Thank you everyone, you guys have made me so happy by making it a favorite or following this story. And my three reviewers, you guys are the absolute best. Thank you all.

Here's another chapter! It took a while longer for me to post and I'm sorry. It's not my favorite and I couldn't seem to get it right, but I hope you guys enjoy it. Final warning, there may be several grammatical errors, if you find a major one please point it out! Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke.


Friendship with a Ghost

Her mission to avoid contact with Kuroko was surprisingly difficult. It seemed the sixth player wasn't quite on the same page as Hana, since the silent boy kept appearing at every given opportunity. She hadn't even known they shared mathematics together until Kuroko plopped himself down in the seat next to hers! For the first few days he hadn't said a word and Hana went from nervous to downright agitated. She finally reached her peak of frustration Wednesday morning.

Hana had been held behind in history when she arrived to math class, five minutes late, and seeing Kuroko sitting calmly beside her desk broke the camel's back. As the door slammed shut behind her, all her classmates turned to stare at her, including a blank-faced Kuroko. Hana mentally snarled, why couldn't this kid show more emotion?! She began to stomp toward her desk before Kuramoto Sensei interrupted her.

"Your late, Imamura-san. Care to explain your reasoning for disrupting my class?" The portly man drawled as he looked over at her.

"I'm sorry, sensei," Hana bowed her head in faux guilt, "Oda-sensei had me stay after class to discuss my last exam grade." She lifted her head up and looked him in the eyes, forcing her bottom lip to wobble threateningly, "That was the first test I've failed. I promise to never let it happen again sensei."

Kuramoto sensei stared at her for moment before sighing, "Ahh… It's fine Imamura-san, just take your seat."

"Thank you, sir!" The black haired teen quickly scurried into her chair and retrieved her notebook, steadfastly ignoring Kuroko's gaze on the side of her face.

The lesson preceded slowly and Hana was bored out of her mind. Her hand began to doodle tiny flowers on the corner of her paper until she ran out of open space. Mindlessly, she debated on getting out another sheet of paper to continue her doodles when one was pushed in front of her. It was blank except for a tiny sentence written at the bottom of the sheet:

I apologize if I offended you last weekend.

"What?" She whispered to the blue-haired boy beside her. Kuroko only offered her a slight frown before looking back to his own notes. Hana huffed in return and scrambled out her own reply.

You didn't offend me. She shoved it his direction. He blinked at it for a moment, before responding and handing it back to her.

Alright, you just left very suddenly and I thought it would be best to apologize.

Hana let out a groan, unknowingly startling Kuroko and the people behind them. There was no easy way to reply to that, especially in written form. The situation wasn't his fault, well completely, she just didn't know how to act around the boy or what he wanted from her.

"Kuroko," she whispered harshly, "Look, I'm sorry if I rushed off the other day… I just don't understand. Why are you even talking to me?"

Kuroko looked at her, those blue eyes felt like they were searching her soul, before he hummed noncommittedly. Looking back at his paper he let a tiny smile grace his face, "Not many people stand against Akashi-kun, I was intrigued."

"What the hell, intrigued? What does that even mean!" She responded in a derisive whisper.

"That is what I mean, Imamura-san. Your personality is very contradictory, it's interesting," he spoke, "From all that I've heard, one would think you to be rude or maybe even socially inept, yet I saw you with Seiho's captain and it was quite the opposite."

"… So what?" she snorted, "I was nice for a moment, no big deal. That doesn't explain why you're here," she motioned to his seat choice.

"I was under the impression that friends spent time together, this seemed like a good opportunity."

"Friends?!" She spun to face Kuroko, catching Kuramoto-sensei's attention in the process.

"Do you have something to share Imamura-san?" the teacher's voice boomed out and Hana flinched. Shooting a quick glare at Kuroko for not being caught with her, she turned her body to face him.

"No sir, I was just surprised by something. I didn't mean to disturb your wonderful lesson on," she paused and looked at the board, "the algebraic theory behind negative numbers?"

Kuramoto sighed dejectedly, "Imamura-san, we're studying polynomial equations…"

"That's what I meant, sir!" She smiled brightly, "See, it's just a different way of referring to it. It's still an algebraic theory even if it involves polynomials, and you're using negative numbers on the board in example two so it's basically the same thing!"

"…Sure it is," he grumbled, "Thank you for your input, please don't do it again." A chorus of laughs echoed across the classroom, causing Hana to blush. She shot another glare at the amused Kuroko before looking back to her notes.

