Just to tell everyone who was wondering, Kouki Furihata, Hiroshi Fukuda, and Kouichi Kawahara will all be at 24 years of age along with Kagami and Kuroko. Unfortunately, they will not be in this chapter; sorry! We're getting there though! There are many other things to look forward to in this chapter, and I hope ya'll enjoy reading!
And, so that it's clear, Kagami and Seirin's feelings toward Kuroko are purely in a friendly manner. The real relationship is the MiraGen and Kuroko.
Special Thanks to my Beta, PetiteSkylark. Any mistakes left are all me!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke/Basket in any way; this was written purely for entertainment purposes!
Earlier that day; 6:30 AM
"Kuroko?" Riko questioned Hyuuga, a suspicious look on her face. "What did he want?" She asked while spooning some leftovers from last night's dinner - courtesy of Hyuuga - into a small porcelain bowl.
Hyuuga sweat dropped and scratched his head nervously. "Well, he wants me to..."
"To...?" The brunette questioned once more, getting impatient with her lover.
"Assemble the old Seirin seniors."
"Assem- Are you stupid!?" Riko lunged for the other, who dodged and effectively fell off his chair and onto his behind. "Why didn't you ask earlier!" She sighed as pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation. "I met Teppei the other day, and he happened to have met a couple of them just a few days ago."
Hyuuga brightened from his spot on the floor, "Teppei's back in Tokyo!?"
"Of course he is, stupid!" Riko chided, smiling at the childish nature of her significant other. "But...that doesn't mean you can slack off," she glared.
"Alright, mom," Hyuuga joked.
"What. Did. You. Say?"
Shit.
"What did you say you brat?" Haizaki suddenly jumped up despite his wound and had to scramble for balance. "You're saying big words for such a bad player!" He headed toward Kuroko once more, eyes burning.
"Shougo, enough." Akashi interrupted, glaring at the vicious blond and inching in between the two as a precaution. When Akashi felt that the atmosphere had cooled down, he turned around and faced Kuroko.
"You understand what you're saying, right?" Akashi questioned.
"I do," the bluenette answered bluntly, tilting his head slightly to the right and looking at the second string, particularly a certain eccentric blond. Akashi noticed the tilt of his head and followed Kuroko's line of sight.
Ryouta.
"A week," Akashi's voice snapped all attention back to his figure, "it's when the regular's positions will be announced for the semester. That's your time limit, Tetsuya."
The red-head had, in all honesty, wanted the violent player off his team. Pawns that didn't follow orders were useless, after all. He had predicted that a certain second string player would make it within their ranks shortly within the year, but having a coach such as the one before him tutor the newbie was even better. Akashi loved it when everything fell into his plans.
Akashi then turned and faced all the players; smirking when they paled and started trembling. Haizaki especially backed away from the red-head, fearing his wrath.
"The rest of practice will be second string versus the regulars," he turned away from them and gestured at Momoi to follow, no doubt to talk about some crazy training menu for the next day. "Good luck, you will need it."
Kuroko turned immediately around and headed toward the second string, not giving a second glance to the people in shock behind him. He approached Kise, who's widened eyes had not yet decreased in size.
"Kuroko-chi, you should've told me if you were that strong!" Kise over exaggerated his pout and tried to launch him self onto the other. As the blond was in mid jump the coach side stepped quickly, causing Kise to tumble face first into the hardwood floor of the gym.
"N-nice Kuroko-chi," Kise held up a weak thumbs up with his left hand while his right was tending to his face.
At this time the other second string players had decided to hurry up their practice match, with or without Kise, and ran to meet the first string. Kise, seeing this, hurriedly got up and tried to follow them but was promptly stopped by a force pulling him back.
"Eh? Kuroko-chi?" Kise bent backwards at an odd angle before regaining balance. "Is something wrong?"
"Kise-kun, do you wish to be stronger?" Kuroko stared straight into gold eyes, challenging. "I could help you, to preferably beat Haizaki."
"You mean to get on the first string?" Kise scowled, in deep thought over this almost miraculous advantage. "But, Haizaki-chi and I are too similar! I'll never get better!"
"We'll see," Kuroko flashed a small smile which Kise turned slightly red at, "Will that be a yes or a no, Kise-kun?"
