Disclaimer: All canon characters and canon events belong to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

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SPARK

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Tomoko was humming a small tune as she gathered the freshly baked brownies that she just made into a plastic container. During the week, the class instructor had droned on about all of the safety precautions and methods of cooking, and today they were finally able to make something.

The sweets would have finished earlier if she didn't accidentally put in salt instead of sugar, however, so starting over with a new batter took away some time.

"Okuma-san, you haven't left yet? The bell rang already," the foods instructor called from behind her desk.

"I'm almost done, Hanase-sensei! I just need to put these pans away," Tomoko replied, waving said metal pans in the air. One came down and clunked her on the head. "Ow..."

The teacher chuckled, "Alright. I just don't want you to be late for your other activities."

That's right, I have basketball right after this! How can I forget about the time! She quickly gathered everything up and made sure the oven and cooking equipment were properly closed and put away, then she saluted the teacher and sprinted out the door. Riko-san is probably expecting me to be at practice already.

As she flew past the long corridors of the hall, she glanced out the many identical windows down at the courtyard and saw the sports teams already warming up for their prospective sports. An event from earlier this week surfaced in her mind and she couldn't help but let out a small giggle. The Seirin basketball coach had all of the players gathered on top of the roof in the morning to declare their goals for playing basketball, and if they fail, the consequence was dire.

They have to confess to the girl they like, naked.

Almost every player went, but the principal came and stopped Kuroko before he could say his. She already knew what his goal was, though, and despite not being able to verbalize it, he came up with a creative way to show their coach. The message was scrawled across the dirt courtyard.

"We will be the best in Japan."

Tomoko vowed to help out on that as well as the promise to bring Kuroko's teammates back. After all, basketball is only fun when you truly enjoy it.

It shouldn't be too hard, right?

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two

first impressions are always important

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Upon arriving to the gymnasium, Tomoko found the first-years and regulars practicing shooting hoops.

As usual, Kagami dunked each ball with insane force and energy.

"Hey Kodamei-kun!" Tomoko called as she walked up to the cat-like small forward of the team who was taking a short break, not realizing that she'd called him by the wrong name. "What's everyone up to?"

"Eh, Okuma-chan, my name is Koganei~" the male was hurt with tears streaming down his face.

"A-ah, I'm sorry," she apologized sheepishly. Having to remember all of the basketball player's name proved to be somewhat harder than she thought, especially since she didn't have any classes with the second-years. "Koga-kun then!"

But Koganei recovered quite quickly upon the cute caramel haired girl's apology. The cat-like expression was back on his face as he peered into the container Tomoko was holding in her hands. It gave off a heavenly scent of baked goods, and his mouth started to water. "What's in that container?!"

"Oh, this? It's the brownies I baked in foods class. I was going to share it with the basketball team."

"...Really?!"

"Yup!"

"Okuma-chan, you're the best!"

The rest of the team turned their heads at the second-year's loud exclaimation and widened their eyes as they witnessed the small forward throwing himself onto the smaller girl. It was a good thing Tomoko was fast to react and side-stepped just before the loud male could make contact.

Needless to say, he crashed painfully onto the ground.

Kuroko was immediately at her side. "Hello, Okuma-san."

"Woah Kuroko! Since when did you get here?!" the rest of the team was in shock to see the blue haired boy, as did Tomoko, but for the reason that he suddenly appeared next to her without warning. The rest all swore they've never seen the boy come in to practice with them.

"I've been here the entire time."

"No presence..." Izuki muttered, "...but he was present?"

"Amazing as always, Izuki-senpai!" Tomoko praised with stars in her eyes. She decided she needed to learn more from the master—was she gladder than ever that she came to Seirin. "Anyway, you guys are just shooting hoops today? Where's Riko-san?"

The team looked around for their (drill sergeant) coach, who was still nowhere to be seen in the gymnasium. Usually, she would be the first one here to slap her training plan in their faces... but the team wasn't complaining. Hyuuga propped his glasses higher up on his nose.

"I only know that she was looking for an opponent for our practice match earlier."

"Oh!" one of the first-years, Furihata, clamped a fist down on his open palm in realization. "I saw coach on the way here. She was skipping cheerfully."

"She was... Skipping?!" The basketball captain suddenly looked very nervous.

"Yeah, and she said to continue practice like usual. It looks like she found a team, huh? I wonder who it will be..." Kawahara said, his mind wandering off with excitement.

