Chapter 1

Today was my first day back in Japan. I lived in Tokyo, Japan throughout elementary school, then I had to move to United States for middle school, and now I am back. Back in the motherland I call Japan.

I currently attend Seirin High School.

This school is just so weird.

So there's this guy in my class, his name is Tetsuya and apparently no one can see him. It's so weird, and then there's this really tall guy, he also is from America and his name is Taiga.

Frankly it's so weird, how can people not see Tetsuya? Well I guess for him, he's lucky he practically gets away with almost everything. Tetsuya sometimes sleeps in class; normally it would be a History class he is sleeping away in.

Taiga on the other hand, I have no idea how smart he is. I have seen him playing basketball, and he's a genius on the courts but in the classroom, it is almost a different story. He's actually kind of stupid, it's funny. He is always daydreaming in class, and never pays attention. He is also from America like me, but he's so bad at English it's actually quite humorous.

It has already been 3 months since I transferred back to Tokyo, and to sum it up, my life has been quite a bore. My cousin left me to go to some school somewhere cold, and I have no idea how he can handle it, especially when he texts me almost everyday complaining about the cold weather. He also tells me to bring Tokyo Bananas almost everyday, that part is irritating.

Today was a normal day, I was walking back home from school and I pass the courts to see a couple of kids playing. I can't help myself but stop and watch them. I see one of them struggling to shoot, so I feel compelled to help them. I walk over towards the courts and see that the one who could not shoot is crying.

"Hey there, don't cry if you can't get it in." I walk over and bend down patting his head. He looks up at me with teary eyes and I smile at him. "I'm not too good, but let me try to help you."

"But you're a girl! A girl can't shoot!" His friend teases me holding the ball in his arm. I assume this is the friend that made the kid cry.

"You shouldn't put down others." I take the ball out of the kids hands. I feel the ball, figuring it's a kid size. I walk to the 3-point line. I do a back-spin pass to myself, squaring my shoulders to the basket and shoot the ball. The ball rolls off my fingertips and into a high arch, making a swoosh sound into the basket.

The kid was teasing me, I see his jaw drop in shock and the kid who was crying suddenly brightens up.

"Teach me! Teach me how to shoot! I'm Hiro!" the kid who was crying runs up to me. I nod and help both kids with their shooting skills. Hiro's shooting form was not bad at all, in fact it was pretty much perfect, he just needed to learn how to aim. Goro, the kid with a big ego was actually pretty decent at basketball, I just helped him with his teamwork.

The sun was setting when they needed to go home. Hiro and Goro were apparently twins. They thanked me and told me to come visit them so I could help them again some other day. I bid the twins goodbye and walk home.

As I am about to leave the courts through the gates, I pause and I see Tetsuya about to hit me. I move to the side but I still hit him.

"Sorry I hit you," I bow and I see Tetsuya look at up, apologizing back before his eyes are widened at the sight of me.

"You're in my class right?" he asks and I nod and he folds his arms in front of him. "Have you always been aware of my presence? You have always seemed to avoid bumping into me."

"Well, yeah, I've noticed you." I state and my mind I answer 'because you're cute', "And you always seem to avoid hitting people when you're scrambling to class because you're late, so I try to get out of your way."

He nods and looks at the street before looking back at me. "Do you play basketball?" he asks and I respond with a shrug.

"I'm no all-star WNBA player, but I'm decent I guess." I laugh and he walks further in, taking my wrist and pulling me in.

"Is it okay if we scrimmage? Just one on one." He asks and I raise my eyebrow in return.

"Do I get anything in return?" I ask and he looks at me before he contemplates something.

"If you win, I buy you dinner." He states and I fold my arms in front of my chest.

"And, so what do you want from me if you win?" I ask. There has got to be some sort of catch to him wanting to challenge me.

"Ah! I've seen you at all the Inter-High matches so far, you're in my class, and you've always seen me, even today. Seeing your skills today, you seem good." he explains and my eyes widen.

Wow, someone actually noticed that I was actually there at the Inter-High matches. I thought it was being discreet about it. I showed up by myself, watched the games by myself and left with the crowd.

"Fine, a quick game, first to five then." I state cracking my head side to side and stretching my arms and legs a bit. "But first let me change; wearing a skirt and playing doesn't normally work." I tell him and run to the bathroom near the courts and change into my long black Adidas running pants.

"Wow, you look ready to play." Tetsuya admits and I shrug my shoulders a bit giving him a confident smirk.

"Let's have fun, no hard feelings." I state and he checks the ball with me.

We play for a bit, and wow, I did not realize Tetsuya was kind of bad at basketball. I easily score five points, mostly from my drives and my three-pointers. We finish our match with a handshake and he looks up at smiles at me.

"You're really good." He compliments me, "Your ball handling skills are amazing." he keeps complimenting me and I feel myself getting shy.

"Thanks, but I'm not as good as my cousin." I try to direct the attention away from myself. I hate getting attention. "He's a giant! He's like over 200 cm (6"10') and oh my gosh! He's an amazing center." I state and he looks at me, tilting his head.

"Who's your cousin? Does he play high school ball?" Tetsuya asks and I nod enthusiastically. Whenever I could talk or boast about my cousin made me happy. He was so amazing.

"At least, I think he plays, I'm not too sure. He doesn't go to school in Tokyo anymore, so I wouldn't know." I shrug and we continue our walk. Tetsuya told me he would buy me burgers at Maji Burger, and I was completely fine with that.

We talk about a lot of things, but it is mostly I talking, and Kuroko making a couple of comments here and there. Tetsuya is type of person to talk when necessary. We talk about the Inter-High Tournament that happened recently and that's when I can see his passion for basketball. I see his eyes light up as he talks about what happened during the tournament.

"Today was fun Tetsuya, thanks for paying today." We leave Maji Burger and currently are walking home.

"You should stop by the gym when we have practice." Tetsuya tells me and I shrug, gripping onto my bag. "I think Riko would like to have someone help her." Tetsuya comments and I look at him like he grew another head.

"Thanks, but no thanks. Riko kind of scares me to be honest." I admit and I hear Tetsuya laugh before he tries to disappear on me again. I grab onto his school jacket and he sends me a frown. He has been trying to disappear all night, then trying to scare me, and he has not been successful. I

"Well I leave here, I'll see you tomorrow at school." Tetsuya waves goodbye and walks left at the fork, and I have to walk right.

"See you tomorrow!" I wave goodbye to Tetsuya before walking home.

First chapter~! Introduction to the Protagonist.

1,510 words