Dreaming On - Kuroko no Basket

Just the Beginning

A/N: Here's Chapter 33!  And if you guys could check out my other fanfic, "Reach", that would be awesome! It's the second season to Free! Iwatobi High School Swim Club. My first one is completed, and I decided to start on the second season :) It would mean a lot to me!

Oh, and have a GREAT New Year's Eve tonight guys!

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        “Sorry I’m late!” I huffed out, bending over my knees as I tried to catch my breath.

        “Ehhh??? It was Masami who was missing! Wait, then where’s Kuroko?” Riko exclaimed.

        “I’m here,” Kuroko responded behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, sharing a secretive smile with the bluenette. I had ran into him as I left the convenience market, already late to meet up with the team. Kuroko was pretty late too, considering how we bumped into one another five minutes after our original meeting time.

        “Huh?! Really?!” The entire team gawked. I stifled my laughter behind my hands, still hunched over.

        “Hai, I’ve been here the entire time.” Kuroko silently breathed a sigh of relief, turning his head to the side. Kagami must’ve caught Kuroko’s lie.

        “Uso! You’re lying this time!!” The redhead accused. “You barely made it on time running here!” By this time, I was noticeably laughing. Because of my position of being hunched over my knees and my body shaking with laughter, I was swaying. Losing my balance, I fell ungracefully onto my bottom on the concrete sidewalk, my laughter cutting short.

        “Itai! That hurt!” I grumbled. Kuroko stuck his hand out in front of my face, silently motioning for me to take it. Grinning, I latched onto his hand and allowed him to pull me up.

        “Let’s go! We haven’t forgotten anything, have we?” Hyuga called out, bringing all our attention to him. Riko sighed, “What about you talking about? We’re on our way now to get it!”

        “Yosh! Let’s get it!” Koganei shouted with glee. “Wait, what are we getting again?” The team collectively groaned. He’s hopeless…

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        “Ready guys? I’m going to go over what we’re doing at the Winter Cup again,” coached Riko. “Eight schools are participating in the preliminaries. Two of these schools will win the right to participate in the Winter Cup. After today’s games, they’ll be narrowed down to four schools. Those four schools will play a league series, and the top two schools will go on to the Winter Cup. However, this time the participating teams are the eight schools from the Inter-High preliminaries.”

        “In other words, they’re powerful teams who had successful summers, right?” I interjected. Riko nodded at me with approval.

        “Hai. Our opponent today is the 6th place team, Josei High School! Let’s win!”

        "Hai!” We cheered.

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        I sat on the bench, sniffling. “R-riko-chan!” I wailed, clutching her waist like my lifeline. “W-why am I on the bench??” Coach sighed, patting my head like anyone would to a child.

        “Mo I, Masami-chan.” Riko continued to gently pat my head. “We’ll put you in if one of the boys needs you. Think of it like this: you’re our trump card.” I continued to pout although on the inside I felt a tad better. “Now shhh! The game’s about to begin!”