Through My Heart
~Second Quarter – Kuroko's Basketball~
第二季: 黑子的篮球
Chapter 10 – 新的发展－New Development
"Woah...here they come. The strongest team. Teiko Middle School!"
Whispers spread across the road as the Teiko basketball team made their way to the gymnasium.
However, there was quite a fuss amongst the players.
"Did someone get in touch with him?" Nijimura asked with a worried look on his face.
"Not yet, apparently..."
"That guy...I'll make him run five hundred laps around the school once we get back..." Miho muttered under her breath.
Nijimura just sighed, "Damn it. I'll kill him the next time I see him as well."
"There are some teams that we haven't played against yet, but...they don't look very strong," Murasakibara stated while popping a potato chip in his mouth.
"Stop eating snacks, Murasakibara," Midorima scowled at the boy's behavior.
"Still, don't let your guard down," Akashi told everyone.
Aomine laughed, "But you know...it doesn't look like there should be any problems even if it's just us freshmen playing! So don't be so tense, Tetsu!"
Sweating profusely and rigidly walking, Kuroko turned to Aomine, "...Eh? Did you say something just now? Aomine-kun?"
"Like I said, relax... Seriously, get ahold of yourself! Didn't you pass the test even though you only had one shot?" Aomine asked.
"You could say I had mentally prepared myself back then..." Kuroko responded, "The third string had matches with other schools as well, but all I ever did was cheer them on from the sides. And now, I've suddenly got a uniform and am on the bench. And you know, this is the first time in my life I've been in a m-match..."
"Don't stutter. Wait, seriously?!" Aomine exclaimed.
"Seriously, just don't drag us down," Murasakibara sighed at the small boy.
Midorima also followed, "...Really."
Seeing all the bullying, Miho clung to Kuroko's arm, "Atsu-chan and Shin-chan are being mean! Twenty laps for each of you once you get back! Also, you'll all see how awesome Te-chan is today!"
Midorima was about to retort when Akashi's phone started ringing.
The red haired boy stared at it for a while, "It's Haizaki."
Nijimura immediately snatched away the phone from Akashi's hands, "What?! Give that to me! Haizaki! Where the hell are you?!"
"What?! A cold?!"
After a while, Nijimura slammed the phone shut, "He slept in and is faking being sick. Nanase, quick sucking up to the newbie and figure out one of your torment training menus."
The girl released Kuroko and stared at the captain, "Yes, sir. Coach Sanada, will I be able to keep Haizaki-kun for the next practice?"
The coach pushed up his glasses, "Yes, please do."
Aomine and Kuroko both sweat dropped. They almost felt sorry for the guy...
.-.-.-.
"Haizaki's absent. Therefore, we'll have to change the starting members. The starting members will be Akashi, Aomine, Midorima, Murasakibara, and in place of Haizaki, Kuroko. That's all. Get out there," Sanada stated.
Kuroko immediately deadpanned, "...?!"
Miho stared at the boy, "Oh god... He's shaking so much... Well I guess he's nervous, but if he doesn't prove himself in this match..."
"Te-chan! Calm down! Pretend that you're just practicing with Dai-chan and I!" Miho shouted to the smaller boy before he walked out onto the court, giving a rigid nod to Miho.
"Ugh...It's not use..."
"Let's have a good match!"
Teiko started off with the ball. However, Miho blanked as Kuroko tripped and fell flat on his belly.
"I'm sorry, I tripped..." Kuroko got up with a nosebleed, "I'm alright."
"No, you're really not!"
"Woah, Tetsu!"
"Referee stop!"
All the Teiko regulars facepalmed and sweat dropped.
"I can't believe him! Rather than dragging us down, I feel like you've dragged my pants right off..." Murasakibara twitched.
"What's wrong with him... I don't see what Miho sees in him..." Midorima remarked blankly.
Aomine sweat dropped, "He was subbed out in a second..."
"Well... This is kind of...unexpected," Akashi laughed sheepishly.
Sanada let out a sigh, "...We've got no choice. I'm counting on you, Nijimura."
"Yes."
"Nanase, do some first aid on Kuroko and calm him down," Sanada ordered the blue haired girl.
Miho laughed nervously, "Y-Yeah... I understand."
The girl led Kuroko to a bench and inspected him, "Hm...just keep it from bleeding with the tissues. It should be fine."
Kuroko nodded, "Thank you, Miho-chan. I'm sorry."
The blue haired girl sighed, "It's fine. Te-chan, calm down. It'll be fine. Just do what you did at the practice match."
Kuroko nodded, "Y-Yeah..."
Thus, the two sat there and watched the match progress. Teiko was dominating their opponents, however they were sweating a lot.
