A/N: What up? Some important things to note;
I'm going to rework the timeline a bit. If you've read my other stories, you'll be familiar with this. I like to explain these inconsistencies because it stops people from bugging me about it later; I need Seirin to be three years old instead of 2 years old so here's how it goes; 3 years ago, Seirin opens; the tennis club is founded by Tezuka Kunimitsu; recent graduate of Seishun Gakuen. A year later, Kiyoshi Teppei and Hyuuga Junpei enrol as freshmen and set up the basketball club. The next year is the current year with Kuroko and Kagami. Essentially, I'm adding an extra year to Seirin's founding, but keeping everyone the same age.
Another thing; this story is very fluid at the moment. I've got the next four or five chapters written, but I'm not entirely sure about how I want the plot to progress. So I'm letting you guys have your say!
Would you guys like a Romance Subplot? Note that it would be a SUBPLOT. (nearly all my multi-chapter stories have a key romantic feature because I enjoy writing a romance theme)
If yes; what pairing would you guys like? RyomaxSakuno? KurokoxSakuno? KurokoxRyoma? I've never written Yaoi and I don't plan to; it would be shounen ai at best if that's what you want. (i've got nothing against yaoi, i just don't write that sort of thing well, i'm very vanilla when it comes to my romance writing)
Or would you prefer absolutely no romance?
Are there any other scenes/subplots you guys would like to see?
Let me know in a review, I'd be happy to take on requests and work them into the story if I feel it's appropriate.
Just to let you know, I do have a general trajectory. Don't be scared that this fic will be a random waffle of crap; it will have a plot.
Final note
I REALISE THIS IS IN THE WRONG CATERGORY. It should be under KnBxPoT crossovers. I will get around to fixing this in the near-ish future. I was half brain dead when I posted this, I apologise. I've got a lot going on this week, so I'll figure out how to move it later.
~Changing Pace~
Chapter 2: We Make New Friends
Once Kuroko handed in his Tennis form, he made his way into the school building. He dodged and side stepped his way to the classroom, going unnoticed by all who passed him by. There weren't many people in the classroom yet, so Kuroko chose a seat near the back. He continued reading his book until a familiar face entered the room and dropped a bag next to the table in front of him.
"Echizen kun," He said in greeting, closing his book and laying it on the table.
Ryoma gave a start and turned around. He hadn't noticed the blue haired boy and had picked the seat purely by coincidence.
"That's a bad habit of yours, Kuroko kun," He said with a small smile. He was not entirely surprised to see Kuroko sitting behind him. Over the Summer, they had swapped many stories while Kuroko learned the ins and outs of tennis, including what school they would attend the following Spring.
"How was your…" Kuroko began but was interrupted by a piercing squeal.
"Ryoma sama!" shrieked a girl with two short, curly pigtails.
Ryoma sighed, ignoring the overbearing girl as she ran up to his table.
"It's so devastating that I can't be in the same class as you this year!" the girl wailed loudly, "Sakuno gets to, though, so lucky!"
A smaller, quieter girl smiled her hello. Ryoma nodded, albeit reluctantly.
"Friends of yours?" Kuroko asked.
The loud girl gave a shriek, "Who said that?" She asked, flicking her head around dramatically, looking for the source of the voice.
"Me," Kuroko replied, his face impassive, as always.
"Oh, my god, you gave me a heart attack! I didn't even notice you!" she continued loudly.
Ryoma rubbed his temple in annoyance.
"Are you Ryoma sama's friend?" She stalked up to Kuroko's table and scrutinised him thoroughly, "But wait, you didn't go to Seishun Gakuen!"
Kuroko blinked. He looked over to Ryoma and just barely raised an eyebrow.
"I met Ryoma sama over the Summer," Kuroko said evenly. Ryoma blushed in embarrassment, but was saved by a new, equally loud voice.
"Echizen! Osakda!, Ryuuzaki!"
Three boys entered the classroom and immediately gathered around Ryoma's desk, asking him how his trip to America was. Ryoma gave his usual curt replies, but his friends didn't mind, seemingly used to the boy's abrasiveness.
"Ryoma sama sure is popular," Kuroko noted once the bell rang the three boys and the loud girl had left to return to their own classroom. The quiet girl with the twin braids took an empty seat next to Kuroko, since the seats next to Ryoma were already taken by two other girls who were sneaking glances at Ryoma.
Ryoma blushed again, "Don't call me that," he said making a face almost like a pout, "Ryoma is fine. And they were friends from middle school,"
Kuroko looked to the girl next to him, "You all went to the same middle school?"
She nodded, her face going a bright shade of pink. She didn't raise her head to meet Kuroko's gaze, choosing instead to stare at the floor, "Seirin is the elevator school to Seishun Gakuen. It's only been built recently, but most Seigaku graduates join Seirin High," she said with a slight stutter.
Kuroko nodded. The class fell silent as the teacher walked in, but the sudden quiet was broken by the sound of the door being slammed open.
A booming voice echoed through the room, "I'm not late, am I?" A giant red haired boy asked loudly.
The teacher was not amused by the interruption.
"Uh…crap, sorry, I was signing up for the basketball club and…"
The teacher waved off his explanation and allowed the boy to take his seat without a detention, since it was only the first day. The boy sighed in relief and moved to sit in the last available seat; on the right of Kuroko and next to a window.
Lunch came and went, Kuroko declined to have lunch with Ryoma and his loud middle school friends, opting instead to read a book on the rooftop. After lunch they had two classes before the end of the school day. Last period was English. It would have been an uneventful class, as the ones before it were, but the tall red haired boy had forgotten his textbook. Kuroko offered to share. The red head reacted to Kuroko as everyone else did; with shock and surprise when he noticed that Kuroko existed.
