CHAPTER 1 - PROLOUGE
Teikō Junior High School Basketball Club. A super strong school with more than 100 club members, boasting several successive championship wins. But even within that glorious history, there is still a team that can without fail be called the "strongest" - a generation of five players with talents that you would see once every ten years called the "Generation of Miracles.
A year has passed since the Miracles have entered high school, and as expected, all of them joined the basketball club and ended up facing each other. Summer Interhigh, Winter Cup, the two main events where the best of the best clashed. Nevertheless, the victor was surprisingly, not any of the teams the Generation of Miracles were in, but an outsider; one who could be said to be a "Miracle" who did not join the Miracle. With his shadow, the phantom sixth man of Teiko, his basketball team defeated the Generation of Miracles and drove that individualistic mindset out. Now in their second year, they prepare to face each other again, but with new enemies.
"Nice pass!"
School had just reopened, and as expected, the basketball club of Seirin High School had restarted their rigorous training after two weeks of break. In the late afternoon just on the first day of school, the main team were already practicing hard by themselves. Their coach, Riko Aida, stood by the side, observing their practice.
Junpei Hyuga, the shooting guard, had just received the ball from Shun Izuki, the team's point guard. He instantly took on his usual shooting form, and aimed at the hoop. Then, a looming figure jumped in front of him, completely blocking off his sight of the hoop.
Kagami Taiga, the team's power forward as well as the team's current tallest player, easily cut across the basketball's shooting path, causing Hyuga to quickly switch to a pass in mid-air back to Izuki.
Damn, he's too tall… Hyuga thought, annoyed. Kagami, whom landed, quickly darted towards Izuki, who was driving towards the hoop.
"Not so fast, Izuki-senpai!" the red haired player snapped.
"Heh, not really…" Izuki smirked, and threw the ball rather lamely to his back. Kagami's eyes widened as he noticed a blur figure behind him catch the ball. Kuroko Tetsuya raised the ball to face level, his left hand holding the underside of the ball, and right at the side, and then in one push—
Just like cannon, the ball burst forward as Kagami's irises tried to follow it, but his neck was too slow, and it easily went beyond his sight. He heard a soft thud and then the basketball fell into the hoop. Kagami grinned as he saw Kuroko lowering his hands.
"Nice one Kuroko…" the other players said.
Riko smiled. The team was definitely improving, but the main problem is, they still don't have a suitable center. Guess we'll have to depend on our juniors… she thought as she flickered through her list.
The match continued. Kagami got the ball and drove forward. Upon noticing Izuki's attempt to block him, he quickly made a natural crossover, and then instantly turned around 180 degrees whilst moving, completely blocking off Izuki in addition to his large stature, but also getting through him. Upon reaching near the hoop, he saw his senior Rinnosuke Mitobe, silent as ever, watching him in a defensive stance.
Kagami's eyes darted towards the left and he saw Shinji Koganei free.
"Koganei Senpai!" And he threw the ball at him, who caught it. "Leave it up to me!" he said confidently, and threw the ball. Sadly, the ball bounced off the hoop.
"Huh—?!" Koganei exclaimed, then quickly looked down at his feet in shame. It was common knowledge Koganei's accuracy was only so-so.
"Don't worry! I've got this!" Kagami shouted as he sprinted towards the hoop and jumped, releasing dust in a dramatic fashion. Amazingly, Kagami was taking off higher and higher, and easily caught the ball almost 10 centimeters above the hoop itself, and slammed the ball into hoop, causing it to resonate loudly throughout the gym.
Damn… that never fails to impress me… Izuki grinned, and Mitobe nodded.
Kagami Taiga was the "miracle who did not become one of the miracles". This is because the Generation of Miracles were a group of players that each had a talent in which they were exceptionally masterful at. In fact, it could be said that this group of players were easily the best in Japan due to how absurdly skilled they are. As for Kagami, his particular talent was his raw jumping power, when at his peak, he could reach over the backboard, which made him excel at a sport like basketball where height mattered, and his lower body prowess enabled him to tower over almost anybody. In fact, amongst all the basketball players, Kagami's vertical jump height is the best. This makes him an extremely formidable opponent as only a few could truly match him in the air. Many of the Generation of Miracles has complimented on Kagami's playstyle and tenacity, and others believe his potential is limitless. Truly, he is the Seirin's Ace.
