Disclaimer:I do not own Kuroko no Basuke.
The Haze of Our Hearts
'There's no need to change the past. Because of the past we are who we are now. Every second, every action from then is linked to us here and now. '
-Gray Fullbuster,
Fairy Tail
The bright rays of the setting sun, lit up the sky in a beautiful red haze. The lonely swish as the ball fell through the worn out hoop, the dribbling sound as it settled, echoing throughout the deserted place. Ragged breathing filling the air as sweat dribbled down onto the concrete court.
Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he bent down to pick up the basketball again. His dark gaze drifted up to the fiery sky, reminding him of a fiery idiot. Smiling slightly, he looked back down to the ball, as he bounced it back and forth.
A shadow fell across his somewhat tall stature, he didn't have to turn around to know who it was. "Muro-chin~ What are you thinking about?"
The swish of the net sounded, as Tatsuya Himuro made another shot. "It's nothing you need to worry about." He stated, his eyes following the settling of the ball.
"Hmm..." Atsushi Murasakibara licked his lollipop, not saying another word. The sky around them grew darker, like the dark was devouring the red until there was nothing left, something he wished he could do.
"Muro-chin~...I'm hungry..." Himuro looked back at Murasakibara to see all his snacks were now gone.
Realizing just how spaced out he was, Himuro slightly smiled to the purple giant. "Sorry...I'm sorta of hungry too...I guess." The night sky was now out with only a few stars blinking and the crescent moon shining down. A few lights flickered on and lit up part of the outside basketball court. Himuro shot one last basket before following the giant toward a eating place.
"Welcome!" A voice from one of the workers called out as they entered. The two Yosen players looked up at the menu stretched out across the upper wall.
"Two burgers for me and my friend." Himuro said to the lady at the cash register. She nodded and input some numbers before telling him how much it cost. He gave her some money and picked up their food. Sitting down at a table, Himuro noticed they were getting a lot of stares cause of Murasakibara's height. He sighed. 'Why can't people mind their own business?'
"Good evening." A voice suddenly said next to him. Himuro looked across at Murasakibara, surprised that he would actually say something that polite. Noticing Murasakibara was focused on his hamburger and shake, Himuro looked to see a very not noticeable person sitting next to him.
If Himuro wasn't such a logical type person he would have screamed out loud, like a certain red head he knows. "Good evening to you too." He said back, slightly surprised at such a low presence this person had. "Sorry, did we take someone's spot?"
He shook his head. "No, nobody is sitting here. It's fine." He then continued to drink his vanilla shake. Himuro thought he looked really familiar.
"Ah~ Kuro-chin~ What are you doing here?" Murasakibara asked.
Kuroko held up his shake. "This place makes great vanilla shakes."
Himuro then remembered, this was Taiga's teammate, the 6th member of the Generation of Miracles. After sitting there for a bit, eating, Himuro casually looked over at Kuroko. "So how is Taiga doing?"
"You should find that out for yourself, Himuro-kun." Kuroko answered with his unexpressed face and voice. Turning back to his burger, Himuro always wondered if not showing his expressions was just a act, Kuroko was a little bit of a trickster when it came to planning things.
"Oi, Kuroko!" A rough angry voice called out suddenly. The table looked up at him with different expressions, Himuro was surprised, Murasakibara couldn't care less as he turned back to his food, and Kuroko still drink his shake, looking up at the person with the same non expressive eyes.
"Good evening, Kagami-kun." Kuroko greeted after a while.
Kagami seemed to grow angry. "That's what you say after leaving me with this idiot!" He pointed to another person behind him.
"Oi! You're the idiot!"
"...Mine-chin~." Murasakibara greeted.
"Aomine-kun, please go home."
"Tetsu...I'm definitely not leaving you with this idiot."
"Oi!"
"I'll be fine, Aomine-kun. Besides you lose track of me too."
As the conservation went on, Himuro felt a little left out, not by how he didn't know them that well but, that he would never be anywhere where the Generation of Miracles are. And that was something that he somewhat hated about Taiga, how come the younger brother got all the fame? People say that Taiga Kagami is one of the Generation of Miracles that took another path. And all that they say about Tatsuya Himuro is that he is talented, but nowhere close to them.
Himuro looked back to the two 'idiots' to see they were still arguing with the 'shadow'. He smiled when he saw that, despite knowing that Taiga is better then him, he still liked to see that Taiga was still the idiot younger brother that he knew and loved so much.
