Tetsuya Kuroko/Relationships

Overview

Story

Relationships

Gallery

Taiga Kagami

Kuroko and Kagami

Kuroko and Kagami are good friends. They met when they both joined the Seirin basketball team and after discovering that their different plays complement each other, they make a promise to become the best in Japan. When playing together they understand each other perfectly, which makes them a "lethal rookie duo." Kuroko describes his partnership with Kagami as "shadow and light." Kagami is the light and Kuroko supports him as his shadow; when the light becomes stronger, the shadow grows as well. They have often won matches due to their cooperation play. Satsuki has also mentioned how seeing Kuroko and Kagami together reminds her of how Kuroko and Aomine used to be during their early days in Teikō.

In the Character Bible, both Kuroko and Kagami have cited each other as the teammate they get along with the best. They often hang out together at school, with Kuroko acting his usual self and Kagami responding with comically exaggerated anger or annoyance. Kagami's straightforward approach to basketball is also one of the reasons Kuroko was able to turn his back on the Generation of Miracles' way of playing.

Daiki Aomine

“	When it comes to basketball, we do think alike.	”
—Tetsuya Kuroko, to Daiki Aomine

Aomine and Kuroko met when Aomine heard a certain rumour from Momoi saying that there is a ghost in the 3rd string gym. Aomine didn't believe her and discarded the rumour, however, Aomine still went to the 3rd string gym to see for himself. When he entered the gym, he met Kuroko and Aomine immediately acknowledged his passion for basketball. Aomine agreed to practice with Kuroko after school and the two became very close. When Aomine introduced Kuroko to Akashi, he was promoted into the 1st string. In the 1st string, Aomine and Kuroko played together and stayed after practice to practice on their own, also going home together.

Kuroko and Aomine at Teikō

Aomine was Kuroko's best friend and "light" back at Teikō Junior High School. Aomine was starter at first, when Kuroko was still third stringer. That didn't matter to Aomine, because he saw the same amount of basketball passion in Kuroko that he has. They practiced together after training and quickly became friends to the point where Aomine calls Kuroko Tetsu. When Kuroko was promoted to playing with the starters, his play was very in sync with Aomine.

Aomine once stated that the two have very little in common but that basketball is what brings their friendship together. Midorima once said their way of play is so compatible to the point of annoyance. Outside of the court they would hangout and grab ice cream together after practices or games.

The Kuroko-Aomine relationship that pretty much mimes the Kuroko-Kagami relationship

Over time Aomine changed: he became stronger and eventually lost his passion for basketball because he was too strong for his opponents and winning was no longer fun. Kuroko tried convince him that Aomine would eventually find a formidable opponent, but during the championships Aomine dominated the competition once again and deemed that he can beat himself as everyone else sucked. From then on the two grew more distance between them as they were no longer friends and Kuroko quit Teiko basketball.

When the two were first brought together, Aomine still showed the same attitude he had at the end of his Junior High school days. It was shown that Aomine expressed indifference when Midorima pointed out Kuroko would face him during the Inter-high championships. During the game Aomine overslept and didn't show up till the second quarter, though during the second half of the game Aomine completely destroyed Seirin stopping Kuroko including his ignite pass, misdirections among others. Aomine approches Kuroko at one point during the match and proclaim that he is disappointed in Kuroko because hasn't improved much since playing at Teiko and mentions that his current basketball abilities wouldn't beat him, also bringing up Akashi's prediction that Kuroko's style wouldn't bring winning basketball.

Kuroko and Aomine one on one

Kuroko and Aomine have met up a few times between the interhigh championships and Winter Cup, as each time their talks would heat up and challenges would be made. During their match in round 1 of the Winter Cup Touou still towered over Seirin, but Seirin gradually got better and better over the course of the match. At one point during the match, Kuroko used his Vanishing Drive against Aomine it first worked but Aomine was able to stop it after seeing it a few times. He also eventually stole his Ignite Pass Kai pass, crushing his will completely. The match would then turn into a matchup between Kagami and Aomine as the two now were pretty evenly matched.

