The Promise

Fourteen

Shizuka's eyes widened in shock.

Kuroko's vanishing drive was designed to stop Takao's Hawk Eye, and to pass through the tight defense Touo will be giving them.

But Aomine was destroying their plans... he was destroying Kuroko.

With his eyes closed, Aomine was able to block Kuroko's vanishing shot and scored a point against Seirin.

"I'm very disappointed, Tetsu," Aomine said, "Have you not learned? A shadow exists because of a light. No matter what you do, you can't change that. You will always be a shadow and you can never surpass me,"

Kuroko didn't answer, but he was so shaken up that he passed the ball— thoughts jumbled up in his mind.

"Don't Kuroko!" Izuki yelled as he tried to run towards their trump card. "Hyuga and Kiyoshi haven't shaken their marks yet!"

"N-no..." Shizuka muttered, suddenly standing up. "Don't do it! Te-chan!"

But Kuroko was hearing nothing but the echoes of Aomine's statement as he did a cyclone pass that went straight towards Aomine, who caught it effortlessly.

"If that's your way of declaring war, so be it," Aomine said, dribbling the wall and ran past Kuroko, ankle breaking him, before slamming it down the hoop, scoring another point for Touo Academy. "But you're efforts will be useless against me. The only one who can beat me is me,"

Seirin called a time out afterwards with Riko pulling Kuroko out. His face was hidden due to the towel that hung over his head, but with his fist clenched, Shizuka knew how broken Kuroko feels.

"Damn it..." Kuroko whispered as drops of water fell on the floor. "Damn it..."

Kuroko sobbed lightly and upon hearing it, Shizuka shed a tear.

"It's not useless," Kagami said, patting Kuroko's head. "Everyone is still believing you'll come back,"

Tears still at the corner of his eyes, Kuroko looked up at his new 'light'.

"You've been carrying the whole team yourself for so long," Kagami said, suiting up as their time out ended. "It's time I share the burden with you,"

Shizuka wiped her tears away and put a hand on Kuroko's shoulder with a smile. "Te-chan," she called, her eyes on Kagami. "Ka-chan looks pretty strong today,"

Kuroko looked at her.

Shizuka's smile widened. "Seirin looks strong," she said, looking around at the players of the court then looked down at Kuroko. "You're almost there, Te-chan,"

Kuroko didn't know what happened, neither did any of the players as Kagami forced open the door to enter the Zone and go head to head with Aomine.

Shizuka nodded. "But... there's still a door in front of you..." she said, "Until you haven't opened that door... you won't surpass them..."

Kagami was tired of losing. He was tired of falling with his butt on the ground, not having the strength to stand up again without enduring the pain of the fall. He was tired of seeing his teammates heartbroken. He was tired of seeing his friends cry. He wasn't going to lose... not now, not ever. Even if it takes a hundred failures, he will stand up again and again and again for Seirin... for his seniors... for Kuroko.

"Amazing," Kuroko muttered after witnessing an intense one on one battle from Kagami and Aomine.

Shizuka smiled. "Coach," she called, her eyes still on Kuroko. "I think Te-chan's ready to come in now,"

"E-eh?!" Riko said.

Kuroko smiled his thanks at her then nodded at Riko. "Yes, please put me in as soon as possible," he said.

"O-okay," Riko said.

After calling a timeout, Riko put Kuroko back in for the ultimate game of the day and as Aomine passed by Seirin's bench, Shizuka stiffed in shock after seeing a twitch at Aomine's mouth.

Aomine was smiling again.

***
FLASHBACK
***

Aomine had dunked in his nth shot for today's practice game against the 2nd stringers.

"Yes!" He said with joy, slamming a clap on Kuroko's back. "Nice pass, Tetsu,"

"That hurts, Aomine-kun," Kuroko muttered.

"Dai-chan!" Momoi fumed. "If Tetsu-kun's pass was that good at least congratulate him by not slapping his soul out of his body!"

"Eh? Sorry, Tetsu," Aomine grinned. "I just got hyped up,"

"It's okay," Kuroko answered.

"Hey, Kuroko-cchi!" Kise called, "If you pass the ball to me often, I promise I won't hit you if the shot gets in,"

"Shut up, Kise," Aomine said, hooking an arm over Kuroko. "Kuroko's my best friend, therefore he'll pass to me only. If you want, go find a shadow of your own."

"Aomine's so mean!" Kise whined.

"Oy, will you keep it down?" Midorima said as he practiced shooting at the half court with Akashi and Shizuka checking them.

"Akashin," Murasakibara called lazily, "Can we take a break?"

"Hmm? But you've just started playing, Atsushi," Seijuro answered.

"I know but I'm hungry," Murasakibara said.

"My goodness, A-chan," Shizuka said with a smile. "When are you not hungry?"

Akashi smiled. "Fine, go take a five-minute break," he said, "We should too, Shintaro,"

Shizuka went over the referee's desk to review the data she and Momoi collected.

"I told you to take a break, didn't I?" Seijuro said.

Shizuka glanced up and smile. "I'll just review these real quick," she said.

Seijuro sighed. "Let's go grab something to eat, Shizuka," he said.

"Maybe later, nee-chan," Shizuka answered, making Seijuro frown.

"You know I don't take no for an answer, Shizuka," Seijuro said, making Shizuka smile.

"If we lose in our next game because I didn't checked—"

"We won't," Seijuro assured then gestured at the team who was talking and laughing together. "Besides..."

Kise and Aomine had just got into another petty quarell with Kuroko and Momoi trying to break them apart, Midorima and Murasakibara stood nearby with Midorima scolding Murasakibara for eating with his mouth open.

"You're missing out on another victory,"

***
END OF FLASHBACK
***

Aomine's eyes widened as Kagami jammed a hoop just a second before the final clock counted down to zero and the buzzer sounded off.

101-100

Seirin High School won.