Slight AU! Starts Pre-Teikou. Before the championship game, the phantom sixth player was said to have disappeared forever. Not even his teammates knows where he has mysteriously run off to, until that is, rumors start that he's attending Seirin High. Kuroko Tetsuya quit serious basketball for good but his specialty and near talent in passing is a valued and sought after asset. Though, no one really understands Kuroko for real. It turns out he has a lot more hidden potential than people took him for.

Kagami/Kuroko main. Slight Gen/Kuroko.

Rating pending. T+ - M.

a.n/ This originally came from the idea of, what if Kuroko was a just as good or better player than the Generation of Miracles? I was iffy with the idea at first because wouldn't that diminish his original way of basketball? But then I figured just because he's a better player, doesn't mean his principle has to change. So since this is kind of an AU, there will be slight changes made. This story will briefly be starting pre-Teikou before going on to Seirin, where the plot actually starts. The whole pre-Seirin thing was only supposed to be a small part but I uh got into it. So the next chapter will be going into Teikou a bit before the actual plot starts. Bear with me, it is necessary.

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Kuroko no Basuke.

Chapter 1. Sorry, but you can't beat me.

The first time Kuroko encountered basketball was also the first time he discovered he had a talent for it.

On the street outside his family home, during a warm summer mid-day in a small neighborhood in Tokyo started the beginning of his prowess. It was the summer vacation of his fourth year in elementary school, the streets were littered with hordes of kids playing and frolicking about.

Kuroko Tetsuya was not one of these kids.

He was a frail boy, thin and petite for his age with no experience in sports or any outstanding qualities whatsoever. Most of the time during summer break, he spent his time indoors reading or playing video games. Kuroko didn't have many friends either, so it was a solitary summer for the most part besides his family. His mother worried relentlessly about her socially isolated son and would rant on about how it wasn't healthy for boys his age to be alone, that no one in their family ever had the same problem.

So, as a solution to make Kuroko more social, she would force him outside at least three times a week. It didn't do much for a while, since there was no guarantee Kuroko was just going to up and suddenly make friends. Not to mention his presence itself was already barely there, the entire block hardly noticed him passing by.

Kuroko didn't mind his mother's unyielding attempts, he knew she meant well, plus she always gave him money for milkshakes. Most of the time, he just walked to Maji burger for a vanilla milkshake and patrolled around the block until an appropriate amount of time passed for him to come back and seem like he made an effort. It wasn't that he purposefully avoided people, they just took no notice of him. His presence was so transparent that even his parents lost track of him sometimes. One time, he disappeared for so long that his father called the police and they came to their house. Turns out, Kuroko was in the living room the whole time but nobody noticed. After that he got a scolding, even though he was in plain sight on the couch the whole time watching television.

One day, at around noon, Kuroko was on one of his strolls around the neighborhood after his mother forcibly kicked him out again. He sipped on the last remaining drops of his vanilla milkshake with a loud slurp and crushed the empty cup in his hand. He was passing by a park filled with children his age, obviously no one paid attention to him even though quite a few of them were in his class. The boy looked around until he spotted a trashcan a good distance away.

Compressing the plastic cup as tightly as he could in a ball formed by his hands, Kuroko eyed the perfect curvature path to make as he made the shot. The crumpled up cup flew in-between two branches of a cherry blossom tree before falling perfectly into the barely big enough opening at the top of the trash can.

Kuroko was surprised, it was the first time he ever tried anything like that and it got in. He was sure he'd miss, even most adults wouldn't be able to make that shot. Not too far off, a couple of grown-ups were saying, "Hey, did you see that flying piece of garbage? It came out of nowhere!" They didn't know who made the shot, only that it took incredible skill to make it.

At this moment, Kuroko felt a little pride twinge in him. He never really got complimented for much.

A distant echo of dribbling was within earshot as he noticed the basketball court within the park's premises.

As he walked over, Kuroko saw that they were boys from his class playing a game. Kuroko never saw basketball up close, but something compelled him to go over there and take a look. No sports ever interested him before but this one seemed to draw him in.

He stood leaning against the gate, watching their game while unconsciously taking note of their skills, habits, and the best play to make for each situation. It was weird, he didn't even know the rules but he knew what to do.

