Chapter 1

A Not Too Terrible Day

To: leagueoflegendsluver2008

From: rinrinforthewin

Dear Ichisada Hideaki-san,

I am currently in my last year at Inku Middle School and I have all intentions on joining the newspaper club next year. Seirin High School was only just founded, so I am making an assumption that your club is low in numbers.

I have attached samples of my writing and I am hoping that I will be accepted into the club.

At Inku, I was Head of the Sports Section of the news and have become familiar with most sports. My strengths lie in that particular type of writing.

My weaknesses, on the other hand, lie in creating actual stories, so I believe that the newspaper club will be a good place for my particular skills.

Thank you for your consideration,

Kobayashi Rin

To: rinrinforthewin

From: leagueoflegendsluver2008

Dear Kobayashi Rin-san,

Your writing was very impressive for an incoming first-year to Seirin. The newspaper club would be proud to have you accepted.

Additionally, I have assigned a second-year student to be your editor, but she will be introduced to you on the first day of club activities.

Because of your previous experience in sports writing, I have decided to place you in the sports column. At Seirin, the sports are very important and receive an entire page to themselves. I hope you enjoy it. I have a handful of second-years working on the sports section as well, so you will not have to shoulder the burden entirely.

However, you are going to be particularly focused on the basketball team and I am going to have expectations of a report every other day, excluding weekends.

If there is a problem, please notify me immediately.

Your assignment begins immediately on the first day, where Head Coach Aida Riko will be hosting tryouts. Tryouts will be on both the first and second days of school while the official initiation of members will be on the third. Aida-san has requested your presence at all three.

Please have your first article prepared for editing on the third day, and deliver it to club room #8.

Welcome to the Newspaper Club,

Ichisada Hideaki

I leaned back in my desk chair, rereading the email, a handful of colored candy in my hand. The spring of my first year in high school had been pleasantly warm, but not so that the color of the candy would bleed into my hand.

And that was a blessing on it's own, since the year before had been so scorching that it had led students at Inku Middle to go to the opening ceremony in swimsuits.

(I may or may not have been one of them.)

Oh, school.

It was truly the bane of every human being, the existence of an institution formulated solely for the purpose of stuffing useless information into people's minds until it doesn't seem possible to shove anymore in and then they do it regardless.

"Ri-Rin, I'll drive you to school if you want!"

Mom's loud call dragged me out of my painfully accurate rant and back into the real world.

In the corner of my laptop screen was the time, taunting me with the horrifying prospect of going to Hell- I mean high school. School was starting in twenty minutes, so I would probably be ten minutes early if my mom drove me. But if she drove me, that means I wouldn't have to walk.

"Coming!"

Seirin was completely empty when I arrived.

I waved my mom off - no, she did not need to wait for other people to arrive and yes, I did have my lunch and no, I would not let her take pictures.

I had been to Seirin once before, with the tour group from Inku Middle, last fall. But that had been last autumn entirely, and with a slightly hazy memory, I made my way to the gymnasium, where I would be spending a majority of my after-school time that year.

I blame Ichisada.

The wooden floors had recently been waxed, the scent pungent in the stagnant air. I almost gagged - they really had to open a window in there.

I stood in the doorway a moment longer, hoping to air out the gym as much as possible. Finally, I decided that it was someone else's problem that the gigantic room reeked of lemon preservatives, and turned to walk out.

And smashed my face into a wall.

...okay, maybe it wasn't a wall. But it might as well have been, considering how my nose started bleeding.

It was actually a person, a person who realized that they had possibly broken my nose and immediately began their apologies.

"Oh shit- you alright?"

"I tink so." my voice was muffled, painfully so, and I tried to ignore the blood leaking from my nostrils. "I go now. Bye bye."

I rushed around the giant - he must've been almost two meters - and down the hall, desperately in search of a bathroom.

The opening ceremony was fairly interesting, considering how I went through most of it with tissues stuffed up my nose to stop the bleeding. Thankfully, no one pointed it out, or asked about it, though I did attract more than a fair share of odd looks from passerbys.

After the opening ceremony, students were encouraged to walk among the club booths and make at least one choice of clubs, but that was only a suggestion.

It took only a minute to locate a map, but it took a little over a half hour to find the newspaper club. On my way, I had all sorts of papers shoved at me from all sorts of groups - the Gardening Club, the Baseball Club, the Disciplinary Committee - and as I approached the newspaper club booth, I dumped all of the paperwork into the trash, along with the tissues from my bloody nose.

