Another Player [Kuroko no Basuke]

3 - Goals to Achieve

"Give us a official club membership form." Miki demanded. "Please." Kuroko added as he stood beside her. "You should be grateful for your skills. If you didn't have it, I would've automatically said no." Riko sighed as she handed Miki a paper.

"You forgot Tetsu's." Miki said with a glare. "What?! Was he always standing beside you?!" She asked as she pointed to the light blue haired boy. "That's cruel Pervert Riko..." She said while ruffling Kuroko's hair. "Stop calling me that! And here is the form for Kuroko!" She exclaimed as she handed her the second form.

"Oh yeah, I will only accept the form on Monday at 8:40 on the roof." Riko said as a mischievous smile formed on her face. "Yeah, whatever. Lets go Tetsu."

★     ★     ★

"I've been waiting for you all." Riko announced, as the whole team gathered on the school roof. "Are you stupid?" Kagami asked. "Is this a duel?" Kuroko asked. "I hope so! I'm ready to fight that Giant any day!" Miki said as she shadow boxed at Kagami. 

"I completely forgot. Monday, there's suppose to be a morning assembly in 5 minutes!" Kagami yelled as he dug through his bag to get his form. "I never thought you would be the type to follow school rules." Miki said to the giant red head. "Shut up and here take it!" He said as he shoved his form towards Riko.

"I have to tell you something first." Riko said, causing a gasp to emerge from Miki. "Is she gonna confess her love to him?!" "They met 3 days ago Miki-chan. I really don't think she would confess that fast." Kuroko said. "That's not true, there are several people that confess their love to someone the same day they meet! It's called true love." She argued. Miki suddenly got a bad feeling and quickly turned around to find Riko and Kagami both glaring at her.

"Anyways I made a promise when the captain asked me to be his coach last year. I promised that I would focus on pushing the team towards the national championship. If you don't think you're ready for that, there are other clubs suited for you."

"Of course I-"

"I know your strong." Riko said, interrupting Kagami. "But I need to know if you have something even more important. No matter how hard you practice, 'someday' and 'maybe' aren't good enough. I need to know you have ambitious goals and the will to accomplish it." Riko then looked over the railing, where all the students of the school gathered for the morning assembly. "Give out your year, class, and name. Announce your goals here and now. If you fail to achieve your goals, you'll come back up here, strip naked, and confess your love to the girl you love."

"WHAT?!" Was the freshmen's response. "RIKO THIS IS NO TIME TO BE THE PERVERT YOU ARE!" Miki yelled. "The poor boys will die of embarrassment!" A mischievous smile spread across Riko's face sending shivers down my spine. "Oh its not just them Miki-chan, you said you wanted to join to, you will follow the rules to, meaning if you fail you will also have to strip." Riko stated. "You demon! You will destroy my innocence!" Miki exclaimed as she cowered behind Kagami.

"All the second years did it last year." Riko said as she turned her attention back to the rest of the freshmen. "Like I said before, I'm looking for something concrete and reasonably ambitious. You'll have to do better then 'play my first game' or 'do my best'." She finished.

"Well that's easy." Miki said as she walked away from Kagami and towards where the rail was, and then sat down on it, letting her feet hang down. "Want to go first Giant?" She asked as she looked back to the red head. "Hello?" Miki asked after he didn't respond. She waved her hand to try to get his attention. "Miki-chan isn't that a little dangerous?" Kuroko asked as he came up from behind, holding her waist securely. "Hm? I don't think so." Miki said as as looked down at the students below us. "Either way, it seems like you're keeping me safe!" Miki grinned back at Kuroko. 

Several students began to notice the basketball team at the top of the roof and pointed up to show other students. Miki took a breath in as she looked down at the students. 

"CLASS 1-B! KUDO MIKI! I WILL DEFEAT MY FORMER TEAMMATES AND SHOW THEM HOW STRONG I AM!" Miki yelled suddenly, causing more students to look up at her.

