Kuroko the gambler.
DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING, I NEVER HAVE AND I NEVER WILL.
WARNING: Gambling, that is all.
WORD COUNT: 8870
AN: Normally I don't/ won't have ANs before the chapter, but the characters will be playing a game called "Bullshit" or "BS"since I don't get poker. If you know how to play BS then skip down to the story, if not then read the rest of this I will not be explaining it later. And yes, it is a real game. I didn't make it up, its really popular over here where I live.
Alright, so you need around three or more player (not over ten), and a regular deck of cards. You divide all cards equally as possible, the players are allowed to look at their hand, but they must try to stop their hand from 'bleeding' (meaning the other players can see the cards their holding). The person who has the ace of spades goes first by putting it face up to start a pile, along with any other aces they might have, face down. The next person puts down any and all twos they have, the next person, threes, the next fours, and so on until it loops. When putting a card in the pile, the player must say "I put down (number of cards) (card)" example "I put down three twos." The object of the game is rid yourself of all your cards by putting th in the pile, once you've run out of cards you've won, and wait for the others to run out of cards. However if you don't have the card you're required to put down on your term, you must chose a different card, place it face down in the pile and lie about the card, hoping not to get caught. By the time the next person's turn begins, you say a code word like peanut butter, to let the other players know that you just lied straight to their faces and got away with it. However, before the time the next player puts their card down, if another player is suspicious of the card placed down, they can say "BS!" or "BULLSHIT!" and call the person out. Once the player called out another player, the cards the person being called out on put down are turned over for all players to see. If it was a lie, the person who was called out must add the entire pile to their hand. If the person who was called out was telling the truth, then the person who called out must add the entire pile to their deck. This is a game based on deception, but up above is all the rules and how to. There are strategies, which I will explain next, but this is the basis you need for this story.
There are only a couple strategies I know of; sneaking an extra card or two (or five, people are very trusting and inattentive) while placing your cards down. Sneaking glances into other players bleeding hands. Checking hand to see if cards add up. DIstract opponents and confuse them on as to which card you should be placing down to work in your favor. Collaborating with opponents to sniff out lies. Look suspicious when you're telling the truth (and vice versa). There are others but these are the ones I'll be using.
Sorry for the long AN, but on to the story!
.0.
"Tetsuya! You'll be late to school!" Called his mother from the kitchen, washing dishes. Tetsuya was at the table eating a bowl of cereal as breakfast, the on tv was visible and audible from the place where he sat.
He plunged the spoon into the soggy cereal, and put it in his mouth. He closed his eyes and listened to the tv for a minute.
"In more recent news, at Yamato's Casino and Bar, there was a huge scandal involving one man and a new station they set up. The staff decided to start a new gambling game called "BS" for short, this man completely dominated the stations. He bankrupt the casino, and emptied the pockets of the players several times over. He took the money and left without ever revealing his identity, it seems that was his first time at that casino, but he has been sighted at many casinos, making a large profit. He is wanted by the police for information fraud and scandalism."
The news reporter was always so boring, Kuroko stood up and cleaned his dished in the sink, before putting them in the dishwasher. He dried off his wet hands and his attention returned to the tv.
"We have a description, so please be on the look out for him. It is a male, roughly estimated to be 5'9" and around twenty years of age. He supposedly has a light shade of hair that is ear length long. Now on to the weather…" The news suddenly was no longer interesting, and Kuroko grabbed his bag and was by the door. His mother came up beside him and kissed him on the cheek.
"You be safe out there, alright? I don't want anything bad happening to you." He opened the door.
"I'll be fine, mother. I know to stay out of sight. I must be going then, goodbye." He closed the door behind him, and walked toward school with a slight bounce in his step only visible to those closest to him. Today was the day that Seirin was going against Touou for the first time, he could finally beat Aomine and return his friend's love of basketball back! Also after the game, he planned to make his biggest run yet!
Kuroko discovered one day, that a poker face, such as his own, were particularly useful for gambling in card games. Ever since he was seven, he was gambling. At first it was just pieces of gum, and erasers, then it was books and lunches, and now it was cash, favors, and whatever else he could think of. He had become quite skilled at it, and first tried his luck in an adult setting was in a less-than-legal casino in the shady part of town. The men who run it didn't care that a kid who was only ten wanted to gamble, they were all high or drunk, and thought they could manage to take a few bucks off of the kid who wandered into their place. By the end of that night, Kuroko had run them dry, returning home with a bag full of money.
Mother never questioned where he went when he made these runs, but he had no doubt she knew about them, she was very perceptive. But she knew that all this swindling and gambling could attract unwanted attention and harm her son, so she taught him the art of becoming invisible or unnoticeable. However, she also knew that gambling wasn't good, she told Tetsuya this, but he didn't stop, and she didn't put up much of a fight. They needed that money, especially after that no-good father of Tetsuya's ran away to who knows where! And she reasoned with herself that Tetsuya wasn't obsessed and did the deed for the good of the two of them, however even she was not delusional enough to say that Kuroko didn't enjoy his outings.
Kuroko for many years stuck to the shady, untraceable, underground casinos, he became quite famous, but he never showed his face, the people who lost might go after him and his mother.
