To answer some questions... Well, there is hinted yaoi in this story. XD and... it still is... My favorite vocaloid? Well, I'd say it's Kaito! :DDD he's such an adorable little baby, I can't resist him! My most hated is Miku. :v srsly, stop fucking everyone, miku. Also, I love the song Coward Montblanc so much. Every character I think of has a connection to the song, like Kuroko~~
An answer to Rriannah:
Both of them were in an awkward silence. Kagami rubbed the back of his head and cleared his throat. "Well if you're going to tell me, why don't we go somewhere more appropriate?" Kagami suggested. Kuroko just stared, and the other boy took it as a 'yes'. Both of them walked towards an empty playground.
"Right, now start your story." Kagami said sternly, sitting on one of the swings with Kuroko. The teal-haired boy huffed at the boy for being so straightforward. Oh well, it wasn't like Kuroko himself wasn't just as blunt as the red-haired boy.
"It all started right after Aomine-kun found his potential." Kuroko started off calmly, his voice was void of emotion. Kagami became interested when he heard the name of one of the miracles. Both were tense, Kagami didn't dare to interrupt his shadow. "He was the first one to break. You've probably already seen him play before on some of the videos the coach has caught."
Kagami nodded, humming. It was that blue-headed guy, and his name was Aomine Daiki. Indeed, Kagami had noticed how Aomine had changed over the last few years –shown in short videos-, he used to smile a lot. Aomine lost that smile for some reason, and Kuroko was going to reveal why.
"Aomine-kun… He used to be so radiant. He was my former light. He used to fool around, just like you, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said, a nostalgic smile forming on his lips. "He'd let me accompany him, and he would always force himself in on the times I was in the gym alone."
"What were you doing in the gym alone?" Kagami asked, ignoring the annoyance where Kuroko told him he fooled around.
"Practicing." Kuroko answered immediately. "I strived so hard to get in the first string. I had to, since it would get me closer to fulfilling my promise with him." Kuroko said, looking down on the ground. Kagami blinked. "Can I ask who's 'him'?"
"Oh, right… You don't know yet." Kuroko mumbled. "I had a friend back in elementary school, but he moved out. We promised to each other that we'd meet again on the court." Kuroko bit his lower lip to prevent it from quivering. "We'll get to that story later."
"Aomine-kun became too strong. His love for basketball faded, and soon, he tells me he doesn't need me anymore." Kuroko's voice slightly cracked at the last sentence. Kagami's eyes widened. Why would he say that? Wasn't Kuroko his partner?
"I felt like crying when he left me hanging on the court. When he played as my partner one last time…" He gripped his hands together. "But I didn't. Instead, I started to slowly break."
"What kind of partner was that?!" Kagami exclaimed, standing up angrily. "If this stupid-Aomine really saw you as a partner, why would that bastard leave you like some unusable tool?"
Kuroko flinched.
Kagami softened and sat back down. "Sorry."
"…It's alright, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said calmly, not expecting the outburst of his current light. "It felt painful, Kagami-kun. Especially that day… When he had truly changed into something that can't be brought back."
He remembered the mocking tone in Aomine's voice. The scary look in his eyes. Those words that sent him drowning in a pool of torment.
"I don't remember how to receive your passes anymore." Kuroko repeated out loud, his voice wavering completely. Kagami didn't know what to say. It was the first time he ever saw his partner like this. It was completely unexpected. Still, it enraged Kagami that the fact Kuroko was silently suffering on his own was because of his former friend.
"It hurt so much. To think he would always stay my light for a long time, it was naïve of me." Kuroko mumbled, although Kagami had heard him. The taller male refused to interrupt him.
The next part was the one thing Kuroko had dreaded. It was hard to relive something he didn't want to remember.
"I came back to the gym not much later… Momoi-san had told me everything." Kuroko started to shake a bit. "I came back to see Akashi-kun, my former captain, standing there alone… And he seemed so different from the Akashi-kun I knew."
"He… He didn't look like the same gentle and caring person who had seen my potential. He looked like a murderer. I never wanted to see that again. He told me to give up on Aomine-kun." Kagami looked pained as well at his story. Kuroko looked like he really wanted to cry, something he shouldn't see from his shadow.
"He let them all go. He didn't care if we didn't practice. All he cared about was winning." Surprisingly, Kuroko sounded so bitter. "It hurt to see our opponents giving up because they had no hope of winning against us. They didn't care if it broke our opponents. To their eyes, it was their problem." Kuroko continued. "They didn't even take the other team seriously. They would play around… See who gets twenty points during the whole game…"
"Heartless monsters…" Kagami mumbled through gritted teeth.
"I was benched during each game. I wasn't of any use. The only situations I am useful to them is when they want to triple the other team's score even further." The tealette held his sides tightly. "I felt like a monster... Just like them."
