A/N: Waah! Thanks for all the reviews for this story's first chapter. Didn't even expect that this will receive any review. Thanks a lot, really!
REMINDER: When the text is both italic and bold, it means that those dialogues or scenes were from the past or flashbacks.
When the text is italicized then it means that those words were what the characters were thinking.
"Something Lost Will Never Return"
Chapter Two:
The Teikou Middle School Basketball Club. An incredibly strong team with over one hundred members and three consecutive championship wins. Amongst their brilliant record, the generation of five prodigies was known as the "Generation of Miracles". Despite being relatively unknown and lacking a game record, there was one more member recognized by the five prodigies. A phantom sixth man.
Kuroko entered the gate of Seirin Academy and continued reading the book in his hands as he walked to their building.
He flipped it to another page as he finished the previous one and gasped when a hand tapped his shoulder. He hit the man with his bag in reflex.
"Ow! What the hell-!" It was his 'light', Kagami Taiga who groaned. The red-head rubbed his forehead and glared at the teal-head. "You idiot, what was that for?"
"Don't scare me like that or I'll get angry." He warned with emotionless tone.
That statement made the red-head's eyebrows twitch. "How dare you—You do that to me everytime!"
"Wow, your four eyebrows are twitching." He mumbled in awe and even ignored the red-head's complaint.
"You dumbass, I only have two eyebrows!" Kagami protested.
He tiptoed and touched the red-head's eyebrows and counted loudly as he touched each, "One, two, three, and four. You have four eyebrows, Kagami-kun." He replied, impassive.
Kuroko's reply hit a nerve and that's when Kagami started to chase after his shadow, not literally his shadow –how ridiculous would he look like when he tried chasing after his own shadow right?-, I'm talking about Kuroko. "You bastard, come back here!"
The blue-eyed ran as fast as he could to their lockers and hid inside his and ignored everyone's stare at his moving-on-its-own-locker since no one noticed him. Something that didn't surprise me, you and even the others who has read this.
He blinked when it opened and Kagami towered over him. "You i-diot. You making fun of me?!" He growled and grabbed Kuroko's head. "You're making fun of me, ain't ya?" He demanded.
Kuroko shook his head. "I'm not, I'm not, Kagami-kun." He surrendered and finally was released. He fixed his hair and complained with indifferent tone, "That hurts. You used American accent, how—"
"Amazing?"
"No, creepy." Kuroko replied.
Kagami, whose locker was beside him, stifled his laughter with how weird their conversation was and raised an eyebrow as he changed his shoes. "You actually fitted in your locker, how magnificent." He complimented.
"Should I take that as a compliment or as an insult?" He mumbled as he closed his locker after changing his shoes. "I'm not that small."
"Huh?"
"It's a rhetorical question, don't bother answering it." He pointed out.
"Oi, it's so early and you're already pissing me off." Kagami grunted.
"I am?" He asked with innocent tone.
Kagami closed his locker and picked up his bag which he placed on the floor. "I really wanna strangle you right now."
"Please don't, I'm not ready to die yet. You can strangle yourself instead, I don't mind." He responded and flipped his book to the next page. His reply would sound simple, emotionless, indifferent and impassive to Kagami, but truth be told, he meant that statement from the bottom of his heart.
"Hey, what does that last part mean?!" Kagami protested.
"It means that I don't really mind if you strangle yourself."
"Does that mean you don't mind if I die?"
Kuroko looked up at his 'light'. "Can't you strangle yourself without killing yourself as well?"
The red-head tried grabbing his 'shadow' to take avenge but the latter quickly dodged it and he ended up kissing the floor.
"Kagami-kun, Aomine-kun will get jealous if you kiss the floor often."
Kagami stood up, his face flushed in both embarrassment -because of the people's stare- and anger. "You dumbass, who do you think is at fault for me ending up kissing the floor often?!" He demanded as he tried grabbing Kuroko again.
Once again, the teal-haired dodged it. "You?" He answered in a question form.
"Ugh! Ku-ro-ko!" Kagami growled.
The phantom player closed his book and now ran to their classroom as fast as he could or else he'll die early.
~LFMH021~
"We finally got you. Now, you're mine."
His eyes widened. "O-Okaa-san! Otou-san! Onii-san! N-No, let me go! NO!"