Kuroko and Aomine reconcile

Unexpectedly, Kuroko comes back into the match and uses his Misdirection Overflow helping Seirin score a few points. Eventually Kuroko also forces Aomine to miss a basket. At the peak of his excitement and gratitude toward Kuroko, Aomine goes into "The Zone", the pinancle state of concentration that only few chosen athlete can achieve takes control of the match. Kagami then follows suit and enters "Zone" as well and during the last seconds, as he and Aomine are stuck in a stalemate until Kagami finally gains the upper hand and eventually win against Aomine.

After the match, he and Kuroko bump fists once again and promise to compete again. Because of the tough match, Aomine regained his passion and enjoyment and sees Kuroko as his friend once again. Aomine even agreed to help Kuroko develop his Phantom Shot, when Kuroko came for his help to teach him shooting.

Ryōta Kise

“	I've thought of Kise-kun as my rival.	”
—Tetsuya Kuroko, about Kise

Kuroko and Kise in Teikō

Back in Teikō, Kuroko was Kise's personal instructor before he made it as a regular in the first string. Kuroko, as personal instructor of Kise, didn't outwardly show any signs of acknowledging his display of disrespect, even when Kise challenged him for a spot as Teikō's regular.

Kuroko and Kise

Kise witnessed Kuroko's skill as phantom player afterwards and found a respect for him; in his opinion Kuroko's way of playing is a type of sacrifice for the team's sake and yet Kuroko doesn't see it as a sacrifice which, for him, makes Kuroko even more amazing. Kuroko became one of few people Kise acknowledges and since then he has called Kuroko as 'Kurokocchi'. Since then, whenever they meet, Kise acts overly-friendly and remembers their friendship by saying that he and Kuroko were close friends, even though Kuroko claims that they haven't been more friendly than normal. In the Character Bible, he even goes as far as to say that Kuroko was the person he was closest to in Junior High school (although Kuroko said that he himself was closest to Aomine). Since their first match together, Kise has admired Kuroko to the point of obsession. He always tries to bring up Kuroko in conversations and tries to be together with him as much as possible, especially in the anime's ending omakes. Note however that Kuroko can see through Kise's friendly mask by asking him to stop acting sarcastically as in Episode 3 when the latter claims he has been crying himself to sleep because Kuroko had rejected his invitation to join Kise in Kaijo.

Kuroko calls out to Kise

Kuroko occasionally plays with Kise's attitude by ignoring him but he acknowledges their friendship. When Kise's mind was about to darken during his match against his former teammate from Teikō Junior High, Shōgo Haizaki, Kuroko stood up in the crowd and yelled out to Kise that he believed in him, which encouraged Kise - leading him to unlock his "Perfect Copy" and defeat Shōgo Haizaki. It was later revealed in the semi-finals of the Winter Cup that Kuroko had always felt a one-sided rivalry with Kise, because even though he was Kuroko's first trainee, he had quickly surpassed him. Kise was happy when he heard this, stating, "That isn't just a compliment ... that kind of stuff really sets me on fire!"Kise is also the first member of the Generation of Miracles who starts changing thanks to Kuroko. Midorima remarks that after his loss he reverted back to his state before the consecutive championships.

Satsuki Momoi

“	He's the man I fell in love with.	”
—Satsuki Momoi, about Kuroko

Momoi's clingy attitude towards Kuroko

Kuroko and Momoi are friends from Junior High school. At first, Momoi didn't think much of him, due to his size and lack of presence off the court. However, after seeing him practice and prove his worth on and off the court, her opinion changed and became amazed at his determination. She occasionally became surprised and even flustered everytime he surprised her with his presence, which made her wonder why she was so flustered around him and began to wonder if it was cause she developed feelings for him. Because of Momoi's naivety, she fell in love with him after Kuroko gave her free ice-cream.In the -Replace- novel, it is revealed that he once challenged to take on five high schoolers in a basketball match by himself because they were harrassing Momoi, later causing her to fall more deeply in love with him. Being the manager of the basketball team, Momoi grew closer to an oblivious Kuroko and made advances; these have been as of yet unanswered by Kuroko, who on his part seems to be oblivious.

