-Four weeks ago-
Walking out of the school, Kuroko took out his phone and dialed a number. This was the second time he was late getting home. The phone rung for a minute or two, as someone answered, he held the phone to his ear.
"Tetsuya, you're late." The clearly female voice said with a bit of irritation in her voice. Even though her voice was soft, it was clear she wasn't very pleased.
"I know, I'm sorry." He apologized. "I had to stay after today and help clean up." A sigh was heard on the other side of the phone. Kuroko remained emotionless.
"Alright, I guess I can't get mad at you for that." She accepted. "You are coming home soon though, right?" He smiled.
"I'm on my way now." A chuckle was heard on the other side.
"Good. Dinner's almost ready, so hurry."
"Don't worry, I won't be long." He assured her. "I'm in the car, so I'm hanging up."
"Ok. Drive safe, Tetsuya. Love you."
"Love you too, bye."
"Bye." With that one last word, he ended the call. He couldn't help but smile as he started the car. He was lucky to have someone like her to care for. Lucky that she loved him just the same. As he made his way to the road, he stopped daydreaming and focused on the road. He needed to get home before she called in worry again.
About halfway home, the light turned red and he came to a stop. He groaned; now he understood why his mother constantly got angered by these stoplights. It seemed that when you really wanted to get somewhere, it turned red. They were a dilemma! He could just see them laughing at him. At everyone that they had stopped. That was what it felt like. It wasn't a good feeling, and it never would be.
When the light finally decided to turn green, he put his foot on the accelerator. It shouldn't be too long now. There weren't any more stoplights where he was heading, so he was golden. Then, a random memory of when he was in middle school crossed his mind. Needless to say, he hasn't thought of that in a while. Why'd he start thinking of it now? He started to laugh when he remembered his first game with the others. Man, he was a nervous wreck! If he remembered correctly, Aomine had compared him to a fawn learning how to walk. He remembered that all too well. Oh, the time when they beat Touou for the first time. That was a thrill for all of them. Technically, that was high school, but it was still a great memory.
All of a sudden, he heard the sound of screeching. His eyes widened as he slammed his foot on the brakes.
"Mommy," A child asked a little concerned. "What's wrong?" A woman, assuming it was the mother, turned her head with red, puffy eyes still emptying their tears. Her hand up to her mouth trying to muffle the cries.
"Honey, go back to your room." Her brittle voice said with little power. The child didn't seem to listen, as he was too worried about his mother.
"Why are you crying? Are you ok?" He asked, coming closer to the woman. She tried to shew him away; attempting to cover her face. She didn't want him to see her like this.
"Mommy's fine, just…just please, go back to your room." The way his mother was acting was starting to scare him. He had never seen her in such a frail state before; something was seriously wrong.
"Where's daddy?" He suddenly asked her. He usually got back before it was dark, but he wasn't here now. As he turned back to his mother, after looking around to see if his father had gotten in somehow (he did have a faint presence), he saw that his mother had gotten worse. Her crying and distress increased; creating confusion for the child. His mother turned to him, showing a look of pity.
"Oh, honey, you're father…he-"she was choking on her words. The words that came after sounded distorted to the child's ears. He was frozen in his spot, and a similar look to his mother's crossed his face.
"H-huh?" He inaudibly mumbled, voice starting to croak.
To think that the accident happened only four weeks ago.
Ever since he heard the news, he hadn't been going to school. His mother had let him stay home, since he was so broken, but he wished he could say the same to her. Now, she had to get a fulltime job, and he had to get a babysitter. His life had changed in a matter of minutes, and he still couldn't get the words out of his head.
His father, Kuroko Tetsuya, had gotten in a fatal car crash. From what he's heard, it wasn't his fault. In fact, there were rumors of the other driver being drunk when it happened. The fact was he died on impact, and the other guy just ended up in the hospital. He remembered he didn't believe his mother at first, thinking it was some sort of joke. To his dismay, it wasn't. He cried for hours on end and secluded himself in his room. What were you expected to do after hearing something so tragic?
