A/N: To clarify, this is NOT a deathfic.

CHAPTER 1

"This is the best day of my life!"

The rest of Seirin cheered, fists pumped the air, as they mirrored the enthusiasm of their captain. It had been merely hours since the end of the Winter Cup, and their team had gathered in a restaurant to celebrate their hard-earned victory. Gold medals hung from their necks, and the Winter Cup trophy earned a place of honor at the end of their table. Coach Riko's father joined them, and he had, in an uncharacteristic display of benevolence, offered to pay for their dinner and encouraged them to order whatever they wanted.

At the other end of the table, Kuroko and Kagami sat side by side. Kuroko ate his share of the food quietly while he watched his teammates with a small, contented smile on his face. He expertly maneuvered his own plate to protect it from getting caught up in Kagami's voracious zone of gluttony, as the taller male hungrily devoured one plate after another. Watching his basketball partner and close friend from the corner of his eyes, Kuroko's lips twitched a bit wider in amusement.

Dinner pushed through without further incident. Near the end of the meal, they were reprimanded by the restaurant owner for their boisterous behavior, though, in Kuroko's perspective, it was something that can't be helped. Despite having no alcohol intake, his teammates were all clearly intoxicated with the happiness and satisfaction following their victory. He had no doubt that this could continue after several more hours. Kuroko could also still feel the pounding in his chest, and hear the blood rushing in his ears, as he recalled the sensation of standing there on the court when the final buzzer resounded throughout the gymnasium.

"You okay?"

Kuroko blinked and turned to Kagami.

"Oh. Yes, I am, Kagami-kun."

"You were just staring into space for a long time," Kagami pointed out, before he finished what seemed to be his 20th plate. Kuroko gave him a reassuring smile. "No need to worry, Kagami-kun. I was just remembering the last match."

"Ah, yeah," Kagami grinned. "We really showed them, huh?"

Kuroko nodded dutifully, his blue eyes softening. "I...was really happy, Kagami-kun."

Kagami paused to study the smaller boy's face, and then freed one hand to playfully ruffle his hair. Kuroko found himself leaning into the taller boy's touch, reveling in his affection. "You better be! Damn, that was the hardest game I ever played in my life! I'm definitely gonna feel this in my legs tomorrow! The Generation of Miracles are all monsters, geez."

Kuroko cocked his head to one side in innocent wonder. "But we beat them. So doesn't that make us monsters as well?"

Kagami placed a hand over his chin as if giving this serious consideration, but soon his mouth stretched into a wider grin, crimson eyes gleaming, as he found pleasure in the idea of being a monster. "Yeah, I guess so! We're the King of all the monsters! We're...we're Godzilla!"

Kuroko chuckled under his breath at Kagami's childlike exuberance, and found such unrestrained joy highly infectious. His face started to cramp from smiling too much. He wasn't used to it at all.

A lot of things changed today, and a lot of things would be different again tomorrow. Kuroko's hand reached up to the medal that hung from his neck and palmed that cool surface carved with the glorious patterns of a champion. They had a lot of medals too, back in Teiko, but as the games passed and his friends changed, the medals began weighing heavier and heavier around his neck, like a noose that was slowly tightening.

Now, as he watched how his teammates interacted with each other, and the sound of laughter thick in the air, Kuroko fought back the urge to cry.

This was what true victory looked like.

"Oi, time to go!" Coach Riko announced, and the team groaned in postprandial bliss, some of them asking for a few more minutes to just digest a little further. "Shut up you disrespectful boys!" Her father boomed, nearly flipping the table. "When my darling daughter tells you get your ass out of here, you just do it! I'll shoot the last person out that door!"

Again, Kuroko found it surprising how they could still have the strength to run after such an exhausting day.

The team walked together, chattering happily among themselves. The streets were quiet, with few cars and barely any people besides them on the sidewalk, but given how late the hour was, that was something to be expected. Kuroko hung back a little from the rest, feeling a little lightheaded from all the excitement, but also wanting to simply watch his teammates jostle around, their animated voices echoing across the emptiness of the night. He was especially delighted to see how much Kagami had acclimated with the rest of the team, and how they had grown comfortable with him as well. Kuroko observed as Kagami said something that earned him a well-placed kick in the shin from Hyuuga, with the rest of their team laughing at his misfortune.

