Chapter 2: I'm Serious
"Wah! Wah! Waah!" screamed a baby boy being rocked in the arms of a certain blue-haired girl.
"Shh, shh, it's okay, it's okay. No need to cry. There, there. There, there." She said, soothing the crying boy, which was working.
"My, it's been a while, hasn't it?" She heard a voice from behind her. She shakily turned around to see someone who she wished she would never have to see again.
"You…" she said in a scared voice while holding Tetsuya close to her chest. "No, it can't be." She took a step back in fear.
"Heh, heh, did you really think you could escape from me? Kuroko, Kuroko, you may be invisible to some people, but not to me~." The person said in a freighting voice as they moved closer to the girl and child. However, the girl quickly turned tail and ran.
"I, I have to…g-get away! Or, or he'll get us!" the girl thought scared as she ran. However, she tripped and fell on her side.
"Nice try, sweetie~." Kuroko looked up to see the person, along with two shadowy figures. They gestured the two figures, who went up to the girl and take the baby away from her.
"No! Give him back! Please give him back to me!" she shouted trying to take back the child, but someone grabs her hair and pulls her back down.
"Oh no you don't. Remember, you belong to me~." the person says and leans in close to the frightened girl.
"No, somebody, please help me!" the girl thought scarred as the person leaned closer and she could see a yellowish-orange eye staring at her. "NO!" she screams.
*Beep!* *Beep!*
Kuroko awoke at the sound of her alarm, panting and sweating in fear and panic. She immediately sat up in bed and shut off her alarm. Then something came to her mind.
"Tetsuya!" she said hopping out of bed and rushed over to a crib. She looked inside to see a sleeping baby boy with blue hair, and she breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank god, you're safe. Don't worry. I'll protect you, forever." She promised picking up the bundle and hugging him close to her chest, as small tears began trickling out her blue eyes.
-Later at school with Kagami-
"Huh? What do you mean I can't play in a game yet?!" Kagami asked Hyuga.
"Because, you're still a trial member, you're not an official club member yet." Hyuga replied, and Kagami stays still.
"Man, nothing beats cultivating talent." Riko sighed as she looked over her data then went to drinking her milk.
"Coach!" someone suddenly said while pounding the desk, and surprising Riko, who spurts out her milk at the person.
"Coach, give me an official club membership form." Kagami requested, having wiped the milk from his face.
"What is with you today? You too?" Riko asked annoyed.
"Too?" Kagami asked and Riko explained that Kuroko showed up out of nowhere asking for a club membership form too.
"That brat." Kagami sighed.
"Just how impatient are you rascals?" the girl said annoyed.
"What did you call me?" the redhead asked while the girl turns to her records.
"Well, you both have potential, and we have room on the bench, so we'd be happy to have you." Riko said handing the boy a form, who gratefully took it.
"Awesome, now I can play in a game, right?" he said and began leaving.
"Hold it right there." Riko said, stopping the man in his tracks and looks at the girl. "I'll only accept your form on Monday at 8:40 on the roof." She explained.
Later, Kagami went walking down the school halls, but he stopped when he noticed something on a billboard. It was newspaper clipping that read:
Basketball Rookie game
"Kanto Tournament Debut!"
"He wasn't kidding." Kagami said to himself.
"Yes, they're strong." The redhead jumped and looked to his left to see a certain petite blue-haired girl.
"Ah! Why can't you show up normally?! Quit popping in out of nowhere!" the tiger shouted startled. Kuroko remains emotionless and just shushes Kagami while pointing to a sign that said "Library". This just pisses the boy off more.
"Are you making fun of me? You are making fun of me, aren't you?!" Kagami asked annoyed while grabbing the small girl's head with a scary look.
"No." Kuroko replied with her usual blank expression, and Kagami lets her go. "Owie, that hurt." She said while rubbing her head cutely.