I will not be distracted again! She vowed determinedly.


Kuroko distracted her a total of three more times that lesson. It was sometime around the second distraction that she realized she wasn't as annoyed with him as she had been. The quiet, blunt sixth player had grown on her. Belatedly, she realized that accepting Kuroko's friendship declaration was pr. a really bad idea, but she couldn't bring herself to care.

As the bell rang, Hana began to pack her belonging's up and handed Kuroko his paper back. It had become filled with little notes between the two, most of them focused on basketball and a few on the new restaurant that opened up downtown. He invited her to join him when he went, but she steadfastly turned him down. Their last public outing had not gone well and she was nervous that they'd have a repeat.

"Well," Hana began, "I'm glad we sorted everything out Kuroko-kun," her hands quickly covered her mouth," I'm sorry that was probably too forward…"

Blue eyes smiled at her, but his face remained blank, "It's fine Imamura-chan. Does your team have practice this afternoon?"

Shooting him a bashful glance, she replied, "Mhmmm, we do. I'm assuming you guys do too?"

"No, we had morning practice today. Akashi-kun had an activity to do after school," he said.

"Ah, well that's a downer?" Kuroko raised his eyebrows, "Okay so maybe it's not such a bad thing. I wish second string could take a break," she sighed out wistfully.

"You create the schedule, correct? Why not make one?" He questioned.

"No can do," she snorted, "If we wanted a chance in hell to catch up to you guys, we've gotta practice as much as we can."

Kuroko glanced at her as the duo headed out the door. She had just given his team another compliment, no matter how backhandedly. As they two walked together in silence, he took the chance to really study her. She was obviously tired, her green eyes were surround by darker circles and yet she wore no makeup to combat her appearance. Even the tightly done pony tail she wore was not in its usual perfect condition.

"Have you been sleeping alright, Imamura-chan?" he ventured.

Hana squinted at her companion before laughing self-condescendingly, "Not really, no. We've got a big game coming up this weekend and I've been working my ass off on research and game plans."

"That must be very unhealthy," Kuroko chided.

"That's what coffee's for, Kuroko-kun. See this?" she gestured to a neon green canister hanging off her bag, "This is my life. Deep, dark black coffee."

"… That's not much better," he blinked, "Although the design is very cute."

Hana looked over her shoulder at her drink before cracking a smile. Yes, the little huskies printed on it were adorable. She snuck a glance back at her companion and coughed awkwardly, "Say Kuroko-kun, would you like to come watch our practice today?"

He appeared stunned for a second, but his face quickly smoothed back over, "I'm thankful for the invitation, but I wouldn't want to intrude-"

"Tetsu-kun!" a voice shouted from down the hallway. Startled, Hana shrieked before covering her mouth in embarrassment. Kuroko smiled softly at her reaction before addressing the new voice.

"Momoi-san," a pink flash was all Hana noticed before Kuroko was embraced in a tight hug. She blinked at the unexpected reunion before attempting to subtly make her exit. Keeping her eyes on the pair, she snuck one foot behind the other, silently retreating down the hallway. Noticing movement out the corner of his eye, Kuroko glanced over to Hana only for her to wave a quick goodbye.

Everything that followed happened in slow motion. Kuroko's eyes widened and he opened his mouth to speak, but Hana was quicker and spun around to complete her escape. Only to come face to chest with a very tall person. By the time she figured out just who she could have bumped into, gravity took over and sent her to the floor.

Green eyes, surrounded by a rapidly paling face, blinked up at the goliath. It was like looking into the face of the devil as Aomine stared down at her. The tall navy haired teen just looked at her for a moment before recognition spread across his tan face. Deciding that living was more important than pride, for once, she scrambled up to her knees and attempted to offer an apology when he beat her too it.

"Oh. It's you again," he drawled. Aomine didn't appear overly interested in her, instead looking over to Kuroko and Momoi to speak again, "Yo, Tetsu. Satsuki wanted to go eat, come on so I don't have to listen to her nagging anymore."

"I do not nag, Aomine!"

"Alright, just a moment, I need to—" Kuroko cut himself off; Imamura-chan was nowhere to be seen. He blinked for a few seconds before looking around confused. As he looked behind him, he spotted a black and white blur racing back down the hallway. "Ah, never mind. It seems she's already left."

"You were actually talking to her?" Aomine snorted. Momoi gasped and looked around, Does Tetsu-kun have a crush?

"Who were you talking too, Testu-kun?" the first string manager probed.

