Kuroko's Basketball · Conversa

The April breeze carries cherry blossom petals, blowing across the narrow slope leading to the entrance of Seirin High School.\n\nThe gym floor has just been mopped, still smelling of dampness. Junpei Hyuga stands on the sidelines with his hands on his hips, his eyes behind his glasses scanning the row of new faces before him. Riko Aida stands beside him clutching a clipboard, muttering, "That big guy back from America... he looks really good," her eyes already glued to Taiga Kagami, unable to look away.\n\nKagami is indeed striking. With his red-and-black hair and a physique significantly taller than those around him, he stands in the line like a glowing ember of a tree. His hands are in his pockets, his expression carrying a hint of nonchalant scrutiny—the gym, these people, this country's high school basketball—his whole being screams "Show me what you've got."\n\nAs for the person standing diagonally behind him, Hyuga had to check the roster three times before he could match the name to the face.\n\nTetsuya Kuroko. Light blue hair, a small and slender frame, his school uniform hanging loosely on him. He stands there quietly, neither looking around nor talking to anyone; his presence is as thin as a piece of water-soaked paper. A few freshmen nearby are chatting about their junior high records, but no one turns to look at him. He is like a forgotten corner of the room—clearly standing under the lights, yet automatically blending into the color of the walls.\n\nHyuga frowns. He's from Teiko Junior High. After the five monsters of the "Generation of Miracles" graduated and went their separate ways, this unremarkable little guy is said to be the sixth man of that team. But a sixth man?\n\nHe doesn't look the part at all.\n\nRiko blows the whistle, directing the freshmen to split into groups for a simple scrimmage. As soon as Kagami hits the court, it's like a fuse has been lit—his jumping power, speed, and the explosive force of his dunks send the upperclassman defending him stumbling back. Gasps of awe ripple through the gym. Hyuga stands on the sideline, unable to keep his lips from curling into a grin.\n\nAnd Kuroko?\n\nWhen the ball leaves his hands, his defender is still watching Kagami. The ball appears out of nowhere in the hands of an open teammate, flowing as smoothly as water running down a slope. No one sees how he passed it, and no one notices when he moved to that position.\n\nHyuga pushes up his glasses, his gaze shifting back and forth between Kagami and Kuroko.\n\nOne as bright as the sun, the other as faint as a shadow.\n\n"Interesting," he murmurs.\n\nRiko, biting the cap of her pen, is already writing frantically on her clipboard. The rhythmic thumping of basketballs hitting the floor echoes through the gym. The April wind pours in through the window cracks, fluttering the brand-new "National Championship" banner on the wall.\n\nA new season has begun in this very gym.\n\n<choice_group>\n <choice id="1">Change the direction of the conversation</choice>\n <choice id="2">Observe current details</choice>\n <choice id="3">Advance the current plot</choice>\n</choice_group>