The Basketball Saruhiko Played [Kuroko no Basket Fanfic]

Game 23:

As the seemingly gigantic doors of the gymnasium closed, a lingering echo resounded through the gymnasium walls. The lights of the gym were closed and curtains were also placed over the windows, making the gym utterly dark.

Kuroko noticed that the gymnasium was unusually quiet. He hesitantly walked across the gym, his shoes tapping loudly as he took every step along the cool floorboards, searching for their insane manager who called them there in the first place. However, he couldn't see anything in the darkness.

Kuroko immediately turned around when he heard other footsteps joining his.

"Saruhiko-san?"

Kuroko squinted, trying his very best to see the figure of Saru from the shadows.He wasn't sure how accurate his vision is at the moment, but he could feel her strong presence. It's almost too unbearable not to sense that power within her. He is aware of how her abilities surge through her veins, only to be masked by the mischievous and childish pretenses she made.

"The shadows... as you say, is your sanctuary..."

Kuroko was still baffled and still utterly confused why they are doing this in the first place.They should've been training seriously at the moment since there is another competition held months away. Kuroko blindly followed the source of the voice, wanting to stop this whole weird activity their insane manager is doing...

"Saruhiko-san, I don't understand why--"

"Are you even sure you're meant to dwell in this darkness?"

Kuroko stopped walking, wondering what in the world has gotten into their manager. He was getting the hang of how impossibly "creative" Saru could be however, at the current moment, he has the gut feeling that they haven't known what kind of person their manager really is. Kuroko heightened his senses and put his guard up. What he knows in the moment is that Saru is currently serious about what she's doing... or not.

Kuroko heard footsteps walking towards him and he knows that she was near him.

"You say that you are Taiga's shadow," Kuroko heard the dribbling of the ball as Saru spoke with such calmness yet he knew that she meant something more judging from the tone of her voice, "are you sure can prove your resolve for such responsibility?" Kuroko looked at his right as the ball's dribbling slowly faded, replaced by the resounding footsteps gradually getting louder as each second passed.

He could somehow see a darker figure standing right beside him and he was sure about what would happen in the next few minutes.

With three claps, the curtains were raised up and Kuroko was temporarily blinded from the abrupt change in the room lighting. He raised his hand to cover his face from further blindness and saw some movements in the upper floor of the gym. Looking at their weary faces and trembling statures looking fearfully towards the purple head standing tall and proud now right in front of him, gleaming with proudness probably for her successful 'I-shall-abduct-and-scare-you-to-death-meh-just-kidding-lol' operation.

"Did you like the show?" Saru jumped towards him, her eyes filled with sparkles as if telling him to praise her awesome acting and pranks for the day. However, Kuroko remained neutral. When Saru realized that the blue-haired robot wouldn't budge, she pouted and looked at the terrified school mates she randomly kidnapped and just shooed them away as if they were the ones who have bothered her in the first place. The poor students willingly complied and hurriedly exited towards the nearest escape route they found.

"You're seriously so boring, Tetsuya-kun." Saru said disappointedly towards the emotionless lad standing right in front of her. She walked slowly towards the ball she dribbled a while ago and started dribbling it again. Kuroko quietly watched her as she dribbled the ball so easily, despite bearing small, feminine hands. It was as if she could dribble it at her sleep which was in fact weird because even Momo, a person who had known basketball since her youth, had a hard time holding the ball when they were practicing at Teiko.

"You were never the shadow, Tetsuya-kun..." Kuroko snapped out of his thoughts and looked towards Saru. His eyes landed on Saru's sapphire eyes, seeing his reflection from her crystal orbs as if she's staring across his soul. Despite the clarity and beauty of her eyes, it seems that it also held something else within it, something Saru may have never shared with anybody else.

Saru motioned her head towards the ring of the court and dribbled the basketball and then she slowly shifted body into a position Kuroko has always seen hundreds of times right before his very eyes, but before Saru took the shot, she whispered words that rang and lingered through Kuroko's whole body...

"Nobody was."

The ball flew through the air with such stillness and precision but Kuroko was still gazing upon their manager right in front of him, who in fact still held the position for a few seconds before contracting back to her original, relaxed posture.

Saru looked towards Kuroko with her usual mischievous and boastful grins, her mysterious side seconds ago long forgotten.

"Why did you want to talk to me, Saruhiko-san?" Kuroko glanced back to the ball as it landed perfectly within the hoop, its bouncing sounds echoing in the gymnasium. Saru simply gave a smile towards him and slowly walked towards his direction. She went near him and whispered something in his ear. Kuroko froze, his face aghast as the purple-head gracefully walked towards the gymnasium doors. Kuroko stood still and utterly stricken, unaware of the last glance the manager gave before opening the huge gym doors. The opening of the doors sounded ever so loud in Kuroko's ears, but it was nothing compared to the ringing of Saru's whispered words...

"I'm sorry Kuro-chan...

I want you out of the team."