AN: Probably only one or two more chapters left to go!

-

"Look Taiga," Tatsuya pushes Hiroto into the chair by the shoulders and leans in closer. "This is Hiroto."

Hiroto smiles shyly at the laptop's camera, nervously reaching over to pull his loose sweater back over his shoulder.

"Uh," accented Japanese comes from the speakers. The redhead rubs the back of his neck, looking anywhere but at the screen. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Hiroto says, in the same, overly formal form of speech.

Then, awkward silence.

Tatsuya looks between them, then straightens and sighs. "Why are both of you so terrible at communication? Come on now," he claps his hands, "name, age, and one fun fact about yourself, let's go."

"Oh, hell no!" Taiga yells, and at the same time Hiroto wails, "please, no!"

"Wow, you're almost in harmony," Tatsuya says with a deadpan. He leans forward with a huff, the ring around his neck glinting in the reflection of the ceiling lights. "C'mon, you two, I'm finally introducing you."

"Even if you say that, I'm not sure what we'd talk about," Taiga admits. He leans back a little, and Hiroto catches the little silver chain bouncing at his front.

Hiroto smiles at that.

"What're you grinning about?" Tatsuya side-eyes him.

Hiroto turns around and gets poked in the face. He laughs it off, "you two have matching rings, huh?" he says, pointing at his own chest.

Tatsuya beams, "yes we do. It's proof of my undying love for Taiga."

Hiroto swoons, a hand on his cheek. "Ooh, tell me more."

And Taiga on the other side of the screen bursts into red. "Don't be misleading!!"

-

"He's really giving me a run for my money, y'know?" Tatsuya says with a resigned sigh. "It's like with you, but worse."

"Well, I certainly live to breed inferiority complexes," Hiroto says, as if that isn't objectively a terrible thing to insinuate, "if you look around Japanese social media a couple months ago, all you'll see is people shitting on my ego."

And Taiga's already on his phone. "All on Basketball news now are these rainbow-looking guys., and I can't read any of this crap"

"it's something among the lines of--"

Hiroto clears his throat and puts on his best impression of a paparazzi headliner.

"Plays dirty, foul mannered, most despicable player in basketball history!!" Then he immediately morphs back to his bored expression. "They're pretty dumb, but there were enough rumours to give me anxiety so."

Tatsuya's jaw drops, "that was the reason?!"

"To quote my friends in their most recent report, they're calling it my 'depressed fuck' phase," Hiroto says, casually.

"It's not a phase--" Tatsya stops himself to pinch the bridge of his nose. Then he turns back to Taiga. "As you can see, Hiroto's an eccentric one."

"I see that very well," Taiga says. "You guys have it good. I'm bored out of my wits here. No one around here's worth playing."

Hiroto blinks at that.

"Hey Taiga, where are you?"

"Aomori, my uncle stays here. I'll probably move to Tokyo once my dad secures a house, though." He waves the thought away, "I'm in a small, nameless school in the corner of the city, nothing much."

"Ah, that explains it," Hiroto says, leaning forward. Tatsuya looks at him curiously. "Go back to the rainbow-looking guys. They're called the Generation of Miracles?"

"The Generation of Miracles?"

Tatsuya pulls a chair to his side, and Alex sets down mugs of hot chocolate around them. Hiroto has his phone out on a Japanese basketball feature, and they talk.

The night is young, and the air conditioning is comfortably cold.

-

-

-

Ogiwara Shigehiro is having an amazing day.

Meiko fell short of the nationals last year, but they made it into the semi-finals this year right to the final stage where he'd meet Kuroko again for the first time in nearly three years.

He sees blue hair and white and blue jerseys-- and he sees it because he's powerful like that-- and he leaps.

"Kuroko! Finally found you!"

He's almost absolutely delighted when Kuroko startles, swirls around, and goes, "Ogiwara-kun!" in a tone that clearly reflects his surprise.

It's normal to be surprised by Kuroko, but the other way around was an achievement only Ogiwara was capable of doing and he's damn proud of it.

"It's been so long!" Ogiwara ruffles the boy's hair, "oh! Did you get shorter?"

Kuroko immediately squints irritatedly at that and jabs him right in the side. Ogiwara crumbles with laughter.

"That surprised me," Haizaki sighs, shuffling a little away from his spot as the intruder proceeds to strangle their tiniest, "Tetsuya, your friend?"

The rest of Teiko weren't around-- just the Miracle seven taking a stroll before the games began. They're all looking at them now, and Ogiwara suddenly feels self-conscious. He lets go of the shadow and finds a grain of rice at his chin. Oh.

Surprisingly to even Ogiwara, Kuroko smiles in response.

"Yeah," he says, turning to face the redhead that was the captain, gesturing "This is Ogiwara-kun. It's the friend I told you about."

