Disclaimers: Neither KnB nor Natsume is mine. All rights belong to the authors and the publishers. And the picture is also not mine.
PEEEEEEEP
The sound came from the whistle startles everyone in the gym and successfully get attention from them.
"Good work guys. Now, come here, captain and I have an important announcement to make" Riko says, a hint of authority in her voice.
Chatter can be heard thoughout the gym.
"Is she and Hyuuga getting married or something?" Koganei jokes with his friends.
"Stupid! Like hell we're going to announce something like that. Now get your butt to the coach or she will triple your training menu", Hyuuga smacks the cat-like boy.
"Come on, I'm joking captain!" Koganei painfully rubs where he was smacked.
"Tch, whatever. Let's see if you can joke after hearing what we have to say", the captain emmits a dark aura,making the others shiver.
"Okay, as you know, we have had a training camp in summer and won't have anymore till next year. But since I'm such a talented coach,I have saved you guys enough money for another training camp! So,we are going to a mountain this weekend. Prepare yourself, I'll make sure you remember this trip until you die. Fufufu" Her eyes sparkle and the air around her suuddenly becomes dark. Everyone grimaces at that.
"So, about the trip, we will be camping on Wakaku moutain. There is also an onsen there, so you can relax after practice,we will…." Coach tells them details about the trip.
"The mountain, huh?" Kuroko mumbles to himself.
"What's wrong, Kuroko? You've been spacing out since the practice ended", Kagami asked, his crimson eyes show clear corcern.
"Ah, it's nothing. I'm just thinking about the mountain we will be going to" Kuroko shook his head.
"It's pretty far from here, isn't it?"
"Yeah, my family tends to get worry when I go somewhere far away, especially if that place has mountains or forests"
"Hmm? Tell them to stop worrying, then. The whole team will be there to take care of you, so there won't be anything to worry about", Kagami grins.
"You're right," Kuroko hums, "but even if something do happen, we will have to rely on Kagami-kun to protect us."
"Wha- ", the taller boy sputters, "why me?"
"You're the only one who can survive coach's training, aren't you?"
"No way, she will work me 'till I'm dead. You're on your own!"
"That's not very nice," Kuroko frowns, but if the playful glint in his eyes is any indication, he's enjoying this. "Isn't Kagami-kun supposed to be my light? What would you do if a wolf attacked and I died because you won't help?"
"You-! Urgh, there's just no arguing with you, is there?"
Kuroko just stares at him in response, and Kagami gives up.
"Fine," the red-head says, "I'll protect you, so don't worry about a thing."
Kuroko smiles "That's sound really cheesy coming from you, Kagami-kun"
"Shaddup"
"Uhm, please wake up," a small boy with blue hair, was crouched on the ground trying to shake another boy awake, "please, it's not good to sleep outside. Please wake up."
"Nnn," the other boy, a brunette, slowly opened up, only to see big blue eyes staring back at his own. "Uwahhh!" he yells, startled.
"Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I always scare people even if I don't mean to. I'm sorry," the blue-eyed boy apologized, lips pulled into what's almost a pout.
"Ah, no. It wasn't you, it's me. I always get startled too easily. Please don't mind that,"the brunette responded.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah…"
"Alright then. Ah, sorry I woke you up, but you shouldn't sleep here, you'll catch a cold. It'll be dark soon, so you should go home."
"Home?" The brunette asked, his voice was cold and his hazel eyes hooded.
The blue-haired boy, being overly observant at his age, noticed the other sudden change of attitude. He placed his hands on the boy's shoulder.
"It's ok if you don't want to go home," he told him, smiling, "but you really shouldn't stay here, it's really bad for your health. Let's come to my house. We can call your parents when we're there."
"Huh?" was the only sound the brunette could make after hearing what the boy had said. It wasn't the first time someone had tried to befriend him,but to ask him to come to their house was something new,and it was not everyday he could hear someone telling him it's ok not wanting to be home. He chuckled "You're a weird kid".
"I get that all the time," the other boy deadpanned.
Suddenly, a creature with long hair and one eye poke it's head out of the tree behind the blue head.
"I…want…you…delicious…come…" the creature whimpered, making the brown-haired boy grimaced.
"Eh,what's wrong? Are you ok? You look pale"
"YOUKAI!" He screamed, pointing behind the other boy
Just as the blunette turned his head, the creature jumped to him, it's mouth open wide showing sharp, saliva-covered teeth.
"Watch out!" the brunette shouted, using his body to shield the other. The creature didn't seem to mind as it open it's mouth even wider, ready to swallow them both.
Flash
A blue light flashed out from the two boy, but one of them couldn't see anything, and one was too scared to realise it.
"Uhm, is everything ok?" the voice was muffled by the brunette's body
"Eh" He look up only to see the monster was gone and dusk sparkling in the air. "What happened? Where did that thing go?" His voice was a little shaky as he said.