The boy went from completely distraught to enraged after just a few days. He had started blaming the other driver for being so reckless, even if his mother said that blaming him wouldn't change anything. He assumed that he just needed a believable explanation to his father's death other than just an accident. After a while, he started wondering, "What if the accident never happened?" And started creating false images of what Kuroko would do if he were still there. How he would be acting if he were still there. Honestly, he wouldn't be upset over anything, his mom would still be picking him up from school, and he would still be welcoming his father home after work. When he thought about this, he just wanted to cry more.
So, now, he was staring up at the ceiling with dead eyes, lying flat on his bed. He couldn't cry anymore; it became too tiring and painful. As of now, he was just waiting for the time to pass by. How long has it been? A few minutes? Maybe. Without warning, a knock came at his door.
"Hisoka," he heard someone say from the other side. "I'm heading off to work, the babysitter will be here soon."
"Kay." He acknowledged. The mother cracked the door open and looked inside. Feeling sorry for her son, she walked in and sat on his bed.
"Things are going to get better, honey. I promise." She tried encouraging. Hisoka shifted his gaze to her, without saying a word. "You just need to give it time." What did she think he was doing? He was giving it time. "Alright, like I said, the babysitter will be here soon. Be good, use your manners. I'll be home around four."
"Kay." He said once again. With one last glance, she left the house. Hisoka's mom was right when she said the babysitter would be there soon; she came a minute or so after she left. Don't get him wrong, the babysitter was nice, but she tried too hard to get in his business. He had just met her that day, yet she was treating him like she knew everything. Perhaps that's what babysitters are supposed to do, or maybe his mother had told her about the accident. He couldn't know for sure.
To his dismay, his mom had to stay later to learn the ropes of the job, and was aiming for some extra money he thought. So, the babysitter was getting payed overtime to stay later, and make sure Hisoka got to bed and all that. However, he went to bed a lot earlier than needed to. Honestly, he wanted to wait for his mother to get home, but he didn't want to try and convince the sitter to let him stay up. But, now, he couldn't seem to get comfortable. Was he too stressed? Was he too worried? He couldn't tell if either options were correct. All he knew was that he couldn't go to sleep no matter what he did. He resulted in staring up at the ceiling once more.
"It's no use, I'm not tired." He thought to himself. What would he usually do if he couldn't go to sleep? Counting sheep doesn't work at all, he wasn't one to sing to himself either. His mother would sometimes stay with him until he did go to sleep, but she wasn't home. His dad would do the same thing, except…he wasn't here either. To the boy's surprise, he felt a trickle of water slide down his cheek. He quickly wiped the tear from his cheek and covered his head in his pillow. He couldn't be crying again, he was tired of that. Even if he thought this, it didn't keep a few more tears from coming out. At this moment in time, crying himself to sleep seemed to be the most likely option.
It had been a few minutes of Hisoka's on and off crying, when he suddenly felt a dip in his bed. Like, someone was sitting down next to him.
"Mommy must be home," He thought to himself. "I probably didn't see her come in." He snuggled into the comforter and tried to get some sleep. As he was barely keeping his eyes closed, he felt a hand on his head, and start petting him. It was comforting, soothing, almost as if it were trying to lull him to sleep. Hisoka smiled; his mom was trying to get him to sleep. He snickered; he didn't know what time it was, but it was probably way past his bed time. Strangely enough, he didn't hear his mother's voice telling him to "go to sleep" like she usually did. He didn't think much of it though, and calmly went to sleep feeling safe.
The next morning, Hisoka woke up from the sunlight beaming through his window blinds. Feeling refreshed, for the first time in weeks, he pushed himself out of bed and out the door. When he went down the stairs, he saw his mother at the table drinking coffee. She raised her head at his footsteps at her eyes widened seeing him out of the room.
"Honey," she said with surprise in her voice. "Good morning."
"Good morning." He replied approaching his mother and giving her a hug. He walked over to the fridge, and grabbed the milk. The mother got up from her seat and helped him pour a glass.
"This is unusual. You're came out of your room." She mentioned continuing to drink her coffee. Hisoka didn't think much of it, until he remembered that he had locked himself in his room for some time.
"I felt…happy today." Perhaps happy wasn't the word he was looking for, but that was the only word that came to mind. "So, I got up." The mother smiled; happy to see her son feeling better. Hisoka then smiled, thinking of the night before. "Thanks for helping me go to sleep last night. It made me feel a lot better." The mother made a confused face.
