Rebirth In KurokoNoBasket

A group of five people was eating lunch at a canteen together.

If one were to describe them, they would choose the word diverse.

Every single one of the people of the group had a hair color that stood out from the rest of the people.

The group of people was actually the regular members of the Teiko middle school basketball club, first-string.

The canteen was the school canteen.

Akashi Seijuro, Murasakibara Atsushi, Aomine Daiki, Midorima Shintaro, and Kuroko Tetsuya were eating together in harmony and peace.

But a chaotic element intruded in their peaceful environment and created discord.

The person who intruded was Haizaki Shogo. He had greyish-silver hair and had multiple piercings in his ears.

He came casually and picked up a meatball from Kuroko's plate.

Haizaki: "That meatball is now mine!"

After saying Haizaki dropped the meatball into his mouth.

Aomine who saw that complained in place of his silent friend.

Aomine: "Damn you, Haizaki! If you're hungry, order extra-large or go get seconds!"

Aomine pointed at Haizaki with his chopsticks and rebuked him.

Aomine: "Don't go stealing food every time!"

Kuroko didn't want a fight to start in the canteen, and he truly didn't mind sharing his food, so he spoke.

Kuroko: "I don't particularly mind."

Haizaki looked at Aomine and spoke while chewing the meatball.

Haizaki: "It's no big deal. I mean, you eat people's stuff a lot too."

Aomine didn't agree with Haizaki comparing them.

Aomine: "I only take when I'm hungry."

Midorima spoke up, correcting Aomine.

Midorima: "That's the same thing, Aomine."

Aomine backed off at that and grumbled.

But Midorima wasn't done yet he addressed Haizaki, without looking at him.

Midorima: "Also, Haizaki, don't make sounds while eating. It lacks table manners."

Papa Midorima was on a roll as he looked at Murasakibara and scolded him for his incorrect way of holding chopsticks.

Midorima: "And fix how you hold your chopsticks, Murasakibara."

Murasakibara stopped eating, looked at his chopstick hand, and grumbled.

Murasakibara: "Huh?"

Murasakibara looked at Haizaki and said accusingly.

Murasakibara: "Wait, I got roped into all this because of you, 'Zaki-chin."

Haizaki ignored Murasakibara's words and focused on the food on his plates.

Haizaki: "Your fried chicken looks good too. That's mi-"

But before he could reach to grab food from Murasakibara's plate, Murasakibara wrapped his arms around his and said menacingly.

Murasakibara: "Take even one takuan pickle, and I'll crush you."

Aomine sweatdropped beside Murasakibara and said.

Aomine: "Your aura's more menacing now than in games..."

Haizaki looked at his teammates, smirked, and said in a low voice.

Haizaki: "You guys are making such a fuss. I'm always telling you. It's not like I'm hungry or anything."

Haizaki licked his thumb and continued.

Haizaki: "When people eat stuff, it looks really delicious. So I can't help it."

Everybody looked at Haizaki with an expression of discomfort or disapproval.

Akashi closed one of his eyes thinking about something, Kuroko maintained his usual poker face, and Aomine frowned disapprovingly at Haizaki.

Midorima didn't like the mood of the group, so he changed the topic of the conversation.

Midorima: "I hear a second year is advancing to the first-string team today.

I also hear that he started playing two weeks ago."

Kuroko got interested and was surprised when heard that a person who just started playing two weeks ago was already advancing to the second string.

Kuroko: "What's his name?"

Midorima looked towards Kuroko and answered.

Midorima: "Kise Ryota."

Midorima continued to inform the group about Kise.

Midorima: "Seems, it's the fastest advance since us."

Aomine, who heard the name, spoke up.

Aomine: "I know that guy! I've met him."

In Aomine's mind, Kise was a good guy as he didn't report him to the teachers after he hit him with a basketball.

Aomine: 'I would have been in trouble if he had reported on me.'

Murasakibara picked his bowl of rice and continued eating.

Murasakibara: "Like I care."

Haizaki joined the conversation when he heard about Kise.

Haizaki: "Heh. Kise Ryota, huh?"

Midorima looked up from his plate and looked at Haizaki.

Midorima: "That's unusual, Haizaki. For you to remember someone's name."

Haizaki looked thoughtful and said.

Haizaki: "Well, it's just hunch. But, it seems like he'll do pretty good."

Haizaki paused for a second and finally said.

Haizaki: "And, I don't think I'll get along with him."

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

After school, the second-string of Teiko basketball club members were wiping down the gym floor to remove any sweat that might have gotten on the floor from the school activities during the day.

Kise had a mop in his hands and him with two other members, they were going up and down the gym to clean the floor.

Suddenly a set of feet came in the way of Kise's mop, so he looked up and found a girl standing there.

Without waiting for Kise to speak up, the girl spoke up with a smile.