Tomoko glanced at Kagami. She could tell that he was excited too; he had been brooding all week about not being able to play any schools on top of Riko's vigorous training, and was itching for a match already. Being a practice match, the school couldn't be too far away, right? She was anticipating to watch the team play.

"You guys better watch out... If that girl is skipping, then we're in big trouble. It means that our opponent will be really strong," Hyuuga warned his team. They seemed to cower slightly at his absolutely serious expression.

"Ha? That's perfect. I can't wait!" Kagami said, a fire lit within his eyes.

"I'm excited as well," Kuroko agreed next to him, though his expression was blank.

At that moment, Riko poked her head out from the doors of the gymnasium with a wide grin on her face. Even the first-years could tell that it was not a good sign.

"I'm back! What are you guys doing, just standing there?" she asked, giddily. The team scrabbled to grab a ball as she said that. "We have to practice hard, I got us a match with Kaijo High in Kanagawa next week~"

"Kaijo?" Kuroko asked, brows furrowing.

His sudden appearance nearly gave the giddy coach an acute heart attack, who, because of the boy's low presence, had failed to see that he was there. "Kuroko!" she sighed in relief, her expression then coming back to one of pure happiness. "But yes, Kaijo. I heard that they recruited one of the members from the Generation of Miracles this year."

"WHAT?!"

To say everyone was shocked was an understatement. The coach shrugged it off and skipped happily to the locker room, turning back only to remind the team that they better start training their ass off. Internally, Tomoko could not be more stoked to go to this game now; her mission was finally beginning. She looked at Kuroko, who had a determined look that also mirrored his new partner, Kagami's.

Seirin is a talented team...

"The Generation of Miracles!"

"Who was it again that went there?"

"Can we really beat them? Kaijo participates in Interhigh every year!"

Kagami snorted at his fellow teammate's chatter, "Oi, don't take us lightly. I'll beat whoever it is."

So I believe in them.

"Ka-kun's right, we can win if we do our best!" Tomoko cheered, purposely ignoring the redhead's glare. She then remembered the forgotten baked goods and grinned. "So practice hard, guys! I'll reward you all with brownies after practice~"

In the next few days, the Seirin basketball team trained hard for the upcoming practice game. Tomoko was frequently going out to the store to buy all of the players their energy drinks.

That's what she was doing right now.

She stepped out of the store, taking a moment and counted the bottles inside the plastic bag to make sure that she got the right brands and number of drinks for everyone.

It was a good thing they weren't too picky about the beverage, but Kagami requested over three bottles for himself.

That boy sure eat and drink like a monster, she thought. Shrugging, she quickly made her way back to the school gymnasium so the team wouldn't have to wait too long. When she was nearing Seirin, her phone beeped, signaling a text message.

...

From: Okuma Ichirou

To: Okuma Tomoko

Hey, I'm coming home to visit this weekend! Remind me of the new address?

(17:06)

...

Tomoko smiled down at her device. Despite his hard-working nature, he was very forgetful.

Her brother was twenty years old and went to an university in Akita, which was quite a few hours away from her new home in Tokyo. Tomoko hasn't seen him in a while since she was so busy with moving so she was thrilled.

...

From: Okuma Tomoko

To: Okuma Ichirou

Did you forget already? Still same as always, Ichi-nii! It's Golden Place #105, 12-choume.

(17:08)

...

After looking it over once to make sure she typed the address right, she hit the send button. As she was trying to stuff the phone back into her skirt pocket, the plastic bag on her arm slipped and a few bottles of energy drinks rolled out and down the sidewalk.

Tomoko ran after the runaway drinks with a pout. "Ahhh, come back, bottles!" They continued to roll until it hit someone's shoe, in which the stranger bent down and picked it up.

"Here~"

"Th-Thank you," she said, out of breath from the chase.

Looking up, she reached out to retrieve the drinks but she suddenly paused. A very handsome young man in an ironed gray suit was beaming softly at her. He had perfect blonde hair and molten pools of gold for eyes.

He looked very familiar.

"Ar—"

"Hey," the blonde said suddenly, noticing her school uniform, "you're from Seirin, right? Can you show me where the gymnasium is located?"

"Huh? Oh, sure," Tomoko said, momentarily pushing aside her last thought. "I'm heading there. Follow me!"