"Hisoka, what are you talking about?"
"Last night, you came into my room and started rubbing my head. When I started crying, again." The mother's look didn't change.
"Honey, when I came home, the babysitter said you were fast asleep, so I left you alone." Hisoka's eyebrows furrowed.
"So, you…didn't come into my room? You didn't sit on my bed and comfort me?" He tried being more specific to jog her memory. She shook her head.
"Maybe it was your imagination." She said trying to explain the situation. He nodded as she walked out of the kitchen, but he knew it wasn't his imagination. He felt the hand, he felt the dip in the bed. If it wasn't his mother, than who was it? This question remained in his head for the remainder of the day.
That night, Hisoka strangely woke in the middle of the night. At least, he assumed it was the middle of the night. He had planned to go to school the next day, since he was feeling better, so he couldn't afford to wake up at this hour. He tried to force himself back to sleep, but to no avail. This bothered him dearly. If he couldn't go to sleep, he would be tired his first day back! He couldn't let that happened. So, he rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling. What to do? As he was forcing his eyes closed, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. It was just standing near the window; it was a person! He barely made out the features, before he easily recognized them. He shot up from his bed to get a better look at the person, but there was no one there. His eyes were wide; that was impossible. He was clearly there, watching him. It took him a while to fall back asleep after that, for he couldn't get the image out of his head. He knew that was his dad near the window.
"Have a good day, honey!" His mom called out as he exited the house.
"Bye, mommy!" He waved trotting down the porch steps. His house was a small, brick, Cape Cod like house in a neighborhood close to the nearing town. Where his school resided. He was usually dropped off by his mother, but because of her new job, he had to walk there now. Which he, if he made add, was glad his friend's parent's allowed her to walk with him.
A little girl, the age of eight, stood on the sidewalk rocking on her feet. She was quit anxious to see her friend again, as it had been a while since he came to school. She didn't want to bring up the accident at all, so she wondered what she would say.
"Hisoka-kun, you're back! No. How 'bout, hey buddy, long time no see! No, that's stupid." She continuously thought through her words to make sure she didn't bring up any bad memories. Speaking of which, where was he? They had to be at school soon! She looked to her right, and then her left. He wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Kazumi." Shocked at hearing her name, she looked in front of her, to see the silver haired boy right in front of her. She jumped back and into a stereotypical ninja position.
"Hisoka! What the heck?! Don't do that!" She yelled playfully. He gave her a slightly annoyed look.
"You're the one that ignored me, even when I was right in front of you." He argued. She sighed.
"You need to stop with that disappearing, reappearing crap!" She said pouting. He smiled at her, almost like a laugh. He didn't realize how much he missed her. They were best friends after all! They had been neighbors since forever; first meeting at the playground at they're elementary school. That was when he attended the school his dad taught at. He looked down. Becoming a little sad after the memory came up. Kazumi noticed this and nudged his shoulder.
"Come on, Hisoka!" She said with excitement. "Cheer up! Everyone will be happy to see you back!" She gave him her ridiculous smile that made other people smile. He couldn't help himself. He smiled back, and she started laughing. "That's the Hisoka I know!" She wrapped her arm around his shoulder, causing him to trip over his feet. That's when he started laughing along. She definitely made his day.
The day went as you'd expect it too. People, kids and teachers alike, welcomed him back and asked if he was ok. He wasn't much of a talker, but good thing Kazumi was there to explain everything. The classes went by just the same. Although, there were a few things teachers talked to him about. Him being excused from previous work because of the accident and such. He hated how they brought it up every minute of the day, but ignored it anyhow.
Lunchtime soon came, and he sat with Kazumi, as usual, and they took out their bento.
"What do you have?" She asked with a smirk. He smirked back, revealing what he had.
"Rice balls, grilled tilapia, pickled carrots, and mandarin oranges." He said proudly. She made an 'ooh' sound.
"That's pretty good," She admitted, and Hisoka nodded. Proud of his mom's work. "But, wait 'til you see this!" She revealed hers. "Soba, sesame chicken, and pickled strawberries!" Kazumi was pretty sure she won the challenge, but Hisoka knew better. They usually didn't decide the winner anyway.
