I'm so, so sorry I have not updated this story in so long, but I hope this next chapter is a good one. I'm free from the stress of college for a bit, but I do have work and other responsibilities forever lurking in my life. I'll try my best to update a bit more regularly for the time being. I had sudden inspiration for my fic!
Obviously not everything I've written entirely follows the canon from the original manga. There are certain aspects I'm adding to, or I'm changing. Nothing too crazy, but Yuki is her own person, and Kuroko's story always breaks my heart. I don't think it would be as fun of a read otherwise.
Reviews are always welcomed, but I do thank you all for sticking around and reading!
Disclaimer: {I do not own anything Kuroko no Basuke related. I do own my OCs, Mia, Inoue, Akako, and Yuki. Quote belongs to Langston Hughes.}
Chapter VI: To Dreams, Wherever They May Be
Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly. – Langston Hughes
It wouldn't have been the first time she realized she'd become far too immersed in a problem that didn't truly pertain to her or her existence. Her parents were well-aware that she'd interfered far too often in the discussions concerning her older sister – ones that should have lacked her youthful opinions.
Children were interesting in their naivety. They believed in everything; trusting all and questioning none. Yuki was still a child in her own right, never learning to leave things be and believing in other people. Thus, why the issue of a certain baby-blue haired individual had her so riled up – she didn't entirely trust in him or his mission. Knowing his struggles only irked her further as she felt almost useless to his cause. Someone ignorant to the tactile functions of the sport could never enlighten another to produce skillful playing in the game.
She was offended.
Yuki felt it was becoming a bit too destructive to harbor such negativity around the problem of Kuroko's playing – maybe even Kuroko in general – but it gnawed at her during her free time, while she read her poetry and even while she slept. While she read, she imagined the light-haired boy missing the baskets, each thump against the court rising and falling with the meters of each stanza; while she slept, she dreamed of him popping up in random places, a ball in hand, and then disappearing.
She was losing her mind.
Come up with a strategy, they said. Awaken an inner talent, they ordered. But in reality, she knew what they wanted: to kick him off the team; to save him from the hardship, the destruction to his body; the disappointment and turmoil.
How do I save him?
Yuki woke up that morning feeling exhausted. She hadn't moved from her position in bed – on her side, looking out towards the window. She'd been thinking for most of the night, contemplating reasons as to why Kuroko should leave the team and escape the misery. However, every reason left her more and more upset. Not even an acquaintance, but simply a fellow classmate, she had no power to take away something he was determined to achieve; it was his dream.
For goodness' sake, she was a dreamer, too!
Determined to make the most of her day and escape the doldrums of her negativity, she patted her cheeks and moved to the bathroom to splash herself with cold water. After putting on her uniform, she straightened the blazer and flattened the skirt; she brushed her hair, plaiting the top of it so that her bangs no longer obscured her vision. Flashing a smile in the mirror, Yuki felt more confident: an organized person had an organized life.
Her mother prepared a simple breakfast: rice, tomatoes and eggs. Nodding at her in thanks, Yuki wished her mother a good day and headed off towards the school.
She hoped those well-wishes would benefit her studies as well.
"Morine-chan has been even more unfriendly than usual, don't you agree, Akako-chan?"
Akako looked over at her friend. It was hard to tell whether Yuki was immersing herself into her reading or if the book itself were swallowing her whole. She knew Yuki was one to take reading to an almost other-worldly level, but the amount of dedication she was seeing at this moment left her speechless.
"Is she reading about basketball again?" One of her fellow classmates, Inoue, asked. "I don't get why someone who reads so much would join a sports team – is she even athletic?"
Another girl snorted – Mia – "You do realize she's an assistant manager, right? The most she must do is probably grab waters for the players. They're not going to sub her into a game!" She tapped Inoue on the forehead.
Akako wasn't whole-heartedly listening. She knew Inoue and Mia for a few years now, as the three of them had gone to primary school together alongside Yuki. Even during those days, the two of them would point out different aspects of Yuki's behavior they struggled to understand, like her desire to learn through reading rather than experience.
Inoue was shorter than Akako, Mia and Yuki, reaching up to Yuki's nose as the second shortest. Her hair was a straight, lighter brown, with hints of copper highlights throughout. Her eyes were darker – a more chocolate color. She was an attractive girl, but her commentary left more to be desired. Her closest companion was Mia, the tallest of the bunch, with short, jaw-length, jet black hair. Her glasses obscured her wide slate eyes. They'd gravitated to Akako since middle school, basking in the comfort of a familiar face. After all the attention Yuki'd been receiving as of late, bad habits seemed to have returned.