"I don't believe it." The boy thought. "How could anyone call an invisible kid like her, the phantom sixth member? How did that happen anyway?" he thought turning his attention back to the latter. "I mean, the rest of the "Generation of Miracles" all went to play for strong schools. So why didn't she go with them?"
"Hey Kuroko." Kagami asked but was shocked when he found the girl gone. "Seriously?! How does she do that?!" he mentally asked himself while looking around for the girl.
-Monday on the roof-
Riko was waiting for the first-years on the school roof. She was in a pose that showed off her confidence and pride, and had a serious look on her face.
"I've been waiting for you." She said in an masculine voice, shocking the freshmen.
"Are you stupid?" Kagami said to himself.
"Is this a duel?" Kuroko said.
"I forgot about it, but Monday is…The morning assembly is in 5 minutes!" Kagami shouted his voice echoing. "Hurry up, and take it." He said annoyed, having pulled out his form.
"Before that, I have something to tell you." Riko said, confusing the first-years. "I made a promise when the captain asked me to be his coach last year. I promised to focus solely on pushing the team towards the national championship. If you don't think you're ready for that, there are other clubs better suited to you."
"What? Of course I'm…"
"I know you're strong." Riko cut Kagami off. "But I need to know if you have something even more important. No matter how hard you practice, "someday" or "maybe" aren't good enough. I need to know if you have ambitious goals and the will to accomplish them.
"Give me your year, class, and name. Announce your goals here and now." She demanded in a strong voice. "If you fail to achieve them, you shall come back up here, strip naked and confess your feelings to the girl you love." She explained with an intense look in her eyes.
"Eh?!" the first-years, except Kagami and Tetsuna, shout.
"All the second-years did it last year." Riko added.
"What? No one told me about this?" one of the first-years complained.
"Well, I heard about when I was recruited." Another said.
"But I didn't think they'd actually…" another joined.
"Like I said before, I'm looking for something concrete and reasonably ambitions. You'll have to do better that just "play in my first game" or "do my best"." Riko explained.
"This'll be easy." Kagami suddenly said and began walking forward. "This isn't even a test." He said and jumped onto the railing. (AN: Kids, don't try this at home). He then took a deep breath, and shouted…
"Class 1-b, number 5, Taiga Kagami. I will defeat the Generation of Miracles and become the best player in all of Japan!" he shouted with such fury in his voice, startling everyone.
"Is she doing that again this year?" Hyuga mentally asked himself. Back on the roof, Kagami hopped off the railing and went back to the others.
"So who's next?" Riko asked, and all the others flinch. "If you don't hurry up, the teachers will get here." The girl warned.
"Excuse me." A boy said. "Could I say I want a girlfriend?" he asked.
"Nope." Riko replied with a smile. "What else do you have to say?" she asks.
"I-I've got one." Another bot spoke up and went to the railing. "Class 1-A, Koichi Kawahara, from Chuo-ku, Tokyo." (AN: I'm going to skip this one since I'm lazy)
"Class 1-D, Hiroshi Fukuda. I like helping others, so when I heard an upperclassman asking for help, I immediately offered my assistance!" Another boy shouted then it was the next one's turn.
"Class 1-D, Koki Furihata. The girl I like said she'd go out with me if I became the best at something. I joined the basketball team to become number one!" he shouted across the field.
"Doing this really helped us focus last year." Hyuga thought on the ground. "This could be a good tradition." Back to the roof.
"If that's not good enough, I don't mind if I can't join the team." Koi said to Riko.
"I guess I'm moved." She said crossing her arms and turns to the others "Who's next?" she asked.
"Excuse me." Riko turned to see Kuroko. "I'm not good at speaking loudly so can I use this?" the blue haired girl asked holding up a megaphone.
"Where did you get that?" Riko asked taken aback. Kuroko then proceeded to say something, but is interrupted when a teacher burst through the door yelling, and the club ended up being scolded.
Later, Kagami was once again at the same fast food joint, getting a mountain of hamburgers, and went to sit by a window.
