Looking for a Miracle | Kuroko no Basket

30. Old Memories

Looking for a Miracle
Chapter Thirty
Lasting Memories

The basketball club was over.

Us third years graduated, so we could focus purely on exams. The ceremony had no meaning to me. This was an experience I only wanted to forget. The tears I shed were for what had become of my friends, and what could have been.

It didn't feel right, either, since Kuroko wasn't there.

He'd quit before he graduated from the club, so he received no recognition. None whatsoever, not even a mention. He wasn't even at school anymore - and he'd previously had a perfect record.

I knew why though. Momoi told me - he was shaken by the match, since it had been against his childhood friend. He'd asked Akashi to take them seriously and instead, his friend had been broken by the Miracles, and quit basketball.

I didn't talk to any of the others after club graduation. Not even Sei, when we saw each other at dinners. There was only silence between us. I had nothing to say to him, and he wasn't going to start the conversation with me.

I'd given up trying to get Sei back. After the final match, it was clear he wasn't resurfacing - not ever. The Sei I had grown up with, the Sei I loved, was trapped, and buried deep down. I had accepted that, after a night of crying and phoning Momoi late at night which resulted in the two of us crying together over the phone. We cried for our friends, for what had become of them, for the friendship we had all cherished that had resulted in nothing.

I spent my lunches and free time with Momoi, and Tsukino Gina. Having her around was a blessing, since we didn't talk about basketball. We talked about other things instead - books. Music. Fashion. Food. Anything that wasn't basketball, we talked about. A favourite topic was Gina's life in Australia, and the sport she had played there - netball. I hadn't heard of it, and it was interesting to hear her explain it.

That wasn't the only thing distracting me from Akashi and basketball. Exams were coming up, so I spent most of my time hauled up in my room with my nose in the books. But even as I studied, I couldn't help but junk back to first year, when I had to explain everything about chemistry to Aomine, when Murasakibara ate nearly everything in the house, and the only thing that kept our sessions somewhat orderly was Sei's presence, and how we'd glance at each other and smile, or shake our heads at something Aomine would say...

I slammed my book shut with more force than necessary, only to open it after a few second's pause. I had to study, even if this mere action brought back memories I'd rather forget. I had to get good grades to enter a good high school.

And my parents kept reminding me about it.

My mind still on how Akashi being the first person to turn up to all our study sessions, I sighed and began studying once again.

*          *          *

Exams passed in a rush of stress and nerves and endless writing to the point my hand was cramped.

But I survived, and even got the third highest mark in our year, opening all schools in the country of me.

I didn't celebrate either achievement though.

Celebrations felt empty and lonely without a certain five loud basketball players keeping things lively and bright.

But now I had my results, it was time to start thinking about my future.

"It's time to choose a school, Akane," Mum had said cautiously one day, when I had been reading on my bed. She and my father had come into my room. "The best choice would be Rakuzan, of course, it's the best school in the country of course... are you okay?"