Getting up from his seat, without saying a word, he proceeded towards the door. Murasakibara said goodbye to Kuroko and followed him without the other two 'idiots' knowing. "Muro-chin~ Where are you going now?"
Himuro stopped outside the restaurant and looked up at the purple giant, smiling slightly. "I'm just going to take a walk for a while. I'll see you tomorrow, Atsushi."
"Hm~ See you tomorrow then, Muro-chin~." Murasakibara said, before walking off.
He waved bye to him and then turned to walk in the opposite direction. Unconsciously, Himuro started to fiddle with the ring that was on the chain around his neck. Even if he said that he would throw it away whether he won or lost, throwing away his entire brotherhood with Taiga, he just couldn't do it. He realized now that the ring held no meaning, it was after all was just a material possession, but something he couldn't throw away was his memories of him and Taiga playing basketball together in America.
Himuro knew that Taiga would never let go of those memories either, after all Himuro was his first friend and the one who had introduced basketball to him. He knew the reason for the bet in the first place was just because he was jealous of Taiga, jealous of his talent and raw jumping power, while Himuro is only good at tricking his opponents with slight movements.
"Himuro-kun." He looked back to see Kuroko right behind him, holding a basketball. "Do you want to play one-on-one?"
"...Sure." Himuro didn't know Kuroko that well, but he did need to get his mind off things.
On a nearby basketball court, the dribbling sound of the basketball against the concentrate echoed throughout the night. Again the ball drifted through the air and into the worn out basket with a swish. Himuro turned from the basket to a already worn out Kuroko.
"You're like a completely different person when your on the court." Himuro stated, shooting another basket. "By yourself your pretty much like a non athletic person."
Kuroko picked up the basketball. "Yes...I'm a shadow after all, the darker the shadow, the stronger the light becomes."
"Taiga is your light...huh.."
Kuroko started to dribble the ball. "Do you know what a mist is made up of, Himuro-kun?"
Himuro watched him curiously. "When hot air and cold air mix it makes a fog. What of it?"
"Kagami-kun's and your personality fit but, don't exactly fit like a puzzle. Kagami-kun is very passionate about basketball, his love for the sport is like a flame that keeps growing bigger and bigger. But for you Himuro-kun, you also love Basketball but, your logical thinking sometimes gets in the way and you become somewhat like ice, wanting nothing more then fame, then to spend time with your brother. When you two are together it's almost like I see a haze, Kagami-kun's passion and your logic mix together and it doesn't often go well."
Kuroko passed the ball over to Himuro. As he gazed at the expressionless shadow, he understood what he was saying. Their relationship as brothers is now uncertain, like a haze in the morning air. You never know what you'll come across, until it's right in front of your eyes.
"When Aomine-kun was my light, our partnership was like a haze too. We were only compatible when it came to basketball. And soon the light outshine the shadow, not needing one anymore. But a light is needed for a shadow to exist. Just like a haze needs hot and cold to mix." Kuroko said.
Himuro realized what he need to do now. Saying goodbye and thanks to Kuroko, Himuro set out to look for his fiery younger brother. Knowing that what Kuroko was saying is that, 'you never know what you have till it's gone. So make the most of now, while you still can.'
"Taiga..." Himuro said, spotting the red head in front of him.
"Tatsuya...I..." Kagami started.
He knew why he was hesitating, the last time they had saw each other, was when Seirin had beaten Yosen, ending the bet they had made, or at least he had made. Himuro remembers Taiga coming after him, after the game ended. Of course at that time they had other problems occurring, so they had no time to talk about it. Taiga still probably thought that he wanted to end their relationship as brothers.
Himuro gave Taiga a genuine smile. "It's nice to see you again, little brother."
Taiga seemed to be slightly surprised, before grinning. "You too."
After all it was common knowledge that brothers would fight sometimes. Even if he was jealous of his overall talent, they are a haze, compatible and incompatible.
A/N:I hoped you enjoyed! Sorry to all the people following me (If you are reading this) that I haven't updated any of my stories in a long time. I'll hopefully be updating soon, if I get all my school stuff straightened out. Anyway...I'm sorry if some of the explanation was off, I'm not good at explaining stuff. Also if any of the characters is too OOC, sorry. I do really like Himuro's character, even if you don't get to see much of him, he is a pretty interesting character. I did always want to write something about Himuro's and Taiga's brotherly relationship.
Anyway thanks to anyone who reviews. Have a great day! Read and Review Please!