pika318: So I just finished reading the whole flashback arc for Teikou, which means up to Chapter 227, and my theory can't be anymore wrong XD I think that the GoM were really mean to even do that to Ogiwara's team, despite how their mental states were already very affected by how strong they are and things. It's just a very sad situation where both parties just suffer in their own way in the end, sigh. Anyway, I'll try my best to finish writing this based on what I already have, despite the big truth that's already out there.

Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi.

Chapter 11: Splitting up

Bzzt bzzt

The room, which had been completely dark, was illuminated slightly by the small source of light coming from the cellphone screen.

Bzzt bzzt

From the edged of the small hemisphere of light, a hand reached out, but stopped just short of picking up the cellphone as eyes rested on the name shown on the screen.

Momoi Satsuki.

Slowly, the hand withdrew back into the darkness.

Bzzt bzzt bzzt bzzt…

Eventually, the vibrations stopped, and the room was plunged into total darkness and silence once more.

A sigh was heard, then suddenly, the cellphone came to life again.

Bzzt bzzt

The cellphone screen lit up. Then silence.

It was a message, not a phone call.

The cellphone was picked up and flipped open, the contents of the message revealing itself.

'Tetsu-kun, how are you? I just dropped by your house, but all the lights were off, so I guess you aren't at home? Will you be coming back to school tomorrow? Everyone is worried.'

After reading the message, Kuroko flipped his phone close and dropped it on the bed beside him, not even typing out a reply.

One week has passed since the Nationals have ended. One week since he left the stadium without telling anyone, five days since stopped appearing in school.

Everyone is worried.

Kuroko thought back to Momoi's message. If it had been one year ago, he would have believed it. But right now, he wasn't so sure.

Just then, there was a knock on his door.

"Tetsu-chan, you are in there, right?"

"Yes, I am." Kuroko answered, simply because it wouldn't be nice to ignore his aunt.

"Did you go to school today?"

"…"

"Since you didn't answer, then I guess you didn't."

There was a pause. Kuroko stared at the doorway, preparing for the moment in which his aunt would ask him to open the door so she could lecture him for skipping school. She hadn't done that for the past few days, and he was sure that she would have lost her patience by now.

But it didn't happen. Instead his aunt just continued,

"Are you facing problems at school? I know it must be a shock to suddenly have problems in school when you're already in third year and graduating soon, but it's really no excuse to avoid it like this."

Again, Kuroko stayed silent. He heard his aunt sigh on the other side of the door.

"You can always talk to me about it, then we can figure out a solution together. How about it?"

Kuroko paused, and then he stood up and walked up to the door. Taking a deep breath, he opened it to see the surprised face of his aunt. Clearly, she did not expect him to open it.

"Oh, Tetsu-chan! You surprised me."

"I'm going to school tomorrow." He stated.

With that, his aunt relaxed visibly, then she asked in a concerned tone,

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

"Yes, I already decided on what to do."

"I see, then do your best." His aunt said with a smile.

"I will." Kuroko answered, as he glanced at the letter that was sitting on his desk.

"What is the meaning of this?" Akashi asked, as he held the letter given to him by Kuroko.

It was already after school. Ever since the win at the Nationals, most of the third years did not require to attend practice, unless they wanted to join in. The only third years that still went for practice are the captain and the vice-captain, so they could supervise practice and pass down some administrative duties before they officially stepped down from their duties next week. Akashi had been on his way to the club when he was suddenly approached by Kuroko and passed the letter. The red haired captain did not ask why Kuroko was there and simply looked at the heading, which led him to ask the question.

"I want to resign." Kuroko stated.

"And what exactly, is your point of doing this? Even if you did nothing, we are going to cease to become members of the club in one week." Akashi said in a calm tone, as if Kuroko's intention of leaving the club wasn't anything surprising at all.

Kuroko said nothing, but the determined look in his eyes held the answer. Akashi smirked.