"Kuroko-kun!"
He got back into the reality when his shoulder were shook roughly by their coach, Riko Aida, who was beside him and was staring at him with anxious eyes like she just seen his fragile side. "C-Coach?"
She sighed and frowned. "Are you sure that you're alright? You've been spacing out lately."
He nodded and pretended that he was watching his other teammates who were inside the court and practicing like there really was a game going on. "Just lack of sleep."
The brunette started scribbling at her data notebook and then nodded. "Alright then, if you say so. Would you like to come inside the game now?"
He removed the T-shirt on top of his jersey and stretched his arms. "Yes, I'd be glad if you let me join now."
"Yosh! Kuroko-kun will enter the game now! He'll be on Kagami's team!" Riko announced.
The sophomores' faces suddenly changed into terrified ones as the teal-head went inside the court and bumped fists with his current 'light' Kagami Taiga. "Uh-oh, the freshmen duo have been united. Seniors, more energy and give your best! Don't let the freshmen beat us or we'll lose our dignities as their senpais!" Hyuuga shouted with all he could.
"You're the only one who thinks that he'll lose his dignity as the senpai when he loses with his kouhai." Koga pointed out.
Kiyoshi patted their captain's shoulder and grinned ear to ear, yes, for him it's possible. "Enjoy, Hyuuga, Enjoy~"
Hyuuga glared at their club's founder. "Shut up, I-ron Heart." He snapped.
Kiyoshi flinched. "Waah! Stop calling me that!"
"You're just a bother, just sit in the bench, I-ron Heart." The bespectacled replied, indifferent.
"Hyuuga!"
"Here they go again." Izuki sighed and wiped his sweat with his own shirt.
The two were arguing about the whole 'Iron Heart' thing when two balls hit both of their heads.
"Ouch!" They complained in unison.
"Who the hell—" Hyuuga was just starting his complaint when his eyes met their coach's in rage brown ones. "R-Riko?"
Riko's eyes turned darker as she grinned wider. She lifted one ball with one of her hands and started spinning it. "You can continue your argument there if you want, but don't even bother complaining later on why you were still staying here in the gym because of the thousand push-ups, hundred laps and two-thousand shoots I will want you to make." She threatened and made the sweetest smile she could afford. "Now, will the game resume or will the argument resume?"
"Yosh, everyone, let's resume the game! Let's do our best or else we'll die very very early!" Hyuuga announced and threw the ball in the air as both Kagami and Kiyoshi jumped to get it.
"Now, that's what I was talking about." The brunette murmured in pleasure and threw the ball back with the other ones which laid beside the gymnasium's door.
"Hm, I like the way you discipline your team. You truly are a sadist, how amazing." A voice whispered in her ear.
His voice raised goosebumps on her arms and she stood up in surprise. "Kyaaaahhhh!" She screamed.
"What is it, Ri—" Kiyoshi question was cut off upon seeing who was, well more like were, standing behind their coach. "Ohh, howdy."
Yes, you guessed right, it's the Generation of Miracles.
Surprisingly, they all gathered together with no one complaining about it or with no one declining on coming to Seirin.
"Kurokocchi!" Kise exclaimed and was running towards his self-proclaimed best friend, but when he was just a meter away from the teal-haired, their captain spoke with menacing tone,
"Ryouta, come back here this instant."
So, instead of running forward, Kise's feet ran backwards if that was even possible and hid behind the tallest among them all. "Scary…" He mumbled in fear.
"You idiot, you should know that you can't approach Tetsu that close when Akashi's around, you'll die." Aomine whispered.
"D-Demo…" Kise sobbed. "He's too scary."
"I heard that, Ryouta, Daiki. You'll receive a punishment later." Akashi threatened.
"No way!" The two gasped in despair.
"We're just here to watch you practice since we already finished our own team's practices. Don't mind us and resume like we're not here at all." Akashi explained as he made a menacing smile.
The Seirin basketball members gulped before nodding at one another and resumed their practice game.
~LFMH021~
"So, that was how your team practices." Akashi murmured.
Riko stood up, proudly. "Yes, and I make the training menu myself! That's why our team is very—"
"Weak." Akashi finished.
"H-HUH?!"