"I think I'll go check on her before she dives into the book and disappears," Akako said, walking away. She sent a small wave after moving back to her desk next to Yuki's, but both Inoue and Mia rolled their eyes, disbelieving that she would approach the poor girl.
"You do realize you're making a larger scene than usual, Queenie?" She drawled out to Yuki, gripping the binding of the book. This certainly would not have been the first time that she needed to aggressively wrangle something away from Yuki.
She'd gotten quite good at tug-of-war over the years.
Yuki looked over slowly, not quite registering that she was in the classroom. Three hesitant blinks later and reality hit her like a thunderous clap. "Oh no," she mumbled, mortified. "Don't tell me class has started?" She began to look around in a panic.
"No – no! Stoppppp!" Akako exaggerated the order, realizing she'd thrown her friend into a tizzy. "I'm saving you from that experience though. This book reading is starting to get a bit ridiculous. You're making it rather difficult to talk to you." Akako closed the book and positioned it next to her bookbag, a clear sign that Yuki wouldn't be reading it any time soon.
She saw the dejected look on Yuki's face. "Is there something going on, Yuki? You look exhausted!"
Yuki nodded, and began to pull out her notebook for English. "I've just got a lot on my mind. I was hoping that book would help." She moved her hair behind her ears. "Don't worry; once I figure something out, I'll be less tired."
Akako squinted her eyes at the girl. This was the first time in years that she had seen Yuki so flustered. After having looked at her friend for a little while longer, she shrugged. "Well, as long as those basketball boys aren't threatening to eat you, I'm not too worried." She winked at Yuki.
"Eat me?" Yuki's eyes went wide. "What do you mean?"
"This is exactly what I mean! You're missing some seriously good conversation."
Yuki's mouth opened and closed in disbelief. "You cannot just leave me hanging about this. What are you talking about?"
Of course, at that very moment, their English teacher arrived for class. The stories Akako was infamously known for were put on hold.
English was one of Yuki's best classes. She'd found a foreign language to be something fascinating, and the differences in vocabulary and sentence structure placed just enough of a challenge upon her. They'd moved on from short stories to longer, more drawn out poems. The structural differences and meters in English interested Yuki, motivating her to want to both read more and write some.
Her teacher knew Yuki loved the discussions of symbolism and common themes throughout the readings. She'd look forward to Yuki's input on some of the short stories they'd read previously. However, the next portion of the class was more of an application of the language rather than appreciation.
"Does anyone know what a pillow book is?" Itou-sensei inquired. The class remained silent, some of the students looking at their desk mates in wonder about the foreign term. After a few moments, she smiled at the class in excitement.
"A pillow book is something very special. It combines aspects of your lives: poems you've liked or written, short stories, photographs, descriptive passages and things that you hold closely. These different things are then compiled into a book." The class looked at their sensei, intrigued by what they assumed to be the latest project. "One of the earliest pillow books was written during the Heian Period of Japanese history and has continued to be a popular piece of literature even today.
"Seeing as we have devoted a large portion of the year to English poetry and narratives, I thought we could combine the English skills we have acquired and combine that with our Japanese heritage – our own individualized pillow books!"
Itou-sensei began to pass out small composition notebooks to each student. They were expected to record into their notebooks at least once a week, and then disclose a bit of information to the class about it on the following Friday of that week. If what they wrote was deemed too personal to share with the class, they could decline reading for that week. Photographs were acceptable but must include a caption as to why they were included.
"For the rest of the class time today, I want you all to work on your first entry. It is open-ended, meaning you can write about whatever you'd like, inside or outside of the classroom. I must ask that you make each entry meaningful, as one day you might decide to look back on these notebooks. You might realize a lot about yourself in these writings."
While some of the students grumbled, worried that their middle school level English would not be suitable enough for their journal entries, Yuki felt quite excited. This assignment presented her with a free opportunity to express her difficulties without feeling as though she were wasting time. She'd been wanting to try and create her own poems as well but felt embarrassed to write freely.
This was a golden opportunity in her eyes.
Akako stretched after their class ended. "That. Was. Horrible! I can't believe we have to do this every week for the rest of the school year. My English is sooo awkward." She looked over at Yuki. "Did you end up writing anything? I kept erasing what I started with and tried again, but it hasn't been an enjoyable experience."
Yuki nodded. "I wrote a little bit. It's hard writing about something and knowing the word in Japanese but not in English, but I think it's a fun assignment."