On the other hand, Kuroko Tetsuya could be said to be Kagami's opposite, like a yin of his yang. He is the "shadow", a supporter, someone that does not stand out, in contrast to Kagami's "light", a prodigious ace of the team. For Kuroko, he was the phantom sixth man of the five men Teiko team, acting as a shadow amongst five lights, and he specialises in passing, enabling the basketball to reach its destination in peculiar and unorthodox ways, in ways the opponent cannot predict, and thus lead the team to victory. In addition to this, he has the rare skill of misdirection, or known as a sleight of hand used by magicians to divert one's attention to something while the user does something else. In basketball, players will often be focused on the ball, and thus by constantly passing and keeping the ball away from himself, and coupled with his already weak presence, Kuroko is, in a sense, invisible on the court. Recently, he has devised ways to direct the opponent's attention on other objects so that he could utilise skills with the opponent whilst holding the basketball. Overall, Kuroko is an invaluable member of the team that has helped Seirin out of tight spots more than once.
"Right…" Hyuga, the captain, panted. "This is the last minute; let's give it everything we got! Including you, Kagami!" he added smugly.
Kagami smirked back, and nodded. He closed his eyes for a moment.
I need to win… to fight… for them… His mind was getting clearer, yes, this was good… He was on the right track; His control of the ZONE has certainly improved as compared to last year. Though not as experienced as Aomine, he could somewhat trigger that state more willingly now…
He could see the door…
Red sparks flowed out of his eyes, the electricity flowing smoothly. Kagami's breathing steadied; the voices around him become slightly muddy, his vision becoming increasing monotone. His mind was blank, but yet paradoxically, he was also focused. Out of the corner, he could see the score, Team A vs Team B: 17 – 28. Clearly, Hyuga's three pointers and Kuroko's shooting were both too much for him at the same time, but now it's different. The air in the gym grew increasingly tense. Then –
After a minute...
"Alright! That's enough!" Riko shouted while clapping her hands. She was no doubt satisfied with today's practice, although the sight in front of her worried her slightly.
Team B, which consisted of Hyuga, Kuroko, Izuki, Mitobe, and Tsuchida, were completely exhausted, either sitting or lying on the floor drowned in sweat. Team A, on the other hand, which consisted of Kagami, Koganei, Furihata, and Kawahara (they decided to give Team B a handicap since Kagami was too strong) seemed rather shaken, though not as exhausted as Team B. The final score was unbelievably for A – B: 39 – 28.
Kagami had singlehandedly blocked off Team B's offense, and enhanced Team's offense to the point of absurdity. The red sparks disappeared as Kagami regained control of himself; he was the only one standing on the court as the others were either too tired or too shaken. Even his teammates had trouble keeping up with him. With that, he grinned to himself and looked up to the ceiling.
He wondered how the others were doing. Kuroko, at the side, simply stared at him curiously.
At this moment, the gym doors flung opened, and the new batch of freshmen came through. Riko quickly slapped her palm to her forehead. Oh damn… How am I going to have tryouts with our members like that…?
Somewhere far away, a blue haired basketball player stood in the middle of the basketball court. He was spinning the ball on his index finger, staring lazily at the hoop, and then without much effort, simply tossed the ball into the hoop. Of course, it sank in and bounced back towards him.
A long time ago, he used to use the phrase "the only one who can beat me is me". But then, that mindset was crushed when he was defeated for the first time. He truly thought he was the best, that no one could defeat him, not even his captain. But out of all the players, he certainly did not expect the new player, one with so much raw yet unrefined talent to defeat him, he whom has never lost since that day. The summer interhigh for this year is right around the corner, which meant that he would be able to face them again, and that made his blood pump with excitement.
He closed his eyes. Then, in an instant, blue electricity cackled from his pupils. He picked up the basketball and jumped, slamming it into the hoop.
Alright, I'm gonna restart my Kuroko no Basuke Summer Interhigh story now, so here's a prologue, reintroducing Seirin High! (it's quite short, i know...) Comment and review so I know what you guys think!