"Oh, the one that used to play with Aisaka?" blue steps up with a smile. "Man, I've always wanted to meet ya. Apparently we dodge each other like a bullet all the time back then before Junior High. I'm Aomine."

And Ogiwara immediately connects the name to a story. "Oh!" he grabs the hand, "you're Saka's imaginary friend!"

"Imaginary friend? That's you and Tetsu!" Aomine snaps back, flabbergasted. "I'd chase you guys around only to barely miss you all the time!"

"That's because you never showed up on time, Aomine-kun."

"Don't turn on me, Tetsu!"

There's a crunch to the side, and Aisaka finally brings up the courage to turn toward the giant. He's eating a maiubo. That looks yummy.

"There is food on your other side too," the green one immediately says with a grimace. Ogiwara, flustering, wipes it away with his sleeve.

"It's nice to meet you, Ogiwara-kun," redhead says. "I'm the captain, Akashi."

"So you're Kurokocchi's childhood friend?" the flaunty blond that Ogiwara swears he's seen in a magazine before says, "you good at the game?"

"What kind of genius unironically asks a normal if he's good at basketball?" Haizaki pokes him obnoxiously on the forehead, "you're such a dick."

"That wasn't my intention!"

"Hell it was, don't deny it."

"He is quite a decent player," Akashi says, dismissing the bickering. "I had Momoi look him up. He's the captain of Meiko Junior HIgh."

And Ogiwara startles. "You know me?" he says, surprised. Anyways, he bows a little at Akashi, "i'm betting we meet in the finals, so I hope we have a good game!"

"Of course."

And the rest of the introductions proceed similarly.

-

Ogiwara rushes to the Medical Office.

"Kuroko!"

"Ah, Ogiwara," Midorima says, standing up from his spot on the chair so Ogiwara could take it. "He hasn't woken up, but he's fine."

Ogiwara sits down, looking over his sleeping childhood friend-- and then he realizes the tension behind him.

Only three of them are here in the med bay.

Purple, green, and yellow.

So blue, gray and red are on the field for the last two minutes of the game. And though Ogiwara isn't there to see it for himself, he's read enough basketball magazines to know that it's the most violent combination possible.

Somehow, Ogiwara can't help but feel oddly satisfied at the thought.

(Because, how dare they hurt Kuroko?)

(He hadn't done a single bad thing in his life.)

(And they were so close, so close to their dream.)

(It's their last chance for junior high. Their first and only chance. And those darned twins had to go and blow it like this.)

(Unforgivable.)

"Ogi...wara...-kun."

He flinches, reaching for Kuroko's hand.

"Kurokocchi!" Kise jumps. He doesn't go for Kurokoe, he turns around and calls for Momoi to get the doctor back in here for the diagnosis.

"Kuroko, are you alright?" Midorima approaches them, "we still need to check if you've got a concussion, so stay awake."

(He's awake-- he's awake, oh god, thank god, he's awake.)

"I'm... sorry," his voice is so weak, so broken-- Ogiwara's heart breaks just listening to it. "...our promise."

Ogiwara swallows the tears, forcing out a laugh. "What're you apologizing for, are you an idiot? Who cares about that right now?"

"But..."

Ogiwara makes a show of sighing loudly.

"Look at your teammates. They're so worried about you," Ogiwara tells him. "The other three went out to decimate your assailants. They'll be ashes by the end of the match and you'll never see them again."

And Kuroko chortles lightly, wincing when it reaches his head.

"Kurokocchiiii!!" and here comes Kise, latching right onto the side of the bed and hovering like a teenager over a baby crate. "Are you okay? Does it hurt? Do you feel like dying, do you need anything?"

And Murasakibara pulls him back by the scruff. "Don't be a creep, Kise-chin. You're going to make his head worse."

"I'm not!!" Kise whines, offended.

"Just move aside so the doctor can work," Midorima grumbles. "The sooner he's diagnosed, the sooner he can rest."

"Why am I the only one getting told off?!"

Ogiwara smiles at them.

-

"Hey, Kuroko."

"Hm...?"

"You've got great friends."

"...Yes, I do."

-

-

-

Teiko versus Meiko was an amazing match.

All six miracles came on field at the same time, Haizaki subbing in with Kise in each half. The phantom sixth man sat out due to injury.

With a score of 92 - 68, the Generation of Miracles won the Nationals in their third year of Junior High.

It wasn't a crushing defeat, which made it sort of fun. Whilst the miracles focused on individual plays and Akashi's commands, Meiko was a team with collaboration as its core.

The intense pressure from Meiko's flawless teamwork wore Murasakibara and Aomine down quickly, especially because they didn't have their passing expert to fill in their own loopholes.

By the end of the match, Teiko was more tired than Meiko, so Ogiwara counts that as a win in itself.

