Kagami picked up his things and headed home early that day - to be exact, the basketball club's very first practice outside of school, ever since the first day of school. It had only been two days, but the scenes kept replaying in his head.
"It's you?!" Kagami exclaimed, inadvertently pointing to the small, blue-haired individual.
"Hello," she replied nonchalantly. Kagami was utterly flabbergasted.
"What are you doing here?!" He announced, accidentally sounding a little too rude to take back. He could see the small girl pop a couple veins in her forehead. "I go to this school. I'm fifteen years old."
Kagami was supremely speechless. Not only was she in his grade, but also ON THE BASKETBALL TEAM?! Not only was she the only girl on the team, but she was so short! And so slow! How could she POSSIBLY be on the team?! Wait for a game, wait for a game, the coach kept telling him. But how could a game be any different than a practice?! It's not like she'll suddenly start running faster and jumping higher! Kagami couldn't comprehend it. 'This isn't why I came back to America,' he thought.
On the way home, he decided to take a different (and longer) route, to walk off his stress. And as if the gods came down from the heavens and heard his prayers, he happened to walk past a basketball court, which he happily obliged. He took his basketball out of his bag, shooting from the free-throw line a couple of times before practicing his dunks. One of the dunks sent the basketball across the court. 'Whoops,' Kagami thought as he sought it out. Petite hands slowly cradled the ball, picking it up delicately. Kagami could notice that bright blue hair from a mile away, but it still came as a surprise.
"Wh-what are you even doing here?" Kagami stammered.
She passed him the ball regularly, which he caught, of course. "I got here before you," she said plainly.
"I-I knew that!" Kagami lied.
The petite, blue-haired girl sighed. "Look, I know I'm a girl, but that's no reason to hate me."
Kagami slowly turned his head, making eye contact. "What?" The blue-haired girl blinked a few times. "What do you mean 'what'? Everyone else judges me because I'm the only girl at the whole school that plays basketball, too."
"That's stupid," Kagami said, turning to the hoop. The small girl began to ball up her fists. "I don't care if you're a girl or not, stupid. Why is that even a reason to hate you? That's stupid, too." The small girl stood agape, unable to say anything in return. When was the last time she heard a response like this? She tried to remember if she ever HAD heard something like this before. She released her fists and breathed out.
"Pass me the ball."
"Hah?!"
"Just pass it. I want to show you something." Kagami stared her down before forcefully passing her the ball. She flinched slightly as she caught it.
"Now," she continued. "Stay by the hoop." She began to walk to the other side of the court. "Here's what you have to do: Once I pass the ball to you, you have to shoot it into THIS hoop," she said, throwing her thumb over her shoulder. "Sound simple enough?"
"Y-Yeah," Kagami answered. The small girl passed him a decent pass, which he caught and immediately sprinted across the court. Kagami looked around his peripheral. 'I must have run past her already,' he thought. 'I don't know what she could possibly be trying to show me.' Kagami began to reach the hoop. Just a little more and... As Kagami lifted the ball to make a shot, he noticed the ball felt much lighter than before. As he looked at his hands, he couldn't believe his hands. Kagami came to an abrupt stop.
'Wh-where the hell is the ball?!' he thought. 'Did I drop it somewhere?!' Kagami began to look around the court.
"Looking for this?" He heard a voice from across the court. He looked up to see the blue-haired girl carrying the ball.
"Wh-When the hell did you take that?!" Kagami exclaimed. "I didn't even feel it leave my fingers!..." The small girl approached Kagami and handed him the ball. "I believe this is yours."
"Yeah, it is...w-wait, what's your name?!" The small girl stopped, clenching her fists. "I sit right behind you in class." Kagami thought back to the first day of school; shortly after, his eyes widened. "Y-You're Kuroko Tetsuya?!"
Kuroko began walking away again. "W-Wait!" Kagami said, running up to her. She stopped and turned around. "My name is Kagami Taiga," Kagami said, holding out his hand. "I-It's a pleasure to have you on the team, Kurumi Tetsushi."
Kuroko grabbed his hand, gripping tightly. "It's Kuroko Tetsuya." Kuroko let go, turning her back towards Kagami again. She spoke before walking away. "Look...you're like a light. I've seen you play. It's very bright and brilliant." Kagami focused in the small female. "A bright light will always prevail. However," Kuroko slowly turned back to Kagami, looking him dead in the eyes. "A light cannot exist without a shadow. I am willing to be the shadow to your light, Kagami Taiga." Kuroko nodded softly. "Goodnight." Kagami snapped out of spacing out and nodded back.
"Y-Yeah," he responded. "See you at school tomorrow, Kagami-kun." "S-See you." Kagami watched Kuroko walk away before contemplating what just happened. 'Sh-she did take the ball right?! I don't think I would've dropped the ball, I haven't done something like that in years...' he thought. "Kuroko Tetsuya...just what kind of shadow are you?"