Absence
A Kuroko no Basuke oneshot
by mew-tsubaki
Note: The Kuroko no Basuke characters belong to Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei, not to me. It's hardest when characters exit the stage… Also, SPOILERS for the end of the first series and the first chapter of Extra Game. Read, review, and enjoy!
- ^-^3
"Say, that was pretty bold of him yesterday, wasn't it?"
Moriyama starts the conversation off so nonchalantly that it takes Kasamatsu a moment to think about whom he's referencing. But then the blond appears in his mind's eye, and he thinks about the freshmen introductions and scowls. "He's just a kid," he growls.
Kobori chuckles awkwardly. "Coming from another kid, Kasamatsu…"
"Oh, shut up." Kaijou's basketball captain eats the bite of his lunch on his fork and bites down a little harder than necessary, and the metal makes his teeth ring. His scowl worsens.
Moriyama and Kobori exchange a look. "Well…this year's going to be interesting," Moriyama comments, and it's like getting the cat back into the bag after someone else boisterously let it out.
- ^-^3
Everywhere Kasamatsu goes, he's there.
At first, Kasamatsu thought that Kise wouldn't be able to handle his "tough love." But he's been giving it to Kise in spades, and the freshman appears to draw strength from the abuse.
On a day after practice, Kasamatsu oversees Kise putting equipment away. Kise keeps dropping balls, and Kasamatsu feels his annoyance surge. "Kise…!"
"Wah, senpai! Not the face!"
Well, of course not the face. Kise needs discipline, not punishment, and Kasamatsu knows Kise takes his modelling seriously. Kasamatsu isn't a villain.
- ^-^3
Kise talks about the Generation of Miracles a lot.
"Akashicchi could be scary, and playing against Murasakibaracchi…"
Those aren't the only names, but one in particular keeps coming up.
"Kurokocchi" this and "Kurokocchi" that—if Kasamatsu didn't know better when it came to Kise's nicknaming, he'd think "Kurokocchi" is the name of a pet.
"Oh, and I saw Kurokocchi the other day!" the blond chirps at him during lunch. It doesn't faze him to enter a third-year classroom, and Moriyama and Kobori are used to it now that it's been two months.
"What do you mean, you saw him?" Kasamatsu asks, because his friends have already started up a game of Old Maid without him, so he has to entertain Kise.
"I went to Seirin and—"
Goddamn him, is that why he skipped practice? To go to Tokyo?! Kasamatsu doesn't even let him finish before he throws his shoe at him.
It hits Kise in the throat and knocks the air out of him, but he picks up the shoe as though it's a treasure.
Kasamatsu curses. Oh, hell. Now he's without a shoe.
But Kise isn't a villain either, and he holds the shoe out like the prince for Cinderella.
The captain angrily stomps over and takes his shoe back. Sometimes he feels as though he's lost, even when he gets the upper hand…er, shoe.
- ^-^3
Before the Interhigh, Kise's nervous, and he isn't even talking about Kuroko.
"If we go far…we'll face him." Kise's golden eyes dim as Takeuchi talks to them about Interhigh strategies.
Kasamatsu slides his eyes to the model. He drops his voice, too, to carry on their quiet exchange in the back of the room. "Which Kiseki?"
"Aominecchi."
"Is that so?" The captain tries to think… "Aominecchi"? Subtracting the suffix and comparing to the list of Generation of Miracles… Aomine Daiki. Touou's terror. Oh. "He that good?"
"I've never beaten him, Kasamatsu-senpai." He glances at his senior, and there's real uncertainty there.
Kasamatsu wonders if Kise's ever shown this weak side to anyone. Going by what he's heard of the Miracles…probably not. The captain frowns and reaches for Kise.
Kise flinches, and the surprise on his face hurts Kasamatsu as the latter just rests his hand on the other's head and pats him.
"Well, you're different now. You're Kaijou's Kise." He looks away as he says the last part.
He misses the sheepish but genuine smile on his kouhai's face.
- ^-^3
Kise's starting to understand what it is to be on a team.
Kasamatsu can see that. He spends half his time observing the talent, sometimes even unconsciously.