As class wore on, Kuroko learnt that Kagami was terrific at spoken English; when Kuroko read a sentence aloud, Kagami was easily able to translate it. However, the returnee was terrible at written English. Kuroko on the other hand, had the opposite problem; his accent was horrible, but his reading was passable. They agreed to help each other out for the rest of the class.
"Thanks, for that," Kagami said to the bluenette, passing back the textbook as they packed up for the day.
"No need to thank me Kagami kun," He said simply.
Kuroko introduced Kagami to Ryoma and the two seemed to instantly rub each other the wrong way. Kagami sized up the smaller teen like a lion sizing up potential prey.
"You smell like a challenge," Kagami grinned with a feral gleam in his eye.
"Did you say I smell?" Ryoma asked with a cocked eyebrow, wondering whether he should be offended.
They devolved into an argument from there. Kagami muttered an insult in English, Ryoma replied back with his own English insults and the two traded swear words at each other. Kuroko smiled faintly; both reminded him slightly of his middle school friend, Aomine.
They made their way to the shoe lockers and changed into their normal shoes.
"Are you going home, Kuroko?" Kagami asked, pointedly ignoring Ryoma.
"No, I've joined the tennis club,"
"Really?" Ryoma asked in surprise.
Kuroko shrugged, "School regulations say everyone has to join a club,"
"Tennis, though? How boring," Kagami rolled his eyes, "You guys should do basketball,"
"Basketball is stupid," Ryoma shot back.
They continued their arguments into the changing room. Eventually they parted ways, Kagami heading toward the basketball courts and Ryoma and Kuroko heading toward the tennis courts.
Ryoma was immediately welcomed like a long lost family member. Upperclassmen jumped on the smaller boy, glomping him excitedly and asking him how his trip was. The other three freshmen from that morning were also there, warming up.
"Oi! Ochibi! Did you learn much over in America?" a tall male with spiky black hair asked. He had an elbow on his underclassman's head and was resting on him like a table counter. Ryoma took it in stride, seemingly annoyed, but not enough to shrug the boy off.
"I learnt a lot, Momo senpai. Ready for a rematch already?" The taller boy ruffled Ryoma's cap playfully.
"Ne, ne, Seigaku, finally back together!" another voice broke in happily. This boy had red hair that curled slightly at the ends.
"It is nice to be whole again," A boy wearing a black skullcap agreed.
Kuroko stood to the side, unsure of what to do. Training seemed to be temporarily halted for the reunion gathering. Ryoma looked over to him and gestured for him to come and meet his friends.
"Kuroko kun, these are my senpai from middle school," he said.
"Ochibi, who are you talking to…ah!" The dark haired boy made a shocked noise when he noticed Kuroko standing next to him.
"Hello, senpai," He said formally.
"This is Kikumaru senpai, Oishi Senpai, Fuji senpai, Inui senpai, Momo senpai and Kawamura senpai," Kaidoh was standing off to the side, declining to join in the happy huddle.
"Ne, ne, Ochibi actually made a friend? No way!"
"Kikumaru senpai is an ass,"
"I kid, I kid," Kikumaru replied with a laugh. Their banter was cut off by a loud, authoritative voice;
"Why is there no warm up happening?"
Kuroko looked to see a tall teen with rectangular glasses stride onto court. He had a powerful aura reminiscent of Akashi and the same stern expression.
"Captain, look, Echizen's back!"
The captain spared a look at Ryoma and nodded. Ryoma nodded back.
And that was enough for the two of them. The captain looked around the court and took a deep breath, "Let's begin," He called loudly, "First years, gather in,"
Kuroko, Ryoma, Ryoma's three friends and a bunch of other freshman followed the captain onto the main tennis courts.
"I am Kunimitsu Tezuka, your third year captain. I recognise a lot of familiar faces and I see some new ones. I hope you are all ready to get some work done," He said simply.
He began by setting the entire club, first through to third years, a jogging warm up. Kuroko was able to keep up with the first years, but was easily overtaken by the regulars. He was the first to drop out after 20 laps. The tennis courts were smaller than the basketball courts that he was used to running around, but that just meant he had to do more laps before he could collapse.
About three to four laps later the other freshman collapsed as well.
The captain took careful note of this.
After the warm up, Tezuka ran footwork drills. Kuroko was able to keep up with most of this, having had a crash course with Ryoma during the holidays.
After the warm up and drills, Tezuka called them back in. All of the first years were panting hard; Kuroko had collapsed face down on the floor a couple of times, with no one noticing save Ryoma, who was used to Kuroko's terrible stamina.
"We are going to set up a ranking tournament to determine who will be in the first, second and third strings and who will be part of the Regulars," He announced.
He brought out a whiteboard filled with lines and names, denoting the match ups for the ranking tournament.
The current Regulars stood near the back, with Ryoma.
"Hey, Ochibi, is your friend any good?" Momo asked. The other Regulars leaned in, curious to hear Ryoma's answer.
He smirked, "I trained him personally,"
The group of Regulars looked at the small, blue haired boy, sweating buckets and looking very much worse for wear. They decided not to underestimate him.
End of Chapter 2
Ooooh, next time we get to see Kuroko's tennis playing. Will he be good? Will he be awful? Will he be able to use misdirection? I know the answers to these questions, and so will you, next time!
Future chapters will include Kise's visit to Seirin. He's in for a shock when he realises Kuroko's not part of the basketball team! How will he react? Find out soon :D
Please review if you enjoyed my story; feel free to let me know your opinions on where the story should go and if you'd like any romance.
Thanks!
:D Laughing on the Inside :D