#1 What is passion? [Knb fanfiction]

Chapter 18

Kuroko Tetsuya's POV

"Kuroko, you are in charge of training Kise." Akashi-kun told me after school.

Right now, even though we have Mizushima-san, she can only play for a little while in the game. It's not that we don't acknowledge her abilities, it's just that she's a girl. In order to compete in the tournaments, she has to put on a hoodie in order to cover her face. And of course, wearing a hoodie while playing? One word - Bad. The hoodie makes her 1) slower because she cannot let it be blown off 2) sweat more than usual 3) not able to make as much physical contact. Our coach registered her as a boy... That's why we have another player, beside Mizushima-san and I called Haizaki Shougo and trust me, we all dislike that guy. 

Why can't I play when Mizushima-san is benched? I'm not physically capable of playing for a long period of time and my misdirection wears off after a while. 

So the solution was Haizaki Shougo. He is this ugly, ugly, ugly guy who has an even uglier personality. Akashi-kun was trying to find a way to get rid of him for months but that guy has some true skills we have to admit. All of us were ripping our hairs out until Kise-kun came along the way. He has a natural talent - his wonderful copying skills and his physical abilities just adds on to that. 

I just have to train him to become better than Haizaki-kun in 4 weeks, before the test for promotion.

I can do this. I will do this.

Mizushima Ai's POV

Kise-kun took one look at Kuroko-kun and turned around immediately, disapproval evident in his eyes. 

"Why him? He's so weak." He muttered. Kuroko-kun remained expressionless but I could tell he was hurt, who wouldn't be?

"Kuroko-kun is not weak!" I exclaimed, my mouth stretching into a thin line.

"But-" Kise-kun tried to speak before someone cut him off.

"Any questions?" Akashi-kun said with a daring tone.

"N-no..." Kise-kun stuttered helplessly, deciding it was best not to argue with our captain.

"I'll oversee their training." I offered and Akashi-kun granted my wish.

***

Kuroko-kun couldn't dribble or shoot so he couldn't teach Kise-kun how to play and that isn't why he was here for anyways. He was here to prepare Kise-kun mentally. 

They were going through a few dribbling and shooting drills and it turned out Kise-kun exceeded my expectations. But something didn't seem right. His plays... He looked bored. He wasn't enjoying this.

"Water break!" Kuroko-kun told him and as Kise-kun walked away from the court, his eyes were dull. 

"Boring..." was all I made out.

How can you say that! You should try your best in everything! I wanted to go up and yell at him but deep down, I knew that I wasn't the one to talk. I mean, I've gave up on basketball for a while before realizing that it was everything to me.

After practice, I told him to meet me at the park. 

"I'll tell you a story." I told him after we sat down.

"There was once a boy who came to Teiko, wanting to play in the team. But life was cruel, he was born with a small and weak body so he ended up in the third string. The boy gave it his all during practice and stayed after practice in order to get better but no luck, he wasn't able to reach the second nor third string and was told by the coach to quit because he got the lowest scores. Walking alone at night that day, he remembered the words of a friend who was in the first string but at that moment, he didn't know what to do anymore, the path he followed had become clouded. He was lost."

I sighed.

"The boy went to visit his friend and told him that he wanted to quit basketball, saying that he has no talent for it. His friend who was a talented basketball freak said this: 'I won't say you'll definitely be able to do it if you don't give up. But if you do give up, then there'll definitely be nothing.' The boy was motivated to stay. Later on, someone noticed his hidden talent and left a clue for the boy. The boy was given a chance and now with the passion back, he began his search for his so called 'talent'. The boy grasped on tight to his chance and climbed up, not once did he let go. Finally, he became part of the team."

Kise-kun had his eyes wide open in awe. "That boy... That boy's awesome!" He blurted out, a smile surfacing.

"Kuroko-kun deshou." I watched for his reaction and a smile formed on my face as he stared at me in disbelief. 

"Arigato Mizushicchi!" I felt accomplished as I watched him leave until... I realized the new nickname he's given me. My eyes twitched as I clenched my fists.

"Talking about me huh?" I turned around and saw Aomine-kun. He heard our conversation?

"It's not good to eavesdrop." I informed him and I saw a smirk appear as he took the seat besides me. 

"Thanks for um... helping Tetsu." He smiled. I smiled in return.

"Let's just see how far Kise-kun will go."