Kuroko cheers up Momoi

Momoi actually sees herself as Kuroko's girlfriend, while Kuroko keeps denying this. They have gone on a date before, but while Momoi sees it romantically, Kuroko only perceives it as friendly. Regardless, he cares for her very much and is very kind to her, defends her, and at times grows angry on her behalf. Due to his natural feeling of dealing with women, Kuroko can comfort Momoi and knows how to act on dates; this allows him to be able to cheer up Momoi quite easily. Such was when Aomine said very harsh things to her, a tearful Momoi ran to Kuroko and told him what happened, to which he managed to cheer her up stating Aomine was just angry and didn't really mean it and told her everything would be alright, to which she was grateful.

Furthermore, Momoi would seem to be the one character Kuroko treats with most care, saving her from thugs and accompanying her whenever she is alone, which is especially seen in the light novels.

Shintarō Midorima

Kuroko and Midorima

Just like the other members of the Generation of Miracles, Kuroko and Midorima acknowledge and respect each other's skill. Kuroko admitted that he has a hard time getting along with Midorima, a sentiment Midorima shared partly because of their supposedly incompatible blood types. Midorima also did not like Kuroko's choice of high school, saying he could not stand the fact that he acknowledges Kuroko, who in spite of his lacking physicality is skilled enough to stand as his equal, and yet he went to a new and unknown team who could not utilize his power to the fullest. Midorima has so far shown good understanding of the theories behind Kuroko's skill, the opposite of Aomine whose understanding of Kuroko is by instinct and their former partnership.

Kuroko once bluntly stated Midorima is so smart but sometimes he is dumb when arguing over the best basketball technique with Kise. In Kuroko's opinion his three-pointer is amazing but the worth of points only goes so far, and that Kagami's dunk that bring up team's morale can't be measured in comparison.

Midorima has shown his consideration and care for Kuroko when he gifted the latter with a bird key chain on his birthday.

Seijūrō Akashi

“	So I’d like to take this opportunity to say... It’s all thanks to you Akashi-kun. Thank you very much. Though I’ve wanted desperately to say this to you, up till now, I never had the chance. It’s because you extended your hand to me then that I am who I am today.	”
—Kuroko Tetsuya, 219th Quarter - Thank You Very Much

Akashi and Kuroko meet for the first time

Before meeting Kuroko, Akashi was not satisfied with the current Teikō team and wanted a change. A 6th man who would change the flow of the game whenever the situation required it. When he saw Kuroko for the first time, he thought that Kuroko would be that very player, a 6th man. After seeing Kuroko, Akashi questioned him and pushed him in the right direction to making his own style of playing, based on his lack of presence. Three months later, Kuroko approaches Akashi and lets him know he has set on a style and Akashi decides to test Kuroko in a practice match. Kuroko shocks and impresses the first string players, including Akashi, and is admitted into the team with Akashi's help. During this time Akashi was very supportive of Kuroko and helped him overcome his nervousness and doubts. During Kuroko's first match, Akashi helped Kuroko polish his "misdirection" and helped him develop his style of play he uses today.

When the Generation of Miracles began changing and realizing their true potentials, Akashi changed drastically, which made Kuroko realize that there are two Akashis, the Akashi he knew and the other Akashi, emerged from the change in the team.

Akashi's and Kuroko's brief meeting

Akashi holds very high expectations for Kuroko. Showing that even in the most desperate situations, he believed in team Seirin's victory when everyone else didn't, mostly because of Kuroko's influence on the team. He was also surprised when Kuroko revealed his new skills, the "Ignite Pass Kai" and "Misdirection Overflow" showing that Kuroko did indeed surpass his expectations. Some time after when there was a half time during the game between Rakuzan and Shūtoku, Akashi and Kuroko met for a short time. It was the first time they met again after the opening ceremony. In this short meeting Akashi warns Kuroko that if he's planning to fight against him, he would have to be careful. Telling Kuroko that he is the one that found Kuroko's hidden potential first and that Kuroko would come to know what that means. After Rakuzan and Seirin won their matches it was finally decided who the two teams in the finals would be. Kuroko's team Seirin and Akashi's team Rakuzan.