"It still surprises me how we were defeated at the finals when you just train like this. Maybe it was just because of your determination and perseverance that you won the Winter Cup. From what I can see, you still lack a lot and haven't fully developed each member's individual potential." The smaller red-head heaved a sigh after stating that.
Riko flinched with how sure and confident he sounded back then. And then winced when his sentences stabbed her straight to the heart. "H-How could he be so accurate…?" She mumbled in exasperation.
"Uh, Coach, it's alright." Koga comforted. "Want a banana?" He offered suddenly.
"Banana your face!" Riko yelled and threw the banana at their mascot, Nigou, who sniffed it, intelligently removed its peel and ate it with three bites. "Where the hell did you get that anyway?" She demanded at the cat-mouthed sophomore beside her.
Koga blinked then opened his bag which was filled with bananas. "I brought many of it. Want more?"
"Eeeekkk!" This time, Riko couldn't help it and threw his bag far away from her.
"Ok, what randomness is happening with your team…?" Midorima asked in confusion as he stared at the two people arguing about bananas.
"Well, just…randomness." Kagami replied with utter loss of words how to describe what was happening infront of them.
"Nice, that explained a lot." Aomine commented sarcastically.
Kagami's eyebrows furrowed. "Well then, got a better way how to describe what's happening before you?" He challenged.
The dark blue-head blinked then hummed a, "Hm…" and then nodded and said with one hundred percent confidence, "Well, just…oddness." He imitated how the red-head said it.
He earned a smack at the head for that statement of his. "Ow!"
"Mine-chin, didn't know you're a moron." Murasakibara mumbled with pure naivety and innocence.
"What was that?!" Aomine yelled and then turned at the blonde of the Miragen. "Oi, stop laughing or I'll throw you into the trash can!"
"B-But…laughs, I can't, laugh, help, laugh, it…A-Aominecchi's, laugh, a moron…" Kise said between laughter.
Midorima sighed and pushed his eyeglasses with his left hand's middle finger. "I'm still wondering why I ended up being part of the Generation of Miracles when all my teammates are like this…"
"Don't worry, I wondered the same before, Midorima-kun." Kuroko agreed, nodding his head.
Everyone quieted down and then turned his head towards him in shock.
"How long have you been there?!" Kagami demanded.
"Since the beginning." Kuroko replied. "Just too unnoticeable." He added.
"Well, if you always shows up suddenly, you'll kill everyone with heart attack!" Aomine complained.
"No, I will kill everyone close to me because of him." Kuroko murmured in a voice only himself could hear.
"What was that?" The others asked right after he raised his head.
Good thing they didn't hear me. He thought and shook his head. "Nothing. I just told myself how idiotic we all look right now, especially you guys."
"HEY!" The other members of the Generation of Miracle protested except a certain small red-head who was staring suspiciously at their phantom player.
~LFMH021~
As various arguments continued going on inside the gymnasium—Kuroko took the opportunity and grabbed his things before opening the door and leaving everyone behind.
Just walking few meters away from the place he considered as 'home' made him sad and lonely already. He knew that time would come that he would leave this place anyway but that old discovery didn't do him any good and even made his heart clench more in sadness and emptiness.
He loved basketball than anything else and loved his former and current teammates more than anyone else, but sometimes what were the most important to you were the things you would need to let go for their own sake.
"Try and escape and you'll lose everything! Don't worry, it won't last that long."
"B-But…N-No…wait, let me go! NO!"
His hands started to tremble with the memory.
He would only kill his friends if he stayed. He would only cause trouble if he continued on walking forward.
"What if I surrender…?" He mumbled.
"Surrender what?" A very familiar voice echoed behind him.
He spun around and found his former captain and most beloved Akashi Seijuro behind him. The latter was standing firmly as he placed one hand on his hip and his eyes filled with confidence and…curiosity. "A-Akashi-kun…"
"You're hiding something, aren't you, Tetsuya?"
He kept his poker face and replied, "No, I'm not."
Akashi sighed. "You can't fool me, Tetsuya. I am Akashi Seijuro and you know what my capabilities are. I know you well to know that you're hidi—"
"You don't me, at all." Kuroko cut in.
"What was that?"