"Kuroko…" Kagami gripped his knees. Is this how his former teammates had treated him during his last year in his middle school? Weren't they his friends? Why would they even be so cruel to their own teammate? Kagami didn't understand. The Generation of Miracles were a bunch of bastards. All they gave a shit about was winning, and they didn't take into account the feelings of each opponent they toyed with. No wonder so many people had hated the group.
"It was time for the finals before I knew it. I felt so dead, as if each match slowly killed me." Kuroko closed his eyes. "I was injured because of a player who played foul. According to Momoi-san, my old friend wanted to visit me, but Akashi-kun stopped him from doing so." Kuroko breathed deeply. "He made a promise with me. He promised that he and the others would take the group seriously and not toy with them like they did to the other opponents."
Kagami clicked his tongue. "…And he didn't keep that promise, did he…?"
The silence that formed between the two was enough for Kagami to know his answer.
"He lied to me, Kagami-kun." Kuroko shakily stated. "He broke his promise." He started breathing heavily. "The next three days after the match, Akashi-kun had admitted he was just playing around with me. He told me I was just something to pass time. I was just the most unusable person ever that was only ever usable for entertainment." Kuroko felt warm tears leave his eyes. "…He replaced me."
Kagami stared in shock and anger for his teammate.
"He didn't have any need for me anymore, and bluntly stated I was the 'old prototype' of the Phantom Sixth Man. I was the broken version… And he replaced me." Kuroko started tearing up. Uncharacteristic tears and sobs came from him. "I was a coward…. I didn't feel inclined to hear the truth. The team didn't need me anymore…. They lied to me, Kagami-kun. They all betrayed me. Akashi-kun…" He trailed off, not able to finish his sentence.
A humorless chuckle came from the crying child's face. "Then again, I deserve this." Kagami stared in disbelief. "I was stupid to think they were my friends in the first place. I was truly unworthy of my title for being a useless person. I wasn't deserving of my position… Yet I forced myself in their lives. Too bad, it backfired."
"And yet I trusted Akashi-kun… That was the worst decision I've ever made. I was so stupid to think he'd support me."
"Kuroko," Kagami held his shadow's shoulders, making the teary-eyed Tetsuya look up at him. "Get a grip over yourself!" Kagami yelled, making the boy calm down because of surprise. "Stop saying those things about yourself. You clearly don't deserve this. If anything, this is all their fault. Why would they say that to you, when it was obviously Kuroko Tetsuya who had brought the goodness out of them? Why would you say you were unworthy of being a part of them?!" Kagami demanded, although Kuroko knew he wasn't asking for an answer this time.
"If anything, Kuroko, it's them who are unworthy of you." Kagami stated in a calmer way, but the anger in his voice didn't disappear. "After you've worked your ass so hard to be able to stand with them in the same court just to fulfill a promise with a friend, you were already so much better than them before everything ever started." Kagami continued, letting go of Kuroko's shoulders.
"They had to screw everything up for you because they were so fucking selfish! It was them who were out of your league. They weren't worthy of being your teammates for causing so much trouble for you. Don't let them get to you, you idiot!"
"You're not useless. You're not stupid." Kagami denied the previous words that came out of his partner.
"And remember this, Kuroko, you're not the Generation of Miracles' sixth man anymore."
Kuroko's eyes widened.
"You're Seirin's Phantom Player now." Kagami stated, giving Kuroko a reassuring grin. "Don't ever let your mind wander to those stupid thoughts in your puny head!"
After a few moments, Kuroko felt another weight lift off from his heart.
Kuroko just gave a gentle smile.
"…Thank you…"
After deciding everything was okay, Kagami stood up, stretching his limbs. "Those Generation of Assholes piss me off so much." He said casually. "Thinking so much made me hungry." He said.
"It's getting late, Kagami-kun." Kuroko said, wiping away stray tears from his eyes. "Would you like to come over at my house? Your house seems far away, and you'll be late for dinner." He suggested. Kagami shook his hands in a wild gesture. "No, it's fine, Kuroko! I don't want to trouble you or your parents-"
"Oh, no. I insist." Kuroko said, and with the tone he used, it was final. Kagami rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, sighing. "Well… If you say so…"
"It's fine." Kuroko smiled. "Think of it as a way of thanking you for listening to me ramble aimlessly."
Kagami didn't have anything to say about that.
"But before that, can we stop by at the sweets shop? It won't take too long."
"Sorry for making you wait."
"…You're awfully fast." Kagami said.
"I told you it wouldn't take a while." Kuroko held up his take-out dessert with a spark no one could see. He felt excited to eat his new snack. "Let's go, Kagami-kun. Mother is panicking again." He walked out, showing Kagami his mother's exaggerating text.
Kagami sweat dropped.
"…Say, Kuroko, what's your mom like?"
"….You'll know soon enough, Kagami-kun."
Kagami was curious.