Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke.
A/N: I don't currently plan for this story to be a romance. It's possible it'll eventually end up in that direction but if it does I'll put up a big warning so you can opt-out of continuing before encountering it. Either way, I hope you like this story!
Rating: "T" for eventual language/themes not suitable for those under 13. It is not necessary yet, but in the interest of playing it safe I'm starting with that rating.
I've Been Here the Whole Time
Chapter 1
Kuroko Tetsuya had a secret. It wasn't an infatuation he was worried about being discovered, it wasn't a fear of heights, or a furtive passion for soap operas. Instead the blue haired male was actually a high ranking shadow spirit in service to Seidai Myojin, the kami who oversaw sports and contests of skill in Japan. Kuroko has been watching over Japanese athletes since the first sumo match was held to honor the kami in the pre-Edo period. Kuroko's primary responsibility was to observe athletes from all around the country, especially the chosen few his superior had given special gifts. He was able to monitor the balance between natural talent and honest effort to ensure that games remained inspirational; as these competitions were ritual acts deemed sacred to his brethren. He excelled as a guardian of teamwork and strategy, making him highly respected in the kami world.
While Kuroko's name and significance were currently unknown to humans, having been lost over time as modernity stole some of the more ancient ritual knowledge, he had nevertheless been receiving a large percentage of the offerings given by athletes throughout the centuries as a reward for his superior efforts on behalf of Seidai Myojin. He'd enjoyed a particularly glorious era during the samurai period with the vitality he'd gained from the war games planned by the shoguns and the various training methods the warriors had engaged. He was a strong and capable spirit that was highly trusted and esteemed for his dedication and his unwillingness to give up on any task he'd been assigned.
His home was officially at the Shiramine shrine in Kyoto, but he wandered all over the country observing various contests and matches from traditional competitions like sumo and kemari to imported sports like baseball and tennis. He loved seeing the manifestations of the talents that Seidai Myojin granted, especially when their hosts shone with the light of true enthusiasm for their chosen game. For the past fifty or so years he'd been particularly interested in basketball and had been assigned jurisdiction over the game. He didn't usually interact with the humans he observed from the shadows, but on occasion he took a human form that allowed him to counsel those that were troubled or to talk with someone that was especially interesting. At these times, Kuroko became a blue haired, blue eyed male with a lithe, muscular form and deadpan expression. He'd been in this form for quite a while now, although he frequently slipped back to the realm of the kami to handle his other responsibilities and meet with friends and colleagues.
The impetus for his current appearance had arisen when he'd caught wind of the strong possibility that the Kiseki no Sedai would grow too arrogant from the blessings they'd received and cause massive shockwaves in the balance of middle, and then high school, basketball. Kuroko had been passing through Tokyo when he heard a whisper from one of his scouts of a potential issue with the basketball team at Teiko middle school. Young athletes were always a priority because their progress affected the future of the game and this school in particular housed five of his master's prodigies, there was no way he would ignore the warning.
At first, all seemed well. Kuroko took in the exhausted but hard working second and third string members; he was pleased to see their commitment and support of the team. Then he heard it – the cracking that signaled the impending corruption of one of the talents Seidai Myojin had bestowed. He glanced over and saw an exceptionally agile boy with dark blue hair effortlessly evade a strong defensive screen and powerfully, but with the skill to make it look easy, dunk the ball straight into the hoop. Kuroko could see the strength emanating from the boy; he was clearly already a spectacular athlete that still had a great deal of potential at his disposal. But he was angry, frustrated, and hovering dangerously on the precipice of abandoning all hope and love for the game he'd worked so hard to master.
"Why did you let me through? Try harder!" the boy's voice held a desperate fury that Kuroko had heard before. It seemed that this player had bloomed too early; likely the flicker of his hidden talent had been fanned to life by the depth of his passion for the game. It spoke volumes of the player's dedication; not everyone that received the spark could utilize it, let alone have gained such proficiency so soon in their career. He'd seen many athletes come to hate what they'd once loved in these situations, he'd seen them become cruel and arrogant, secure in the talents they possessed that they had no equal. In these cases the talent became worse than an illness for them and in extreme situations they'd had to remove all memory of the athlete ever competing in order for them to find some chance of happiness in other avenues of their lives.
When the players tried to respond that they had been defending as hard as they could, but that Aomine was simply too strong, Kuroko could see the pain and the fear that crossed his face. This was an athlete that enjoyed testing his strength, of learning and evolving new skills, and it would be one of the harshest fates imaginable for him to never experience the thrill of a true challenge. He searched for the other prodigies he knew should be in the vicinity. One by one, he located the crimson, jade, golden, and then purple haired athletes. Their talents were simmering, they clearly felt the challenge from Aomine's prowess and it would not be long before their own unique abilities erupted to the surface. It would be truly difficult to stop them once that happened.