When he entered Seirin, he began to grow weary of the typical underground casinos and longed for something more, he moved on to legal casinos last summer. But only the small ones, he wasn't cocky enough to say he was prepared for the bigger, professional, more famous ones yet. In that short span of six months, apparently he managed to grab quite the reputation.
But finally after six years of practice, Kuroko finally deemed himself ready for the big leagues. After the game, from 10PM to 1AM he would go around the biggest casino in town and get all that he could without getting caught too soon.
.0.
Once he arrived at school, he took his seat in class and looked around. There was nothing unusual, just another day at school for everyone. Everyone except Kagami that is, he looked like he hadn't slept at all last night. Kuroko began to worry, if he didn't have enough energy for the game, they wouldn't be able to win.
The school day went by excruciatingly slow, but he was so happy when it was over. The team gathered with their stuff for the game in front of the bus that would take them to their destination. They called role, and got on the bus. The drive normally is thirty minutes, but due to traffic it took around forty-five minutes. Once the bus stopped Riko stood up and addressed the team,
"Hey! We're here! Kuroko, wake up Kagami!" There was a quiet yes, and the beautiful sound of Kagami waking up.
"AGGRH! WHAT THE FUCK KUROKO! WHO THE HELL WAKES SOMEONE UP BY THROWING A DOG AT THEIR FACE?! Oh, hello Coach."
"Thank you, Kuroko. Now that Kagami's up I can continue my announcement, we have arrived at the location. Please try to behave, if you don't I will double your training menu. Now, do your best, and don't forget what we came here to do. What was it again?"
"We came to win!" The team said together, but it wasn't enough for Riko.
"I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you."
"WE CAME TO WIN!" Riko smiled, they would win today, she just knew it.
"There we go. Come on, our game doesn't start until eight, which is in three hours. We're going to watch a couple games before then." With that they left the bus, in a single file line and walked to the nearest food stand. It was around dinner time, and some people were hungry. The team's meals mainly consisted of hot dogs, pizza, or some sort of sandwich, or in Kagami's case, all three and more.
They went around to the the courts and began looking for good on going games to spectate. They finally settled down at a low key game between two generic high schools, nothing really standing out about the game to Seirin, except for the fact the two schools going against each other apparently had a huge rivalry, and were settling it once and for all.
.0.
BUZZZZZZZZZ
The last buzzer went off, signaling the ending of the good game, both teams were huffing and puffing, trying to catch their breaths with smiles on their faces. A game like this was rare. Although the winning team would probably lose the next match, it was refreshing to see people so happy just to compete with a rival in their favorite competition. Kuroko supposed rivals did that to people, that's why Kagami has to be good enough to be Aomine's rival. A rival was like your worst enemy, best friend, complete opposite, and siamese twin all rolled into one. Kuroko decided to try to get a rival in gambling or basketball, whichever came first, or maybe both at the end of things.
The players cleared the court and new ones filed through the doors. When Tetsuya came back from dispensing of his trash from his dinner, he took note that the teams were Touo and a very scared small team from the outskirts of town. It was the first round after all, the system hadn't picked out the weak teams yet.
Aomine wasn't on the court, in fact there wasn't a single first string player from Touo on the court. They were all watching the second strings, trying to pick out who had potential, from five rows in front of the Seirin team. Aomine was there as well, probably forced to by Momoi, he was shamelessly reading a porn magazine featuring scantily clad women with large breasts, not at all paying attention to the game.
Kuroko distanced himself from his surroundings and decided to play a self-made game, which he'd been playing since he was six.
'Whenever you're bored, distance yourself from everything and observe your surroundings take everything in. First, cut off all your senses except for smell. Then smell everything you can, try to paint your surroundings through smell. Second, cut off all senses but hearing. Hear everything thing around you. Third, cut off all senses but sight. See everything, leave nothing overlooked. Cut off all senses and leave yourself floating in a senseless, odorless, sightless, and soundless world of darkness. Now, open up all your senses all at once, not one by one, but let it flood you with senses. Take in everything, leave nothing missed, for there is only one present that is ever changing.'
Kuroko tried to teach it to the other kids but apparently, they'd rather play tag instead of intellectually advanced games. He never included touch or taste in his game, because it would be odd if he just went around licking and touching random objects and or began to play:
First, only smell: Kuroko could smell the disgusting odor from Kagami's bad breath. He could smell humidity from the pouring rain outside. He could smell the deodorant Coach put on that morning. He could smell Momoi's flowery perfume. He could smell the sweat radiating off the players on the court. He could smell the pizza that was being eaten. He could smell the new leather on the shoes another coach had worn. He could smell everything, in his mind there was a world created solely by smell, and smell alone.
Second, only hearing: Kuroko could hear the pants of the players, gasping for breath. He could hear Kogenei happily crunching on potato chips. He could hear dozens upons of individual conversations, the occupants of said conversations usually oblivious to the one taking place right next to them. He could hear the pounding of the rain beating down hard on the roof and outside grounds, with the occasional thunder. He could hear the squeak of the basketball shoes, as well as the drops of water leaking from the ceiling. He could hear everything, in his mind there was a world created solely by sound, and sound alone.
