Kuroko IV

Dawn dawned, and with it realization dawned as well.

Kyuubei watched Kuroko Tetsuya move out of his bed very, very slowly.

"What…" he muttered, hands rubbing at his eyes. His curtains shifted a little, and a streak of sunlight blasted him right in the face. He winced.

"Good morning," said Kyuubei. "The morning after always feels strange."

Kuroko stared back, pale-faced and shadow-eyed. Last night's conviction had been but the work of the moment-the magic of the moonlit hours, and the warmth in Momoi's voice. Despair didn't dissipate so easily, no matter that day had come.

"Don't worry," Kyuubei reassured him. "You'll get used to that soulless feeling after a while."

Kuroko's face froze in a mask of gloomy understanding.

He went to brush his teeth and had to let his face unfreeze a little, if only so he could use his toothbrush.

"Kuroko, I wish you wouldn't stare at your eggs like that," Kuroko's mother chided, a little later.

Kuroko continued to stare at his eggs, face re-frozen.

"And stop looking so fish-eyed-didn't you get enough sleep last night?"

Kuroko gave her a frozen, haunted look. "No."

On the one hand, Kyuubei was highly pleased: Kuroko's soul gem, a dark blot on the palm of his right hand, proved even darker than Aomine's. It roiled with pain and frustration and probably clinical depression as Kuroko continued to stare at his hardboiled eggs, as if those little white ovoids held the secrets of this cruel, benighted universe.

On the other hand…

"Today is the last day of the tournament, isn't it?"

"Yes." A faint hint of life appeared in the deadened blues of Kuroko's eyes. "It ends today, one way or another."

"Oh good. You're out of clean jerseys, you know."

"I know," Kuroko whispered.

On the other hand, the child had found hope, where before there had been none.

A light to save the Generation of Miracles from the doom of victory. What did that even mean? And of course there was another problem…

"Well, eat up," said Mrs. Kuroko. "You won't win today on an empty stomach."

"I can't imagine Akashi-kun will let us lose," Kuroko said quietly, finally picking up his fork.

…The other problem being Akashi's wish.

"These are good tomatoes," said Kuroko.

"Why, thank you. Glad to see you come out of your weird little shell."

"However, the eggs are somewhat overcooked."

"You can get back in your shell now."

Kuroko hung his head. "Okay."

Kyuubei left the humans to their breakfast.

- 0 - 0 -

It wasn't the first time in human history that two wishes had clashed, of course.

Both wishes would come true, that much Kyuubei knew: through some odd twist of logic, a loophole in the wording of the two requests (human language was so vague), Akashi would win and Kuroko would also make Akashi lose.

Kyuubei could only try to predict the outcome.

Scenario 1:

Kuroko: Ogiwara. You are my light.

Ogiwara: Huh?

Kuroko: I will join your team.

Ogiwara: Is that allowed?

(they win the tournament)

(beating even the Generation of Miracles)

Midorima: Oha Asa did not predict this.

Murasakibara: Such a bother.

Kise: I don't even know what is happening here.

Aomine: Kurokooooo.

(thereby saving them from the doom of victory)

Akashi: No.

(until Akashi points out to the officials that Kuroko is not actually a member of Meikou Middle School, much less the Meikou Middle School basketball team, thereby disqualifying Meikou from the tournament and granting Teikou the win by default)

(Kyuubei collects only a little despair-related energy)

(no one is particularly happy, particularly basketball fans, but the terms of the wishes are fulfilled)

Scenario 2

Kuroko: Ah, the utter bleak vacuumous darkness of despair that is middle school basketball. I love it but I hate it. To be, or not to be.

(turns into giant monster made of light)

(kills everyone in stadium)

(including the Generation of Miracles)

Midorima: Oha Asa did not predict this.

Murasakibara: Such a bother.

Kise: I don't even know what is happening here.

Aomine: Kurokooooo.

(thereby saving them from the doom of victory)

Akashi: No.

(but Akashi comes back from clinical "death," turns into yet another giant monster, kills Kuroko, and scores the final, winning basket of the game (which everyone had forgotten about), thereby fufilling the conditions of his wish, before going on to slowly and painfully destroy the world)

(Kyuubei collects a lot of despair-related energy)

(everyone is happy)

- 0 - 0 -

Hm. Some scenarios were certainly preferable over others.

At any rate, Kuroko was right about one thing: the finals would be the end, one way or another.

- 0 - 0 -

But first Teikou had to get through the semi-finals.

"This is going to be so difficult," Kise sighed theatrically.

Aomine casually tossed a ball underhanded. It plunked neatly through the net. "Right."

"Mine-chin and I aren't even starting. We probably won't play. Do we really need to warm up?" Murasakibara hunched over like a giant, gangly gargoyle, his hands on a chip bag rather than a basketball. No one thought this was strange.

