Hello, and back with another chapter! Sorry this took so long!

Let's continue!

Warning: Cringey as heck(??), OOCness, and I do NOT own Kuroko's Basketball.

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"Strangers can become best friends just as quickly as best friends can become strangers."

- Unknown (I couldn't find it, sorry!)

Previously, On '5 Lights, 1 Shadow' . . .

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Right.. the universe is much bigger then me or any of my problems and it's not complaining, nobody need to worry about me. Now I should head downstairs- Tetsuki was halfway to the kitchen when a harsh '' SLAP '' echoed into the stairwell and made the teal-head pause in confusion before it dawned on her. Yes, her Father was more drunk then normal, and adding to the fact that he would probably dare to lay a finger on his wife, not only his failure-of-a-daughter. Picking up her speed, Tetsuki nearly went rolling down the stairs like some sort of tumbleweed in the desert.

Here we go again.

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Chapter 4

Stranger-Danger!.. Or Not?

It was her fault. Completely and utterly, her fault.

Tetsuki made it to just before the door of the kitchen when her eardrums just nearly burst as a blood-curdling shriek echoed loud enough in the empty hallway to shake her bones. Or was it just her body that was shaking? She didn't know anymore. She had to hurry. Faster!

With the doorway within arms reach, she leapt forward, nearly sliding past the entrance and crashing into the metallic coat-rack, and frantically swung her head around the the kitchen to find the source of the scream. When she saw the vegetables that were going to be used for her parents' dinner laying all on the floor and the fridge door half open, still swinging back and forth, Tetsuki finally registered the real damage done.

Her mother was on the floor shaking and sobbing quietly while clutching her head in her hands. Tetsuki noticed a bright crimson liquid seeping through her mother's fingers and onto her new button-up blouse and the tiled floor. Blood. Tetsuki was frozen in place, feeling both hot and cold, or was it just because she didn't know whether her entire body went numb or that she was feeling so many things at once? Shifting her gaze to the one at fault, Tetsuki felt two emotions resurfacing in her consciousness and playing tug-of-war with her heartstrings. Fear and anger.

Her father stood over Yuka with a broken beer bottle in one hand and a crumpled up piece of paper in the other. His entire face was contorted into a (more wrinkled version) of a look of pure rage and disgust.

Before she could even think about it, Tetsuki's body began to move. Speeding towards her mother on the ground, she dropped down to her knees and placed a feather-light, hesitant hand on top of Yuka's. Under her hand, she felt her mother twitch in the slightest and her sobbing slowly began to ebb away until a menacing presence looming behind Tetsuki alerted her to the true threat in the room. Her father was still there with them.

The silence was papable and quite overwhelming for her, who could feel the tension circulating in the air around the broken family like a chilly breeze in the autumn season. Tetsuki was preparing herself for the inevitable punishment that followed after acting out of her own free will, which would very likely put her out of commission to do anything for a while, before her father spoke in a venomous tone that portrayed his disgust with his daughter and complete disregard of the health of his wife.

"This mess better be cleaned up before I get back. And from now onwards, I want that idiot wrench gone from this house." Were his final words before he spun on his heels and stumbled across the kitchen and out the doorway. Not relaxing until Tetsuki heard the front door slam shut, she jumped up to grab a first aid kit before she was right back at her mother's side. Putting aside the pain of glass shards digging into her skin, she wiped the blood off Yuka's face as best she could before wrapping a few layers of bandages around the injury, hoping it would last long enough until she got it checked by a medical professional. As Tetsuki was putting everything back into the kit, Yuka reached out a trembling hand and gripped her daughters' arm with enough force to make the bluenette flinch. That might leave a bruise..

"I'm going to leave." Yuka murmered "Right now. I can't... I can't handle this life anymore.." Tetsuki's mother looked close to breaking out into tears once again, and Tetsuki realized just how hard her mother had it. Getting soul-bonded to an ass-of-a-superior and bearing his child. Being embarrassed and exposed by other families at government parties for giving birth to an Inferior. Watching said child grow up enduring multiple hardships and abuse by her own father. Seeing her child being forced to work for the government at such a young age just to pay off some debts that her father owed. Tetsuki can understand why her mother was nearly driven to insanity and is now being forcibly sent away.

The bluenette hesitates for just a moment before pressing her cold hand against her mother's own warm ones with a small nod of her head to assure her that Tetsuki fully supports her decision.

