Hello there! This is actually my first fic in this fandom and I hope it turns out great! Please enjoy! :D

Chapter 1

"I think I caught a cold."

"Hn… don't let it pull you down."

Sky blue eyes snapped open before darting around the room automatically. Kuroko blinked a couple of times before sighing silently. He buried his face against the warm blankets that he had cocooned himself into.

"Ksh!" He tried to stifle the sneeze that unexpectedly came.

He suddenly didn't feel so good.

He sighed once more. It was no secret of how Kuroko's physical state was the weakest of all the team and how Riko had pointed out how he was nearing his limit. But it didn't matter to Kuroko, as long as he did his duty and played the sport he loved. In a way he was still an athlete.

He was still strong.

He was able to prove this to his former teammates by beating them with skills alone. Though he knew that soon, he would have to face the downside of not actually meeting the required state a strong player should have.

A memory of his graduating year in Teiko flashes in his mind. He remembered being inside the classroom leaning against his desk feeling a little off and cold. And it was also the winter season at that time—

"Aksh!" Kuroko almost couldn't stop the next sneeze.

He felt a little warm and cold at that moment, and was pretty sure he was coming down with something.

Suddenly, his stomach groaned and he knew that wasn't from hunger. He remembered yesterday, Momoi had barged in to school to deliver him an obento. Remembering her skills were just as worse as the coach's, he wanted to refuse. But Momoi was in the verge of tears and not to mention, Aomine was there to make sure he would consume everything and to not leave a single speck of rice.

Why the sudden interest Momoi had on making an obento and had to go to Seirin just to deliver it—Kuroko did not know, nor could he find himself caring for said reason… because right at the moment he needed the bathroom.

He almost didn't make it to the toilet when he practically emptied his stomach.

The sneezing was bad enough, now he had to deal with possible food-poisoning?

Seriously, two sicknesses in one day? Kuroko had a new record. He was now pretty certain that the sneezing was a sign of the usual cold he always gets during cold winter seasons like this. Not all the time though… just most of it.

And as for the food-poisoning… obviously Momoi had one of coach's dreaded skills—delayed poisoning. Kuroko shivered at the random thought of those two cooking a meal together. He tentatively wiped his mouth and flushed the toilet.

Maybe he should excuse himself…

"If you want to be strong, you have to learn to set your weaknesses aside."

…aside from practice he really had that important quiz today too. He doubt he could excuse himself with an excuse letter, not without a guardian to sign it (living alone and all).

And the teacher who was going to give the exam was one of those 'merciless' kind—the ones who never give a second chance for special exams unless there's a real emergency. Kuroko sighed as he immediately knew what he was supposed to do. He stood up and started filling the tub with warm water.

A nice hot bath might make things better.

He'll be able to pull it off somehow. He was strong after all.

The bell was ringing as he arrived. Though Kuroko's face was blank as ever, he inwardly winced. He just missed morning practice… Riko would surely chew his head off.

He made his way to his classroom and entered. No one noticed him (as usual) and quickly sat on his desk. He could feel his stomach ache and he automatically clutched it. He was actually relieved that the possible food poisoning may not be as serious as he thought, coz if it was—he would've been writhing on his desk in pain and would be throwing up on the toilet every second.

He let out a soft exhale as the pain subsided for a second.

He heard the classroom door open and saw a familiar red-head enter. A few of his classmates greeted him, and Kagami politely greeted them back.

Seemed like Kagami was getting better with all those practices of polite speaking.

As expected, Kagami didn't even look his way as he sat in front of him. Either it was because of his usual lack of presence or it had something to do with Kagami's spaced-out look… he seemed like he was worrying about something.

Kuroko was about to open his mouth to greet him and enjoy the surprise look the other might make, but was beaten by a sneeze.

"Aksh!"

Though this wasn't what he planned for, he still enjoyed how Kagami practically fell over his chair in surprise with a pathetic scream. Kuroko mentally gives him a 10.

Amidst the snickers of the others, Kuroko asked, "Are you okay, Kagami-kun?"

