ch 12 end pt 1
"Kuroko, have you seen that new basketball down at the store? It's pretty cool."
"I'm afraid I haven't been shopping in a while so I wouldn't know, Kagami-kun."
"Well then, I know where I'm taking you on our next date."
Kagami opened his front door for Kuroko, letting her inside. Quickly following her in, he noticed she stopped in her tracks. "Kuroko, what is it-"
"Welcome home, Taiga."
Kagami looked up and made eye-contact with his mom. "H-hey, uh...how did you get in here?"
"That's not important." She approached Kagami with a serious expression. "Pack your bags, we're going home."
Kagami was taken aback. "Hey, I'm not going anywhere! Why are you even here?"
"I took the priviledge to visit your school and while I was there I happened upon a classmate of yours who mentioned a basketball team..." Kagami gulped. "Would you mind explaining?"
Kuroko took a step forwards. Before she could say anything, Kagami placed a hand on her shoulder. Kuroko looked up at Kagami's face as he spoke.
"I am on the all-boys basketball team at the school. She's just a tutor, though. Just a tutor."
Kagami's mom grabbed him by the wrist. "You are packing your bags and we are leaving. Tonight."
"Wait!" Kagami's mom turned around to look at Kagami. "We leave tomorrow."
Kagami's moom sighed heavily. "We leave tomorrow. Pack your bags. I'm going to go book a hotel room. Goodbye, Taiga." Kagami's mom left Kagami's house.
Kuroko grabbed Kagami's hand and looked up into his eyes. "Kagami-kun, I-"
"Kuroko, I...I think you should go."
Kuroko became frustrated. She tugged on Kagami's arm. "Kagami-kun, you're not really leaving, are you?! You can't leave-"
"Kuroko, get out of my house!"
Kuroko let go of Kagami's arm and walked towards his front door. "Goodbye, Kagami-kun," she said as she closed the door behind her.
Kagami dropped his bags and slammed his hands on his dining room table. "God damnit! Shit..." Running a hand through his hair, he consecutively kneeled down. "What do I do now..."
Kuroko sat down on her bed, staring into the distance. She hadn't cried, which surprised her, considering thta wa the first time Kagami had ever yelled at her. "Kagami-kun, what are we going to do..." Kuroko crawled under her sheets and fell asleep waiting for a text message that never came.
The next morning Kuroko woke up a little early, which gave her time to eat a little toast before leaving the house. She petted Kuroko-Ni before heading out the door and under the cloudy sky. She checked her bag for her umbrella before continuing.
"I'll just...go by Kagami-kun's house and pick him up." Kuroko began walking towards Kagami's house. She eagerly picked up the pace as she made her way there, bolting into a dead sprint by the time she reached the basketball court. She made a sharp right around the corner and rushed towards his house.
Kuroko skidded to a stop at the front steps and practically threw the front doors open. "Kagami-kun! I!..."
Kuroko stopped to look around and became suspicious when the place felt somewhat empty. She ran upstairs, still breathing heavily. Skipping every door except the one at the end of the hallway, she threw the door open and looked around.
No basketball bag, no clothes in the closet, no trophies on the shelves.
No Kagami.
"Kagami-kun," Kuroko said between pants. "Kagami-kun!" she called out. No response.
Kuroko closed the bedroom door, made her way downstairs, closed the door behind her, and walked towards the school.
Kuroko heard thunder rumble in the distance. She looked down at the umbrella, then looked back upwards. Stopping, Kuroko stood and looked straight up into the sky. As if on command, the precepitation began as a drizzle, and slowly made its way to a pour. Kuroko felt the rain soak into her clothes and she began walking again towards the school.
Kuroko looked over at the basketball court as she passed it. On a whim, she opened the gate and sat down on the bench. Without thinking about it, she laid down on the bench, closed her eyes, and fell asleep in the rain.
When Kuroko awoke, she was cold, wet, and it was still raining. Kuroko stood up, feeling herself sway to the side. She caught herself on the fence and began making her way towards the school.
Kuroko opened her bag and looked down at her phone, which was - thanks to the fact she left her bag under the bench - still dry and functional; the clock read 12:04 pm.
"I slept for four hours, I think..."