A single boy was sitting at the newspaper booth, reading a manga - the fifth edition of Shingeki no Kyojin - a pair of thickly framed black glasses resting on the edge of his nose.

I stepped in front of the table, taking a seat in the chair in front of the booth.

The boy didn't look up from his book.

I cleared my throat.

The boy sighed, dragging himself away from the book to meet my eyes, with a single eyebrow cocked. "I assure you, miss, that I am listening, though it may appear that I am not. Please, speak your mind."

"My name is Kobayashi Rin, and Ichisada-san placed me in charge of the basketball team's reports and articles?"

"I am aware."

Wow. Were all second-years going to be absolute dickheads like this? "And uhh, I was just wondering if I had paperwork or something that I would have to complete."

The boy dog-eared his page - he was absolutely destroying that poor volume - and set the book onto the table. "One moment please."

He reached down under the table and dug around in a large cardboard box, pulling out a stack of papers with him. He set them down on the table, and began to explain to me which each one was.

There was a general information sheet, a sample of what a report should look like, a map of where the newspaper club meets, a calendar for when the newspaper club meets and a basic explanation of who most people were, including the head, the assistant head, editor-in-chief, the assistant editor and the club supervisor.

"The first meeting is actually on the third day of school," he told me, pushing the sheets towards me. "the same day that your first report is due. I apologize on behalf of the club about the sudden request for a report, before the first meeting."

"It's alright," I assured him, even though he didn't look too sorry about it. "I was wondering what the purpose of the reports are, though."

"Well, a report is sort of like your research, the information, the notes and everything you've gathered," the boy said, simply. "All of it should be related into one sort of subtopic for the team, for example, all about one game, or maybe about the tryouts. After the subtopic is approved by your second-year editor, you shall compose it into an article that will then have to be approved by the second-year editor once more, and then along to the editor-in-chief."

I blinked. "That's a lot to take in..."

"It's all written in the manual," he shrugged, grabbing a thick booklet from a stack on the table and adding it onto my stack. "Do you have a notebook for today, or some sort of computer? You will, after all, begin your first report after school, during the basketball tryouts."

"Uhh, I have a composition book-"

"That will do fine, however, I suggest that you bring a laptop computer, or purchase one quickly, since it will be easier to write reports with that to assist you." the boy grabbed his manga again, and began reading it.

I took that as a dismissal, and began to tuck the papers into my bag. I pushed the chair back under the table and bowed slightly. I had to show respect to an upperclassman, even if he had treated me shortly. "Thank you very much..."

"Did I forget to introduce myself?" he wondered to himself, eyes never leaving the page. "I'm Ichisada Hideaki. It was a pleasure."

I stared. This was the head of the newspaper club?

"I'll see you soon, Kobayashi-san."

What would my first report be about?

Ichisada had mentioned that he expected the report to be on tryouts, or games. But where was the interest in writing about how the coach was going to kick some people out and keep some people in?

It couldn't be what he expected - that's not good. It's my first report, and if I was going to make it big in the newspaper club, I can't just be a sheep that does whatever is expected.

I'd have to do things my own way.

"Uh, is this the basketball club booth?"

A pretty girl was sitting behind a long table, beside a very tall boy. She looked very neat, her hair clipped short, but with a strict expression. The boy looked more welcoming, though he was half-asleep, thin glasses sliding down his nose.

The girl looked excited, though, to have a visitor, and all but leaped out of her seat. "Yes! This is the Seirin Basketball Club-" she turned to her partner, whose head was drooping off to the side. "Hyuga-kun! This is no time for sleeping!"

The poor guy was slapped on the side of his head, and he jolted awake, his glasses knocked askew. "Wha- Did we win?"

"Are you here to sign up?" the girl asked, excitedly, her expression lighting up.

"I'm not here to sign up," I said, apologetically, as the girl's smile dropped. "I'm actually the school reporter from the newspaper club that has been assigned to the Seirin's basketball game. I will be attending all of the games, as per usual, and the tryouts, as you requested."

The girl stared at me for a moment, before everything apparently clicked together in her head. "Oh, you must be Konoyoshi Rila!"

"Actually, it's Kobayashi Rin, but there's not much of a difference." I corrected, as politely as I could. I didn't want her to hate me. "Are you the manager?"

