'Huh?' the boy opened a box and found an orange ball. Today was his birthday and his parents usually celebrates it with him.

'Do you like it?'

'But I don't know how to play basketball...and I don't think father would like it either.' he held the ball and is quite surprised on how it fits on his hands. It felt like it was telling him directly that he should play.

'Nonsense. Your father would love to let you play, right?' the woman smiled to her husband who was sitting beside her. The man just shrugged knowing how stubborn the girl is.

'See? He agrees.' the woman chuckled as he pat her son's head. 'I'll even teach you how to play!'

There was a moment of silence before the two boys stared at each other and smiled while looking at the woman. They both knew how the other acts when excited.

'I saw that look you both gave me! You don't believe that I can play?'

Not able to hold their laughter anymore, the two chuckled at the woman's antics.

If one were to take a picture of this moment, then this truly is the warmth and love of a family.

"When did you last see him?" Akashi asked vocally to the group trying to pique the interest of a certain red haired ace who seems to be on a corner buried in his thoughts thus, implying that the ace knows something that they didn't. Regardless, said teen didn't even bother raising his head up to recognize Akashi's question.

"After that match, we didn't really get to see him..." Hyuuga, the third year captain of Seirin, frowned.

"He's the type that doesn't skip practice. So, for him to do such a thing... we thought it might be something urgent. As the days went on, we then realized that he had some problems that he probably couldn't... share with us..." The captain swallowed. After all the things that this team has been through, why didn't Kuroko tell them what he was feeling?...Is it about trust...?

Then again, they are also the ones to blame since they didn't take immediate action. Hyuuga looked at the letter sadly.

"It was stated in the letter that he resigned because of a personal issue... even so, its making us worry." said Riko as Akashi handed the letter back.

"Kagami-kun's his classmate so we tried asking him but..." the brown haired coach added while taking a glance at said person "He doesn't feel like talking even after we bugged him..."

"Taiga." Akashi walked over to Kagami and he knew that the ace heard him clearly. The other sighed.

"I don't know..." whispers Kagami. Everyone looked at the shadow's current light as he finally spoke for the first time.

"It was after the match, school started and everything was going smoothly, or at least that's what I thought."

"You noticed something?" Akashi predicted and tried to think of some possibilities as to why Kuroko did something like this.

"He's really spaced out and he looked more tired than usual." Kagami said as he tried to remember what Kuroko's conditions are for the past four days. "He was also quiet. Not that he's noisy, but his aura seems off..." He was about to end his sentence but a sudden memory filled his mind. Though, Kagami decided not tell it. Noticing his expression, Akashi knew he was hiding something.

"You left out some more details, Taiga" said Akashi as he somewhat gave off a menacing aura. Everyone seems to be doing the same making Kagami know that he can't escape.

"Fine. But I'm sure you'll end up beating me after this." Kagami sighed as he readied himself. The others were quite unsure and nervous as to what Kagami was going to tell.

Beat him up? Was it really that bad?

"The match ended and school began instantly on Monday. As I said before, I noticed that something was off with Kuroko. Add the fact that he did not attend practice for that day."

"I asked him if he had a problem and why was he leaving early and he answered that he was busy. The next day came and no matter how much I wanted to ask him, he keeps on disappearing, as if he is purposely trying to ignore me."

"After that, I got worried since he kept on skipping practice. So, yesterday, I told myself that I'll force him a bit to at least talk to me after class..." Kagami trailed off as he catch his breath.

"It was dismissal and I found him in our empty classroom. I was just about to enter...but when I saw him...he was crying..." Kagami clenched his fist.

"And I didn't even do a thing. I just froze up like the coward I am and left the place. "

Silence enveloped the gym as Kagami somewhat finished telling his story. Nobody could believe it. They all knew that Kagami is a softy at heart, at times like those he's usually the one who lifts the mood up.

"You...! Why?!" Aomine shouted which abruptly broke the silence around the room. He was about to go and knock some sense to his rival but was stopped by Akashi.