There was nothing they could do about the stamina. Starting from the later half of the game, although only slightly, their performance will slowly begin to drop.
"They have another match this afternoon, right?" Miho asked Sanada.
"Yes."
"That's not good. We'll need to use Te-chan. Has your nosebleed stopped?" Miho asked the boy beside her.
"Yes."
With that, Teiko subbed Kuroko in once more. However, even though he was doing the passes, none of them were actually making the target.
"He's making too many mistakes... It may be due to stress, or perhaps the fact that he hasn't completely mastered his style yet... Or maybe a mixture of both. Either way, it'll be bad if things go on like this..." Miho bit her lip as she watched Kuroko.
In the end, the game ended with a 81-50, with Teiko's win.
.-.-.-.
"Mine-chin, what's that?" Murasakibara asked Aomine, who stared at his lunchbox with a disgusted expression.
"My bento...made by Satsuki," the boy facepalmed.
"Huh, that's cool."
"You want it?"
"It's gross, so no thanks," Murasakibara replied.
"Miho made extra bentos in case anyone forgot theirs, go ask her for one. She's talking with the coach and captain right now," Akashi notified.
"Miho...? Is she a good cook...?" Aomine shivered at the thought of another 'Momoi Bento.'
"She makes and eats everything that she makes, so it should be decent," Akashi replied.
"Alright, I'll go ask..."
The boy walked away but not before patting Kuroko on the head, "Cheer up, Tetsu! There's still one more match. You can just show them next time."
"...Aomine-kun," Kuroko blinked and then gave a small nod, "You're right...I'll do my best..."
With that, Aomine grinned and set off to find the blue haired trainer.
"Please give him another chance! Coach Sanada!" Miho bowed towards the coach.
Aomine widened his eyes at the conversation before him.
"No. There won't be another change. I saw all I needed to see in the last match. As I thought, he's no good. Demote him," Sanada replied.
"Wha... Hey...wait a second!" Aomine rushed towards the coach as well, "We've still got the afternoon match left! One more match...could you observe him for just one more match?!"
"Yes, he was just nervous for the morning. Please just observe him for one more match!" Miho added, bowing again.
"No, there's no value in observing him any longer. I'm demoting him."
"But that's..."
"This conversation is over. I don't want to hear anymore," Sanada stated.
Miho bit her lip, "Coach Sanada. I'll quit my position as trainer and never touch a basketball again if it doesn't work out in the next match. Thus, please give him another chance...!"
"Yes, me too! If it doesn't work out in the next match either, let me be demoted too! So...please try using him one more time!" Aomine added.
"Nanase, Aomine...you guys..." Nijimura shook his head in disbelief, "Are you two stupid? How does that even work? It doesn't benefit the club if you two leave. If you want to strike a bargain, you should be threatening to leave instead."
"Fine. I'll do as Nijimura-kun says. Coach Sanada, you were the one who requested me to join the club in the first place. If Te-chan doesn't play in the next match, I'm quitting basketball," Miho stated, here eyes full of determination.
Sanada paused, "Do you two have any basis for this confidence in him?"
"...I'm not sure about Miho, but I don't...really..." Aomine whispered out at the end.
"What?!"
"...However! There will come a day when that guy will save us! I don't really know why, but that's the feeling I have!"
"Me as well. Te-chan will be an asset to the club. I will promise you that, Coach Sanada," Miho added.
Letting out a sigh, Sanada turned around, "Fine. I'll at least take another look at him in the afternoon. However, I'll be holding both of you to your promise. If he should fail, I'll have Nanase quit the club and have Aomine demoted with him."
After the coach left, Miho and Aomine smiled at each other, "That's great..."
Looking at the clock, Aomine jumped, "Crap! It's already this late? Miho! I need one of those lunches!"
"Huh? The bentos? I left them back at the bench with the team," Miho replied.
"What?!"
"Here," a hand popped in, holding Miho's bento.
"Woah, thanks for bringing it over...Wah! Tetsu? You scared me!" Aomine gasped.
The boy remained quiet and Miho got worried, "Te-chan? What's wrong?"
"...Miho-chan, Aomine-kun. Why did you both have to say something like that?"
The two being questioned widened their eyes, "...You overheard?"
"Well, cause it just isn't fair, ya know? If a guy like Tetsu can't seize his chance. I'm sure opportunities present themselves to everyone. Hard-working guys, guys who don't work at all—basically anyone. But, in the end, I think the ones who should be able to seize those opportunities are the hard-working guys," Aomine explained.
"I think so too. Between Te-chan and Haizaki-kun, I think Te-chan deserves the opportunity much more," Miho smiled.
"Even so, I can't let both of you be demoted as well..."