Kise grinned and patted the bluenette on the head, "Obviously a yes!" The blond would never give up a chance to get stronger and closer to the level of Aomine, and the only way he could do that was if he snatched a first string spot.
"Ryouta," a menacing voice startled the model. "Why are you here neglecting practice and bothering Tetsuya?" The telltale sound of snipping filled the air, and Kise paled and ran quickly away, waving goodbye to Kuroko.
"I hope I'm not disappointed, Tetsuya," the captain said after a while, turning his head to smirk at the other. Akashi swiveled around on his leg to go watch the game, his hand reaching up and brushing teal locks just barely as he passed by.
"Ryouta, I changed my mind. You'll be outside doing triple the training menu."
"Ehhh?!"
The rest of the week passed by normally, each of the afternoon practices consisting of either training or practice matches. Kise was also improving at a greater rate than what Kuroko had anticipated, as their little sessions before and after school each day having paid off greatly. Kuroko had to admit, beyond the model's mask of charisma and smiles was something much greater; someone who strived to be the best while trying his hardest.
Over the week, they formed somewhat of a dysfunctional friendship; Kise continuously chasing after Kuroko every hour of the day, and Kuroko honing into his inner magician with all his disappearing acts.
The week passed quickly, and the two decided to take a break from practice over the weekend, Kise having modeling jobs and Kuroko wanting to help Kagami with chores around the house. No one should've contacted him, even if he did have the Miracle's numbers, which was purely for business purposes, but while he was finishing up breakfast on Saturday morning, the telltale sound of his ringtone broke his egg flipping concentration.
"Hello?" he answered, the phone wedged awkwardly in between his ear and shoulder.
"Tetsu-kun! Are you free today?" Momoi's energetic voice piped through the speaker, making Kuroko smile. He hadn't planned on doing much today, and it was a good chance to walk Nigou as well.
"I am, why?" Kuroko asked out of courtesy.
"Would you please, please, please mind going shopping with me? I'll treat you to lunch afterwards at Maji!" the girl knew that at the promise of Maji, the bluenette would agree, not able to deny the chance to get a vanilla milkshake.
Kuroko thought over the offer momentarily, he did want to escort Momoi for safety, but the consequence would require him to give up many hours of his Saturday. After a while, Kuroko sighed in defeat.
"Sure, ten at the shopping center?" He offered.
"That's fine! See you there, Tetsu-kun!" she chirped happily, hanging up. On her end, Momoi stood by the bed of a certain sleeping ace, a smirk decorating her face.
"Now then, how to wake up Dai-chan..." she rubbed her chin in deep thought before grabbing a corner of the sheets conveniently wrapped around a single tan foot. Then with all her might, she pulled.
A groan and a scream could be heard from the bundle of blankets.
"Satsuki! The hell you do that for?" Aomine rubbed his shoulder and glared as much as he could to the other; knowing it would do nothing to her.
"You have a date, Dai-chan!" she clasped her hands together and smiled widely. "If you don't hurry up you'll miss the meet up!"
Aomine gawked, the pink haired girl had tried to set him up before many times, each time ending in some disastrous way. He had no doubt that this time would be similar, so he immediately tried to weasel his way out of the date.
"Hey that's great and all Satsuki, but I have to..," he scanned his room and his eyes fell upon the stack of papers on his wooden desk. "Finish my homewor-"
"Don't lie, Dai-chan! Anyways, you guys have something in common, you're both basketball idiots!"
'Sorry, Tetsu-kun!' she prayed silently that the one she loved would never find out she had said that. It was the only way to get Aomine to go anyways!
"Well," Aomine thought it over, someone who loved basketball should be alright, wouldn't they? "Alright, but if she turns out to be like the last one..," images of a girl dressed in Lolita style clothes professing her love for Aomine made him shudder.
"Of course not!" Momoi jumped happily and started going through the taller teen's closet for the perfect outfit.
Two hours of modeling countless clothes for Momoi - "You have to make a good impression!" - ended up with Aomine waiting by Kuen Station in an indigo v-neck, baggy jeans, basketball shoes, and a plain black vest that Momoi had pulled out of who knows where.
Aomine hope this girl was amazingly pretty; the vest was smaller than he'd prefer his clothes and standing there alone for the past twenty minutes had gained him curious looks. He sighed and glanced at his phone again, wondering where that girl could be. Suddenly a voice greeted him from behind.
