Chapter 1: First Sight

Tetsuya Kuroko woke to the sound of her alarm going off. Barely sparing it a glance, she quickly shut it off before springing out of bed, throwing on some clothes at random and racing downstairs. Half an hour later, her father trudged into the kitchen, just as she was serving up a plate of eggs and bacon. Giving only a grunt of acknowledgment, he sat down and started eating. Kuroko remained standing, knowing from long experience that to say or do anything while her father was eating would only result in a beating. She tugged slightly on her sleeve, dragging it down so that it almost covered her hand, serving to also hide the silver wrist cover that marked her as being inferior. Once Kuroko Senior had finished eating, he left the table, not sparing a further glance for his daughter. This was fine by her, she merely took the plate and cutlery and washed them, putting them back in the cupboard once dry. She again waited for the front door to open, then close, signifying that her father had left for work, before racing to change into her uniform, grabbing her bag, and almost running to school, arriving just in time for morning assembly.

Kuroko, being an inferior, was situated at the back of the hall, out of sight of the Superior elite. She paid only peripheral attention to what the Principal was saying on the stage, and completely failed to notice the five boys sitting in chairs at the back. She zoned back in on what was happening when the thunderous applause penetrated her dazed stupor. "... And due to their own successes and upstanding in society it is my pleasure to welcome them to Teiko High School as the new Student Council Body." The Principal droned, as the five rainbow coloured boys came to the front of the stage, bowed, then all but one descended the steps at the side while the red-head took the microphone. Kuroko did not spare them another thought. She had been distracted by a nagging itch on her wrist, the same one that was covered where her the names of her soul-mates would one day be written.

As Kuroko made her way out of the Hall and to her first class, the itching in her wrist died down. She breathed a sigh of relief. She knew what the itching meant; it signified a first sighting of at least one of her bond-mates. She knew it was considered odd to have more than one, but there were rare cases where a person had two or more, or even no bond-mate at all. She barely gave it a thought most days, it was a struggle to get by with her life of servitude to the Superior Elite and try to stay under the radar as much as possible. Kuroko heaved a sigh as she sat down at her seat in class, subtly distracting everyone around her from her presence. She had long since learned that life was easier the less people noticed her.

Back in the Hall, the new Student Council Members were holding an impromptu meeting. They too had felt the tingling in their own wrists and were very aware of what it means.

"They're here! I definitely felt it!" Ryouta Kise could barely contain his joy, all his bond-mates could feel the exuberance through the bonds linking them together.

"Yes, Ryouta" said Seijuuro Akashi, smiling slightly at all the joy and anticipation he could feel from the others. The smile faded though upon pondering who their last bond-mate would be; the one with whom they would finally be complete.

"Who could it be?" asked Shintaro Midorima, who then blushed and blurted out "Not that I care, nanodayo." At his words, the rest of them sobered, trying to think of who it might be.

"Unfortunately, it could be anyone in the school. We will just have to look for them." Akashi decided, causing the others to nod in agreement.

" We should be discreet. It would be problematic if any of the students or teachers were to find out about this." Midorima suggested. "A good idea, Shintaro." Akashi approved. "It is a private matter and none of their business anyway. Still, that will leave just you and me able to actively search for them."

"Hey!" Daiki Aomine exclaimed, offended at the implication in Akashi's words. Midorima sighed. "Aomine, you, Murasakibara and Kise have no sense of subtlety, you would only cause us to be caught."

Atsushi Murasakibara shrugged, continuing to gorge himself on the snacks in his bag while Kise pouted at Midorima's harsh words. Aomine descended into wordless grumbling, pissed but unable to deny the truth. He was many things, but subtle was not one of them, Kise was much to emotional to hide anything, and Murasakibara barely paid attention to anything other than his snacks.

"Leave things to us." said Akashi, "We will find them, for we are absolute." In the face of Akashi's words none of the other four could respond. They were filled with confidence that they would find their missing link, the one that would complete them.

