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BANDS OF black AND blue
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27 : on a different scale
The Generation of Miracles - it's what the five of us have been called since our second year of middle school.
A group of geniuses with talents that you would see only once in a decade - not as a group, but as individuals. At that point, I hadn't lived two decades (or even a single conscious decade) so it was difficult to dispute such claims. All the same, we were heralded as the pinnacle of athleticism, the kings of our middle school.
And the funny thing was: for two too-long years - I earnestly believed in the title.
But when I see him again - see the invisible phantom sixth man that I had called 'partner' and 'friend' and 'teammate' for three glorious years - I see what true genius is, even in the face of unquestionable defeat. I had once laughed at Tetsu because he was, like Tarou, prone to planning and plotting and analyzing and overthinking. I had thought that natural talent (like myself) didn't need any of that. And it was true, to a certain degree, but only to that finite degree. Tetsu, on the other hand, did not stop, could not waver, regardless of his inexperienced teammates and dim new light. I could still see, even if everyone else was blind, the raw skill that he embodied.
There's a quote I can vaguely remember... something along the lines of skill hits a target that no one else can reach and genius hits a target that no one else can see.
That is, in the end, the line where my 'skill' stops and Tetsu's 'genius' begins.
At the beginning of the Winter Cup, when Ryou sends me a text asking excitedly if I 'felt it', I scoff and give some wishy-washy reply. Later - when the data comes back and Satsuki is incredulous (because how can a high school boy make a lane up?) and I find myself staring at the storm-ridden clouds - someone, Sakurai probably, asks me how is it that I'm not scared.
There's no appropriate response, really, so I just laugh outrightedly in his face. Scared, I want to tell him, but the hysterical laughter will not stop coming out of my chest, scared of what the fuck exactly, I want to choke out - because I've seen three-pointers made from the back court, I've watched a two-meter tall middle school boy casually reach up and bat away a dunk, and I've seen a chess match unfold on the basketball court. And through it all, nothing - nothing - is comparable to Kuroko - to Tetsu.
'You're pretty funny, you know that?' I end up saying something along those lines, still chuckling all the way through.
Tetsu is, especially when it comes to his type of 'genius', difficult to describe. I could say he makes use of every situation and every second, but that would be too similar to the Captain. I could say he doesn't need to perfect his unique form of misdirection. It might be in the fact that he doesn't know when to give up because normal ideas of loss and victory don't actually affect his skill. But in the end, it's a combination of natural talent, dedication, and something that I can only pin down as 'love'; it's why he's not so much my Shadow as I was his light.
Still don't understand? It's alright - I didn't expect you to. That's why I didn't even attempt to explain.
He's just on a totally different level, you don't need to doubt that. There's no way I - or anyone, really - can properly compete with him.
Oh senpai, you're coughing so violently now... it might have something to do with the knee I've just rammed up your gut because your eyes tell me that you still don't believe me - that you think I'm just being 'soft' on an old teammate. Don't waste your breath attempting to understand him; your mind can barely grasp around the idea of a perfect imitation of my moves, what right do you think you have to judge the single person that stood on top of - not behind, not underneath, on top of - the Generation of Miracles?
That's right - you don't.
So I pull myself up from the rooftop, dropping down to the ground and ignoring some minute protests of needing-to-practice. It's not like any of our first matches will be with other members of Teikou, after all. It's not like you guys need me to secure a win. Kagami Taiga - that guy and his jumps... he'll definitely be a more direct challenge. Am I looking forward to another match, Satsuki - you of all people - inquires while on the road to home.
...Something like that, I suppose. It's funny, but the mixture of excitement and pride almost wash away the reverence.