"You don't know what I've been through, what I'm facing as of the moment and what my future will be. You don't know who I really am and what my past was, Akashi-kun. You don't me at all." Kuroko mumbled and turned.
Akashi blinked and grabbed the teal-head's arm. "Tetsuya, why don't you talk it with me?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Kuroko's voice still remained calm and collected although he almost wanted to tell the red-head everything and cry all the emotions he has bottled up in his heart.
"Don't try fooling me, Tetsuya! You're obviously hiding something and it started right after the Winter Cup! What is it? What is it that it's manipulating you to decline being part of the MiraGen again?"
Kuroko pulled his arm away and stared down at the ground.
"Okaa-san!"
"Run, Tetsu…run…Run as fast as you could…Stay strong!"
"I'll only be a burden if I re-join it, Akashi-kun. My level is too low and couldn't even reach any of yours. I'll only bring defeat if I become part of it. You already have Kagami-kun and the others, with just the six of you, you're already unbeatable." He mumbled, still staring at the ground.
I hate liars but I am one of them. He thought in guilt.
"Tetsuya, you're lying. Stop lying to yourself. Turn around, face me and tell me everything." Akashi whispered, his tone filled with anxiety, and comfort.
His fists clenched and he suddenly remembered that paper he received two days after the Winter Cup.
"I'm sorry, but I really need to go. If you'll excuse me." Kuroko bade and turned to walk away again.
"Tetsu—"
"Ne, Akashi-kun," Kuroko mumbled as he halted suddenly.
Unsure of what the teal-head would ask, he gulped and responded, "…What is it?"
The phantom player hid his face with his bangs and with cracking voice, asked, "Have you ever kept a very big secret?"
"Yes, of course."
"Then, what did you do back then to never let others know?"
"…Kept quiet about it…and pretended like I wasn't hiding anything." The former captain admitted.
"Then, I'm just doing the same right now." Kuroko grumbled. "Something lost never returns."
"It does." Akashi countered.
"Yes, some return but they are already not fully yours anymore. That also means that something lost will never return and I've lost enough." Kuroko retorted.
"Tetsuya, will you please—"
"Please, just leave me alone." Kuroko whispered in an obvious sob.
"Leave you alone and let you suffer alone? Do you think I'm a fool to let you bottle up everything on your own? No one's an island, Tetsuya!" Akashi demanded.
The teal-head started walking towards their school's gate. "I'm sorry, but I am." He spoke and Akashi's comment and heart shattered upon seeing the phantom player's remaining tears floating with the wind like they were some kind of bubble that reflected everything the latter felt.
Akashi looked at the gate but the blue-head was already gone. "Tetsuya…"
~LFMH021~
Kuroko reached home after several minutes, and the first thing he did right after arriving was sat down on the rocking chair where his mother usually sat at and touched his shoulder which still felt like it just felt the sharp pain yesterday.
"Your son will surely be useable to us."
"Leave him alone!"
"N-No..P-Please, let us go…N-No…wait…No, stop it, please! N-no…."
He held his head right after the memories pained it. He let the pain subdue before taking a deep breath. "Okaa-san… Onii-sama…"
He gasped when he was suddenly lifted off the ground and he was suddenly collared by Haruhiko Keiji, his oldest male cousin's, hand. "N-Nii-san…" He murmured with his still polite tone.
Haruhiko narrowed his eyes and dragged the blue-head upstairs and then threw him on the bed. "It's time."
"But, it's still early…"
"Strip or I'll call him." Haruhiko threatened as his eyes darkened.
Kuroko gulped with the threatened and slowly unbuttoned his shirt's buttons and stared at the ground as he felt disgusted with himself.
Tears poured down on his cheeks as Haruhiko's lips trailed kisses from his chin to his neck.
This is just ONE of the OTHER SECRETS Kuroko was hiding: His cousin Haruhiko Keiji uses him every night for pleasure and he couldn't decline for a reason you still mustn't know.
A/N: Like I said, that's just one of them and it's not even the main one.
I made a lot of mistakes, didn't I?
I beg your pardon about them!
Thanks a lot for all the reviews I received at the first chapter!
I hope that you liked it although I know it wasn't as interesting as you thought, was it?
PLEASE DO REVIEW, REVIEW,REVIEW!