A few minutes later, Yuka was at the front door with a light collection of necessities and a small book-bag for work, as well as some money to catch a ride back to her parents' house. Pushing the front door open and turning to give her daughter a look of final goodbye, Tetsuki's mother shuffled out and shut the door. This was the moment when reality finally set in and the bluenette realized something.

She was alone in this world now. Completely alone. In a world full of monsters.

The next day, Tetuski entered the school through the gate with a wince going mostly unnoticed by the people around her, which is when she becomes thankful yet again for her lack of presence. The punishment the day before was not as severe as she thought it would be, yet the bruises and cuts would still bother her for a little while longer until they would fully heal. If they ever get the chance to fully heal. It was kinda like an unspoken mutual agreement among the student-body where everyone would just mind their own business since it's not really worth it to risk your reputation by getting caught up in someone else's mess.

Carefully making her way through the crowd of teenagers, she slid into the classroom and took a seat just as the bell rang and the other students came piling in at a rapid pace. Throughout the whole lesson though, she was struggling to not collapse in her seat right then and there due to the pain from the faint, but still quite tender, whip slashes across most of her back. So when the bell rang for lunch later on in the day, Tetsuki was eternally grateful to catch a break from the uncomfortable chairs in the classrooms even if she didn't have enough money to buy any food. She only saves up cash for the cafeteria's vanilla milkshakes, they're delicious.

With a growling stomach, which Tetsuki didn't understand at all because she could pretty easily go without any meals for a good amount of time, the bluenette received the vanilla milkshake she decided to order with the last of her money and soon found herself a small table in the corner of the cafeteria. Inconspicuous to mostly everyone because of how tucked away it was, and everyone would be eating with their friends and yearmates anyway so it probably wouldn't matter much. She pulled out a small novel from her book-bag that she's been into lately, might as well continue while I still have time.

A slight emphasis on the probably.

What Tetsuki was not expecting was, halfway to finishing her drink, someone placing a food tray down in front of her. Even more weirder what that the entire surface area of the top of the tray was covered in burgers, which were even stacked upon each other to form some sort of off-brand pyramid. The bluenette froze in instinct and slowly, to not inform the person of her presence just yet as them seemed to not notice her, let her gaze travel up from the stack of burgers to the hulking figure that plopped itself down onto the poor chair.

The first thing she noticed was the two-toned hair. Standing out with dark crimson-and-black strands which looked like it wasn't properly brushed that morning, it was ruffled with small patches sticking straight up here and there. The eyes were pointed and narrow, the same shade of red as his hair. Remarkably, this man's eyebrows split into two at the ends which kinda made him look like he originally had four but they melded together later on. Tetsuki observed that he was either 6'2" or 6'3", if the way he towered over her even when sitting down was no obvious sign,-- she once again curses her short stature-- with a light bronze skintone and defined muscles for a student.

The unnamed redhead wore his school gakuren open which showcased the white sweatshirt underneath and a silvery chain necklace with a ring dangling on it. Tetsuki couldn't help but to compare this guy's presence to that of a wild tiger, an intensity and style akin to one as well. What made her heart drop straight down to the pits of her stomach though, was the loosely latched shimmering gold wrist cuff that glittered under the harsh cafeteria lights. This guy was a Superior.

Oh fiddle-

"Stupid Taiga... stupid, stupid, stupid! Now Seijūrō is gonna scold you for being late to class, and now you're gonna be the one who has to clean the dishes after dinner..." Tetsuki caught onto his mumbling and finally had a name to identify a face. Taiga, he called himself. So... first name then? Slowly getting bothered by his muttering and total disregard to her presence, even if he probably didn't notice her, the bluenette shut the novel in front of her that she has now lost interest in for the moment and cleared her throat as loud as she could.

Seeing the man completely tense up was actually quite satisfying to watch, as was the expression he made when he finally spotted her for the first time since he sat down. "...w-..who-..." the redhead, Taiga, nervously lifted his finger to point straight at her with panic beginning to morph onto his face. His eyes trailed downwards to finally notice the other lunch-tray on the table with a singular cup on it, a vanilla milkshake, and a neatly folded napkin.

Bending her head down to stare at the table with blank eyes as a sign of respect to Superiors, she responded politely "My name is Kuroko, and I am not a ghost nor a phantom. It is nice to meet you." The teen went silent after that, continuously staring at the table with a carefully crafted poker face and with nothing but fear clouding her mind.

