They were at the bottom. The worst players of Teiko were in the third string. Some players quit and some players moved up to second string, but it was widely known that the third string was where all the trash players resided. Yet, this third string team was an exception.

The sound of a bouncing basketball resonated throughout the whole gym. Five boys were anxiously looking around to find the mysterious basketball player.

One boy loudly spoke up. "I'm telling you, it's the ghost of Teiko!" the boy exclaimed. "Isn't this great!? We're going to solve the mystery behind this basketball ghost!"

Though, not everyone shared the same enthusiasm. Two of the boys looked irritated that they have been dragged into this gym late at night. The tallest boy in the group had a nervous grin planted on his face, while the shortest boy was looking around frantically for the ghost.

An annoyed boy sighed at his response. "I'm telling you, there's no such thing as ghosts."

The shortest boy spoke up. "If there is a ghost, I'm the first one outta here."

Apparently, his response was quite unexpected as the other four boys looked incredulously at him.

"Wow Ben," the tallest boy said in pure shock. "I thought you were the leader of this group and here you are, planning to leave us high and dry when a ghost appears."

Ben rolled his eyes. "It wasn't my idea to come to this gym late at night though. Besides, we could always back out right now."

"Where's the fun in that?" an eager boy responded. "Look, we're almost at the third-string gym!"

"Great, the gym we used to play in, since we're in the third string," one of the boys sarcastically mocked.

Nobody paid him any attention though, as they were near the third-string gym and the sound of a bouncing basketball becoming louder. They all peered into the gym to realize...there was nobody playing basketball in the third-string gym!

One of the boys took a step back. "Im-impossible! There has to be someone playing basketball here. After all, how else can we hear the sound-"

"Hello."

And thus, the sounds of screams could be heard throughout the gym.

Kuroko thought it was quite unusual that the gym was quite rowdy. Usually, the gym would be empty and silent, but it seemed that today was an exception. In front of him were five boys, who all had a terrified expression on their face.

One of the boys seemed to relax his shoulders after he spotted the teal haired boy. "Oh, it's just a guy. It's not a ghost, phew."

The next action the boy took was quite unexpected. The spiky haired boy leaned in and ruffled his teal hair. "Hey, whatcha doing here late at night?"

A gasp was heard. "What are you doing Johnny?"

Kuroko stared at the spiky haired boy. So, his name was Johnny. It sounded foreign, but the characteristic that stood out about him the most was his eager grin. Somehow, it kind of reminded the teal haired boy of Ogiwara.

In fact, the teal haired boy noticed that all of the boys looked foreign. Three of the boys looked like they were Chinese and they all had brown eyes and dark black hair. Besides this Johnny fellow, the shorter asian boy had a buzz cut and the taller asian boy had an undercut. The tall skinny fellow on the right looked American, as he had blue eyes and blonde spiky hair. But something felt off. Wasn't there five of them? So, why was there only four boys in front of him?

"Where's your friend?" Kuroko bluntly asked, ignoring Johnny's question. For some reason, he felt a tinge of curiosity. Was it possible that someone had a low presence like him?

"What? That Ben! He was serious, he really bailed!" Johnny exclaimed. "Wait here everyone! I'll find him and bring him back here!"

And with that said, Johnny ran towards the exit.

Silence enveloped through the gym as neither of the boys said anything. It was definitely awkward. It lasted for a minute or two until one of the boys spoke up.

"My name's Bell." the tall Asian boy with an undercut said. He looked at Kuroko with an odd expression. "What's your name? I don't believe I've seen you before."

The teal haired boy nodded, but it did feel off. Bell didn't give out his whole name, so there was no way of knowing if it was his first name or last name. Though, it was probably the latter. Kuroko made a slight bow. "Hello Bell-kun, my name's Kuroko Tetsuya."

"Hey Kuroko, my name's Steph. I lived most of my life in Britain before I moved here to Japan. It's nice to meet ya Kuroko." the tall blonde greeted with a smile.

