Chapter 2

Kagami poked at the buttons on the vending machine and grumbled.

"Damn machine. Gimme my drink,"

In the end, he glanced to the left and right of the corridor before sticking out his leg and kicking the machine.

*Clunk*

Two drinks fell out, one of which he didn't want.

"Red bean soup?" Kagami looked at the label with a grimace.

"That's not allowed you know." A voice spoke. Kagami looked to the right and saw a boy, a few inches taller than him, with green hair and glasses, looking at him with a frown. "You should've reported it if the machine wasn't working, nanodayo."

Kagami shrugged, "Too troublesome. Plus, I already got what I want." He looked at the red bean soup and tossed it to the other boy who easily caught it.

"What's this?"

"Don't want it. You can have it for not tattling to the teachers."

The green haired male frowned. "How do you know I won't say anything?"

"I don't but you don't seem like someone who'd report petty things like this." Kagami said bluntly. "If you don't want it, I'll just give it someone else."

The boy looked at the can and his face seemed to tense less.

"By the way, it's not any of my business but," Kagami eyed the object under the green-head's arm. "Is that a frying pan?"

"My lucky item for today," was all the boy said.

"...right." Kagami just gave him a weird look but chose not to comment. Everyone has their own hobbies, even if some are odd, and he doesn't have the right to judge. "See you later, I guess."

With that, he left while the green megane just stood there staring ahead.

'Who was that?'

-*-*-*-*-*-

"Ne, you going to watch the match today?"

"Of course. It's the first string playing, I'll get to see my Kise-kun in action again!"

"Tch, who cares about pretty boy? I can't wait to see Aomine!"

"Ehh? What about Murasakibara?"

"And Midorima!"

"Not forgetting Akashi."

.

.

Kagami walked through the hallway hearing all the talk about this game today at school. It was a basketball game.

'I wonder if Kuroko's gonna play. Maybe I should check it out.'

He had sworn off basketball but taking a small peek won't hurt. Mainly, he was curious about the generation of miracles who were going to play.

'Kuroko said they were geniuses but I want to see with my own eyes.'

He entered the classroom and made his way to the back before plonking down on his seat. He overheard a conversation taking place next to him with his neighbor and two other students.

"Our school will definitely win the championship again. The generation of miracles are unstoppable."

"Yeah, I don't think they've ever lost a match."

"But, what about the phantom sixth man?"

"What about him? Everyone knows he's not real. It's just a myth."

...Eh?

Kagami glanced at the person who said this briefly. 'They think Kuroko doesn't exist?'

"Then what about those crazy passes?"

"It's obviously just the miracles who do that. Some trick no doubt."

"I don't think so..."

Crazy passes? Kagami wondered what they meant. Was something about their passes different from the usual?

He was definitely going to attend the game today.

-*-*-*-*-*-

Kagami found a seat in the Teikou gym and settled down, dumping his bag on the chair next to it. There was a large crowd of people here today which was unusual for a preliminary match.

"The generation of miracles...what kind of players are they to attract this big a crowd?" he muttered to himself.

Suddenly, the horde of girls in front started squealing gaining Kagami's attention. He turned to the court and saw the doors opening with a group of colourful headed boys, walking in.

"Rainbow?" he snickered. 'But...' his eyes narrowed, 'they are strong.'

The team walked to their bench and sat down. It was difficult, but Kagami managed to spot Kuroko sitting next to a dark-skinned boy. He also spotted the green haired boy from the previous day.

'So he was part of them.' Kagami thought.

The opposing team made their way in an sat on their designated benches. It was odd though. Kagami could fairly make out their forms and they seemed far too...nervous? Intimidated even. He remembered seeing players like that, back in America. It's like they already know they were going to lose.

"How stupid." He murmured. "Or rather, why have they already given up?"

Down on the court, the miracles faced their captain.

"We'll play as usual. Tetsuya, you'll sit out in the first half." Akashi's eyes glinted slightly.

"Hai, Akashi-kun." Kuroko said.

*Brrrt*

Akashi looked at the Coach and nodded. "Let's begin."

-*-*-*-*-*-

In the middle of the court stood Murasakibara. Probably the tallest middle-schooler Kagami had ever seen. The purple giant had a face of blatant boredom – much like Kagami's own face before.

The ball was thrown up, and the giant easily retrieved it before passing it to another teammate – Aomine.

Kagami's eyes widened briefly, seeing Aomine dribble and handle the ball. His style was developed in the streets, no doubt, and Kagami's own style was something similar.

"He's fast, his ball handling is without flaw, and his shots haven't once missed no matter how lamely thrown they look." Kagami leaned forward on his seat. "What a monster."

So this guy was Kuroko's partner huh. He was beginning to see what the small boy had been talking about at Maji Burger. With their talents and dependency on their own individual strength, they slowly came to realize they have no need for Kuroko. Why would they when they can dribble and score all on their own?

"He's got a shitty personality though." Noted the red-head. It was so obvious the tanned boy (and the others aside from Kuroko) felt the opposition were not proper opponents. The tanned boy especially was simply toying around with them.

The first half of the game, the score was already 40 to 15.

Kuroko was placed in, in the second half and Kagami locked his gaze onto him. It seemed the boy really was invisible since no one noticed his presence and the referee had to double check that Teikou had five players.

The second half began and Kagami immediately pinned down Kuroko's role and strength.

"So he really is the sixth phantom member. The one with the special passes." Kagami kept his eyes on him, analyzing his moves. 'Kuroko's a player I've never seen before. Someone with such little presence yet is a trump card. But, what is his style?'

The opponents seemed confused at the mysterious curving of the ball and easily lost sight of the blue-headed player.

Kagami's eyes widened as he snapped his fingers. 'I got it! So that's how he does it. Kuroko's directing the opponents attention elsewhere. He's using misdirection and combining that with his already weak presence...'

"It seems he doesn't realize how much of a monster he is just like the rest of his team."

Kagami was amazed, he admitted. He could tell the different strengths of each of the miracles and understood why they were respected to such lengths.

Akashi – the captain of the team. Great leadership, perfect support player and could somehow predict players moves.

Midorima – The Vice-captain of the team who's never missed a shot and always shoots high-arc three pointers. His defense is incredibly solid as well.

Aomine – the ace of the team. Fast, and formless ball style. His instincts are godly and his shots – much like Midorima's, have never once missed.

Murasakibara – the centre. Exceptional height and wingspan. A natural born talent with insane instincts as well.

Kise – the copycat. His ability to analyse opponents play style and copy them is fearsome and scarily powerful.

And lastly...

Kuroko – the hidden trump card. Weak presence, misdirection and a monstrous passing ability which could change the flow of a game.

"So this is the generation of miracles." Kagami stated with a smirk. "Almost makes me want to play basketball again."