The boy - Hyuga, as she had called him previously - snickered, coughing into his hand to mask his laughter.

The girl shot him a dark look, but smiled prettily at me. "No, I'm the coach. My name is Aida Riko, it's a pleasure to meet you."

I stared. The coach was a second-year girl? Putting gender roles to shame all over the place.

"Please call me Riko." Aida Riko shoved a thumb in Hyuga's direction. "This is the captain of the team, Hyuga Junpei, but he's an idiot."

"I'm not going to get any respect from anyone if you keep stressing me out like this, Coach." he told her, fixing his glasses. Hyuga Junpei turned to look at me, sizing me up. After a tense moment, he announced, "You're an absolute midget, aren't you?"

I dropped my bag. Aida Riko looked like she was about to bodyslam him into next year, but I held up my hand. "I am 149 centimeters. At my old school, Inku Middle School, I faced ridicule for my impossible height. Please, Hyuga Junpei-san, do not let me face ridicule here."

He suddenly looked awkward. "I, uhh-"

"I'm kidding, oh my god." I snorted, picking up my bag. "I didn't think you'd actually believe me. I come from a long line of short people, okay?"

"Well, I come from a long line of tall people."

"Obviously." I grabbed one of the two chairs that were under the table and pulled it out next to their table, out of the way. "Riko-san, can we discuss the schedule for when I'll be attending the basketball events?"

"Of course!" she rummaged through her school bag for a moment, digging out a heavily worn clipboard. "You're going to show up during all of the tryouts, practice games, practices leading up to practice games, games, practices leading up to games, tournaments, social events for the team, training camps, tradition events, video watching of the other teams, regular watching of the other teams with me and any other specified events."

So I'd basically be at everything. "...can you write that all down for me or something?"

She handed me a sheet of paper. "I had it ready for you, Kobayashi-san."

"Oh, you can just call me Rin..." I said, absentmindedly, reading through the schedule.

"Can I call you Rin?" Hyuga asked, leaning back in his chair. When Riko sent him a suspicious look, he quickly amended his statement. "I just want to be a good captain!"

"Sure, sure, whatever." I flipped the page of the schedule. I would have to get like an agenda or something, to keep all of my sudden activities in order. The weekly newspaper club meetings and the basketball club? This was going to be awful. "Riko-san, does this schedule say that I show up at every practice?"

"Yes." she nodded. "If you write about the practices, then I can gather information from what sorts of things that you, as an outsider with experience from observing other schools' basketball teams, notice."

"...am I literally just showing up at every single event that has to do with this team?"

"...yes." she sheepishly admitted. "And hopefully, we all become such great friends that you will come to social events outside of the team!"

"Is there any other information that I should know, Riko-san, Hyuga-san?" I stood up, pushing the chair in, shouldering my bag.

"Actually, Rin-san, will you stay here with us during the club recruiting?" Riko asked, a smile growing on her face. "I'd like for you to see all of the new potential players that would be coming in. I have this great idea for your first article-"

I zoned out about then, which was probably really rude, because A) she's my upperclassman and B) she had been really nice to me about everything. But, she was trying to give me suggestions for my writing, and wow, that is unfortunately something I was not good with. I wanted this sports column to be by me, not by Aida Riko. I would come up with my own ideas and I would write them down.

"I actually have an idea for the first article right now, Riko-san." I lied, standing up again, bag slung over my shoulder again. "I'll be at tryouts this afternoon, alright?"

She blinked. "Wait, what-"

But I was already gone. "Bye, Riko-san, Hyuga-san!"

"You've officially been ditched, Coach."

"Shut up, Hyuga-kun, or I'll double your training regime."

"Noted."

My classroom was Class 1-B, but there was nothing significant about the class. I sat in the far right back corner, the furthest from the window, but closest to the door.

As I twirled a pencil around in my hand, I absently realized that if anyone was going to survive a fire in this entire classroom, it was me.

"...ashi-san!"

Everyone else in that room would die.

"...bayashi-san!"

God diddly damn.

"Kobayashi-san!"

I was startled, jumping out of my seat. "What?"

The teacher rolled his eyes. "Attendance."

"Oh, I'm here."

The teacher gave me a warning look - yikes, I'm totally on his radar for the rest of the year - before continuing on with roll call.

Basketball tryouts began fifteen minutes after school let out, according to my schedule, so I made a quick stop to the school convenience store, buying an agenda.