Kuroko didn't ask about Steph's past, so he was surprised that he gave away that info pretty readily. He'll keep that info noted.

The last boy sighed. "My name's Bob. Nice to meet you."

This was quite unusual. All three of them introduced themselves, but he had no idea if the names given were their first names or last names.

"Sorry for the wait! I finally brought him!" Johnny yelled as he entered the gym with a resigned Ben.

"Lord, have mercy on my soul." Ben muttered.

"Anyways, my name's Johnny and his name's Ben!" Johnny announced. "What's your name?"

"My name's Kuroko Tetsuya."

In all honestly, Ben was bummed. He was brought back to the gym, where the ghost resided. Sadly, all his friends were convinced that the teal haired boy wasn't a ghost. Yet, the signs were all blatantly obvious. Kuroko was frail and he had light pale skin with teal hair and sky blue eyes.

"Oh, you play basketball?" Johnny asked, as he reached out to grab the forgotten basketball that laid on the ground.

"I do, but I'm not very good at it."

Now that the boy mentioned it, Ben hadn't played basketball in a while. In fact, it's been a while since he last played in these gyms. Entering the third string was somewhat demoralizing, but he was glad that he tried out. From that point on, he befriended Bob, Johnny, Bell and Steph. Though, the five of them agreed to quit going to the basketball club. It wasn't that they hated basketball per se or gave up on the sport, but it was the third string itself. The third string was easily forgotten, nobody cared about them. It was more like a recreational gym more so than anything and that hurt. The final nail in the coffin was when the director came up to the five of them and suggested that they quit basketball. Ben didn't want to partake in a club that suggested quitting one's true passion and he was glad the other four shared the same sentiments.

"Ben, you okay?"

Ben nodded his head and looked up slightly to see a concerned teal haired boy. Wait, was he this close to him before?

"Something on your mind?"

Ben was about to respond, but Johnny spoke up first.

"Man, it's been a while since we last played basketball! Right, guys?"

Bell nodded. "I think we last played a week ago."

"Hey Kuroko! You want to play basketball with us right now! Three on three!" Johnny exclaimed. "Let's go!"

The teal haired boy looked at him with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry Johnny-kun, but I'm not talented at the sport like you guys. I'm in the third string basketball club."

"That doesn't matter." Ben suddenly declared. "If you love the sport, it doesn't matter. It's not about talent, it's about the passion towards the game."

For some reason, he was certain that teal blue eyes were staring at him. Though, it seemed there was a trace of excitement inside those eyes. Maybe the boy hadn't played in a basketball game before.

"Yeah, you're right Ben!" Johnny agreed.

"So, what are the teams?" Steph asked.

"How about Bob, Ben and myself against Johnny, Steph and Kuroko?" Bell suggested. "That sounds fair."

And thus, a game of basketball was played between the six boys.

It's been a while since Kuroko last played in a team game of basketball. As the game went on, the teal haired boy couldn't help but be amazed by both teams.

Ben was very controlled with the pace as he knew when to push the pace and slow it down. Bell was a scoring threat, as he was able to score from down low in the block and score from the mid-range. As for Bob, he was struggling to do anything. He was heavily guarded by Johnny to the point that he was smothered. It was quite clear that the other team had the better offensive team.

But Kuroko noted his team played a different way. While the other team controlled the pace and had scoring options, his team was very scrappy and defensive. Johnny played with so much intensity, he shut down Bob instantly. As for Steph, Bell was able to score on him mostly in the paint, but there were times when Steph was able to block some of Bell's shots.

As for himself, there wasn't much he could do on the court. Ben was guarding him quite decently. It was truly a surprise, since the teal haired boy didn't expect to be noticed on the court.

Several minutes later, the game still went on and the score was quite low for both teams. Ben, Bell and Bob were in the lead by a fair margin, as Kuroko's team struggled to score.