Akako huffed. "What should I write about? I can't even seem to focus on an idea."
"Think about the English you do know and write using that English," Yuki said. "You're going to have to go backwards this time – write first, topic second." She shrugged. Ideas kept coming to Yuki, but without a dictionary, she felt a bit lost in conveying what she wants to say.
"Do you think I can fill in the blanks with words in Japanese until I learn the English?" Yuki could tell Akako was nervous about the assignment – more so than usual.
"We can always ask Itou-sensei as well. If you need any help, just ask, Akako. I know a bit more English than you do, so I'm willing to give you some ideas or words."
She hugged Yuki tightly. "You're a saint, Queenie. A living, breathing bundle of goodness, I tell ya!"
Yuki blushed, unsure as to whether she preferred a more serious Akako to the real one.
The four girls sat together for lunch. Inoue and Akako were complaining about their English assignment and had been for over five minutes. Yuki and Mia sat in quiet, eating their bento boxes and enjoying the break from classes. After their whining ended, Inoue and Akako realized how hungry they were and joined the other two girls in their eating.
"So, Yuki, I wasn't able to explain earlier, but there's like totally this crazy rumor going around right now about one of the gyms at the school."
Yuki looked up from her rice. "A rumor?"
Inoue took over the conversation. "If you were listening at all this week, you would know," she said rolling her eyes. "Mia! You tell her."
Mia stopped eating and looked over at Yuki. "Well, basically, the entire school is convinced there is a ghost haunting one of the gyms that the basketball team uses."
"A ghost?"
"Yes! A ghost!" The three girls call out at the same time.
"Absolutely so scary. I cannot believe you spend so much time over there," Inoue whispered out, looking over her shoulder.
"I heard one of their best players ran away from the gym in fright," Akako added.
"The coaches still make them practice under those conditions? Shame on them!" Mia admonished.
Yuki couldn't stop herself; she burst out laughing. "What conditions? A ghost!"
The three looked at the girl as though she'd lost her mind. "Are you sure you're feeling okay, Yuki?" Akako asked, genuinely concerned for her friend's well-being.
"Yes, of course!" Yuki breathed out, in between giggles. "There's just – there's no such thing as ghosts! You're all being a bit ridiculous." The girls looked at her in disbelief.
"Well, how do you know, Morine-chan? Maybe it's only hiding from you and comes out at night," Mia remarked. Both she and Inoue looked terrified.
Yuki was still fighting off the last of her giggles. "I stay until late most of the nights that the team practices. The gym you mentioned is the one the third-string practices in. I think I would know if something was haunting that place."
Mia wouldn't hear it. "I'm going to ask one of the girls from the other class. She knows the player who heard it!" And off she ran.
"Even if there isn't a ghost, aren't you worried about someone – or something – in the gym later at night?" Akako inquired, realizing her friend wasn't exactly taking the situation seriously.
"That's probably the least of my worries. Sweaty guys and water bottles practically begging to be filled with cold water are at the top of my priorities list when in the gym." Yuki stretched her arms out. "If I had the time to dream about a ghost flying around, Teikou probably wouldn't hold as many trophies as they do."
At that moment, Mia ran back into the room, a certain bubblegum sprite in tow. "Here she is! Here she is! Explain to the non-believer!" Mia points to Yuki.
"Yuki-chan!" Momoi called out. "I didn't realize you didn't believe in ghosts! They're so scary!"
Momoi had begun to shake, causing the other girls to look on in worry. It took everything in Yuki to not burst out laughing again. "Ghosts are a construct that adults created to prevent kids from acting up at night," Yuki explained. "Sayings like, 'Don't look under the bed' – they're just meant to get you to go to sleep and stay asleep."
"Well, then how do you explain the banging in the gym, Non-believer-san?" Mia inquired; arms crossed.
"A vent? A janitor staying late to clean up?" Yuki rolled her eyes. "I could think of so many other possibilities. If you're so scared, why not just ask the teachers?"
Momoi, Akako, Mia and Inoue all glanced at each other and then shrugged.
"The teacher probably wouldn't believe us."
"They'd probably tell us to stay away from the gym at night."
"Or say we aren't supposed to stay after school that late."
Yuki smirked, knowing that she had won that argument. Mia wasn't finished with her yet though.
"Well, if you're so sure that there isn't a ghost in the gym, you should prove it," Mia said loudly, garnering the attention of other students in the classroom. "Go to the gym tonight and investigate for us."
"How are you going to know whether or not what I say is true?"