"That does look good." He approved as Kazumi nodded.
"I'll share it with ya." She said picking up her chopsticks. "If I can have some of yours."
"Sure." He grabbed his chopsticks and grabbed some of the noodles, as she took a rice ball. This was a common thing for them to do. "So, what did I miss while I was gone?"
"Nothing really." She assured waving it off. "Just the usual tests, homework, and etc." She continued her lunch giving him a thumbs up when she tried the rice ball. He chuckled seeing it. He was glad to see that she didn't change how she acted around him. It made him feel more secure, like nothing happened. He continued his lunch before the bell ring.
The day continued on normally and, sooner than later, school ended. The two friends made their way home safely, Kazumi's dad meeting them halfway. Her dad played against his dad in high school, and they both ended up working at the same school. So, he and Kazumi meeting was almost like destiny. (Maybe even a bit coincidental.) Hisoka's mother left the door unlocked so Hisoka could get in the house. When he entered, the babysitter was already there. His mom hadn't come back yet, huh? He sighed; he forgot she didn't come back until later. Oh well, she'll be back soon. He walked up the small flight of stairs and into his room. He didn't stay in there long because his mom had come home soon after.
Later that day, Hisoka spent the remainder of the day watching Steven Universe on the couch. It was the episode where Amethyst and Garnet did their fusion. Even if he'd seen it more than once, it was still interesting to watch. Nearing the end of the episode, Hisoka thought he heard thumping. He muted the tv so that he could hear better, but it seemed to have stopped.
"Must be my imagination." He thought, resuming the episode. When it changed to a commercial, he heard the sound again. Muting it once more, he turned to the direction of the sound again. To his surprise, it didn't stop this time. They almost sounded like footsteps. "Mommy?" He said out loud. They had to be hers, they must be.
"Yes?" She called from upstairs.
"N-never mind! It's nothing!" If she was upstairs, then what was making the noise? He went to go investigate the noise; being the curious boy that he is. As he got closer to the sound, he realized it was coming from the next room. Swallowing his nerves, he peeked his head around the wall, only to see the familiar face of their dog. He sighed in relief.
"Nigou, you scared me!" He said rubbing the dogs head. It barked in reply and Hisoka laughed. It was just Nigou, nothing to be scared of.
Bedtime came around, and the incident had soon been pushed to the back of his head. He laid in his bed fast asleep; the only noise in the house being the fan in his room. Lightly tossing and turning in his sleep, he snuggled into the pillows.
At around seven o' clock am, an hour before he had to get up for school, he heard the thumping again. This time though, it was out in the hallway outside his door.
"Just Nigou, again." He lazily thought to himself, half asleep. Just then, he heard a low whimpering. His eyes shot open; it was Nigou, but he was in the room with him! So…the noise wasn't coming from Nigou. Hisoka propped himself up in bed starring at the door. Maybe it was his mother this time. She could've gotten up to use the bathroom or something. Cautiously, he got up and walked towards the door. His hand was shaking as he reached for the doorknob. He opened it just slightly to see if anyone was in the hallway; nothing. This creeped him out to no extent, but, at the same time, relieving to see that no one was in the house. After that, he closed the door and headed back to bed. However, when he went to turn around, someone was standing there. Surprised, he fell backwards onto the floor, holding his mouth. He wasn't much of a screamer, more of a jumper. He sat there horrified for a moment, when the person bent down and asked if he was alright. It took him a moment to actually realize who it was, but when he did, he just sat there more confused and shocked than he was.
"D-d-daddy?" He asked in a low tone. A small smile appeared on the apparition's face. "H-how?! You're…you're…" Tears started forming at the corners of his eyes. What was going on?! He must've been going crazy! Kuroko put a hand on his son's head.
"Don't cry," He told him. Once he spoke, the boy's eyes shot open and just stared. "You've cried enough this past month." Hisoka wiped his eyes sloppily, but still sat there confused.
"H-how are you…why are you…?" He stuttered still trying to make sense of the situation. Kuroko didn't move when the "attempted" question was asked.
