A/N: haha, I lied. I was kinda busy so...here it is now :D
"Oi, Tetsu," Aomine grunted while shooting a basketball at the basket.
Swish, the net whispered as the ball went straight in.
"Yes, Aomine-kun?" Kuroko answered, shooting one himself.
Plop. It bounced right off the rim.
"You alright? You've been kinda reckless…" he turned to face the invisible man and threw a towel at him.
"I am perfectly okay," the bluenette answered stiffly, catching the towel and bringing it up to wipe the sweat that had gathered.
"Ah, that's right," an epiphany suddenly hit the ganguro, "The evaluation results were posted today weren't they? How'd you do?"
Kuroko stayed silent and took a sip of his Pocari. Aomine wisely took the hint and avoided the topic. They began practicing again. They immersed themselves in their plays, and the typical comforting silence followed. The sound of bouncing balls resounded until it became dark.
As they were making their final shots, Kuroko spoke.
"Should I quit basketball?" he said in a wondering voice, as if talking to himself.
Aomine's eyes widened and the basketball he had just thrown flew wildly off target. As he went to get it, he carefully thought of what to say.
"Well. I can't be a judge on that can I? Personally, basketball is fun and makes me happy. That's all I need."
The teal head silently comprehended what he said. After a while, a small smile appeared on his face.
"Who knew Aomine-kun could be smart?"
"HEY!" he growled. "I won't forgive you, even if it's you, Tetsu." With those words, he started giving chase.
"No fair, I'm tired already," Kuroko complained with a perfectly blank face.
"Wha- I'm just as tired as you! We practiced for the same amount of time!"
Kuroko abruptly stopped and gave a long stare at the ganguro.
"You are an idiot after all." He started back to the bench to get his things, leaving the aho dumfounded.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He started after the phantom, muttering under his breath about how he wasn't stupid.
"You have higher stamina than me ,Aomine-kun, and you're more fit. I will see you tomorrow." He slipped his bag over his shoulder while explaining, then walked out without looking back. After a long pause, a faint, almost inaudible, "Thank you," sounded from the door.
Aomine's lips twitched. "Had me worried for nothing," he muttered under his breath, then exited the gym too.
After that day, Kuroko's practice increased vigorously and with renewed determination. His skills didn't improve much though and he became more irritable from soreness and lack of sleep. His average grades dropped due to sleeping in class and not having enough time or energy to study. Nonetheless, he continued, undaunted, simply because he loved basketball.
One day, he sent Aomine to get more Pocari Sweat because the ganguro had drunken it all again. While waiting, he rested on the bench, towel covering his head as he controlled his breathing. He heard footsteps getting closer and closer to the gym. Voices drifted through the door and even though he wasn't trying to eavesdrop, he heard every single word.
"-are better ways to use your pieces when in that situation. You made it too easy," a voice sharply invaded his silence.
"I am so sorry I disappointed you," another voice said sarcastically.
The first person ignored him and continued pointing out his mistakes. "It was a bad move to move your bishop at that part, your pawn would've been better. Just because the bishop can move further doesn't mean that its better."
"Oh? Then you think every piece is special?"
"In the right situations. Everything has a special skill; it merely depends on what is done with it."
Kuroko grew curious so he moved his hand to lift the towel from his face. He removed it in time to see a tuft of green hair before it moved out of his vision, pass the doorframe.
"And I did all the wrong things, apparently."
"The one time I play chess with you…" the first person muttered, and that was the last thing Kuroko heard before they moved out of hearing distance.
"Everything has a special skill, huh?" he thought to himself. "Mine would probably be my low presence, but that can't be incorporated into basketball…" He moved his hand to his face and stared at it. "…Or can it?"
He got up and headed to the library with his things to do research. Arriving at the library, he had no idea where to start, so he wandered around, scanning the bookshelves for anything that caught his eye. By chance, he knocked over a book titled, "Magic Tricks" while reaching/jumping for a book on a high shelf. Figuring that it couldn't hurt to give it a chance, he quickly scanned it and was about to close it and put it back on the shelf when he read a passage titled "Misdirection."
Intrigued, he read on and came to realize that it was exactly what he was looking for. He gathered a few books about misdirection and began reading one.
When he finished, it was growing dark, so he decided to check them out to read at home. A quick search of his bag for his library card made him realize that he had left a textbook in the gym, so he went there after checking out the books.
Aomine was still there.
"Aomine-kun is practicing hard today," he commented.
"GYAHHH! Stop doing that! And where'd you go?"
"The library," he responded. "Ah," he hit his palm with a fist in realization. "Since you're here, can I test something out?"
What Aomine really wanted to do was demand why the hell he went to the library, but seeing how his friend's eyes sparkled slightly in anticipation, he gave in.
"What are you trying to do?"
"You'll see," was the vague reply.
On the court, it took him a few minutes to realize that he had no idea where Kuroko was. And that he was fumbling a lot with the ball.
"Tetsu?" he said hesitantly.
No answer.
"Shit, he left again."
"I am right here, Aomine-kun."
It was all he could do to contain the shriek that arrived at his throat. What he managed to do was a strained half-whisper, "Then why didn't you say something?"
"I was concentrating." He paused as if pondering something, and then said, "Should we stop? You seem too tired to even handle the ball correctly."
The ace agreed and they both headed home. It was only later, when Kuroko revealed his skill in a team game that he realized that what the phantom had said was a joke.
It wasn't funny.
A/N: I have mixed feelings about this. O-o This story is gonna take forever to write ;~; But I'm in love with it...