Sweep
A/N: Hello, thanks for taking interest! ヾ( ^▽^ )ノ This isn't your typical gender-bend story where Kuroko suddenly becomes completely overpowered once he becomes a she. Set in the Teikou days, although there will be references to canon timeline, this story will not closely or completely follow the manga or anime.
Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke/黒子のバスケ is the wonderful creation of Tadatoshi Fujimaki.
Note: This starts off from their second year, right after Kise just joined the club. Oh, and it's un-beta'd. Oh, oh! Also, the rating will go up later on.
Chapter One: Standard
A dignified lady would never carry herself with dishonesty. Nor would she cause anguish or misery, and most certainly should not be running from crooks three hundred and ten miles away from home. But apparently, she was dignified.
If they could see her now - in this haggard state, in this desolate area, surely, they would not presumptively say that she was dignified. Still, to the world, she was dignified - something she did not associate herself to be.
"There's a pest still hiding here somewhere."
The frantic shuffling of footsteps. The annoyed grunt of a man.
"Search every nook and cranny!"
With a deafening howl of the harsh winter wind, she was gone. Silently and stealthily, without a trace, she fled. A few blocks down the road, the same girl walked along the sidewalk casually, slipping on cap to cover fluttering strands of her light blue hair. With a quiet sigh, she took out her phone and checked the time.
"Time for school." she murmured, disappearing into the crowd.
The shrill cry of a whistle rung throughout the spacious gym every five seconds, monotonously, as the hasty squeaks of sneakers against hickory hardwood followed suit to the stable rhythm. Along the sidelines, two girls stood side by side, deep in discussion, away from the noise and sweat-matted foreheads.
"Should we add Mito-kun to the bench line?" asked Momoi Satsuki, the pink haired manager of Teikou middle's basketball club.
Beside her, assistant manager Kuroko Tetsumi quietly hummed in consideration as she looked down at the details on the clipboard in her hands. "I think three should suffice. Besides, I've only told the three about tomorrow's practice match."
"If Mi-chan says so, then I guess it should be fine." Momoi agreed, taking the clipboard from her friend. She took out a pen from her waist pocket and jotted down a few extra details on the piece of paper then returned it to Kuroko.
As Momoi turned around to fetch something from the bench, a sudden cry caused both girls and most others to stop in their tracks.
"Watch out!"
From not too afar, a misdirected basketball came flying straight towards an unguarded Momoi, who yelped in surprise as she instinctively covered her face with her arms. Helplessly taken off guard, Momoi waited for the impact – but it never made contact with her. Instead, when she heard the sound of impact, she looked up to see the small back of her petite friend who had swatted away the offending ball.
"Are you alright, Satsuki?" Kuroko asked. Despite the evident concern, the blue-haired girl still had her usual impassive face as if nothing had just happened.
Momoi beamed, "Perfect!"
Just then, the piercing shrill of the whistle rung out once more as the coach announced the end of afternoon practice. The two managers gathered clean towels and water bottles as the first-string players and regulars returned to the benches.
"Kurokocchi, that was awesome!" Kise complimented as he brushed a hand through his damp blond hair. "Are you okay, Momoicchi?"
The pink-haired manager nodded sheepishly whilst Kuroko said nothing, handing the model a towel. She walked over to other members who recently moved up to the first string and offered a towel. However, due to her light footsteps and quiet nature, their immediate reactions were obvious.
Whoa!" one of the startled players said, "since when were you there?"
"Since now." Kuroko replied calmly, her expression unwavering. "Here." she handed them a towel each and walked off again, leaving them stunned. "Who...?"
Aomine walked past behind the two players, "Assistant manager. Get used to it." he grunted, much too accustomed to the same old routine. The tanned ace stopped by the two managers and the five other regulars, propping his left elbow on top of an unimpressed Kuroko's head. He ignored her quiet, annoyed mumbles.
"Wanna go get something to eat?" he asked, his stomach rumbling as if on cue.
Without much hesitation, the others all agreed, feeling the weariness and hunger hitting them all at once. Murasakibara, as usual, always had an emergency stash of sweets piled up inside his bag and one in his hands. They dispersed, the regulars gone to change whilst Momoi and Kuroko supervised the after-practice cleaning.
"I'll go hand this in to the coach. Meet you at the gates, Mi-chan!" Momoi said as she exited the gym to follow their coach. Suddenly, she stuck her head back in, "Oh, Aomine-kun and the rest are already waiting outside!" then left.
Kuroko nodded in affirmation then walked over to grab her bag sitting on a chair at the back of the gym. Just as she scanned the area once more, she spotted their red-haired captain coming out from the change rooms.
"Akashi-kun," she called out with her soft voice, "didn't you leave with the rest?"