Third, only sight: Kuroko could see the beads of sweat rolling down the players flushed faces. He could see all the colors decorating the clothes of the audience. He could see every endless rain drop, falling too quickly to keep sight of, falling from the sky out of the high window. He could see the dimensions, color, and layout of the room, along with everything inside. He could see Kagami's grease stained fingers reach for one of Kogenai's potato chips. Kagami opened his mouth, but to Kuroko there was no sound in his sight-only world. He could see everything, in his mind there was a world created solely by sight, and sight alone.
Fourth, nothing: Kuroko shut down all his senses. There was nothing. No light. No color. No bright. No dark. No light. No shadow. No good. No bad. No shouts. No whispers. No tastes. No textures. No liquids. No solids. No gases. No smells. No sights. No sounds. No thoughts. No anything. No nothing. Kuroko's transparent essence was merely floating in a never ending abyss.
Fifth, re-emerge: Suddenly Kuroko opened his senses. Lights. Shadows. Colors. Smells. Whispers. Shouts. Tastes. Sounds. Thoughts. Anything. Everything. It was all there, just as Kuroko had left it. But now, the colors popped out more. The shadows were more refined. The smells were more exotic. The whispers became clear. The shouts became crisp. All his worlds made of sound, smell, and sight were combined. It was beautiful, and made him appreciate life.
Kuroko was done with his game, and feeling refreshed and focused under his calm expression, nothing slipped by him. Especially the fact that every notable team was here, either in the audience, or on the court, including the Generation of Miracles' teams. Kuroko couldn't see all of them, but he knew that they were in the building.
Suddenly there was a large rumble of thunder that made everybody jump. The rain began to come down even harder. Kuroko frowned. He hadn't brought a raincoat with him, and at this rate the roads might begin to flood.
And flood it did. Once the current game had finished, Kuroko went to a window to check outside. The streets were flooding, but there wasn't enough water for boats or anything drastic like that, it was about to Kuroko's upper shins. The cars wouldn't be going anywhere soon.
"Well, this poses a problem. How will we get home? More importantly, how will I be able to do my run? I don't know if the casino is still open in this weather..." Kuroko's thoughts were interrupted by an announcer over the intercom.
"Due to recent weather, we will be moving all games to a later date. Please gather in the first gym's audience, and remain there until the flooding and weather has died down. Thank you for your cooperation. I will repeat the message.- Due to recent.." Kuroko sighed and walked towards the gym. It seemed they would be here for a while.
Once outside of the doors leading to the gym, Kuroko could hear a large crowd talking, some even yelling, people were getting irritable in the hot, sticky humidity in such close quarters. From outside the door looking in, Kuroko could tell that there was a lot of people, it would be hard to find his team.
He opened the door and walked in, looking around the room for his teammates. Once he spotted the tall red head, he weaved through the crowd towards the red beacon of hair.
"Hey! Kuroko-icchi! Come over here and- Hey wait!" Kuroko sped up his weaving when Kise accidentally caught sight of him, afterall he wasn't using his misdirection. Once he reached his team he joined in their conversations of the game delay and their boredom.
"It sucks the games were delayed! But now I'm sooo bored! Isn't there anything to do?! Mitobe, you got any ideas?" In response to Koga, Mitobe's mouth opened, and then it closed with no sound or words coming out.
"Yeah? Ask Kuroko? Okay, Kuroko! Got any ideas to relieve us of being bored?" The cat faced Koga was way too loud, and alerted everyone to Kuroko's presence. They all jumped a bit, but all eyes were on him. Kuroko was suspicious of Mitobe, he wasn't using his misdirection, but he hadn't made himself known either. Kuroko noticed he has well observational skills, he might be useful on one of his casino runs… Kuroko mentally shook his head, he didn't want his team getting mixed up in that.
But now the eyes were on him, they expected an answer. He hadn't the slightest idea. He opened his mouth, as if to answer, the team leaned forward to hear it better, but then he closed it and put on a thinking look. The team fell forward and Kagami yelled.
"Well, are you gonna answer or are you just gonna stand there?!" Kuroko was really thinking hard. Suddenly he was very aware of the bulge in his pant pocket, he had brought a deck of cards to play solitaire with if he got bored.
"Ano… We could play cards." Here he took the deck out of his pocket and held it up. The team looked at the deck of cards as if it were their savior.
"... tha.. Thank you Kuroko. Wait! But game are we gonna play?!" A few people groaned at the thought of arguing all over again.
"We should play War! It's the best!"
"No! War is stupid! We should play Slapjack!"
"As if anyone would ever want to play that shitty game. We will play Go Fish."
"Aw heck no! We sho-"
"If you want to use my deck of cards, then we will play BS. Anyone who doesn't want to play that game may watch from the sidelines." Kuroko gave off a scary aura that intimated the first years. However, they did not know what BS stood for.
"Ah, umm.. Kuroko? What is BS?" Kuroko blinked, and began to explain the game.
"BS, or BullShit, is a game based on deception and strategy. (GO UP TO AN FOR EXPLANATION) It may be hard to get at first, but it is fun. Now, I will deal out the cards, who is playing?"
"ME!"
"Oh. Me and Mitobe want to play!"
"Oh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me! Mememememememe!"
" *sigh* You brats! It's his game, let him decide."
"Thank you, Riko. So, umm, Kagami, would you like to play?"
"YEAH!"
"...Okay. Now Kyoshi, would you like to play?"
