"What Was Lost"

He didn't know what he had. They didn't know what they had. And when they finally realized it, it was already too late.

Kuroko felt pained when his teammates had changed.

He didn't recognize them anymore – as if they were completely different people. To Kuroko, it seemed as if monsters have taken over their bodies; making them unrecognizable, cold and ruthless.

Especially Aomine.

Aomine was Kuroko's "light" – though they didn't exactly agree on most things, they worked well together when it comes to basketball. In a sense, they were best friends. Aomine meant so much to Kuroko, he was just as important, if not more than, the other Miracles.

But still, Kuroko cared for them. He wished to change them, no, turn them back to their original selves, the people who were loveable, unique and the people who cared.

And then, when he met Kagami Taiga, he had thought that he was the answer. He thought that he was the key to changing them back; to making them realize how much they loved basketball. And, in a sense, Kagami was the key – when he wasn't too overconfident; when he wasn't playing by himself, believing he could do it alone.

Kagami changed as well.

And Kuroko felt like he could cry so much that he'll run out of tears. All the people he treasured changed – the Miracles, Aomine, and now, Kagami. He started to think that maybe he was the cause, that maybe there was something wrong with him. When he talked this out with Momoi, the pink-haired girl assured him that that was not the case.

'It's not your fault' she said to him in a comforting voice. He believed her – at least most of him did. There was a part of him that didn't; a part of him that kept blaming himself for his teammates' change.

Kuroko and the others were now in their third year of high school.

Most of them had stopped playing basketball after the Winter Cup had ended.

Kagami quit, saying that it was no fun if the Miracles aren't going to play him. Midorima thought it was a waste of time, Kise focused on his modeling career, and Murasakibara thought that it was no fun and it's too much effort to continue playing.

Aomine quit as well, thinking that while Kagami is an interesting opponent, he is still unbeatable. Akashi quit after expressing that he is absolute and as such, no one will be able to beat him. He had also quit because his father had forced him to focus on his academics.

Kuroko quit in his second year, shocking the basketball team, especially Riko, Kiyoshi and Hyuuga.

"But Kuroko-kun, you can't quit! The team needs you!" Riko cried out, her voice was desperate, and there was a pleading look in her eyes.

The baby blue-haired boy just stared at her expressionlessly. "I'm sorry, Coach, but I think you'll be fine without me."

"Is this about Kagami quitting? Kuroko, you can't just bail out on us…!" Hyuuga snapped. His eyes were filled with frustration and anxiety.

"…No, this has nothing to do with Kagami-kun, Captain. I am quitting because I want to quit."

Kiyoshi walks over to the former phantom sixth man and places a hand on his shoulder. His brown eyes were sad, yet at the same time, they were angry. "…Why do you want to quit? Don't you love basketball, Kuroko?"

Kuroko shrugs off his hand and turns around, walking away from them.

"…I used to love basketball. However, there's no point to it anymore."

Kuroko was alone in his house. The bluenette was sitting on his bed, staring at the photo album that lay open before him. In it were photos of when he was with Shige, when he was in Teiko, and then in Seirin.

He picked up one photo – a photo of him with the Miracles. It was a stolen shot, which Momoi had taken when they were out together. Aomine and Kise were goofing around, Midorima was telling them to stop, Murasakibara was ruffling Kuroko's hair and Akashi was just standing by the side, smiling fondly at his team.

He then picks up another photo, the one where he was with Kagami and the team. They were all out eating okonomiyaki, and Riko and Kiyoshi decided it was a good idea to take a picture. They were all posed for the photo when Nigou decided to interrupt and jump over to Kagami. In the end, it came out as a candid shot.

"Huh…?"

Kuroko was shocked when something dripped on the photo. He put a hand up to his eyes, and sure enough, there were tears.

The blue-eyed boy bit his lip to keep himself from crying out, but he ended up sobbing. Tears flowed down his pale cheeks, and he was clutching the photo album to his chest. His body was shaking and he felt so alone.

He missed them. He missed all of them.

He wanted them back.

'…Was it because of me that they changed…?'

The now 19-year-old was in a daze as he roamed around the streets at night. It was 11 p.m., and it was a Friday, however, the streets only had a few vehicles here and there. Kuroko decided to walk around and take a break from doing his homework. However, his thoughts wandered again to his former teammates, and as such, he was very distracted.

'…But like Momoi-san said, it's not my fault…I haven't heard from them at all since they quit, though…Maybe I should try to contact them…'

Kuroko was in such a daze that he didn't realize that he was crossing the street.

And that a truck was about to slam into him.

"What is that- Oi, kid! Look out…!"

"…Huh?"

Kuroko turned and saw the bright light of the truck, making his eyes widen. But it was already too late.

The cathedral door opened, revealing Momoi and Aomine, who had an unreadable look on his face. He seemed devastated, frustrated and a bit shocked. The pink-haired woman tugged on his sleeved arm gently.

"Dai-chan…let's go over to where Ki-chan and the others are…"

The tanned male stayed silent, and just let Momoi guide him to where Kise and the others were.

"Aominecchi…"

Kise's voice seemed to make Aomine snap out of his shock since he turned to face the blonde. Kise's eyes were swollen and red. Although it was obvious that he had been crying so much already, he looked like he was about to cry again.

Aomine noticed that Akashi and Midorima were missing. Kagami was nowhere to be found as well. He decided to ask Kise.

"…Kise, where's Akashi and Midorima? …And Kagami?"

Kise's head hung low, avoiding Aomine's gaze. "…Akashicchi, Midorimacchi and Kagamicchi haven't arrived yet…Shougo-kun is here, however…'

"Haizaki…?"

He was shocked that he was even at Kuroko's funeral. He and Kuroko weren't really close, and Haizaki wasn't a person who was shown to care for others.