In one play, Johnny made a bad pass to Steph. Fortunately, Kuroko was near the basketball and so, he did the only thing he could do. Grab the ball and pass.

It was a simple action to do, but the reactions were unexpected. The ball was sent to Steph and all the players were wide-eyed about the pass. Kuroko didn't understand why they were so appalled. The pass wasn't anything amazing, it wasn't fast or fancy.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Steph began to react. He took the close shot, which went in.

"Wow." Ben said and there were a few murmurs of agreement.

The game continued for a few more minutes and the score progressed at a faster rate. Kuroko was extremely tired, which he was sure that he was near the point of passing out. The fatigue didn't help, as Ben began to attack more with quick drives to the rim against him. There wasn't anything he could do, but try to stop him. Though, the teal haired boy did manage to steal the ball from him a few times. But out of all the players here, Ben noticed his presence the most.

In the end, the game was over. Kuroko's team had lost, eleven to four.

"Man, that was fun!" Johnny exclaimed.

Bell took a look around at the other four boys. Besides the energetic Johnny, not everyone was as energetic as the spiky haired boy. Steph looked irritated that they lost, Bob looked annoyed that he got shut down offensively against Johnny, while the other two boys looked dead, as they laid on the floor.

"I don't think everyone shares your same enthusiasm." Bell stated. "Look around."

"What do you mean?" Johnny questioned as he looked around. "Gah-what happened to you two!?"

Johnny's loud question caught the attention of Bob and Steph. The two broke out of their thoughts and looked around to spot Kuroko and Ben on the floor.

Ben slowly got up from the ground. "It seems my stamina has gotten slightly worse."

Kuroko followed Ben's action, but he was shaking slightly. "Agreed."

Bell couldn't help but shake his head slightly. "It seems like we have another person who has low stamina."

Johnny and Steph went up towards them and offered them a hand up, which both boys took. They all moved towards the bench, it was like a sort of silent agreement. Bell followed them towards the bench with Bob slightly behind him.

"Man, I wished I brought a water bottle." Ben muttered.

"Here, you can take some of mine."

Bell was somewhat shocked. The teal haired boy was willing to give up some of his water? Doesn't he need the water to recover?

It seemed Ben had the same thought, as he looked at the water bottle with surprise. "I'll only take a bit."

"So, you on the third-string team?" Bell asked. He only felt curious, as he was once on the third-string team.

Kuroko looked down at this hands. "Yes Bell. I'm on the third-string team, but I haven't gotten better at the sport. It got to the point where even the director suggested that I quit the club."

At the very mention of the director and quitting, Ben clenched his fists. Out of the five boys, Ben was the most sensitive about this topic.

"But even then, I can't quit the club," Kuroko answered, looking up. "Quitting the club makes me feel like I'm getting farther away from the sport. And besides, I made a promise to my childhood friend that we'll face each other in the finals."

At the mention of his childhood friend, Kuroko flashed a bright vivid smile. Bell hadn't noticed the stoic boy give out any emotion besides his neutral look so far, but this smile was absolutely breathtaking. Still, Bell wasn't into guys, but even if that was the case, he wanted to see the teal haired boy smile more often.

"I'm sure you can do it! In fact, we're going to be there on that path with you!" Johnny exclaimed.

Ben spat out some of the water he was drinking. "We are?"

"In case you haven't noticed, we're in the third-string Johnny." Bob uttered.

Still, Bell felt an urge to support the teal haired boy. In a way, he did miss playing basketball. Especially with these guys. Though, he never expected that he would actually agree with Johnny, of all people. "I agree with Johnny."

"I'm down," Steph nodded his head. "Sounds like fun!"

Ben sighed. "Well, I guess if we're all in this, then I'll join in on the ride again."

"Don't get me wrong," Bob slowly said. "I'm not doing this, because I want to, but because you guys all are in on this."

Once again, the teal haired boy smiled.

