I think character A came out of no where in the end. But it's part of the plot, so I can't do anything. D:
Please tell me if I did okay!

All of the basketball club members –the main players, actually- huddled around their coach, waiting for the oh-so important announcement to reach their ears. Once Riko decided they were all complete, she called up Kuroko by her side.

"Alright, so we're going to participate at the preliminaries of the inter high." Riko announced determinedly. Kuroko, already knowing of the information –she had told him first hand so he could get a head start of getting the details-, just stayed silent and waited until it was his time to talk. "We're going to face harder opponents, so we can't afford to fool around, you hear me?" She thundered to make an impact to the players. "Yes, ma'am!"

"Good." Riko nodded approvingly. "Take training seriously, no skipping, or so help me I'll put you in a Boston Crab Hold until your spine breaks." She threatened with a sickeningly sweet smile. The players gulped, not wanting to even think about being a victim of her vicious hold. Kuroko merely sighed, already knowing the experience first hand. Who would endanger an already injured player by injuring him even further? Kuroko thought.

Riko then pushed Kuroko in front of her, earning curious looks from the others. "Now our info-bank already has some important facts stored for us. Right, Kuroko-kun?" She asked, though she already knew the answer. "You will listen and pay attention to what he says. If I hear any complaints or if I see any of you not giving two crumps about the lessons he's giving you, you will be found rolling off a cliff." Riko threatened again. "But before that, I think Hyuga-kun has something to say."

"This is an official game, I'm sure you all know that." He said, a serious atmosphere replaced the once peaceful one disrupted the others' playfulness in whole gym. "We don't have time to fool around. If you do, I will personally collect your souls from your homes in your sleep and send them to hell." Hyuga said through gritted teeth, already in clutch mode. Kuroko took this as his cue to talk and cleared his throat to avoid unnecessary silence between them.

"Tokyo has blocks A through D. The winners of each block gets to play in the Championship League. The top three teams that passes through the preliminaries will participate in the Inter High. Only three schools will be chosen out of three hundred participating teams." The teal informed, judging from the details he collected from the gathering area from the registration location. He gave a knowing look to Hyuga, silently telling him to continue.

"That's right." Hyuga nodded in agreement. Kuroko knows his stuff, he had to admit. "Only one percent of the participants will be able to stand on the court of their dreams, and that's the Inter High, so don't waste this opportunity."

Kagami stepped up, earning odd looks from his teammates. "Now that's interesting, sure, but both you and Kuroko are wrong about one thing."

Kuroko stared at him blankly, anticipating the answer.

"The schools aren't chosen," Kagami started wryly. "They win it…. Sir." He said determinedly, only to deflate at the final word. The seniors all smiled in approval of his statement, along with the motivated expressions of the first years. Kuroko's face and eyes remained blank, almost looking a bit disagreeing with him. Still, Kagami was right. Said schools aren't chosen, they have to win each match to be able to play. Kuroko could only hope that Kagami meant 'winning' in a way Kuroko didn't agree on.

"We got three weeks before the preliminaries." Kuroko said, earning the attention again. Hyuga grinned. "We might have fell off a step last year, but we'll definitely advance this time!" Hyuga said. "We might be facing a lot of strong schools this time, but our biggest opponent is Shutoku."

Kuroko gave a light gasp at this. He didn't catch that information, actually. He was a bit surprised he was going to face a school where one of the Generation of Miracles might be going. That, and also because one friend of his might be a player on their side.

'…Takao-kun's school?' Kuroko thought, interested. Izuki saw him and looked concerned. "Kuroko, is there something wrong?" He asked. Kuroko shook his head. "Ah, it's nothing important."

Hyuga stopped for a moment, before continuing. "Yeah, they were in last year's top eight. On top of that, like Kaijo, they got hold of one of the Generation of Miracles,"

So Kuroko was right.

"If we can't beat them, we won't be able to make it to the Nationals." Hyuga continued seriously. Kagami looked thoughtful. "If we're going against the Generation of Miracles, then it will be the championship game." He said out loud.

"Kuroko, you know who he is, right?" Kagami asked. Kuroko didn't seem too inclined to answer. "…Even if I told you, I doubt you would believe me." Right. That was a lie. Kuroko didn't know which one of his former teammates were participating. "Even so, like what Kise-kun said, the other four are on another level." Kuroko said loud enough for the others to hear.