"Yay! I get to play! I can't wait to win~!"
"...Umm, Hyuga, would you like to play?"
"Thanks Kuroko. And Kyoshi? I will be the one to win."
"...Alright. Mitobe, would you like to play?"
"..." They all looked to Koga for a translation.
"'Sorry, Kuroko. But I'd rather watch.' That's what he said!" Said the cat-face.
"Okay, then… Umm, Alex?" The team was surprised to hear her name, but they quickly saw her walking behind them. Her name had called her attention to the group, and walked over.
"Yeah, kiddos? What do ya need?"
"Hey, Alex. You wanna play BullShit with us?" Kagami was blunt as usual.
"Hell yeah! I love this game! Who's dealing?" Kuroko raised his hand, indicating that he was the dealer, then put it down.
"Um.. sorry, but to keep this simple we'll only have five people for now." The players sat in a circle on the floor. On the outside of the circle was the rest of the team, looking on. Kuroko dealt out the cards with such speed and accuracy, that the team was sure he was a pro with cards. They were vaguely impressed with his skills, and none but Alex truly appreciated his show.
"Wow, kid. You've got some skills."
"Thank you. Now, who has the Ace of Spades?" Kagami put down the Ace of Spades and looked around. Izuki thought this was the perfect pun.
"The ace has the ace!" Riko dealt with his laughter by hitting him. Kuroko ignored the distraction, and placed down 3 twos.
"I place down 3 twos." Some narrowed their eyes at him, searching for the lie, but there was none.
"I place down 1 three." Alex seemed to be honest.
"I put down 2 fours!" Kiyoshi seemed too cheerful to be lying.
"I put down 1 five." Hyuga seemed nervous and slightly unsure. Kuroko could see easily through the lie.
"Bullshit." Kuroko stated calmly. They all looked at him, and then at Hyuga. Kuroko gestured for Hyuga to turn over his last card. He did so. It was a seven. Hyuga took the pile and added it to his hand.
"Okaaay then. I put down 1 six." Kagami had his card ready before Hyuga's turn and was impatient. It was unlikely he was lying. Kuroko looked through his hand, sticking a card out here and there to make it seem like he was finding cards that he needed. He had no sevens, and instead pulled out a Jack, and put it down.
"I place down 1 seven." His poker face was an impenetrable fortress showing no thoughts or emotion. Alex slapped her card down quickly.
"I place down 2 eights." Now two things happened right after this.
"Peanut Butter." Kuroko had admitted that he lied. Some looked on in shock, they had no idea! At the same time, Kiyoshi said:
"BS! I don't believe you!" Oh, what a grave mistake the old ace had committed.
"READ 'EM AND WEEP, KID! Read 'em and weep!" Alex gladly flipped over the cards she had placed down. Three eights. Kiyoshi solemnly accepted the pile into his hand. And placed down a card.
"I put down 1 nine." Kuroko gave him the benefit of the doubt.
"I put down 2 tens." Hyuga said this confidently, and looked around after his declaration, looking to see if anybody dared to challenge his statement. That guy needed to chill. And chill he did. Someone had broken through the crowd, tripped and spilt their soda all over Hyuga, Hyuga, and only Hyuga. He let out a short string of cusses and assessed the damage.
One sticky, wet, angry, irritated Hyuga was looking for the criminal that spilt soda all over his head and body. The culprit was either one sheepish, whistling Kise, or one disapproving, apologetic Kasamatsu. The enemy was clear.
"KISE!" The blonde jumped back and began to apologize.
"I'm really truly very sorry! I didn't mean to spill my soda over you! But someone tripped me, and it wasn't my fault-"
"Kise, don't make me kick you. Just say sorry and help him clean up. You'll have double training tomorrow." Hyuga nodded in approval while Kise whined and started to walk with Hyuga to the bathroom to get him cleaned up.
The players left went around the circle once more, and stopped when it was Hyuga's turn. They looked around wondering what to do: wait for Hyuga, or get someone to take his place?
The decision was made for them as Hyuga walked back with Kise. He sat down and picked up his hand. He looked up from his hand and noticed the others were looking at him expectantly.
"So it's my turn?" They nodded. He looked down at his hand hesitantly, "What number are we on?"
"Aces." Hyuga muttered an almost inaudible fuck, which he thought went unnoticed. However Kuroko, Alex, Kiyoshi, and yes, even Kagami noticed. The tension was high, the pile had grown to be quite large, and some were down to their last four cards. Whoever made a wrong call next would surely lose, and it seemed that Hyuga had no Aces. They exchanged glances, this was their chance to get rid of the pile, and loosen the tensions. Hyuga bit his lip, and put down his card, trying to sound confident.
"I- I put down one Ace." So he was trying to play it safe was he? Everyone could see through the lie, and Kagami jumped up and called it out with a voice louder than necessary.
"BULLSHIT!" Surrounding civilians looked at him, shocked, and disapproving. Some were covering their children's ears, and shaking their heads at Kagami. But he was too focused on calling Hyuga out, and when Hyuga revealed his 'Ace' to be a seven, Kagami started excitedly gloating.
"Kagami, sit down or I'll spam you with pictures of dogs everyday until you die." Kuroko's threat put Kagami back in the circle.