The Interhigh left them in a precarious position. Losing was bad enough, but Kise's ankles and feet are worse for the wear. He's been resting easy since the loss, but he's anxious to play again, to practice alongside everyone else.
"Give others the chance to shine," Kasamatsu tells him during practice.
Kise's eyes have been following Nakamura all practice long, and Nakamura has pointedly not looked his way. Which is saying something, since Hayakawa loudly mentioned Kise to him halfway through.
"Hey," Kasamatsu says, running a hand through his hair and standing in Kise's line of sight. "Look at me."
The blond's eyes dart up to him with a fierce intensity.
He must want to play bad—Kasamatsu has to look away. "…rely on us more, you dork. We're your senpai."
He glances at Kise, and that smile is more blinding than the one that gets printed in magazines. Eventually, Kasamatsu will realize how often he sees it, not knowing he's the only one to see it.
- ^-^3
"School's livelier this year, and I like that," Moriyama says at the shoe lockers while Kasamatsu and Kobori wait for him. He closes his locker, and the three head outside. "I mean, the Winter Cup! We'll avenge ourselves!"
"That's being overdramatic," Kobori remarks exasperatedly. He puts a hand on Moriyama's shoulder to get him to calm down.
Kasamatsu wants to say something, but he just watches his friends instead. He half smiles, because he's torn inside, thinking about the next tournament being their last.
Granted, Hayakawa, Nakamura, and Kise and the others will have a few more chances. …but this team? Kasamatsu's team? It's the end.
Moriyama and Kobori stop goofing off for a second to exchange a glance over his head. "I can hear you pitying me," Kasamatsu gripes.
"No, no pitying happening!" the shooting guard forces. "Just thinking that we'll all be studying soon enough to get into university."
"We'll still be together, the three of us," Kobori insists.
The captain raises his eyebrows at them, but then someone calls for Kasamatsu by the entrance…of course.
"And maybe you won't be rid of Kise soon enough," Moriyama jokes. He tugs on Kobori's sleeve, and they speed up and leave just as Kise catches up.
"Kise, what now?" Kasamatsu says. "You have a physical therapy appointment to keep, don't you?"
Kise cocks his head to one side. "Mm…no, not today."
"Then what? I'm not going to play you one-on-one, and I don't want to go to one of your photo-shoots, and I don't want to visit Seirin—"
"I just wanted to hang out with you, senpai."
Kasamatsu does a double-take. Kise stares at him and there's no trace of trickery on his face. The captain can't come up with a response.
"So?" Kise prompts, starting to walk, Kasamatsu walking beside him as if pulled by a magnet. "Where should we go?"
- ^-^3
God, it's annoying.
Kasamatsu learns that if he doesn't come up with a destination quick enough, Kise will supply one for them. That day found them in Tokyo anyway, doing karaoke with some of Shutoku's starters, Midorima, Takao, and Miyaji. Miyaji's a cool guy, but those other two are about as rowdy as Kise.
Still… Kasamatsu would be lying if he said he didn't have fun when Kise's around. It's true. Kasamatsu smiles more these days, and Kise isn't as obnoxious as when they first met. Sometimes, even, Kise catches him off-guard and looks really cool.
Not that Kasamatsu would tell him, hell no. Kise's matured (just a tiny bit), but any ego inflation might nip that in the bud.
The Winter Cup goes by in a flash, and it doesn't hit Kasamatsu that it's over for the third years. It doesn't hit him that Kise's got his old friends back. It doesn't even hit him that he'll be lucky to haunt club practice a few more times before March…
Quietly, like the snow falling outside his bedroom window, things begin to change.
For instance, Kise's been on his best behavior since first coming to visit Kasamatsu's home. The short holiday break is nice for just this kind of thing, especially with Kasamatsu's family around. Or maybe not. Kise charmed his parents right off the bat, and his little brothers keep barging into his room every few minutes to show Kise their toys.
"Sorry about them," Kasamatsu says for the tenth time after ushering them out. He closes his door this time.
Kise frowns. "Aww, don't be. They're so cute. Like chibi senpai." A second later, he smiles. "I should come more often."
