Author's Note: This is, again, one of the parts of the prologue I made for RED MIX PINK. It's not necessarily connected with the other(s) one shot(s), but there is some parts that you might understand (and get the feeling about their relationship) better after you read my other stories. For starters, maybe you want to read Revealing Chores and A Fortunate Misfortune before you move on this one. And if you like KuroMomo too, I'm making a fic about them for Christmas, the title is Rokutousei No Yoru. Feel free to check the three on my profile.
I also would like to say thank you to all of you who read the previous ones and favorite it Keroro, This-heart101, Midnight Splendor, Crystallized Cherry, SatsukiMomoi Fans, Guest, and Queendom of No Smiles, seriously guys, your review keep me alive and works like a whip for me. I also wanted to thank my cute and adorable beta reader hflores, thank you for making this readable (?),I really want to pinch your cheeks :D
I'll make sure that I won't disappoint all of you, enjoy
Warning: IF YOU DON'T LIKE THIS PAIRING OR ARE GOING TO BASH ME OVER IT JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T LIKE THEM, THEN DON'T READ IT. You've been warned.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kurobasu! It belongs to our beloved Fujimaki Tadatoshi *dancing*
BE MY (SAVIOR FOR) VALENTINE
It's a cold and cloudy afternoon in Tokyo. However, it's hot and burning in the gymnasium.
"Great job, guys! Keep up with the pace and we're going to be alright," Momoi, the manager of Teiko basketball team welcomed the regulars as she handed the water to each of them. Right now is a break to the second half; they'll have about ten minutes to rest.
"Ah~ This is the first time I feel this tired," Kise Ryouta, the newest member on team, is sitting lazily on the bench. Like the others, he is drinking from the bottle that was given by Momoi.
"They're good, nanodayo," Midorima narrows his eyes and carefully looks at the bench across them.
"But not good enough, we can beat them in the second half!" the ace, Aomine, is wiping his sweat with the towel when he assured him. He admits the shooting guard is right, but as long as the game still continues, no one will be able to predict the result.
"I want to crush them," Murasakibara, the tallest, clasped the plastic bottle in his palm until it crumbled into a sad irregular shape.
Kuroko is looking at the center's fist as he wonders about what will happen if he really crushes the other team. In his opinion, they're not very strong, they are just persistent. "There's no need for that, Murasakibara-kun," he advices him, reaching for his black towel.
Akashi Seijuurou, who is their captain and was benched since the first half, nods in agreement. "Tetsuya is right, let's just keep up like Satsuki planned. Besides, this is only a practice match," he crosses his arms, his jacket is hanging loose on his shoulder, like usual.
Momoi is observing them, one by one. It is an exhausting match and even though they're good, they still need to work on their stamina, she noted quietly. "Now, don't be so gloomy! Today is valentine, right?" She chirps at them brightly.
"So?" Aomine raises a brow, he is not sure how that fact can help them.
"I made some chocolate to all of you!" Momoi tells them, smiling genuinely.
Most of their faces brighten. Like it or not, they already reached a point where they admit that her attention towards them is really sweet sometimes. Besides, today is Sunday, so none of them received any chocolate from the girls at school. It's not like they're going to get it for sure, but they can hope, right? They are just a bunch of junior high school boys anyway, they want what any other boy their age wants.
Momoi is walking to her bag with six pairs of eyes following her. She hums while pulling out six small packages.
"Whoaaa, Momoicchi, you're so nice! This is the first time I've been so happy when I receive a chocolate," Kise wails happily as he receives the yellow box from her.
"Thank you, Ki-chan! So, why don't you guys take a bite? It'll boost your energy," Momoi beams at him and gives the rest of the gift to the remaining boys who are sitting with him, mostly are receiving it eagerly. They also thank her afterwards.
"Okay, let's start from me," Kise nods excitingly and tears it open. "Whoa, this looks really good, ssu!" His eyes are sparkling with joy when he sees the cute bear shaped chocolate inside. It's a pity that he has to ruin its shape after this, but it looks really delicious and sweet – until he eventually breaks its head and pops it to his open mouth.
He chews it happily, both cheeks full. A flavor hits him straight away when it touched his tongue. It doesn't feel like nothing he ever tasted before. He doesn't recognize the taste, then slowly and painfully, it becomes unusual and his eyes are teary, this time it's not because of happiness.
"What's wrong with him?" Kuroko blinks curiously, because, from his seat, he can't see Kise's expression clearly.
"Dunno, I can't see his face. Maybe it's too good," Murasakibara guessed. "Hmm, I can't wait. Can I eat it now?" he looked at the purple box in his hands hungrily, almost drooling.
"Wait for your turn," Midorima adjusts his glasses and scolds him.
