NOTE: AU. Kuroko became friends with the GoM in elementary school, and they became cold towards him by the time they entered middle school due to blooming talents. Basically, the background of this story is the same as the original Kuroko past, but it was moved earlier. Some Natsume Yuujinchou fans might notice that this is fairly similar to the OVA, but only the beginning. This is a two-shot and this is the first part, so enjoy!

Snow.

He had also seen this white flakes pouring down from the sky in America, but he wondered why it felt so different in Japan.

He looked up and saw the unusually dark sky in the middle of the day, and contemplated why he felt so nostalgic all of a sudden. It was not as if he had fond memories of winter, since he usually spent it by himself. Or with some basketball players, but well, he played with them almost everyday.

His family decided to take a month-long vacation in Japan, since his parents were actually born there. Today, he was left to care of the house again, seeing that both his mother and father were actually on a working vacation. Bored, he decided to take a walk in the neighbourhood.

He brought an umbrella and locked the house. He strolled in any direction his feet carried him, tracing his way so that he would not get lost. He noticed that his footprints were actually a nice mark for him to go back home.

Snowflakes dropped on Earth in a slow manner, Kagami told himself. They bore themselves to the ground, joining the others who had slowly compacted and form the white sheet that covered almost everything in the town. They released the coldness that formed the winter's low temperature, and they characterized the tranquillity of the surroundings.

Christmas was on the corner, but the town they stayed were as quiet as it could be. It was a town near the mountains, and steep slopes were found everywhere. As he walked up the slope, he noticed he could view the downtown in a bird's point of view. He just noticed how every village was surrounded with the white, which he thought was once a lush of greeneries.

He stopped. He just realized how much he was thinking when he realized how poetic he had been. He should stop it, he was not a Kagami Taiga if he would continue trying to analyze his surroundings. Unless he was in a basketball court.

He raised his head only to realize that the sky was getting darker. He looked at his wristwatch only to see that he had been walking for the past hour. His parents would come home soon, and they expect him to cook dinner, despite him being a mere 10-year old. He rushed back home, only to realize he was already lost.

"Shit, I'm lost…?" he said in slightly awkward English, he was not used to it yet, and he forgot he was actually in Japan.

He had folded his umbrella and decided to run. He had no much time left, and the streets were empty, so it did not hurt to go full speed.

As he went past the edge of the forest in the downhill way, he thought he saw a ball of blue.

He suddenly stopped, startled. Then he looked away.

Wait, it was already dark. No, he was just imagining it. Maybe it was just a light from a house in the middle of the forest.

…that's impossible right? Who on his better mind would do that?

Was he dreaming?

He turned his head to that part he saw the blue light.

It was there. It was really there, floating.

His feet involuntarily moved towards that light.

As he grew closer, he realized it was not a ball, but it had a silhouette of a human. In the middle of a clearing in that forest.

A human, but he was translucent. He could see the snow-laden trees behind, and snow dropped past through his body. He felt like he was entranced by the beauty as he stopped in his tracks.

It was a boy of his age with blue hair and blue eyes, and was smaller in height compare to him. He had that unexplainable expression, or maybe he had no emotion at all. In his form, he seemed to wear a light blue yukata that matched his eyes and hair. And he was not glowing. He was just standing out from the white forest under the darkening sky, but he emitted no light at all.

As he examined the translucent body in front of him, he really thought more and more that he was just dreaming. He was just dreaming, he repeated to himself. There was no way a human could be translucent, much less with that natural light blue hair with matching light blue eyes. Maybe his dream had started before he even left the home. Maybe his mother or his father would wake him up from this strange nightmare.

The blue boy kept staring at him. As if his gaze bore through his being. He was totally speechless.

"You…can see me?" the blue boy asked, and Kagami felt goosebumps. It was a masculine voice, but at the same time, it was not.

He nodded reflexively, and there was a pregnant silence once again.

Snow fell between them, minutes ticking by, and Kagami thought that if he was actually dreaming, then he would not need to worry about having to cook dinner.

He felt drawn to the boy that he could not take his eyes away.

"Hello. My name is Kuroko. It's nice to meet you." The boy bowed, a traditional Japanese custom the country had. "I'm happy that someone can actually see me. It's been a while."

"Ka-Kagami Taiga." He said. "Wh-what are you?"

"I don't know. The moment I woke up, I've been here." Kuroko said with flat voice, though Kagami noted, his eyes seemed to indicate differently.

"How long have you been here?"

"It's been 10 nights I'm stuck in this place."

"You don't get out of here?" Kagami asked, and he realized he actually did not care that he was conversing with ghostly-like boy anymore. After all, he told himself, that he was just dreaming.

"I'm unfamiliar to the place. But I'm looking for something important to me."

"Something important?"

"Yes, I've been dreaming of chasing something warm. I feel like I need to find it quickly." Kuroko said. "And there's something that tells me I need to find it before the snow melts."

"Do you have any idea about it then?" the redhaired asked, trying to look concerned. "I mean, how will you find it if you don't try to get out of this forest?"