One kid swatted the ball out of the opposing team's hand, sending it bouncing in the direction of the open gate where Kuroko was standing. The pale boy leaned down and picked it up when it reached his feet.

His classmates all stopped to look at him, only noticing his company now for the first time. "Hey, isn't that Kuroko?"

"What? The kid in the back who never talks? What is he doing here?"

The biggest kid on the court was a boy named Wataru. He stared at Kuroko like he was the puniest and most insignificant thing he'd ever seen.

"Do you want to play?" Wataru asked while the other boys looked appalled by his words.

"What – are you crazy, Wataru? He probably never even played before in his life."

"Well, we're still short one player… Adding him would make it even."

"I know how to play." Kuroko interjected.

"Alright," he nodded. "You'll be on Riku's team. Let's go, guys! 2 - 8 in our favor. Your ball." As the other team moved to their defending positions, Kuroko could feel the glares from his teammates all landing on him.

The boy named Riku, also the team's captain, strode over to Kuroko and snatched the ball from his hands. In a clenched whisper he said, "You better not screw us up, Kuroko. Wataru's only letting you play because he knows he can beat you."

Kuroko looked up blankly at the taller boy. "We'll just have to prove him wrong then."

His teammates scoffed, some even snickered at him for no reason. "Just stay out of my way, I'll win this thing."

With that kind of attitude towards his comrades, no wonder he was losing. "I thought basketball was supposed to be a team sport." Kuroko said.

His team ignored him.

Kuroko may have only observed basketball for five minutes, but he felt he had a pretty good understanding of it. Individual ability made the difference, but it was the team play that was the deciding factor in what made a strong team. But then again, Kuroko didn't know where he was getting his data from.

The first ten minutes passed by fairly quickly. Wataru was the best player, scoring the majority of the points for his team and being a major show-off about it. It was becoming very clear that it was a battle between two captains for glory and the difference in ability was overwhelming. In that entire period, no one passed to Kuroko. The quarter ended 22 – 5.

At this point, Kuroko felt confident his hypothesis on basketball was right. "Excuse me." He said to one of his teammates. "Can you pass me the ball?"

"Hah? Why should I? You'll just let them take it."

"I won't." His clear blue eyes were unwavering. "Please. At this rate, we'll lose the game." Kuroko didn't play many sports, but the thought of losing was unsettling.

The game started up again with their ball, the kid from before finally passed it to Kuroko. The other team reacted slowly, they completely forgot about his existence. It gave Kuroko plenty of time to shoot it in from the outside. The ball flew in perfectly through the center of the hoop, just like the plastic cup in the trash can.

One boy let his jaw drop in astonishment. "How the hell did that get in?"

"Lucky shot…" Wataru muttered.

The game continued on. Ever since that first shot went in, the passes to Kuroko were getting more and more frequent, at least when they could detect him. Often he'd have to call out to them so they'd know where his position his. Eventually Kuroko realized you could steal the ball from the other team, so long as you didn't grab it directly from their hands. Passes to Kuroko were no longer necessary since he managed to steal the ball at every opportunity. But as time went on, they slowly got used to his presence and eventually almost all passes were being directed towards Kuroko. Nevertheless he knew he wasn't alone and still remembered to pass to his other teammates. He wasn't going to be like Wataru or Riku, hogging the ball and glory.

It soon became evident that Kuroko was a better player than any of them, and his team took advantage of this, except Riku, who bitterly still tried to score on his own.

The game ended 26 – 42.

"We won! That was amazing, Kuroko! You the man!" His teammates began chanting his name and swarming him with inquiries. When did you start playing basketball? Were you always this good? Kuroko! Kuroko!

They then realized, amidst all the celebration (and moping from the other team), that Kuroko had vanished.

"Hey, where'd he go?"

"Che. Who cares… I never should've let him play." The tall kid kicked the garbage can on the curb.

Kuroko had slipped out from amongst his team's celebratory congratulations and appeal to his skills. He was a naturally shy boy, all that activeness and victory was exhilarating, but it still made him feel uneasy to be under such a spotlight. Maybe because he was so unused to it. It was like a shadow dissolving after it had lived in the darkness for years.

