AN: Whoa. I finally managed to fix this chapter to how I wanted it to be. For those who are confused, this is actually one of the purposes of the story because time-travel isn't supposed to make sense from the start. Sure, you get to be in the past again, fix things or change them, and hopefully change the future. That's how natural time-travel stories work. But you are dealing with reality and forces at work as to why it isn't possible in the real world, there are many factors to consider, paradoxes, and even possible parallel worlds.

Now, I'm not going to explain things just yet until the story had moved on to that part. This actually became somewhat of a mystery fic, according to my cousin, but it was one of my purpose too. Sometimes, being the time-traveller doesn't mean you have the answers just because you know a 'possible future' but you have to work on what you really travelled for. Though, here's a question to the readers:

(a) What do you think really is time-travelling?

Another question to follow that up would be:

(b) Do you really think that this is a time-travel story?

Now, I know some of you are going to be confused about the second question. Because, there are instances when you did travel back in time, manage to fix the 'thing' you did wrong and you woke up to see that things are fine again. But, didn't it make you think that maybe you just dreamt of a possible future or things had always been that way and you can't differentiate reality from fantasy?

The main subject of this story is actually the concept of time-travelling, so to speak, not to 'go back to the past and fix things' like in most stories. So, I hope I explained the concept of this story.

There are going to be no pairings, this is GEN.

Enjoy.

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[Chapter Two: Phase II]
"Time doesn't stop for you, for me, for us. It just moves on and on–"

"Do you remember how we met?" The taller boy asked with a smile.

Kuroko blinked at the other with confusion.

"We met by the nearby street court in our neighborhood…" He trailed off as he saw the other shaking his head with disappointment, making him feel slightly wary. "Is there something wrong about what I said?" He asked cautiously, eyeing the other closely.

Ogiwara gave him a grin as he jumped and sat himself on the other swing beside Kuroko, gripping the metal chains holding him up as he swung himself idly. For some reason, the sight brought a feeling of déjà vu to the smaller boy.

"Of course, that's how you'd remember it, huh?" Ogiwara murmured as he laughed.

To Kuroko, it sounded sad. And self-deprecating.

"It was nice," The teal haired boy commented softly, looking down at his lap. "Those days were nice," He stated more loudly, firmly, as his feet moved absentmindedly.

"But, I'm easily forgotten, don't you think?" Ogiwara whispered to the winds just as Kuroko's head snapped to his direction.

"I never would–"

The orange haired boy laughed.

"It's okay," He declared as he stretched out his legs. "People remember me slowly. I always leave some kind of impression on them, you see," There was amusement in his words this time and even Kuroko couldn't stop the small smile forming on his lips.

"Ogiwara-kun has always been that kind of person," Kuroko quietly agreed.

"But, you know what?"

Blue eyes blinked at the other.

"Ogiwara-kun is being strange," Kuroko remarked and even wondered how their original discussion had diverged like this.

"Once upon a time, there was a sick boy who only wanted to go outside and see the world," Ogiwara suddenly narrated with a faraway look on his face. "He wanted it so badly that when the chance finally came, he took it without second thought and explored the outside for all it was worth. It was beautiful. The sky was so clear. The trees were tall. The houses were unique on their own. And people were so interesting." He grinned as if remembering something.

"But something happened…" Kuroko spoke softly, already guessing some parts of where Ogiwara was going with the story.

"Yeah, you see, he met this annoying boy who wouldn't leave him alone," The orange haired boy suddenly turned to him, eyes unreadable. "Of course, the sick boy was so naïve and I just couldn't leave him alone," He stated with such grim finality that had Kuroko staring at the other back blankly.

For some unknown reason, his heart started to beat wildly in his chest. And despite the dread pooling within him, he forged on.

"What happened to them?" Kuroko asked quietly, his motions ceasing.

At that, Ogiwara avoided his gaze and his expression darkened considerably.

