𝐀 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟷𝟿

"What are you going to do, Kuroko?"

The last person who asked him that question had been Akashi.

Akashi, just after telling me how impressive it was to meet a veteran of the sport who sucked so entirely and had no presence on top. Akashi, trying to encourage him to reach out to Aomine as he left practice early after screaming at the other first-string player. Akashi told him that he would not be stopped if he decided to resign from the team.

Akashi, just after graduation. Trying to gauge if Kuroko still had the will to fight.

Honestly. As if Kuroko had the will to fight after their disaster third year. He should have known Teiko would have reacted to the Generation the way that they did. Why had he ever thought that a school which encouraged him to quit before he found usefulness for himself would be kind, teaching, and forgiving to their distress?

He tried fighting. He fought just to be on the third string. He fought to figure out Akashi's stupid, cryptic riddles that didn't even have an answer for him. He fought to stand beside Aomine. He fought to be recognized by each Miracle after Aomine. He fought to keep them together.

Wasn't he allowed to rest? What was the point of being allowed to quit if they were just going to pull him back in to fight some more? Couldn't he just enjoy listening to these new bands and reading his short novels in peace without remembering the thrill of being short of breath, the sweat beading down his spine, the joy of being seen and called by people he cared about?

He chose Seirin so that he could avoid the others. Sure, their basketball last year had been impressive, but he had heard that their ace was injured. They would not have made it far enough this year and he would have slipped out of the Miracles' minds by their second year if not for that stupid practice match.

But gripping about this didn't make decisions for him. If he didn't accept the bet at all, Momoi and Kise would keep swinging by the school. It wouldn't be bad for Seirin, but it would be exceptionally draining for him – as much as he missed his old friends, it would tear him apart to have to hang around them as they were now.

He could flip the coin on its head – Momoi was nothing if not fair, so she allowed changes to a bet since she knew that the team was skeptical of her ultimatums. She purposely made sure that her opponents seemed to have the advantage and swapped the winning sides if she knew her opponent was likely to call a bluff. Kuroko had never done as much and he knew she was taking the underdog's side with faith, but he was still hesitant to try and change anything. She could easily tell Midorima every single one of Seirin's weaknesses to make up for the change.

If he didn't change anything, then he would just have to hope that fate favored him over Momoi. He wasn't very hopeful, though. His luck was strong, but he never held a candle to Momoi when she had her sights set on something. She wasn't the head manager before the end of their first year for nothing.

Outside of Kuroko's non-expressive turmoil, the three teens continued through their meal. After quietly paying for their food, the group stood together outside of the restaurant and watched as people passed them by.

The silence made Takao antsy and Kasamatsu worried. The first year wanted an answer before he left to rest for the next day. The third year knew Kuroko was overthinking things as he normally did – he acted just like this whenever he was asked something simple. It took two weeks to get Kuroko to say what hobbies he even entertained before they had met.

Kasamatsu reached a hand out to the side and laid it on Kuroko's shoulder.

"You've got until tomorrow before the final match to tell them, right? You saw how both teams played today and you even got confirmation that Midorima isn't going to throw the match. If he does, you should be able to call foul because they told you he wouldn't.