Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Kuroko no Basuke franchise and I never will.
A/N: I should be typing up the next chapter for Hold Me Close but I'm stuck nor can I word things the way I want it to sound so that will take a while unfortunately.
This oneshot was inspired from Chapter 214 and 215 and my thoughts of what could have happened. This is pretty much an AU with an intermission between it all with Kuro-chan meeting Ogiwara after his defeat against Aomine at the preliminaries before the Inter High, set several days (maybe a week) after the match.
This is also a dedication and my thanks to Infinite Skye, Cherry0120, Rasielis, Mademoiselle Z, and others who have helped me with a similar problem Kuro-chan is facing and so I wrote this as my thanks for them. They are all a part of the KnB Author's Forum which is an amazing forum here of that we help each other with our stories and let out our ideas for chapters, oneshots, and longer storylines as well as give feedback to each other and discuss other random stuff!
I hope you enjoy!
Have you ever felt like your efforts were done in vain? Have you ever felt like giving up after failing once? What was it like? How did you react to that failure? Did you feel like you were no longer of importance after that event? Have you ever seen someone feeling this way?
One particular person of little presence to the world had felt that way. This particular person had seen this happen to others.
He took a step forward in the summer night, facing the warm breeze that gently brushed across his face. The moonlight softly shone across a part of his face, a face heavily covered by the shadow of his light blue bangs.
Kuroko Tetsuya, known as the phantom sixth man of the Generation of Miracles - the group of basketball players during their junior high year known for their unfathomable winning streak and formidable skills – had faced a defeat that broke him down, a defeat that had pushed him into realization and disappointment in himself.
It was several days after the match against the ace player of the Generation of Miracles, the teen named Aomine Daiki. Kuroko felt crushed after his obvious loss against his former teammate, and even more so when he could not fulfill his promise of defeating him with his ex-manager and childhood friend of Aomine, Momoi Satsuki.
This hubris had inhibited his skills for the next few matches that had led him and his team to not participate in the Inter High, the national championship for the high school teams across the country of Japan.
His mind fogged by the defeat and uncertainty of his ability, Kuroko walked mindlessly in the city of Tokyo eventually coming across a park with two basketball courts next to each other surrounded by a wired fence to prevent the ball from rolling into the parking lot and possibly causing any accidents. It was a familiar park but he barely noticed.
Kuroko walked to one side of the basketball court and sat on a bench, his head down and his hands folded together with his forearms on top of his legs.
The night was calm and quiet, the kind of environment he needed to try and recollect his jumbled thoughts. Soon the clouds moved covering the moon and darkening the night even more, making it difficult to see. The only lights that could be seen at this point were several streetlights that lined up along the streets though a good handful of them had burned out light bulbs making some places darker than others. There were rarely any stars in the sky of Tokyo due to the city lights that illuminated the many towering buildings so the traces of sparkling dots of light in the sky were not seen.
In the distance, Kuroko could hear the distant echoes of car engines rumbling and some honking along with the faint sound of music and chatter of people. It wasn't too long until he had blocked all of these sounds out though and his awareness of his surroundings dwindling down as he began to get lost in thought. It was during this time that he did not notice a pair of feet slowly walking toward him.
The feet were hesitant at first to approach the powdered blue haired teen but to see him disheartened and broken was concerning. The owner of the feet was even more hesitant when he noticed that Kuroko was sitting in the one place the owner of the feet had not entered in several years. Even so, knowing the person in front of him to look as if he were about to give give up seemed almost surreal.
The mysterious person approached Kuroko and stood beside him, wondering if he was noticed at all. His questioning thoughts were answered when the smaller teen before him slightly lifted his head as a shadow came over him, the moon glowing in the sky once more as the purplish-blue, dark clouds drifted away.
Kuroko turned his head and looked up, his eyes widening as he saw the person before him.
"Ogiwara-kun…" Kuroko murmured in surprise. He stood up and bowed his head to the said teen, greeting him. "It has been a while," he said monotonously.
Ogiwara Shigehiro, Kuroko's childhood friend, nodded in acknowledgement however deep inside, he felt somewhat dejected that Kuroko was not very expressive. He remembered during their grade school days that he would smile, show confusion, clearly expressing his anger, furrowing his eyebrows in irritation, and many other emotions rather than look at others with blank, round eyes and not convey his feelings outwardly.
