Kagami sighed. Thinking back to not ten minutes ago, his brain began to throb. He anxiously grabbed his forehead in frustration and sighed, louder, and Kuroko looked up at him with bright blue eyes.

Kagami locked his front door and ehaded towards the coach's house. 'Bonding, she says...sounds pointless to me...'

Upon passins the basketball court where he last interacted with the first girl he's met since he entered high school, he heard the familiar sound of a ball bouncing against the pavement, hitting the rim, and clashing against the chain-link fence. Looking up, a brilliant color caught his eye, shining bright blue.

"Hello, Kagami-kun."

"H-Hey." Kagami stood for an unbearably long amount of time, unable to find the right words to say. Meanwhile, Kuroko continued to stare straight into his eyes, making him uncomfortable, causing his brain to cease functioning properly. 'What's up with her staring?!' he thought. Kagami cleared his throat abruptly and slightly straightened his back. He nervously shoved his hands in his jacket pockets.

"So...do you live close to here, then?" Kagami asked.

"Assuming what?"

"Assuming...that's why you always show up here...?"

"Then yes, I do."

"Ah."

"..."

"Well...where?"

"Where what, Kagami-kun?"

Kagami was fed-up with Kuroko's sarcasm. He swore he could feel a vein pop in his skull. "Where do you live?..."

It felt like Kuroko's eyes were burrowing into Kagami even more than before, causing him to shift positions, glancing down at her shoes. "...Pervert Stalker."

Kagami choked on air, processing the conversation before responding. "N-no, that's not what I meant!"

"Kagami-kun is a Pervert Stalker. Ah, what is a young maiden like me to do." Kuroko picked up her ball, placed it in her bag, and wlaked past Kagami, slinging her Tote over her shoulder.

"No, no, wait!"

"Don't follow me, Pervert Stalker."

"We're going the same direction, smartass!"

"Kagami-kun is a Pervert Bully Stalker."

"H-Hey!"

Kagami sighed loudly unintentionally, not knowing that Kuroko was still staring at him intently. "Kagami-kun?"

"Hn?"

"Do you have any friends?"

"Wh-what the hell kind of a question is that?1?"

"Well, you don't act like you do."

"...I'll have you know, I have a brother and a coach back in America."

"So, you've been to America, Kagami-kun?"

"Yeah, for a good amount of years..." Kagami stared down at the ring around his neck, tugging on it lightly. Kuroko discontinued staring at Kagami and faced forward.

"We're almost there, Kagami-kun," Kuroko advised. She looked back up at Kagami, who was still gazing longingly at his ring, alone in his own thoughts. She looked back ahead.

Kuroko continued down the sidewalk, noticing the crosswalk coming up. She jogged up to the lightpole, pushing the button in order to signal the cross. She stopped, sighed, and looked back to Kagami, who was still spacing out, and about to walk into oncoming traffic.

Kuroko's eyes widened. Without thinking, she lunged towards Kagami with all of her might, slightly altering his balance, resulting in his downfall.

Kagami regained focus, noticing the Kuroko on top of him and the traffic in front of him. Kagami picked Kuroko up from under her arms, placing her on his lap in order to give himself enough leverage to sit up.

"W-wow...that was close, haha...I-"

Kuroko pulled her hand backwards, swinging it forwards at full force, smacking Kagami against the cheek. His eyes widened in surprise. He looked towards Kuroko; she was infuriated.

"KAGAMI-KUN! YOU CAN'T JUST SPACE OUT ALL THE TIME! YOU COULD'VE SERIOUSLY BEEN HURT, KAGAMI-KUN, YOU IDIOT! WHAT IF I HADN'T BEEN HERE?! WHAT IF...WHAT IF I..."

Kurok cut herself off, unable to continue speaking fluently due to the amount of tears streaming down her face.

Kagami stuttered nervously. "wh-what?!...I-I'm...I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I-"

Kuroko continued making eye contact with Kagami, refusing to wipe her eyes or lower her head. "Wh-what if...what if you...h-had died, Kagami-kun...Kagami-kun, I...D-don't die..."

Kagami wrapped his arms around Kuroko, embracing her tightly. Though small, he could feel her shaking beneath him. He lifted on of his hands and patted her head softly.

"Look, you-...Kuroko, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, okay?"

