After eating, cleaning up the dishes, and changed his clothes, Kuroko lifted Nigou into his arms and left the house, walking his way towards Seirin High School's gym building.

The cold air felt crisp as it gently brushed against his face, just as it did… today? Kuroko wasn't sure how to address the original day of today before it repeated, if that had made any sense. He had hoped it was a dream only to be proven wrong when he felt a sting of pain as he pinched his arm and from the light slap on his face (which he did to himself).

He sighed and silently watched the warm air from his mouth become a small puffy cloud before it disappeared the next instant. The trees looked the same, although that was a given almost every day during the winter as nature made the branches bare. The people he saw every day on the other hand, wore the same clothes, gave him the same greetings and gestures as before, and interacted with others just as he vaguely remembered they had done on the original day.

Distant cars zoomed by, some cars' horns were honking and people were chattering. Nothing changed. No one noticed. Kuroko kept tabs on all of this until he made his way to the school gates. He then focused his attention to the school gym and his meeting with Alex.

If everything played out as it did on the original day, than Alex would be late by ten minutes (it would be 9:12 by then), a cup of coffee in hand, then explaining how she got held back because of the long line and she couldn't decide on what pastry she wanted for breakfast.

The sky was a light grey, blanketed by clouds for as far as the eye could see. The basketball Kuroko had in his duffel bag had been brought out by then. He spun it then caught it. Spun then caught. He did this without a second thought as he looked up at the sky and he blinked in wonder.

As to sort things out and simply put, the day of the Winter Cup finals had repeated. A Groundhog Day type of idea. Time was repeating itself on this particular day. Why? And it seems there is a future him, however, was called Mayuzumi Chihiro instead of Kuroko Tetsuya, who traveled back in time to this particular time period. And why was that?

Mayuzumi said it was to save Seirin. To prevent a disaster that could break the team apart. Was that true? Kuroko was unsure.

Eight minutes had passed.

Nigou, who was allowed to walk around the gym as long as he was within eyesight, came trotting back to Kuroko and barked. Seirin's phantom player looked down at the puppy, eyes pleading for attention. He smiled then crouched down, petting the dogs head until he heard the faint sound of footsteps running towards him.

He looked up and saw a long, blonde-hair figure running onto the campus.

"Kuroko-kun! Where are you?" Alex called out, not noticing the teen walking up to her from her left.

"I am right here," he answered. The phone screen read the digital numbers of 9:12 in the morning.

"Oh," she gasped in surprised before smiling brightly and clapped her hands together, gesturing she would apologize. It seemed unnatural, the way she did it. Or rather, it might have been done a bit too gleefully for an apology; most likely because Alex was having fun learning and practicing Japanese culture and traditions.

"Sorry about that Kuroko-kun. The café I've been frequenting had a long line today and it took me a while to choose between a donut or a tart for breakfast this morning. Usually Taiga cooks for me these mornings but he left early so…" Alex continued talking but Kuroko was only half listening to what she was saying.

Noticing that Kuroko was gazing off into the distance, Alex waved a hand in front of him and smiled. "You okay?" she asked once they had made eye contact.

"I apologize for not paying attention. I've been lost in thought since this morning," Kuroko admitted, although reluctantly. He wasn't willing to go and blurt out the incomprehensible idea of time travel and make himself look crazy at this point. If there was anyone who might think his claims were understandable and reasonable, it might just be Mayuzumi Chihiro, no matter how much he did not prefer the idea of talking to the older male… Saying he experienced the repetition of the day as he did.

Alex laughed. "Getting anxious on the most important game of the year? Well, you have Taiga and the rest of the team on your side. Put your heads together and do your thing. If you're determined enough and you put all the work you've been doing into today, it should work out well enough."

His actions must have triggered for Alex to say something he did not remember she had said before in the original timeline.

As if in realization, his eyes widened before he gave a small smiled and nodded. "Thank you very much for the advice. I will keep it in mind. It is about time I get going so I will see you after the match. Nigou, behave while you are with Alex-san."

The husky barked before running into Alex's open arms. Kuroko left to meet up with his team allowing time to lead him to whatever his future may be.

Like the original day, he had met up with the team. The sky was still grey and the air still frigid and cold. Kuroko still felt gloomy from his 'previous' lost against Rakuzan. Yet, it did not stop the small faint glimpse of hope around the corner. Being given a second chance was a miracle in and of itself and he was not going to waste it by being depressed and distracted.

It was past noon. It took over an hour to get to the venue due to the heavy traffic despite it being the middle of the day. The third place match had started at 12:15 p.m. The Rakuzan versus Seirin match started at 13:45 p.m.

Thirty more minutes.