I could fill that out during tryouts during breaks or parts that were unimportant to me.

I arrived with the players, who immediately filtered into the locker rooms to switch out of their uniforms. I got a few odd looks from them, probably wondered who I was, because apparently, girls don't play sports and if they did, they would receive odd looks anyways.

Riko immediately waved me over to her, where she was talking to a tall boy in blue. "Rin-san! I want you to meet the second-years!"

I nodded once, rushing over to her side, the one place that felt less awkward than everywhere else. "My name is Kobayashi Rin, and I'm in Class 1-B. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The boy who she was talking to turned to face me - he looked uncannily like Roy Mustang from the Fullmetal Alchemist manga, but I tried ferociously to ignore that fact. "I'm Izuki Shun and I hope I get to go Rin-side you-"

Hyuga Junpei, bless his soul, appeared out of nowhere, locking Izuki Shun in a chokehold. "Rin-san, if he ever makes a comment like that again, I give you permission to snap him in half."

"My name is Tsuchida Satoshi. I look forward to spending this season with you, Reporter-san." Tsuchida Satoshi looked quiet and shy, but in that moment... he decided my fate.

Some guy from behind Hyuga, one of the shorter members I had met, with a mouth curved up in a grin that resembled a cat's, laughed out brightly. "Reporter-san, is it? I'm Koganei Shinji, lookin' forward to seein' ya all the time! Also, you can call me Koga!"

"Please don't call me 'Reporter-san'."

I looked to the last member of the presumed third-years, a tall boy who waved politely back. "Uhh, hi."

"That's Mitobe Rinnosuke." Koga introduced. "He doesn't talk much."

"It's nice to meet you, Mitobe-san."

Just then, the first-years began flooding out of the locker rooms and I took that as my cue to go. "Riko-san, where should I set up and chill?"

Riko hummed, looking around the gym, thoughtfully. "I suppose right beside Takeda-sensei... he's our advisor. However, when we go outside for drills, like running, I'll be leading them around on a golf-cart, and since you're going to be observing, you'll have to come along. You can ride with the golf-cart with me, though. You might not want to bring your computer then."

"I left my computer behind today, since I was unaware of Seirin's technology policies, but I will bring it in tomorrow and everyday after this." I told her, gathering my things.

"I'll call you over in a moment though," she warned, "for introductions and all."

"Got it, Coach."

"Hey, isn't the manager cute?" Furihata Koki whispered to the boy to his left. They were both strangers, so Furihata felt less uncomfortable about admitting it.

There were two girls, one of them shorter than the other. The taller one was presumably the manager, with short light brown hair pinned back to the side. She smiled at the smaller girl, sending her off towards the coach, an old man, who looked half-asleep.

Kawahara Koichi tilted his head, looking at her. "Isn't she a second-year? Maybe if she was a little sexier... you know?"

Hyuga, who had casually been standing behind them, smacked the two of them upside the head. "Morons. You're wrong."

"What?" Koichi and Koki turned to face the girl, who had tugged a pink whistle out of her pocket and hung it around her neck.

"My name is Aida Riko and I'm the boys' basketball team coach."

I was 50% sure that Takeda-sensei was dead.

He was just sitting there, and when I waved my hand in front of his face, there was no response.

I was tempted to check his pulse and breathing, but if he was alive, then he'd definitely notice that.

But if he was dead...

I had my hand under his nose, feeling his shaky breath against my skin.

Good, I exhaled. He's alive.

"That's Takeda-sensei, he's our... advisor? ...Rin-san, what are you doing?"

I froze. My hand was still over Takeda-sensei's nose. From their angle, it probably looked like I was trying to suffocate him. "I, uhh, wasn't sure if he was still breathing."

"I assure you, little lady, I am quite un-dead." Takeda-sensei laughed, startling me away from his side.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry, I thought you were dead, I swear, I wasn't trying to like kill you or anything-" I was rambling, and I knew it. When I'm flustered, I literally speak so fast, that barely anyone can understand me. I picked it up from my sister, so you can blame her.

"Rin-san, it's alright." Riko was laughing, along with all of the second-years and most of the first-year recruits. "Come up and introduce yourself."