The redhead was silent for a good minute before he leans forward, whilst simultaneously grabbing and pulling open the wrapper on one his many burgers out of the pile and staring at Tetsuki with curiosity as she lifted her gaze far enough for cerulean to meet crimson. "How'd you do that?" When one of Tetsuki's eyebrows raised he fumbled with his words. "S'Like, I mean.. how'd you just appear outta nowhere like that? I never noticed your presence at all was was quite sure nobody was sitting at this table." Taiga ment no hostility, and Tetsuki spied the genuine confusion on his face, but her gut didn't stop churning with the deep-set emotions of fear and nervousness.

"I was just born with an incredibly weak presence... It's been like this since the beginning, it's really no cause to worry." Tetsuki noted "Dosen't that get kinda lonely?... Nobody really knowing you're there until you speak up?" The redhead inquired, his face twisting into a small frown as Tetsuki just blinked in confusion before suddenly remembering something that she probably should have done quite a while ago. Clicking her tongue and sliding her book-- totally not forgetting the bookmark-- back into her bag, Tetsuki abruptly stood from her seat with a small bow. "I must apologize. I actually forgot to finish up something in class, so I will take my leave now." She only got 4 steps away from the table before she heard her name being called.

"Kuro- Kuroko!" Freezing in her tracks and turned her head to look back at the redhead who had jumped up from his seat to catch up to her. "Taiga. Kagami Taiga." The teenager, now identified, blurted out what she assumed to be his full name and held up a clenched fist. After a few seconds when Tetsuki thought Kagami was going to pull his arm back to punch her and he didn't move a muscle, the bluenette realized what the action was ment to be for. Kagami on the other hand was fiddling with the end of his gakuren as the girl in front of him didn't move. She just stood frozen in place as he got more and more jittery before Tetsuki slowly raised her own fist, much smaller than his, and barely brushed them against his knuckles when it happened.

The impact of a bond forming is always quite abrupt, and would most likely leave a person frozen in the spot for at least 10 seconds before the effects would slowly begin to tone down. There was a faint echoing click in the back of both their minds that, to Tetsuki, seemed similar to what happened when she bonded with that blond Superior, Kise. Barely missing a beat and shock already wearing off, the bluenette stumbled backwards and away from the redhead. His stunned, wide-eyed look etched itself into her mind before she could glance away, so she did what she does best. Running away.

Tetsuki spun on her heels and speed-walked as fast as she could straight out of the cafeteria. Good thing there was barely anyone eating inside the building today, so the bluenette made it out the doors fairly quickly. Once she was away from the prying gazes of lingering students, she dashed down the hallway, past multiple empty classrooms due to the lunch break and towards her only safe-haven in the school, the library.

As gold-plated oak doors and metal lockers blurred together, she continued running. Tetsuki's heart was beating erratically at the strain of not properly stretching, but she couldn't bring herself to care. The bluenette took a sharp right turn at the end of the corridor and just barely missed knocking over a forest-green haired teenager who was carrying some medical tomes and quite uniquely, what appeared to be a small grey kitten plushie. Tetsuki pressed one of her hands to her chest to try to calm her heart as her other hand reached out to balance the precarious pile of books looking like they were about to tumble out the man's arms. She muttered a brief apology to the other teen before speeding off yet again down the hallway whilst her brain continued to mull over whatever happened back in the cafeteria. The bluenette slowed her pace as she reached the familiar dark oak doors of the library and leaned on the nearby wall to catch her breath and at least make sure she looked presentable enough.

Pulling open the door by the brass handles, she tiredly greeted the librarian who was quite used to her abrupt appearances by now before slowly trudging her way through the old shelves to the back where her own little study desk engulfed by hardcover books was located. Collapsing onto the chair and tilting her head upwards to stare at the wooden beams crisscrossing along the ceiling, Tetsuki already began to feel her leg muscles cramping up from the physical exertion. Thank the stars above there was still a while left before class starts.

Huffing out a sigh, the bluenette brought her other hand up to toy with the silver wrist cuff that covered yet another name she knew would now be on there.

"Guess I have to avoid the both of them now... how troublesome..."

Just a few minutes earlier...

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Kagami was in a daze. His mind registered Kuroko speeding out of the cafeteria like a pack of hungry wolves were chasing after her, but his body wouldn't-- no, couldn't-- move an inch. The feeling of a, now full, set of bonds kept him frozen, though he could feel the beginnings of warmth sparking from his fingertips. 'Darn, she's probably long gone by now.' it was just then that Kagami thought back to the bluenette, who's expression faltered the slightest bit in the moment they both caught each others eyes before she turned and bolted.

