#1 What is passion? [Knb fanfiction]

End: Chapter 26

Third Person's POV

Teiko, as the name of the school is brought up in the world of Japan's middle school basketball, five other names come along: Akashi Seijuro, Aomine Daiki, Murasakibara Atsushi, Midorima Shintaro and Kise Ryota. But ever since that day, the day where Mizushima Ai and Kuroko Tetsuya's 'mirage' play made its first appearance, those two names were placed next to the ones of the five prodigious basketball players. 

Since that match, we would see Teiko's opponents get overwhelmed by their fear in the 'mirage' if they were unlucky enough to have to face that. The opponents of the powerhouse school who were lucky enough to miss out on the brilliant show hosted by Mizushima and Kuroko would get crushed by the other five. Outsiders would think Teiko's regulars on the basketball team would be content with their record of achievements but if anything, two of them were feeling the complete opposite.

Yes, the two who were depressed and suffering were Mizushima and Kuroko.

"Tet-chan, should we, should we really continue this?" A girl with long dark hair asked the boy next to her, a crease forming between her eyebrows as her doe-like eyes stared intently at a pair of light blue ones. 

The boy beside her side fiddled with the cup of vanilla milkshake in his hands, "No, I don't think we should Mizushima-san." The girl nodded, her expression full of regret. 

"Do you think, the people we have defeated, the people who had their hopes crushed, by... by us would continue to play basketball?" She asked, hesitating before saying 'by us'. "We can only hope." A tint of worry and guilt crossed Kuroko's face as he accidentally squeezed the cup of vanilla milkshake - his favorite food.  Mizushima puckered her lips slightly, her magenta red eyes glistening with unshed tears. 

"I never thought... I never..." Mizushima's voice wavered as tears threatened to spill. "Neither did I. I never thought it would turn out this way. I never felt so horrible before." Kuroko finished, his eyes burning with rage as he clenched his fists. 

"I'm... sorry... Tet-chan. It was all my fault." Mizushima whispered quietly but Kuroko shook his head. "No no. I was selfish too. I thought... I thought they would finally acknowledge me and that we could be a team again." Kuroko reassured, his voice quivering, mixed with a few incomprehensible emotions, a big change from his usual monotonous voice. "It was my idea." Mizushima stated. "I feel so stupid. I just didn't want to be abandoned by them, I just wanted to catch up to them and reconnect our bonds but... I don't want to do this anymore."

"Me neither, not to mention, your legs can't take this. How about we stop after tomorrow's match at the finals?" Kuroko suggested. "Okay, let us enjoy the thrill of carrying out a play that reaches the level of the GOM one last time!"

***

Mizushima Ai's POV

"Mizushima-san."

"Mizushima-san."

I woke up, the first thing coming into view being a pair of light blue eyes. 

"Tet-chan?" I muttered, my voice strangely hoarse.

"Your legs... The knee joints loosened." My eyes opened in shock as he delivered the new to me. It was  because of the 'mirage' play. I pushed my legs to far, I was moving my legs at a speed so high my knees couldn't take it...

I smiled, laughing at my foolishness. "I guess this is the end. I won't try to do that play which relies on speed again." Tet-chan nodded. "Good."

The doctors went through a series of x-rays and other tests before letting us go, with me on the wheel chair. They said my knees would fully heal in about 2 months or so. Tet-chan wheeled me back to the school and it was undoubted that we had won the tournament. 

But as I entered the gym, looks of disapproval were targeted towards me and I cringed. 

"Mizushima Ai, that was pathetic. Did you think you could surpass us by using such a technique?" A certain red-head captain sneered.

"Mizu, we are better than you, just give up on chasing our footsteps and admit it already." A conceited blue-head accused.

"Mizu-chin~ You can't beat us~" The purple titan pointed out the obvious but hurtful truth without any means to hurt my feelings. 

"Mizushicchi. You didn't need to do that. We would've won anyways ssu!" The copy-cat said cheerfully, attempting to cheer me up rather than make me feel useless.

"Mizushima, do whatever you want but if you break your legs, you won't be able to play basketball." The oha-asa lover pushed up his glasses.

I whimpered. I knew they were trying to prevent me from hurting myself but... but I wanted to be useful to the team... They were my best friends, they were the ones who helped me with my dad so I... I wanted to help them reconnect their friendship in return. I wanted to help them but I realized my fault - I was simply incapable of doing so. 

Tears streamed down my face as I proceeded to get up but before I could do so, Tet-chan already wheeled me out of the gymnasium and into a park near the school. 

"Tet-chan. I think... I'll be leaving for a while." I muttered after reaching our destination. "To where?" He asked worriedly. "To get stronger." 

"B-but..." Before he could say anything, I put a finger to his lips, "I'll come back, I promise." Tet-chan eyed me anxiously but nodded. "I'm sorry Tet-chan, to leave everything to you. You'll find a new light who will be able to help you bring them back while I'm gone. You definitely will." I told him, a tiny smile forming on my face as the sun illuminated our faces. 

"When will you be back?" He asked. "Two years. I promise." I smiled into his pale blue orbs and handed him a necklace. "This is..." He asked, eyes wide. "Yup, it's my grandma's. She gave it to me before passing away, telling me to never give up on basketball or your hope. I'm sorry for not being able to help you but... Bring them back Tet-chan! Please!" I told him, shedding one last smile before leaving the next day. Leaving to...

America.

Kuroko Tetsuya's POV

I held the necklace tightly in the palm of my right hand. It had a golden chain and a basketball locket hanging from it. The black lines on the basketball were formed by tiny black gems, the skin of the ball being made from brown gems with a variety of sizes. Inside the locket, it held a picture of all 8 of us, her, GOM, Momoi-san and me from last year... when we were are smiling.

I'm going to bring us back to the way it was before. Mizushima-san.