Distance of Shadow and Light: A Secret with Tetsuya Kuroko
After the fierce Winter Cup, Tetsuya Kuroko of Seirin High's basketball team quietly steps toward a new goal, having finished his heated battles against the Generation of Miracles.
But he carries a secret he can tell no one: a special feeling, beyond friendship, for his former light and now separate path-walker, Taiga Kagami. This must never come to light. Living as a shadow, Kuroko desperately hides his fiercely burning crush under an expressionless mask today as well.
On the other hand, Kaga
Distance of Shadow and Light: A Secret with Tetsuya Kuroko - Numbers Reveal an Unconcealable Love
A week had nearly passed since that declaration of war exchanged on the Tiger Court.
After school, in the first gymnasium. Aida Riko sat on the bench, flipping through the player data sheets clipped into her binder one by one. Fifteen minutes until the intra-team selection match. The club members were diligently warming up. The sound of bouncing balls and squeaking sneakers echoed against the high ceiling.
"Let's see, the sheets for the new members' ability assessments..."
Riko murmured to herself as she filed new forms into the binder. Her semi-long brown hair was tied back, and her large chestnut eyes traced the rows of numbers. For her, with her unique observational eye that could quantify and "see" a player's physical abilities, data was absolute truth.
Suddenly, Riko's hand stopped.
Kagami Taiga's and Kuroko Tetsuya's sheets had, by chance, ended up side by side on facing pages. On the left page: "Kagami Taiga, 195cm, Physical Rating S." On the right page: "Kuroko Tetsuya, 170cm, Misdirection Specialist." Their two names were lined up as if nestling close to each other.
(Why did I file them like this?)
Riko tilted her head at her own actions. When she'd added the new member sheets, had she unconsciously shifted the other pages? No, more than that—
Riko's gaze crawled over their two names.
Kagami Taiga. Her childhood friend, a troublesome younger-brother figure. Short-tempered, quick to shout, thinks about nothing but basketball, and often spills sweet bread in the club room. That guy.
(Taiga's eyes when he looks at Tetsuya-kun have changed.)
It had been clear ever since the Winter Cup ended. When Kuroko talked to someone, Kagami's brow furrowed. When Kuroko passed to another teammate, he bit his lip. As his childhood friend, Riko could see that change as plainly as if she were holding it in her hand.
(And, I also...)
Riko tightened her grip on her pen.
Kuroko Tetsuya. Quiet as a shadow, yet the devotion and passion he showed on the court. The clumsiness of someone who stakes his entire existence on erasing his own presence to make others shine. Before she knew it, she found herself following him with her eyes.
(As the coach, I'm just managing the numbers objectively.)
Riko told herself that. This was work. Data was data. There was no room for emotion.
But it was only when she saw Kagami's and Kuroko's names lined up that her pen-hand stopped. A tightness squeezed at her chest.
"Coach Aida! We're ready!"
At the voice of former captain Hyuuga, Riko looked up.
"R-Right! Then I'll announce the team assignments!"
Riko stood up, clutching the binder. The palm holding the clipboard was faintly damp with sweat.
—
The match began.
A red-white scrimmage selection match. The ostensible purpose was to assess the new members' abilities, but the real goal was to confirm the new team's coordination. Club members ran across the court in all directions. Kagami was playing as the red team's ace, Kuroko as the white team's point guard.
"Tetsuya! Over here, give me the pass!"
Kagami raised his left hand and shouted. His spiky, two-toned red and black hair swayed as his 195-centimeter frame took position under the goal.
That was the moment.
Riko's observational eye picked up the numbers. Kagami's heart rate—normally stable around 110 during regular play—was now clearly spiking. 135. 140. The numbers rose before her eyes. His pupils took on a faint bluish tint as digits floated up in her vision.
(Taiga's heart rate only jumps... when he demands a pass from Kuroko.)
Without thinking, Riko jotted the numbers down in the corner of her binder.
"Kagami, when demanding a pass from Kuroko: Average heart rate 142. Other situations: Average 113. Significant difference."
After writing it, Riko crossed out the text with double lines. Hard, pressing down firmly.
(No. If I acknowledge it as data, I'll be admitting it.)
Admitting it—she knew what that meant. What Kagami felt for Kuroko wasn't just friendship. It was romantic feeling. The numbers, coldly and ruthlessly, thrust that fact at her.
(But even if I erase it, the memory remains.)