Meanwhile, with an unbelievable effort, Kise is finally able to swallow the thing. "Mo-momoicchi… What kind of flavor is this?" he forces a smile and covers his mouth with his hand so she doesn't see it twitching.
"What do you ask?" Momoi tilted her head to the side. "Durian," she tells him cutely.
"DURIAN!?" His jaw drops and his world is getting dark as the others are just looking at them confusedly, unaware of the danger ahead of them.
"Yeah, I was thinking about the color of your hair when I made it," Momoi are bouncing happily on her place with her skirt swaying around.
Kise is trying to gather his sanity back. "No wonder it taste so strong.." He commented with tears stung in his eyes again. He wants to throw up but he clearly can't do that. "Next, ssu.." So he only covers his mouth again to prevent it, and glances at the person next to him.
"Ah, okay," Midorima startles a bit, somehow he feel uneasy. He opens the green box finding the glasses shaped chocolate inside, with many small pieces around the frame. It looks like a chocochip.
Ah, Midorimacchi.. Hang on there.. Kise thought, feeling really sorry towards his teammate's destiny. Well, if Momoicchi thought about our hair color when she made it, she probably thought of vegetables when she made Midorimacchi's, he watched him put a medium size piece inside his mouth.
Midorima's face clouded, and Kise knew instantly that something is wrong. "What is this thing that I'm chewing over and over?" The shooting guard is munching and munching like a hamster, it looks like the thing inside of his mouth is refusing to be swallowed.
"Carrots and scallion!" Momoi puts her index finger on her lips and exclaims proudly.
That's even worse than I thought! Kise trembles and shouts inaudibly. Somehow, the tears in his eyes are showing no sign of backing in.
"Oy, Satsuki," Aomine called. It's his turn now, and even though he's smiling and all, cold sweat starts to drip on his forehead.
"Hmm?" Momoi turns her gaze at her childhood friend.
"Can I skip? I want to eat all of them when I'm home later so I can enjoy it," the power forward lied while shifting on his seat uncomfortably.
"B-but—" Momoi seems to be against the idea. But he insists and shots a glare at her, forcing her to give up and agree. "Okay then," the manager looks a bit sad, but the tanned boy looks extremely relieved.
Aomine you bastard! Midorima who was finally able to swallow is gritting his teeth.
You know her cooking skills but you didn't warn any of us? What an evil person! Kise raises his fist, also feeling really upset.
"Now, Daiki," suddenly, Akashi talked towards the ace. "It's just a bite. Besides, we could use the energy from the chocolate," he stands up for the manager.
Don't encourage her, captain! Kise screamed inaudibly as he looks in horror at Momoi's brighten face.
You're making a big mistake! Midorima roared silently with his jaw dropped.
Aomine can't help but to feel disgusted at himself, he despises the fact that he's afraid of a smaller and weaker boy than him without a known reason. "O-ou, just a tiny little bite," his face looks like he already lost his willing to live, and his hand is shaking as he tears up a tiny part from the basketball shaped chocolate. He reluctantly puts it in his mouth, chews it once, and flinches immediately. "What in the world did you put into mine? The taste is.. Unbelievable," he asked both quietly and miserably to Momoi. If you're paying any attention, that doesn't actually mean a compliment.
"Really? It's the mix Pepsi blue and some squid ink!" But the manager got the wrong idea, clasping her hands in front of her chest delightedly.
Why squid ink? Kise gaped at her, covering his mouth again, tighter than before.
That's just brutal! Are you trying to kill him? Midorima shrieked and thought that he felt electrocuted just by hearing the information.
Their previous anger turns into sympathy as soon as they watch Aomine reaching for another bottle of water and drinking its content in one shot while trying to keep his facial expression composed.
It is Kuroko's turn now. "The wrap is really pretty, Momoi-san," he smiled softly as he compliments the sky blue box on his lap.
"You brat, why didn't you warn any of us about this?" Midorima whispers harshly towards the ace after he finished the bottle.
"Yeah, we could stop it from happening if we knew," Kise also protested, looking betrayed. The tears kept coming even though he wiped it repeatedly.
"I didn't have a choice. How the fuck did you expect me to warn you? It happened in an instant!" Aomine scowled at them, sounding apologetic.
"Well, anyway, ssu.." Kise glanced worriedly to the person next to the dark blue haired boy.
"Don't eat it Kuroko," Midorima muttered regretfully at the light blue haired boy. He doesn't like him very much, but not bad enough to send him to hell, by a chocolate.
"You'll die for sure.." Aomine added panicky, his hands are itching to save his best friend.
Of course the small boy couldn't hear them, since none of them were talking loudly. Therefore, the trio could only watch in pity as he broke the chocolate heart shaped in two and quietly took a mouthful. He is the one with the biggest bite so far.