"Un, what thing? Sorry, I don't understand what you're talking about" The blunette tilted his head in confusion.
"You didn't see that? Eh, I guess that's normal..." His voice was less shaky then before but still held some fear. 'I wonder where that thing went. Can't let it hurt him'. He thought as he eyed the other. The smaller boy stared back at him. He flinched at the stare. 'This is bad, he must be thinking I'm some weirdo and run away from me and I won't be able to protect him from that thing'. Suddenly,he heard a soft chuckle from the blunette.
"I think you are weird too," the kid chuckled
' Huh? Too? Oh, I did call him weird…' He smiled, "I get that a lot".
And they both broke into laughter.
"My name is Kuroko. Kuroko Tetsuya," the smaller boy said once they were able to stop laughing, "nice to meet you." He extended his hand.
"I'm Natsume. Natsume Takashi. It's nice to meet you too, Kuroko." he grabbed the other boy's hand and shook it.
"Now, will you come to my house?"
"Thank you, but I think I should go back. I don't want to trouble the people I'm living with. And I must prepare for tomorrow too," Natsume replied with a smile.
"What about tomorrow?"
"I'm moving away."
"Oh?...I see. What a shame, I was hoping we could meet again" Kuroko pursed his lips into that almost pout again.
"Maybe in the future we could," Natsume smiled sadly.
They talked until dawn. When the brunette realized how late it was, he quickly bid goodbye to the his new friend and returned 'home'. Even though they only talked for a short time,he really liked Kuroko and honestly hope he could meet him again. The next morning,he moved to another town.
"Natsume, oi~, Natsume, wake up, you'll be late for school," Nyanko-sensei uses his paw to hit Natsume.
"Uwahh, what time is it? Ah, it's this late already?" Natsume abruptly sits up, panicked.
"This is rare. You wouldn't wake up no matter how hard I hit you," Nyanko-sensei comments.
"Yeah, I was having a good dream," Natsume says as he buttons his uniform.
"That's even weirder! You never have good dreams!" Nyanko-sensei yells, pointing his paw at Natsume.
"It seems today's an exception, " Natsume smiles.
"Takashi-kun,breakfast is ready" Touko calls from downstair
"Ah, ok! I'll be down right now!" Natsume speaks loud enough for her to hear. Natsume then grabs his bag and ran downstairs.
He has breakfast with the Fujiwara family, no, his family, then goes to school like any other day. Unfortunately, he can't concentrate in class as his mind driffs to the dream he had. I wonder why I dreamt about him all of the sudden. Even when he's having lunch with Nishimura and the others, he still thinks about it.
"Natsume, how about you?" Nishimura asks.
"Hmm? Oh," he turned to Nishimura, "sorry, I wasn't paying attention. What are we talking about?"
"Oooh, could it be, our Natsume is thinking about a girl?"
"Oi, unlike you, he doesn't think about girls all the time. No wait, I think he doesn't think about girls at all."
"What did you say? I don't think about girls all the time!" Nishimura glares at Kitamoto.
"You do!" Kitamoto glares back
Before they starts another nonsense fight,Natsume speaks up.
"It's true that I'm thinking about somebody. He is not a girl, though"
"Hah…"
"Anyyyway, we were talking about a trip to the osen. It's on Wakaku mountain. I found a cheap inn we could stay in. Can you come along?"
There's no reason for Natsume to refuse. "Okay, let me ask Touko-san. Oh, should we ask Tanuma to come along?"
"Good idea. You do that. Ah, Natsume, ask Taki-chan too!" Nishimura's eyes lit up as he mentions Taki's name.
"Uwaa, he's gone to Taki's land again," Nishimura ignores Kitamoto's tease as he has really gone to Taki's land.
Natsume just smiles at his friend's antics.
Kise Ryouta is enjoying his day, read, hiding from his crazy fangirls in the school storeroom when his phone rings.
"Ah, Kata-san, good afternoon. Is there something you need from me?...Eh,this weekend? Where is it?...No way,Wakaku moutain? That's so far! And Natori Shuichi?!...Aww come one, I know you're my manager but you should at least ask me about it before accepting that offer…Fine, if you say so…Ok, bye" Kise hangs up.
"Argh, I was planning on visit Kurokochi in Tokyo this weekend" he whines loudly.
He shouldn't have done that.
"Kise-kun, where did you goooo?" a voice sounded from outside the storeroom.
"Oooh he runs so fast," another voice coos
"Wait, I think I heard his voice over there" yet, another voice.
SLAM
"Eek,I'm so dead" Kise thinks as he hides behind a cart full of brooms.
"Kise-kun, we know you're in here~"
Why can't I have a normal lunch break Kise cried in silence.