"If they have all improved over the year, I can't imagine how strong they are now…" He whispered. He subconsciously gripped both of his arms. Strong. They were strong, and he was still weak. "…They were right about me…"

Silence filled the gym again. "…Kuroko-kun?" Riko started to worry. She was starting to notice something about her little phantom player, it was as if there was something he wanted to say but never got a chance to.

Hyuga felt the unease surround them, and decided to break the silence. "Right! Before we play Shutoku, we have to play our first game." He said loudly. "Let's make sure we have the ball in our court!"

"Right!"

Furihata made an unsure whine. "Uh, don't we have to learn of our opponents before we plan our way through?" He asked, making some realizing expressions from everyone else.

After hearing this, Kuroko took out three CDs out of his bag, including some notes and his phone. "We also shouldn't worry about Shutoku at the moment." He said, almost dangerously serious. "Especially if our first match isn't looking too good."

"Huh?"

"When did you have the time to observe the match?" Furihata asked unsurely. Kuroko didn't look at him when he answered: "When I was allowed to skip practice the last few days ago to obtain the needed information. You didn't really notice, though."

'So sad!' The others thought. Kuroko only opened the cellphone he was holding, scrolling through files and stuff. "One of their players might give us trouble, but you can watch the video later." He said, handing over his phone. "Take a look of the photo."

Hyuga took it from his hand, opening the screen. The others huddled around him to take a peek. They all gasped. "T-This is…"

It was a photo of what seems to be a middle school version of Kuroko, with his younger looking mother, both smiling at the camera. The others blushed at the sight of a pretty woman and also at the rare sight of seeing Kuroko give an expression other than that poker face.

"This is cute, but…" Hyuga started, Kuroko's eyes slightly widened and sighed at his mistake. "Ah, my bad…" Kuroko said. "It's the next one."

"Kuroko, you never told us you have a cute older sister!" Koganei whined.

"She's not my sister. She is my mother." Kuroko deadpanned, earning shocked looks and sounds from the others.

"The next one…" Hyuga repeated, pressing the 'next' button. They all gasped when they saw the photo. "His name is Papa Mbaye Siki." Kuroko informed.

"Two meters tall, approximately 200 centimeters, 6'7''. Weighs about 87 kilograms. He is a foreign exchange student from Senegal." He continued. Hyuga gaped in shock. "Senegal… Wait, two meters?!"

"How can they do that?" Koganei asked, horrified. Izuki looked troubled. "He studies abroad… Wait…"

"Where the hell is Senegal?!" Koganei, Izuki, and Hyuga thought in a confused manner, Mitobe gaping at the information.

"Nah, he's just huge." Kagami said casually, shrugging off the information. Kuroko didn't say anything.

"…Papa Mbaye… The hell was it?" Hyuga repeated. Kawahara sweat dropped. "'Papanpa'?"

Koganei just grinned. "Papa Try-Hard?" He suggested. Izuki shot up. "Papa… Papaya Ito?!" He thought out, putting it in his notepad. This earned chuckles from the other players.

Riko sighed at their childishness. "We're not getting anywhere." She said. "Kuroko-kun, give him a nickname!" She commanded. Kuroko blinked. Why him? He shrugged internally and thought deeply.

"…Hm… What about 'Dad', then?" He suggested. Koganei and Izuki sweat dropped. "What's with your naming sense?" Izuki shot up again. "Dad's company was a dud…"

Snickering filled the gym again.

"…Dude, that was lame." One of the players said. "But you're laughing, too…!" The other countered.

"-Then, for this 'Dad', we'll have to…" Riko felt a tick mark form on her head. "Listen." She said in a scary, commanding voice. The others straightened up save for Kuroko who was serious the whole time. "He's not just tall. His limbs are long, too. More schools are inviting students from foreign schools to increase their power. Our next opponent, Shinkyo High, was only a middle-tier school until last year when they acquired a foreign student. Because of this, no one could reach up to him."

"But we can't just do nothing!" Kagami said. Riko grinned. "Who said we would?"

"For that, Kuroko-kun and Kagami-kun, you two will have your own training regimen." Riko informed. She then looked at the other members.

"Right! We have until May 16th. Until then, you won't even have time to complain." Riko said in a hard tone.

"Yes, ma'am!"

After Practice.