Yuki glanced at Akako in frustration. Without truly intending to do so, her friend had immersed her into a situation she'd rather excuse herself from. Akako spoke up on Yuki's behalf, "I'll go with her! After practice finishes up, I can meet up with Que – uh – Yuki and see what's living in the gym."
"Or what isn't," Yuki corrected. Putting her chin on her palm, she realized Momoi never told her what happened in the gym. "Who heard this 'ghost' by the way?"
Momoi's eyes went wide. "Dai-chan! He had been planning on practicing in the gym last night and heard a noise! He ran to one of the other basketball courts and practiced instead." She threw her hands up in exasperation. "I can't believe he didn't even check to see what was in there."
"Wow! He ran away from the ghost?" Akako asked, starting to look a bit pale. "If Aomine-san noticed something, it must be real."
"Sounds like this is Aomine-san's problem, not mine, Mia-san," Yuki commented. "Perhaps you could ask him to exorcise your ghost."
"I couldn't ask him to do that!" Mia spluttered out. The girls all looked at Mia's face as a red hue began to spread. "Wh-why should I trouble one of the members of the basketball team with something like this?"
Yuki sighed. She'd hoped to pass the task onto someone that wasn't herself. Her parents already commented on her being late as a rising issue in the Morine homestead, and here she was, being forced to stay later than expected. "I was joking, Mia-san. I'll look into it with Akako later."
Akako smiled. "It's a date!"
"I can't believe how late you stay at the school, Queenie. It's so dark out," Akako glanced out one of the windows in the classroom. They'd decided to meet in their classroom to 'strategize' as Akako liked to call it. Momoi had provided a lengthy list of noted bizarre occurrences in the gym as of late – how she came across this list, Yuki would never truly know.
"The joys of being forced to whip middle school boys into shape."
Akako giggled. "Yuki, you're so weird. Why can't you ever just agree with me like a normal person?" She smirked at her dark-haired friend as she perused through the most recent events.
Yuki briefly looked up before resuming her reading, the most recent occurrence being Aomine's. "I think my response was more entertaining and you know it."
She changed the subject, "So, it looks like Aomine-san went to the Third-String's gym around seven thirty or so, which is right around the time it is currently. He said he had been looking for a place to practice his shooting when he 'conveniently' spotted the gym." Akako rolled her eyes. Her friend's narration was so heavily laced with sarcasm. "He then remarked that he had proceeded to walk in, heard a bang and then ran immediately out." Yuki looked up expectantly. "Thoughts?"
Akako shrugged. "It doesn't sound like he really did much in the gym –"
"Which supports my conclusion that there is no ghost."
"Okay, Yuki, whatever. But his story doesn't give us much of anything. So, it doesn't immediately rule out no ghost either." Akako started to pace in the room. "What were some of the other accounts like?"
Yuki bit her lip. "They're all really similar. The same gym, heard some noises, moving from bangs to what sounds like the squeaking of sneakers on the surface of the floor. Nothing too crazy, but a constant instance of noise."
"All at around the same time?"
Yuki nodded. "It's certainly a concern that there may be a broken pipe or a warped vent in the gym causing the noises though."
"There's no way a vent is the cause of this," Akako interrupted Yuki's musings. She saw her friend open her mouth. "No, Yuki, seriously. Why would one vent continue to go off at the same time every night? No one notices it throughout the day, until randomly after all classes and clubs have been let off for the night? Something's missing."
The two stared at each other, realizing the obviously solution to their problems. "We won't figure anything out – "
"— Unless we go to the gym."
"So, it must be almost natural walking over here now after classes, huh?"
Yuki nodded. "After that tall idiot almost broke my legs in his haste to get to practice, I made sure to learn how to get over to the gym in the shortest amount of time possible." She tucked a bit of her bangs behind her ear. "They're nice gymnasiums, but the labor the students go through in there makes you think otherwise."
"It's that bad?"
"The basketball team is ruthless. I'm not sure what it's like for the other strings, but the students I work with can barely move after practice." Her thoughts cycled back to a certain blue-haired child. "They get sick a lot."
"Wow! But they all keep coming back to play basketball. That's amazing."
"That's the pain of a dream."
They opened the doors to the gymnasium slowly, quietly, in the hopes of noticing the slightest of noises.
"I don't hear anything, Yuki."
Yuki nodded, and proceeded to walk further into the gym. "Ghost-san!" She called out. "Are you there, Ghost-san? I have someone who'd like to meet you." Looking around the room, nothing seemed out of place from the practice that was held there only a short while previously. The only thing that seemed off was how green Akako was turning.