Kasamatsu purses his lips, but he shrugs, knowing that Kise's won over the others. "Whatever." And he tries not to smile himself as he reaches for his guitar and surprises Kise for once.
- ^-^3
It's strange. He had a feeling he and Kise would grow apart after the Winter Cup, since he all but had to resign.
But he and Kise are attached at the hip most of the time now. Whether he's studying to retake his entrance exams or moping about not going to club (and getting dragged there anyway) or making plans with Miyaji to form a street ball team (because why not?), Kasamatsu isn't often found without Kise these days.
He takes little note of it, as do the others. Things have just progressed this way. It's all right, he supposes.
And then March arrives, and graduation with it. And there are a lot of tears and half-hearted promises and thank-yous. And a new haircut on Kise.
"What the hell did you do?!" Kasamatsu shrieks at him. The others are no help. They're either laughing their asses off or gawking at the model.
"Well…I was just…" His words are incoherent as he's crying. "I'm sad you're leaving!"
"So you cut off all your hair? We're not breaking up, you dork." He thinks his words are clear as day—after all, it's not like they were dating—but something sparks in Kise's eyes.
Kise holds on to the hem of Kasamatsu's school jacket. "Senpai…"
Kasamatsu gets a funny feeling in his gut. Oh, hell. When did he start feeling responsible for this guy's happiness? "It's nothing. And don't hold on to me so tightly. My jacket will wrinkle."
Kise beams and hugs him. Kasamatsu fights Kise, but he doesn't have it in him to be too violent today.
The pictures come. Kasamatsu poses with Kobori and Moriyama. Those three pose with Kise, Hayakawa, and Nakamura. Nakamura takes a photo of just those five. And Moriyama takes a picture of just Kasamatsu and Kise.
Kise hugs his senior to him again, and of course that gets framed in eternity in a photo.
"Let go of me!" the shorter boy barks, and Kise reluctantly obeys.
"Oh! Wait. Senpai, I'm caught on your jacket."
He is. His sleeve is caught on the second button on Kasamatsu's jacket, and the former captain yanks the button off without a second thought. "Never mind wrinkling the jacket, then."
The others disperse, but Kise's rooted to the spot. "Can I keep your button?"
"Hah? Yeah, sure, whatever…" Kasamatsu runs a hand through his hair. He glances at the blond, who's in awe of the button in his hands for whatever reason, and notes the new haircut again. Kasamatsu sighs. "Hey, come on. Let's go celebrate or something."
- ^-^3
Or something, indeed.
Kasamatsu remains local, because he has one last retake to take and then… Well, his two options both start in the fall, so Kasamatsu has time to kill.
He spends his time helping around home, fetching his brothers from school, and helping out the Kaijou basketball club. "Since you're free," Takeuchi is always quick to point out.
Sometimes he sees Kobori and Moriyama there, but often he's the only graduate around. He helps out, and he cleans up, and he leaves with Kise, and they fall into this routine.
Kise's a little more hard to deal with these days. He's getting on well with his old friends, but he's also…a bit strange. Well, stranger than normal for him.
Ever since graduation, Kise's tried to tame himself, and he's not jumped on Kasamatsu as much. It's as though he's trying too hard to be cool or casual around Kasamatsu.
Kasamatsu even points that out to him. "Just be your idiotic bubbly self," he tells his kouhai. They're hanging out outside Kasamatsu's house because it's the start of summer and it's hot and there's shaved ice to eat.
"Eh? But…" Kise pauses, stares at the sky in thought, and twists his lips around in a frown. It's as if he can't think straight or speak properly around Kasamatsu anymore.
Oh. Maybe that's it. Maybe they'd just hit their stride before the Winter Cup. Maybe Kise doesn't know how to stay friends with someone two years older than him. Kasamatsu understands—he fell out of touch with his senpai, too, after they graduated.
But Kasamatsu doesn't want to think about that. He doesn't want to guess about how things are going to change. He just wants to sit here in the sun, eating shaved ice and listening to Kise's idle chatter.
He just wants to stay right here forever.
"Senpai…!" Kise's embarrassed, and Kasamatsu doesn't get why, but the blond's a little more like his old self as he leans against the fence in the front yard and bends to his right, leaning his head on Kasamatsu's shoulder. He hugs Kasamatsu's arm to him, and he's ridiculously at a loss for words.