"The sick boy died,"

Kise frowned as he was once again redirected to the voice mail.

That was the fifteenth time that he had tried to call Kuroko. And it was already a week since the teal haired boy had resigned from the basketball club. And a week since he had last attended school. He would know since the other shared the same class with Momoi and the pink haired manager had shared her worry about their errant friend's continuous absence.

It was all confusing.

Kuroko had resigned. He had gathered as much. Aomine kept coming to practice, Kise had feared he wouldn't, but it merely consisted of terrorizing other members.

The dark haired teen had kept pouring out his frustrations on others. He was uncontrollable. So much so that Akashi had to forcibly ban him from practice that one time Aomine had almost beaten up a member who had casually mentioned that Kuroko's skill wasn't anything special.

He wasn't sure how or when it started. But, Kuroko's name became a taboo in the club. Because of Aomine? Him? Akashi? Momoi? He wasn't sure.

Sometimes, attending practice wasn't as exciting as before. It felt more like a chore more than anything.

Because, honestly? Who wanted to come to a club full of tension and pressure crackling in the air? Where breathing event a scant of air was difficult and suffocating and your movements felt like lead to the apprehensive feeling weighing on you.

Not to mention, since that day, things between Aomine and Murasakibara hadn't gone well at all.

If anything, Kise was waiting who would crack first and challenge the other and win. In the end, it was a matter of watching and waiting. He didn't know when it started to feel like he was walking on eggshells whenever he had to deal with his teammates. This was almost the exact feeling he felt from the club when Haizaki had 'quit' the club when they all knew the unspoken truth that Akashi had ejected him from the team.

It wasn't a pleasant feeling. And it was noticeably worse this time.

Now, he was starting to grow frustrated.

Kuroko had resigned from the club without giving them a reason or even just a warning before things blew out of proportion. Not even a day after that, the teal haired boy had stopped attending school too. He hadn't dropped out, a relieved Momoi had confirmed that, but he might as well have since he seemed to have vanished. His parents didn't know exactly where their son was but they knew that he wasn't in any danger and had to be away.

Though, talking to them was truthfully like talking to old people who always tended to forget who was related to them and not. It was aggravating.

Were things… really going to end here?

"You've noticed it, don't you?" Ogiwara asked with wonder.

Kuroko blinked at the sudden change of topic. The last words had been ominously delivered and silence had rung so loud that it persisted stubbornly for a few minutes. Then, Ogiwara was asking him about something random again.

Though, he felt like his friend's earlier words were important.

"That, no matter what you did, things always ended up the same?" The orange haired shook his head almost exasperatedly at this. "Even if you sabotage Akashi's captaincy, avoid Kise, try to teach Aomine some humility, or even find a new light, or even have the coach do it for you, it's always the same?"

Kuroko's eyes widened.

"Why?" He asked instead of how because he knew that Ogiwara wouldn't give him direct answers. He never did. Not since this ordeal.

"It's simple, you idiot," Ogiwara looked at him with an admonishing frown. "You don't wish for things and then do the opposite. That's not how fate works, yeah?"

"Wish?" Kuroko mumbled in confusion. "I didn't wish for anything," He insisted with a frown of his own.

Ogiwara looked like he was about to laugh again but was doing a great job of holding it in. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"You won the Winter Cup. You've brought love to your former teammates' basketball. But, it wasn't the same. Aomine still doesn't understand the concept of team, Kise can't still put the past behind him, Midorima refuses to fix those bridges burned, Murasakibara can't show that love, and Akashi is still Akashi and he can't accept you because he can't accept his loss," Ogiwara recited matter-of-factly. "But, Seirin was there, weren't they? And suddenly, for one sincere moment, you thought that it might've been better if I met them earlier, before them. Now, does that actually ring a bell?"

Actually, to Kuroko, it did. The thought had been a spur-of-the-moment. When he had been crying with his team and thought that he chose the right one.

But, it still didn't explain things.

"How did this happen?" Kuroko asked instead.