Akashi stopped and offered a smile, waiting for Kuroko to catch up to him. "No, I had a few things to check up on." Once Kuroko caught up to him, she offered a small, almost unnoticeable smile in reply and walked out alongside the other.
- 黒子のバスケ-
"This is great, right?" Momoi asked, beaming. "I saw this place in a magazine and knew we just had to try it out."
The gang had come to spend their afternoon at a self-serve ice-cream store, courtesy of Momoi's insistent pleads. Though some were skeptical at first, the interior was moderately decorated and brightly lit, and the ice-cream was to Murasakibara's liking - which meant it was very, very good.
"It's very good." Kuroko mumbled, eyes lighting up just a fraction as she savoured the sweet vanilla taste.
They spent the rest of the afternoon getting more ice-cream and idly chatting or bickering away. As Kuroko spooned up the last amount of her first serving, her phone lit up and vibrated. Without a word, she flipped open her teal coloured phone and saw that she had one new message from her mother. Not even moment later, she placed it back into her bag and abruptly stood up, excusing herself.
"Sorry, I need to go now."
Everyone glanced at Kuroko then outside the glass windows. It was dark. Momoi frowned, "By yourself?" she paused and Akashi spoke up, "If it's urgent then we can all leave now."
Kuroko shuffled out of her seat and bowed, politely excusing herself once more. "No, it's fine. My mother wants me to deliver something she left at home." she mentally sighed at the skepticism written on everyone's faces, "It's not too far, so please don't worry."
And before anyone could say anything more, she discarded her rubbish and left without another word.
"Achoo!"
For the fifth time that morning during morning practice, Kuroko quietly sneezed and sniffled, which did not go unnoticed by her worried friend.
"Okay, now I'm convinced that you've caught a cold." Momoi said sternly, a small pout on her face. She hoped to get a response out of her stubborn friend, however Kuroko only sneezed once more.
"I'm fine." she mumbled, "I got caught in the rain last night, but I took care of myself right after." she went back to looking around to search for her blue whistle that high-tailed its way out of her sight.
Momoi heaved a sigh in response and patted her friend on the shoulder, "Just don't go calling me up tomorrow saying you're sick."
Kuroko deadpanned at her for a few seconds until Momoi burst out in a fit of giggles. Kuroko couldn't help but shake her head, though, with a bright smile on her face.
- 黒子のバスケ-
After morning practice, everyone began to pack up and leave the gym to make it on time for homeroom. Kuroko hurriedly gathered her belongings from the back room and walked out, checking that everything was in its place rather tepidly.
"Ah, there you are."
Kuroko spun around to see Akashi, neatly presented in his school uniform and looking ready to leave. To make haste, they began to talk as they walked over to their classes. Knowing Akashi of course, Kuroko knew what he wanted to say.
"So I heard, or rather, see that you've caught a cold today." he mused, glancing at Kuroko who sniffled quietly.
"I'm not sick." Kuroko retorted, unfazed.
"But you are."
"No I'm not."
"Stubborn as always." he said, almost with a snicker.
Kuroko pouted, "I'm not stubborn, I'm really not sick." after a moment of silence, "...just a little."
Akashi sighed, "Don't I always tell you - everyone - to look after your health?" he paused, "If you had only checked the weather forecast yesterday, there was an eighty percent chance of rain during late afternoon and into the night. Then perhaps, you wouldn't be in this current predicament?"
Kuroko huffed, "Just as I thought, Akashi-kun is chiding me. I've already heard enough from the others..." she said, trailing off at the end.
Amused, Akashi let a small smirk slip onto his face. "Oh, so you were thinking about me?"
Just as they reached their respective classrooms, Kuroko stopped at the door and remained quiet for a moment or two, until she murmured a quiet, "Perhaps." Akashi chuckled as he watched her go in.
Bzzz. Bzzz, Bzz-
"Hello?"
"Oh, Tetsumi-!"
Kuroko placed her cup of tea down onto the coffee table, "Mother, is anything the matter?"
"What? No, no, of course not! I just wanted to say that you did a very good job this morning! Thanks to the pictures, and especially the recording you retrieved, we've managed to corner them."
"Oh... glad to help."
"Oh, also, I have quite a lot of work tonight so I won't be home. Don't wait for me, alright? Goodnight dear!"
"Goodnight."
A/N: That's the end of the first installment - I do hope it was interesting enough to sustain interest until the next chapter. Please also note that this was before everyone's personality change (so let's enjoy it while it lasts *sob*). The action comes up a bit later on in the story, so before that there will be some fluffy GoM scenes.
Please spare some time to review and let me know if I should continue this with the same enthusiasm I have right this moment! Thank you~ （*´▽｀*）