Still, despite the impassive look on his face, Ogiwara could sense the dark aura around the so-called "phantom".
"It has been a while, hasn't it Kuroko? How have you been doing these past few years?" the taller teen asked while forcing a smile.
"I am doing fine… What are you doing out this late, Ogiwara-kun?" Kuroko asked. The blue haired teen opened his mouth once more but then closed it, saying nothing, deciding that he didn't want to say what he had wanted to say at that moment.
"I'm just taking a walk. It's been too stuffy inside the house with the heat and all that I figured that taking a late night walk wouldn't be too bad. It's not like I'm going anywhere and doing something illegal, right?" Ogiwara chuckled lightly at his ideas.
"I see. Ano… Ogiwara-kun, you have something on your face. I can't see it very well since we are in the dark," Kuroko explained. A single sweatdropped appeared on his face as he stared slightly worried at the speck of food clinging onto his friends face.
"Eh? Which side of my face is it on, Kuroko?" Ogiwara asked.
"If it is my right side then it is your left, Ogiwara-kun," Kuroko answered.
"Haha, thanks." Ogiwara smiled sheepishly and wiped his face with the back of his hand, getting rid of whatever was on his face. "That must have been from dinner. I had a meatball sub. It was my first time eating it and it wasn't half bad. You should try it someday, Kuroko," Ogiwara suggested.
"I shall consider it, Ogiwara-kun. It seems that you have not changed that much at all either. I'm not very fond of such sandwiches though. That reminds me though, why did Ogiwara-kun approach me?"
"Can't I? Besides, you looked pretty gloomy earlier as well. It isn't like you to look completely depressed like that at all," Ogiwara explicated.
"Is that so…" Kuroko vacillated, not knowing how to explain the predicament he was in. Ogiwara ruffled Kuroko's hair who stared at him with slight annoyance but then stared stiffly as he saw the sad smiled upon Ogiwara's face.
"I'm pretty sure I know why too. A few days ago, some of my former teammates invited me to watch them play at the preliminaries for the Inter High. I was hesitant but I agreed to go. I had arrived an hour and a half early just to see them get ready but when I arrived, I saw you were playing against one of your old teammates too, right?" Kuroko didn't answer but rather, looked down at his feet for being reminded of the match.
Ogiwara continued on with his prediction of why Kuroko was dispirited after a minute of silence between them. "He really has gotten stronger that it's terrifying. He even managed to block a lot of your passes too. You said you were fine earlier but I'm pretty sure you're quite the opposite, right Kuroko?"
His question was answered by silence once more. Ogiwara took a seat on the bench and he looked up at the night sky above him. It was dark with only the moon and clouds hovering above them, as if looking down and pitying the two below.
"It was difficult to face this problem. It seems that I, myself am not strong enough yet to face all of the Generation of Miracles. It is bad enough that I feel this way after going against only one of them, him being my former light, Aomine-kun," Kuroko explained suddenly after the short yet long silence. It had somewhat made Ogiwara jump from surprise.
"What do you think I should do?" Kuroko asked which also surprised Ogiwara once more. He did not expect to be asked for advice even after about two years of not talking to each other. "Ogiwara-kun was the one who had quit basketball because of us yet somehow still faced it even if you hate it."
"I don't know about that, Kuroko. I'm still pretty down from that match… I don't even know why your still asking me for advice even after all these years."
"Is it really that strange that I ask you for advice?" Kuroko asked, tilting his head to the side.
"Well, to me it is. Besides, how do you know if I still have good judgment like you kept on claiming that I had back then?"
"If that is the case then I guess you can say that old habits die hard, Ogiwara-kun. I still consider you an important person and I still believe that you are a very dependable person in these types of situations hence why I am still asking you for advice now. I have always asked you for advice as well," Kuroko explained while looking in front of him instead of Ogiwara.
Ogiwara looked at the direction Kuroko was and questioned to himself why they were looking in front of them but brushed the inquiry away with the more important matter at hand. However he smiled, to himself, somewhat happy that he was still considered an important person in the shorter teen's life.
"I guess I'll just have to answer your question to the best of my ability since you put it that way." Ogiwara paused, thinking of how and what Kuroko should do with his problem. Kuroko waited patiently for an answer as he looked at the basketball court in front of him, finally realizing where he was.
"This was the basketball court that we used to play in when we were in elementary school," Kuroko said aloud. Ogiwara gave a low hum in agreement.