There was a pounding in his rib cage, the game was long over but the adrenaline and thrill stayed the same. What was this feeling he had? This tingling on his fingertips where he could still feel the ball's surface, the feeling of his lungs out of breath and the sweat cooling on his skin from the late afternoon breeze. This first taste of victory, and a thirst in the back of his throat that desired more.

When he went home, his mother was so happy to find that her son had managed to play with a bunch of other boys that she promised to buy him a present from the department store the next day. Kuroko bought a basketball and a pair of brand new basketball shoes.

Not too long after, Kuroko's mother enrolled him at a junior basketball club at the local community centre. Since it was summer, there were a lot of kids from all around that he didn't know. It was the biggest sports-orientated community centre in the district, they were especially famous for their soccer program. Apparently there was some really talented boy the same age as Kuroko. He didn't get to see who it was though, every time he walked by the soccer club, there was always a horde of girls blocking the door.

The junior basketball club wasn't a serious gig, they generally had a 'have fun go-to' attitude, and didn't pay much attention to polishing their skills. It was always the same drills and friendly practice matches. The overall level among the kids around his age was way too low and Kuroko completely obliterated them all. There were even some of his classmates from the first time he played at the park. It didn't matter, whatever team Kuroko was on won.

His obvious talent above all the other kids didn't go unnoticed by the coach and Kuroko was invited to play at the junior league basketball tournament with the official team. At first his mother didn't approve, she couldn't imagine her delicate little boy playing with all those huge kids. But Kuroko was resolute about playing at a higher level. He needed more of a challenge, someone to test his capability on.

The junior basketball team consisted of tall well-built kids that looked way older than they actually were. Everyone was older than Kuroko except one guy, the tallest of their team.

Murasakibara was freakishly tall for his age, had abnormally long limbs and above all, loved basketball more than anyone else.

He was always eating sweets and Kuroko wondered if that's what you had to eat to get so tall.

Since they were both the youngest, Kuroko and Murasakibara got along pretty well, although appearance wise they were the oddest duo of the shortest and tallest.

Murasakibara was a fast and swift player, despite his large lanky size. He was the sort of kid that was made for basketball, a born once in a decade prodigy, his raw talent wasn't something to kid about. He'd been playing since he was five and was considered a phenomenon of his generation. Kuroko had found the challenge he was looking for in Murasakibara.

It was on the first day of practice that Kuroko approached the much taller boy with a request. "Excuse me, Murasakibara-kun."

Murasakibara turned as his name was called and had to crane his neck all the way down. "Oh, Kuro-chin, it's you. I thought it was a ghost for a second." He ruffled the other's pale blue hair in a doting manner.

Kuroko went straight down to business. "Please have a one-on-one match with me."

The other halted his ministrations to Kuroko's hair and cocked his head perturbed. "Huh?"

"Please have a one-on-one match with me." He repeated solidly.

Murasakibara made an appealing noise as a finger tapped against his chin. He then stared down into Kuroko's clear blue eyes and said after a long contemplation, "… I don't fight against weak people."

"That won't be a problem."

After everyone else left, those two stayed for their awaited clash.

"… You're kinda weird, Kuro-chin." Murasakibara said while finishing off a snack. "Usually I can tell if someone's any good or not, but you're just… nothing."

"I've been told I don't have much of a presence." And the game began.

Kuroko was still a beginner, but he'd been polishing his basic skills ever since he bought that basketball. In the first ten minutes, Kuroko had a score of zero while Murasakibara's scores escalated. After twenty minutes, Kuroko learned a way to crack Murasakibara's impenetrable defense. Thirty minutes and Kuroko formed a strong defense of his own against the other. By the last second to when forty minutes had passed, the points were tied.

Murasakibara was stunned because it was the first time anybody ever managed to keep up with him like that. The purple-haired basketball lover was absolutely thrilled by this new encounter. He admitted to Kuroko that basketball was starting to get boring after winning became so easy. What he needed was a challenge and Kuroko was the one who saved him.

It became a mutually beneficial relationship. They both held conjoint respect for each other's talent and love for basketball and soon became good friends.

It was late afternoon, club activities and practice were over for the day, but Kuroko and Murasakibara usually stayed behind so they could train and challenge each other. Out of everyone on their team, nobody matched up to their skill level, so they were the only ones who could push each other to the limit.