Kuroko looked up at Kagami with watery blue eyes, nodding slowly. Kagami grinned, standing, and holding Kuroko in his arms.

"I-I can walk, Kagami-kun-"

"Shut up. You look like a wreck right now. Just let me do what I wanna do and tell me how to get to the coach's house."

Kuroko nodded, hiding her tear-stained face in Kagami's chest. Kagami could feel his face heat up as he sighed.

Kagami carefully set Kuroko down on the coach's front porch, leaning down to become eye-level with her. "Are you okay?" he asked.

'Her eyes aren't too red...probably because she didn't rub them, too occupied with staring me straight in the eyes and slightly freaking me out...' Kagami thought.

"Fine," Kuroko replied. She followed Kagami up to the front door, watching him knock.

The coach opened the door with a grin. "You two arrived right on time! We were just about to start!"

The coach showed them into the living-room. Kagami sat down wherever there was space, and Kuroko squeezed in beside him.

"Alright guys, I know we've already had a few practices, but I would like to go down the line and formally introduce yourselves," She said. "Here, I'll start. My name is Riko Aida. I am sixteen years old, and in my second year. I am also the coach."

"My name is Hyuuga Junpei. Second year. I am the Captain. I excel in three-pointers. And I expect you first-years not to slack off!..." he adjusted his glasses.

"I am Izuki Shun. Second Year. I am point guard. Seems I am the Second Second*." Everyone collectively groaned.

"He is Mitobe Rinnosuke," Riko said, pointing to the tall, thick-browed sempai. "He's also a second year, and our current center. Also...he doesn't talk much."

'I feel like he would get along with a certain someone...' Kagami glanced down at Kuroko, who was already looking him straight in the eyes, as if expecting his gaze. His eyes darted upwards.

"Heya! I'm Koganei Shinji! :3 I'm a second year also! 3 I play forward, I'm also a Virgo, I'm five foot se-" Riko threw a pillow at Shinji's face. "Shut up! Next!"

"My name is Tsuchida Satoshi. I'm the last second year. I'm also a forward."

Kagami darted his eyes back and forth before sighing loudly. "My name is Kagami Taiga. I'm a first year. I just came back from America."

Kuroko straightened her back. "Hello. I am Kuroko Tetsuya. I am also a first year. I came from Teikou Middle School."

Riko rushed over to Kuroko, grabbing her by the shoulders. "T-Teikou?! So, you one of the water-girls?! Coaches?!"

Kuroko looked Riko straight in the eyes. "I didn't play basketball in middle school."

Riko sighed, slumping her shoulders. "Alright, sorry, my bad..." Kagami glanced from Kuroko to Riko, confused at the conversation, but not caring enough to pry. Riko sat back down. "...Well, while we're on the topic, why don't we talk about the interesting stuff, eh?" She pointed to Hyuuga. "He may look like nothing but a super-nerd, but in truth, he ALWAYS knows if the basket will make it or not, even if he doesn't always make the shot."

"H-hey!" Hyuuga grunted.

"Izuki here possesses the Eagle Eye, which allows him to see everyone on the court, allowing him to predict the best move to make in a short time span, even if there isn't always one." Izuki sweatdropped.

"Then there's Mitobe. He doesn't talk much, but he's fairly tall and works well on his own, so he works well as our center, or even defense.

"We also have Koganei. He can play any position on the field averagely, so we just call him the 'Jack of All Trades'."

"H-Hey, I don't think you give me enough credit! I-" Riko threw another pillow at Shinji's face to shut him up.

"Lastly, we have Tsuchida. He has shown great skill ever since he joined. Though he hasn't really changed...

"Okay that about covers all of the second years. So, how about you first years? What kind of skills do you possess?"

Kagami scratched the back of his head. "Well, I mostly lpay forward or center, and I dunk alot..."

"Ah, how blunt..." Riko added, slightly annoyed. "How about you, Kuroko-chan?"

Kuroko aimed her gaze at Riko. "I am a shadow."

Everyone looked towards her, confused. Kagami crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and bobbed his head up and down in agreement. "I wouldn't question it, it's true." Everyone else blinked their eyes in confusion as Kagami smirked and let out a small chuckle. Kuroko looked up at Kagami in confusion.