"You…" Ogiwara trailed off, a look of awe and sadness etched on his face. "You don't really remember, do you?"

His confusion must've been apparent because Ogiwara sighed.

"I'm actually the original time-traveler here," The orange haired boy admitted with a small smile. "You see, I didn't finish my story earlier. The sick boy got better and he finally got his freedom and spent it with his annoying friend. But, because his annoying friend is so annoying, that friend got himself into a bit of a situation that sick boy had to save him. You see, sick boy didn't really expect to live much longer, he gave up that hope before annoying friend brought it back. So maybe he thought it was okay to die as long as annoying friend is fine."

There was an image of a playground. The swing. A loud laugh. Ice cream. And… freedom.

Kuroko jerked in his seat as he stared at Ogiwara with wide eyes. It couldn't be…

"I'm not going to tell you the how," Ogiwara stated with a grin. "Not yet, at least. But, don't you ever die on me again, you hear me, Kuroko?"

Suddenly, a memory sprung to mind.

Kuroko stood alone in the rain.

Other people had already gone away and he was left alone standing in front of the gravestone. The flowers in his hand felt limp as the heavy rain pounded on it and his blue eyes could only stare at the gravestone blankly. The feeling of numbness had started to form–

"You can't let him go, that's your problem, Tetsuya," Akashi's voice taunted as he dribbled the ball on the court and Kuroko remembered seeing red, red, red–

There was a warm hand on his head and he looked up to meet Kagami's red eyes.

"That's why you took basketball again, right? For that friend?" The taller teen asked gruffly, avoiding his gaze–

"You're a disappointment, Tetsu," Aomine's deep baritone mocked him, his voice echoing with malice, his gaze absolutely cutting. "Besides, you're so hung up on us. What's one more weakling out of the court–

And it all circled back to this as he collapsed on his knees in front of the gravestone.

"I'm sorry, Ogiwara-kun,"

"You're the one who died," Kuroko delivered bluntly, breath suddenly shaky.

Ogiwara's eyes widened before he chuckled.

"Of course, that's how you'd remember it, huh?" The other boy released a breathless laugh at this.

Kuroko frowned, not finding any humor in it.

"And it's ironic. Now, you're stuck with me." Ogiwara admitted as he stood up. "We – no, you have to break away from the chain. That's why, we're going to let fate take us where you really ought to be." He crossed his arms over his chest with a decisive nod.

The teal haired boy looked down on his lap.

"Break away from the chain?" He echoed faintly. "Is that how it is?"

"Yeah…" Ogiwara answered softly.

"Then, what about Ogiwara-kun? What's your fate?" Kuroko asked as he looked up at the orange haired teen.

Ogiwara blinked.

"Mine?" There was an odd tone to his voice. "That's not your problem right now. So, what do you say?" He instead smiled as he offered his hand. "Let's fix this, okay? We'll let the winds take us there." Ogiwara said soothingly, as if he knew Kuroko's doubt and discomfort.

Kuroko hesitantly took the hand but firmly grasped it as he stood up.

"Winds?" He couldn't help but ask as he felt a strong gust of wind hitting them, tousling his hair and clothes.

"Yeah," Ogiwara was looking up at the sky as light began to surround them. "Instantaneous winds…"

Then, everything went bright.

Kise sighed in frustration as he picked up his phone.

Two weeks since anyone had seen Kuroko. He was getting worried. Momoi hadn't stopped pestering him about it too. He had forgone practice this morning because he was sick of Aomine and his rampage and the tension that was slowly smothering the team.

Dialing up the number that he had already memorized by heart, he expected to be redirected to the voicemail once again.

Though, he shot up out of his seat when it rang.

Ignoring the yelling teacher and the curious class, the blonde wasted no time into sprinting out of the classroom.

To his shock, someone finally answered the call.

"Kurokocchi?"

[End: Phase II]
There are some things that we simply don't know.

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TBC.