Don't own Kuroko no Basuke.

Don't own the Cover Art.

When a Wolf Meets a Rabid Dog

"Hi, are you new to the neighborhood?" Grey-brown eyes looked at the other boy, curious at the other boy's lack of fear or nervousness. He'd been told plenty of times that his eyebrows made him look "creepy".

"Yes. I'm new here," he nodded, and was confused when the other boy began grinning at him. Why was the other boy so happy to meet him?

"Let's be friends then! My name's Nijimura Shuuzou," the grey-eyed boy introduced himself, offering his hand.

The boy gripped his hand, and hesitantly smiled back. "Hanamiya Makoto."

Tetsuya watched as Kiyoshi was taken away on a stretcher, reassuring all of them that he would be okay and asking them to beat Kirisaki Daiichi. He had never seen Hanamiya Makoto in action, despite having played basketball for years now. He turned to glare at the older student, whose eyes widened as he finally noticed the shadow.

For a moment, the senior's grey-brown eyes filled with curiosity and malicious glee, like a child looking forward to breaking a new toy, before recognition lit his eyes and the dark emotions left, leaving nothing but grudging restraint on his features.

The rest of the game went on normally, with the other team roughhousing Seirin without getting into trouble, much to Seirin's collective frustration. They seemed to have achieved to objective, however, and took losing rather well if their good mood was anything to go by.

"Where are you going for middle school, Shuuzou?"

The grey-eyed boy looked at his friend before giving him a small, sad frown. "I'm going to Teikou. I couldn't go to your school; it was too far from the house and my dad's hospital. Sorry."

"Tch. It's not your fault, stupid. Don't apologize." The other boy scoffed, but Shuuzou could hear the sadness in friend's voice, and grabbed his hand.

"We'll always be friends, Makoto. Don't ever doubt that."

Makoto scoffed again, but gripped Shuuzou's hand tightly.

"Oi Kuroko," Hyuuga Junpei called, looking at his kouhai as the team relaxed around Kiyoshi's bed as something finally occurred to him.

"Hai?" Kuroko looked up from his spot by Kagami, the two of them tired but happy to be done with the brutal game they had just played.

"You had seemed surprised when you saw Hanamiya using those dirty tricks, and I wanted to ask why. Kagami makes sense; he hasn't been playing here long, so he wouldn't know the reputation the 'Bad Boy' has, but you've been playing since middle school. Did you never play against him?" Beside him, Junpei noticed Izuki and Kiyoshi's interest in the response, the others on the team going quiet as well.

The shadow didn't seem bothered and tilted his head to the side, trying to put his thoughts into words. "I played against Hanamiya-san in my first and second-years of middle school, but he never injured any of my teammates."

Junpei couldn't hide the confused look on his face, and Izuki seemed equally doubtful. "That's unusual. From what I understand, Imayoshi Shouichi could control Hanamiya for the most part in middle school, but that didn't mean it worked all of the time, and he wasn't around to stop Hanamiya in your second year."

Kuroko shrugged in response. "He never bothered us, though he did always talk to our captain before the game began. Maybe that was why he never injured us."

Junpei scoffed. "Because of your captain?"

Immediately, displeased vibes began emanating from Kuroko at his captain's tone. "Do not doubt my old captain, Hyuuga-senpai," he warned, a small frown on his face, and Junpei knew he was serious since he didn't call him Captain. "Nijimura-senpai was an unorthodox captain at times, but he would have never allowed any of us to come to harm. He would have put Hanamiya-san in the hospital if he so much as suspected him of being the reason for one of our teammates being injured, consequences be damned."

Junpei was surprised at how protective Kuroko was of his former captain, as were the others judging by their slightly widened eyes. It made him wonder at who the man was, to inspire such loyalty after two years of not being around. And who he was to convince Hanamiya Makoto to not injure any of his players.

"You can see it too, can't you?" Makoto asked his friend one day, as they watched a group of kids play at the streetball court near their houses. He watched as Shuuzou looked at him briefly before turning to the kids once more, and he could see the moment that Shuuzou noticed what he meant.

"Yeah," his friend nodded, attention now trained on the older students, the look in his eyes almost predatory. "Weak ankles," he noted, and Makoto smiled and pointed at the next one.

"Overworked calves."

"Previously injured elbow."

"Far-sighted and doesn't know it." The two shared a mischievous look, and Makoto leaned closer to his only friend. "It would be so easy," he mused, "to cause a distraction, to hide it from the referee, and…break them."

Shuuzou nodded. "In theory, yes, but they're still fellow players."

Makoto snorted and nudged the other with his shoulder. "They're sheep, following commands without knowing why. And we're the predators that walk amongst them, wolves in a fragile disguise that barely covers us."

"It's the fact that we control the urge to sink our teeth into them that make us wolves, and not rabid dogs," Shuuzou argued back, and Makoto had to give him that, before smiling.

"Then I'll be the rabid dog to your wolf and, between the two of us, we'll tear down anyone in our way."

Shuuzou smiled back at him, knowing he wouldn't be able to dissuade his obstinate friend from this. "Just don't take me out when we play against one another, ne?"

Makoto gave the other grey-eyed boy, who was actually the first first-year to be accepted into Teikou's first-string basketball team right after tryouts, a look. "Of course not, Shuuzou. I'd never hurt you."

Kiyoshi Teppei let out an exhausted sigh as he hit the ground next to Hyuuga. They may have just won the Winter Cup, but right now, Teppei just wanted to sleep for a week before getting up again. Beside them, Izuki, Kagami, and Kuroko looked just as exhausted as they did, while Riko and the others were joining them on the court, crying in happiness.

As Teppei struggled to get up, a shadow fell over him, causing him and Hyuuga to look up. Their captain scowled ominously. "What the hell are you doing here?" he hissed.