And so the game continued on, and as expected, Hyuga lost by far. Kagami second to last, grumbling on how at least he did better than Hyuga. Kiyoshi got third, and was laughing sheepishly at Kagami's antics. Alex placed second, which came as a surprise to the woman, because (in her opinion) she was damn good at BS. Kuroko came first, his trademark pokerface really came through for him. In fact, Kuroko won by FAR. He finished his deck a good five minutes before anyone else, and left others astounded with his card skills. He joined the spectators once he was done and stayed to watch the game. He was impressed with their skills, they were doing quite well. For beginners that is. They'd never match up to Kuroko's skill and abilities.
By the time they finished a second or fifth game (albeit with different players) the flooding had been clearing up, and it was finally safe for them to leave and walk outside. Kuroko gathered up his cards and walked outside with his team behind him. The sky was still cloudy, like it would rain any minute. The humidity was hot and heavy, and there were large puddles here and there. It was the type of weather that made Kagami restless and riled up to play some basketball.
Now, Kagami entered that building hoping to play a hard game against a GoM member. But no such thing happened. So he went to a nearby court with Kise, and the rest of the team. They after all, had to get on the bus to seirin all together, and they too were restless.
After a thrilling one-on-one between Kise and Kagami, they played normal games with some of the players that didn't get much game time. As Kuroko sat out of the game, watching while sipping a juice box, and going unnoticed, he thought.
"Hm… Forgotten again? Always forgotten. I need someone who won't forget me no matter what. But they'd need to be a friend, I can't handle an enemy that powerful. Unless they were a rival! That's it! I need a rival! Perfect! Now, how to find one…. *SLURP* Mm, this juice is pretty good.. What flavor was it again? Oh, right. Razzberry." He checked his watch. "What! It's already 8:30! The casinos will be opening soon! Crap, I need to be there early or else I won't get in… Shit, the team will notice when if I'm gone… Right? Eh, maybe not. Or I could make up an excuse! Hmm, what to say.. What if I said 'I have another ride that I will be taking, bye bitches.'? No, too rude. But since when have I cared about being rude? I'll just leave out bitches, and slip away after that." Kuroko was interrupted from his thoughts when he saw the team gathering their stuff and saying goodbye to Kise.
"All right! Gather your stuff and let's hit the road! It's getting late! Hurry if you don't want to be too late getting home." Kuroko raised his hand, however it went noticed, so he spoke up, spooking some surrounding people.
"Um, Coach? I will not be getting on the bus. I have a different ride, that I wish to take. Please forgive me."
"Uh, sure. Sounds like a plan. So who's picking you up?"
"My mother."
"Oh, well have fun. Come on team! To the buses!" She lead the team off to where the buses sat parked, some members cast back a confused glance, but Kuroko ignored their curious stares and walked towards the main road.
Kise's gaze, however, lasted longer than the others, eyes narrowing in suspicion. His teacher would never just ditch his team, and his mom never got her driver's license, that's why he walked everywhere.
Deciding to trust his suspicions, he followed Kuroko discreetly. If the blue head was anywhere near his usual level of awareness, he would have spotted the blonde quickly. However, Kuroko was so focused on finding the right casino, he didn't notice his stalker. Or when his stalker almost fainted when Kuroko looked around hastily, and dashed into a bathroom, coming out in a disguise, then walking straight into a casino.
"THIS CANNOT BE REAL! NOPE NOPE I REFUSE to believe it! Kuroko-cchi would never do this! But I DID just see him do it.. Why would he need a disguise!? Why is he going into a casino?! He's a minor, like me! Minors aren't allowed in casinos! It's illegal! Is he doing illegal stuff in there? What if he's doing drugs?" And so on. Kise's mind went a mile a minute, filled with confused, curious, angry, and worried thoughts. "What if he's in danger? I need back up! My team already went back home.. Who's still around here? The Miracles! Of COurse! I'm so smart! Now to text them!" He went and texted all the miracles to come to his location right now! They replied why. Kise said it was a matter of life and death! It wasn't really but Kise didn't know that. For all he knew Kuroko could be dead, and the murderers could be waiting to kill him too!
After forty five minutes or so, the entire team arrived. Kise explained the situation, but by then it was an hour after the texting. They stormed into the casino looking for their blue haired friend. All they found was a blue mop some drunk dudes dressed up in a suit, and all of security. Once one of the guards recognized the boys from the GoM, a team of HIGH SCHOOLERS, he got them out, and forbid them from coming again.
The team now sat on the curb outside the casino, wondering what to do. Eventually one by one they all went home, without ever catching a glimpse of Kuroko in the casino. However he was there, misdirection was useful every once in a while wasn't it?
After Kuroko was satisfied with his winnings, he turned tail and went out onto the streets and disappearing into the night, before anyone could chase after him or spy on him. He thought he had escaped without anyone catching a glimpse. However, this was not the case. A curious, intelligible pair of eyes watched closely as the mysterious blue guy disappeared.
"How curious…" The teen's eyes gleamed wickedly behind his sunglasses as he thought of investigating this person. Oh well. It would have to wait for tomorrow.
In the news the next morning, Kuroko was on the news again and his mother could only sigh. As long as Kuroko got the money to pay the bills she was happy. The news station had named him "The blue haired scandler" or BHS for short. Kuroko sighed, he was getting more publicity than he originally desired.
