𝐀 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟸

"What a stuck-up jerk!" Kagami shouted.

Riko stalked over to the first year and hit the back of his head with her clipboard. "Like you looked any better?! What was that?! Throwing a basketball at someone as a challenge! The least you could've done was win!"

Mitobe and Kogane watched each other for a brief moment before Kogane spoke up for the both of them. "I don't think Kise really cared about Kagami being rude. Did you see the way he caught the ball? He didn't even look in Kagami's direction until after he caught it. He didn't break a sweat and he copied Kagami's move after only seeing it once."

Fukuda, Kawahara, and Furihata crowded around the magazine they had, skimming through the profiles. "Who do you think that Kurokocchi he was talking about is? He's not on the Generation of Miracles roster, but no one has ever beaten them, so why would he come here on his own just to look for this guy?"

"Forget who this Kurokocchi kid is! The jerk said we weren't worth his time!" Kagami ranted, holding his head and leaning away from the coach.

"That's exactly why we should care about who Kurokocchi is! Kise obviously knows he's a student here. Think, boys! Who isn't considered a member of the generation of miracles, but was recognized by all of the miracles?" Riko prompted.

Hyuga scoffed. "You mean the phantom sixth man? If we had the Phantom Sixth Man of Teiko, then wouldn't he already be here? All of the miracles are on their respective basketball teams, why would the phantom sixth avoid us? Besides, the kid has to be a myth. There's no way someone who the generation of miracles respects could play with them for three years without some sort of publicity."

Izuki stood silent as he considered his teammates around him. Kise had been shocked when Hyuga confirmed that the boy he was looking for wasn't on the team. That shock had quickly been replaced by unadulterated boredom when he had accepted that fact.

"We should figure out who this Kurokocchi character is anyway. Whoever he is, he plays well enough for the copycat to think we could only win with him. Do you first years have anyone in your class by the name? Phantom sixth or not, he's probably in your year."

The four first years shook their heads. "I feel like we would notice someone who had as grand a presence as Kise." Said Kawahara. "Kise said we'd be a challenge if we had him, so he has to have some sort of impressive presence!"

"Presence or not, it'll give us an edge if we can get the kid to tell us a little bit about why Kise was looking for him and how Kise plays. He's sorely mistaken if he thinks I'm just going to let his dismissal of us pass after he came and interrupted our practice. Check your classes tomorrow, first years, and then we'll figure out what to do from there."

*

He wasn't there.

He wasn't there.

He wasn't there.

Momoi had been so sure that her Tetsu would have signed up for the Seirin basketball team. She was never wrong! Well, she'd never been wrong about basketball. She'd never been wrong about most people. But Kuroko had a habit of proving people wrong. The phantom had even managed to surprise Akashi when they first met.

If Tetsu wasn't on the competitive basketball team, she was sure that he wouldn't be in the recreational basketball club. He just didn't have enough presence to be playing recreationally unless he was with his friends, and all of his friends were currently adjusting to their separate high schools.

She needed to figure out why Tetsu wasn't with the basketball team.

She hounded Kise for the details of his visit after the text message that had shaken her. Why didn't she choose to follow Tetsu as she had wanted? Aomine would never be himself again without Tetsu. None of the boys would be able to come back without Tetsu!

She knew that the group's rapid descent into arrogance and isolation hurt Tetsu more than it had ever hurt her. All she could do was watch while Kuroko desperately tried to hold everyone together. But had it really been that bad? Had they pushed Tetsuya so far that their most passionate player would actually give up?

What was the point of following Aomine all the way to Touou if they'd never face Tetsu? Sure, Akashi could beat Aomine, but none of the losses amongst the generation of miracles would matter if The Shadow wasn't there. They needed Kuroko's basketball.

So Momoi sat down and planned. If Kuroko would not play, she couldn't ask him to help her get their friends back. No. Now she'd lost her Tetsu too. She'd have to find a way to orchestrate encounters between the miracles and the phantom. If she wanted any of them back, she'd need the five to see what they had done. If she wanted the boy she loved back, she'd need him to see that the other five could even see what went wrong.

The only people who could bring Kuroko back to basketball were the generation of miracles.

*

The day after their encounter with The Copycat, each first-year basketball player paid extra attention to their class roll calls.

"Kuroko, Tetsuya."

"Present."

Kagami perked up from staring out the window. Kuroko? Kuroko like Kurokocchi? The tall boy looked around his class, trying to see where the voice had come from. It sounded like the voice had come from behind him, but he didn't see anyone there.

He'd have to let the others know that the kid was likely in his class, though he wasn't sure what he looked like. Maybe, if he paid extra attention, he'd hear the teacher call for Kuroko during class today and he'd get another chance before lunch to single out the possible sixth man.

*

Throughout the rest of the day, the Kuroko kid hadn't been called on. Kagami was positive he had heard the kid respond to roll call, but none of the students in front of him were Kuroko and he was pretty positive that the kids he didn't know the name of weren't the mystery boy from the conversations he could hear.

How does a kid respond to roll call and then just disappear from class? There was the empty desk behind him, but it had been empty all day.

As Kagami stood to go to practice, his elbow hit a book on the edge of the desk behind him. Where had that come from? No one was there and he didn't see anyone walk to the back corner of the class while he was there.

He bent to pick up the book and opened the inside cover. He might as well see who he needed to return the item to if the desk owner wasn't there.

Property of Tetsuya Kuroko

Tetsuya Kuroko! But he was sure this desk was empty. The redhead looked around and found no one out of place. No one looking for the book.

It took Kagami only a minute to decide to take the book with him. He could have left it there for Tetsuya Kuroko to find the next day, but this way he could be sure the kid would have a reason to talk to him. If one of the generation of miracles was looking for him, then he had to be a good player!

Kagami's face broke into a large grin. As soon as he found the guy, he'd challenge him to a one-on-one and then he'd convince the guy to join the team. What kind of person would go so far just to give up? Basketball was fun and if you're good at it, then there should be no reason to ever stop playing.

He hurried to the gym. He'd let the coach know since the first years had confirmed Kagami was the only person with a 'Kuroko' in his class.