Kuroko didn't even know why he keeps walking home alone when he could always take a bus. Oh, right. The drivers don't see him every time they drive through.
He sighed. "I guess I'll go to the café."

"Ah, Kurokocchi~!"

Kuroko halted. Crap. He started running, but of course, Kise caught up to him. Kise tackled him to the ground, both landing painfully. "K-Kise-kun, I can't breathe." Kise rubbed his face on Kuroko's to show affection. "I missed you, Kurokocchi! You see, my fans are-"

"I don't think I'm in the mood to hear about your fans, Kise-kun…" Kuroko said politely. Kise pouted. "So mean!" He exclaimed with crocodile tears. "…What brings you here, Kise-kun?" Kuroko stood up with Kise, both of them shrugging off some dirt from their clothes.

"I owe you the sundae, didn't I?" Kise said with a real smile. Kuroko shook his head and sighed. So childish, this male model was. Both of them walked towards the café, went and sat on a window seat, and proceeded to make a conversation.

"Kurokocchi, are you and your team participating at the preliminaries?" Kise asked. A waiter went and asked for their order, and Kise ordered sundae for two. Kuroko nodded. "Yes, we are. We have no plans on losing, either." Kise grinned. "Is that so? Then it's something to look forward to, right, right?" He said, bouncing up and down on his chair like a child.

"I guess so." Kuroko said. He didn't even know he was starting to smile. "Seirin is filled with so many motivated people… They value their teamwork, as well. I've never felt so happy playing basketball before." Kise looked at Kuroko. Kuroko? Happy? It made Kise a bit envious of Seirin. Back in Teiko, all they did to Kuroko was betray his trust and make him cry.

Kise only gave a rueful smile. "You have a great team, Kurokocchi." Kise said. He gave some weird hand gestures. "They can haz the Kise-Sama Seal of Approval!" He said. Kuroko just sighed at his childishness. Their orders finally came, and both proceeded to consume the dessert.

"That's odd." Kuroko said almost teasingly. "I thought they were unworthy of me." He said. Kise smiled sheepishly. "Hehe, well, I have to apologize for that." The blond said. "I also have to explain why I tried to convince you to come with me."

Kuroko blinked. "Kise-kun, that's not necessary. Why are you telling me this, now?"

"…Kurokocchi, I approve of you joining Seirin." Kise said hesitantly. "but I don't think the others will fare well about it." Kise said honestly. He remembered one time when the GoM had discussed the schools they were to attend. They all expected Kuroko to attend some high-class school. Kise was afraid of what they would think when they learned of what school Kuroko was attending. "They even said they'd be so disappointed if you made a poor decision." Kise gripped his hands together tightly. "They'll make you feel uncomfortable again, Kurokocchi…I didn't want you to feel sad again because of what they expect of you, so…"

Kuroko's eyes narrowed. "…Why would they care about the school I chose?" Kise bit his lower lip. "I don't think they'd have any right to judge my decision when they barely own me."

Kise bowed a bit. "…I'm sorry, Kurokocchi- I thought I was trying to help, but I just did the opposite…"

"No, Kise-kun." Kuroko cut off. "You've proven you're not like them, even just a little."

Kise winced. A little? Did that mean Kuroko didn't fully trust him?

"You don't have to apologize for something you're not responsible for." Kuroko smiled at him. "You've proven yourself already." Kise gripped the table cloth. "But I'm still one of those people who hurt you. I don't want Kurokocchi to get hurt anymore… Especially if I'm involved."

"What you all did was unforgivable," Kuroko said bluntly, not giving any regards to what Kise is feeling. "But you, Kise-kun, you have gathered enough courage to even try to apologize." He patted the blond on the head.

"That means you're different from them." Kuroko said. Kise's eyes looked brighter than before, and he tackled Kuroko again into a deadly tight hug.

"Thank you so much, Kurokocchi!"

"Kise-kun, I'm dying." Kuroko deadpanned through the death hug. Kise grinned. "Ah, does that mean I paid my debt of giving you back your sundae?"

"Do you want me to add interest?"

"Please don't."

"Good."

After a good 30 minutes, both walked out of the café and said their temporary goodbyes.

"Kurokocchi, good luck on your match." Kise said, waving goodbye. Kuroko smiled. "Thank you, Kise-kun."

Me got nothing to say.
Me go die in a hole now.