They just spent hours in a constant one-on-one battle. Murasakibara sat against the wall exhausted and drenched in sweat. "Nn… 'm tired and hungry. Let's take a break. I want something sweet…" Even though he said that, he was still dribbling a ball next to him.

"I'm going to go buy a Pocari. Do you want anything?" Kuroko asked.

Murasakibara nibbled at the edge of his fingernail. "Mn… Me too. Take my money from my bag and get me Konnyaku jelly too."

"I sometimes wonder how you got so tall just by eating sweets." Kuroko said aloud while rummaging through his bag.

The purple-haired boy shrugged. "Because I wanted to be better at basketball."

Kuroko smiled.

The vending machines in the center didn't have the jelly Murasakibara wanted, so Kuroko had to go to the convenience store outside the building, which was practically next door.

While walking through the entrance of the store, Kuroko accidentally bumped into someone else. It wasn't unusual for the pint-sized lad, people bumped into him on a daily basis. "Oh hey, sorry, didn't see you there."

Kuroko looked up and saw a tall blonde with golden eyes and a pretty face.

The blonde boy had a dazzling smile that made him even more handsome. "Hey, I know you. You're Kuroko, right?"

Kuroko blinked. "I'm… sorry. I don't remember you."

The boy laughed. "Aw, how can you not remember this handsome face ~" He had a toothy grin that showed off all his pearly whites. It was more overwhelming than watching a tooth paste commercial. "Well, I wouldn't really have expected you to recognize me. We've never met, have we?" He tilted his head playfully. "Name's Kise Ryouta, athlete, model, playboy, at your service~"

Kuroko studied the other's uniform and ignored most of what was said. His clothes were from the community soccer team. He put two and two together and it struck him. "Ah… You're that famous soccer player. The one they call a prodigy."

Kise waved him off, chuckling in embarrassment. "Haha, no way. Those are just rumours over exaggerating themselves. I'm just a normal guy, you see."

It didn't seem like that way to Kuroko. There was something about this guy that gave off the same feeling as Murasakibara.

"Um… How do you know me?" Kuroko asked.

"Eh? That's 'cause you're famous! You and Murasakibaracchi! Both of you are known as basketball legends around here, dontcha know?"

Murasakibaracchi… ? "I didn't realize. But they're probably exaggerating about me. I only started playing in the summer."

Kise gaped at him. "Ehh? Seriously? Wow, you must be something." He beamed at the shorter with such vibrant intensity that it was starting to make Kuroko uncomfortable. He wasn't used to such admiration from a complete stranger, especially one who was a child model and star athlete too.

"Sorry, but can you move? I have to buy something for Murasakibara-kun."

"Geez ~, you're a pretty cold kid, aren't you?" Kise pouted childishly. "So you're choosing Murasakibaracchi over me… Hey! You're headed to the gymnasium, right? I'll walk back with you."

Kuroko wanted to say it wasn't necessary, but it was difficult to refuse such earnest enthusiasm. So he nodded and agreed.

Kise was a very talkative and active child, always having something to say to fill up the silence and acting all overdramatic when the opportunity arose. He could easily be a successful actor too, was what Kuroko thought.

Eventually the three of them, Kuroko, Murasakibara, and Kise started getting along and hanging out over the summer. They even practiced together. Kuroko and Murasakibara continued their one-on-one sessions while Kise practiced his soccer techniques, or he just sat out on the sidelines and watched their game. He always cheered for Kuroko.

"Kise-kun, why do you play soccer?"

Kise looked up from his leg where he was balancing a soccer ball. "Hm… Why? Well, because it's fun and I'm good at it." He began bouncing the ball in an even rhythm against the top of his knee. "I can fight strong opponents and I still always win my games."

"I heard you're good at other sports too." Kuroko said. He sat on the bench with Murasakibara watching Kise perform tricks with the ball.

"Mn… Yeah. I can play any sport, but I just play soccer here because the coach asked me to."

Kuroko nodded slowly. "… I don't think I could play any other sport besides basketball."

Murasakibara munched on his crackers loudly. "You should play basketball, Kise-chin."

Kise snorted through a grin. "Nah ~ I don't think I'll ever get into basketball. I'll just stick to soccer."

