Chapter 1

Kagami

For the rest of the day. I was ignored. Even though I sat right in front of him he would never reply to me whenever I tried to talk to him. It was like I had no presence. He just sort of stared into space thinking of who knows what. The people next to him, Aomine and Kise were teasing each other. It's like they know that they're connected, but in reality, they aren't.

I don't get it. Even though I see the red string perfectly I can never get a peep out of Kuroko. He is supposed to have the power to see red strings, but why can't he see mine...Unless...he is one of those who can only see others. There are some people who have that power, but once they find out who they are linked to and finally see the red string, their power vanishes completely. My power is a bit different. I can see everyone's including mine.


By the time I actually got a chance to talk to him, it was during lunch. He was on the roof, surrounding by six other people. Everyone else was smiling and teasing each other. Aomine seemed to love teasing Kise. And the red-head seemed to love teasing a small, weak-looking and shy person next to him. He was a brunette. Yes. I did see it. I opened the door to the roof to see the group. Everyone was laughing. Including Kuroko. Well, he was more like smiling, but he staid quiet. "Kuroko~" I said unconsciously. He looked up at me. A straw was between his lips. Probably the vanilla milkshake that they sell in the cafeteria. When he saw me, he just waved slightly. Aomine and Kise seemed to have noticed me and stood up, dragging me towards the group.

The other red-head stopped teasing the brunette. And the brunette sighed from relief. He sure was tense before. "Who's this?" He looked up at me and I saw his eyes. No longer the brunette was so intense. His heterochromatic eyes were very intimidating. One red and the other a goldish shade. Kise shoved me to the ground next to Kuroko, "This is Kagami~ Remember? He's in our class~" Kise said. A pair of scissors flew towards my face and I barely, just barely, caught it. Sweat was pouring down my face when I caught it, but it cut my hand slightly. "Good, I was testing your reflects," the red head said. Kuroko shifted closer to the other red-head and whispered in his ear. "Well, if you want another milkshake, you don't have to whisper you know~" Akashi smiled at Kuroko and ruffled his hair. He then stood up and Kuroko crawled back to his spot.

"Eat this Kuro-chin~" The tall purple-haired guy handed Kuroko a back of vanilla sweets. Kuroko eagerly took it and when he was eating he looked like a cute little animal that loved the food it was given.

"Aren't you going to get a stomach-ache?" I asked and everyone just stopped what they were doing. Even the brunette, who seemed to be pretty close with Kuroko.

They all burst in laughter. Except for Kuroko who seemed to be in dreamland.

"Silly, Kagamicchi," Kise shouted while punching my arm. It was a while before everyone calmed down. "Kuroko never gets a stomach-ache from vanilla...anything." Kise said. And then Aomine continued, "It started in middle school, I don't know why really." Then a green-haired with glasses spoke, "It is most likely that Akashi started it."

"Who? You mean the guy that just left?" I questioned.

"Yeah, it's him. Back in middle school, Akashi was super protective of Kuroko. Actually he still is. He doesn't like it when anybody besides us goes near Kuroko." Maybe that's why Kuroko never really spoke to me during class. For some reason, I felt like someone was glaring daggers at me. That was probably Akashi...


Kuroko

"Tetsuya. Here's your milkshake," Akashi said handing the milkshake to me. I eagerly took it and started drinking from it. For some reason, I wanted a lot of the vanilla milkshake. I don't know why, but I have this weird feeling. During class, Kagami tried to talk to me many times and I completely ignored him because I didn't want Akashi to hurt him. I don't know why, but I didn't want Kagami to get hurt. Now that Akashi has gotten the chance to test him, I guess Akashi is okay with Kagami...for now. I wonder how long he is going to trust Kagami. The last time Akashi trusted someone outside of our circle, I was severely injured and had to stay in the hospital for months. That guy disappeared. Akashi believes that he was the one who was supposed to be protecting me at that time...Even though in fact, I ditched him and went alone. Sometimes, I just hate when Akashi is just too overprotective. I hope my fated partner is protective, but not too overprotective like Akashi. I sighed. I wish I had the power to see my red string, but I don't. The only way I can identify my fated partner is once everyone in my group of friends finds theirs. I don't know why it is that specifically, but that was what my mom told me long ago. I was very close with five other people, the same five as now, when I was little and that's when everything changed.