"Ah, Imamura-chan was inviting me to watch her team's practice today," He responded simply before continuing his walk to the exit. He didn't hear the two simultaneous replies behind him.

"Imamura-chan?" Momoi wailed.

"That witch?" Aomine questioned incredulously.


Hana was sweating by the time she made it to practice. The heavy doors crashed closed behind her, startling the few teammates that were already warming up. Everyone sweat-dropped as she held one shaky hand up, her other hand propped against her knee as she breathed erratically. The floor was looking awfully comfortable at the moment.

"Why do you people do this for fun?" she whimpered out dramatically. Uoya looked over to his captain, both confused on what to do. Futabatei shrugged noncommittally, before gesturing Uoya forward. The grey-headed boy's eyes widened and he began to furiously shake his head until Futabatei shut him up with a dark glare.

Uoya let out a huff before stepping closer to his manager warily. He laid a hand on her shoulder and in a gentle tone asked, "What happened Hana-chan?"

"I had to run away," she said somberly, "Too many sharks."

"Too many sharks?" the team echoed, confused.

She nodded seriously, "Blood thirsty sharks."

The team looked at one another, mildly worried, but Futabatei corrected them with a sigh, "That's what she calls first string."

Kitano's laugh echoed off the bleachers, "Sharks! That's a good one, Imamura!"

Hana shot up at the sound of his voice, momentarily forgetting about her earlier traumatizing experience, "You!"

The bald headed boy blinked, "Me?"

"You, the bumbling fool sitting on his ass!" the tiny black haired manager stomped forward, "What have I told you about playing street ball!"

"Oh shit," Kitano moaned, "I knew this was gonna happen…"

"Then why," she snarled up at him," Did. You. Do. It! You know we're facing off against Komagi this weekend! Do you remember last year? They crushed us!"

"It's not like-"

"It doesn't matter if you meant too or not! Because of your stupid decision, and yes it was stupid—shut up Kitano! I don't care how much money you won! Now you can't play this weekend because of your freaking ankle! Not to mention Saiki-san's surgery; that means we've got two players out!" Hana continued to stomp forward as her rant continued, making Kitano tremor; before Uoya wrapped his arms around her waist and forcibly tugged her back.

"Ahaha, Hana-chan, it's okay!" he ducked her well timed punch, "Okay, so it's not super okay! But don't worry! We can just borrow some third-string players!"

Hana turned to glare at the sixth year, eyes turning into frozen glaciers, before letting out a defeated sigh, "Your right, Uoya-kun. Sorry for over reacting everyone…"

The team let out a collective sigh, but Futabatei interrupted the peace again, "The third-string is unavailable this weekend. The only option is first-string." Hana turned to look at her captain in open mouthed horror, several other members sharing the sentiment.

"No! Not them!" One yelled.

"Ugh, man…" Another moaned.

"As long as it's not Midorima," Uoya muttered.

"…But, that's two first string players?" she whimpered, "Who's going to ask Akashi-san for permission?"

All conversation around her stopped. Everyone looked at one another, before all eyes suddenly landed on herself. Hana gasped and turned to Uoya for support but her best friend just smiled sheepishly before stepping back a few feet.

"No, I'm not doing it!" She declared determinedly, fists resting on her hips.

"…" Futabatei stared her down, but Hana stubbornly returned it. The two were locked into an intense contest of will-power, the team nervously watching on behind them. Sparks flashed from her captain's eyes and Hana flinched before straightening her back and throwing out a snarl. The tall male stepped forward until he towered directly over her, eyes shooting out tiny bolts of lightning. One, two, three, four…

"Fine! I'll do it! But," she stabbed at finger at Uoya, "You, the little traitor, are coming with me!"

"What—no! Captain?!" Uoya shrieked. Futabatei stared at him for a few seconds before nodding to Hana's demands.

Hana let out a victory laugh, smirking in Uoya's direction, before her voice turned serious, "Okay then, drama's over everyone. Time to get to work! We'll go over the game plan after practice so don't run off too quickly."

"Gotcha!" the team responded and Futabatei offered her another nod before directing the players to start a scrimmage game.

Hana crossed her arms over her chest and smiled softly. These were her boy's, despite their occasional idiocy and brain malfunctioning. Though, as she made her way to the bleachers reality sank in and her smile started to slip off her face. By the time she made her way to coach she was close to panicked tears.

Tomorrow she had to go ask Akashi Seijuro for help. In fact, she'd have to ask the whole Generation of Miracles for help.

Time to plan her funeral.