Because of the large amount of money he collected on his run to the big leagues of casinos, he only really needed to go twice a month. So instead of taking two big runs, he would pop in and pop out making a small fortune on the weekends, just enough to cover the bills.
After about a month of this routine, Kuroko got contacted about his skills in gambling. This alarmed him! He had been so careless to let someone, obtain his email! The contacter did not know his true identity, yet. The email had read:
Dear BHS,
I've finally tracked down your email, it's only a matter of time before I close in on you. I issue you a challenge, similar to a game of hide-and-seek. You hide, I am the seeker. If I can't find you in a month's time, then I'll give up on my search, and leave you to swindle others of their money. If I do find you, then you must become my friend and gamble with me. I've been watching you, you can't stay hidden forever.
-The seeker.
It came off as a little stalkerish and creepy, but Kuroko knew the "seeker" meant well. And if this person could see him, he would be glad to be friends! MAybe this could be the rival he was looking for… Well, he could only prove his worth by finding Kuroko, and in a month's time, it would all be decided.
By the end of the week, Kuroko was found. Kuroko was utterly defeated. He prided himself on being able to stay hidden, however this complete stranger completely blew him out of the water. It went down something like this:
It was a lovely Saturday, around 5PM. His mother was out to buy groceries for dinner, and Kuroko was reading a murder mystery novel from the 1930s in the living room, when the doorbell rang. It had seemed innocent enough, Kuroko thought it was just the mailman with a package or something similar. That was not the case. It was a red-haired teen just a head taller than Kuroko. The teen wore sunglasses and a triumphant smirk on his face.
"Hello, Hider! (Here he booped Kuroko's nose) I'm seeker! You're bad at staying hidden, aren't you? Well, no matter! The game's over! I've found you! Now, stay true to our bet, and keep your word . You'll be my friend now, right?" The stranger, or "Seeker", was looking at Kuroko expectantly for an answer like a puppy waiting for a treat.
"Um, I suppose. Who are you exactly?"
"I told you! I'm Seeker and you're Hider! Well, we're friends aren't we? Invite me in." Kuroko felt oddly intimidated by the childish red-head, and compelled to do what he said. He was definitely different than Akashi, yet they both had that sadistic gleam in their eyes. Kuroko decided to humor the boy.
"Alright. But one moment, I must clean up. He closed the door, and sat back down to read his book, not having the slightest intention of getting up and letting the… "Seeker" in. After five minutes, the doorknob began to twist, Kuroko tensed up, thinking it was the "Seeker". But it was only his mother coming back with brown paper bags in one hand. She called out to Kuroko.
"Kuroko! There's a very nice boy outside, who says he's your friend! I'm bringing him up to your room so you both can hang out!" Kuroko's stomach filled with dread. What lies did the Seeker tell Mom? Kuroko decided then, that he would become better than Seeker, and remain hidden. But not now. Now he had to go entertain his guest before he ruined anything.
When he opened the door to his solitary santitude, the Seeker was already on his bed reading a manga from Kuroko's younger days.
"What are you doing?" Kuroko's relaxing day just became a nightmare.
"Reading your book."
"How did you find me?"
"I tracked your IP address, and some other really cool hacker stuff." He responded casually, flipping the page.
"Will you tell anyone?" This was Kuroko's main concern. Seeker put the book down, and looked Kuroko in the eye.
"Not if you don't want me to. Friends don't do that to other friends." The conversation went on for hours. Kuroko learned more and more about Seeker, and he about Kuroko. They enjoyed each other's humor, and became friends, learning that they weren't so different after all.
In the time they talked, Kuroko managed to get Seeker's real name, it was Karma (what an odd name). However, they decided to just use their nicknames for each other instead. They made plans for gambling every Sunday night, and trading their gambling secrets. But not all of them, not yet, they did just meet afterall. Karma went to a high school on the other side of town.
However, Karma had a car, and ditched class frequently so he could pop over to Kuroko's place anytime.
The two got along quite well, and everything was pretty much the same in Kuroko's life as before meeting Seeker. Except for Sundays, those were reserved for Seeker. And so every Sunday, the two became an unstoppable duo crushing all those in their path. And rivals racing against each others for the most wins/ winnings.
This routine went on for some time, and they grew quite close. Closer than Kuroko had been with any of the Generation of Miracles and Kagami, combined. They were best friends, siamese twins, bitter enemies, and most of all, rivals.
Around half way through Kuroko's second year in the middle of another boring class, Karma bursted through the door, panting.
"Hi- er *huff* I mean Kuroko! *huff* Hurry! Danger! Come on! *huff*" The teacher asked Karma, who he was and what the problem was. Seeker gave him the cold shoulder, and stared intently at Kuroko, delivering the message through his eyes. Kuroko stood up, and began to walk over. Suddenly, Kagami stood up and asked, and I quote, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON KUROKO?! DO YOU KNOW THIS GUY?!" Kuroko looked down, and pushed Kagami out of the way, but he wouldn't budge.
"Yes, Kagami. I know this guy. He's my friend, and if he needs help then I will help him."
"Here! I'll come too! I'm sure I can help!" The teacher interrupted.
