I do not own the Kuroko no Basuke characters.

Disclaimer: Tadatoshi Fujimaki

English is not my native language, for the grammatical error or the monotonous verbs i used, i deeply apologize in advance. *Bow*

This chapter is the third chapter! Yay! Thank you for the kudos and comments the previous chapters ^^

And sorry for the slow updates


6 years ago.

It was a cold evening. Kuroko was reading a book in his room, when there was sound of a knock on the door of his room. Visible figure of the red haired woman appeared before him when he had opened the door. The woman was still in her suits from work.

"Ah, Kagami-obasan, what's the matter?" he asked, a little surprised because it was unusual for his aunt coming to his room.

"Tetsuya-kun, can I talk to you for a while?" she asked, smiling as she lifted a tray with cookies and two cups of warm tea on it that she brought over. Not a match with her suit, she was wearing though.

"Of course, please do come in." he gestured his hand, inviting his aunt to go in.

Looking at the slight restless expression mixed with sadness on her face, Kuroko certainly knew that the thing that would be talked about was something heavy and long. He still did not know about exactly what will be discussed, so his mind started to wonder if this was about the time he need to leave the house and be independent.

If indeed it was what would be discussed, since long time Kuroko also had prepared his heart and been already saving his allowance to leave home at anytime if Kagami family asked him, seeing he had grown up. He knew that he could not forever be a freeloader in Kagami's family

They both went into the room, Kuroko immediately provided her a cushion to sit on. It was a simple room; there were only bed, bookshelf, desk, and small wardrobe. She glanced around the room while sitting, since she was seldom coming inside Kuroko's room.

On the top of Kuroko's bookshelf, she saw a framed photograph was being displayed. She stood again and walked over to lift the photo. Staring at the photo for a while, she smiled sadly. In the photo, depicted a baby blue-haired woman with blue eyes who were carrying a baby covered with white cloth in her arms, and a dark gray-haired man kissing the crown of the baby head while twinning his hand on his wife's shoulder.

Putting the photo back to where it was, she looked at Kuroko. She sat again on cushion on Kuroko's tatami room and grabbed the cup of tea, then she drank a bit.

"You became to resemble your mother more, each passing days , especially your eyes and hair" she commented after putting down the cup.

She held Kuroko's hand with her hand and the other hand cupped his cheek. Kuroko even only found out his parents' face from the photo given to him from her Kagami-obasan not long after he was adopted. And that photo was the only memento that reminded Kuroko that his parents had ever existed.

"Tetsuya-kun, do you miss your parents?" said the woman, staring at his face gently.

There was a pause. They both now was in silence. The air seemed still. She was waiting for an answer from Kuroko.

"I... I do not know. I don't remember anything about them, so I can not say that I miss them" Kuroko replied hesitantly.

He did not know whether he missed his parents or not. If missing someone was defined by wanting them to be in this world—with him—together, surely it had ever crossed his mind. However, the thought was long forgotten because he was used to it. Already used to living without his parents all his life. How could he feel the longing for them if he had not even met them?

What he remembered was that he lived in an orphanage. It was before being adopted by Kagami family, when he was 4 years old. At that time, he knew that the orphanage was a place for children who did not have parents, either because they were temporary entrusted in, thrown away, abandoned or left to die. Therefore, he never asked the reason why he could be in the orphanage, because the answer must be one of them. Never once, he did ask the orphanage principal or workers about his parents.

"I have not told you why I adopted you. You are a quiet and obedient child, not even single question you asked me about your parents, even when I gave a picture of your parent…" she said and taking a glance to the photograph. "… I honestly feel relieved then, because I did not have to explain anything to you as a child. But I feel guilty for hiding something to you, and I think it's a good time to tell you. In two days, it will be your seventeenth birthday, and you're older enough to know the truth" she explained, looking at him straightforwardly.