"What're you saying? All you gotta do is prove yourself in the next match, right? It's really simple! You've still got a chance. If it's Tetsu, you have the strength to grasp it. You can do it!" Aomine grinned, raising a fist.
Staring for a while, Kuroko nodded and then met Aomine's fist, "...Yes!"
.-.-.-.
"Oh god...I'm so full. Miho's bento was amazing," Aomine collapsed on the bench in the gymnasium.
Miho smiled, "Thank you for the praise. Come to think of it, where is Nijimura-kun?"
"Oh, he should be back pretty soon."
Just then, Nijimura walked in, dragging Haizaki behind him, "Hey, I've brought him~! Go and say hello."
"Haiza—what happened to your face?!" Aomine exclaimed, staring at a beat up Haizaki.
"Yo..."
"Someone from the second string found him playing at a game center. It was close by so I went out to meet him. He looked perfectly healthy, so I brought him back," Nijimura happily explained.
Miho sweat dropped, "...But he looks like he's on the verge of death now..."
Shaking her head, she told the team, "The starting members will be, Sei-chan, Shin-chan, Atsu-chan, Dai-chan, and Haizaki-kun. Good luck, all of you!"
Everyone on the team continued to sweat drop, "Nanase's a demon, too!"
"And Kuroko," Sanada added, "I'll have you play in the second half. Understood?"
"Yes..." Kuroko nodded.
Thus, the match started. However, Teiko's power was slowly declining. Aomine even missed a couple of shots.
"In the end, it all comes down to stamina. Now that it's the second match, their performance is deteriorating," Miho bit her lip as she watched.
"But even so, what the hell's wrong with Haizaki? He's sluggish even though it's his first match!" Nijimura grumbled.
Miho sighed, "Isn't that because Nijimura-kun punished him?"
Thus, the match continued. In the end, the first half ended with Teiko leading by only two points.
"Teiko's barely made any member substitutions since their first match! Is it finally taking it's toll? There's barely any difference in points!"
Miho chucked the water bottles and towels at the different regulars, "Pull it together. We can't lose here."
Nijimura nodded, "If we lose for any reason, you know what'll happen, don't you?"
"In the second half, Kuroko will take Haizaki's place. Apart from that, I don't have any other special instructions. I'll leave it to your discretion," Sanada stated.
"Te-chan, come here for a moment!" Miho smiled and waved the boy over.
Kuroko walked over, "What is it, Miho-chan?"
"During the first match, stress was not the only reason your passes weren't connecting. It was because you had matched the speed of your passes to the speed of the second string and third strings' movements...and maybe a little bit of my slow movements. Anyways, the first string moves even faster. Unless you are one step ahead, your passes will miss," Miho explained.
"I...see..." Kuroko stated.
At this moment, Akashi walked over, "And one more thing to that. What kind of person has a strong presence? ...Perhaps people who have bright personalities? I suppose that's also true. There are many contributing factors, so it's difficult to describe in a work, but...one of the traits of people with attractive personalities are their strong emotions... They are the type who are very expressive and emote richly. On it's own, the concept of misdirection is little more than a fake. It only becomes a great strength when combined with your lack of presence. If you turn your style into a weapon, you should be conscious of your lack of presence, and be able to control it to some extent. As part of that control, as far as possible, you should avoid allowing your emotions to surface. You need to have fighting spirit, but keep it hidden."
Taking in all the information that the two had just told him, Kuroko took a deep breath and then nodded, "I understand."
With that, the match started. Immediately, Kuroko started making a difference. His pass started connecting with the members of the team and they scored before they knew it.
Miho let out a small smile.
"Eh...? What? What just happened?! The ball curved? Or was it made to curve?"
"I don't know, did I miss it?!"
As she sat on the bench, the bluenette could see the changes in opinion on everyone's faces, "Isn't it great, Te-chan? They all acknowledge you now..."
On that day, they spoke of a player who, though he disappeared soon afterwards, would henceforth be a strange rumor, spoken of only in whispers, whenever Teiko was discussed.
Teiko has a Phantom Sixth Man.
.-.-.-.
"...Eh?" Kuroko stared at the regulars with his normal blank expression, "I haven't received my uniform yet?"
Everyone else deadpanned at the statement. After a while of silence, Aomine karate chopped Kuroko's head while Akashi walked towards him.
"That's right, I apologize. I haven't told you yet," the red haired boy sighed, "You were able to wear a uniform in the last tournament because the goal was to play using first years only. Even we didn't get uniforms right after we joined..."
"You know, Tetsu has a surprisingly good personality..." Aomine remarked as he sweat dropped.
"Even so, Te-chan was able to show his skills, and as a result, the scary Sanada-san has nothing to say," Miho whispered by Kuroko, not wanting Sanada to hear, "For now, it's safe to assume that you've been accepted into the first string. And I bet most of the scary regulars have changed their minds about you as well..."