???: "Are you the second year, Kise Ryota?"

Kise was taken back by the sudden question, but he managed to answer her query.

Kise: "Yeah. Who are you?"

The girl looked up at Kise and introduced herself.

Satsuki: "I'm the manager, Momoi Satsuki."

She continued after introducing herself.

Satsuki: "From today onwards, you're to practice in the first gym with the first string members."

Kise smiled at the news and replied.

Kise: "Okay. Uh, I mean, all right!"

The second-string members around the two were amazed by Kise's advancement.

Member One: "Amazing. He got moved up to the first-string, without even having to take the advancement test."

Member Two: "It hasn't even been two weeks since he joined the club!"

Kise followed Satsuki and thought after hearing the other's comments.

Kise: 'Well, of course. I mean, this is me we're talking about.

Even if this club is supposed to be super strong, second-string isn't good enough for me.'

As they reached the door of the first gym, Kise's line of thought was disturbed by the figure of Aomine jumping up for a dunk.

Aomine held on to the rim and suspended off it. Without getting down, he asked.

Aomine: "Satsuki, why is Kise here with you?"

Satsuki looked up at Aomine, who was still hanging from the rim of the basket.

Satsuki: "Starting today, Kise-kun will be practicing with the first-string."

Aomine: "Oh yeah? That's amazing for someone who just started playing."

Aomine released the rim and got down.

Aomine had, of course, forgotten about the conversation about Kise, he and the others had, earlier the same day.

Kise thought while looking at Aomine.

Kise: "You're the one that's amazing. What kind of middle schooler can dunk?"

Kise thought back to Aomine's word.

Kise: "And seriously, aren't you acting pretty chummy when we've only met a couple of times."

Satsuki asked Aomine while he got the ball.

Satsuki: "Aomine-kun, do you know where Testu-kun is?"

Aomine replied while moving to the other side of the court.

Aomine: "Nope."

Satsuki sighed and rested her hands on her waist.

Satsuki: "What'll we do now? Tetsu-kun is supposed to be your mentor."

Kise tilted his head and asked.

Kise: "My mentor?"

Satsuki looked around the gym to see if she could find Kuroko.

Satsuki: "Yeah. You're a second year, but all the third-year students are saying that since you entered the club late, you'll still have to do chores like a first-year.

So that's why we assigned a mentor to you as a guide till you get used to the first-string."

Kise understood the matter about a mentor and asked.

Kise: "And he's supposed to be this Tetsu-kun?"

Out of nowhere, Kise heard a voice call out to him.

???: "You called?"

Kise was surprised and looked around to see the one who just spoke.

There was no one behind him or at his sides. When he returned facing forward, he was shocked to see someone standing right in front of him.

Kise cried out and backed up a few steps.

Kise: "Who're you?"

Satsuki turned back to find why Kise was shouting. She saw the person she was looking for, so she went to introduce him.

Satsuki: "Tetsu-kun! He's the guy I told you about before, Kise Ryota-kun."

The person introduced himself and bowed.

Kuroko: "Hello. I'm Kuroko Tetsuya."

Kise looked at his so-called and was not impressed.

Kise: 'This guy's gonna be my mentor?'

-*-*-*-*-*-*-

There was a game going on in the first-string.

Both teams had some high-level players.

Kise saw the players in the game and was impressed.

He saw a huge guy, who he didn't believe was a middle-schooler.

He blocked every attempt to finishing at the rim.

Then there was Aomine who passed two guys and pulled a faceup jump shot from mid-range in a third one.

Kise was impressed by the level of players in the first-string.

Kise: "Amazing. First-string really is in a class of its own."

He smiled and thought.

Kise: 'Well, if it wasn't, I wouldn't be here.'

While Kise was admiring the players in first-string, he heard a shout from one of his team members from his game.

Member: "Kise!"

The ball was passed to Kise, and he immediately turned to attack.

Kise dribbled forward and was met by a defender. He passed the defender a simple left to right crossover.

He got to the paint, and there was another defender. Kise simply jumped and used a layup to score on the post defender.

The members of the first-string were impressed by Kise, who just started playing two weeks ago.

Member One: "Nice shot, Kise!"

While some were impressed, others were shocked.

Member Two: "Is that normal for a guy who just joined the first-string?"

Kise heard the comments made in awe and shock.

Kise: 'Well, it's me. From the looks of it, I'll become a regular sooner than I thought.'

On the other side of the gym, Kise heard a shout.

Member: "Go on! Get going for a fast break!"

Kise looked to find the ball with his mentor, Kuroko Tetsuya.

He was in front of everybody and was attempting a finger-roll layup.

But, Kuroko missed the simple layup, and Kise was stumped seeing that.

Member: "Come on, Kuroko! You can't miss open layups!"

While seeing that, Kise thought.

Kise: "That's my... mentor?"