"Hello, Aomine-kun," Kuroko spoke, shortening the distance in between them. He currently wore a sienna brown graphic tee with a flurry of colors on it along with some black pants. Slung over his shoulder was a beige messenger bag. "Do you know where Momoi-san is? She said she would meet me here today."
Aomine still couldn't think how the stoic man had appealed to Momoi, but regardless of his displeasure, he answered, "Hah? I don't know, Momoi said I had a date here and..." he suddenly trailed off.
"You don't think that she..." Kuroko clicked it together in his head and almost laughed at how the girl could use such old schemes and still have them work. Aomine was less than pleased, he didn't have such a horrible dislike for the bluenette after the Haizaki incident, but that didn't mean he liked him!
"Well, it's getting close to eleven," Kuroko looked at his watch then at Aomine, "would you like to get something to eat? I know a burger place not too far from here."
"Hell no! I'm going to go back to my house and sle-" Two Simultaneous growls resounded, one from a black and white figure sitting next to Kuroko and another from Aomine's stomach.
"Since everyone is hungry, I'll take that as a yes," Kuroko turned around and headed off, tugging his red leash slightly to coax the dog into following. Aomine protested loudly, but followed along anyway. The stomach was stronger indeed.
They arrived at Maji thirty minutes later, Nigou was left outside to the dog's dissatisfaction, and placed their respective orders. Aomine scowled when he received the incredulous look for his pile of burgers, and in return, raised an eyebrow at the single order of a vanilla milkshake.
"I don't need to eat as much as some people," Kuroko simply explained.
It was this time that Aomine really took the other in. He spotted pale wrists that were so small it was as if he'd break at the simplest contact. Aomine felt something stir in his gut, and before he knew what was happening, he had handed Kuroko one of his burgers.
"Wasn't planning on eating them all anyways," Aomine mumbled, stuffing his mouth with more of the burger currently in his hands.
It was Kuroko's turn to raise and eyebrow but he accepted the burger and began to unwrap it, taking minuscule bites.
"Thank you, Aomine-kun," the coach said, letting the edges of his mouth tip upwards slightly.
A grunt was the only response he received.
As they walked out of Maji, being greeted by an overly enthusiastic dog, an awkward silence enveloped them. Aomine couldn't very well start chatting him up, that would just make the situation worse. In the end, it was Kuroko who broke the silence once more.
"There's a basketball court around here, would you like to play?" He asked, petting the dog at the same time.
Hesitating for a bit, Aomine almost couldn't contain himself at the prospect of a player better than himself. The match with Haizaki had left a big impression on him.
"Sure," he answered coolly, not giving away his inner thoughts at all.
It was only when the three figures were walking side by side did Aomine remember that he had never asked for the little mutt's name. He opened his mouth just as they approached the court, half occupied by a shooting red-head whom he didn't pay any attention to.
"Hey, what's your dog's name anywa-"
A gruff voice yelled over him, "Kuroko!" Then noticing the dog yelled, "Nigou!" The red-head from before had ran out and held his arms out for the dog to run into.
'Well, I guess his name is Nigou,' Aomine frowned, not liking just how many times he'd been interrupted that day. He looked over at Kuroko who had a sweet smile on his face, shocking Aomine (and damn it, his heart did not just speed up).
"Hello, Kagami-kun," the red-head joined them with the dog in his arms, creating a lopsided triangle. "I thought you had work today?"
"Did for a little, let me take the day off since I broke too many plates. It was an accident too!" Kagami grinned and laughed, but then noticed the teen standing with them. "Who's this?"
Kuroko scooped back Nigou, then looked at Aomine.
"He's one of the Generation of Miracles," Kagami's face immediately soured, "Momoi sent us out together."
Kagami stared at Aomine, looking him up and down before sticking a hand out; albeit reluctantly.
"Kagami," he grunted, possibly squeezing with more force than required.
"I'm Aomine," the tanned bluenette greeted, squeezing back with just as much force, sparks flying in between their eyes.
"Kagami-kun, why don't you play a round with Aomine?" Kuroko, sensing the tension, butt in between them. "Basketball idiots should gather together anyways."
"Kuroko!"
"Tetsu!"
Both cried in outrage before glaring at each other once more. Kagami's eyes were burning in outrage.
