Kise Ryōta glanced at the girl beside him and sighed inwardly. This had been the seventh time she had glanced at her watch in the last five minutes and played with the hem of her skirt. In short, she was fidgeting, and there was no doubt in Kise's mind, to get his autograph. He understood that there were repercussions of being a model but this was pushing it; he had barely even started high school, heck, there were still ten minutes to the end of the entrance ceremony, and already he could feel the stares of the fans, hear their whispers and, in this case, see them fidgeting. He loved his fans, he really did, he wouldn't be anywhere near success without them, but sometimes, sometimes he wanted to make do without the squealing and screaming, the fan clubs in school and ,most of all , the fake smiling. He loved attention. It was in his nature to be in the spotlight, but even he wanted some time away from it.
When he saw the girl check her watch for the eight time, he couldn't help but ask, if only to make her stop, "Hey, you okay?"
To his surprise, she glanced at him then looked back ahead before freezing and turning towards him slowly, her eyes wide. 'Here it comes.'
"Are you Kise Ryōta?"
Kise counted till three in his head before replying with a small smile, "Yes, but are you okay?"
The girl nodded before suddenly slapping herself on her forehead. "I am so sorry for staring like that. I made you uncomfortable. "
Kise chuckled quietly, momentarily trying to figure out if it was his voice (highly unlikely) or his facial expressions (not possible) that gave him away. Deciding that maybe, just maybe, she was more aware of social mannerisms than his other fans, he pushed the thought aside and shook his head."It's alright, I get that a lot."
The girl shook her head before straightening up and extending her right hand. "I'm Yui, Kasamatsu Yui. It's nice to meet you. I'm really sorry, it's just that, it's not every day I get to meet amazing basketball players."
Kise was about to shake her hand when her words truly sank in. "You into basketball?"
The girl nodded, running her other hand through her short hair (they were short enough to be considered a boys' except for the long bangs falling to one side of her face, down to her chin). "Yeah, I play point guard." She chuckled before continuing, "What about you?"
Kise raised an eyebrow, trying to figure her out. She knew he played basketball and claimed to play as well, but didn't know his position?
"I know you play short forward, Kise-san, I was just hoping to provide you a normal conversation, one where I don't know you."
Kise stared at the girl as she smiled at him. Well, this was a first. Never had a girl silenced him in a conversation, and she had managed to do it twice and in the same conversation. She seemed friendly, but could she be trusted? What if she was just pretending? What if- to hell with it. He would deal with the consequences, if there were any, later. With that, he shook her hand and said, "Kise Ryōta, nice to meet you. I play short forward."
They turned back to face the front and were sitting in a content silence until the entirety of their conversation sank in and Kise turned to face her again. "You play basketball?"
The girl - Kasamatsu-san- laughed before nodding. "Yes, is that a problem?"
Although she wasn't looking at him and she had just laughed, her words had a sharp edge to it with a slight undertone of cautiousness. Realising that his question, or rather the disbelief behind the question, was offensive, Kise quickly clarified himself. "There's nothing wrong with you playing, really. I just haven't met a girl who could play. I know girls like basketball and can be very good strategists," Here his mind flashed back to Teiko's pink hair strategist, "But I've never seen them play, apart from on TV, so I was just surprised...and..."
He realised he was rambling when Kasamatsu-san chuckled and shook her head. "It's alright Kise-san, I believe you. And even if you didn't believe in girls playing basketball," Here her eyes narrowed and she turned to look at him, startling him with the intensity of her stare, "I would just have had to show you how wrong you were ."
Kise blinked before smiling sheepishly and scratching the back of his neck.
Kasamatsu-san turned back in her seat, her fingers drumming a random beat on her thighs. The movement reminded Kise of why he had spoken to her in the first place, so he asked a third time, "So, you okay? You've been fidgeting a lot."
Kasamatsu-san stopped moving as she glanced at him. "Gomen, I must have been annoying you. I'm just really excited."
Kise didn't know how to respond to that. Either she was excited coming to school or seeing him, the latter making him wary. However, he was the one who had struck up a conversation and her reaction to his presence had seemed genuine, so he decided to proceed with his question. "What about?"
She glanced at him before shrugging. "I have wanted to join Kaijo's basketball team since my second in year in middle school. Sitting here, a few minutes away from doing so, I'm feeling excited."
Kise couldn't help but grin. So far, she was honest, from what he could tell, and intriguing (she played basketball) and it helped that she wasn't fawning over him. "So this must be like a dream come true moment for you."
The girl shook her head." No, just a reaching my goal moment. My dream is to help Kaijo win the Inter High."
Her offhand comment had him turning to fully look at her. Intriguing indeed. Kasamatsu Yui was definitely interesting . As he turned around to face the front, the student body in front of him stood, signalling the end of the entrance ceremony. He quickly stood up with them, glancing down at the black haired girl beside him as she eagerly stood up, her back pack already on. He was seriously beginning to believe that she truly wasn't interested in him, and it felt relieving.
As they filed out of the auditorium and into the dispersing crowd, it took only a moment before Kise was separated from Kasamatsu-san and surrounded by fangirls. He groaned inwardly but smiled nonetheless, greeting them and signing autographs. When he looked over the crowd, in search of his companion, he spotted her walking towards the front grounds where the club sign up tables were. As if feeling his eyes on her, she looked over her shoulder and met his gaze. She smiled and saluted him with two fingers before continuing on her way.
It was then that Kise decided, that he would definitely get to know Kasamatsu Yui.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke.
Author's note: Hello everyone. I am really sorry to my readers who are reading Bonds for not updating but I have started my dentistry school and am really busy. I know I should be updating that first but a persistent plot bunny couldn't help but escape. I will update Bonds but maybe not for another month because I am currently living in a hostel (boarding house) and will (finally) go home after a month.