Kise Ryouta smiled. It looks like his charm was working well. He followed the caramel haired girl as she led him across the courtyard and through the side doors, where it led to the gymnasium.

However, his appearance was causing a scene with the females of Seirin. They spotted and recognized him right away, being a popular teen model and all, and fans immediately crowded around him like a mob.

"It's him!"

"Kise-kun, what are you doing here?"

"Kyaa, I'm so lucky!"

The sudden mob left Tomoko flabbergasted and crawling away for air. What the...? She gazed at the blonde intently, and suddenly, her mind clicked. Kise Ryouta, he is one of the Generation of Miracles!

"There you are, Okuma-chan! You were gone for so long," Riko pulled the girl back to where the team was practicing. She frowned at the commotion at the entrance of the gymnasium. "What's going on?"

"Uh, I didn't mean for this to happen," the blonde male apologized sheepishly even as he was still passing out his autographs for the heart-eyed girls.

"It's good to see you again," Kuroko nodded his head at his former teammate. Tomoko looked at them and saw that the atmosphere was a little tense between the two.

This is one of the five who made Kuroko-kun almost give up on basketball?

"I've wanted to ask, why were you standing outside of our school?" Tomoko asked, a bit irritated that his fans almost trampled her earlier.

"Oh, I still need to thank you for bringing me in! Will you like an autograph?"

Tomoko blinked. "Um. No?"

"Whaaa?" the blonde seemed surprised at the rejection, but then his face sobered down to a small grin. "Okay, to answer your question then. When I heard that we'll be playing Seirin, I remembered that Kuroko-cchi went there, so I came to see him. We were best friends."

"Not really," Kuroko stated bluntly.

Tears immediately formed around Kise's eyes. "You're so mean!"

He's somewhat... An idiot.

"That's...Kise Ryouta," Furihata relayed the stats and information he read from the Monthly Basketball Magazine back to his team. They looked at the blonde model in wonder.

"I'm not that great, honestly, the article is exaggerating," Kise said with embarrassment, "I'm the worst of the bunch. That's why I was bullied along with Kuroko-cchi so much in middle school."

"It never happened to me," Kuroko answered again with a straight face.

"It was only me then?!"

...Really, Tomoko laughed to herself. But, she wasn't going to let that slide. It was thegolden opportunity! "Kise Ryouta!" she jumped in front of him as she pointed a finger at his face with a serious expression.

"Ah, yes?" he smiled sweetly at her.

"I—!" Just then, a basketball came flying in the direction of the two, and before anyone could comprehend what was happening...

It hit Tomoko square on the back of her head.

"BAKA! Bakagami!" Riko screamed as she quickly ran to the falling girl. Since Kise was right next to her, she was thankful that the model caught the team's manager on time.

The whole team glared at Kagami with a killing intent.

"O-Oi, I d-didn't mean to hit h-her...!"

"Whush-pa?" Tomoko said dizzily in the blonde's arms. She was okay, but her vision was a little blurry from the force of the hit. Blinking a few times seemed to work in gaining back her sight. "What was that for, Ka-kun? I was just about to start my oh-so-amazing declaration!"

"Y-You were in the way, Okuma! I was going to challenge him!" Kagami barked back, though his form was slowing shrinking with the still glaring eyes of the Seirin coach. She pounced him and forced him into a headlock.

Tomoko pulled away from Kise's embrace, oblivious to the fact that some girls would kill to be in the hansome model's arms, and tried to stand. She wobbled a little and this time Kuroko came up next to her and steadied her footing.

"Thanks, Kuroko-kun," she smiled and leaned half of her weight on her friend. Her head felt woozy. "Anyway, Kise Ryouta!" she once again continued and the team sweat-dropped.

"Ummm, are you okay?" Kise squeaked this time.

"You were one of the people who made Kuroko-kun sad with your valueless basketball!"

"M-My valueless basketball...?"

Tomoko's salmon eyes zeroed in on his golden orbs. "That's right! All you guys care about is winning, and that's not what is most important about playing basketball."

"Ha? Why does it matter?" Kise frowned. Who was this girl and why was she telling him this? Did he happen to rub her the wrong way in the past?

"It matters a lot!" she protested. From her peripheral vision she could see Kagami struggling to get away from the demonic coach. "Your basketball is nothing without passion. And even if Kuroko-kun thinks that Ka-kun can't reach your feet right now, I believe that he can—with one hand tied to his back!"

