Multicolored Hearts

3k special

Thanks everyone who read my fan fiction up to this point! I know I was inactive for the longest time and I apologize greatly ;-; school ended, I was in Europe for 10 days and I'm headed to Mexico next week. I didn't even realize this has 3k reads until now! Hopefully my writing skills are still good! Thanks everyone!!

P.S this isn't necessarily a Riko X __ chapter unless you think it is in your mind. Just saying.

It was the beginning of summer. That calm, summer breeze frequently came in through the morning and slowed during the day. The mornings were crisp and the evenings became warm; warm enough to enjoy the outdoors but not enough to swim and enjoy ice cream. Not just yet. Although the weather was terribly nice outside, an unfortunate group of boys remained indoors, running themselves to death around the squeaky gym floor.

"Faster! I want faster!" barked the coach.

With legs made of jelly, the team tried harder to run. They felt their body being deprived of oxygen and were ready to collapse. This should be considered inhumane torture.

"Wha-ith-oach-day?" Kagami Taiga tiredly asked his captain, Hyuuga Junpei,

"No-idea," he coughed back.

The team stopped and rested on the floor. Everyone was panting and coughing. The coach came close and the ones on the floor had a small, miracle-like burst of energy to huddle close to their team, away from her.

"I'm still unhappy, but I'll give you a break for now. Take advantage of it." she snapped, marching away.

Several minutes passes and their feeling in their legs began to come back. Kagami was the first to stand.

"Oye, Kuroko, why do you think she's so- Kuroko?" Kagami found himself searching for the shortest member of the team.

"He was running with us wasn't he?" Izuki Shun mentioned, sitting next to Hyuuga.

"He was, he was running right behind me," Kagami said, "I'll go look for him." He began to walk, his knees shaking.

"Kagami! Coach said to take advantage of this break!" Koganei Shinji tried to stop him.

Ignoring him, Kagami kept walking, entering the halls in search for the mysterious blue haired ghost.

He walked down the seemingly empty halls. Sometimes he'd hear the footsteps echo in them. Other times, he'd see the shadow mirror him as he walked passed the windows. This time, he heard a light noise. It was too faint to tell what it was, but he could tell it was coming from up ahead. The closer he got, the more the sound turned into the light sound of crying. The whining, short breathing and sniffing. Closer and closer, he could tell the crying was coming from the infirmary. The gym was practically empty except for the team and the coach, so it was obvious who the one crying was. Kagami opened the door and opened his eyes wide to let the image of his crying coach soak in. It was rare to see her cry,  she was a tough cookie after all. But, like all cookies, they crumble after a while.

"Coach?" Kagami half whispered as he stepped closer.

"Go away!" she barked at him. Her hands came to her face and cried.

"What's wrong?!" Kagami came closer. She made an attempt to punch him but, used to it by now, he grabbed her wrist and avoided it. It took him only little effort to push her back, he was almost double her height and weight after all.

"Coach, you're not the type to cry over anything. What's the matter?"

She stopped forcing herself out of his grasp and looked down at the ground. Her tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped onto the floor, like rain. Kagami was so unsure on what to do, he never knew what it took to comfort someone since he's never had to. He's seen Hyuuga do it once, so he made the attempt to mimic him and place a hand on her head. To his ultimate surprise, she leaned forward and rested her head on his massive chest. He put all the effort in his legs, despite how much it hurt, to not fall back out of surprise.

"It's my fault. . . It's my fault. . ." she muttered into him, over and over again as if she was chanting it.

Kagami grew a bit mad. He grabbed her by the shoulders and put distance between the themselves. With one hand, he gently grasped her chin and forced her to look him in the eye. Her brown eyes were normally red with anger, but now blue with sadness and tears bubbling in her eyes.

"It was an accident. It was inevitable-"

"-I could've saved him-"

"-there's nothing we could've done!"

She was silent. Kagami's hands shook. He didn't know what to do with the silence, so he pulled her in for a hug instead. The memories flashed in his head like a movie. It was only last year, but it felt like an eternity ago. When they were all walking outside eating ice cream, and, as usual, Kuroko walked behind them all. They were crossing a street and none of them realized how far back Kuroko was. She was usually at the front of the group. She turned around and the last minute and saw the car come at full speed. She sprinted towards him, yelling his name to get out of the way. Right as her foot touch the pavement of the road, blood splattered her face. It was a moment of silence, terror, shock and fear, all in one in the eyes of every witness.

The driver stepped out of the car. She launched herself onto him with all her force and began to beat him merciless.

"Riko!" yelled Kiyoshi Teppei from the team.

"Coach!" Kagami ran to her and stripped her away from the man, holding her tightly so she couldn't break free. Kiyoshi ran to the man, and Hyuuga to Kuroko. His eyes watered and couldn't look at him any longer. Riko cried into Kagami. The rest of the team crowded around them. Someone in the crowd called the ambulance.

Kagami loosened himself on Riko and she broke free and ran to Kuroko. It was a bloody sight. She touched the blood on her cheek that came from his mouth, with now dripped blood. She kneeled beside him and held his head and cried her body dry.

The memories faded away. Kagami could hear the ambulance ringing in his ears, see Riko and Hyuuga crying near Kuroko, himself crying near the car and Kiyoshi and the rest in total shock.

"Riko," he gently said, "it was no ones fault. Kuroko happened to be so behind. It just happened, okay? There's nothing we can do, life plays a dirty game."

Riko loosened herself from Kagami and dried her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

She sat down and Kagami sat next to her. They had a moment of silence. The air turned cold, and the two of them looked to the infirmary entrance, where the light outline of the blue haired boy stood, watching them. He was breathing hard, as if he has just ran.

Riko began to cry again and Kagami couldn't look away. Kuroko stepped forward, approaching Riko. The air around them turned immensely cold. With a clear hand, Kuroko patted Riko's head. His eyes looked over to Kagami and he smiled. Kagami reached out, hoping to touch his hair, but Kuroko stepped back. Riko looked up at him and stood up, wanting to touch him also. He only smiled and waved before dissolving into the air.

"He looked happy," Kagami murmured.

"He did," Riko said quietly.

"You know, he comes to practice daily and runs with us. How come this suddenly affected you now?"

"It was, just an overwhelming feeling. It just happened."

"At the very least, we know he's here and he's happy. That's all that matters," Kagami placed an assuring arm on her shoulder. "Feeling better? The team is waiting on us."

Riko slightly nodded and began to walk out with Kagami. As they left, Kuroko reappeared and watched them leave the room. He smiles once more, and quickly followed them, catching up this time so he could finish up practice.