"K-Kuroko!" Kagami was immediately on his feet. And Kuroko was momentarily surprised when he saw the concern on his light's face. Usually, he would look pissed, "Where have you been? You didn't attend morning practice and coach was worried sick-" –seems like she wasn't the only one who was worried- "-you weren't answering our texts too."

Kuroko blinked, "Ah…" He was speechless for a moment, "Sumimasen… I got up late."

Should he tell him that he wasn't feeling well too?

"Hn… don't let it pull you down."

"And my phone was on silent." He wasn't feeling that sick anymore. He still felt a little warm and his stomach had this continuous ache, but other than that, he felt fine.

Kagami sagged in obvious relief and Kuroko couldn't stop the small smile, "Sorry for worrying you."

"What?!" Kagami went bright red, "Who said I was worried?"

"You're worse than Midorima-kun…"

"What was that?!"

"Ahem."

The two turned to the teacher beside them. Said teacher looked ready to explode.

"Classes are already starting and I suggest you to be quiet Kagami Taiga!"

Kuroko blinked as he realized he wasn't mentioned, "Ano… sensei…"

The teacher paused and snapped his head towards his direction, "Eh? How long have you been there?"

"Seriously, your invisibility still surprises me." Kuroko looked at Kagami, who was busy stuffing his notes in his bag, "Isn't it a little dangerous too? I mean, what if you had to cross a road and drivers don't see you?"

"Hm…" Kuroko stared, "…it has happened before."

"WHAT?!" Kagami twisted around with wide, round eyes, "But I get away all the time—aksh!" Kuroko covered his mouth, "Ah, sumimasen." Came his muffled apology.

Once again the worried look was back on Kagami's face, "Hey, you sure you're okay? You've been sneezing lately."

"Hai." Kuroko replied, "My nose just itched."

Kagami looked at him doubtfully, while his face remained neutral.

"Lunch time will end soon." Kuroko reminded and quickly his friend was on his feet.

"That's right! We better hurry or we'd get caught up by the lunch rush!" Kagami was instantly by the door and Kuroko quickly catches up to him.

KnB

"Hey look! It's Kuroko!" The freshmen duo turned to see their two seniors, Hyuga and Izuki.

"Konnichiwa." Kuroko bowed politely. Kagami tried to greet as well, however his mouth was stuffed with melon bread.

"Where were you this morning?" Izuki asked, looking just as concerned as Kagami was earlier, "Riko had been worried sick. You never missed morning practice."

Kuroko took a bite of his sandwich, "Sumimasen, I woke up late today."

"Oi Kuroko, Riko will kill you if she hears you say that."Hyuga shook his head disapprovingly.

"Sumima-ksh!"

Both seniors jumped in surprise while Kagami swallowed whatever he was chewing, "Kuroko, are you sure that's normal? You've been sneezing a lot."

"It is."

"Don't put it so bluntly like that!"

Izuki looked worried, "Are you coming down with something?"

"I'm fine." Kuroko replied bluntly, "My nose just itched."

Hyuga and Izuki exchanged uncertain looks, "If you say so."

"For a moment there Riko thought you got sick from eating that bento your girlfriend made you."

"Momoi-san isn't my girlfriend." Kuroko reminded.

"That can't be. The bento looked fine to me." Kagami commented, "Coach is just probably jealous of her cooking.

"The egg roll… rolled." Izuke spoke.

"Pfft- how lame!" Hyuga sputtered.

Kuroko was about to take another bite from his sandwich, when his stomach suddenly did a horrible lurch. The light-haired teen dropped his food in a nearby bin and quickly rushed to the direction of the bathroom. He was relieved to hear the laughs of the others as it was an obvious sign that they didn't notice him disappear.

He couldn't be more thankful of his lack of presence.

The sound of the bell ringing interrupted the conversation of Kagami and the two seniors.

"Ah, we should get going." Hyuga then said, "We'll go tell Riko that Kuroko's fine."

"Tell her to go easy on him though. He seems—" Kagami paused as he realized his partner wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Arre? Where's Kuroko?" Izuki seemed to have noticed this as well.

"He must've went ahead." Hyuga guessed, "We should get going."