"I was so useless! I knew that I should've done something! I went back to the room once I gained my composure but he was already gone! If only I helped him..If only I wasn't a coward then...!-" Kagami began to uncharacteristically rant. Most of them tried to make him stop but it seems the red head was trapped with his countless frantic 'what-ifs'

Everyone looked at him sadly. Kagami was the one who last saw the person they're searching for and to see said person in such a condition...They can't blame him for being in this state.

"Don't." Akashi said as he looked at Kagami in the eye.

"Don't tell me not to blame myself! It was clearly my fault! If only I-"

"It is not assured that even if you spoke to him, that he would have stayed nor leave." explained Akashi.

"Still!-"

"I'm pretty much sure Tetsuya would not want you to blame yourself either. He's not that type of person."

"But why would Kurokocchi be crying...?" Kise asks as he frowns at the story he just heard. They all know that the bluenette wasn't all that open with his emotions so for him to cry...

Nobody answered the question.

"Have you tried contacting him? Or visit his house?" Midorima asks as he held his lucky item, a phone book. Surely, fate has something to do with this.

"We did, but he's not answering..." says Izuki, Seirin's point guard, as he took out his phone and hovered over to Kuroko's name.

"We used Izuki's phone to call but sadly, there wasn't even a ring on the other line. " Kiyoshi frowned. Was Kuroko's phone turned off the whole week? Or was it damaged? Is he doing this on purpose...? There are lots of questions floating in his head. Having to experience this event just after his surgery, made him feel like the whole world was against their team. Then again, he has no time to feel that way, rather than being down they have to solve the situation ahead of them.

"We all went to his house but nobody answered..." Riko looked at the ground. It is possible that Kuroko had another home. If only she could get some of Kuroko's information from the faculty but right now, they're really strict with the system. Now that she thinks about it, a year had already passed by but they still don't know much of Kuroko unless its basketball related.

The coach looked at the rainbow haired group in front of her. It seems that even though they were Kuroko's former teammates, they also do not have the certain information they needed for this case.

Everyone became caught up with their own thoughts and was startled when a sudden shout echoed in the room.

"Guys!" Izuki called their attention as he went beside Riko while holding out his phone which was on loudspeaker.

The phone's actually ringing this time.

"It rang! I tried dialing it again and it rang!" the black haired point guard smiled a bit as they were at least given some hope.

Hope that they would finally know what was going on.

"It may ring...but would Kuro-chin answer?..." the giant purple head asked. It sounded quite insensitive but it was the truth.

Would Kuroko even answer?

Would he even tell them what is going on?

Everyone got anxious for each passing chimes of the phone. It seemed like the moment was never ending.

They all held their breath until they hear a voice speak.

"Hello?"

It was past his bed time but he just can't seem to sleep. It was the night of his birthday and he didn't really want the day to end just yet.

It was the first time since he had this much fun with his family. The feeling he got made him feel restless that he can't even close his eyes without smiling. It was quite stupid of him but for once he didn't bother.

This was the day where he actually felt happy. He was not alone nor was he busy.

The young boy gave up on sleep and decided to get up and walk around the house. He just wanted to kill some time before going back to his room.

Just as he was about to head back, he passed through his parent's bedroom.

'Masaomi...'

The boy heard his mother's voice as he stopped in his tracks to listen to the conversation on the other side of the slightly opened door. The voice sounded as if it was pleading something to his father.

He knew it was bad to eavesdrop but its not like he can comprehend most of the lines in their conversation since it wasn't loud enough for him to hear. He was just curious as to why his mother's voice sounded so...unlike her.

'It's all my fault...depriving my own son of his happiness.'

What? Said boy looked at the door in front of him. He did not understand the words that he heard. If anything, it was all wrong. Happiness was always given to him by his mother after all.

'I saw-...'

'Shiori.' the man used a tone that insinuates for the woman to stop.

He could only hear some statements from his mother before his father broke their conversation. When silence filled his parent's place, the boy went to his room silently and slept even though the information he heard kept on bothering him. He woke up the next day somewhat demanding his mother to teach him her so called basketball. The woman heartily agreed and the two of them proceeded to the court.