"Do you know of the stories that people tell? When someone who's passed can't move on?" Hisoka nodded. Kuroko gave him a look; a look that could only mean what he thought it meant.
"W-wait, you mean you can't…" Kuroko shook his head. "W-why?! Why can't you?!" Hisoka was gradually getting louder, frustrated and confused.
"There's something wrong. And I can't go until I know the problem is fixed."
"W-what problem?"
"When I died, something happened between my friends. Something I don't like." Hisoka waited for the reason in anticipation. "They stopped playing basketball." His face changed to an annoyed one after those words.
"Why're you upset about a sport?" He irritatedly questioned his dad.
"It's not just the sport, Hisoka." Kuroko explained looking up at his son. "It's the memories that came from it." He gave his dad a quizzical look. That…didn't make much sense to him.
"What do you mean?" He asked finally.
"There's this story from my generation, I'm sure you've heard of it before. It's about five basketball players that went passed everyone's expectations. They all had exceptional talent for their age, and grew to be the most powerful opponents on the court."
"Oh yeah, the Generation of Miracles!" He exclaimed smiling. "But, isn't that just a myth they tell at school?"
"They're not that old, Hisoka." Kuroko protested with a look of disbelief.
"Wait, you mean it's not a myth?"
"No."
"It's a true story?!"
"Yes. I played alongside them, and against them."
"Seriously?!" This was unbelievable! Actually, if he thought about it, there was a lot of unbelievable things going on right now.
"I told you, they're not that old."
"No, that's not it! It's just…there's people that can actually do that?!" He inquired in disbelief. Kuroko just nodded. "So, the Generation of Miracles," He said getting back on track. "What about them?"
"Well, the other part of the story where a team's shadow and light created issues for the five prodigies. The team's shadow was me, and the light was my teammate. We changed the way they thought about the sport. And in that same year, we won the Winter Cup."
"Sorry, but, what does this have to do with you not being able to move on?"
"It has everything to do with it." Kuroko tried to explain. "When I died, they stopped playing completely." Hisoka blinked, trying to process what that meant. He was only eight, he wasn't going to understand everything when first heard. Kuroko tried to think of a comparison to help Hisoka understand better. "Do you remember how you acted after you found out about the crash?" Hisoka nodded. "Well, they reacted in a similar way. The only difference is that there's one thing they all remember me by, and that's basketball."
"Oh, so the basketball is a reminder about what you used to do with them, but it also reminds them that you're gone. So, they're like conflicting feelings." Kuroko nodded.
"I can't leave knowing that the thing that brought us all together now repels them. Because of me." Kuroko made a sorrowful face as he lowered his head. Hisoka honestly felt bad for his father. He remembered how much the sport meant to his father.
"Well, what are you going to do?" He asked seriously.
"Get them to play again, but I need you to help me."
"What?! Why?!"
"Hisoka, I'm dead. My presence is lower than it was when I was alive." Hisoka thought about this and shrugged. He made a valid point.
"But, I don't even know what they look like, or where they are even." Hisoka said a little worried.
"Just look them up." Kuroko told him seriously.
"Look them up?"
"Yes. They're the GOM. They're on Wikipedia." They had their own article? What were the chances?!
"But, I can't just walk up to them and explain this! They're adults! They wouldn't believe a thing I say!" There were so many problems with this plan, it was ridiculous! During the middle of the argument, a loud, obnoxious ringing echoed throughout the room. His alarm clock; it was time for him to get ready for school. He'd forgotten about how early it was. How he still had to go to school that day. "Anyway, how do I get them to-"But when he turned to face his father again, he was gone. He shivered. Even now, he could never get used to that.
"Hisoka," His mom said peeking through the door. "Time to get up." When she realized that Hisoka was sitting on the floor, she tilted her head curiously. "Did you fall out of bed?"
"Um, yeah. I fell." He mumbled getting up.
At the school, a very grumpy looking Kazumi sat at the table her and Hisoka usually sat at.
"Where is he?" She asked herself glancing around. "He's the one that said I needed to be here." As she glanced around some more, her eyes shifted to the space in front of her, and saw the silver haired boy sitting there. She jumped back, getting in the ninja position.
"Hey." He said seeing her reaction.