"Geez, I can't believe he got so mad over a little shouting." He groaned as he began eating.
"I didn't even get to finish and I got in trouble too." Kagami heard and realized once again, Kuroko was at his seat. The taller teen gulped his bite, and turned to the girl.
"You again?" he said then realized she had Tetsuya with her. "And your little brother. Oi." He groaned, not seeing the girl grip the sleeping baby a little. "Maybe I should go somewhere else." He said quietly.
"We aren't allowed on the roof anymore. What will we do if we can't join the team?" the girl spoke up and took a sip of her shake.
"That's not gonna happen." Kagami said in an overconfident voice.
"We'll see." Tetsuna said and caressed the baby's face.
"By the way, why didn't you go to some big-named school like the other five?" Kagami asked the girl. "You were good enough to be known as the phantom sixth member." Kuroko just stays quiet and takes a swig from her drink. "Is there some reason you play basket?" the redhead asked.
"My middle school's basketball had one core principle. Winning is everything. Instead of teamwork, we needed to push the individual talents of the Generation of Miracles to win. Nothing could beat us, but we weren't a team. The five of them approved, but I felt we lacked something important." The girl explained.
"So, what? Are you gonna beat the Generation of Miracles your own way?" Kagami asked.
"That's what I was thinking." Kuroko replied.
"Seriously?" the redhead said taken aback.
"Your words and the coach's words really struck me." She added, ignoring the baby chewing on her hair. "Now my biggest reason to play is trying to make you and our team the best in Japan."
"We're not gonna try." Kagami said standing up. "We're going to be the best." He added with fire, and Kuroko smiled.
-The next day-
Kagami walked into his classroom, only to see a bunch of students by the window.
"What's all the commotion?" he thought and walked up to the window too. As he looked out he saw something written on the school field. It read:
*We will be the best in Japan*
Kagami smirked knowing who did it. He looked to his left to see Kuroko silently sitting at her desk while reading a book.
Later in the basketball club locker room, the members were changing clothes when one noticed a magazine on a bench.
"Huh? Is this…?" Koganei said picking it up. "Didn't this issue come out when Kuroko was at Teiko?" he says, and shows it to Hyuga.
"Hmm, all the players are featured." Hyuga said as the two flipped through the book. "Kuroko…doesn't have an article."
"Even though she was the sixth member?" Koganei asked.
*Knock**Knock*
"Come in." Hyuga said and Kuroko entered through the door.
"I came to check on you guys." she said then noticed the magazine. "Oh, I remember that article."
"Hey, by the way, why didn't you get interviewed?" Koganei asked the girl.
"I was, but they forgot about me." The girl replied bluntly.
"How sad." The other guys all thought.
"Besides, I'm not like the others. They're true prodigies." Kuroko continued when someone came in behind her. It was Hiroshi and he seemed energetic.
"She's back! The coach is back!" he shouted grabbing everyone's attention. "We're going to have a practice." He announced.
"I wonder who we're playing." Hyuga asked.
"Who knows? She was skipping for some reason though." Hiroshi replied, causing Hyuga to flinch.
"What? She was skipping?!" Hyuga asked obviously nervous for some reason. "Oi, you guys better be prepared. Because if she's skipping, it means that our next opponent is probably tough." He warned everyone.
-Later in the gym-
The club was busy having a practice match, first-years vs second-years. As always, Kagami was amazing at the slam-dunks, and Kuroko was spot on with her passes. Unknown to them, a person was watching them, smirking.
"Awesome Kagami!" one of the players said.
"Indeed." Another agreed. "He might even be enough to beat the Generation of Miracles." Kuroko heard this and thought back to when she and Kagami talked, more specifically when she said he couldn't beat her old team.
"That's what I said but…," she whispered to herself and look over at the boy, who seemed to glow in the light. After practice Riko announced who they were going to play against.
"A practice match against Kaijou High School?" Hyuga asked.