"O-Okuma-chan!" The group shouted with exasperation. Did the girl even realize what she was saying?

"I challenge you to a one-on-one! With Kagami!"

Kagami, although a little annoyed that he didn't get to initiate the challenge himself, didn't oppose nonetheless to having a one-on-one with Kise. "Yeah, don't tell me you just came here to greet us. Why don't you play with me a little, pretty boy?" he smirked.

"What? But I just..." Kise was at loss about this salmon eyed girl. I don't even know her, and she seems to hate me...! But he wouldn't back down from a challenge, either—he wanted to see why Kuroko was adamant about picking Seirin of all schools. "Fine, let's do it."

Riko let out a sigh. "Unbelievable."

Tomoko and Kuroko stood besides the Seirin coach, the girl radiating off a lopsided grin. "This will be fun!"

"This could be bad," the blue haired boy corrected. She looked at his expression and knew immediately what he was talking about. She had prodded him to tell her more about the blonde Kaijo player just the other day.

"He learns to play as soon as he sees them and makes them his own."

Sure enough, as soon as the two started to move on the court, Kise smirked and took off with the ball and passed Kagami with a spin, much like the redhead had did earlier and easily made the dunk.

"The Generation of Miracles has improved far more quickly than I expected," Kuroko said with a serious tone.

He was better and stronger. Kagami was left falling to the ground.

"He easily defeated Kagami! Okuma-chan, didn't you say that Kagami could beat him? And with one hand tied?!" Tsuchida cried as the first-years and regulars all looked at her, wondering the same thing.

"I said that Ka-kun could reach Kise Ryouta's feet. I didn't say anything about beating him..." Tomoko chuckled behind Kuroko, a hand scratching the back of her head sheepishly.

"Okuma-chan!"

"Heh heh..." she grinned, but in the inside she was struck with amazement.

His capability to perform a copy of every move really is impressive...

"This won't do... After something so disappointing, I can't just leave now," Kise said as he walked towards the team. "Give us Kuroko-cchi."

Everyone looked bewildered at the request. Huh?

"Come join us," he lent out a hand to Kuroko. "Let's play basketball together again."

Tomoko was frowning at the blonde's obnoxious request. He was practically looking down at Seirin, at her team who worked so hard everyday because of their passion for basketball. "No," she stepped between Kise and Kuroko, her arms spread out to prevent the blonde from coming any closer. "Kuroko-kun is mine."

Blink.

Blink.

"EHHHHHHHH?!" the guys in the gym all chorused. Does Okuma Tomoko have a crush on their phantom player?!

"Kuroko-kun belongs to us because he chose Seirin, not Kaijo. You can't just waltz in and take him! So I'm sure Kuroko-kun feels the same way when I say that he won't go with you," Tomoko elaborated, oblivious to the speculations that was currently going around. Though, the team soon sighed when they realized that the girl was just very straightforward with her words.

"But..." Kise pouted cutely, "Kuroko-cchi would fair so much better with us! It would be a waste of his talent if he stayed here."

"That's what you think," Tomoko huffed, a determined glint in her eyes. "We will show you just what 'a waste of talent' Kuroko-kun will be with Kaijo when we show you guys what Seirin can do at the game!"

There she goes again, making bold statements. But the team agreed wholeheartedly.

"Yes Kise-kun, though I am honored," Kuroko said, bowing, "I will have to decline your offer."

"Geez..." Kise sighed when he went on his way back home. It didn't even make any sense... why would Kuroko stay in Seirin? Wasn't winning everything?

"My thinking has changed since then."

He walked down the streets, replaying what the boy had told him. Kuroko was never one to joke about things like that. Were the Generation of Miracles not important to him anymore? Kise couldn't believe it.

"I've promised Kagami-kun that we'd beat you, the Generation of Miracles."

And the girl... Okuma Tomoko, was it? Kise thought, furrowing his perfect brows slightly. She was an interesting character; he had thought that she was one of his fans, but that clearly wasn't the case. It was... sort of refreshing... and kind of scary.

"Just remember that this is war, Kise Ryouta!"

A pout made its way to his lips as his expression turned animated. But why does such a pretty girl have some kind of mission against me?!

"Because along with Kagami Taiga, Okuma Tomoko has also become my new light."

-Kuroko Tetsuya

Kise makes my day happier. XD

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