Like a flash, he remembered all the day that passed whe he was still in the orphanage. The days ran so fast that he spent only by reading picture books and being aloof. He did not play with other children. Other children did not try asking him to play with together either. He was often forgotten because of his lack of presence. Until one day, when he was playing the swings on the yard alone, there was a tall dark red-haired woman who greeted him. The woman then often came to orphanage and brought him the vanilla pie. The woman later adopted him. Yes, the woman was Kagami's mother.

"Do you want to know about your parents?" he asked Kuroko hesitantly, because maybe Kuroko didn't want to hear anything about his parents.

"…" Kuroko only nodded his head after being a bit hesitated for a second.

"You might be able to guess, that your mother and i were best friends since elementary school…" she began to tell him while she was looking back to the past with smile decorated her lips. "...your mother was a unique, courageous and tomboyish girl i've ever met in my life. People was very fond of her nature, and I am proud being her friend. She often protected me from classmates who liked to bully me, because I was the tallest girl in school. And since the first time she protected me, I made a promise to be always her aid whenever and any time. So your mother and i always attended same schools. I was always with her most of the time."

Kuroko quietly listened to the story, from what he just had heard, he concluded that her mother personality was the opposite of him. How fun girl she was. He could actually see a bit of her bright aura from the photograph. A bright woman.

"Until she finally met your father when she was in third year of high school. They met in the city library, when your mother was looking for a book for school work. Your father was a college student majoring in archeology at the time" she continued her story, trying to reminisce the past. "Kuroko Shouka, your father's name. He was a good man, although a little strange because his hobby was indulging in many unknown artifacts. He was a bookworm. I didn't like him at first, but maybe fate said differently. They fell in love. I sometimes felt jealous and hate your father for taking your mother's time from me, but seeing your mother happy, I was happy too. And a year later, your mother told me that she decided to marry your father."

At least now he knew from whom he became to love books. It was clearly from his late father. Kagami-obasan stopped her story. It became silent again.

"What about the rest of the family?" he inquired curiously.

Kagami-obasan only told about how his parents met. He wondered about his mother's or father's family, because he was ended up in orphanage and was adopted by Kagami's family; Not with one of his relative. There should be a reason for this.

"I don't know about your father's family, he didn't talk about it. But your mother was born from a family that is quite famous, and your mother's maiden name was Hikou Ran. A daughter from Hikou branch family. She was the only child. It is a traditional religious family that has a small shrine in Tokyo. She had strict parents about tradition. The one your mother should marry, had been determined by the family, so when the main family know about her relationship with your father, they did not approve." she explained with a bit angry grimace on her face. Trying to repress her emotion.

"Your mother decided to leave the family and finally married your father. She was banished from the Hikou family. I don't know if any relatives from Hikou family ever contacted her after the marriage. What i knew was that she and your father lived happily together in small house in Kyoto, and the peak of their happiness was when she was pregnant of you and ultimately gave birth to you safely." she smiled then moving her eyes direction on the photo displayed on the bookshelf. "My husband was the one who took that photo"

She continued the talk and told him a bit about of her own family situation then. Kagami-obasan and her husband had to lived in America, because of work. They were busy with their lives and taking care their one year old Kagami. So she only came to Japan occasionally; when there was work she had to attend in Japan, and when she went to meet Kuroko's mother who had just given birth of you. She told him that it was the last time she saw Kuroko's parents.

"Usually we still phoned each other. Until finally there was no longer a phone call from her. As the work kept piling up, and i was drowning in my life and family in America, i didn't try to worry about her, because i believed that she must be okay with your father guarding your mother and the baby you" acknowledged her. "And when I returned to live in Japan again with my husband, I found a letter reached me, without the sender's name. An envelope that was slipped under my apartment door. You can read it."

Then she handed the small envelope to Kuroko. He was hesitant to read it. He was facing the two choices, one was to know about his parents or the other choice that was just to live without knowing anything about them. It was the later which he chose. He then took the envelope and opened it. There was two papers in it a white and a blue one. He first opened the white one to read the content.

Dear my best friend,

When you read this, probably my husband and I are no longer alive. I left my baby, Kuroko Tetsuya, alone in this world. We can't see him growing up to be a fine man. I left him in a small orphanage in the suburb of Tokyo. Please, Please pick him up. I hope you can raise him and protect him like your own son, my good friend. That is my last wish. I trust you. Forgive me if this is the last letter I can give you.