"We seriously need to get you a bell, or something!" She shouted across the table.
"I don't need a bell." He protested taking a sip from a juice pouch. Kazumi pouted. He was well aware that he startled people on a daily bases! He must think that it's funny or something like that. "Hey, Kazumi, I need to tell you something." This caught her attention.
"Sure, what's up?"
"First, you have to promise you won't tell anyone!" He said using hand motions and putting emphasis on the word anyone. She nodded.
"I, Kazumi Takao, promise not to tell anyone! No matter how much I want to!" She swore putting her left hand in the air, and her right on her heart. Hisoka took a deep breath. Ok, she promised.
"I…saw my dad this morning." The table grew quite, which was unusual.
"Look, Hisoka, I know you're still pretty upset, but you really need to let go." Kazumi whispered leaning over the table.
"No, Kazumi, I'm serious! I mean, he wasn't alive, no, but-"
"So, you saw a ghost?" She clarified raising an eyebrow. Hisoka slowly nodded his head. Nervous about how she would react. "Cool! What did he look like?!" Well, he didn't expect that specific reaction. He should've known better; this was Kazumi they were talking about.
"He looked the same. Maybe a bit foggy, though. You know, like, whitish." He explained to a very enthusiastic Kazumi.
"Cool! So, was it like one of those ghost stories where you heard strange noises, and when you went to go investigate BAM he was there?!" She inquired talking quickly.
"Sort of, but no. He was in my room, and he talked to me."
"Oh, did he tell you his last goodbyes before leaving, or something?"
"No, he actually said that he needed my help in order to move on." He explained the problem that Kuroko was going through, and didn't leave out a single word while explaining it. He leaned against his hand as he propped himself on the table. He still didn't have a clue of how he was supposed to help.
"Hm, I don't really get it, but I think you should look them up first." The black haired girl suggested. "You can even do it on the school's computers." He thought about this. Maybe he should go with what he knew he could do first. That was a start, and it was a good start.
"Alright. I'll do that first." The two of them went to their school's library and chose a computer.
"Ok, Generation of Miracles." He mouthed typing the words. And, behold, when he clicked enter, a bunch of links popped up on the screen. They clicked the first one there, which was obviously Wikipedia, and the article came up. Along with a picture of the "Generation of Miracles." "Hey, there's my dad!" He pointed a finger to the screen where Kuroko was in the picture.
"Was he one of them?" Kazumi asked observing the picture.
"No, there was only five of them. That, and my dad sucked at basketball. So, that would be impossible." She snorted at her friends comment as they continued through. "They were in middle school?! Holy crap! They must've been amazing!"
"How old are they now?"
"I don't know. As old as my dad, maybe?" The kept scrolling through, not bothering to read all of it. Suddenly, Kazumi jumped up and pointed to a picture.
"Hey, I know that guy!" She exclaimed pointing to a guy with green hair. "He's been to my house before! It was a long time ago, though."
"I recognize most of these people." Hisoka replied. "But, I don't remember them ever coming to our house." Were they at the funeral, and that's why they look familiar? Who knows. "This still doesn't tell me how I'm supposed to get their attention though." He existed out of the browser and stared into the screen. What other options were there? Sure, now, he knew what they looked like, but he didn't know where they were and etc. Then, he realized something. Something that could be crucial to the plan. "Kazumi, you said that that guy's been to your house before, right?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. And my mom buys Kise's magazines. I don't know what's interesting about-"
"That means your parents know them too, right?"
"I guess so. Why?" Hisoka stood up in sudden realization.
"If my dad knew them, and your parents knew them, then there's a chance that they have kids too!" That was a high possibility! And when he got home, he could just ask his dad if they do or not!
"Ok, I sort of know where you're going with this," She said scratching the back of her head. "But, how does that help at all?"
"Because if I can't talk to their parents, then I could talk to them! They're more likely to listen to me!" The plan was foolproof. Why did it take him this long to think of this?! When he got home, he would definitely have to tell his dad about this. As Hisoka walked away, proud of himself, Kazumi followed close behind in confusion. She didn't quite understand the situation, or the plan that her friend had in mind, but if he was so sure that it was going to work, then she would just have to go along with it. She was his best friend for a reason, after all.