"That's right." Riko replied. "They will defiantly not disappoint us. We'll put plenty of first-years on the court." She explained.
"Disappoint us? They're better than we are." Koganei complained.
"Are they really that strong?" one of the freshmen asked.
"They're strong at the national level. They play at Inter-High every year." Hyuga replied.
"And this year, Kaijou got their hands on one of the Generation of Miracles, Ryota Kise." Riko added shocking everyone.
"What?" "Him?" "The Generation of Miracles?" the first years began saying.
"I never thought that I'd get to play them so soon. What a blessing. I'm getting excited!" Kagami thought, eager to play against the guy.
"Apparently, Kise also works as a model." Hyuga added.
"Seriously? Awesome." One of the teens said.
"Good looking and good at basketball? That's brutal." Another commented.
"Idiot." Riko groaned then noticed all the girls in the gym. "Huh? What? What are all these people doing here?" she asked confused.
"Uh, I didn't mean for this to happen." Groaned a man who was crowded by a bunch of girls, while the players just stare at the scene.
"Wait, what? What is Ryota Kise doing here?" Riko mentally asked herself as the girls continued to flock over the male. Kise was sighing an autograph when he looked up and saw Kuroko.
"It's good to see you again." The girl greeted.
"It's good to see you." The blonde greeted back then gave the autograph. "Sorry, really. Um…Do you think you could wait five minutes?" he asked the girls, who all comply. "There." He said hopping off the gym stage.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Hyuga asked the model/basketball prodigy.
"When I heard our next our next opponent was Seirin, I remembered that Kurokochi went here, so I thought I'd come and say hi." He explained walking up to the group grinning as he set his sights on Kuroko.
"It's been so long, Kurokochi~!" he said excitedly as he launched himself at the small girl. However, just as he was about to hug her, Kuroko had a sudden flash.
"Ku-ro-ko~" said a voice as it grabbed the said girl violently.
"No, go away! H-he's going to, going to…" Kuroko thought scarred then… "NO!" she yelled turning her face away while closing her eyes, and pushed on the man's chest. Everyone was shocked at the sky-blue-haired girl's action.
"Kuro-kochi…?" Kise said, causing Kuroko to open her eyes and realized what was happening.
"Kise…" She whispered retracting her hands from the man.
"Kurokochi…?" he began, and then a sniffling was heard. "You so mean~! *Hic* *Sniff*!" the blonde says as he began crying, making everyone sweat drop.
"Ryota Kise, though he started basketball his second year of middle school, his exceptional physical abilities and sense got him on the Teiko team as a regular in a heartbeat." Furihata read aloud from the magazine from earlier. "While he has less experience than the other four, he's rapidly improving all-a rounder." He finished reading the article.
"Wait, since you second year?" Hyuga asked the blonde.
"Well, that article exaggerated a little." Kise replied modestly while scratching the back of his head. "I'm glad to be called part of the Generation of Miracles, but I'm the worst of the bunch. They bullied me and Kurokochi for it all the time."
"Huh? That never did that to me." Kuroko said having returned to her poker face.
"What? So it was just me?" the blonde anime teared "You know, you haven't really changed much." He said suddenly as he stopped crying. "You're still the cute petite girl I remember." He said then noticed something.
"Except for that." He said pointing to her chest. "Dang girl! Last time I saw you, you were just an A, and now you're almost a D. What happened?" he asked as all the others joined in wondering why such a small girl, had such big jugs.
"Huh? No idea." She replied and slightly touched her breasts. "Guess I went through a growth spurt during break." She continued as the boys eyed her chest. Meanwhile, Riko was in the background thinking about what Kise said.
"She was only an A in Middle school?" she thought and looked down at her own, tiny chest. "Life is seriously not fair!" she thought depressed.
"You know it's not just your chest." Kise spoke up getting the blue-haired girl's attention. "Your hair is a little longer." He said gesturing to her blue ponytail, swept over her left shoulder. The teen suddenly reached over his hand and gently touched the girl's hair.