"Who said you could call him by his first name? Have more respect for your seniors brat!"
Kuroko sighed before slapping his hand over the ex-ace's face, earning a loud grunt.
"Kagami-kun, you sound like Hyuuga-senpai," He added more force to his hand, "that wasn't a compliment."
As the two in front of him argued, Aomine couldn't help but feel left out of the group. It wasn't as if he was too spoiled or anything, but he himself would normally be the attention taker; the one everyone focused on. With these two, they had so many more bonds than he could hope to forge.
"That's that, hurry up Aomine-kun, I can't keep Kagami here forever," and for good measure added, "he's stronger than me, if not more so." Kuroko smiled as Aomine brightened by a fraction and followed the two older men.
They all stood on the court, having decided to play a thirty minute game. Kuroko was currently holding the basketball, and had pulled out a silver whistle and slung it around his neck. Going over the rules such as point limits, Kuroko added an extra...spice to the game to make sure they played their best.
"So, if Aomine-kun can win, we can go to first name basis," he tossed the ball in the air, "good luck."
"Kuroko, after this I'm going to kill you!" Kagami shouted, jumping up for the ball that was not launched very far upward. He grabbed the ball out of Aomine's grasps just barely and quickly turned around the other, dunking the first ball of the game.
Kagami sneered after seeing the other so surprised. He did have a couple more years experience, it was to be expected! Instead of surprise morphing into fear, or even dread, Aomine seemed even more excited.
'This kid's interesting,' Kagami thought to himself, scooping the ball up. 'All the more reason to play seriously.'
Kuroko's whistle cut through the air with a loud shrill, stopping both players in their tracks. Aomine widened his eyes and dropped the ball he was in possession of after seeing the point totals on a mock scoreboard in the court. After just thirty minutes, Aomine had lost; 44-38.
He dropped down to his knees, not sure whether to laugh or to cry. His hearing was drowned out by his heartbeat, but he heard a soft voice talking to another. After a while, only two figures remained on the court. A single hand touched his right shoulder.
"Aomine-kun," Kuroko started softly.
"So I've lost, you can go tell everyone now. Have them all laugh." Aomine covered his face lest it betray his current words.
"Aomine-kun, please hold on," the grip on his shoulder tightened and Aomine forced himself to look into stoic eyes, except that this time they held some pain.
"I used to hate basketball. I never got better at it, was always in the last string, and was constantly teased," Kuroko took a deep breath. "Then I met Kagami and the others. They taught me how fun it was to try, and to learn from our mistakes. That's how you get stronger; this one loss means nothing."
Kuroko detached himself, hoping his words had gone across. Aomine gulped when he realized what the other was doing.
"I just have to be at practice from now on, right?" Aomine asked after a while, having calmed down significantly.
"That's all I ask of," Kuroko reached out a hand and dragged the other up as best he could. An hour had already passed since Maji, and the two decided to part then, Aomine leaving with a fluttery stomach.
Said teen turned around and yelled.
"Thanks Tetsu!" He held out his hand, formed into a fist, and grinned as widely as he could. Kuroko turned around as well, and met the other's fist in a bump.
OMAKE
"Ryouta, you are not allowed to touch Tetsuya from now on," Akashi grinned at the 'deer in the headlights' look he received.
"How will I practice then, Akashi-chi?!" Kise protested, his arms waving all around; not at all contributing to his argument against the captain.
"Think of a way Ryouta, it's not my problem," he said, before walking away to tend to other problems.
'Punishment for touching my Tetsuya,' Akashi thought possessively.
-.-.-.-.-.-
"Kise-kun, you need to be closer so we can practice," Kuroko tilted his head to the side, confused and unaware of the internal conflict within Kise.
'Do I hug Kuroko-chi and die by Akashi-chi's hands, or stay away and die by Kuroko-chi's hands?!'
"Kise-kun," Kuroko's voice was suddenly closer.
Ignite Pass Kai!
Kise supposed it was the latter when an immense pain blossomed from his torso and he suddenly became intertwined with the bleachers.
"I can't win...!" were Kise's last words before he passed out from blood loss.
So, that's it for now. Hopefully my sense of humor in the omake wasn't too horrible because you will be seeing a bunch more at the end of the chapters from now on, heh.