"Spotlight's yours, Giant." She said as she got off of the railing. He nodded and hopped on top of the railing. "CLASS 1-B, NUMBER 5, KAGAMI TAIGA! I WILL DEFEAT THE GENERATION OF MIRACLES AND BECOME THE BEST PLAYER IN JAPAN!"

"Who's next? If you don't hurry the teachers will come." Riko said after Kagami finished. "Excuse me? Can I say that I want a girlfriend?" A freshman asked. "No." Was Riko's reply with a sweet fake smile. "I have one..." A freshman said as he walked to the railing. He made a speech about his whole life but stopped when he was kicked away.

"Can I say I want a girlfriend?" "No!" "Excuse me?" Everyone turned around to find Kuroko holding a megaphone. 'Where did he get that?' Everyone thought while sweat dropping. "I'm not good at speaking loudly, so could I use this?" "Where did you get that?" Riko asked however allowed him to use the item. 

He lifted up the megaphone and took a breath ready to announce his goal until the door was swung open by angered teachers. "Crap. We were almost finished." Riko complained before the whole team was scolded. 

★     ★     ★

"Poor Tetsu. You weren't able to announce your goal." Miki sighed as she took a sip out of her chocolate shake. "What if I'm not able to join the team." Kuroko wondered out loud, only causing Miki to gasp in panic. "WHAT NO! I WILL MAKE PERVERT RIKO ADD YOU ON THE TEAM!" Miki yelled causing people around to look at the table they sat at. Miki quickly sat back down and took a sip of Kuroko's shake but stopped when she saw a certain giant red head walk over to the table.

"I can't believe he got so mad over a little shouting." He mumbled as he sat next to Miki. "I didn't even finish and I got in trouble, too." Kuroko said causing Kagami to look over at him in shock. "You again?" He asked, causing Miki to look at the two in confusion. "Again?" Miki asked making him look at her this time with a shock expression. "Why are you here?!" He questioned as he scooted farther away from her.

"He sat with me yesterday after we parted ways." Kuroko explained. "Maybe I should start going somewhere else." Kagami mumbled to himself. "Looks like we aren't allowed on the roof anymore." Miki said as she took a hamburger from Kagami's giant pile.

"What'll we do if we can't join the team?" Kuroko asked. A smirk formed on Kagami's face. "That's not gonna happen." "Well... We'll see." Both Kuroko and Miki said at the same time.

"Oh yeah. Why didn't you go to some big name school like the other five guys?" Kagami asked Kuroko. 'Does he not care about my answer?' Miki thought as a tick mark formed on her head.

"You were good enough to be known as the phantom sixth member." Kagami said making Miki look out the window to try and ignore their conversation. "Is there some reason you play basketball?" Kagami asked.

"My middle school's basketball team had one core principle. Winning is everything. Instead of teamwork we needed to push the individual talents of the Generation of Miracles to win. Nothing could beat us, but we weren't a team. The 5 of them improved but I felt we lacked something important." Kuroko said.

"So, what? Are you gonna beat the Generation of Miracles your own way?" Kagami asked. "That's what I was thinking." "Seroiusly?!" Kagami said a little happily. "Your words and the coach's words really struck me. Now my biggest reason to play is trying to make you and our team the best in Japan." Kuroko said. "We're not gonna try. We're going to be the best." Kagami corrected causing a smile to form on Kuroko's face.

★     ★     ★

" 'We Will Be the Best in Japan'?" Miki said to herself as she read the writing on the ground from the roof of the school. 'Tetsuya sure has changed.." She thought as she swung her feet that were once again, dangling off of the railing. Miki looked to 1-B to find Kuroko sitting in his desk reading a book.

'I hope you chose a bright enough light..' She thought as she looked over at Kagami, who walked into the class. As she observed him, Kagami noticed her and his face became pale. He quickly walked over to Kuroko and pointed to where she was. A smile crept on Miki's face and she waved at the two boys before getting off of the rail and walking back to class. A small smile still remaining on her face.

'Those two will work. A nice light for a shadow.'