One Kuroko Tetsuya was very bored. And a bored Kuroko does not bode well for himself and for the people in his immediate vicinity.
Kuroko groaned as he stretched his arms above his head, heard a small "pop!" noise from his shoulders after rolling them a little, then leaned back a little on the chair he was sitting on. His hand closed the latest book he had completed reading on the table: Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer. He already read the whole series in less than two weeks, a new personal best for him.
He glanced at the library clock on the wall to his left. 3:37, it read, an hour after classes were completed and the remaining time were for the clubs. Kuroko had more than an hour left to kill before he had to go home, now that he didn't have any club to go to. Not anymore.
Kuroko had turned in his resignation letter from Teikou's basketball club a little over a week ago. And for a week, Kuroko had four hours left for his own personal relaxation- and relax he did to try not to think about what had become of his friends. He started reading his pile of books that he really didn't have enough time before, he went to the neat new bookshop that just opened a month ago just a street down from his home, he tended more to his grandmother's small backyard garden, experimented some recipes he found interesting on the net, studied a little for his application to his chosen high schools, and finally had time to practice his playing on the violin. It was all swell until two days ago. After all, he can't just simply go back to the monotony of his life before he found his passion and not miss the thrill of it. He wanted to go out and do something. He could play basketball again in the fourth gym when he wanted to like in first year but risk a confrontation with them, something that he is not terribly looking forward to and rather not let happen while he's still in this cursed school, thank you very much.
The teal haired teenager still plays basketball from time to time in the abandoned lot near his home or the near courts, but students from his school go there and might recognize him so he more often than not opted for the lot instead. But it was different from actually playing with someone else rather than by your self, so when he played, it only lasted for half an hour every day before he went home.
He still kept up his own training though. He ran around the neighborhood a good hour every day before school starts or from 4 am to 5 on weekends, practiced shooting a few shots in the public courts, and then try to keep up his speed and agility by sometimes weaving through traffic for a good 10 minutes before someone would notice him. It was an event that only happened once, but it was still one time too many.
Yes, Kuroko Tetsuya, prodigy violinist and genius extraordinaire, was utterly bored.
He looked at the clock again. 3:41. It was still too early to go home with his parents and grandmother going to Grandma Natsuko's regular check-ups in the next town. His grandmother's doctor was stationed at the local hospital and he was sure that he didn't move suddenly to another one. It doesn't take a genius (which Kuroko is one, mind you) to guess their intentions.
His mother, the beautiful Kuroko Hana, was not surprised when he told her of his quitting the club that he had loved for almost three years. Almost. Hana didn't ask questions but instead gave him a hug, a pat on his head, and asked him to play one of his latest compositions while she cooked his favorite dish. He obliged while his mother worked. Kuroko knew that his mother saw all the signs before him just by listening to his stories (which became almost non-existent to actually nada in a single month), from the neighbors' loose mouths, from the occasional passing student, and observing Kuroko himself. His mother was intelligent like that.
When Kuroko Masato came home, he was not surprised like his wife. Evidently, they discussed this with his grandmother who made a fuss about, "finally having young Tet-chan take up music again and take the world by storm like his darling great-grandparents with his brilliance". Apparently, the two were quite famous in the music industry just like he was, but his was focused on classical and his accomplishments do not make international headlines like his idol-composer great-grandparents. Grandmother Natsuko muttered something akin to "where is that bloody Saotome's phone number when you need it?" when she retired to her room after dinner.
Kuroko sighed. He really did not want to reminisce about the past. What is done, is done, he thought with finality.
He sighed again as he put his book back in his neatly organized bag. High school pamphlets and his own researches filled half of it. He examined them and did not fail to notice that they were either special curriculum private schools ("High tuition fees. Probably worth less than they preach," he muttered under his breath), science high schools (They're quite good but why do they simply have to be so far away? He thought idly), the occasional sport oriented ones (Kuroko did not even so much as glanced at them. He knew by heart that they had basketball which was the reason why he considered them in the first place.), and one from a supposedly elite music school far back in Sendai from his grandmother. Why she was so adamant he go there was lost to him though.
He thought about his current school. Teikou. He originally did not come here for basketball, it was just a bonus. He was an ALS scholar, and the best one at that. He was here for his brains and his innate musical talent, both heavily contrasting his sudden involvement to the cursed sport that brought him friends but also brought them apart, he thought bitterly.
(Kuroko would wonder later on why he was bitter. Truth to be told, he was happy that his friends had gotten strong, not the other way around. While he was constantly annoyed by them, he truly wished the best for his friends. "Maybe I'm simply annoyed by how such a small thing as fame and power got them smack in the head and started acting differently just because they were good in a certain field? Perhaps, but I still wonder why they've became so arrogant when they're complete idiots in other basic things like chemistry and cooking," he mused.)
Kuroko stood up from his chair suddenly, as he was struck with an idea. The metal legs made an odd screeching sound in the almost empty room, prompting the stern librarian to give him a stern look. Kuroko quickly apologized as he wondered idly why the woman never fails to notice him when others all but forget about him. He honestly did not want to know.
"Sorry Kisaragi-sensei," Kuroko bowed a little in apology.
Kisaragi-sensei gave him another look then nodded.
"Going home, Kuroko-kun?" she asked curiously. Kuroko was always at the library until 3. She was also a family friend, mainly his grandmother's, and she knew where his family is now.
"No sensei. Not yet. Okaa-san told me that they won't be home for at least two hours more," Kuroko answered politely. While she was sometimes around his house and chatting with Natsuko and occasionally Hana, he never truly knew her as more than his sensei. That and the fact that she was at least twice his age.
Kisaragi-sensei nodded once more. "If they get back only after 6, just call me here in the library so you can wait at home where they could pick you up," she said with a smile.
Kuroko also smiled a bit, "Arigato sensei, but I don't think that Okaa-san won't let that happen. She's very adamant about," Kuroko scrunched up his face a little, "me socializing a little."
Kisaragi-sensei raised an eyebrow but thankfully did not comment. "Well if you need me, you know where to find me. Good luck on your... socializing."
"Yes, sensei. Thank you. " 'Because I need that.'
Kuroko bowed once more then left the library. He sucked in a breath and steeled himself to his self-imposed fate of having to socialize.
After all, who said that Teikou boasts only their basketball club to Japan?
Author's Note:
(A big thanks to knb143 for giving me the motivation to post this. Thanks, dude.)
This may or may not be a three-shot. I'll update the next chapter next Sunday. As for my other stories, I'll have them updated in summer. Thank you for those who continued to read my stories despite my nearly two-year hiatus. Seriously, you guys are awesome ;).