Kasamatsu doesn't mind at all.
- ^-^3
The summer disappears. It never occurs to them that it's been more than a year since Kise met the Kaijou team.
Kaijou does well in the Interhigh, but—as is becoming a trend—Kaijou loses to Seirin, who in turn loses to Touou. Hayakawa's doing a good job of running the team, and Nakamura and Takeuchi are keeping a close eye on the new captain.
Kise's team play has improved, too. Kasamatsu's not the only envious one. He watched his matches alongside Moriyama and Kobori, and Kobori watched fondly while Moriyama gnashed his teeth and predicted the increase in Kise's fanbase.
The summer winds down, and Kasamatsu begins to pack. Summer vacation is almost over, so Kise won't be around as much, and the blond's trying to make up for the soon-to-be-lost time.
"I hope your classes won't be too tough on you," Kise wishes.
"I'll work on the general classes for now, but I'm planning on taking higher-level math classes, and maybe sports medicine…I dunno," he confesses.
"What about music?"
"Ha, no, I'm not that good. And I don't want people telling me what to play." He continues to pack in silence for several minutes.
"What about basketball?"
Kasamatsu smiles. "Eh, not at school. My school team is Kaijou, and that won't ever change."
Kise pulls big eyes on him, impressed.
"But I was serious about street ball. Those tournaments can be pretty intense. There's one next week, before I leave."
"Ah, right, STRKY… I'm glad you're a captain again. Say hi to Miyaji-san for me!"
"Not Imayoshi, too?"
"Geh…! I don't know how Aominecchi could ever play with that guy…" Kise passes a few more shirts to Kasamatsu, their fingers accidentally brushing, but Kasamatsu doesn't notice.
He does notice Kise's reluctance when he closes his suitcase and Kise fingers one of the zippers, not helping him to close it. "Kise?"
The blond sighs and gives him a tiny smile. "…it's nothing, senpai." He hugs him, and then it's as if the moment has passed.
- ^-^3
After…everything's a blur.
STRKY gets their asses handed to them by Jabberwock. Kasamatsu is publicly humiliated by one of the Americans. The Vorpal Swords are formed, Kise texts him that he'll avenge Kasamatsu, and the Vorpal Swords do just that.
And then the semester starts, and it's as if none of it ever happened.
Sharing a tiny apartment with Moriyama in Tokyo is an experience. They see Kobori from time to time since his school is about thirty minutes away, so the times haven't changed too much.
But the calls and texts…they stop coming.
Kasamatsu figured this would happen.
He tries not to let it get to him, and he does well with that. His classes have his entire focus, and trying to keep that tiny apartment clean with Moriyama is a handful. Moriyama, thankfully, can cook, but he can't clean for shit, despite how neatly he dresses.
And he almost gets used to this new schedule. But then he sees someone on their campus walking to a building, a tall guy with that short blond hairstyle—
Kasamatsu runs up to him, but it's not Kise, and the guy shrugs him off with a dirty look.
Moriyama jogs to him. "Kasamatsu?" He furrows his brow. "What's wrong?"
"It's… I—" His lips form a straight line and he tightens his grip on his bag. "It's nothing. Let's get to class."
- ^-^3
"Stop staring at your phone," Moriyama scolds him at home.
It's almost November (ah, Winter Cup time again), and Kasamatsu is under the kotatsu in their apartment. He turns his head on the table, facing his friend. "What?"
"Your phone. Stop looking at it and wishing," the shooting guard elaborates, plucking his phone from his hands and placing a dinner plate in front of him. "Eat something."
"I'm not hungry."
"Bullshit." Moriyama sighs, annoyed, and pockets Kasamatsu's phone. "You're sulking."
"No, I'm not. What would I sulk about?"
"Kise."
Kasamatsu bristles. "Eh?"
The taller male crosses his arms and looks down at the puddle of person beneath their kotatsu. "You've barely heard from him, haven't you?"
"I—"
"And that guy two weeks ago—you thought he looked like Kise."
"No, I—"
Moriyama holds up a hand to stop him. "It's okay for you to reach out to him, you know."
