A/N: Un-edited. I'm surprisingly happy with this chapter, anyways enjoy!

Warnings: Mentions of mental illnesses and self-destructive behavior. Strong language is present in this book. Canon-divergence(ish?). Kuroko/Takao. More warnings will be added as the story progresses.

Summary: "Sometimes, I just want to be noticed by those around me."

"Really? Well guess what, I noticed you the moment we met, and honestly, I couldn't take my eyes off of you after that."

"Thinking"

'Texting'

'Calls'

"Talking"

Chapter Two: Exhale

"Long forgotten memories buried deep,

come back, and make my heart weep.

No matter how hard I try they won't go away.

They bring pain, making it hard to go on each day."

It was the day before Seirin's match against Touou, the students' spirits were high since their team made it to the finals, but the basketball team themselves were nervous about the upcoming match.

Kagami Taiga drowsily walked into his classroom and sat down at his seat. He couldn't get any sleep at all. He would be facing another Miracle tomorrow, and if Aomine was stronger than Kise and Midorima, Kagami was guaranteed to have fun tomorrow.

Kagami was now wide awake at the idea of facing a strong opponent. He turned around to ask his partner questions, but was confused to see an empty seat behind him.

"Kuroko," Kagami called out as he scratched his head in confusion, "Kuroko are you using misdirection on me?"

Looking around the classroom he saw no head of blue hair anywhere. Kagami took out his phone and dialed Kuroko's number. It immediately went to voicemail and Kagami grew concerned.

He searched the campus for his seniors and found Hyuga Junpei. "Captain," he called out. Hyuga turned his attention to Kagami. "Kagami? What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for Kuroko, and I was wondering if you or any of the others knew where he was," Kagami told his captain. Hyuga shrugged, "I haven't seen him, check the other first years."

"Alright, thank you Captain," Kagami replied before running off.

He went to the other first year classes and found Furihata sitting at his desk.

Kagami leaned against in the door and called out, "Furi!"

Said boy looked at Kagami and walked over to him. Kagami walked out into the hallway, and Furihata followed.

"Yes Kagami," Furihata said once they stopped near the window.

"Have you seen Kuroko or heard from him?"

Furihata shook his head, "Nope, the last time I saw Kuroko was practice yesterday."

Kagami sighed, his worries grew. "Thanks Furi, sorry for bothering you."

Furihata smiled, and with a last goodbye he went into his classroom leaving Kagami to wonder about the whereabouts of his shadow.

Kagami knew that Kuroko would tell one of their team members if he would be missing school. He thought that it was strange that Kuroko didn't tell anyone he'd be missing school.

Kagami walked back to his classroom and pulled out his phone once more. He reluctantly sent a text message to a certain someone at Kaijo.

Kise was surprised when Kagami texted him. He never would have thought that the ace of Seirin would text him. At first he told Kagami not to worry and that Kuroko was probably just sick, but after Kuroko didn't respond to his text messages Kise grew worried too.

During lunch Kise left the school telling everyone he had a shoot to attend. Being a model sure had its perks; he could leave the school at any time.

Instead of going to a shoot, Kise actually went to Kuroko's house.

He was delighted that he'd get to go see his Kurokocchi, and was excited at the thought that he'd maybe be able to take care of him.

Kise was really grateful that Kuroko helped him love basketball again. He felt indebted to him. He finally reached Kuroko's house and smiled.

He knocked and waited for a few minutes.

No one answered the door and Kise had a bad feeling in his stomach.

He took out his phone and texted the only people he knew he could trust to help find the small teen.

Takao and Midorima were spending their lunch together in their classroom. Takao was cheerfully telling Midorima of his new practice regimen when Midorima's phone went off, signaling a text.

Midorima checked it and concern formed on his face. Takao, who noticed Midorima's concern stopped talking.

"What's wrong Shin-chan?" asked Takao.

Wordlessly, Midorima showed Takao the message and his eyes grew in shock.

FR: KISE | 12:29 PM

Kurokocchi is missing, he didn't come to school and did not inform anyone he would be missing school today.

Kagamicchi messaged me really worried and so I went to check his house, he's not home.

Takao promptly stood up and left Midorima alone in their classroom. Midorima was confused at Takao's strange behavior, but shook it off before going to help find the blue haired teen.

His phone went off once more and he checked his messages to see that Akashi had created a group chat with everyone.

FR: AKASHI | 12:36 PM

Since Atsushi and I are not in Tokyo, we sadly can't help search.

I'll have some men look out for him. Find Tetsuya and make sure he's safe.

Midorima quickly sent a reply and went off to go find his friend.

FR: MIDORIMA | 12:37 PM

Okay.