-

"Hehh, so you guys are going separate ways after Junior High?"

Ogiwara chews on his burger.

They're in Maji Burger-- seven miracles, one manager, and one Ogiwara Shigehiro.

It's a strange combination, but they were fast friends after their match. They meet up every once in a while for streetball now, depending on how often Ogiwara can make the train trip from Kyoto to Tokyo.

"It's Akashicchi's idea," Kise says. "He's also the one that put the 'only two or three of us on the field at a time' rule, by the way."

Oh, so it wasn't the coach? The basketball magazines were wrong.

"What's with that rule anyways?" Ogiwara says.

"You guys suck, so we're nerfing ourselves," is Aomine's response. To which Midorima whacks him over the head with his lucky item, a claw grabber.

"It doesn't really matter either way," Murasakibara says, "it's not like I have a specific school I want to go to. I'm fine anywhere with good food."

"Akashi and Midorima probably want to go for some elite place, since they have their grades to back them up," Haizaki mutters, "I'm fine anywhere near my house."

"Everyone's already getting plenty of scouts!" Momoi reports, cheerfully showing off the statistics on his laptop. "How about you, Ogiwara-kun?"

Ogiwara hums. He's gotten a talk or two from teachers with recommendations, but scouts, none.

So he chuckles, "no, no. I'm nothing special."

"Awh, they're missing out!" Momoi whines.

"You flatter me, please."

Ogiwara turns briefly to Kuroko. It's about time they all considered their high school options-- and it's a much more important decision than their Junior High ones.

He went to Kyoto because his family was moving, but he really wanted to get somewhere in Tokyo this time, if only because he wanted to have more opportunities to spend time with Kuroko in high school.

Kuroko sips on his milkshake beside them, quietly witnessing the interactions.

"I'm probably going for Kaijou," Kise says, turning to Ogiwara before directing his attention to Midorima, "and Midorimacchi's thinking of Shutoku, right?"

The shooting guard fixes his glasses, "it's an old school, but they have well-equipped facilities."

"You already went for a visit?" Haizaki blanched. "What kind of dedication..."

"Haizaki, you haven't decided yet?" Akashi suddenly speaks up. "You had quite a few scouts too, didn't you?"

"Don't compare me to you guys-- I've got shit in comparison," he says, "one from Kirisaki Daiichi and another from Fukuda Sogo, and they're pretty shit choices. No one wants a player with a delinquent record except troublemakers."

"Well, Touou wanted Mine-chin."

"Yeah and Touou is fucking weird, dude."

There's an awkward silence before Momoi raises her hands and declares, "I'm going to wherever Tetsu-kun goes!"

And Aomine explodes, "what?! Obviously he's coming with me. I'm the light!"

"WHAT?!" is Kise's overdramatic explosion, "no! Kurokocchi, come with me please! You didn't get any scouts, so you can go wherever you want, right?"

"Huh?! That's bullshit!" Haizaki yells, "you guys are fucking overpowered already. Think about the power balance, he should come with me!"

"You're going to corrupt him!"

"Shut up, mister porn mags in broad daylight!"

"But Haizakicchi you never cared for Kurokocchi until now! You're being a parasite!"

"Like you can talk, you clingbug!!"

In the midst of the chaos, Akashi sighs. Murasakibara watches on unamused, and Momoi has moved to attach herself to Kuroko's side.

Ogiwara watches them fondly, and his eyes meet Kuroko's.

(He wants to ask.)

(He wants to ask if it's fine that they fight on the same side of the field this time.)

"Enough, you guys," Akashi interrupts them. "You're being a menace to the restaurant. Now sit down."

And the children sit down with pouty lips.

"I've already told you, one person per school with no exceptions except Momoi," Akashi emphasizes. "Plus, we haven't asked for Kuroko's opinions yet."

Kuroko blinks at that.

His opinion?

All eyes turn to him. It's a rare thing for so many people to meet Kuroko's eyes at once, so he's a little uncomfortable.

But the question is asked with anticipation.

"Kuroko, do you have a school you want to go to?" Akashi asks him.

Kuroko thinks for only a moment. There's nowhere he really wants to be except Teiko. It's home, it's belonging-- but if he has to step out and fly with his own wings just like Aisaka had done, there's only one place he has in mind.

A sight he only saw in passing during the finals of the nationals, while he was returning a fallen wallet to a senior in the other stadium.

Then, "yes," he says, "I'm interested in Seirin High."

Confused eyes stare back at him. They evidently haven't heard the name before-- Momoi and Kise are already looking it up and frowning in confusion.

Kuroko doesn't pay their gestures much heed.

"And I'll need a new light while I'm there," he declares, leaning a little closer to his childhood friend. "So I've already decided that I'm going to go there with Ogiwara-kun."