Almost absentmindedly Kuroko used his limited power of prophecy to see into the future. He couldn't see everything, but he could see the most likely path that pertained to those under the auspices of Seidai Myojin. Shadows were valued for more than hiding after all; it had taken a few centuries, but Kuroko had obtained relative mastery over the ability to navigate time shadows as well. He saw each of the five before him making callous wagers on the number of points they could score, he saw utter desolation in the eyes of their opponents, he saw flashes of contempt and indolence; the inability of coaches and captains to rein them in or get them to practice, the refusal to see teammates as anything other than a hindrance. In short, he saw a rejection of everything he and the other guardians of athletics and skill stood for.
This was the most likely path they would follow. But it wasn't the only one available. Kuroko watched them awhile longer. They were fascinating creatures, so vibrantly dominant and confident of their worth. In earlier eras they would have been loyal devotees at Seidai Myojin's shrine, or at least offered prayers at home in exchange for continued use of their powerful abilities. If they had been spread among different schools it might not reach the point he saw in his vision. It would be a simple matter to disperse them among other schools so they would stand a better chance of encountering defeat more naturally, yet Kuroko felt that would be the coward's way out of this situation. And honestly, he didn't think it would work with all of them since one was bound to come out on top of the others. He could feel the headache coming on at the thought of all the paperwork it was going to take to fix this. But, a bureaucrat's work is never done. Even in the world of the kami, some things had to go through proper channels.
And so Kuroko found himself filling out a lengthy form detailing his intention to take on his human appearance for an extended period of time along with his reasons for such an action. He explained his plan to insert himself as a human a few years prior to the incident he had witnessed today so that he could more easily gain influence in the lives of the Kiseki no Sedai. He would have to live in the human realm and learn basketball from a mortal's perspective, and he'd already made arrangements to focus on being a supportive player. Kuroko didn't believe in taking away the choices humans made, he wasn't about to magically zap away the selfishness he could see burgeoning in the five prodigies, but he was going to do his best to correct the current path they trod.
From what he'd seen throughout his extended life, Kuroko was fully aware that he would be combating more than simple arrogance; he was going to have to instill a respect for variations of strength, for remembering the efforts of those that didn't even get to play in matches, for honoring the delayed hopes of those they defeated in their future battles. It was a daunting enough task to contemplate doing this for a single player as was the norm, but the Kiseki no Sedai were worth the effort. Not only were they representatives of his sport by being basketball players, but they truly were among the most gifted he could remember seeing in a long time. He didn't want their lights to be dulled with disappointment, nor extinguished by force, he wanted them to understand how to blend the support of a shadow with the brilliance of the light to shine even more brightly with the combined strength of teamwork, respect, and skill.
Kuroko wasn't surprised when Seidai Myojin himself asked for a meeting after he submitted his request. The powerful spirit was devoted to the mortals in his care and he could be ferociously protective of his athletes, but he also fretted over the servants in his employ. Kuroko had served him a long time, of course this was worrisome. There was little doubt that such a request was being pushed through because the shadow thought it necessary, but Seidai wanted a word in person first.
"Kuroko, this seems rather drastic. Are you sure it is necessary? This is a long battle you're undertaking, even for one of our kind."
"I'm sure. I know basketball is not one of our traditional sports and that you have been quite indulgent regarding my fascination with it. It is unusual for so many that have received your blessing to gather as they have done within a single sport let alone the same school. I don't want to lose any of them to apathy as we have sometimes seen in the past. I really want to do this. I have made arrangements to have my responsibilities covered but will of course be back as much as possible to oversee emergencies."
His supervisor waved that off, "It was never an issue of your workload, Kuroko. Goodness knows you've earned the right to take on a personal project through all your years of loyalty to me. You haven't even had a vacation since the 15th century, you're easily overdue and you could take several more decades away from your work if you wanted to and not be out of line. I'm worried because you've elected to bind most of your powers while in the human realm. You'll be vulnerable there, my friend. Not fatally so, of course, but more than you have been since…well…you know what's at stake here."
The shadow spirit nodded. He definitely knew. "I have to, my lord. What I want from them is on par with the risk I have to take. If I relied on brute force with all of my powers, I would be nothing more than a hypocrite. I have bound my limits to make the contest as fair as I can, although honestly I have no intention of losing, but the possibility must be there or I couldn't embark on this task."
The ancient kami considered his servant with a heavy heart and sighed. "Your sense of fair play will be your undoing one day; you know it is true Kuroko. But I understand why this is important to you. Of course I approve your request, but I will expect regular reports from you."
It was a moment filled with unspoken hopes and fears for both of them. The gifts of five prodigies was no small gamble, but nor was the risk embedded for the earnest shadow guardian as he moved forward with this plan. Before he could lose his nerve, Kuroko bowed to his master and vanished, using the shadows to travel to the human world and activating the restrictions for his entry and manifestation as a human. When he next opened his eyes, he would be Kuroko Tetsuya, a fifth grade student living in Tokyo, about to watch his first basketball match on television. As a champion for all that competition could truly be, he had work to do and he was more than ready to get started.