A week had passed and Akashi was ready to tear his hair out in frustration. He was no closer to finding out who his last bond-mate was than at the beginning of the week and he was beginning to get desperate. The bright lights on the stage had meant that he could not see the audience when he had stood up there and recited his speech, therefore his eyes had been unable to pick out who it was who had reacted to their presence in that Hall. It was small consolation that Shintaro was having just as hard a time trying to track the person down. Neither of them had had any luck in finding whoever it was.

He heaved a sigh. There was just no helping it, he would have to keep looking.

Kuroko had been keeping a very low profile for the week that Akashi had been searching. In spite of already having a weak presence, she had done all she could to further reduce any attention she may have gotten. She knew what the itchy tingling in her wrist had meant; one or more of her bond-mates had been in that Hall with her. The school was very prestigious, she was one of only a handful of Inferiors allowed to attend which made it very likely that the person she had reacted to was a Superior. Kuroko dreaded the thought of them finding out their so-called 'soul-mate' was an Inferior. They would likely be disgusted and completely reject her, and that was not something Kuroko thought she could take.

Inwardly despondant she made her way to the cafeteria. Once there Kuroko bought herself a small, cheap meal and then left in search of somewhere private to eat.

Settling under the shade of a cherry tree, Kuroko was just about to start eating when she heard a group of girls chattering only a short ways away. Heaving a sigh, she got up and left, careful not to be seen. She would have to find somewhere else to eat. Spotting a secluded area around a row of bushes, she stepped into the small alcove-like area only to find it already occupied.

The boy using the area seemed asleep, but to Kuroko's practised eye he was just faking it. Still, he did not open his eyes or give any sign that he had noticed her presence. He was very beautiful, Kuroko noticed. His blond hair and golden eyes were very striking and he had an athletic build. That wasn't what rooted her to the spot though, it was how fake the scene looked, like it had been artificially contrived.

Lost in contemplation, Kuroko failed to notice the boy open his eyes and get up. She did, however, hear him give a startled cry.

"When did you get here!" he whisper-yelled, arms windmilling from surprise.

"About five minutes ago." Kuroko dead-panned. The boy gave her a stunned and confused look, like he didn't quite know what to make of the strange bluenette girl standing in front of him.

"Right..." he trailed off, "My name's Ryouta, Ryouta Kise. And yours is?" He gave a charming smile that would have caused any other girl to swoon. Kuroko only looked blank. "Tetsuya Kuroko." she said at last. The smile grew larger and more winning. "So, Kuroko-chan," he began, a flirtatious lilt entering his voice, "can I convince you to pretend you didn't me here?" "No." came the blunt reply. Kise faltered, unused to not having any affect on a girl. "You also shouldn't smile if you don't feel like it." The incredulous look on Kise's face turned shocked. "But how did you...?" He got out, before taking a deep breath and giving a small, genuine smile. "You are quite amazing, Kurokocchi."

Kuroko gave a slight start and stared at Kise, wide-eyed. "I'm not." she said quietly before turning away, holding onto her sleeve over her silver wrist-cover.

With a start, Kise dove forward, not wanting to let the strange girl leave. He had barely taken hold of Kuroko's hand when an electric current ran through them both, the force of a bond slamming into them. Kuroko, not having felt such a thing before, was frozen with shock and pain, before snapping out of her stupor and ripping her hand away from Kise's.

"Kurokocchi," Kise's voice was dazed, still out of things from the shock of finding his bond-mate. He barely had time to register that Kuroko's face showed nothing but fear before she turned and fled, leaving Kise staring after her in surprise.

Author's note: So, Chapter 1. Not my best work I will admit. Then again in order to get it out on time I have had to forgo editing. I will be going back to improve this chapter at a later date when I have the time. I will see you all next week with Chapter 2: Bond-mates. In the mean-time, please review, your comments really help to motivate me.

On a separate note, I am looking for a Beta for this story. If anyone is interested, please don't hesitate to let me know.