"It's just as soft as I remember. No, it's even softer." He said in amazement, at all noticing the girl slightly fidgeting, but someone noticed.
Kise continued touching the girl's beautiful ponytail, with all the others started jealously wanting a touch too, when suddenly, a basketball came out of nowhere and was heading straight for Kise luckily he was able to catch it in time.
"Ow. What was that for?" he groaned asking the thrower, who was none other than Taiga Kagami himself.
"Sorry about interrupting your little reunion. Don't tell me you came all this way just to greet us. Why don't you play with me a little, pretty boy?" The teen said with his signature intense look in his eyes.
"What? I don't know if I'm ready. But I just…Fine, let's do it. I have to thank you for that display." Kise replied tossing the ball to Kagami.
"Unbelievable." Riko groaned at the two's behavior, having stopped moping.
"This could be bad." Kuroko jumped in scarring Riko. The match began, and Kise gained the upper edge as he copied moves he saw while watching the team practice. Kagami was almost able to block Kise's slam-dunk, but failed, and ended up falling hard on the ground.
"This is the Generation of Miracles." Kawahara said amazed then turned to Kuroko. "Kuroko, your friend's way too good." He said to her.
"I don't know that person." She replied confusing the latter. "To be honest, I may have underestimated him until now. It's only been at least 9 months and a half since I quit the team, but surely enough the Generation of miracles has improved far more quickly than I expected." She finished her explanation.
"I don't know about this." Kise suddenly said getting Kagami's attention. "After something so disappointing, I can't just leave now." He said and began walking over to the other players. "Give us Kurokochi." He said and everyone is stunned.
"Come join us. Let's play basketball together again." Kise offered, making Kuroko jumped a bit, but only Kagami noticed. "I respect you a lot, Kurokochi. It would just be a waste of your time if you stay here. So what do you say?" he asked.
Kuroko just continues to stare at him with a blank stare, but inside she was scared. She tried to open her mouth and say something, but noting came out. It was silent until she noticed the time on the gym.
"Crap, is it that already?" she asked herself and went over to Riko. "Um, coach, I don't mean to be a bother, but I have a part-time job, and I don't want to be late." She explained.
"What? You work?" Riko asked shocked, as are the others, including Kise. When did his former teammate get a job?
"Yeah, my family is going through some financial problems, so I decided to work as well." Kuroko explained.
"I see. Very well, you can leave." Riko said. Kuroko bowed and thanked her then ran off to change and head to her job. With the girl gone, Kagami decided to speak up.
"Kise." He said gaining the man's attention. "Just know this. My team and I are going to dominate you! That's a promise!" the redhead swore pointing at the model with ferocity in his voice.
"I see." Kise replied smirking. "Alright, then it's on!" he said and everyone shivered as the tension rose in the gym.
-Later at Kuroko's-
Kuroko sighed as she finished the vanilla cake slice that her part-time job gave her. (AN: Her job is a Maid Café called, "The Vanilla Bean" (1)). She got up and put the dish in the sink then went to her room. She sighed again as she walked over to the crib in her room, that held a sleeping Tetsuya.
The girl smiled at the baby, but then felt guilt about all the lying she had to do. She looked over at her night stand where and envelope of money laid by the lit lamp. She sighed again, then remembered the events today, and began shivering with holding herself.
"I'm sorry, everyone for lying, but I'm scarred. Scarred of how you all might look at me if you knew the truth." She thought as another thing crossed. "No matter how much I try, I can't forget. I can't forget what happened the month before I decided to quit the team." She thought covering her face with her shaking hand.
"No." she thinks looking at the baby in the crib through her fingers. "Before I had to quit the team. And hide." She thought and began silently crying trying not to wake Tetsuya.
Ta-da, my second chapter. I hope you guys like it. Later! Oh, and don't forget to post those reviews.
(1)Totally made up. I just liked the name.