The American Basketball Which Kuroko Plays

Chapter 1: American Basketball Tournament

Summary: The Generation of Miracles and one person of their choosing are invited to play in an American basketball tournament that's hosted in Los Angeles; right in Kagami and Himuro's backyard. Not only does the GoM have to deal with jet-lag and a grueling training schedule, but they must also get accustomed to the difference in cultures between America and Japan. Can they overcome these difficulties and rise to the top in America as well?

This story is set at the end of the manga and anime. (Spoiler Alert!) If you haven't finished the manga or anime I suggest going back and finishing it first.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basket or any of the characters. They belong to their rightful owner. This story is written for entertainment purposes only and will not be used to make a profit.

"Come on, Kuroko-kun! You've got to move faster than that! The other teams are training just as hard as we are. Kick it into high gear! Move it!" Riko yelled as the Seirin team raced back and forth across the gym floor. They had finished three sets of laps around the school and were now working on suicides, which is where they run back and forth across the gym and touch the out of bound lines as quickly as they can. Kuroko, who had been breathing extremely hard was slowly losing speed and he finally had to slow to a walk.

"I'm sorry," Kuroko panted as he stopped walking and doubled over with his hands on his knees, gasping for breath.

Riko sighed and blew her whistle, drawing the team's attention to her as they stopped running and gathered around her in a loose cluster. "Take a fifteen minute break, stretch and rehydrate. We'll do some layups to cool down before we head home."

The team scattered, some headed for the locker room and some, who had their water bottles in the gym, hurried to chug down some water. Kagami was one of those people who had his bottle in the gym along with his gym bag. He'd stopped leaving it in the lock room because it was too much trouble to go all the way in there to just grab it since he didn't change after evening practice usually. As he was gulping down water his phone rang in his bag. He hurried to answer it, muttering an apology to Riko for not having his phone on silence, and listen intently to the person on the line.

"Yes, I understand," Kagami replied into the phone in English, drawing the attention of everyone within earshot. "Really?! Yes, I'll tell them. Yes, I will. Thank you very much."

Kagami hung up and placed his phone back into his bag when Kuroko asked from beside him, "Who was that?" causing Kagami to jump.

"Dammit, Kuroko, don't do that!" Kagami yelled as he clutched his chest. Sometime he forgot how easy it was for Kuroko to sneak up on a person if they didn't keep his whereabouts in the back of their minds. "That was a sponsor for the NBA. Their hold a tournament in America and they want the Generation of Miracles to compete in it." Kagami explained as the rest of the team gathered around to hear what was going on.

"Then why did they call you? You're not technically part of the Generation of Miracles." Izuki inquired.

Kagami shrugged. "Alex gave them my number and told them it would be the easiest and best way to get news to everyone else before a representative shows up next week to explain everything."

"How long is this tournament going to be? Is Kuroko-kun also invited? What all needs to be payed?" Riko demanded quickly as her mind started panicking about having to train her team without their passing expert around.

Kagami held up his hands, halting anymore questions. "I don't know. The person I talked to only told me they were holding a tournament and that a representative would be sent next week and they asked me to notify the Generation ahead of time to make things easier. That's all I know. We'll have to wait until the representative shows up to get any more info."

Riko's brow furrowed in thought and worry for a moment before she decided it wasn't worth dwelling on anymore and ordered the team to start practicing their layups. She pulled Kuroko aside though before he could grab a ball. "Kuroko-kun. If they do ask you to participate, will you please talk to me before giving them an answer? I'd like to at least be in the loop on what's going on if you're going to be gone for an extended period of time."

Kuroko nodded. "Of course, I was planning to do that without you asking. I would never leave without saying anything, unlike some people." Kuroko said, talking a little louder during the last part to make sure Kagami heard him.

"Hey. I didn't have time for goodbyes when I left. I had to be in America, train with Alex for three days, and fly back. I was short on time okay." Kagami hollered defensively as he stalked towards Kuroko. Mitobe hurried over, placing his hand on Kagami's shoulder and silently shook his head.

"'There's no need for violence. We all understand why you didn't say goodbye, Kagami-kun.' He said." Koganei translated Mitobe's silence for everyone before preforming his layup.

Kagami ran his hands through his hair and took a deep breath. "Sorry," He mumbled and turned away, but Kuroko still noticed the slight blush on his cheeks.

Riko elbowed him in the side lightly and inclined her head towards Kagami who was preparing to take his turn. "He still has a temper, but I think he's gotten better at containing it, don't you think?"

"Yes, Kagami-kun has certainly mellowed out a lot since we first joined. Well then, I'm going to practice too." Kuroko muttered as he ran off to join the rest of the team.

Riko smiled slightly as she watched her team practice thinking about how much Kuroko and Kagami had changed them. It seemed that even though the boy had very little presence he could make a huge impact in peoples' lives. She wondered for a moment about where they would be if Kuroko and Kagami had decided to join another school. She didn't think they would be training so hard to hold the nation champion title they had struggled so hard to win. Instead, they probably would be practicing to once again attempt to even make it to the Winter Cup, like last year.

These thoughts led her to again worry about finding a new center and shooting guard to replace Hyuuga and Kiyoshi who were either preparing for finals or in America awaiting surgery. She sighed again as she thought of all that was to come. They had a lot of work to do, but with the help of Kagami and Kuroko, she believed they could rise as high as or even higher than what they had accomplished this year. Only time would tell, and maybe this tournament would whip some of her team into shape.