"NO! ALL OF YOU SIT DOWN NOW! YOU'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE!" Kagami sat down reluctantly, but Kuroko just made a dash to the door. When the teacher tried to stop him physically, Kuroko, being used to drunken fighters, dodged and ran out the door. No one dared move after that. Suddenly the Announcement system turned on, projecting the principal's voice everywhere. What they heard, rattled their bones and made them turn cold.
"Will student, Kuroko Tetsuya report to the- hm? What's that? They've already-! Urg! Stop Kuroko Tetsuya from leaving this building! He is a wanted criminal by the government! Stop him at all costs!"
"Shit! The news reached here already?!" Karma cussed. Karma NEVER cussed, something must be horribly wrong.
"Karma, what's going on?" They were running down the stairs, only a few more seconds until they left the building.
"Kuroko, it's bad. Really bad. We got found out."
"What? How?!"
"A spy must've followed us home to my place that one night when we accepted a drink! They tried to catch me at my school, but I was ditching! Thank god!" Kuroko remembered that night not so clearly, they finally accepted a drink from a busty waitress and got a little drunk. Their first hangover was not fun.
"Shit. Where do we go?" They reached sunlight, but they kept running.
"Into hiding is out best option right now. They've probably got our houses surrounded by now."
"Fuck. Okay, this is my part of town. I'll lead the way. I know of a safe pub."
"Alright! Let's go! Wait… Do you have any weapons on you?" Kuroko stared at him for a good long minute.
"No. This is school, not the mafia."
"Well, then, here! Take this knife, grenade, and pistol. You're lucky I always keep extras!" Kuroko accepted the weapons before dashing through the bushes.
'Fuck,' he thought,' this path is more overgrown than the last time I used it.' But they hurried on anyways. Within thirty minutes, they reached the safe pub and caught their breath. They decided to go into hiding.
It was difficult, but somehow they managed to survive in the underground. At one point the two even got mixed up with the Mafia, but that's a story for another time. They stayed in the underground, they made a home there, it was their territory. Years passed, and Kuroko never returned home or said goodbye to his mother, and he never made an attempt to, she would surely be ashamed of the man he'd grown into.
It was three years after the two would have graduated. Kuroko had shoulder length blue hair pulled back into a ponytail and a little stubble growing on his chin. He grew a good foot taller, and always wore a vest with a striped dress shirt underneath. Karma's hair turned into a military cut with a slight mustache. He always wore tight, skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, a sports coat, and a fashionable fedora with sunglasses. To put it simply they were damn hot, and they used their looks to their advantage. Let's just say neither had been a virgin in a LONG time.
WIth their skills of gambling, they had put nearly all gamblers and less-than-legal place and people in Japan in a huge amount of debt. With the debt lingering over their heads, Kuroko and Karma used this to control all the casinos and places similar. They became like god in the gambling world. Due to this, they could go and do anything they wanted with impunity. Even if someone ignored their debt to the young men and decided to take a swing at them, the men would quickly take care of them. There was no fucking with this duo.
One day, Karma was walking casually through the main street of a town he and Kuroko were passing through. The town wasn't known well for it's casinos and weren't that special, but they still decided to pass by.
A shop with covered window and a flashing open sign caught his eye. Upon further inspection, it was revealed to be the one of the two casinos in town. Karma decided to check the place out.
He opened the door, and a little bell jingle went off, and an employee came running to greet the customer.
"H-hello sir. How may I help y-"He had no patience for polite bullshit.
"Cut the crap. Take me to the back." The employee looked startled, but complied anyways. He led the redhead through a doorway with some curtains. Beyond the curtains was a moderately small room with one or two slots, a couple betting tables and a bar in the corner. It was a little run down, but that didn't matter, he could still put all these people in debt they'd never live to see paid.
He surveyed the room, no one had taken notice of his arrival. A few customers for the middle of the day, they didn't seem to be acquainted. One was drunk, perfect to gamble away all his money. He grinned and strode towards a slouched drunken man.
The man had cracked glasses, a little stubble, and a stained white tank top. He looked broke. Karma tapped his shoulder.
"Excuse me, sir? Would you like to gamble a little with me?" Karma even added a sweet smile to reel the fucker in. The man shook his head no. Karma frowned.
"Aw. Why? It'd be fun." The man still shook his head no, looks like he wasn't drunk enough. He pulled out a can of beer from his satchel and handed it to the man, trying to get him less sober.
"Hey, friend. Don't 'cha want another beer? What's your name anyhow?" The man gratefully took the beer and smiled.
"H- *hic* Hyuga Junpei." His voice sounded like it hadn't been used for a while. This Hyuga was probably unemployed and homeless. The name sounded familiar, like a fairy tail character from long ago. While the man drank his beer, Karma pulled out his phone, and began texting Kuroko, who was in the other casino.
"ey, u kno any1 named Hyuga Junpei?" Kuroko's world was broken, why did Karma of all people, text him about Hyuga? Maybe Hyuga was at the other casino, there was nobody at his casino that he recognized. Kuroko typed his reply.
"yea. used 2 b my bb captain from highschool. i'm coming over ther. keep him ther." Karma and Kuroko cringed at their text speak, but it was quicker to text this way. Kuroko quickly stood up, exited the casino, hopped on his motorcycle, and drove over to the other casino. Karma had just nodded and kept conversation with his companion's old captain.