When Akashi and Rakuzan lost in the Winter Cup finals, Akashi experienced defeat for the first time and describes it as immense pain in the chest. However, due to this pain he is able to appreciate playing basketball and meeting Kuroko. It is shown that Akashi respects Kuroko for defeating him as both of them renew their friendship and play together again in streetball basketball.

"Let's play again. And again, and again, and again."

In the novel 'Replace', Kuroko mentioned "if Akashi was a teacher, it would make lessons very easy to understand." This likely refers to their time back at Teikō when Akashi was Kuroko's personal instructor.

Atsushi Murasakibara

Kuroko and Murasakibara dispute

Although Kuroko likes Murasakibara as a person, Kuroko and Murasakibara don't get along well because of Murasakibara's lack of passion for basketball. This is why, in spite of mutual respect to each other's skill, they couldn't get along when it comes to basketball. Outside of basketball, Kuroko describes Murasakibara as "a kid with a screw loose." As for Murasakibara, Kuroko's seriousness irritates him, but he does acknowledge him in some way like other Generation of Miracle members.

Murasakibara also often makes fun of and teases Kuroko by petting him on the head, something that visibly annoys Kuroko. Aomine once pointed out that the way they view basketball is too different: Murasakibara has been winning with only talent and no passion, while Kuroko has struggled to get where he was with effort but no talent. Kuroko dislikes Murasakibara's bad habit of discouraging who tried their best to play basketball, this repeatedly sparked arguments between them back in Junior High school.

Shigehiro Ogiwara

Kuroko and Ogiwara reunite

In the fifth grade, Kuroko became interested in playing basketball after watching a match on TV. Kuroko started practicing on a nearby court. Kuroko soon met Ogiwara, a cheerful boy from the neighborhood. Ogiwara taught Kuroko how to play basketball and they quickly became best friends. In Junior High, after Ogiwara's team lost to Teikō, Ogiwara was crushed and lost the will to play basketball. However, he still believed in Kuroko. The wristband that Kuroko wears symbolizes their friendship and Ogiwara's faith in Kuroko.

During the final round of the Winter Cup, Ogiwara suddenly appeared with his teammate. He held a basketball in his hand, and boosted the morale of Kuroko and the Seirin team. Not much is known about their interaction after the match, but it can be assumed that Ogiwara does not harbor any negative feelings toward Kuroko.

Seirin High

Kuroko is highly respectful (in his own deadpan way) of his seniors and friendly with the other first-years. He is quite close to Teppei Kiyoshi, who he sees as the big brother he never had. He does, however, slightly fear the coach Riko Aida, like the rest of the team for her deadly cooking skills and the constant wrestling moves she performs on him when angry.

Other

• Kazunari Takao, during the Shutoku vs Seirin match at Interhigh, Takao expressed his dislike towards Kuroko due to how similar their playing styles are and sees him as a rival. Despite this, he is often paired with Kuroko and hides with him to spy on conversations between Kagami and Midorima.
• Makoto Hanamiya, Hanamiya has earned Kuroko's wrath due to his sadistic nature and joy of injuring players who play basketball with passion. Hanamiya enjoyed taunting Kuroko, but Kuroko's basketball passion eventually silenced Hanamiya.
• Papa Mbaye Siki, Kuroko was often irritated being called a kid by Papa. Papa had the impression that the Generation of Miracles weren't such a big deal and Kuroko proved him wrong.
• Chihiro Mayuzumi, was Kuroko's match-up during the Winter Cup Final. After Kuroko's lack of presence began to fade away, Kuroko was shocked to see that Mayuzumi had the same misdirection ability as him. When Kuroko was subbed back in the 3rd quarter, Mayuzumi arrogantly expressed that he is superior to Kuroko, who he views as an old model. Reminiscing about Takao's words, Kuroko finally understood the meaning behind regarding a dislike for their own kind. Kuroko refused to give up the title of Phantom Sixth man and finally regained his ability after overwriting Mayuzumi by making him stand out. The two share some similarities, they both have weak presences, both enjoy reading books and they both met Akashi.