"Is this your way of saying that you no longer want anything to do with us, the Generation of Miracles?"

"No, it's nothing that complicated. I simply do not want to play basketball anymore." Kuroko replied.

"Oh really? I doubt so."

"I'm not lying."

"Oh, I'm sure you're not, Tetsuya. I'm just wondering if you know yourself as much as you think you do." Akashi agreed in a relaxed tone.

"If there's nothing else, then I'm going." Kuroko said and turned around, walking off.

Akashi said nothing as he watched Kuroko disappear down the corridor. But in his hands, the letter crumpled under the force applied on it.

"Tetsu-kun, you came!"

Kuroko was just stepping out of the school gate when he heard someone calling out to him. Turning at the voice, he saw a pink haired girl running towards him. He paused in his steps and she skidded to a stop in front of him, catching her breath. When she finally evened out her breathing, she spoke

"I was so worried. Have you been alright?"

"I'm fine, and I'm sorry for worrying you." Kuroko replied, apologizing.

"No, it's fine, as long as you're here." Momoi answered with a relieved smile. She paused, then asked,

"Can you walk with me, for a while?"

"Okay." He replied. And the both of them left the school.

Kuroko recognized the path they were taking. It was the path to the convenience store. A path he had walked down many times before last year, with the rest of the group.

In his mind's eye, he could still picture the scene. Ice cream in hand, Kise and Aomine would always be at the front of the group, talking about basketball and everything under the sun. Murasakibara would be nearby, focused on eating his ice cream while holding a full box in his other hand. Occasionally, he would comment on Kise and Aomine's conversations. Midorima would always be behind them, keeping a watchful eye with a small scowl on his face. Momoi would either be at the front of the group with them, listening to them talk, or at the back with him, talking to him about random things which happened in the club. On the rare times when Akashi joins them, he would be walking beside Midorima, holding an intellectual conversation.

One year later, that image was long gone, replaced just by him and Momoi, walking down the too empty path. Faced with such a contrast, he realised how much he actually missed those days.

"Have you decided on which school you want to go to?" Momoi suddenly asked, breaking the silence.

"No, not yet. But I have applied to Seirin High."

"Seirin High? Isn't that a new school? Hmm… I think they have a basketball club, but it's not all that famous. " Momoi commented.

"I didn't consider the reputation of the basketball club when I picked Seirin High." Kuroko explained.

She turned to him, "You're not going to … continue playing basketball anymore?"

"I'm not sure." Kuroko answered. He might have told Akashi earlier that he did not want to, but to Momoi, he could only give a vague answer because he did not want to make her upset.

"I see."

"How about you? Have you decided on a school?" Kuroko asked, steering the topic away from himself.

"Well, I haven't decided yet. For the rest though, they have already been scouted by some schools. I heard Mido-rin wants to go to Shuutoku, and Ki-chan is going to Kaijo. Mu-kun said something about going to Yosen since the food there is good. And well, Akashi-kun hasn't said anything, but according to my instinct, he's probably going to Rakuzan. They're all good schools with strong basketball clubs."

Kuroko noted how Momoi deliberately avoided talking about Aomine.

"You're going to the same school as Aomine-kun?" He asked.

Momoi paused then answered hesitantly.

"Yes… and he hasn't decided either. But, we do have a meeting with To-ou High soon…"

"I see."

So in the end, everyone's splitting up.

"Remember when we were back in second year? Just after our win at the Winter Tournament?" Momoi asked.

"Yes, what about it?" Kuroko asked. How could he forget it, it was literally their last cohesive time period together, before everything went terribly wrong.

"At that time, we promised to be number 1 in Japan together, and now, what is this, everyone's splitting up… and you might not even be playing basketball anymore…" Momoi said. Through her tone, Kuroko could tell that she was trying to hold back her tears.

"I'm sorry." Kuroko said. It was all he could manage to say.