Captain Hyuuga was right, Kuroko thought. Today was indeed the best day of their lives.

The boy was so distracted that he barely registered the rough, powerful hands suddenly grabbing him by the hair, the sensation of wind against his face followed by a strange crunching sound, a sharpness in his stomach, and then...darkness.

"I don't know why that's offensive!" Kagami argued, as he limped slightly from the abusive kick of his captain. "Right, Kuro-?"

Kagami turned around, half-expecting a shock of blue hair to enter his view. But the boy was nowhere to be seen. "Kuroko?"

The whole team abruptly stopped and looked around them, as if half expecting the boy to pop out somewhere nearby and claim that he'd been there all along.

"He disappeared again?" Riko groaned, stomping her foot in annoyance. "Why does he keep making us worry? And you guys, why'd you let him out of your sight?" Several of them muttered half-hearted apologies. After all, how did she expect them to keep track of a guy whose specialty was to be invisible?

"Nevermind that," Kiyoshi placated. "He couldn't have gotten far. Let's just find him quickly so we could go home." Everyone nodded, splitting into their usual search groups with practiced ease. This wasn't the first time that their phantom member had ditched them without any warning. And unfortunately for them, it probably wouldn't be the last. For all his politeness, Kuroko could be incredibly rude to them at times.

But Kagami hadn't even made it to ten steps, before a scream tore through the air. "Kuroko!"

Something about Koganei's tone struck a nerve in Kagami, and he was moving before he knew what he was doing, athletic reflexes carrying him over the pavement in lightning speed. He reached the mouth of the alley they had recently passed before any of the others arrived, roughly pushing past a stunned Koganei. But as he rushed forward, he found himself slipping on something wet. Though Kagami quickly regained his footing, the act made him look closer at the ground. Under the sharp, fluorescent light of the shop sign above them, Kagami found the asphalt smeared with an unusual red color.

What?

A pit formed at the bottom of Kagami's stomach as he followed the color to its source - the sound of his own heartbeat drummed louder and louder in his ears, until his sight was met with a whole shock of other colors. White. Red. Bright blue.

What?

His mind couldn't quite register what he was seeing, but his body moved on instinct. Kagami hurried towards those colors as they slowly came into focus, and began to appraise the situation clearly for the first time.

"Kuroko…" Kagami whispered in utter disbelief, falling to his knees beside the body of his best friend. He ignored the sensation of something warm and wet seeping into the fabric of his jersey pants, and instead surveyed the other boy's condition. He was leaning against the wall of the adjacent building, not too deep in the alley. There was red all over the place. Kagami fought back the bile that rose up his throat, and he quickly looked for where the red color was most concentrated. He found the epicenter on Kuroko's stomach. Quickly, he took off his jacket and placed it over the boy's abdomen, pressing desperately. He didn't know if he was doing the right thing, but this was all he could think of, based on limited information from police dramas he had watched with Himuro back in America.

There was a flurry of activity and voices behind him as the rest of their teammates arrived and gathered at the scene. Kagami could barely register who was talking, as they all sounded muffled to him in the background - the sound of his own heart, pounding wildly, took center-stage. The only thing he could focus on was to keep pressing. Just to keep pressing down on where all the red was coming from. That was all that's left to do. His eyes were on his own hands, a red haze descending upon his world and blocking nearly everything else.

Then he sensed someone kneeling opposite to him. Still, Kagami didn't raise his head. He didn't look as the person raised a hand to Kuroko's neck. "Kuroko," the other person called out. Kagami bit his lip and kept pressing down. "Kuroko," the other person repeated.

Then, after what felt like an eternity of silence, Kuroko groaned.

It was a barely audible sound, but it was enough, and the haze that settled in Kagami's mind began to disappear.