I actually am thinking of making a birthday story for Kuroko as well (Hanamiya got one, so I don't see any reason not to give Kuroko one as well!) but I'll be posting a poll up on my profile if any of you guys would like to pop in and input your opinion. It'll basically be a yes or a no with a pairing attached.
That's pretty much all I've got to add for now, hope you enjoyed reading and if you have time a review would be marvelous! While I know this may be getting very repetitive, I am grateful for all the reviews and the favorites I've received; thank you so very much!
Esperanz: First of all, thank you for reading my story continuously and giving great reviews! Kise's entry into the MiraGen is slightly delayed due to the whole "week until regular's set-up" thing, but I tried to go at it from a realistic stand point (well, as realistic as it could be), since Akashi wouldn't get rid of someone he knew would contribute to the win - unless someone was of course better than Haizaki. Hope the Aomine/Kuroko feels and the slight Kise/Kuroko development was good enough! Also, this chapter should've been coming out sometime mid-Sunday, but I got a bunch of free time today and managed to type this chapter up, so I hope you had as much fun reading (as I did writing it xD)~!
MintLeafeon: I would personally love to have the other freshman contribute a big role in the whole story, but it's a little bad in the way that the mangaka hasn't put a lot of detail at all on anyone besides the snippets of Furihata, so if I did want them to have a big role I'd need to create personalities for them. So, I believe the safer route may be just sticking with the Seirin Seniors for games, but focus more on the freshmen during hanging out scenes and etc. I never expected to write about Aomine and Kagami getting along. Not at all. Maybe in some weird agreement to not fight publicly over Kuroko (my head canon sometimes..). Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Pri-Chan 1410: Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this update!
hitomi: Glad you thought so, and hope this chapter was up to par with your expectations ;3
R3iga1004: From the snippets of Riko and Hyuuga, you can sort of tell that I ship them. They are very cute, and I wouldn't expect them any other way! Thanks for readin' and reviewin'!
ben4kevin: Phew! I'm glad you think that. I meant sort of in comparison to the other update which took about.., two to three days as compared to the full week. Thanks for reviewing!
Shattered Teacup: Sorry to Haizaki lovers, but he deserved it! Oh dear, zerochan. I too feel really iffy about the pictures on there, and would probably only use a cover image if an artist drew it personally for my story (which would be a great honor actually)! Happy to hear it made your day; thanks for reading and reviewing my fellow author! (If you don't mind, could I have your other account with your stories? I'd love to see what you've written!)
fire15dsgirl:I feel you'll be pretty happy; Seirin will be staying together! Thanks for reading and reviewing; as well as answering the question!
BloodRabbit:Well, Aomine and Kagami did have a match as you liked, though Kise was the unfortunate one to receive the Ignite Pass Kai! to the face. I also don't know what's going on with my thought process, but the more I hear about the dislike of Haizaki, the more I want to explore a weird thoughtful side to him in a new story... Anyways, thanks for reading once more!
Your-mind-eye:Is it better with all the Aomine/Kuroko feels? c: Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for reading!
PiWrite:I'm pretty sure at this point, everyone's anticipating Seirin's flashy arrival! Also, I believe your question is answered in the beginning A/N, should you not have seen it already. Thanks for reviewing and reading!
Franzst:Initiating start-up processes, harem taking effect. I'm glad that you love it, and hopefully this chapter sated your harem needs (for now?).
Bree:Haha! I wouldn't dream of stopping in the middle of the story like this, that'd be way to cruel! I do like to think that while Aomine doesn't like Momoi, he does treasure her a lot despite all he does. I really want to start involving Seirin members next chapter, but that all depends on how the outline goes and what I actually start typing! When I go, I really can't stop unless I fully develop it and finish it off! Thanks for reading again, Bree!
darkreverie13:Hey now, Kuroko's got some nice tricks up his sleeve too! I'm expecting the Seirin folks to pop up next chapter, if my outline goes well. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
iKitsuNeko:I pity him in a way too, but I also believe violence isn't the best answer. You never know, some day I may pop up with a Haizaki appreciation story xD! Hope ya enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for following the story through tout the chapters!
krystalanimeheart: Thanks for reviewing! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and Kuroko shouldn't be taken lightly!
(Note: since I'm getting really pretty word-y in my responses, would you guys rather I respond - for members - via PM and of course guest reviews would stay here, or just leave them all here?)