Yuki gave her a look. "What is going on now?"
"Why are you calling out to it?!" She hissed out. "Are you trying to get us killed?!" Akako began to look around the room, her eyes wide with fear. Every shadow had become her enemy.
"Would you relax? There's no such thing as ghosts!" Yuki yelled to her. "There's nothing here. Just like there wasn't anything here yesterday." She began to move towards Akako in annoyance, having wasted extra time for her studies to examine an empty gymnasium.
Well, until something stopped her. She bounced back, goosebumps littering her arms. Akako looked over at her friend's reaction and screamed, knowing that something just hit her.
"I'm leaving! I can't take this for one second longer!"
Yuki looked over at her friend's running for in despair. She'd just thrown her to the dogs. She looked over at the being that had tossed her back, only to see a face she'd grown quite accustomed with, Kuroko's.
"Morine-san?" He called out to her, sticking his hand out to help up her shaken form on the ground.
She took his hand eagerly. "Kuroko-san! What are you doing in the gym at this hour?"
"I could ask you the same thing." A deadpan answer. As per usual.
Yuki almost laughed. As weird as her days had been, Kuroko maintained the only constant in her life. "I was investigating a very serious case."
Kuroko didn't even blink. "What kind of case?"
"Well, either you're actually a ghost, or you've decided to take up basketball with the spirits, but one way or another, there was something in this room our classmates decided was out to kill them," Yuki explained to Kuroko.
"I'm not a ghost."
"I know that, Kuroko-san."
"There's no ghost in this gym either."
"I know that, too, Kuroko-san."
"Hmm."
"So, then, it's just you in this gym?" Kuroko nodded. "The past few nights as well?" He nodded again.
Yuki folded her arms. "So, you mean to tell me you've been practicing after all of the recent practices? There's no way you're not tired after everything they put you through." She couldn't believe it. One of the weakest members of the team had just informed her in his own way that he'd been practicing above and beyond that of other students.
"I asked for permission," he said quietly. "I just want to get better."
"You're fine the way you are, Kuroko-san," Yuki remarked, realizing that that was the truth. "I mean," she blushed a bit, "what I mean is that you're already dedicated to the sport. You give it almost one hundred percent every day. There's no need to go above that."
"Coach said you've been working on a training regimen for me," Kuroko stated. "He said you'd been trying to create a position for me that would benefit me."
Yuki nodded. "It's, uh, harder than it sounds. I'm not here to fix you. There's nothing to fix, contrary to the belief of some of the individuals at this establishment. I just thought if I could focus on something you're really good at, the team would be able to support you better."
"But you haven't found anything I'm good at."
Yuki turned away, frustrated. She sighed. "May I be blunt with you?"
He nodded. "You're lacking in everything: you struggle to shoot baskets, your stamina is almost nonexistent – I have seen recent improvement, however – your level of confidence is demonstrated in how invisible you are on the team."
Kuroko nodded again. "I know these things, Morine-san." He paused for a moment. "I think the coach wants me to quit." The final word was said so quietly, she almost missed it.
Yuki met his eyes, surprised to hear that their coach had told him that. "That's not what he told me the last time we discussed your position on this team."
"They always give students a grace period. I think mine is close to running out." He looked down, kicking at the ground. "That's why I've been practicing more."
"No."
"No, Morine-san?"
"No, as in, as in you're not allowed to quit, Kuroko-san. I won't allow it." She brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "We are going to find what makes you a basketball player. Maybe not today, tomorrow, or in the near future, but you're not leaving something you value this much."
"But what if there isn't anything? What if this really isn't the sport for me?"
"What if's and other hypotheticals do not belong on this court. We aren't going to think about what could go wrong. I will make sure of that." Yuki walked over to the ball resting a few yards behind Kuroko. "You like to pass balls around, no?"
He gave her a look.
"Like the snowball you saved my sister from?" He nodded in understanding. "So, let's work with passing. There must be something to be said for your passing abilities. Not that I've seen it in a practice match."
"I never get to pass the ball."
"Pass to me, then."
"Why?"
"I'm just trying to think, and maybe if I experience gameplay firsthand, I can figure something out."
"But why? Why me?"
Yuki sighed. "Because I just want to. Because I've never valued something as much as you have." Yuki blushed a bit. "I envy you, Kuroko-san. I want to teach, but I also want to learn."
He looked confused again. His confusion made her want to laugh.
She smiled at him. "Would you help me learn to dream, Kuroko-san?"