Kuroko parked his bike, and ran inside stopping just after entering through the curtain panting. When he looked up after regaining his breath, he noticed all eyes were on him.
"I am sorry for making a disturbance. Please go back to your previous activities." Karma rolled his eyes, even though Kuroko was a cold bad ass bastard, politeness to strangers was one habit Kuroko could not shake. Kuroko walked over to Karma, and his eyes wandered over Hyuga's now sleeping form, questioning whether that was his esteemed captain or not. Karma, seeing the question in his eyes, just nodded.
It truly was sad. Such a respectable person was reduced to a common drunkard in so few years.
Kuroko sighed and woke his ex-captain. Hyuga sleepily opened his eyes, he sat up, and pushed his glasses back up. He looked at his waker. The guy had blue hair.. How funny~! Just like Kuroko.
"Whaddya want ya bastard?" The blue man looked taken aback.
"Hyuga-san, I do not believe I am a bastard. I would like to say hello." This person knew Hyuga! And so polite too… And blue hair… Still had respect for him… Only one person fit all those categories, but they disappeared a long time ago. But still! It had to be! Hyuga focused his eyes on to the face of the blue man.
An emotionless face. Yes it was Kuroko. Hyuga jumped up and hugged him, telling him how worried they all were, and all that jazz. But drunkenly. So to Kuroko it sounded like.
*hic* *sniff* Missed you.. much. *hic* ried we all were *hic* Where've you been? *hic* " Kuroko smiled.
"Nowhere in particular. What about you? What happened after school?" Hyuga's bright face suddenly turned dark.
"After school.. Ya know I always thought I'd stay friends with the others. No. *hic* I haven't even talked to them since a week after school. And the ones I did manage to talk to *hic* .. they all hate me, Kuroko! I tried dating Riko for a while, but she *sniff* after I pro- proposed she left me. She left me for that bastard IZUKI! *sip* *hic* Why did she leave me Kuroko? Why..?" Kuroko felt bad for his captain, but there was nothing he could do.
"So what happened next?"
"oh *sniff* Well, I got fired a few months later *hic* because I was *sniff* too depressed to work. Now I live on the street. *hic* I took up some fast food jobs here and there. But nothing lasts! BWAHAHAH !" He broke out sobbing. It was pitiful. Too bad the little pity Kuroko had was wasted on deciding not to kick a starving puppy this morning. Karma instead patted his back to comfort the man.
"Hey, listen. Everything will be alright. Shh. shh. That's alright. Just let it all out. Good, good. Hey, buddy? How about you play a game with us to ease your trouble, huh?" The man nodded. The two companions exchanged a feral look, and led the man to an open table.
"Hyuga-san, why don't we play BullShit? For old times sake." Karma dealt out the cards, secretly putting them against Hyuga's favor.
"Yeah… for old times sake." He wiped away a tear and began looking through his hand.
"First, I think we should bet what we have on us! Sounds good? Okay. How much do you have?" Hyuga ruffled through his pockets to find his last twelve hundred yen. Kuroko pulled out five hundred yen, as did Karma.
And so they played out the game, the results being similar to the first BS game. Hyuga resulted in a complete loss, Kuroko came first, and Karma second. Karma shook his head at Kuroko. Now the score was 121-Kuroko and 119-Karma. Karma growled, Kuroko was in the lead. He'd have to change that soon..
When the cards were collected, the money needed to be collected by the winner. Karma reluctantly gave his 500 yen to the smirking Kuroko. When Kuroko made his way to Hyuga, the man begged and cried for his money. 'It was all he had left' he said. Still Kuroko snatched the money out of Hyuga's hands. You don't fuck with a trained professional.
When the money was ripped out of his desperate clutches, the tears came out. He looked up to Kuroko's face for mercy, but all he saw was a greedy blue devil enjoying his misery. He looked to the red one for help, but he saw a gloating red demon relishing his pain. Hyuga realized his mistake. He made a deal with devils. But still Hyuga made a last attempt at their humanity.
"Please! Kuroko! Help me! I've got nothing more than a sleeping bag and the clothes on my back. That was all my money! I'm broke! Please! Help your captain." The blue devil looked down with that evil blank face, making Hyuga's hopes rise. Only to be crushed into a million peices. Kuroko snapped his fingers for security's attention, then pointed down at the scum groveling at his feet. Security did their job and tossed the wailing man out.
And the two went to the slots, like they hadn't just ruined another man's life, condemning him to a life of hunger, poverty, and soon, death. It was a daily occurrence for the red and blue devil after all. They had stopped feeling emotion for the people they crushed a month after going into hiding.
You know what they say, you grow up fast on the streets.
END.
AN: SO HOW'D YOU LIKE IT?WAS BS TOO CONFUSING? DID YOU LEARN HOW TO PLAY BS? Okay so sorry there are random spaces places. My computer fucked up when I uploaded it, and this was the easiest to read solution. Man, I am a really sadistic author. I meant to have Kuroko and Karma take Hyuga in, put him back on his feet, let him spread the news of Kuroko's awesome-ness, but then I just fucked Hyuga up… anyways! As with all my one shots, if this gets more than 5 reviews of 10 fav/follows then I will write a second chapter! Okay, thank you for reading!
~Frosty