"So all of you guys were from the third string team?" Kuroko asked.

"Yeah, we all have a weakness here," Ben answered. "My weakness is my lack of stamina, Bob's weakness is his defence, Johnny's weakness is his shooting, Bell's weakness is his vertical and Steph's weakness is his weight."

"Hey, weight isn't really considered a weakness!" Steph declared. "I think I got no weaknesses."

"Well, you're practically a Center and I think Johnny, Ben and I are stronger than you, even though you're taller." Bell answered.

"I agree."

"Ouch Kuroko!" Steph exclaimed, as if he got hit by an arrow. "Don't go agreeing with them like that!"

"But even though you guys all have weaknesses, each of you have your own unique strength. While Ben may lack stamina, his quickness is astounding and his passing is amazing. As for Bob, he may lack defence, but he can really shoot the basketball with consistency. Johnny may not be able to hit shots, but he makes up for it with his suffocating defence. Bell may not have the vertical, but he has a strong grasp between playing the inside and outside game. Last, Steph may not be strong, but he's really athletic. Each of you covers the other person's weakness. I think you five are a perfect team." Kuroko explained. "I feel somewhat envious of you guys."

Ben smiled. "I haven't heard that before. But even then, I think we're lacking something. Why don't you be our sixth man? Someone who changes the momentum of the game?"

"I agree! Us six would be an unstoppable team!" Johnny exclaimed.

"How?" Kuroko asked. "I'm not talented like you guys, I barely have a presence on the court."

"Actually, isn't that a good thing? Having no presence on the court is unique. I think you can actually use that to your advantage on the court. For instance, we didn't notice one of your passes in today's game. We all thought it was going out of bounds but instead, the ball was directed to Steph." Bell answered. "If you can somehow control your presence and work on passing, you could be like a phantom sixth man."

"A phantom sixth man," Steph mumbled. "That sounds cool!"

A rumbling sound was soon heard.

"Anyone want to get some dinner?" Johnny asked. "I'm starving!"

The five boys turned to Kuroko. "Want to come with?"

Kuroko smiled. He never really interacted with anyone in this school before, so this was going to be a first. "Sure, I can use a vanilla milkshake right now."

It was weird. Aomine had heard rumours of a basketball ghost in the third-string gym, so he wanted to check it out! Yet, it was eerily quiet.

Smack.

Man, how could he fall for such a dumb rumour. Of course, ghosts don't exist.

With a sigh, he turned towards the exit. If only there was a ghost, Aomine was certain his life would be a little more interesting.

The next day, Kuroko went to the third string gym after school, but this time was different. The five boys that he met yesterday were also at the gym and they seemed to be waiting for him.

"Hello."

"Ahhh! Don't do that Kuroko!" Ben exclaimed.

Johnny and Steph snickered at Ben's response, while Bob sighed.

"It's been a while since we last came here to the third-string gym during club time, but it's pretty empty. Is it just us six?" Bell asked as he surveyed the gym.

"Yes, most of the members quit after they reached the third string, with only a few able to promote to the second string." Kuroko answered.

Ben grinned. "That's perfect, we can all perfect our skills and our team play."

It's been a month since he met the five boys. And he was fortunate that he did. Back then, he hit a low point in his life where he was uncertain about continuing basketball, but now, he was glad that he stuck through. The teal haired boy even managed to get better, as they inspired him to be a phantom sixth man. After a long time of research, Kuroko managed to figure out the secret behind misdirection and he even got better at passing as he was able to pass to them many times during the club and late at night. He even had the opportunity to try a lot of different passes.

Within the month, he was also able to spot the growth in each of their game. Ben worked on his post game, Bob got more consistent on his three point shots, Johnny got faster and his defence was elevated to another level, Bell incorporated the turn-around fade-away shot and Steph increased his vertical. All of them had gotten better. In a way, Kuroko would love to play a team game with these guys, but it was a shame that privilege would only be given to the first strings.