"So, how is it?" Momoi watched him with expectation. To her, this boy is chewing her gift in a really cute way, her heart beating harder and faster, pumps with anticipation.
This is their first valentine and she hopes that she can give him the best chocolate he ever has. She planned to ask him out but she figures that it'll be impossible for the day with the match and all, he'll probably get too exhausted and will need some rest. Oh well, she can ask him tomorrow if everything goes smoothly today.
Kuroko gulped, and the other three were holding their breath while the phantom sixth man stood up. "I'm sorry, but.. Could you play without me in the second quarter? I need to go somewhere," Kuroko turned around towards the exit with his bluish pale face.
That's it! Tetsu is done! Aomine exclaimed.
His words are somehow incoherent, nanodayo! Midorima screeched and adjusted his glasses again.
What kind of ingredients did she put in Kurokocchi's? Kise looked both curious and sorry towards him, so much that he even cried for his sake.
"Hmm.. Kuro-chin is really weird," said Murasakibara as he watched Kuroko's back, having no idea. "Yay, it's my turn now.." The only thing that he's focused by now still is the purple package from Momoi. He split it open and found a cute chocolate in candy shape, and without thinking twice, he put the entire thing into his mouth, leaving Kise, Midorima, and Aomine dumbfounded. "T-this is.." Murasakibara pupils dilated as his mouth shots open, even his face's color is a bit purplish now, just like his hair.
Momoi looks concerned in an instant. "W-what's wrong, Mukkun?" she asked worriedly.
Murasakibara looked up at her confused face. "This is awful, Sa-chin!" He stated the obvious without any sense of guiltiness.
Oy, oy, ssu! Kise stood up from his seat with tremor.
You're being too straight forward! Midorima almost broke his glasses in two.
Don't you have a conscience, you baka?! Aomine is about to throw the ball at the purple head, looking bewildered.
Momoi looked like she has been stroke by one of Kuroko's love arrows, the painful one though. "R-really? How come? I just put a glass of grape syrup and an eggplant juice in it," she covers her mouth, troubled.
That's exactly what makes it so wrong, thought the other three guys darkly.
"The others are fine.." The manager glances towards the previous victims. She looks like she's about to cry.
"Yeah, we're really, really fine!" Aomine laughs loudly while moving his hands, overreacting.
"Definitely, nanodayo," Midorima nods in agreement but his eyes are wide open as he looked to another direction.
You guys really suck at acting, Kise thought boringly, sweat dropping. "Why don't we just move to the last person?" He chuckles to calm the situation a bit.
Momoi nods and nervously turns her attention towards Teiko point guard. The read head is looking at ease and as unreadable as usual. He opens the box to find a scissor shaped chocolate inside, and all of them caught him smiling slightly. And that's exactly what will making it worse.
"This is not good," Midorima whispers in fear.
"He'll definitely kill her, ssu," Kise ruffles his own hair regretfully.
"Why didn't you keep your mouth shut, Kise?" Aomine mutters harshly at the blond one.
I want to wash my tongue, Murasakibara thought. It feels like his taste bud is dead, and he desperately wants to get the thing out of his mouth, but thankfully he's still sensible enough to not throw up in front of Momoi.
"Oy, that team doesn't look very well," said one of their opponents in the other bench.
"Hmph, it's great for us then," his teammate replied lightly.
"But isn't it weird? They look like they're about to.. Pass away?" Added the other curiously.
In the meantime, Akashi put a small part of the chocolate inside his mouth and now he is chewing it normally. The others are waiting for him to respond, any signal. But he doesn't do anything except eating, even his facial expression remains unchanged.
"How come there's no reaction?" Aomine asks Midorima curiously.
"Like hell I know," Midorima snaps at him, his voice isn't louder than a whisper though.
"So, how was it, Akashicchi?" Kise gathered up his guts and asked his captain.
Murasakibara looks like he's about to faint in his sitting spot.
Akashi swallows it without any problem and looks at the rest of the team members. "It's good," he tells them.
"Really!?" Kise couldn't believe at what he just heard.
"That can't be right, nanodayo!" Midorima protested.
"Is he lying?" Aomine guessed.
Murasakibara still looks like he'll faint, but Momoi seems pleased and relieved.
"… The second half of the game will start…" the announcement echoed through the whole gym.
"Come on, we need to go now," Akashi took off his jacket, stood up, and walked inside the court.
"Ah, good luck, everyone!" Momoi cheered at the boys as she watched them follow their captain.
"Kuroko is still missing," Midorima looked around.
"This is the first time I feel like we're going to lose a game," Murasakibara said faintly as he took his position at his opponent area, earning a look from each of them.
"Oy, Akashi!" Aomine ran towards his captain with the blonde in his trail.
"What?" Akashi looked at both of them, a bit annoyed.