Kasamatsu glares at him. "Dammit, I—"
"Kasamatsu." Moriyama locks eyes with him. "Kobori and I…we saw it early on. You like him."
"Of course I do. He's our junior."
"No, I… God, I actually feel sorry for Kise." Moriyama shakes his head. "You were together all the time. First with the kicking, then with the coddling. Then you two were inseparable. Come on, some part of you had to realize that you enjoy being around Kise."
Kasamatsu makes a face. "He's entertaining."
"'Entertaining'? Oh, for crying out loud." Moriyama groans. "Just eat. I'll give you your phone in the morning when you're done wallowing."
"I'm not wallowing!"
But Moriyama is already heading to his room, leaving Kasamatsu with a lot to think about.
- ^-^3
It has been over three months, but it feels like three years.
It never occurred to Kasamatsu what it would be like to quit something cold turkey. But…he gets it now.
He misses a smile that has never appeared in magazines.
He misses the gentle laugh after Kasamatsu gave a scolding.
He misses the hugs that enveloped him and made him feel tiny.
He misses a blond head on his shoulder, and the weakness in hazel eyes that only he ever saw.
He misses that loud voice and that stupendous presence.
He even misses the idle chatter about the Generation of Miracles.
He misses Kise Ryouta.
- ^-^3
Finals are hell. Moriyama promises they'll go out and celebrate with Kobori when it's over, but that seems so far away.
Why did he have to take Linear Algebra so soon? There's too much to know, and his exam feels rigged against him.
Granted, his head feels empty save for his most recent worries.
The days drag on, and finals are over, and Kasamatsu would feel fine never knowing his grades.
"A night on the town!" Moriyama gushes, sounding drunk even though they're not old enough yet.
"I dunno, I kind of want to sleep the weekend away," Kobori says.
"No! You need to get out of your dorm!"
Kasamatsu and Kobori shake their heads. Sometimes keeping up with Moriyama is the real challenge.
"Oh!" The shooting guard gasps audibly and exchanges a look with Kobori. "I forgot something at the apartment."
"Are you kidding me?" the shortest of the three gripes. "Well, go on, get it. Then we'll get this show on the road."
"No, come with." And he pleads Kasamatsu with his eyes.
Kasamatsu groans and the three go to the apartment, but Kobori mumbles something to Moriyama. Moriyama blushes and urges Kasamatsu upstairs.
"My, uh…scarf! Right. Striped scarf, the green one. Can you get that for me?"
"You should get it yourself! You're the reason we came back!"
"Please?" He holds his hand up in thanks.
Kobori looks a little sheepish, and Kasamatsu has to wonder what's going on, but he goes anyway. He's had a feeling since the start of university that they're keeping something from him, but he knows one of them (Moriyama) will eventually spill the beans, so he's not all that worried.
He inserts his key into the door handle, but the door opens from the other side at the same time. Kasamatsu looks up.
Kise's staring down at him.
Now, Kise's face brightens like a puppy who's gotten back his favorite toy. But Kasamatsu? His mind floods with a thousand and ten images and memories and he reaches out involuntarily and grabs the front of Kise's sweater, as if to make sure he's real.
And he is. And Kasamatsu gets now just how terribly he's missed this formerly-cocky bastard that completely changed how he could live his life.
"Senpai?"
Kasamatsu sighs, but he smiles and leans forward until his head is on Kise's chest, Kise's sweater still in his iron grip. Surprised arms fold around him, and it's not like old times.
It's better, because he gets it now, what Moriyama was trying to say, and why Kise grew to be so careful around him.
He looks up at Kise and rests his forehead against the taller's chin. Shit. What a nice surprise Moriyama's "scarf" turned out to be. Because things will be different now, and they'll stay in touch, and Kasamatsu will make sure he doesn't go another day without some dose of Kise because it's not like old times.
It's better.
- ^-^3
Something fluffy…because I need them to be happy… Plus I love it when senpai's a little thick, *lol*. I like matchmaker!Moriyama…and that was a hint of KoMori, fyi… Urgh, I just love Kaijou, my bbs…
Thanks for reading, and please review!
-mew-tsubaki :']