Betrayal in its simplest form

Chapter 1

"Oi, Kuroko!" Kagami's loud voice echoed throughout the gym. Seirin's basketball team paid him no mind as they wiped off their perspiration with their towels. Today's training had been tough, especially with a practice match against Kaijou coming up.

A certain teal-colored head raised in the mist of sweaty basketball players. "Hai, Kagami-kun?"

"Can I come over to your house, today?" The red-head stood in front of his teammate, his unusually tall frame looming over the smaller boy. At Kagami's question, all of Seirin turned their heads toward Kuroko.

"Oi, don't leave me out," Junpei Hyuuga, Seirin's captain, popped in next to Kagami. "I want to see Kuroko's house, too."

Riko, their coach, appeared as well. "Me, too! I've never seen your house before, Kuroko."

Soon, many of the Seirin basketball team members crowded around the poor, short boy, asking if they could see his house.

"Ano. . ." Kuroko finally spoke up. Even when quiet, everyone heard him and stopped talking. "Thank you for the interest, but I am busy this afternoon. I'm sorry for the inconvenience." He stood up from the bench and gave a short bow. The whole team quietly shuffled out of their way as Kuroko grabbed his blue bag and walked out of the gym without another word.

There was a moment of silence before:

"What the hell was that about?" Hyuuga.

"What does he mean by busy? Does he have a date?" Izuki.

"W-what? No! He can't have a girlfriend!" Kagami.

"E-eh? Why not, Kagami?" Teppei.

"J-just because!" Kagami.

"Enough!" The coach yelled at the top of her lungs. Everybody froze. She waited for all whispers to stop before asking, "Haven't you guys noticed Kuroko has been acting differently, lately?"

"What do you mean, senpai?" Kagami asked, always the dense one.

"Bakagami," Riko muttered. "I mean for the past few days, Kuroko's been too quiet. I mean, I know he's always quiet, but this kind of silence is like he's hiding something. Anyone notice?"

"Now that you mention it," Hyuuga spoke up, "he didn't make any of his usually-correct passes, today. You would think he would work harder since we're going up against Kaijou soon . . . ."

"And he hasn't been coming with us after practice, anymore," Koga chirped.

Mitobe silently bent forward and grabbed an object. He held it high for all to see. It was Kuroko's basketball bag. Everyone blinked.

"Wait, then what—"

"My bag's missing!" Kagami shouted. "Damn, Kuroko must have taken it by accident!" Then he stopped. Wait, Kuroko took it by accident? His partner was never this reckless.

There was long silence between the teammates of Seirin's high basketball team. Each player thought of their dependable passer. "Just what is going on?" everyone questioned out loud, excluding Mitobe.

~Setting Skip~

"I'm home," Kuroko said quietly, even though he knew no one was home—or so he thought. He slowly shut the door closed and took off his blue basketball shoes. Dropping his bag, unnoticed by him that Kagami's name was printed on the bag in clear, black letters, he shuffled a few steps in the hall, but didn't get far because a hand flew toward his face and slammed him against a wall.

His body radiated with pain as he slid down and collapsed on the floor. Before he had time to recover, the same hand that had attacked him pulled at his short hair and yanked his face up. An unwanted yelp escaped his lips. A pair of familiar, cold, blue eyes came close to his face. "Where were you, Tetsuya-kun?"

"O-okaa-san," Kuroko whispered painfully. "I thought your trip would end later."

A cruel sneer appeared on the supposedly young woman's face. She had the same teal-colored hair, yet it reached her shoulder and was styled toward the right, not the left. A slim, yet powerful body with the same pale skin you would kind on Kuroko. As similar as they looked, the mother and son were completely different.

"Is that all I get, you ungrateful brat?" she hissed. "No 'welcome home'? I went on that trip to earn money for you. Now I know it was a waste." The pressure on his scalp thankfully disappeared, but it was replaced by a sharp blow on the side of his head, making him slam against the wall once more. "Well?" A hideous pain bloomed at his ribs right after a hard kick was applied.

Kuroko coughed up blood. "W-welcome home, Okaa-san," he managed to croak.

The woman didn't seem to hear as she applied another kick to Kuroko's rib area. She picked up the small teen and threw him against the wall. The small teen tried to defend himself as best as he could, to no avail. Pain grew until his body couldn't take it. Just on the brink of passing out, he heard a faint voice:

"Ibuki! Ibuki, stop it! You're going to kill our son!"

Otou-san, Kuroko thought. The night sky blanketed before him, until he could see nothing but pitch black.