"Tell us the truth. That chocolate can't be good," the teenage model exclaimed.
Akashi glanced behind his teammate's shoulder and saw Momoi calling the coach. "Do you really want to know?" Teiko point guard looked up at them.
"I knew it," Aomine slapped his forehead.
"Of course we do, ssu," Kise nodded, excited.
"To tell you honestly.." Akashi turned around so Momoi wouldn't be able to see him. "It taste like a cough syrup," he uttered with a blank and sick face as his mouth dropped open like he wants to put some fresh air to his tongue, his face partly covered by his hand.
"Are you kidding me?" Aomine shocked then burst into laughter.
"That's the worst!" so did Kise. From all of them, Akashi is the only one who knows the exact taste of the chocolate.
The captain disliked their reaction, but he forgave them this time since they're suffering together. He even worried about Kuroko's condition so he called someone to find the phantom sixth man's whereabouts, afraid that the boy might collapse in some place.
"They're crying then laughing! Teiko basketball team is really filled with a bunch of crazy kids!" Someone from the audience commented.
Even when the game is over (they won with one point difference) and they're heading home, the aftertaste still lingers. They did many efforts towards it – gurgling, brushing their teeth, eating another food with normal taste – but none of it really worked. Aomine, Kise, and Midorima agreed to keep it a secret and to throw the chocolate once and for all into the closet. Murasakibara already ate the entire stuff, and Kuroko's chocolate was nowhere to be found.
The sixth member isn't even able to say anything, all he does is sinking on his seat at the bus. And, in the end, he just bows at them before he takes his leave.
Now, there's only Momoi and Akashi left on the big vehicle. Usually, Momoi is the last one, but today is the release date of monthly basketball magazine, so Akashi needs to head to the bookstore for a while and that place is coincidently near Momoi's residence.
"I'm sorry Akashi-kun," said Momoi, smiling sadly. Akashi raises a brow at her, inquisitive. She's sitting next to him since they departed, it becomes a habit since the first year on the club, after they started spying together. Akashi and Momoi will automatically sit together, discuss some data, Midorima is always with Murasakibara, Kuroko ends up dragged by Kise, and Aomine sits on the back, sleeping. "To tell you the truth, I know that none of it tasted good after Dai-chan ate it, and even more after Tetsu-kun turns. Ah, it breaks my heart to saw him like that," the girl continues gloomily.
The boy sighs. "Did you even taste it?" He asked carefully, trying to not sound harsh or to offend her somehow.
She shakes her head. "No.. I think I was just too focused with the decoration and the shape so I didn't really pay any attention to it, also because I believed in myself that it'll taste good," she explained slowly. Her voice is not energetic as usual. "But now I know that it isn't enough, right?"
Akashi cleared his throat, wondering. "What did you put in mine anyway?"
Momoi looked up as if she's trying to remember something. "Cherries.. And peppermint," she finally replied.
"Peppermint?" Akashi narrows his eyes teasingly, he knows that's not it. Spending a lot of time with her (doing laundry, spying, discussing, and letting her wipe his sweat) is making him understand her gestures better.
"Many peppermint, actually," she admits it, both embarrassed and apologetically.
Akashi lets out a nice, small laugh, making her a bit at ease. "You'll do better next time. Besides, you're giving all you got for us all, I think it's inspiring. You're not wrong when you think it's enough, you just have to keep practicing," he advised calmly as usual. Momoi realizes that after he became the captain he's not only scarier but also wiser.
"Hmm," she nods and smiles again even though it doesn't reach her eyes.
She is not so surprised anymore when he suddenly reaches his arm towards her and pats the top of her head gently. She closes her eyes, feeling the serene sensation. It's odd how he can affect her mental state just by touching her. She opened her eyes again when she felt him pulling away.
"And even though it's a bit.. unusual, I still think it's pretty good though. Maybe next time, you can just leave the peppermint out," the boy smirked, leaning to the window and propping his jaw with his elbow.
Momoi nodded and grinned, this time her eyes were glistening. "Yeah, I'll make sure to do that. I will replace it with another ingredient, like ginseng! It's good for your body!" She tells him, determined.
Akashi really, really, wants to object. But he just can't bring himself to take away the smile from her face. Maybe he'll tell her next time, or if it's too late, he, along with the others, can always arrange an emergency meeting.
-END-
This is the shortest and the lightest so far, but the most hilarious, I really enjoyed myself while writing this. Kise makes a good addition. *grins*
This chapter is mostly focused about the humor and their friendship, but don't worry, you'll get enough fluff from our pair on the next one #smirks
Don't forget to review, and I'll see you at the next one shot! Have a lovely day, my readers!
Pop Quiz: What do you think Kuroko's chocolate flavor is, and, what do you think Akashi do (or did) to his scissor chocolate?