"Kuroko?" Kagami dared to call out again as he finally raised his head and looked at the face of his friend for the first time. Red met his gaze, and Kagami choked on a cry. Kuroko was bleeding from his head as well, blood dripping freely down half of his face and the color was menacingly bright against the ghastly pale his friend had become. His eyes were open, but unfocused and completely devoid of comprehension.

"Ka...ga.."

"Kuroko." The boy's voice grounded Kagami, and he felt more focused now. His friend was still breathing. He was still alive. "It's going to be okay," he said shakily at first, then took a deep breath as he steeled his fraying nerves. "I'm here. You're going to be okay."

"What...Ka..ga.."

"Save your strength, Kuroko-kun," the person across them instructed gently, and Kagami finally registered him to be Kiyoshi. "But stay awake, okay? We need you to keep your eyes open."

He then turned to Kagami, and though his voice was firm and reassuring, the younger boy could see the blatant fear in his senpai's eyes. "The ambulance and police are on their way," Kiyoshi told him. "It's dangerous to move him right now. But keep pressure on the wound, okay? You did the right thing, Kagami-kun." His words delivered a relief Kagami didn't realize he needed, and Kagami only nodded in response.

With his mind clearer now, Kagami tried to take stock of the situation while Kiyoshi initiated a one-sided conversation with Kuroko to keep him awake. How could this happen? They were so happy only a few minutes ago. What was this? Was it a random act of violence? Was Kuroko the victim of a mugging gone wrong? But Kagami could see the boy's bag a few paces away from them. And his phone...it was right there, peeking out of his jacket pocket. If that weren't the case, then what was? Was this premeditated? Was someone targeting Kuroko?

At that thought, Kagami grew sharply aware of his surroundings. Even with the presence of his teammates, Kagami felt anxious, and he bristled at every sound and stimuli. Was the culprit still around? Was he watching from somewhere, waiting to make sure that Kuroko was dead? Was he going to come after him again once he realized his attempt failed?

Kagami visibly tensed, and he edged closer to Kuroko's body, as if preparing to shield him from another attack. He didn't know if Kuroko had been shot or stabbed. What if there was a gun? What if the culprit could shoot from afar? Kagami ground his teeth as he tried to cover Kuroko's body as completely as possible. No way in hell was he going to allow that to happen. No.

"Kagami-kun."

Kagami blinked and looked back at his senpai who was now regarding him with concern. "Kagami-kun, I need you to step aside now. The paramedics have arrived."

Oh. Kagami had almost forgotten about them. He had almost forgotten about everything else actually, except the boy who was bleeding out in his arms.

Kiyoshi had to literally drag him away as the paramedics rushed to Kuroko's side. He helped him get back to his feet, and then supported his body when Kagami swayed and struggled to find his balance. He had been kneeling for so long, after all.

Everything else was a blur. In an instant, Kuroko had been strapped to a stretcher, and Kagami followed them out of the alley and towars the waiting ambulance. His teammates flocked either side as they watched the grueling procession in horror. When one of the paramedics attempted to stop him, Kagami just kept pushing forward. "I'm going with him."

It wasn't a request. It wasn't even a demand or threat. Kagami was stating a fact that cannot be overturned. He kept his eyes on the pale, blue-haired boy, and continued walking steadily towards him. Nothing else mattered. He felt a hand trying to pull him back but he shook that away. The need to stay by Kuroko's side was imperative and uncompromising, perhaps even more than breathing. He was coming with him. If they wanted to stop him, they'd have to shoot him too.

He could hear heated words exchanged behind him, but he couldn't care less. Finally, there was an exasperated sigh, and Kagami found himself being pushed towards the ambulance instead of away from it.

He entered the ambulance wordlessly and settled by Kuroko's head. The boy's eyes fluttered open, perhaps sensing the weight of his gaze. "Ka...ga...mi," he weakly gasped, as if every syllable hurt him. Kagami bit his lip and placed a hand gently on the other boy's shoulder. "I'm here, Kuroko. I'm not letting you out of my sight again."

Then, with great disbelief, Kagami watched the boy's lip's twist into a small smile. "O...kay."