"Ah, see you later in practice." Kagami said as he watched his two teammates leave. As he was about to head his way back to his own classroom, he halted as his attention was caught by a nearby trash bin. His eyes widened as he saw a familiar sandwich inside it. His split eyebrows crinkled while he frowned deeply at the ominous feeling that settled in his guts.

KnB

Kuroko flushed the toilet while wiping his mouth. Sweat trickled down the side of his face as he panted. He staggered slightly as he left the stall and made his way to the faucet. He splashed some cold water on his fevered face and tried to slap his cheeks to bring back some color on his already pale look.

He licked his dry lips and he couldn't help but wish for a bottle of cold water right at that moment. But he was honestly concerned of the thought of him throwing up the liquid if he did drink some.

He sneezed once more and he tried to stifle a groan at the headache that resulted from it.

"If you're sick, suck it up…"

The bell rang and Kuroko straightened up. He wasted no time wiping his wet face with the tissue paper nearby and quickly rushed out the bathroom.

On his way to his classroom he meets up with Kiyoshi and Mitobe.

"Ah Kuroko!" Kiyoshi beamed, but Kuroko immediately noticed the sudden seriousness that flashed in his eyes and the frown that appeared on Mitobe's face.

"Sumimasen sempai." He paused to bow politely, and to keep them from looking at his face, "…but I have to hurry."

"O-oi." Kiyoshi turned to call his kouhai back but Kuroko was gone.

-Classroom-

The phantom player sighed in relief as he noticed that the teacher hasn't arrived yet. The next class, after all, was the important quiz they had to take.

He sits on his chair and took out his notes for some last minute studying. He heard the classroom door sliding open and looked up, expecting to see the teacher, only to see Kagami panting in exhaustion.

Unlike earlier this morning, Kagami immediately noticed him and practically stormed his way towards him.

"KU-RO-KO."

"Ah, Kagami-kun, you made it."

"Don't give me that crap! I looked all over for you! You could've at least told me where you went!"

"Last I checked, we weren't in a relationship." Kuroko smiled a little as his partner sputtered, "Sh-shut up! Ugh! Screw you!"

Kagami promptly collapsed on his seat, and Kuroko felt a bit guilty seeing his partner tired. However, before he could open his mouth to make amends, the teacher had entered, carrying a stack of papers in one arm.

"Alright, settle down." The teacher puts the papers on his desk, "Put away your notes and take out your pens."

There were some shuffling sounds as everyone did as they were told. Kuroko suddenly noticed Kagami looking stiff.

"Kagami-kun?"

Kagami slowly turned to him, looking sweaty, "There's a test?"

Kuroko blinked a couple of times before nodding.

KnB

The shadow couldn't help but stare at Kagami who kept ruffling his hair; struggling to find the answers. He felt a little sorry that his light was having a hard time and wanted to share his own answers to him to apologize for earlier but stiffened as he felt the familiar lurch in his stomach.

Meanwhile, Kagami tried to hold back a groan as he looked through the paper filled with unfamiliar questions. He remembered this being part of the notes he had copied from Kuroko. The thought of his shadow suddenly made a vein pop.

If only he didn't decide to look for that brat just because he saw his sandwich in a bin—then maybe he could've saved some time and crammed a bit.

He unconsciously turned around to glare at Kuroko, but his eyes widened to find Kuroko… gone.

He couldn't have gone invisible! That was impossible—he was sure he was there earlier!

"Oi! Kagami!" The teacher approached him with a glare, "No cheating!"

Kagami turned to him, "What?! I wasn't cheating-ow!"

The teacher had hit him with a paper fan, "What gives?! There's no one—" Before he could even finish his sentence, he was immediately stunned to see Kuroko on his seat, looking at him questioningly. He was sure he wasn't there earlier.

"Answering back to your teacher?" The adult took Kagami's test paper and left, "That'll teach you."

Kagami just stared at the teacher with his jaw slacked. Finally he collapsed back on his chair and slumped, feeling pissed.

"Kagami-kun…?"

"Urusai!"

…very pissed.

TBC...

What do you think? Please Review! ^^

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