'..she looked scared.' Scared of what exactly, he wasn't quite sure. Maybe it was his face?

Getting lost in thought while stiffly settling back into the chair, he didn't exactly notice the teenager with a head of green hair and carrying a stack of leather books entering the cafeteria and approaching him as they came to a stop right in front of the table. The figure puffed out a heavy sigh at the lack of response before slamming the tomes down, nearly knocking over Kagami's precious pile of burgers in the process and making the said red-head flinch back from the noise.

"What happened this time, Taiga?" The other teenager inquired grumpily, reaching over the books intending to snatch one of Kagami's burgers. "Ah Shintarou, you wouldn't believe what- Hey! Come on Shin, I paid for these!" Kagami slid his tray away from the guys' fingers, but still managed to lose one that toppled from the pile. The green haired teen-- name, Midorima Shintarou-- was satisfied with his catch and leaned back into his seat while peeling the plastic wrap off the burger. "Just be grateful Daiki, Ryouta and Atsushi have club duties today, else you would've lost more than just one. Now, please continue with what you were saying, Taiga."

The redhead shot Midorima a glare with no actual malice behind it, grabbing the can of soda he had yet to take a sip from and chugging as least half of it down at once. At least the cold drink brought some more feeling back to his body. "Like I was trying to say, before someone decided to steal a burger I paid for with money out of my own pocket,-" Midorima rolled his eyes "-you wouldn't believe what happened! I actually ran into our last bondmate! Here! At this table!" The green haired teen stiffened midway through opening the smallest book in the pile and turned his sharpened gaze upwards to meet Kagami's eyes.

"...for real?" The redhead nodded with a wide grin on his face, unlatching his own gold cuff to expose the tiny gallery of colourful names engraved onto his skin in different writing styles. Lo and behold, just like Ryouta's, there was the name 'Kuroko Tetsuki' written in small black cursive lettering underneath all the others. Midorima immediately pulled out his phone to type something on their bondmates' private group chat and, literally just seconds after pressing the send button, he got an all-caps response back from Ryouta.

"REALLY??!!! YOURE NOT LYING SHINCCHHII?!! ME AND DAI-CHII WILL BE RIGHTH THERE, STAY PUT! "

Shintarou huffed and rested his phone on the table whilst simultaneously pushing his glasses further up on his nose, unknowingly causing the bright lights to reflect off them and right into Kagami's eyes who muttered a curse. "Just needed to inform Seijuro of this development, and then Ryouta said he and Daiki are on their way here. Those two are probably leaving in the middle of practice again, idiots." Shintarou tilted his head slightly sideways to fix his emerald green stare on the clouds outside as he sunk deep into thought.

Kagami rubbed his eyes and sighed, to which he noticed a notification lighting up Midorima's phone from the other redhead he was actively trying to avoid at the moment. At the same time, the green-haired teen snapped his fingers as if he suddenly realized something and voiced out "That's right! Speaking of Seijuro, he mentioned that if I managed to catch you during lunch to come see him in the Student Councils' meeting room. Something about wanting to know how your classes are-" blinking down at his phone, he leaned forward "-huh, he actually got my message... thought he'd be slaving away in his office... oh look, he's on his way here now as well. With Atsushi." Kagami, who was twitching uneasily at the prospect of encountering his redheaded bondmate, went to grab his tray with Shintarou giving him a sideways glance "You know, maybe I should head out now, try to go find Kuroko-"

Before he could even move an inch from his seat, a hand clamped down onto his left shoulder, making him nearly jump straight over the table in fright. A familiar voice echoed in his ears and he tensed up with a half formed smile on his face. He probably looked as white as a ghost.

"Now, now, Taiga.. how about we wait for Ryouta and Daiki to get here so we all can have a quick chat before you go sprinting off to who knows where. It's been a few hours since we've all been in one place."

Shintarou nodded swiftly towards the figure clad in the school's uniform for the more prestigious and privileged teenagers, who also had a gold wrist cuff latched on quite tightly but not tight enough to hurt.

"Greetings yet again, Seijuro."

The only thought in Kagami's mind was 'Ohhh I'm in so much trouble-'

Previous Chapter : To Doubt Oneself

Next Chapter : Lost, Now Found

~ MissAnimeWizard15 ~