I scrambled up, grabbing my composition book, tripping over my shoes to stand beside her. "I'm Kobayashi Rin of Class 1-B! I like to read manga, watch movies, chocolate bars, but with no nuts, vanilla milk and strawberry milk! I do not like poor manga translations, waiting for movies to come out on the DVD, chocolate cake or chocolate bars with nuts in them!" I bowed deeply. "It is an honor to meet you all!"

There was complete silence.

Izuki Shun cleared his throat. "Reporter-san, I think that Coach meant for you to explain why you are here."

I rose out of my bow, cheeks flushing. This was definitely going into the records as one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. "I'm a member of the newspaper club, and I will be writing reports and articles on the basketball team. I will be with the team all throughout the season, and if I do a good job, perhaps for the rest of high school."

"Do you have any questions?" Riko asked the first-years, who glanced uncertainly between each other. "Alright, now that everyone is acquainted with each other..." her personality took a 180 degree turn here. "Take off your shirts!"

Okay, this was definitely one of the perks of being the newspaper club girl assigned to the boys' basketball team.

I stood beside Riko - I hadn't been dismissed yet, so I felt like it would be awkward if I just walked away. Not to mention, half-naked guys is always a plus.

Not like any of them were much to look at.

Riko was going around, pointing out their flaws and suggesting ways to improve them.

The boys were completely startled, but she simply moved on to the next.

It was quite impressive, the way she was labeling stats onto everyone, understanding the stats and making suggestions based upon those stats.

As she came to the end of the row, to the tallest of the first-years, I stared. He was a giant, looking almost two meters.

"Hey!" I jumped, recognizing him. "You're the guy who bloodied my nose this morning!"

He stared at me blankly for a moment, before recognition dawned on him. "Oh, you're the little kid who ran off immediately. Is it broken?"

"Nah, it was just bloodied." I smiled at him. "Thank you, however, for your concern."

"Sure."

"What's your name?"

"Kagami Taiga."

"Oh, I'm Kobayashi Rin."

"I heard."

Riko raised an eyebrow at me, lost from her lack of understanding.

"Oh, I literally ran into him this morning and my nose started bleeding," I shrugged. "He was very polite about it though."

Riko leaned in and whispered to me, "Kagami Taiga looks the most promising of the batch."

I nodded, "Of course, I mean, he was slightly (not really) concerned about my nose."

She stared at me for a moment longer, before looking back at her clipboard. "Anyways, I guess that's everyone. ...wait, where is Kuroko Tetsuya? Is Kuroko-kun here?"

I tapped the bottoms of my toes on the ground. Was I really needed? I wasn't getting any good information for my article through this. I wasn't even sure what the article was even going to be about.

But I couldn't look like I was slacking. On the composition book I held, I scribbled out some meaningless phrases that would look like notes.

Large batch of first-years

Kagami Taiga - most promising of first-years

"Kuroko?" Hyuga repeated, looking towards Riko. "Isn't that the kid from Teiko?"

"It looks like Kuroko-kun is absent today." Riko began to mark something down on her clipboard. "That's alright. Okay, we're going to start running-"

"Um, excuse me." a soft voice called out, from beside me. I whipped around, to see a relatively short boy with a shock of blue hair standing in front of Riko. "I'm Kuroko."

Riko screamed.

I almost did too.

That boy had literally came out of nowhere, appearing almost right in front of me.

"When did you get here?!" Hyuga seemed equally startled.

Blue-haired kid, or Kuroko, turned to look at him blankly. "I've been here the whole time."

"So you're from the Generation of Miracles?" Koga asked, excitedly. "You couldn't have been a regular, right?"

"O' course not. Right, Kuroko-kun?" Hyuga laughed on, after him, trying to ease the rising tension.

I scowled. Treating people based on their appearances was rude. "Kuroko-san could be a very talented basketball player, despite his diminutive stature, Hyuga Junpei."

"I did play in games." Kuroko piped up, looking slightly affronted. I would have been too.

"Okay, calm down, everyone!" Riko ordered. "Kuroko-kun, take off your shirt."

He obliged.

Her eyes calculated out the statistics, and she looked startled.

"...is something wrong?" Kuroko asked, blinking.

"No, no... Hyuga-kun, please show the first-years outside. We're going to start with endurance running."

Everyone groaned simultaneously.

I turned to see Kuroko Tetsuya's reaction, but he was already gone. I swallowed, scribbling down on my composition book.

