Kuroko had awoken to his mother screaming.

He'd gone to bed as usual; Nigou curled up at the foot of his bed. His neat and tidy room hardly seemed out of place, despite the numerous amounts of homework sheets strewn around the desk by the window. The white was walls hung pictures of Kuroko's friends and posters of famous basketball players. The typical kind of room for Kuroko Tetsuya. He was wearing a simple white shirt and pale blue pajama shorts with matching socks.

He was startled awake from his sleep and was at first disorientated. He sat up abruptly and looked about the room for the source of the noise with newfound alert eyes. He darted out of his bed; Nigou following him closely and practically bolted toward the living room.

He found his mother there, crumpled on the floor with her wild brown hair shielding her face. The door wide open with a grim looking police officer standing in the doorway. His hat was off and his head was tilted down a little in an apologetic bow. When he saw Kuroko, his eyes became soft and he mumbled a quite apology.

Kuroko had never heard his mother scream like that before, and he wasn't quite sure how he knew it was his mother. But he knew, after standing there frozen in the living room staring at his heartbroken mother, that nothing was alright. His mother, who'd always gone through everything with a smile on her face now looked like a broken, lifeless puppet. Her breaths were hard and labored, like she'd run a marathon.

"Mother?" He said quietly, almost afraid that any loud noise might make her start screaming again.

Her head snapped up and her watery blue eyes met with Kuroko's matching ones. Her eyes were rimmed with redness from the tears and he could see her body trembling.

"Tetsuya….." She whispered softly before her face contorted and she burst into fresh sobs. The sobs quickly became wails, and the officer looked slightly out of place.

"What's going on?" Kuroko demanded harshly, his eyes flashing to the officer.

"…..There's been an accident…. Regarding your father…."

The officer had said it loud enough for Kuroko to hear, but the words still hadn't registered in Kuroko's head. The man may as well have spoken French. Kuroko only then realized that his father was missing.

"What do you mean?" He asked slowly. Nothing could have happened to his father. His father was a strong, kind man who'd do anything for his family. The thought of losing him was unbearable.

"Your father was killed in a head on collision whilst driving home from work. I'm soo sorry for your loss…." The officer trailed off, giving him yet another bow.

His mother's crying grew louder, and soon it was the only sound Kuroko could hear. He stood there, frozen in his pajamas while listening to his mother cry, too numb to think or move. He heard the officer give him one last apology, before closing the front door with a click.

Slowly, Kuroko crumpled to the floor beside his mother.

/Kuroko no Basuke/

"Hey, where's Kuroko today?"

The question caused the whole Seirin team to stop what they were doing and look about, as though expecting to spot the blue haired team member standing in plain view. However, they were disappointed to see that Kagami was right, Kuroko was nowhere to be found.

"Huh? That's odd. Kuroko's not the type to skip practice…" Riko frowned. And she was right; it wasn't like Kuroko to miss practice. Especially not when the Cup was fast approaching.

"Maybe he's sick?" Koganei suggested with a shrug.

Kagami bounced the ball once, his mind on his blue haired friend. Despite Koganei's helpful suggestion, it didn't seem like Kuroko to just skip practice just because he was sick. Maybe it was more serious? Maybe Kuroko was too weak to get up from bed and desperately needed attention. He stopped the ball and shook his head. No, Kuroko would have found a way to contact the team if it was something that serious to let them know why he hadn't shown up. Yet a quick glance at his phone informed him that it wasn't the case.

"I think we should go pay him a visit. There could be something seriously wrong with him." Kagami said finally. Riko's eyebrows shot up. The thought of their star player in jeopardy alarmed, and she inwardly praised Kagami for the suggestion.

"I agree, Kagami-kun. He might need help." Riko told them. Kagami gave her a curt nod.

"But maybe he just wants to be left alone…." Hyuga muttered.

"And not call us or the school?" Kagami growled, "That's not like him."

They eventually agreed to go to his house after practice just to check on him. Riko announced that she'd pull a few stings and see if she could find out his home address from the school office. She left shortly afterwards for the office, leaving Hyuga in charge.

However, for the remainder of practice, Kagami couldn't keep himself focused. He was truly worried about his shadow. He was perhaps the weakest member on the team, yet the most effective player. For his age, Kuroko was rather small and thin. It worried him that he could possibly be injured or ill. Not because it would affect the teams game play, but because he generally cared about the smaller teen.

When Riko retured, they all stopped and looked at her expectantly. However, she looked off. Her usually bright, determined face now looked shocked and pale. Like someone had startled her. Hyuga quickly hurried over.

"Riko, what's wrong?" He asked quickly, concern quickly flashing in his eyes as he looked her over. Riko shook her head and opened her mouth to speak.

"I….I don't know. I asked the office for Kuroko's home address and they told me not to bother. They said he'd moved houses and transferred to a different school."

The team was stunned. No one spoke. Kagami couldn't understand what she was saying. Kuroko was gone? He'd moved away without even telling them? It… it didn't seem right.

"What do you mean?" Koganei asked, "Did you at least ask where he transferred to?"

Riko shook her head, "They said they didn't know. They only had a phone call from Kuroko's mother saying that he was no longer going to be attending school anymore."

The team went silent after that.

Nobody had it in them to practice anymore. They went home in silence. It was too hard to believe. Kuroko wouldn't just up and leave without informing them beforehand. And it all seemed way too sudden. Kagami was having the most trouble adjusting. His thoughts kept circling around the previous conversation as he walked home. What on Earth could have made Kuroko leave so suddenly, without even mentioning it to his team? The teen had always made sure to inform the team of anything that might affect them. So why did he suddenly stop now?

Kagami growled under his breath and cursed. Something was defiantly wrong. And he wanted to know what.

/Kuroko no Basuke/

Akashi stiffened suddenly at the dinner table, his fork held suspended in his hand halfway towards his mouth. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something was wrong. He set down the fork beside his plate neatly and fumbled for his cell phone. He didn't have to worry about disapproving looks from his parents or older siblings as they were all away on business. The long twelve seated table was empty save for himself.

Nothing seemed out of place as he checked his message. However, he liked to make sure. He sent a quick message to Midorima, telling him to go check up on the other members of their old team. Feeling satisfied, he returned to his meal.

/Kuroko no Basuke/

So… Um…. Tell me what you think?

-YamiAkane97