Takao searched everywhere for Kuroko. He went to Kuroko's house just to double check and saw that Kuroko wasn't there. He wandered around for a bit before he found himself at the park where he saw Kuroko sitting in the rain.

A foreign feeling entered his chest as he ran to the bench from that night.

Upon seeing Kuroko at the bench he left out a relieved sigh. "Kuroko!"

Kuroko turned to him in shock. "Takao-kun? Shouldn't you be in school?"

Takao scoffed, "What about you? You worried everyone!"

Kuroko's head fell, "Sorry."

Takao's face softened at this, something was pulling at his heartstrings, and he hated how helpless Kuroko looked.

He took out his phone and texted Midorima.

FR: TAKAO | 12:52 PM

I found Kuroko, call off the search.

He could tell something was bothering Kuroko and took a seat next to him. "What's wrong Kuroko?"

Kuroko sighed, "I'm nervous to be on the same court as Aomine-kun again." He shifted in his seat and looked at Takao.

"You can tell me all about it, I'm here for you Tet-chan," Takao said, but he covered his mouth after realizing what he said. "I'm sorry Kuroko, that nickname just slipped out and I didn't even ask you if you were okay with it. Oh my god I stepped over a boundary-"

Kuroko cut off Takao's babbling, "It's okay Takao-kun, I actually like the nickname."

Kuroko smiled at him. "No, no, you have to call me Kazunari or Kazu now," Takao said while returning Kuroko's smile.

A thought then entered Kuroko's mind that caused him to be a bit flustered. "Kazunari has a nice smile."

"O-okay then Kazunari-kun," Kuroko shifted his body so that he was faced in Takao's direction, "You may not know this, but even if I was on the same team as the Miracles, they hurt me too."

Kuroko rubbed his eyes, and Takao noticed how tired he looked. "They all left me behind when I struggled. When all of their skills grew, I was left in the dust, futilely trying to catch up. They all left me, but the one who hurt me the most was Aomine-kun."

Takao noticed the bitterness in Kuroko's words as he spoke, and his anger towards the Miracles grew. They hurt so many and didn't care that they did. Takao was disgusted.

"When Aomine-kun grew bored of basketball, he stopped showing up to practice. I was angry at him and confronted him. I asked him why, and he replied 'Because no one's strong enough to beat me. What's the point if they all give up? So I simply decided to not try anymore. It's boring and not fun anymore' His words shocked me to the core, and the dead look in his eyes made me realize that the Aomine-kun I once knew, was gone."

Kuroko's eyes started to water as he continued his story. "The next day we had a game. We were winning, but only by a few points. I was subbed in to change the flow of the game to our favor. I used one of my special passes and passed to Aomine-kun."

Now Kuroko's tears were spilling and he had to stop for a moment to regain his composure. Reliving those memories brought back all the pain he felt back then. All the suppressed emotions burst. Takao quietly waited for his friend to let out all his emotions.

After a few minutes Kuroko continued. "I was feeling a bit off that day, and my pass wasn't as great as it usually is. The ball almost got stolen but Aomine-kun was able to make a shot before it did. I was relieved that he made it in and I went over for a fist bump. Aomine-kun only looked at me with anger in his eyes."

Kuroko fully turned his body to Takao and sobbed. Takao quickly pulled his friend in for a hug. Gut-wrenching sobs tore through his body, he was so scared. He knew he had to face his ex-best friend one day, but he wasn't ready to face him just yet.

Takao felt bad for Kuroko. Everyone thought that they were hurt badly by the Miracles, but the one who was hurt the most was Kuroko.

After ten minutes of crying, Kuroko finally calmed down enough to finish telling his story.

"He told me 'God Kuroko, I can't even remember how to receive your passes anymore. Were they always this bad?' He turned around and started jogging away to defend, but then he turned around and said the most hurtful thing ever. 'I don't even know why you try anymore. We don't need you anymore, I don't need you anymore. You should just quit, we're fine without you.' I stopped talking to any of them after this match."

Takao was fuming by the end of the story. "That bastard! How dare he say those words! Tet-chan, you know those words aren't true right? Aomine is just an arrogant asshole."

Kuroko quietly laughed, "I know Kazunari-kun. I just don't want to face him tomorrow."

Takao jumped up from the bench surprising Kuroko. "I know you'll do great! Now let's go practice, we need you prepared for tomorrow!"

Kuroko smiled but remembered something, "Kazunari-kun, don't you have school though?"

Takao expression became sad, "Ah shit, it's fine Tet-chan! We can practice after school!"

"Kazunari-kun, you have practice with your team."

"Oh, you're right. Man, I wanted to spend time with you today."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed!

- The Mysterious Rhea