Everyone's jaws drop.

Ogiwara swirls over in surprise and goes "huh?!"

Kuroko looks at him sadly, "oh is that not alright?"

And Ogiwara flusters, "a-- oh, uh-- obviously it's fine!!" he says, unable to hide his excitement. "I can?! Really?"

He raises his hands with the unending urge to just hug but wait Kuroko's still covered in bandages he shouldn't jostle him but then again aaaaa---

Ogiwara hugs him anyways, teary eyed. It's totally worth the jealous whining from the miracles a second later.

"No fair! I wanna hug Kurokocchi too!!"

"Damn it Ogiwara! When we meet at Inter-high I'm going to destroy the both of you!"

"Wait, Tetsu-kun! I wanna go with you toooo!"

"Seems like Kuroko's side will probably be a teamwork-based team with Ogiwara as its core and Kuroko at its apex. It suits his play style very well."

"This will make our battle royale much more interesting, don't you think?"

-

-

-

Every once in a while, Hiroto has a sleepless night.

He looks in the mirror and something about his appearance is off. He thinks of the future only to wonder about his past.

And when he starts thinking about his past, his mind goes blank.

He brews up a cup of hot chocolate and looks out from the balcony. He's not sure if this familiar nighttime routine comes from this life or the other.

It's been about a decade, after all. It makes sense that the memories would start to blur together and fade out.

With everything that happened in Teiko, he's been too busy trying to live to remember. The knowledge he has about this world might not even be relevant anymore.

(What was his name again?)

(Maybe Aisaka Hiroto should've written it down. In this world where no one would remember that upsetting person, the only one with his legacy is beginning to forget.)

It's saddening to think about.

He doesn't want to think about who he used to be. It's fine to let him disappear, right? It's not as if he wants to be relevant and remembered as some kind of sob story. He's started fresh here, messed up again, and here comes his next fresh start.

But somehow, he doesn't want to.

It seems unfair. If he forgets about his past self so easily, the next one in line for him to forget will probably be dad.

And it's already starting. He's already starting to live life here in America as if his dad was never a big turning point in his life. The circle of life-- it's always so painfully easy to move on and stop mourning, huh?

Because it's just another pebble on the road. It'll come back to haunt you one day, but it's unobstructive on a daily basis.

(He takes a long chug of his hot chocolate, sighing with his shoulders at the end like it's a shot of booze.)

Death was such a strange, fleeting thing.

Hiroto doesn't think he'll ever understand it, even if he's gone so close to it twice.

(His fingers itch for something-- a cigarette? Maybe it's a past life thing.)

(He rests his chin in his palm, and looks into the sky.)

A star falls.

He closes his eyes and makes a wish.

May lost souls find peace.

-

"I noticed that outside. It's cute."

Hiroto turns to Tatsuya who apparently invited himself inside the house.

He smiles.

"It's an Amaryllis," he tells him, picking it up by the pot from the window and setting it down on the shelf, beside the picture of his dad. "I got it from the florist."

Tatsuya approaches it with all the body language of a teenager approaching a puppy-- and proceeds to ruffle Hiroto's hair.

"Stop that," Hiroto swats the hand away.

Tatsuya laughs.

"Anyways, you sure have a lot of cute things in your room," he says, looking through the neatly-arranged notebooks to the miscellaneous magazines-- oh, is this a poetry anthology?

Hiroto had a couple of framed pictures, but after a while of living here, they got a cork board to pin up all the pictures instead. His collection of friendship candids now included Alex's club members, the five thugs, and Tatsuya.

The only frame he kept was the one of him and his dad, which he used as a small obituary, as the Japanese do.

It was endearing, how many memories he had to treasure now.

(Maybe it's fine to move on and forget.)

"Oh? What's this?"

Hiroto swirls around to realize that Tatsuya has dug out Hai-chan from its corner.

Tatsuya is looking at him with the most mischievous little smirk-- and Hiroto's face heats up.

"Wait! Give that back!"

"It's so cute~" Tatsuya teases, his voice lilting, "hey, let's show Alex. Aleeeex?"

"No! Give Hai-chan back! Tatsuya I swear to god--"

"It has a name?"

"Tatsuya!!"

-

Hiroto chases Tatsuya around the room before the older boy escapes out the door. He still has the fluffy cat toy in his hand, carting it off like a trophy. With a huff, Hiroto tugs on his wrist race.

He looks into his room one last time, his eyes coming to rest on the photo frame for a second longer than necessary.

He smiles. "I'm off," he says.

And right before the door closes fully, he hears it in the air.

"Yeah, be careful."

Hiroto turns around, but there's no one there.

So he closes the door behind and doesn't think much about it. He has a cat toy thief to strangle, after all.

(Yeah, it must've been his imagination.)