Kuroko had excused himself from the locker room and placed himself towards the back of the stadium as he faced himself towards the ongoing match of Shuutoku and Kaijou. It would seem that his blank, blue eyes were watching the court rather intently. That was not the case, however.

Rather than watching, he listened to the dribble of the basketball against the polished court floor, the squeak of basketball shoes against wood, and the shouts and cheers coming from the audience.

He remembered his own sweat dripping onto the floor. He remembered the tears and hard work he and his teammates had put in to get where they are at. He remembered why he had continued basketball despite the discouragement he had faced.

His lips slightly parted, taking in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Kuroko blinked twice to refocus his vision and turned to his right to move back to the locker room only to stop in his tracks a moment afterwards.

It was 13:26 p.m.

"Hey… Could it also be that you're also experiencing this?"

It was 13:04 when Mayzumi decided to get out of the locker room. It was insufferable enough that Nebuya had been eating gyoza the whole time since they came to the stadium. Freshly steamed and still fragrant, the room was reeking with twelve boxes of the food and the smell was worsening his headache. The scent of food had never given him such a headache until he had met Nebuya. He especially did not want to go through that experience twice in a row.

Hayama and Mibuchi had also excused themselves and went off on their own to who knows where. At the moment, he didn't care. All he wanted was to relieve himself of the banging in his head since earlier that morning.

Mayuzumi sighed, grey eyes staring blankly at the ground beneath his feet. Akashi warned them to come back to the locker room by 13:30. Not that he's ever been late, whether in the past or now. There were several things that did not change about him since he became Mayuzmi Chihiro and being prompt and on time was one of them.

It was tough having to travel back in time, practically changing almost every aspect about himself to create an entirely different from 'Kuroko Tetsuya'. His appearance, his attitude, hobbies, habits, interests, beliefs; he had to change them all.

And the concept, rules, and variables he was given for time travel was complicated enough as it was. He suffered enough headaches from the past three years just from thinking about it. He had thought his goal was achieved but that did not seem to be the case, not when he seemed to be stuck in a time loop which made the situation worse than what it already was.

Letting out another side, he exited the hall and into the stadium where obnoxious cheering and constant chattering was going on. It did not help is headache one bit but he had a feeling he needed to go out. Plus it seemed more bearable than being in a narrow hallway or a room smelled like fried gyoza.

A sense of nostalgia filled Mayuzumi as he watched the earnest faces of the players in both Shuutoku and Kaijou, playing basketball to the best of their abilities. He blinked before closing his eyes. Grey irises soon caught sight of the color from the corning of his eye. He turned left, his suspicions confirmed.

His mind no longer on the match, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, his eyelids lowered and he thought. Mayuzumi watched Seirin's phantom player's eyes narrowed. I habit that indicated he was in thought and was struggling over a serious problem.

Mayuzumi didn't know if Kuroko remembered the night… before? If he did, then that would mean they were in the same situation. Mayuzumi remembered the day of the Winter Cup finals back in his time. He definitely knew he didn't walk out of the locker room to watch Kaijo against Shuutoku.

Was it worth the risk to reveal the truth despite the possibility he might seem crazy? If Mayuzumi was right and what he was in was a time loop, he would repeat this day over and over and whatever he said one day would not be remembered in the next loop.

Ah, so that's what he could call it, a loop.

There was no need to be entirely afraid to say something when someone else could ultimately forget it altogether.

Not wanting to sound crazy from the get go however, he decided to be vague when he approached Kuroko. With a new found resolve in hopes of breaking the time loop, he walked up to his former self who stopped, his round eyes widening in shock, and opened his mouth to speak. This was going to be another awkward conversation.

A/N: Freaking darn. I completely stopped writing for this fic in approx. a year. Oops. Well, I hope this is okay. I have no idea what I'm even doing anymore because it's been so long since I had this idea. Luckily I still saved my conversation with Infinite Skye otherwise I don't think I'd know how to proceed with this story. My love for time travel fics overpowers my lack of confidence so we'll see how this goes, hehe.

I've been busy and kind of depressed because of Calculus but ah, I'll figure stuff out… Well, and also Physics… And I've been watching people play rpg horror games. Never good with jump scares or suspense but I can handle blood and violence quite well. Kind of contradictory but that is part of human nature.

I'm also graduating from high school this year so there's also that. Still worried about Calculus because I kind of have an F right now thanks to the tests but like, I don't understand so much of the stuff… I need to cram and study for the first three tests from this semester (oops, a lot of info I probably won't remember).

I shouldn't be writing but I've gotten a review and a few more follows and favorites and I kind of went through a stage of slight guilt and agony for not updating so here ya go J

Well, that's it~

Animefan106 over and out.