"Will you help me, Kagami-kun?"

"Huh?! Why would I?!" He exclaimed, he was dreaming but it might be dangerous to even agree to help some ghost. He might get cursed or something. His mother had told him once of Japanese curses, and he knew it was very very scary.

"Because you can see me. A lot of kids sometimes play here, and they cannot feel my presence."

"No, no, no. I mean, I…" he shook his head, but then he felt guilty. The boy seemed asking for his help from the bottom of his heart, and even with the nonchalant voice, he knew it sounded grave if the boy would not find it.

But, he did not know him, or his existence. Plus, he was dreaming. He tried to convince himself he was just dreaming. He might be some very good cosplayer, and he had some technology to make himself a little bit transparent. Maybe, he was just really playing a prank on him. Or he might actually be an evil ghost who wanted to trap him somewhere so that he would have company in his lifetime.

Kagami's head swirled around ideas that were becoming more and more extreme, until he jerked from his position when he heard his phone ringing.

The translucent boy also stared at him, and then to the pockets of the redhaired's pants where the sound was coming.

"W-wait…" Kagami said and he answered the phone.

"Taiga? Where are you? Come home now, it is already dark." He heard his father said in English, sounding a little bit on the edge. He felt scared again. Maybe he would get scolded for leaving the home.

But, as he had told himself before, he was just in the state of unconsciousness. Maybe he was hearing his father waking him up. He was in a warm, comfortable bed, inside their vacation house in Japan. And maybe he did not really walked outside at all. He did not meet the boy who wanted his help to find something complex.

"So-sorry, pops! I'm coming home." Kagami replied with the same language, and Kuroko just had tried to understand what he was saying on the other line.

"Kagami-ku—"

"I-I need to go home now, so-sorry…" he dashed outside the forest, feeling guilty all of a sudden. But he knew better than to associate himself with beings not normally seen by human beings.

He found his way home, he had not lost, and his parents scolded him. He cooked dinner, and they ate. He took a bath and lie on the bed.

Until before he slept, he kept thinking how realistic it was for a dream. He was going to wake up soon. He knew it.

Kagami heard the familiar thud in the ground, and bouncing of something with a board. He heard the noise of shoes in the floor, and the surroundings were filled with laughter.

"-kocchi…! You were great!" a high-pitched masculine voice said from one corner. When he turned his head to the source, he saw a mop of golden yellow hair, but his face was blank.

"-tsu, pass me the ball!" he saw a dark-skinned man appeared out of blue beside the blond. His face was also blank.

"-ro-chin…"

"…ko, Aquarius ranked first in the… lucky…"

"-ya, you are improv…"

He heard more and more muffled voices in the air, circling around him. He felt his body moved, and his hands flailed. He felt something hard touched his palm, but it left as soon as he tapped it, whatever it was. It was something rough and hard, and maybe something heavy too.

His surroundings were purely white, but he saw some lines and circles in the ground. There was some pole with some board in front of him. But when he raised his head higher, he could not see anything but the white. All the faces of people were blank, but he could see their mouths moved as they let out intelligible sounds.

All he knew was that he was happy. He felt in state of bliss. He liked the warmth of that thing, the temperature of the surroundings and the voices of those people. He just loved it.

Then, everything became dark. Pitch black. He could not see anything. Suddenly, from his position, those people became visible, but their backs on him. They walked away, silently, slowly, until they fade in the background.

He felt water pouring down from his eyes, the anger, the irritation, the sadness, the emptiness. Then, there was motorcycle solidifying in his side, bumping him. He felt no pain in his body but in his chest.

It hurts… it hurts…

"It hurts!" he shouted and opened his eyes, and then there was suddenly a cold hand covering his mouth.

A translucent hand…

"Guuhhh…!" his screams were muffled by the hand still above his mouth. And then, turning his head to his side, he saw the same boy he supposedly met in his dreams.

"Shh…It's still midnight, Kagami-kun. Don't disturb your parent's sleep." He saw Kuroko put the index finger of his other hand to his sleep, hushing him.

The redhaired let go of himself from the hand, and stood from his bed. He dashed to the restroom, splashed water in his face, especially his eyes, and entered his room again.

Kuroko was still there, unmoving from his position beside his bed.

"Y-you're real?!" he voiced out. "You're not a dream?! I am not dreaming?!"

"I'm real, and you were not dreaming." He told.

"W-why are you here? I thought you cannot go away from the forest because you're unfamiliar with the surroundings?"

"I met you, and as long as you're nearby, I can move."

"W-what do you want?"

"I still want you to help me search for that warm object." He said, and his eyes looked at the ground. "Please."

"Still, no. And besides we're leaving for America soon. Just find another person to help you." He said in a boasting voice, hoping that it would make the translucent boy disappear from his house.

"Then, maybe I will follow you to America."

"WHAT?!"

"Since you're a familiar face, as long as you're there, I can go anywhere. So I can go with you in America and search for what I need."

"Geez…then tell me, if you find it, will you stop following me? You're a creep, you know that?" he said, scratching his head. He did not have a choice, or else he would have a ghost following him in his whole life.

