"Kaijō, member change!" I heard the voice echo through the court and curiously turned towards our back-up to see who were about to exchange positions, but instead of welcoming the newcomer I froze in place when I saw Kasamacchi leaning on Moriyama and Hayakawa as he made his way towards the bench, limping. I didn't hear the referee yelling out a flaw on anyone and it's impossible that Kasamacchi would misplace a step and fall. Worried, I hurried to him only to be greeted with a scowl from him. "Kise, you idiot, what are you doing, go back and take the game!" he yelled at me after hitting me against the back of my head, flared and determined. "Kasamacchi, you're so mean!" I teasingly retorted. "What happened?" "Ryōta, get back on the court!" Kasamacchi interrupted me and I couldn't argue back, I was too intimidated by him. He rarely uses my first name, but whenever he does, he gets me off guard. Brushing it off, I ran back with intentions to question him later - it wasn't like he could run off somewhere, right?
During the game I had no time to keep my eye on Kasamacchi, so I was surprised when I didn't see him in the locker room after our narrow victory over Shōhoku High. Surely he would have been there, cheering to us and congratulating us, but instead we got a few good words from coach Takeuchi. When I asked him about our beloved captain, he only sighed and said he was taken to the ER due to a sprained ankle. This could be bad, I thought. He might not be able to play for a long time. The whole team kind of drooped after realizing that, even though we just celebrated a few moments ago. Having showered and changed clothes, I hurried out of the stadium, nearly running over Midorimacchi, who desperately tried to hide himself behind his stupid sunglasses, but I didn't have any time to spare him right now. I tried calling Kasamacchi's cellphone, but he didn't answer. Because he couldn't? Or was he too proud again? Sometimes he makes my head hurt so much (and I don't mean his punches), it's so frustrating. Thinking he couldn't possibly avoid me in his own home, I ran to the train station and headed downtown.
Dashing through the rounded maze-like streets of the Nakai district, I finally made it to his house. I couldn't help but to feel awful to its residents when I abused the doorbell, but Kasamacchi was more important than their opinion, at this moment, at least. "Coming, coming!" I heard an annoyed woman's voice from the inside, no doubt his mother's and sure enough, I recognized her slightly frowning face when she opened the door. "Oh, Kise-kun!" her tone immediately changed upon laying her eyes on me, a known difference to me; every woman was like that. I liked the attention I got from them, but I'd be much more happier if I got that kind of attention from... "Kasamacchi. Is Kasamacchi home?" I asked, worried. "Yes, he just got back a little while ago. Come on in, Kise-kun," she answered and opened the door a little more. I stepped in, smiling at the smell of stir fried veggie rice - Kasamacchi's favorite. "Yukio! Kise-kun's here to see you!" his mother yelled up to the second floor from the bottom of the stairs and all I heard was a loud irritated sigh as a response from upstairs. At least he's still himself, I smiled. "Go on upstairs, I'll soon call you two down for dinner," Mrs. Kasamatsu nodded and returned to the small kitchen on the left. A little jiffy, I climbed up the ladder-like stairs.
Kasamacchi was laying on his bed, reading some manga when I entered his room. I realized I forgot to knock and to lighten the mood, I apologized while laughing and went back outside. I knocked this time on the open door and just as I thought, his mood was still foul. "Hey, Kasamacchi, you can't stay so grumpy forever!" I smiled and sat on the bed next to him. "What do you want, Kise?" he roughly demanded and watched how my smile faded. "Kasamacchi, no need to be so mean," I quietly pouted and folded my arms, only making him roll his eyes. "Alright, get it out of your system." I looked at him, dumbfounded. "You came here to laugh at me and tease me, so get it over with," he added to my questioning look. How dare he! Here I was, genuinely worried about his well-being, but now he's only made me angry. "I thought we were friends, don't you know me? Do you really think I ran all the way here just to make fun of you?" I asked, clearly hurt. He gave me a long sideways look and answered with a low voice: "We still are friends and that's why I know you probably took the train here." I stared at him for a moment before breaking out to laughter. My heart jumped when I saw the corners of his mouth twitch upwards a little. He quickly composed himself and furrowed his brow again. "So what, you're here because you're worried about me?" "Of course!" I exclaimed, daring to nudge myself to sit a little closer to him.
"What happened to your foot?" "That Hanamichi from Shōhoku suddenly stopped unexpectedly in front of me while I tried to cover him, making me leap forward. Then he ran into me, but the referee didn't call it a foul," he explained, somberly looking at his right foot wrapped in many bandages. "I remember when we had a practice match with Shōhoku while I was still in Teikō. We fared pretty well, considering the fact that the task of covering Hanamichi was given to Kurokocchi," I reminiscenced, but stopped when I felt Kasamacchi stiffen next to me. "Here we go again, to Kuroko," he gritted his teeth and folding his arms. "Always you talk about him, let me guess, the next thing you'll mention is how sad you are that he "dumped" you in basketball." I stared at him, surprised by his sudden exclamation. A jolt ran through me when I thought... Could he be jealous? "I'm sorry, I didn't know it bothered you that much," I said. "Well, it does, it's annoying, the way you constantly speak about him." We both fell into silence and for some time longer I watched him fidget with manga pages, ruining them little by little. He realized what he was doing and looked at me angrily. "There now! Look what you made me do to Kobori's manga!" he grunted, throwing the book to a corner. "I think that ruined it more," I cheekily answered, because in a way he's very adorable when angry. As I suspected, he raised a fist to hit me, but I grabbed it midair. "Kise, let me go!" he exclaimed, raising the other hand. I took hold of it as well and just stared at him while he kept yelling at me. I don't know what he was saying, since the blood rushing through my head and my heart throbbing like crazy were the only sounds I heard. I could feel my cheeks turn redder each second Kasamacchi was struggling to get free. I don't know what kind of courage suddenly amassed in me when I finally closed the gap between my face and his, but I'm glad I had it in me.
I expected Kasamacchi to immediately rip himself free and punch me in the face, but instead he stopped moving at all. I never would have thought his small lips to be so soft, they were even softer than a girl's. With a tingling sense of regret I removed myself from him and opened my eyes; I was still close enough to his face to feel his short breaths on my mouth. His eyes were still closed, his brow furrowed as it always was, but I've never seen him so flustered. And the fact that he was like that because of me made me feel all warm and tingly inside. Slowly his eyes fluttered open and for a long moment he just stared into mine, his mouth questioningly parted a little. My heart beat even faster when I still felt his lips being brushed against mine when he breathed in and out. When I thought to fall to them again, he suddenly pushed me off the bed, making me hit my left hip against the cold and hard floor. As I cringed there in pain, without skipping a beat, Kasamacchi started to furiously beat me with a pillow with immense speed, all the while cursing at me. I don't think I've ever seen him that irritated, but I couldn't help but to laugh at the situation I was in. I just got to kiss Kasamacchi and now there he was, acting so adorable! He didn't hurt me at all (except my pained sides from giggling like a girl in love), which made me excitedly think that maybe he had liked it. Of course he had liked it! The way he had looked right after it...
"Yukio! Kise-kun! Dinner's ready!" Mrs. Kasamatsu's voice called from downstairs, making Kasamacchi cease fire. "Don't you think this is over, Ryōta!" he yelled at me and somehow made his way to the bedroom door. I love the way he says my name; a little raspy. "I would never, Yukiocchi," I heartily smiled to him when I put his arm over my shoulders to help him down the stairs.