By the end of the summer, Kuroko and Murasakibara won the tournament by a landslide. Kise won his tournament too, but everyone expected it. It then turned out Murasakibara lived far away and was only visiting here for the summer, so he went back with farewells and promises to keep in contact. Kise didn't live nearly as far, but he suddenly got busier with his new contract with a major modeling agency for young models. Normally, Kuroko didn't mind when summer vacation ended. But this time he was sad to see his summer go.

Kuroko's passion for basketball didn't stop with Murasakibara and the community centre though. As soon as he returned to school, Kuroko joined the basketball club. With his skill set, he quickly got a regular position on the team and very soon became the ace. They didn't play too many serious tournaments since it was only elementary school, and so it was getting harder for Kuroko to find a worthy opponent since Murasakibara left. But he didn't spend the year slacking off just because he was better than everybody else. He trained hard so that next summer he could face off Murasakibara, who was also definitely working hard.

Fifth year came and Kuroko spent his summer the same as last year, playing against Murasakibara and hanging out with Kise. Now that Kise had a steady schedule, he visited Kuroko every chance he got, even when Kuroko didn't even invite him.

They won the tournament this year too. But right before the summer ended, the coach approached Kuroko with a foreigner.

"Kuroko-kun, this is Herb from the Young Athletes Association over in America. I made an inquiry about you at the beginning of the year and they've invited you to join their foreign exchange program next summer." The coach smiled. "It's for the whole two months next year, I've already asked your parents and they've agreed to go. Isn't that great?"

Kuroko noticed nobody asked whether he wanted to go in the first place or not, they just automatically assumed he did. Murasakibara got the same offer but his family wouldn't go abroad. Kuroko didn't really want to go. He wanted to stay and spend his precious summers with his friends.

His mother was coaxed by a lot of persuasion into agreeing to go with Kuroko to America. Fifth year passed and Kuroko transitioned into the sixth year. For the first time in a while, he was not looking forward to summer break.

"Why the long face? You should be excited – you're going to L.A! You know what that means, foreign beach babes!"

That didn't console Kuroko much.

"No thanks. I'd much rather stay." Kuroko didn't understand why he had to travel overseas to play basketball when he could do it in the comfort of his own country.

Kise sighed dramatically and draped an arm over Kuroko's thin shoulders. "I know, I know, you'll miss me terribly and that's why you don't want to leave. I guess I'll never understand the pain I bring to others with the lack of my presence." He swooned back onto Kuroko's bed.

Although Kise could be annoying sometimes, Kuroko had to admit that he was kind of funny occasionally. And he always had this special gift to make someone feel better. You could say his stupidity was infectious. But thankfully, Kuroko was mostly immune.

"It won't be the same without you!" Kise suddenly despaired while tackling Kuroko to the bed in a hug. "Promise you won't cheat on me with some American girl!" His fake sobs could be felt against Kuroko's stomach.

Kuroko felt uncomfortable and tried to get up but Kise was too heavy for him, so he propped himself up on his elbows because that was the extent of how much Kise was letting him sit up. "We're not dating. Can you please get off me?"

Kise replied by tightening his hold around Kuroko's waist. "You'll be so lonely without me that you'll go off looking for some prettier girl."

"You're not a girl, Kise-kun." Kuroko tried to wiggle his way out of the death grip he was entrapped in, but to no avail. "I won't be lonely either." He said that, but in all honesty, he was going to be just a tad lonesome. He wasn't going to say that in front of Kise though.

Kuroko suddenly pondered at this awkward moment why the young model never had a girlfriend when he could so easily obtain one. He was always going on about girls and such, but Kuroko never actually saw him with one that wasn't a fan.

As he was about to continue with that thought, a cramp started to form in his leg, so he hit Kise on the head.

Before now, Kuroko had never ridden a plane in his entire life, so he didn't know what to expect. He heard some people experienced airsickness while in the air, but he never figured he'd be one of those people. The take-off came as a shock to his body, good thing he grabbed the airsick bag just in time.

The rest of the ride was fairly okay. Kuroko wasn't a restless child, he enjoyed sitting and entertaining himself quietly. The need to puke his guts out didn't arise again until landing.