Riko bit her lip. The numerical values were already seared into her mind, impossible to shake. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the game. In her line of sight, Kagami received Kuroko's pass and slammed home a powerful dunk.
"Alright!"
Kagami let out a roar. His gaze went straight to Kuroko first. As if to say he wanted no one else but Kuroko to acknowledge him.
Riko clutched the clipboard to her chest.
(My chest... hurts.)
She knew the cause. The sharp prick of pain when she'd noticed Kagami's change. And her own feelings toward Kuroko. She no longer knew which was the main source of the ache. The two pains mixed together, churning into a mess inside her chest.
—
The match reached its climax.
Thirty seconds left. A one-point difference. The white team was on the attack. Kuroko dribbled up the court. Visual Guidance—Misdirection activated, and for an instant, the defender lost sight of Kuroko.
In that gap.
Kuroko's right hand snapped the ball hard. An Ignite Pass. The ball, spun with a flick of his wrist, cut across the court with a sharp howl. The receiver—Kagami Taiga.
"It's here!!"
Kagami jumped. He grabbed the ball in mid-air and slammed it straight into the hoop.
BOOM!!
The moment the dunk went in, the gymnasium shook. The club members erupted in cheers.
"Nice pass!" "Awesome!"
But Riko couldn't voice a word.
Kagami and Kuroko exchanged a silent look. Kagami grinned, and Kuroko's mouth relaxed just a little. No words were needed. A signal understood only by the two of them. A world for just the two of them.
(I can't enter that world.)
Riko knew it instinctively. It was a moment she should admire as a coach, but the pain in her chest came first. She couldn't breathe. She hid her face with the clipboard and took a deep breath.
"Coach Aida? Your face is bright red."
An innocent voice flew her way.
"I-It's just hot!! Is the gym's air conditioning even working properly!?"
Riko shouted back. Koganei would later recount that he saw the phantom of a Hannya mask.
—
The match ended.
The club members drank water and wiped their sweat with towels. Riko tucked the binder under her arm and tried to walk over to Kuroko.
(I'll tell him his passes today were good.)
As the coach, it was a natural part of the job. She told herself that. But somewhere in her heart, she knew. It wasn't just work. She simply wanted to get closer to Kuroko.
"Tetsuya-ku—"
The moment she started to speak.
Out of nowhere, Kagami appeared.
"Tetsuya! Your passes today were the best!"
Kagami slid in next to Kuroko and ruffled his hair with a large hand.
"...Kagami-kun, you're messing up my hair."
Kuroko remained expressionless, but his voice was somehow gentle.
(Ah, I was... going to say the same thing.)
Riko murmured in her heart and silently turned on her heel. She was protecting her position as coach—she told herself that. But in truth, she just couldn't find the words to interject between the two of them.
Still clutching the binder, Riko walked toward the corner of the gym. Uncontainable emotions swirled in her chest.
—
Club activities ended, and Riko, returning alone to the club room, placed the binder on the desk.
Kagami's and Kuroko's data sheets, still on facing pages.
Riko put her hand on the page, about to tear it out. She put strength into her fingers. There was the faint sound of paper starting to rip.
But—she stopped after all.
(It's for my job as coach.)
She allowed herself that excuse. She gently returned the page where their data sat side by side to its original place.
—
On her way to return the gym key to the staff room.
Rounding a corner in the hallway, Riko stopped in her tracks.
She heard voices.
"Provisional club participation starts tomorrow. I'm looking forward to being able to practice beside Kuroko-senpai."
It was Kageyama You. Jet-black hair, gray eyes tinged with purple. He leaned his back against the wall, gazing at Kuroko.
"...Practice is tough, you know."
Kuroko replied curtly.
"I don't mind. After all, I came here to become your shadow."
Kageyama's voice held a quiet intensity. You could even call it obsession. Riko hid around the corner of the hallway, holding her breath.
(This kid... he's not just any new student.)
Kageyama's voice carried a pressure that felt like it clung to her skin. Obsession with Kuroko. And rivalry toward Kagami. Those two things were seething and boiling within him.
(When that guy shows up tomorrow, everything is definitely going to fall apart.)
Riko was certain. Should she report this premonition to Kagami?—No, if she told him, he'd just get even more worked up. That was her judgment as coach.
But.
(I want to be the only one who knows about Kuroko.)
That feeling was definitely mixed in there too. Pretending not to notice it, Riko quietly left the spot.
Only her shadow stretched long down the hallway.
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