Kuroko Tetsuya - Teiko Middle School, part of Generation of Miracles first-string since he participated in games

Kuroko Tetsuya has low presence, but high potential as of his middle school

Kuroko Tetsuya is invisible

I sat beside Riko in the golf cart. She began to drive at a slow pace, the basketball team trailing lazily behind us. She slowly began to increase her pace, and eventually, the panting breaths of the basketball team were the only sound on the outside fields.

Riko wasn't paying much attention as to where she was going. She seemed to be lost in her thoughts, her mind a million miles away.

"Kuroko Tetsuya-san sure was something, huh?" I tried to spark conversation.

Riko's eyes flickered over to me, as if remembering I existed. "I'm not sure... He appeared out of nowhere, but when I saw his statistics... they were below average. There's no way he could have been a regular on a team with a nickname like 'Generation of Miracles'."

"I dunno," I shrugged. "He does have a low presence, but I liked his personality, very straight-forward and honest. His intelligence is clear, and from a team like Teiko, he has to have immense technique abilities."

Riko made a face. "I wouldn't bet on it."

"I would," I replied, honestly. "The Inku Middle School basketball team played against Teiko once and I will never forget it. Each of the Generation of Miracles is like a specialist. We simply have to find what Kuroko-san specializes in."

She sighed, "Are you sure?"

"Positive." I responded, confidently. "What about Kagami Taiga-san? I thought he looked like he had quite the determination. His build is quite large, but he moves well. His strength is going to be in his jump. He's going to be skilled at dunking, but all sorts of alley-oops. I wasn't sure about his statistics though. I can't see statistics like you can, but I can make assumptions."

She thought for a moment. "I can think of general movements that the player will have, based on their statistics, but you're putting it into context. You're a very skilled analyst, Rin-san. But yes, Kagami-kun has incredibly above-average statistics and he will definitely be an ace for our team. He just returned from America, so Hyuga-kun and I think he learned from the source."

"His stamina is dreadful though," I said, glancing back behind us, where Kagami was trailing the pack.

"Don't worry," Riko smiled. "I'm going to increase everyone's endurance tenfold this season."

While Riko hollered at Kagami to hurry it up, I jot down the new information in the composition book.

Kagami Taiga - recently returned from America, learned it from the source

Kagami Taiga is going to be a powerful jumper, his strength lying in dunks and alley-oops

Kagami Taiga is the ace

The second day of school, I was stopped in the hall by Kagami Taiga.

"You're close with the coach, right?" he was looking down at me, eyes narrowed slightly.

"Uhh, I don't know. I guess. I mean, I haven't really talked to anyone, since I'm like the only person who came here from Inku Middle School, so everyone is a stranger. She's the closest person to me at this school, I don't know if she reciprocates those friendly emotions. I feel like Kuroko-san, I guess, because he also was the only one who came here from his middle school basketball team, since the others went on to prestigious basketball schools-" I was babbling again.

"Stop talking." he ordered.

I flushed. "Got it."

Kagami shifted, suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Am I getting on this basketball team or not?"

"Actually, I'm not supposed to tell you anything-" I told him, hesitantly.

"Help out a guy." he said, his expression looking really sad. "Help out... a friend."

"Oh, wow, way to pull at the heartstrings, Kagami-san. Wait, since we're friends, can I call you 'Kagami-kun'? Or maybe even 'Taiga-san'. Or perhaps, 'Taiga-kun', right-"

"Let's just keep it at Kagami. No need for a suffix." he forced a smile. "Well?"

"Well, Kagami, my dear friend," I leaned forward and gestured for him to crouch so I could whisper in his ear. "we all think you have incredible levels of potential and you are far above average. When you're on the team-"

"So I'm on the team?"

"-you will definitely be our ace."

"I'm on the team!" he grinned then, a painfully bright smile. "Thanks, Kobayashi."

"You can call me Rin, since we're friends." I beamed up at him.

"See you at practice."

"Bye-bye, Kagami!"

As Kagami walked away, he grinned. "I totally fooled her."

"That was rude to do to Kobayashi-san." a voice informed him.

For a moment, Kagami wondered if it was his conscience telling him how he truly felt about pulling one over on the shorter girl, but then he realized that he recognized that voice. "Oh, it's you again."

Kuroko Tetsuya stood beside him, giving him a blank look. "Kobayashi-san is painfully naive and you aren't helping her problem."

"When did you get here?" Kagami demanded.

"Lying to her about friendship is cruel, since she has no friends from this school," Kuroko continued, not missing a beat. "You heard her."