"Natori-san, here is your schedule for the weekend," the women hands a piece of paper to Natori.
"Ah,thank you very much," even though I'll be more happy if you don't make me work on weekends is left unsaid. If he doesn't know that manager well enough,he would have thought she had a grude against him, making him work like that. Nevertheless, he still has to smile while talking to her, you know, to keep his image.
He looks at the paper. Wakaku mountain,huh? Not a bad place. Kise Ryouta? Hmm... that teenage model? Ahh,I wonder if he's a good boy like Natsume. Hope that he is.
"Oi,Satsuki! Want to go to an onsen this weekend?"
"Dai, ah, Aomine-kun! What are you saying all of the sudden?" for some reasons, Momoi blushes.
"Hey don't think something weird! My mom won a trip to an onsen for four, and she made me ask you to come along"
"Oh, in that case, sure! I love osens!" her blush quickly dissapears as she happilly accepts the offer.
Ding Ding Ding Ding
"Ah, lunch break is over"
"Great, naptime!" Aomine yawns
"You can't sleep in class, Aomine-kun!" Momoi scolds.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever" He ignores her and rests his head on the table.
"Nyanko-sensei, Touko-san spared you some cake. Nyanko-sensei!...Guess he went drinking again. I should help myself with this. Itadaki-" He doesn't get to finish his sentence as Nyanko-sensei jumps out of nowhere and headbutted Natsume.
"Ouch, you fat cat, that hurts!" Natsume pinches Nyanko-sensei's cheeks and stretches them.
"How dare you touch my cake, you useless human!" Nyanko-sensei yells, glaring at Natsume while struggling to break free from Natsume cheek-grip.
"What was that!?" Natsume stretchs the cat's cheeks harder. Nyanko-sensei somehow manages to get away. He use his butt to hit Natsume. Natsume grabs his paws and stretchs them. They fight until both are tired.
"That's it. I'm not bringing you to the osen," the human declares.
"Huh, what osen?"
"The one I'm going to this weekend."
"No,Natsume! Bring me with you! I want to go! Natsume~! Let me go~ Bring me with you~ nyahh~" the cat whines.
"I get it! Fine, I'll let you come along, be quiet!"
"Yay! Onsen boiling eegs~ Onsen food~"
"Shut up, you annoying cat!"
Akashi is playing shogi by himself in his room. He hears the phone rings. He ignores it. He hears a knock on the door and his butler's voice "Young master, Matoba-sama calls. He wishes to speak with you."
"Seiji-niisan? Give me the phone"
"As you wish," The butler handed him the phone as respectful as possible.
"Akashi here"
'Seijuro,good afternoon'
"Good afternoon, Seiji-niisan. It's rare for you to call me. Is there something you need from me?"
'Nothing,really. Just want to talk to you'
"…Like hell I'll believe that, Seiji."
'Heh, snapping so soon, Seijuro?'
"I do not snap,Seiji."
'Depends on how you define it,Seijuro.'
"I'll ask again, why did you call me?"
'Really, is it so wrong your cousin want to talk to you?'
"I'm hanging up."
'Wait, I'm serious! I really just want to talk.'
"About what?"
'It's not something I could say through the phone. How about you come over Matoba's residence this weekend?'
"Which one?"
'The one on Wakuka mountain'
"Ok, I will see about it"
'Great! I look forward to hearing your answer, even though I already know what it would be. Good bye, Seijuro'
Before Akashi can say anything,Matoba has hung up. Akashi feels like stabbing something.
"Hello,Tanuma's here…Eh,Natsume…an osen,huh? Sound good,I'll come too…Ok,bye"
"Hey dad,can I go on a trip with friends this weekend? We're going to the osen on Wakuka mountain"
"Oh,that mountain! I heard it has great scenery. Ok,just remember to buy souvernirs"
"I will" Tanuma smiles.
"Urgh,what should I do with this?" Midorima groans. He looks at the tickets in his hands,which are today's lucky item. 'Better use it than waste it' he decided. After all,a trip to an osen can't hurt anyone. Beside,Takao has been nagging him since morning,begging him to let him come along. "Wakaku mountain,huh?"
'…This exclusive snack can only be found on Wakaku mountain…' Murasakibara drools at the image on the TV screen.
"Mom, can I go to Wakaku mountain this weekend?"
"Huh? But why?"
"They sell special snacks there"
"Um, ok, if you want to. Ah, I heard there is also an osen there. Why don't you ask a friend to come along and stay there all weekend. Osens are good for your health, you know"
"Ok, I'll ask Muro-chin"
"Hello, Tooru's here…Ah, Natsume-kun, good evening…eh,an osen?...Sure, I'd love to come!…Alright, see you!"
Author's notes: Four years later and I'm editing this. I can't believe people still read this. I am so sorry.