"No, I know it's not your fault, but… can you promise me one thing?" Momoi asked.

"What is it?"

"When your heart is ready again, please consider playing basketball once more. With your skill, I'm sure you'll be able to thrive in another basketball club, as long as it's not like Teikou."

Kuroko paused at Momoi's request.

"Please?" She asked, her eyes pleading.

"I promise." Kuroko said eventually.

With that, Momoi smiled in relief. And the two of them continued their journey to the station in comfortable silence.

"Akashi, what did you call all of us here for?" Midorima asked once everyone had assembled. There were only five people in the gym, Akashi, Murasakibara, Aomine, Kise and himself. Basically, it was everyone who made up the Generation of Miracles.

"I heard that everyone is going to different schools. So wouldn't it be nice to have one last chat before we become enemies?" Akashi answered.

"Even though you're not wrong, you don't have to say it so harshly." Kise commented.

"We'll only be separating for a little while…" Murasakibara added.

"True, according to my calculations, we'll be playing together in one year." Akashi said with a smile.

"What do you mean by that?" Midorima asked, frowning.

"I'm sure all of you know. Playing in the same team has become boring for all of us. So, right now, we are going to different schools. In the future, we will be competing against one another. And because of that, I'm sure not only will our boredom go away, we will also become stronger as a result. It will be good for all of us."

"You haven't explained what you meant. We can't be playing together in one year if we're still in different schools." Midorima said.

"I don't intend for us to be separated forever, Shintarou. This little stint of competition will be good for all of us, but in the end, we still play best when we are together. Didn't we promise we'll become number 1 in Japan?"

"What are you getting at?" Midorima asked, losing his patience

"I have a proposal. We can go to different schools, and flourish in our own way, and during the tournaments, we will compete against each other. However, the deadline is one year."

"To do what?" Kise asked.

"In one year, if any of you are unable to beat Rakuzan's basketball club, then you will join Rakuzan with me. Of course, if you manage to win, you don't have to."

"Ridiculous." Midorima said, as he pushed up his glasses.

"Is this another one of your little games to motivate us?" Aomine asked with a yawn.

"You can think of it that way." Akashi answered.

"Then I'm in. It's not as if anyone has been able to defeat me anyway, but it'll be interesting to see all of you struggle."

Kise pouted at Aomine's statement, then turned to Akashi, "It sounds fun, I'm in too."

Murasakibara glanced at the pair, and simply decided to go with the flow, "I'm okay with it."

Akashi turned to Midorima, the only one who hasn't agreed. "How about you, Shintarou?"

"I don't know what you're plotting, but I'm not going to lose." He answered.

"That's settled then." Akashi concluded. It was then Kise spoke up.

"Is Kuroko-cchi included in this?"

"That's up to him. I'll tell him, in time." Akashi replied.

And with that, the group disbanded. It would be a long time before they realised the consequences of the oath they had agreed on this day.

Akashi smiled as the group left the gym. His plans may have been slightly delayed, but sooner or later, he would get his way in the end.

After all, he had always been right.

pika318: Okay, so this is my theory of the oath. Chapter 227 seems to mention the actual oath, about defeating each other to see who's the strongest or something? But this oath I've written here is something I thought up a long time ago, so it would seem quite a waste not to write it out :P

And with that, this is the official last chapter of Rise and Fall. The GoM separate with the oath to compete against each other and Kuroko does promise Momoi he might try to play basketball again if he is able. As for the sequel to this fic, you can refer to "Moving On", it's my theory on what happens when Rakuzan loses to Seirin, and how Kuroko and Akashi patch up. The camp fic which I mentioned earlier where all of them patch up with one another, will come later on, once I finalise the details.

Once again, thank you for everyone's support. And I do hope there are people who still bother to read this, even after my very very long hiatus because I was waiting for the flashback arc to be over to sort my thoughts out.

Hope to see you guys again in my next fic!