Hanamiya Makoto stood in front of the two, smiling amusedly at them. He opened his mouth to say something but shut it rather quickly when the teen standing next to him nudged him in the side. The Bad Boy grumbled quietly before looking at Teppei. "I wanted to congratulate you on your victory, Iron Heart."

Teppei stared at him in disbelief and could almost hear Hyuuga's jaw hit the floor. As one they turned to look at the teen next to him.

He was the exact same height as Hanamiya, with sharp features and grey eyes. He looked bored but his eyes were flitting between Kuroko and Rakuzan's team, keeping an eye on both Miracles Teppei realized. When Hyuuga opened his mouth to ask him who he was, a voice interrupted him. "Nijimura-senpai!"

Kuroko stumbled towards them, his eyes fixed on the man standing by Hanamiya. The Bad Boy looked unhappy at the attention on his companion, who didn't notice as he smiled at Seirin's shadow. "Kuroko," he greeted, running a hand through the bluenette's hair fondly. "Good job, I'm proud of how far you've come."

Kuroko nodded, a happy smile on his face. "Arigato."

"So who the hell are you?" Hyuuga finally got out, a suspicious look on his face as he stared at the man that treated Kuroko and Hanamiya so familiarly. The Bad Boy bristled at the captain's tone, and even Kuroko looked somewhat displeased, but the person in question seemed unbothered.

"My name's Nijimura Shuuzou. I was Kuroko's captain for a year and a half in middle school." The man introduced, and now that he had heard it, Teppei could see it in the way he stood, commanding but approachable.

"And how do you know Hanamiya?" Teppei asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

The captain of Kirisaki Daiichi sniffed, looking away. "We're just acquaintances."

"Shut up, Makoto," Nijimura sighed, looking used to the other's actions. "We've been friends since primary school," he explained and, unnoticed by anyone except Teppei and maybe Kuroko, a pleased smile crossed Hanamiya's face, the Bad Boy of basketball standing a little closer to his childhood friend.

"You don't have to tell them that, Shuuzou," Hanamiya slightly pouted, and Teppei and Hyuuga were too stunned to see that look on the Bad Boy's face to comment.

Nijimura scoffed, throwing an arm around the other second-year as he brought Kuroko closer in a half-hug. "Of course I do, I'm not ashamed of it at all."

And, from what Teppei could see, that made him more precious than gold to Hanamiya.

"Heard you're one of the Uncrowned Kings now, Makoto." Shuuzou teased, passing the ball to his friend and getting into a defensive stance.

"Heard you're Captain of the first string now, Shuuzou," Makoto shot back, grimacing at the name he and four others had been given.

"Yep," the first-year about to be second-year grinned, pride and worry shining in his eyes. "I hope to live up to everyone's expectations."

Makoto snorted, shooting and making a three-pointer while Shuuzou began to worry himself into a corner. "You'll do fine," he said confidently, before frowning in annoyance. "And at least you don't have that damn Imayoshi hawking you all the time."

Shuuzou got the ball and dribbled forward, going into a drive that had Makoto scrambling to keep up. "It's because you're too good at what you do, idiot." Makoto bristled at the insult, even as chest puffed up in pride at the praise. Shuuzou dunked the ball then looked at his friend again. "He doesn't think you'll get away with it, for all that he knows what you can do."

That would explain the looks Imayoshi constantly gave him, Makoto acknowledged, even as he reflexively scoffed at the other's words. They played in silence for ten more minutes, before going to get water. As they drank from the bottles, Makoto took in his friend's fidgeting before sighing. "What is it?" he demanded, knowing the other wouldn't say without his prompting.

Shuuzou's hands stilled on his bottle, before he sighed and put it down. "Are you still going to break my team now that I'm captain?" he asked in turn, looking the other noirette in the eye.

Of course, was on the tip of Makoto's tongue, before he stopped and considered the words. Shuuzou was an ideal leader, who took responsibility for all of his subordinates, but let them fight their own battles. If Makoto tried to break his team, he would just break Shuuzou that many times over. Covering a shiver of horror at the thought, Makoto shook his head. "No," he admitted, "not while you're captain."

"And," he added grudgingly, knowing he would have to make this promise later with his luck, "if you find some that you're…invested in, I won't hurt them in high school."

The gratitude in the look Shuuzou gave him made something warm bloom in Makoto's chest.

"Do you have to go?" Makoto would never show this side to anyone else, but this was his best friend, dammit, and he was going to America.

Shuuzou looked just as sad as Makoto felt. "I do," he admitted, "at least until my father's condition stabilizes. Then I'll come back." No one else would have heard the promise in those words, but Makoto did, and that made him feel a little better.

When they fell to silence, Makoto let out a noisy sigh and prodded his friend. "So, who am I not allowed touch?"

Shuuzou gave his friend a look, before sighing himself. "The Miracles, if you can stop yourself. Kuroko's included there as well. They're mentally fragile enough without your help." It would have sounded bitter if Shuuzou hadn't looked so amused at his friend.

That actually led to the question that had been plaguing Makoto for years. "Why don't you care? About me breaking everyone else."

Shuuzou hummed in thought. "Well, I can't say I like what you do, but it's what you're good at, and I'll always respect you for your abilities, regardless of what they are. And you're my friend; I'm not going to leave you just because we play basketball differently."

Makoto took those words in and, in a moment of weakness, threw his arms forward and engulfed his best friend in a hug. "You'd better come back," he growled, and if his voice sounded choked, neither of them mentioned it.

Shuuzou hugged him just as tightly. "I will, I promise."

And Makoto believed him.

So, what do you guys think? Love it? Hate it? I just think that they would make surprisingly good friends, with Nijimura helping keep him in line but not restricting him too much. Hope you guys liked it.

Please review.

Ja ne!