"Oh, third-strings! Come over here, you're going to have a practice match with the second-string!"

"Oh, it's finally time!" Johnny exclaimed.

"Hmm, but don't you think it's a lot more rowdier than expected?" Bell asked. "Usually, third-string don't even play in practice matches."

Bell's statement was true. There were a lot of girls and plenty of cheers could be heard.

"Apparently, the Kise Ryouta is playing with the second string today." Bob answered. "So, good luck Johnny. Finally someone other than me would have to face Johnny's defence."

"Third-string, come here!"

Kuroko looked around. It was just them six in the third-string gym again. But his wish was granted. He was finally going to have an opportunity to play a team game with these guys.

"Aka-chin, what are we doing here?" Murasakibara lazily asked.

"We're here to see Ryouta." Akashi answered. "His potential and his speed of growth is definitely remarkable. We'll see the full extent of his performance against the third string."

"Why the third string?" Midorima asked. "It'll be an overwhelming victory for the second string. Surely, we could've found a better opponent."

Akashi smirked. "Exactly. Ryouta has to completely dominate this game. If he doesn't, then he won't have the skill to make it in first-string."

"This is going to be an easy victory!" Kise exclaimed. "Aomine-cchi, I'll make it to first string for sure!"

Aomine just lazily nodded and put a hand up. "Ya, ya. Whatever. Just don't lose."

Soon, the game commenced. The third string won the jump ball.

The ball landed on Ben's hands and he began to call a play out. Johnny and Steph both set an off-ball screen for Bob, which he used to cut out, while Johnny and Steph both cut inside to the rim. The ball was passed to Bob, as he took the shot.

Swish.

3-0.

On defence, Johnny had Kise locked down. At one point, Kise broke free from Johnny and called for the ball. "Here, I'm open!"

The ball was passed to Kise, but Ben intercepted the ball and quickly passed the ball up to Steph, who dunked it.

5-0.

This time, Kise was able to get the ball. He took a step forward before he began to move away from the basket. This step back was sure to go in. Before the ball left his hands, he saw that his defender quickly recovered and tried to block his shot. The shot wasn't blocked, but the ball clanked out of the rim.

Steph got the rebound and passed it to Ben. He ran straight to the rim pretty quickly. Kise managed to catch up to the guy and as he was about to take a lay up, Kise jumped. But instead of taking the layup, he brought the ball down and made a behind the back pass to Bob who was in the corner.

Swish.

8-0.

The game continued like that for a few more minutes until a substitution was made. The score was 20-6 for the third string team.

"Kuroko, you can sub out with me. I need a break." Ben stated, as he moved to the bench.

The teal haired boy got up and offered him a fist bump, which he returned.

"Go get em' phantom sixth man." Ben said, as he took his seat on the bench.

Kuroko nodded. He was ready.

What kind of sick joke was this? When Kise was told that he would have to go against the third-string team, he hadn't expected this. Straight off the gate, the third-string went on a run. The point guard on the other team clearly had control on what his team wanted to run and his quickness was definitely a pain to deal with.

But something was weird about this team. None of the guys here was as talented as the first-string members. Kise was certain that Aomine would wipe the floor against each and every one of them. Though, none of them were a threat, all of them were like a well-oiled machine.

This was terrible. Kise's promotion to first string was on the line, but fortunately, it seemed that the point guard was taking a break. He looked out of breath. Well, it was clear why he was in the third string to begin with. While he was skilled, his stamina was quite low. And in his stead was a frail teal haired boy, who looked more likely to get hit by a basketball than playing the sport. This was a vast downgrade at the point guard position. It was unfortunate that he was going to win this way, but with this substitution, all the momentum would be swinging for the blonde's team.

Well, that's what he thought...

Apparently, the shrimp changed the momentum of the whole game.

The ball was instantly redirected somewhere else, as the players on the other team began to make easy buckets. The score was already 44-12.