They were staying in a compact studio apartment with one bedroom and a sofa-bed in the living room. America felt so strange to Kuroko who only learned the bare minimum of English before coming here. He wondered how he was going to communicate with the rest of his team if he couldn't speak English properly.

While his mother rested off the jet lag, Kuroko decided to explore the surrounding area and the nearby community centre.

The small Japanese boy sure felt out of place, even though nobody noticed him. The one thing that felt familiar was all the basketball courts and sporting areas, which seemed to be numerous in this part of the city. Everyone played with such vigour, as expected of America, basketball remained the same no matter where. Kuroko felt that itch to play growing again but most of the people playing were adults or big kids and they wouldn't take a child seriously. Even though Kuroko could probably beat them. And then of course there was the language barrier, which was a pretty important factor actually.

Kuroko wandered around the basketball courts with the desire to hold a ball gnawing at him. He felt more homesick than he did before and it was due to the constant reminder of basketball all around.

He kicked a stone on the ground and it reminded him of Kise. He sulked slightly as he walked.

It wasn't until he got a little farther did he see any kids his age. There was one group of young boys playing a fast paced game far off in the corner of a street. Curious, Kuroko walked over to the side of the chain link face so he could view at a better angle.

They were all fairly skilled players, better than his entire school's basketball team. There was one kid who clearly excelled above the rest, he was the only Asian. Kuroko wondered if he was Japanese.

He watched the game until the end. The red-head's team won apparently. Normally you'd expect them to all leave by now, but the tall red-head boy solely remained and continued to play by himself.

Kuroko found himself staying to watch. There was something quite entrancing about his form, there was no question he was gifted with natural talent, although his technique was still raw and needed plenty of shaping. He had potential, but still had far to go. What Kuroko enjoyed seeing the most was the smile that boy played with, even when he was all alone.

His hand was twitching to hold a basketball in his grasp again but he didn't bring one with him. He couldn't simply go up and ask to join in his practice though. Kuroko was still in the working stage of his English lessons. So he sat on a nearby bench and watched longingly until it was time to go back.

The first thing Kuroko went through at the camp was a basic fitness test. He hated these tests, mainly because he did horribly at them. Kuroko was a skilled player but his physical abilities were low. Although when he was playing, he always seemed to surpass his limits more than when he'd do normal exercise.

The coach at the American camp had a chubby face with stern eyes. There was an automatic detection of contempt in his demeanor the moment he laid eyes on Kuroko. "Okay! To start off, let's have a practice match." They divided them up based on their results from the fitness test to even it out. Kuroko ended up on the team with the kid who ranked first.

Kuroko could tell everybody here was at least above average in ability, but they were still lower than Murasakibara and Kise's level. Even the kid playing street ball the other day was better.

They started with a jump off between the tallest players. Kuroko's team got the ball.

As expected, nobody noticed or passed to Kuroko for the first ten minutes. Even the coach forgot about him and yelled at the other members to work harder.

"Um… Excuse me." Kuroko said to an American boy on his team. It was one of the only few English phrases in his dictionary. The words rolled off broken but it got his teammate's attention.

"Huh…?" The American boy turned around and jumped. "Woah! When were you – Hey, wait. Were you on my team the whole time?" He looked puzzled.

Kuroko didn't know how to respond to that in English, so he instead gestured to the ball the other boy was holding and held out open palms towards him, hoping the message was obvious enough.

It took him a second for it to sink in. "Oh… You want the ball? Sure… Here you go." He tossed the ball to Kuroko with a perplexed face. He was probably trying to figure out how he didn't notice him and why such a weak looking guy was here in the first place.

When the second quarter started, Kuroko held the ball for one second before speeding past four players and scoring it in the hoop.

The entire gymnasium was in a daze. The coach looked like his jaw was going to dislocate from his face. Kuroko was used to this. He made a mental note to figure out how to say, 'I was here the whole time', in English.

By the end of the day's hard work, their team won and Kuroko was rather pleased. It was a fun match, there were good players who loved basketball here.

As a congratulatory present, the coach had let him borrow a basketball from the inventory. Still, the man stared at Kuroko as though he was the eighth wonder of the world.

On his way back to the apartment, Kuroko decided to stop by the street courts for a little extra practice. He went to the same court as last time and saw that red-head boy playing alone again.