He spotted a silver-haired male near the back, all by himself. His bangs covered his eyes, but one could see that he was biting his lip. Haizaki was shaking out of anger, but surprisingly, he stayed silent.

Aomine wanted to go to him, but Kise stopped him. "No, Aominecchi…Let's leave him alone for now…"

Aomine sat next to Murasakibara. He purple-haired teen was clenching his fists and there were tears streaming down his cheeks. He didn't say a word, nor did he even take notice of his surroundings.

'…I'm an idiot…' Aomine thought with a wry smile. Tears threatened to spill out of his eyes, but Aomine fought hard to not let them spill.

"…..Oi, if you're gonna cry, just cry. Idiot."

Startled, he turned and saw Kagami standing there. He looked horrible, as if he hadn't been sleeping at all lately. There were dark bags under his eyes, and they were puffy and red. And although the redhead was muscular, you could tell that he lost some weight – and not in a good way.

"…Kagami…"

The redhead sat next to him, letting out a frustrated sigh. He didn't say anything, and just leaned forward and put his elbows on his legs. His red orbs were staring at the white coffin, where Kuroko laid.

"…I'm sorry, Kuroko….."He whispered softly as a tear slipped down his cheek.

Midorima arrived right after Kagami, but he didn't say a word to anyone and just grieved silently. Although the bespectacled teen was mostly stoic, his expression was full of pain. Takao just sat next to him, trying his best to comfort his best friend. Although Takao wanted to cheer Midorima up, he couldn't. He also felt pain in his chest, and just cried silently.

Footsteps echoed in the cathedral as someone walked towards the coffin. It was red-haired male, and he was standing in front of the coffin.

He gazed sadly at Kuroko, who appeared to sleeping peacefully. He placed his hands on the glass, as if wanting to touch the baby blue-haired male's cheek.

"I'm so sorry, Tetsuya…I'm sorry…I'm so, so sorry…"

Tears spilled out of his heterochromial eyes, and he brought up a hand to hide his face. It didn't matter if he appeared weak or if he showed so much emotion right now. He just wanted to let out all of the pain and regret he felt. He wanted to scream out loud and state how sorry he was.

He wanted to bring Kuroko back.

"Tetsuya…! I'm so sorry! …Forgive me….!" His voice rang out in the cathedral, drawing more attention to him.

He was now on his knees on the cold marble floor, looking like a broken doll. Nobody had seen him break down like that before. Not even his father.

"Akashi…"

At the mention of his name, the redhead looked up to see Haizaki offering his hand to him. The silverette's expression was blank, but his eyes held pain.

"Shougo…I'm sorry…Tetsuya…He…"

Akashi was already having a meltdown, and he just stayed on the floor, sobbing. The silverette knelt down to his level, attempting to get him to stand. Akashi refused to stand, so Haizaki just stayed there next to him, trying to comfort the redhead the best way he knew.

At the display of Akashi's emotions, the other Miracles and Kagami felt even more pained. They felt so idiotic and stupid. They neglected the person who cared about them so much, who loved them so much. They wanted to turn back time and make amends, but alas, life is not that easy.

"I'm an idiot…" Aomine growled, frustrated at himself.

Kagami glanced at him sadly. "…We all are, Aomine. We all are…"

Epilogue: We Meet Again

A kid with light blue eyes held a basketball in his hands, gazing at the other kids who were playing. He was all alone, and it seemed like nobody was interested to play with him.

It's either that, or they didn't notice him.

"Hey!"

He didn't mind the voice, since he didn't think it would be directed to him.

"Hey, you with the basketball! Don't ignore me!"

At this he turned, and saw a tanned blue-haired boy frowning at him. "Why didn't you respond the first time?"

"Ah, it's because…I thought you weren't talking to me…"

"That's crazy! Oh, hey, you wanna play with us? I'll introduce you to my friends!"

The little blue-haired boy didn't get a chance to respond since the other dragged him to meet his friends.

"Oi, everyone! Let's play!"

At this, his friends approach him and stared at the light blue-haired boy questioningly.

"…We're gonna play basketball with him…?" a silver-haired boy asked, pointing at him.

The bespectacled boy put down his hand. "It's rude to point you know, nanodayo!"

"I like him. He's interesting." A ruby-haired boy said, giving him a small smile.

"He looks weak." The other redhead said, letting out a grunt.

"Mou, that's rude you know~"

"…Do you like sweets?" a violet-haired kid asked, munching on some cookies.

The boy looks up at the tanned kid questioningly. "Um…"

"Oh right! I'm Aomine Daiki!" he says with a grin. "What's your name…?"

"Ah…I'm Kuroko Tetsuya."

A blonde boy bounces over to the little Kuroko, glomping him. "I'm Kise Ryouta~!"

"…Kagami Taiga."

"I'm Akashi Seijuurou."

"Murasakibara Atsushi…"

"Midorima Shintarou, nanodayo."

"Haizaki Shougo."

Kuroko smiles brightly at his newfound friends. He felt like he belonged with them, and he felt happy with them. The others taught him how to play basketball after telling them how much he liked it. The little Kuroko felt as if he had met these people before but he shrugged it off. Since he was a kid, he didn't really understand.

But maybe when he grows older alongside them, he'll learn that they were fated to meet one another and that this was another chance for all of them to be together.

Chapter End Notes:

This is inspired from the song "Our Let It Be" sang by Hatsune Miku. I honestly don't know why I wanted to write a fic like this, but I'm glad with how it turned out.

I'm sorry if they were OOC though, please forgive me. orz

If you would like to comment/complain/suggest, feel free to do so~

(And I'm active after such a long time, hahaha.
Maybe I'll update my other stories afterwards~)

P.S.
Idk why, but I sort of ship AkaHai.

-Shiro