Warm regards,

Ran

Thank you for always being my best friend. Hopefully we can meet again in the next life.

Still holding the letter, Kuroko raised his face from the letter and looked at his aunt quietly .

"That was the reason why I adopted you. You are my best friend's son. After getting the letter, I keep looking for you from the scratch. I don't know why she didn't write the name of the orphanage. One year i needed to finally find you" she said feeling guilty. She took the blue paper one from the floor and gave to Kuroko. Like the previous letter, it was folded in half. When he flipped the letter, he saw his name written on it. "The blue one is for you, I never read the content. I never gave out this letter for you because you were still a small kid. So I hid it until you are old enough, forgive me"

With a slightly trembling hand, he started to read the letter.

Dear my love,

Forgive me and your father who left you alone. I'm sorry that i can not tell you everything on this piece of paper. To Tell you about all the truth. I just want you to know, that we never hate you or throw you away. It's just the circumstance that made me to do this. We apologize if you feel alone in this world. But one thing that you need to keep in mind, that we always love you very much. You are my son, i know you are strong. You are your father's son, you must be gentle. Therefore, even if you got you hurt in this life, i hope you still live your life to the fullest and happily. Always help the others, because kindness will bring kindness.

Love you always,

from mother and father.

Tears instantly dropped upon the letter that he was holding. He could no longer hold the tears from falling after reading the handwriting on a piece of blue paper. He felt a pang in his heart. Pain, but warm. Although he did not hate his parents, he had ever felt as if he was abandoned. Alone. But this letter proved the love of his parents to him. Knowing that his parents were truly loved him, not merely an utterance of lip service from people that pitied him.

His aunt hugged him tightly. He kept sobbing, and she let him. Never once did she ever saw him crying since his childhood. Seeing his tears fell making her feeling the sadness too. On other side, she was glad, that Kuroko was not totally emotionless. She stroked his back softly, trying to calm him.

After the tears were no longer falling, he then let go of his aunt's arms. Kuroko wiped the tears traces away from both eyes and cheeks with the back of his hand . He knew that the letter didn't explain anything about his parents' death. About why? When? Where? And What circumstances caused them to die?

"Do you know why my father and mother died?" hedecided to ask curiously with his broken voices after crying.

"About that… I went to your home, what i saw was the abandoned house. I tried to ask to the neighborhood, but they didn't really know about the detail. They said… that your parent's had died in a car accident. I also tried asking the head of the orphanage, about your parents, and they did not know anything about them. They said that they only found you lying asleep in front of the door wrapped in a cloth with a paper that read: His name is Kuroko Tetsuya. And—" she told him.

Clack

The sound of plates hit the table, cutting off Kuroko from his daydreams of the past, and brought him back to the present reality. There were two warm and delicious omelettes laid out in front of him.

Kagami who had opened an apron, then sat down on the chair—the opposite of where Kuroko was sitting—, and placed it on an empty chair next to him.

Kuroko immediately grabbed the chopsticks and the rice bowl that had also been served. Kuroko felt like he forgot something important that was told by Kagami-obasan when he was daydreaming before, but he couldn't seem to remember what it was. His stomach rumbled again, so for now he decided to just eat the meal.

"Itadakimasu" Kuroko said before he started eating his omelette. Kagami followed by saying the same thing.

"Thank you, Kagami-kun. And sorry" Kuroko said and stopped eating for a moment. He was ashamed for being jealous of Kagami before. He was not alone. From the depth of his heart, he was very grateful to the kagami family.

"No prob, Kuroko" replied Kagami, as he finished his food. As if knowing what Kuroko was thinking.


Chapter's notes

Itadakimasu: thank you for the food / i will enjoy the food

I wish i could done better, but my limit knowledge of English words really was an obstacle. But still, i am glad i finished this chapter. Hope i can do better in the next chapter.

Thank you for reading^^