Moriyasu

Chapter 4 - The story behind the Miracles

The longest, fluffliest chessiest, and cringy chapter I've ever written in my life.

I love myself.

Enjoy!

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When Tetsuya finally gathered enough strength to get up, the dorm room was empty—with no surprise, he guessed. It must surely be past wake-up time. Groggily, the pale little boy stepped out of his bed and headed toward the door with a headache similar to thousands needles piercing through his skulls.

Tetsuya hated being sick, hated having such a weak body, because whenever he was sick, he was alone.

And he hated being alone. It scared him.

With a lot of effort, he arrived at the door and stepped out of the room.

::

"Something is bothering me."

Riko wondered where this strength of hers was coming from today. Usually, she felt intimated in front of the Generation of Miracles and never did it occur to her that she would talk so freely to them one day. But she couldn't help it after all. Her team was like a second family to her and she always made it a point of honor to know them personally in various areas. But as the secrets surrounding the Miracles unfolded, she found her heart slowly sinking at the thought that she knew nothing of Kagami and Kuroko.

Those two were the reason Seirin won the championship; it was thanks to them that Kiyoshi got to play his last season without any regret, the one who let Hyuga's potential as a captain explode, who boost the determination of Mitobe, Koganei and Tsuchida, who rekindled the fire within Kawahara, Furihata and Fukada. Even now, the first-years were most moved by their passion for basketball and their greedy need to get stronger and stronger.

They gave so much to Seirin High Basketball Team, and as shameful as it is, the team gave them nothing in return, did nothing to get to know personally; and as the coach, Riko felt the most responsible about it. Now that she got the chance to repair the damage, she sure as hell wouldn't let it go.

"Akashi-kun has been saying that your respective families 'let you down' and 'abandon you'. It's a little bit confusing."

When she asked the question, she didn't know that Takao had been having the same thought. Having known Midorima for quite a while now, he was quite acquainted to Shihoko-san, Midorima's aunt. The woman was a real sweetheart, bearing the boy's antics with little effort and lots of love. He honestly couldn't believe that the woman would abandon him.

"That's...a little difficult to explain..." Akashi mused, thinking for a short while, before looking at his sworn brothers and sister with a smile. "I think it'll be better if each of us explain their own story, don't you think?"

The concerned brothers and sister tensed, visibly not expecting having the floor; as it had been established that the captain of Rakuzan would be the one the lead the conversation till the end. But Akashi is Akashi, so they obliged without complain.

"I guess I will the one to start..." Kagami spoke up, inwardly wondering why he had to bring this up already. "Very well... I think I was around two or three years old when my parents got divorced-dunno the reason though. At the end of their trial, it was said that I was supposed to be under the care of my mother, but she refused and went to America, leaving my father and I in Japan."

Riko felt her stomach twist, not liking where this conversation was going.

"One day, my father had enough of the situation, so thirteen years ago, on June 23rd, he bought a one-way plane ticket to Los Angeles for me to send me back to her. The plane crashed five minutes after it took off." Kagami's eyes didn't leave the window as he talked, ignoring the gaps and murmurs within the crowd.