"She knows I was just kidding-"

"She really doesn't. Please treat Kobayashi-san properly, Kagami-kun." Kuroko shook his head once, before disappearing into the crowded hallway.

I was so proud of myself. I had two (possibly three?) friends at Seirin and it was only the second day.

Aida Riko was super nice and treated me equally even though I was a year her junior, but also took my input on basketball into consideration, even though out of the two of us, she had more experience with evaluations of players.

There was also Kagami Taiga, who had came back from America, but had expressed concern for me when he bloodied my nose - which was all my fault, and a complete accident - and I had even managed to help him out about the basketball tryouts. When he joined the team, I'd be able to give him all sorts of advice and we'd be best friends.

When I would get married, Kagami would be my best man and Riko would be my head bridesmaid, it was official.

I brought my laptop to practice that day. It was raining outside, so I wouldn't get any one-on-one time with Riko, while the boys ran behind us, so instead, she organized a practice match between the second-years and the first-years.

I took this time to begin organizing the information for my report, which I would submit to my editor as soon as possible. I had to follow the previously established outline for the reports, which had been one of the papers given to me by Ichisada during the club recruitment the day before.

Article Topic:

I still wasn't sure what I was going to be writing for my article. I definitely had to write about the tryouts, because that had been the most recent and most important information. I also wanted to write about Kagami Taiga's incredible potential and about the mysterious Kuroko Tetsuya.

I stared at the cursor for a moment longer, before deciding on my topic.

Article Topic: First-Year Recruits

Main Points: Kagami Taiga, recently returned from Japan, has what could possibly be the most incredible potential that Coach Aida Riko has ever seen, with amazingly well-rounded statistics that rank high in all categories.

Kuroko Tetsuya is from Teiko Middle School, a school with a reputation for producing amazing basketball players that even have a title: the Generation of Miracles. Kuroko is among this Generation of Miracles and was first-string back at Teiko.

With powerful players such as these, this year, Seirin could win the Interhigh and Winter Cup tournaments.

It was a very simple report, but it held facts that I know to be true. Kagami has amazing potential and Kuroko was a part of the Generation of Miracles.

"Riko-san!" I called out to the girl who was acting as referee. "I have to go run a report down to Club Room #8, I will be back as soon as possible."

She nodded. "Of course, Rin-san."

I was finished with my report a day early. If my editor approved of it, I could have the actual article done by tomorrow, since I got so much time during basketball practice and I only had a short paragraph to write.

After following the map that I had been given by Ichisada, I found Club Room #8. I knocked once, before pushing the door open.

It was a flurry of work in there.

According to that manual that Ichisada had given to me, there were five departments: Sports, Celebrity, Student News, Community, and the Editorials. There were about three members per department, two being field researchers, like me, and the third being the editor of that department.

So I would go to basketball practice and gather all this information, make it into a report, submit it to the sports editor, who would approve or deny it, and I would shape it into an article, which would go back to the sports editor and then on to the Editorials Department.

The Editorials Department was a bit different. There was the Head, Ichisada Hideaki, who organized all of the members, approved the final copy of the newspaper and attended school council meetings on our behalf. There was the Editor-in-Chief, who took each article and double-checked it, before formatting it into the actual newspaper. And then there was the Printer, who was the one who took the final copy of the newspaper after it had been approved by the Editor-In-Chief and then the Head, and took it to the printing shop downtown, which the school had a subscription to.

Because eight of the fifteen members were field researchers, there were only seven students in the room, but it changed nothing. The room looked like it had gone through a tornado, papers flying everywhere.

Ichisada was in the back right corner of the room, writing on a whiteboard and muttering to himself. It looked like he was adding up the costs for paper, but I wasn't sure.

"Ichisada-san." I called out, struggling to get through the mountains of paper. "I'm looking for the sports editor."

He glanced away from his sums for a moment, recognizing me. "You already finished your report, Kobayashi-san?"

"I finished during basketball practice."

He nodded once, concentration back on his math. "Just call for Kohi-san and she'll come running. She'll do anything to get away from editing Fuji-san's indoor soccer training reports."

I thanked him, backing towards the door again. "Kohi-san? I'm looking for Kohi-san."