Kuroko contemplated going up to him this time. He stood around for fifteen minutes before heading back home.

The next one and a half month was filled with eating, sleeping, and training. There was a championship at the end they were aiming for and Kuroko was their starting player.

Every day Kuroko walked home from the centre, he passed by the basketball courts. And every time, he saw that red-head boy playing by himself.

The duration of the tournament was held during the third week of August. Kuroko's team won with high esteem from the tournament's sponsors. They even got their picture in a magazine, which Kuroko was not in because they forgot about him, even though he was the ace.

His mother was so proud of her son and cried about how he was growing up from the little boy she once knew. Mainly she was just happy to finally return to Japan. America wasn't suited to her.

Kuroko's flight back to Tokyo was the next morning, so as a sort of farewell to this place, he went out in the direction of the basketball courts again, just as he always did. The entire team had awarded him with the basketball they used at the championship game. It was signed by all the members of their team and the coach. Although the ball was a bit worn out, Kuroko appreciated it because it was the symbol of their hard work together.

He walked through the line of courts, all filled with various basketball lovers. Strangely, he didn't see that red-head boy anywhere today. But maybe it wasn't that strange, he'd been here every day since Kuroko could remember. He was due for a day off.

Kuroko dribbled to an empty court and worked on his driving skills. Not too shortly after he arrived, a bunch of older looking kids entered the court, talking amongst themselves and completely ignoring Kuroko's presence.

One of them walked into Kuroko, and only then did they finally notice the pale-haired boy. "What the – Ah! There's someone here!" He jumped back about two feet as though he saw a ghost.

"Hello." Kuroko said unfazed.

"There wasn't anyone here before. When did you get here?" A bulky boy sneered at him. "This is our court, shrimp. Scram!"

These boys were obviously speaking in English and Kuroko didn't understand a lick of what they said. He could decipher from their expressions and gestures though that they wanted him to leave. He stood adamantly in place. The smaller boy wasn't going to let himself get bullied out.

The bulky boy was getting visibly angry. He made a guffawing sound and glanced back at his friends with an expression of, 'can you believe this guy?' "Did you not hear me? I said scram, punk!" He pushed Kuroko with two hands and sent him tumbling down to the concrete.

They laughed at his pathetic state. "That's what you get!"

Kuroko winced slightly from the sudden fall and glared up at the one who pushed him. "That's going too far."

"Whaa? Did you say something?" He kicked one of Kuroko's legs. "Speak English, stupid! English. Or maybe I'll have to teach you a lesson on how we do things around here!" The boy lifted his foot above Kuroko's head with the intent to swing it down.

"HEY!" A voice erupted from the entrance at the gate. It was that very same tall boy with fiery red hair and eyes. He wore a rather scary expression. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He stalked over to the group.

"Oh great, it's Taiga." Some of the boys looked like they wanted to leave now. "Relax, Taiga! We're just playing a little basketball."

"Doesn't look like basketball to me." He squared each one of them with a terrifying look. "I just saw you push this kid down!"

"Ugh, come on, who cares?" The bulky boy rolled his eyes. "You're such a buzzkill."

"Yeah, well I don't give a damn what you think. Now leave this poor kid alone!"

Kuroko appreciated Taiga defending him, but he didn't want to seem like some helpless victim in this situation.

"Geez, what's your problem?" The two were locked in an intense glowering contest before the bully broke it and said with spite, "Fine, you can play with your new friend then." They stomped past him in a huff and some even bumped their shoulders against him as they left. When they were a good enough distance away, the bullies began running off laughing while shouting insults to the two in the court.

Taiga shot them all a scornful look. "Those guys… How can they say they were playing basketball?" He then turned to Kuroko with an outstretched hand. "You okay?"

Kuroko nodded and accepted the hand to help him up. "I'm fine. Thank you."

"Hey, you're Japanese?" He grinned down at him. "Same here. Name's Kagami Taiga, you can just call me Taiga."

"Taiga-kun. My name's Kuroko Tetsuya." After getting up on his feet again, his gaze wandered down a bit. "I'm sorry I've caused trouble for you."

"Hm?" He tilted his head before realizing what he meant. "Oh, you mean those guys." He snorted. "You don't have to apologize, those guys are jerks and they don't know the meaning of basketball anyways."