It didn't take long for Kuroko to make it to the front gates.
"We have a basketball meet-up, I think..."
Kuroko wandered towards the doors to the gym. Attempting to push the doors open caused her to fall into the gym, gaining the attention of those inside.
"Kuroko-chan, what happened?! You're soaking and, Jesus, you're burning up! Where have you been?!"
"Riko, let's take her to the nurse."
"Y-Yeah..."
Kuroko felt someone tall pick her up and carry her away. In a daze, she called out for Kagami.
"K-Kagami-kun..."
Kuroko awoke in her own bed. She had a peircing headache and a raging fever but she stood up and stumbled into the next room, drawn by the smell of food.
"K-Kagami-kun..." Kuroko rubbed her eyes.
"Kuroko, you're awake!" Riko approached Kuroko and lifted her head up. "I hope you're hungry!"
Kuroko glanced over at the kitchen while Riko talked. Hyuuga was attempting to make some sort of meal. "The others wanted to stay for dinner but they were getting in the way so I sent them to pick up some drinks from the convenience store, heheh."
Kuroko looked into Riko's eyes and saw excitement and hope. Kuroko sighed and gave in to the 'festivities'.
"What's for dinner," Kuroko asked.
"Well, I was going to make curry, but Hyuuga-kun offered to do it instead so I could watch you - since we're both girls and all."
Riko sat Kuroko down on her couch. "So, Kuroko-chan, what happened? You walked into the gym during lunch and you were soaking wet and had a terrible fever! You stayed at the nurses office until after school and afterwards the nurse gave us your address and we carried you back. But, why? What happened, Kuroko-chan?"
Kuroko looked Riko straight in the eyes and answered bluntly. "I accidentally fell asleep on the bench at the outdoor court hear my house on the way to school."
"O-Oh, is that all? Haha, Kuroko-chan, you need to get more sleep, look what happened! You fell asleep on a bench, silly!" Riko giggled but Kuroko could tell she was uneasy. Riko didn't want to get angry at Kuroko but she also wanted to know the truth.
"Well, Kuroko-chan, other than that, have you seen Kagami lately? He wasn't at school today. Is he sick?"
Kuroko paused before giving an answer. "His mother showed up late last night at his house and took him away...on a trip."
"A trip? Why a trip?"
"I think...because she lives in America, so they don't see each other often."
"Well, they must get along really well if he was willing to leave on such short notice!"
"Yeah..."
Riko couldn't continue the conversation without feeling like she might accidentally say something to set Kuroko off. "Well, Kuroko-chan, you stay here! I'm gonna go help Hyuuga-kun in the kitchen!"
"Okay."
Kuroko watched Riko leave the living room. Not much later, the front door opened, and in came the rest of the basketball team.
Riko came back in from the kitchen. "Ah, guys you're just in time! Hyuuga is done with dinner so come eat!"
Everyone grabbed a plate and just gathered around in Kuroko's living room. Luckily, since Riko wasn't cooking, the food was actually edible.
Kuroko stared down at her food, trying to will herself to eat. Looking at any food at all just reminded her of Kagami. Kuroko mentally slapped herself, embarassed that even the thought of food brought Kagami into her mind. Sure he cooked, but that wasn't the most important feature that she remembered about him. Almost anything else she thought of about Kagami was more important. His amazing basketball skills, his reddish black hair, his feirce, heart-warming eyes, his accepting attitude, his fear of dogs, anything else...
Kuroko's eyes stung as she fought back tears. She tried her hardest to not think about Kagami, but no matter how hard she tried distracting herself with anything, she somehow always brought herself back to Kagami.
Kuroko lowered her head as tears began spilling from her eyes. Riko, who had sat next to Kuroko, noticed she had lowered her head. "Kuroko-chan? What's wrong-"
Kuroko lifted her head, tears rolling down her eyes. Unable to hold back her welt-up emotions, she sobbed uncontrollably, completely out of character, wailing.
"K-Kuroko-chan?!"
"K-Kagami-kun...Kagami-kun is gone! He's gone!"
Riko began rubbing Kuroko's back, trying to communicate with her, unable to stop her crying. "He left! He left! He's gone! He's gone forever!"