(0_0)/ Hi~~! Another chapter, just for you!

March 2009

It had been a few months, yet Kuroko couldn't figure out what had happened to Hinata Shouyou. After he found the present and note on his desk at the end of the day, Kuroko hurried to Hinata's house, only to find it devoid of life. Talking to the neighbor, Kuroko found out that the Hinatas had moved, but they didn't know where to. Hinata had disappeared, leaving nothing but a phone number behind.

That was another thing that puzzled Kuroko. Why did Hinata give him the phone number? Over the past few months, the two had rarely spoken. They had subconsciously gone separate ways since joining the first string, Kuroko befriending Aomine and Hinata befriending Akashi and Midorima. So why didn't Hinata give his phone number to one of them? Why did he give it to Kuroko?

Although, if Kuroko was being honest with himself, Hinata's presence in the basketball club alone filled him with hope. Hope that one day, the other Miracles would realize that teamwork really does make the dream work. But it seemed that hope evaporated in tandem with Hinata.

At that point, thoughts of Hinata had begun to leave a bitter taste in Kuroko's mouth. He felt guilty for pushing the ginger away in favor of Aomine (however subconsciously he did it), but he was also upset that Hinata had quit. It felt like Hinata ran away from the problems that plagued the basketball club and left Kuroko to watch the team crumble.

Yet, another part of Kuroko felt relieved that Hinata still trusted him enough to leave his phone number. It was a sign, one that could mend bridges in the future. Yes, nobody knew what had really become of Hinata Shouyou, but when the time came, they would. Kuroko smiled. He would make sure he was ready for that day. Until then, he would try to prove that his basketball worked.

April 2009

"I'm sorry Akashi-kun. We don't know where the Hinatas moved to. Why are you so concerned? Did Hinata-kun forget something?"

Akashi smiled at the teacher, his heterochromatic eyes betraying none of his thoughts.

"No, I was just wondering because he was in the basketball team's first string. Thank you for your help."

As he left, Akashi couldn't help but think about the turn of events. With the state of things as they were towards the end of their second year, it really was no surprise that Hinata's disappearance went unnoticed by many of his classmates. However, what was a surprise was that none of the faculty seemed to really know what had happened to Hinata either.

Through the faculty, Akashi learned that early last December, Mrs. Hinata had arranged for her son's official transcripts to be made ready for his transfer to a different school. She had decided to pick them up in person and deliver them to her son's new school herself, rather than having them sent through the mail. Perhaps she knew that Akashi (or other interested parties) would use the school's network to try and find out where they had relocated to?

"Did you find anything, Akashi?"

Midorima was waiting outside their classroom. He seemed to be mildly concerned with the manner in which Hinata left the school, but had obviously tried to cover it up. He was successful, to an extent.

"No. Mrs. Hinata is smart. She was able to hide their destination from the school. Hinata's phone seems to have been disconnected as well."

Mrs. Hinata's involvement seemed to surprise Midorima. It was amusing, really. Would he have gone to confront Hinata if he had an address? What had he planned to say? In all honesty, Akashi thought that Midorima lacked the conviction to do anything about Hinata. Which was why he was asking Akashi about it. Speaking of…

"Do you think we will see him at the championship?"

"I highly doubt it. Hinata didn't want to play basketball in the first place. He probably went to a school with a strong volleyball team."

May 2009

"Where is he?"

Momoi sighed heavily as she struck out again. Hinata was not at any school in Tokyo, Kyoto, or Osaka that had strong basketball or volleyball teams. She had no idea why she was searching for the boy anyway, or maybe she did.

The whole reason she was on this wild goose chase was because of her beloved Kuroko. Momoi had seen how depressed he became during their final year of middle school. At this point, Momoi was just grasping at straws.

Whatever it was that occupied Kuroko's mind obviously upset him a great deal. It was likely caused by the growing rift between the Generation of Miracles and Kuroko himself, and Momoi had no idea how to fix it. And oh how she wanted to fix the growing tension that seemed to become more palpable with every passing day!

She didn't know how to begin fixing things, but she thought that maybe Hinata would be able to help. He would be able to create a positive atmosphere, at least. She hoped. But if only she could find the boy! Seriously, how far did Hinata go to avoid detection?

Momoi hadn't realized just how much of an impact Hinata had made in the club while he was at Teiko, but now that he was gone it was easy to tell. As they say, you never know the true worth of something until it's gone.

True to his name, Hinata was like the sun. His energetic personality and positive thinking boosted morale within the team. At least, it was like that in the beginning. Momoi would have to be stupid to pretend that the Generation of Miracles hadn't begun shutting out Hinata in the last few months.

Aomine had blatantly talked about how he thought that Hinata was annoying. And, while he didn't say it in so many words, it was obvious that Murasakibara thought the same way. Although Momoi couldn't quite figure it out, it seemed like Kise was put out by Hinata. Kise himself was an optimistic person (at least, that's what he said in an interview one time), but Momoi supposed that Hinata's positivity was just too much for the blond towards the end.

It was different for Akashi and Midorima, she realized. Both of them had been the closest to Hinata, but in the past six months the both of them had seemed completely unbothered by Hinata's presence (or lack thereof). Where once one would see the three boys from Class 2-5 studying together, they quickly became separated and favored friends outside the basketball club.

Additionally, Momoi couldn't help but feel a little guilty when she thought of her own relationship with Hinata. She had never really hung out with him, as he was mainly seen engaged in conversation with Midorima and Akashi. Even as she tried to find out where he transferred to, the only reason she was looking for him was so that Kuroko wouldn't be as depressed. But all she found was an old magazine interview from the October of their second year.

Despite this, she was sure that bringing Hinata back would make things better for her team. So, she gathered her determination and searched for another school.

"Hinata Shouyou, I will find you!"

Word Count: 1215

(0_0)/ Thank you all for being here! Feel free to tell me what you think!