At the half court line, Midorima muttered to himself as he made shot after shot after desultory shot.

"You seem very keen to play against those twins." Akashi spoke to Kuroko for the first time in a long time, barely looking at him. "I suppose you want to take revenge for last year."

"Not for us," Kuroko replied, so quietly anyone but Akashi would have missed it.

But Akashi did not reply. A senior official was signalling; the opening greetings were about to begin. Akashi moved forward into the centre court, his court, and took his place at the head of the team lineup. After a moment, Kuroko stepped into his spot much further down the line, a presence barely there-as Akashi had made him.

The exchange gave Kyuubei an idea. It was risky, but the possible payoff in despair-related energy…

Kuroko? Can you hear me? Kyuubei said mind-to-mind, so only Kuroko could hear. Sorry to bother you. I just want to give you some advice.

Kuroko seemed not to be listening.

You made a wish to save the Generation of Miracles, Kyuubei reminded him, but it seems to me you don't have the resolve to carry your wish through.

Teikou bowed to Kamata West: Akashi's movements light and graceful, the others following with rather less elegance. Kuroko bent like a wooden doll.

I'm a bit worried about you, to tell you the truth. You see, Akashi Seijuurou made a very powerful wish, one he truly believes in. A wish in direct opposition to yours.

Akashi stepped forward and shook hands with the captain of Kamata West.

In a sense, your wish made him your enemy. How are you going to defeat him, Kuroko? How are you going to save him, when you don't believe as strongly as he does?

The teams dispersed, only the starters remaining on the court. Kuroko was slow to move into his position for the jump ball, on the opposite wing from Akashi.

The idea of saving someone is rather presumptuous anyway, isn't it? It's like saying a person is so weak they can't save themselves.

The ball flew up, and the centres battled; the ball came to Kuroko, who caught it and passed it, robotically, to Akashi.

Your captain is not weak.

Akashi slipped past his defender, dribbled deftly past another, and, instead of passing to Midorima, who was open, laid the ball in himself.

How are you going to save someone who doesn't want your help?

Kuroko jogged back onto defense, as he'd been trained to do.

Why would you?

Please stop, Kuroko pleaded. I'm trying to play basketball.

Kyuubei hummed thoughtfully. I'm helping you do just that. I want you to find your basketball, so you can save the Generation of Miracles from themselves. Or is that not what you really wanted?

Please stop, Kuroko tried again.

When you asked for a light, weren't you just asking for someone else to do the work? You want Ogiwara Shigehiro to defeat the Generation of Miracles, don't you? You want your own team to lose. And you want to absolve yourself of such a terrible responsibility.

No, thought Kuroko.

Don't worry about thinking such things, said Kyuubei. I'm sure Akashi's wish won't let it happen.

This time, Kuroko did not respond.

But Kyuubei was not surprised when, in the fourth quarter, with the score at 89-45 for Teikou, and the entire Generation of Miracles resting on the bench, Kuroko was somehow too tired and distracted to avoid the elbow aimed at his head.

Now, Kyuubei mused, as Kuroko was carted off to the locker rooms, what would happen on this court of wishes?

- 0 - 0 -

Following Kuroko's collapse, the Generation of Miracles did something truly terrible to the terrible twins of Kamata West, who were never again to play basketball after this day.

(Kuroko, though, was not awake to see, nor stop, his teammates' cruel sense of justice.)

Nor did he witness the conversation between Akashi Seijuurou and Ogiwara Shigehiro—the latter of whom was also never to play basketball again after this day, if Akashi had anything to say about it.

"There are things more important than winning and losing, right?" said Ogiwara to Akashi.

(Thank goodness Kuroko, who was right there, sleeping, heard not a thing.)

"Without victory," said Akashi, "your words are nothing but petty sentiment."

(Thank goodness Akashi was too rational to listen to Ogiwara.)

Then Teikou and Meikou played their fated match, as Kuroko slept on.

"Come on, man," said Aomine. "I let you through, so the least you could do is actually make it."

(Thank goodness the less logical members of the Generation of Miracles didn't know Ogiwara at all, and so had no compunctions about utterly destroying his spirit.)

"Akashi-kun...why?"

(And thank goodness Kuroko woke just in time to see the real meaning of victory, as Akashi Seijuurou would have it.)

- 0 - 0 -

Kuroko watched, helplessly, as his elementary school friend walked away from basketball, perhaps forever.

On the scoreboard, the numbers 111-11 glowed luridly.

- 0 - 0 -

Kyuubei saw that despairing face, those eyes deadened with pain, a black, black soul gem, and he waited, ears perked with eager anticipation, waited for—

Nothing.

Nothing was happening.

The heart of Teikou's sixth man, the heart of a team that used to be a team, was breaking, but no monsters came of it.

Kuroko walked out of the gym still human, and the Generation of Miracles followed.