Aomine glared at the girl, "Who're you calling scary?!"
Miho laughed and ruffled up Kuroko's hair, "Ah! I'm so excited! I get to work with Te-chan from now on!"
…
"Well...that's what I said...but," Miho blanched as she watched Kuroko fail a layup.
"That doesn't mean it's alright to play poorly..." Akashi finished the girl's sentence.
"Kuro-chin, are you taking this seriously?!" Murasakibara gripped the boy's head with a vein popped.
"That hurts," Kuroko replied blankly.
"We can't finish practicing the three-man weave because of you..!" Midorima shouted in complaint.
"Seriously, that guy's no good," Nijimura let out a sigh.
Miho blew her whistle with a sigh, "One more round! You won't be able to finish unless you make them consecutively!"
On the side while watching, one of the second years chatted with Nijimura, "Despite what people say, he's starting to be able to keep up with practices."
"Yeah. Well...even though he's just barely made the minimum. And this is after Nanase's intense physical training as well..." Nijimura remarked.
"Kuroko Tetsuya, huh... Akashi and Nanase seriously managed to find a strange one. Before, I couldn't have imagined the first string having such an unoutstanding guy. But when he's in a match, he changes drastically and makes plays that manage to surprise us all. The atmosphere during practice has also changed a bit. The members fight because of Kuroko... But on the flip side, that also means they talk to each other more," Nijimura thought to himself, "I'm not going to say it's thanks to him, but...it seems like this'll become an interesting team."
.-.-.-.
"I'm...so...tired..." Miho collapsed on her desk once the first class of the day started after morning practice.
Momoi looked at the girl worriedly, "What happened? Was it because of Kuroko-kun again?"
"Atsu-chan and Shin-chan got completely pissed at him and they couldn't complete the three man weave because Te-chan kept missing his shots..." Miho sighed.
Momoi sweat dropped, "Why is someone like him in the first string, I wonder..."
The bluenette sat up at this, "Well, he becomes a great asset in actual matches..."
"I don't see how that works..." Momoi sighed.
Miho shook her head, "Well anyways...I've been wanting to tell you this for a while, but I've been busy with Te-chan lately."
"Hm? What is it?"
"I think...I know who I like..."
Momoi blinked before leaning close to her friend, "Who...who is it...!"
Looking around, Miho whispered back, "S-Shin-chan..."
There was a pause before Momoi widened her eyes.
Before she could say anything, Miho quickly covered her mouth, "Don't shout!"
Seeing her let out a nod, Miho released her friend.
"Eh?! You like Midorin?!" Momoi hissed with a disbelieving expression.
Miho blushed a bit, "Y-Yeah..."
"How much do you like him?"
"A lot...I think."
"Heh, well. This is going to be interesting..." Momoi grinned at the new information she gathered. With the addition of Kuroko onto the basketball team and also Miho's new development, it seemed like there was a lot more to look forward to in the time frame of the next two years.
A/N:
OMG THE DISCLAIMER CAN GO LATER I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING THIS STORY FOR FOUR MONTHS OMG ACTUALLY SO SORRY. SOSOSOSOSOSOSO SORRY OMG.
After seeing Crescent Shadow's review I hastily put together this unfinished chapter that has been lying at the bottom of my word doc for 1000000000 years already.
ALJHSKJGHLSKAJG can I do something to make it up to you guys cause I feel really bad and I really want to do something to make it up omg I'm so sorry now I'm writing in run on sentences that you guys probably can't even read. Sobbbb. The thing is, I've been SUPER obsessed with J-Rock band SID lately and their super amazing and adorable vocalist, Mao. And this is literally how he blogs all the time so I am doing this as well omg.
Okay, feel free to PM me about something you guys want to make up for this terribly long delay. I will TRY my best to make it up to you within the next two weeks since I have a lot of tests next week and I probably won't have time to write feel free to ask me to HURRY UP AND UPDATE THE STORIES and I'll do my best. (laughs)
I better stop ranting now because I am wasting time right now just ranting do you guys even read this. (laughs)
Thanks you all so much for still being my super awesome readers. And thank you all for your reviews. I really don't deserve them. I've been so horrible at updating lately so I would honestly understand if I lose some readers. I actually can't believe you guys are still patient enough to wait for all my super long updates. Maybe once summer comes, I can do That thing again. (The thing where I update everyday aha~n.) We'll see. Depends on how busy I am ultimately. (laughs)
Thank you all so much. I love you all.
~Yuvi
*edit: (sob I forgot the disclaimer)
I do not own Kuroko no Basket or any of the characters in this story.