It was to show her how much happiness she gave him.

"K-Kuroko?" Riko holds the phone carefully after being slightly startled when she heard the voice.

"Yes?"

Now that they heard the voice again, they were quite shocked. This isn't Kuroko...at least not Tetsuya that is. All of them wondered why the bluenette's phone was even in the hand of another.

Akashi made a signal to Riko to hand the phone over to him in which the brown haired coach complied.

"Kuroko-san?" judging from the voice a while ago, Akashi concluded that this was Tetsuya's grandmother. The bluenette did tell him a little about his family, on how he is living with his grandmother and parents, during their Teiko's summer camp.

"Who is this?" the voice from the other line asked.

"We're from Tetsuya's basketball team."

"I see...sadly, Tetsuya's not around today."

There was a pause and everyone could clearly see the look of disappointment in each other's eyes as they process the information they just heard.

They were so close on their first lead to their friend too...

But this leads them to a question, where was Kuroko anyways?

"...Did you perhaps receive a letter?" the gentle voice of the woman on the other end suddenly asked which made the group of teen's snap out of their thoughts.

Letter...was Kuroko that close with his grandmother for her to know his resignation? They were taken aback by the information leaving them silent.

"Since everyone seems silent, I'll take that as a yes. " the woman laughed. "Were you not expecting for me to know? Tetsu-chan and I are pretty close. Didn't he tell you?" the tone sounded as if it was teasing the group of teens. Though, why is it that they can imagine the elder having an impassive face similar to their friend? They all sweatdropped.

"We don't really know much of Tetsuya's family, we apologize." Akashi said as he prepares to ask more questions regarding the letter but it seems the woman on the other end beat him to it.

"Tetsuya... He did not write that letter."

This made everyone look at the phone with inridiculous faces. What did she mean by that? They recognized Kuroko's handwriting and Akashi even confirmed that himself.

Does that mean...

"Was he forced?"

"That's quite a personal question don't you think? Akashi-san. Then again, it was stated in the letter that the reason for leaving was something personal."

"Again, I apologize Kuroko-san..." Akashi trailed off. He noticed that the woman knew his name even though he never mentioned it once in the conversation. Akashi shrugged the feeling off. Tetsuya probably just mentioned his teammates to his grandmother. "We just wanted to know how he's doing."

"Is that why you called?" another gentle laugh was heard which made the group once again sweatdrop. Are Kuroko's this manipulating? Or did they just really love to tease people with their blunt personalities?

"Hmm...You could go see him if you want. Then, maybe he'll tell you why..." the woman suggested as she chuckled playfully again.

"That is, if Tetsu-chan really trusts you. He's at the public court near his school. You should know where that is by now. Good luck." the woman said with a smile as she clicked the end button.

When everything became quiet, the woman, known as Kuroko Satomi, returned the phone back to its drawer and removed its parts. She then locked it as if nobody opened it in the first place. She frowned and closed her eyes.

She just wanted all of this to end. Why can't things just go back to the way it was before? Can't an old woman like her get some peace?

"How long will this selfishness remain...?"

AN:

Due to the feedback I'm getting in this fic, I'm going to try and update it along with Stygian (buries myself). But hooray, here you go the next chapter. I have the other chapters written already along with the other fic but I'll still check it before posting.

Sooo, to answer the question, yes this fic will not turn into yaoi. I can't write pairings even though I like reading other fics with pairings on it. And for the other questions, they'll be answered in the upcoming chapters (creys).

Anyway, here in this chapter, I've introduced one of my three OC's. Well, I'm not really sure if you call that not an OC because it is confirmed that Kuroko does live with his grandmother and parents (which are the two other OC's). I only gave them their names and their personalities. But yeah. The name of Kuroko's grandmother is Satomi meaning "bright" and "beautiful". Also, Akashi's parents are mentioned here. Their official names are Masaomi and Shiori so I'll go with that.

Thank you for the support and I hope you continue to support this fic.