"Did you realize that now?" he asked.
Kuroko nodded. "My feet just took me here while I was lost in my thoughts. How strange…"
"That is a bit weird. Anyway, I'm pretty sure your team members by now had their say with what you should think and do. I think I can think of something solid if you tell me something from your teammates. Is that okay with you?" Ogiwara asked. He watched a street light flickered then went out signaling that another light bulb had burned out.
The wind moaned softly swaying the branches and leaves of nearby trees while Kuroko was recollecting his memories of his teammates of Seirin who had given him advice in one way or another.
"Rather than them telling me anything, it is more like they have showed me things that are trying to make me realize what is going on. Kagami-kun had told me in one of our practices that we should not depend on each other and that we should play with our own basketball rather than combining it to create one or at least that was what he was implying."
"Hm, you mean that redhead with the weird eyebrows?"
"Yes, that is Kagami-kun. He's a bit more hot headed but he reminds me a lot of you and Aomine-kun back before that happened."
"You're comparing me with someone again that I don't even know. What's weirder is that you find someone within each milestone of your life that is similar to each other. Forget that, we're getting distracted again. Who else is making you realize these things?" Kuroko chuckled lightly causing Ogiwara to raise his eyebrows in confusion.
"Do not mind me, Ogiwara-kun. It is just that right now, I feel like we are back in elementary school. Answering your question, there is Kiyoshi-senpai. During a practice match, he had allowed the freshmen to all play and it seems that they do not need me at all. I did not pass much nor did I have to steal from others as much as the usual. I feel as if my existence is not needed at all with the team…"
Ogiwara whistled in the way as if amazed or just slightly impressed. "That's gotta hurt but I guess they have some sort of point. It depends on you though if you want to change the way you play and if you can believe in yourself to do it. Actually, don't you think you can do both? I mean play together as a team and individually."
"I am not entirely sure if that is possible, Ogiwara-kun. You do know that I have a limit," Kuroko retorted.
"You say that but don't you think you can do more than what you can already do? You sent letters to me and a bunch of text messages back then when you said were in the third string and at one point you told me that you couldn't continue because you didn't have the talent or the abilities to do it. Think about it. You said that but then you found your resolved and found your own style of playing. Don't tell me that you can't do that again, Kuroko."
Again, another silence was set between them. Kuroko lowered his head and was put into deep thought of what Ogiwara said.
"Even if you say that…" Kuroko mumbled though it was meant more for himself.
Ogiwara frowned slightly but then gave a pained smile. He began to laugh but it was cold and humorless. "Ah, what am I saying? I give all this advice as if I still like basketball a lot. I'm pretty sure I gave it up that day as well."
Kuroko smiled but it was unseen by Ogiwara. "I do not believe that you have completely given up, have you?"
There was silence. Ogiwara looked up at the sky, thinking of an answer. "To be honest, I don't really know anymore. Still, the fact that I might still get crushed by the Generation of Miracles, even if only one of them, isn't something I like to go through again. "
"I see..."
Once more did the still night settle between them. Finally tired and not liking where the conversation was heading, Ogiwara stood up placing his hands in his pockets.
"It looks like I can't really help you out with this, Kuroko. It just brings back too much. I really want to help you out but to face those that I feel I should never face again still haunts me. If it's you though, I'm sure you'll find a way, Kuroko. I hope to see you again soon but on a much different occasion than this."
Ogiwara began walking away, leaving Kuroko to sit on the bench without any signs of really wanting to hear a 'client's or a 'see you later'. Before Kuroko knew it, Ogiwara had disappeared into the dark of the night without any traces of his location.
"It seems that in the end, I still do not know how to deal with this nor you, Ogiwara-kun," Kuroko whispered darkly, sitting there alone for hours more throughout the night, still trying to figure things out.
However by morning, he felt a part of him lightened realizing that he still might have a chance. He just needed to think about once the team was on their way for their summer training grounds.
A/N: So I found this sitting in the document manager of my account three-quarters way finished. I was going to finish this a long time ago but I guess I forgot...
Anyway, I want to thank the authors that I have mentioned in the beginning author's notes again for helping me.
I am on my way to finish my next chapter for Hold Me Close soon so please be patient my dear readers and thank you for reading this one shot.
Pease drop a review below (I'd like some criticism if possible!), fav and/or follow! Thank you so much for reading!