A girl clambered out of a pile of papers that covered what had probably once been a desk., She ran a hand through her hair, trying to neat it, but it was in vain, as it remained to be a single messy tangle. Her bangs curved downwards like a 'V', keen blue eyes peeking out from underneath her fringe. Her hair only lightly dusted her shoulders, and I inwardly cringed.

I keep my hair pinned up or tied up all the time, because the feeling of hair touching the shoulders is horrifying.

"I'm being summoned?" her voice was odd, a thin accent underneath her Japanese. I couldn't place it, the distinction far too faint.

"I'm Kobayashi Rin." I introduced myself. "I'm working for the boys' basketball team articles."

The girl - Kohi, I assumed - grinned, displaying two rows of neat, white teeth. "Good catch. Fuji - she's the other sports' researcher - is assigned to the girls' soccer team. The thing is, her sister is on the team, and the kid is always gettin' hassled about writing an article about her. Rest in peace, Fuji."

"The boys' basketball team is fun, but the schedule is intense."

"You mean, the schedule is Rintense." Kohi looked incredibly proud of herself. "The basketball team obviously can't get enough of you."

I snorted. "I already heard something like that from Izuki-san. Except, I think he just said something about wanting to get Rinside of me."

"That's brilliant- Izuki Shun, right? That kid is like the rolemodel for everyone, everywhere." Kohi laughed, a sound that could be heard loud and clear through the ruckus of the club room. "I'm Kohi."

"You do realize your name means coffee, right?"

"Long story."

"I have time."

Kohi revealed to me her true story.

Her real name was 'Robinson Catherine', or 'Catherine Robinson', as they had done back at home. She had been a transfer student in the second grade, from Canada to Japan, and had been here ever since. Everyone had butchered her real name, so they called her 'Ko hi', which is the Japanese word for coffee.

"Why are you named for coffee though?"

"I'm coffee because I grind so fine."

"I just met you."

"Also, I'll keep you up at 2 AM."

"I'm only a first year, Robinson-san."

"I'm so bitter unless you know how to use me."

"I really hope those are the only jokes you have for your name." I told her, my hopes for having a professional upperclassman diminishing.

"That's really it," Kohi shrugged. "And don't call me Robinson-san, that sounds weird as fuck. Not to mention, Kohi sounds way more Avatar: the Last Airbender."

"The pride you have in that fact is almost embarrassing."

"Key word in that sentence being almost, Rinny." Kohi chided, before clapping her hands together. "Wait, so what did you wanna show me?"

"Oh, I almost forgot..." I opened my folder, pulling out the report. "I finished the report. I have to get back to basketball practice, but can you have it back to me when you finish?"

"Yeah, I'll email you." she waved it off, tossing it onto the small stack of what I assumed were reports on her desk.

"You have my email already?

"Of course, I have your file."

"Thanks, Kohi-san."

"Let's keep it at Kohi."

"Of course, Kohi."

Thanks to my surprisingly long meeting with my editor, I got back to basketball practice as the practice match was ending.

"Sorry for being absent for so long, Riko-san," I apologized, tucking my folder into my bag. "I met with my editor for the first time and we were talking about, uhh, emailing and correspondence."

She smiled weakly at me. "No problem, Rin-san. The second-years actually lost, thanks to a combination of Kagami-kun and Kuroko-kun, and they're just running drills right now, led by Hyuga-kun."

"Oh, Kuroko-san finally displayed his true skills?" I beamed at her. I had known that he wasn't just going to be some knock off who claimed to be from some fancy-dancy Generation of Miracles. "What was his specialization?"

Riko glanced at me, before turning back to face the drills. "I'll... I'll explain it to you tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, I'm going to need you to show up to school fifteen minutes early."

"Oh, why?"

"Don't worry... you'll find out."

To: rinrinforthewin

From: swagcoffee42069666

Rinny,

its me kohi

i finished editing your report and its attached to this email

also heres my phone # so u can hmu whenever

ur really doing good w/ the basketbal team

glad they like u

- kohi

Yes, I'm back, and yes, it's with a Kuroko no Basuke story. I was expecting to go to Bleach, but then I was suddenly inspired by this idea that I immediately had to put into action.

So yeah, I'm in KnB right now.

I'm hoping to do a chapter per episode, so you can tell where and when the story is going next, regardless, alright?

This was like 7000 words, i am broken inside

Leave a review, im working hard guys

question:

who is ur favorite generation of miracles person

Leave a review

please

seriously otherwise this was a big waste of time

pce

LeoInuyuka