers stopped with horrified face.
"Akashi-chi!" Kise pouted in protest.
"You got to be kidding!" Aomine also shouted.
But another look at the red-head and both males knew what's coming up.
"Tetsuya, maybe you bumped your head hard." He took a deep breath, "As I was saying, the coach made me the new captain, and also stated that you five are going to be the starters since our senpais already know your strength. Tetsuya is still our sixth man and Satsuki, do your job."
Kuroko saw his teammates nod in agreement.
"And don't forget what coach Shirogane taught us, winning and teamwork is important. And no matter how much we improve our skills, we must always train harder every day in order to win."
All of them smiled, except for Kuroko.
….
At the end of the day he stood at one of the street courts alone. Trying to comprehend what the hell is going on inside him. He is very happy that his team never split up, rather, they're closer than before.
"But I felt something is missing." He puts his hand on his chest. "Something is definitely missing that it feels so bad."
"Huh? Kuroko-cchi is still here?" Kise's voice called from behind.
"Kise-kun." He nodded.
The blonde sat beside him on one of the benches.
"What are you doing here all alone Kuroko-cchi?" Kise, being the jolly one, almost blinded the smaller lad from his bright aura.
Kuroko shrugged. "I like the color of the sky today." He is not lying. It was tinged in a darker orange, a crimson sky. "It reminds me of…someone…?" He mumbled.
He saw Kise also staring at the sky. "I know. It feels like the color reminds me of someone too." He said in a sad tone.
"You do Kise-kun?" He asked in disbelief.
"Yes, although I don't know, it's just a feeling."
Kuroko is going to talk but a loud ring tone drowned his voice. Kise answered the call. "I need to go now Kuroko-cchi, let's play again tomorrow. My agent is looking for me."
…..
Days passed.
Weeks passed.
The Inter High is coming near (which means their basketball practice is harder).
"Next week, we are going to have a practice match with Seirin High." Akashi announced.
"Seirin?" Aomine asked in furrowed eye brows. "Where did I hear that word?"
All of them looked at their eyes thinking the same thing. The name of the school is familiar but they're sure they never heard about it before.
"It just opened last year, so their basketball team is still young. But based on Satsuki's information, the team made it to the Inter-High last year with only freshmens."
Aomine whistled. "You think they're much of a challenge?"
"I'm so excited!" Kise glowed in eagerly. "I hope they're good!"
Midorima pushed his eyeglasses, "Still, we are going to win."
Murasakibara is still eating quietly his snacks, Akashi smiled at the possible good match. "Shintarou is right, if they're good, then we must play harder."
Kuroko smiled. He doesn't know but his heart beats faster.
…..
With annoyed faces, the GoM and their sixth man watched the practice game in the bench. Akashi talked to their coach about playing but the coach said that it won't be a challenge if they play.
"Sorry Akashi, but it won't be a play anymore if. And this is also a good opportunity to warm the others."
"I understand coach."
Seirin's good. There's no doubt about that. Their captain is a good shooter, their center has his own unfair styles, the point guard seems to carry the team's strategy, and that number ten has great potential.
"That number eleven." Murasakibara said. "He plays beautifully."
Kuroko can't help but to agree, his moves are perfect and flawless. But seeing that jersey number gave Kuroko a strange feeling. He longs for it.
"Forget about him, look at number ten!" Aomine said. "You think he can keep up with my play?" He grinned. Kuroko knew that his light had been looking for a rival that can match his play. His light… he looked at number ten. His light…
"What is his name again?" Murasakibara asked.
"My my, Modorima-cchi, I think he can block your high shooting range with his super jumping skills." Kise pointed out.
"Tch!" Midorima asked again, "What is his name?"
"Kagami Taiga." Momoi answered. "The number eleven is Himuro Tatsuya. They both came from America and moved here recently."
"America?!" Kise repeated. "I'm so envious!"
"Yes, but Kagamin here is a freshman like you while Himuro-san is a sophomore." All of them looked at Momoi with expressions of surprise. "W-what?"
"Momoi-san, you just called the number ten Kagamin." Kuroko pointed out.
Momoi blushed by that. "I-I…huh?"
The buzzer sounded indicating the end of the game. Seirin won and everybody in their team is cheering. Kuroko watched them in envious eyes. He felt alone. He wanted to go there and celebrate with them. He wanted to play along their sides.
After lining in the middle, the number ten of Seirin, Kagami Taiga, approached the GoM. "I just want to say hi. My name is Kagami Taiga" His crimson eyes looked at them one-by-one and grinned. "Hope to beat you in Interhigh."
All of them are too stunned to utter a word, even the mighty Akashi.
"Hey Taiga! Don't pick up a fight!" Himuro said in English. Murasakibara eyed him cautiously.
"I am not Tatsuya." Kagami protested.
The older guy hanged his right hand at Kagami's neck and ruffled his hair. "You were great little bro!" And both of them headed off towards their team.
That sight is supposed to be happy but, "Huh?" Aomine eyed Kuroko. "Why are you crying Tetsu?"
"Huh?" Kuroko looked up. His tears flows and he feels bad. "I don't know." He wiped it by the back of his palms but it won't stop. "It feels like I missed something, something is weird. I feel empty…"
He took another glimpse at Seirin. Kagami Taiga is looking at him as well. The taller man smiled but he's also wearing a confused expression. He nodded before turning his attention back to his teammates.
….
Past is past and things happened for a reason.
Changing it might be a bad decision.
One might escape a certain situation.
In the end, there's always a lesson.