Kuroko caught sight of the ball in Taiga's hands.

"Would you play against me?"

Taiga arched a brow. "You mean like a one-on-one?" It was clear in his expression that he thought Kuroko wasn't anywhere near up to his level. "Uh… I guess. But I warn you, I'm not going to go easy on you." He said with eagerness in his eyes.

Kuroko smiled. "Sorry, but you can't beat me."

Taiga laughed at his words and grinned back. "Just how I like it."

With only exchanging names, they got right into the game. As Kuroko expected, Taiga was a very skilled player, the strongest Kuroko had faced in America so far. Kuroko's misdirection powers didn't work in a one-on-one battle, but even without that, Kuroko possessed great ability that required no use of his phantom presence. He and Taiga clashed continuously without a break, each scoring one after the other. There were was only a challenging silence between them with the sound of the ball bouncing against the pavement, the scruff of their shoes when they ran, and the swish of the hoop when they scored. They were on a high and their concentration was completely taken up by the other.

The end result eventually crowned Kuroko the winner by one point.

Nevertheless, Taiga was laughing after Kuroko delivered the final blow. "Man… That was… Amazing!" His laughs came out partly as pants. They both played a full game straight and were completely exhausted from driving each other over the edge. Kuroko, now that the adrenaline was seeping out of his body, was starting to waver on his skinny legs and fell breathless to the ground.

Taiga was absolutely beaming, it almost seemed like he was the one who won. "I can't remember the last time I played that intense since Tatsuya-nii left." He wiped the sweat running down his chin as a distant demeanor overcame him.

Still panting, Kuroko stared up at the other. "Your brother?"

He nodded. "Yeah, my older brother. He graduated this summer." He paused for a beat, unconsciously fingering the ring around his neck. "But you know, I think you'd beat him. And that's saying something, he was really strong!"

Kuroko didn't say anything for a while until he said, "I have to go."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah, it's getting pretty late." Taiga looked up at the orange sky where the sun was starting to set. "Damn, was it this time already?" His expression immediately changed to that of panic. "My mom's going to kill me if I don't get back soon!"

Taiga picked up his basketball on the ground and ran towards the gate. While leaving, he looked back over his shoulder at Kuroko with eyes scrunched close and a bright toothy smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, Tetsuya!"

Kuroko stared at his back's retreating figure with a slightly taken aback expression. Nobody besides his family ever called him by his first name before. It was probably Kagami's American habit, but still, Kuroko felt his face suddenly grow warmer. He figured it was due to the summer heat combined with all their previous activity.

The smile faded when the realization hit him. He was leaving the country tomorrow and Kagami didn't know. But by the time Kuroko thought of this, the red-head was nowhere in sight. Kuroko didn't see what direction he went off, or even know some way of contacting him. Plus, Kuroko had to get home too or else his mother would have a fit.

All the way back, Kuroko was heavy with guilt and regret that he would never see him again. His mother was waiting in the living room with a scolding.

Their plane left in the morning, but the night before, Kuroko got an idea. He asked his mom before they left for the airport if he could run over to the basketball court real quick because he forgot something there. Thankfully his mom was in a good mood since they were leaving and let him go but sternly reminded to be back before the taxi showed up.

While she wasn't looking, Kuroko took his basketball from the championship game with him.

He ran until he was out of breath and finally reached the court they were at yesterday. From his pocket, he took out the letter he wrote the other night and smoothed it out flat on the concrete. On one side was the letter he wrote, on the other was the words, 'To Kagami-kun' scribbled in big katakana letters, since he didn't know the kanji for his name.

He laid the side with his name facing up and placed it under the goalpost. The basketball with all of Kuroko's teammate's signatures was carefully balanced on top of the letter as deadweight. There was no guarantee that the ball wouldn't move or be taken, but what else could Kuroko do? This was the one place he knew he'd go to. If there was a chance of leaving him some kind of message, then he had to take it.

Kuroko doubted he would ever see him again, it was an unlikely chance. He didn't expect it before, but Kuroko was disappointed to go. He should be glad, back in Japan Murasakibara and Kise were there waiting for him. But deep inside, there was a small part of him that wished he could stay.

Kuroko left the ball and note there in place, taking one last glance at the court before leaving America for good.