"I promise." Kuroko said in a determined voice. "I'm sorry, but I'm desperate."

"Don't apologize if you're not really sorry for it, geez! We'll start tomorrow, when pops and mom leave the house. Just let me sleep right now." Kagami walked towards the bed as he yawned.

"Yes. Thank you very much, Kagami-kun."

"You found it?!" Kagami exclaimed as they walked in the empty concrete path in the town. It was already mid-afternoon, and in his side, Kuroko floated. Kagami had actually complained about it a while ago, saying that other people might be scared, but the translucent boy reminded the former that only him could see and hear him.

"Not actually it, but it had a similar feeling. It was an empty space though." The blue boy said. Kagami cocked his head in confusion. "I saw some kids playing in the park enter that space, and they suddenly disappear. So I think there is something inside that box that I cannot see."

"Oh, really? Then, let's go there."

The duo walked towards the park, and Kuroko lead the path to wherever he found something similar to what he was searching for.

Kuroko still saw a void space, as if a portion of picture cut from its original image, a white box. Kagami, however…

"Kuroko, you cannot see this? It's the *****" Kagami said, and Kuroko missed a few words.

"Again, Kagami-kun? I cannot hear the last word you said." He said, and he walked closer to the red haired.

"It's a ******!" he shouted, but Kuroko could not really get it. As if something was blocking him from hearing the word.

"It seems that something is blocking me to hear what you were saying Kagami-kun."

"Huh?"

"I can only hear "It's the" and not the word after it." Kuroko stated.

"Huh… but it's just a ******, why can't you hear it? Maybe you used to play ****** here?" He heard Kagami said, but he hated that sound that blocked the words.

"Kagami-kun, sorry, but can you just give me a word puzzle for what is inside that?" Kuroko pointed, and Kagami thought hard.

"Hmm, there are 10 people inside, two teams, they just started playing it. Right now, the other team throw a ****** shot, and the other **** for a revenge. Oooh! Amazing, their ***** was a good one, and that style! It's like ******* from ***** and –"

"It's okay, Kagami-kun. A lot of your words I cannot hear, and it makes no sense for me."

"You cannot hear this word: ******?" Kagami asked, trying to figure out what the boy could not hear.

"Yes."

"Let's go to my house then! I'll show you something related to this." The red head began to run back towards home.

Kuroko had just to follow him, still a little confused about the turn of events.

The blue head thought he had checked all the rooms of Kagami's house when the latter entered a room he recalled he could not enter. The red head showed up in a minute, holding something he could not see.

"Here!" Kagami extended out his hands on him, as if bringing something. But he could not decipher what it was. There was nothing but air between the palms, or between the arms, or wherever that item was, but he knew that the other boy would not tell a prank on him.

He kept staring, hoping he could see even a shadow of that object. But it failed. Kagami saw the scene, and also had some clue what was happening.

Kuroko could not see that nor could hear the word. It must be this. But he wondered: This thing was far from warm, or he never thought of it as one. Sure, he cherished it. It was a big part of his life, and he would kill anyone who would separate him from this. He held it tightly, retracting his arm from the translucent boy.

"Kagami-kun."

"It's a *****" He heard the red head said, but again with that beep sound in the last word. "But I guess you cannot hear it?"

Kuroko nodded.

"Try holding it."

He stretched his arms once again. "It's between my palms. Try imagining something, and hold it."

Kuroko did what he was told, and it was cold. It was very cold that he felt he had reflexively jumped away from the red head. "Kuroko?!"

"It's very cold. I cannot touch it." The blue boy said, and he looked at his hands that were emitting smoke-like ooze. He never felt coldness or hotness before, anywhere and in anything, but only this time.

"That's odd… I really thought this would be that object…" Kagami then heard his stomach grumble. "Damn! I'm hungry. Sorry, Kuroko. Let's eat first."

The duo spent the rest of the week looking for the item, and the only clue they had was how Kuroko felt when he was near some items or places. Aside from that object and that place, the translucent boy could practically see everything.

It was Sunday, and Kagami's parents were home the whole day. The boy apologized to the blue head, telling him that today he could not help to find his item. Kuroko nodded with no expression, but he truly felt dejected.

He walked through their usual path to the town, through the concrete path or towards the forest. For the whole week, this was the only time of the day that he had been alone. He usually did not talk that much, preferring to listen over Kagami's random stories about himself. He said he played something that was blocked from his hearing, along with some friends, and he was taught by a not-blood related brother.

Today he went back to where they met. He had thought, at that time, that having a human see him and help him search would make things easier. But he failed. It was not that easy. Maybe that was the object he had been searching for – those things he could not see but Kagami could – but it was hopeless. It was very cold. It had some repulsive reaction towards him.

He never slept, and he wondered why he did not have the need to. He usually watched over the red head when he slept, or he would just read some books from Kagami's shelf. He was surprised at that moment that he could touch things, which he was grateful for.

But today, he felt the sudden need to take a nap. And this was just the perfect place to do it.

Reviews are appreciated!