"Tsk," Kise muttered as he finally drove past his defender.

"Help!" the defender cried out.

Another help defender won't do anything, as Kise began to dunk the basketball.

Swat.

But the ball was blocked by a taller, skinny blonde. But the ball was immediately passed to the other side of the court.

Kise smirked. That was a turnover. There was no way there was anybody on the other side of the gym.

Once again, Kise was proven wrong as one player ran all the way to the other end of the court and finished with a layup. The blonde blinked. It was the point guard from earlier.

This wasn't looking too good. Most, if not all of the first-string members were watching this game and there was no doubt they felt disappointment towards the blonde. Even worse, all his fans are here to see him crushed by a huge margin.

"Nice pass."

Kise looked up as he saw the point guard fist bump the teal haired boy. It felt odd seeing that, the blonde hadn't seen such chemistry run within a team and a pair of teammates.

Maybe the blonde should try to pass.

This time, Kise managed to free himself from his defender again. And once again, he drove to the rim.

"Help!" his defender cried out.

But this time, instead of going for the dunk, he made a pass to his open teammate. The teammate looked surprised that he got passed the ball, but he shot the ball.

Swish.

"Oh, I made it!" his teammate exclaimed.

Kise was surprised. His teammate actually made the shot.

But the game wasn't over yet, as a pass was quickly directed to the three point shooter.

Swish.

Akashi hadn't expected this. And Akashi was always right. Instead of the second-string team creaming them, it was the other way around.

"Kise is trash, he can't even win against the third-string!" one boy told his friends.

No, that was not the case. Ryouta was doing solid, but the other team was clearly better. In fact, none of these guys should belong to the third-string team, but here they were, upsetting the second-string by a huge margin.

Still, two players stood out the most in this game. Johnny Wang and Kuroko Tetsuya. The former was already an elite defensive player, but Akashi was certain his defence could reach a whole another level. And Kuroko Tetsuya was the player Teiko needed. An unpredictable player that could instantly change the pace of the game.

Well, someone was indeed getting promoted to first string, but it wasn't Ryouta.

"Aren't you going to watch Kise's game?" Momoi asked.

"There's no point," Aomine grunted as he watched the clear blue skies from the roof. "Kise is definitely going to win."

"Hmph. At least support him." Momoi puffed her cheeks. "He is your friend."

Once again, Aomine grunted. "That annoying blonde? Of course not."

"Congratulations Kuroko Tetsuya and Johnny Wang. Both of you have been promoted to first-string members."

"Third string to first string, that's never been done before."

"Wait, they're both freshmen?"

Murmurs broke out as people began to gossip about how stacked this year's freshmen was.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to decline! I don't want to leave my friends behind!" Johnny loudly declared.

At that point, the other four boys smiled.

"We made a promise that we'll all play on the same team. So, until that happens, I'll stick with my friends in the third-string!"

Kuroko nodded. They all made that promise, but then again, he did make a promise with Ogiwara.

"Congratulations Kuroko, you can play against your childhood friend again." Bell said with a smile.

Ben and Steph both offered him a high-five, but it didn't feel right. These were the guys that Kuroko became close with in the last month and they all helped him become a better basketball player. Leaving didn't feel right to him, especially since he didn't know anyone in the first-string. If Ogiwara was in his shoes, he wouldn't abandon these guys.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to respectfully decline."

At this point, gossip was in a frenzy as people began to speculate on why the two refused to get promoted to first string.

The director looked around nervously, "Then Kise Ryouta, you are promoted to-"

Instead of joy and acceptance, the blonde reacted a different way. He faced the director and bowed. "I'll have to decline, I think I'll rather be demoted to third-string."

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!

This is more of an introduction chapter. Yes, these five characters are OC and I may introduce another one or two as a side character in this story. But anyways, this story will have a profound impact on the Generation of Miracles and what happens after.

Thanks for reading! Review, as any feedback would be heavily appreciated!