Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke; the honour belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi-san.
Chapter One: baby steps
Kise is certainly confused when he wakes up in a place that looks a lot like his old bedroom, but he is a bit more occupied with the fact that he even woke up at all, because falling down twenty-two stories wasn't really something that you could just shrug off.
"Yo, Ryo-chan! Wake up; it's your first day of school! Ya gonna be late!" Kise's eyes drastically widen at the sound of his sister's voice, because wasn't he in the hospital or something (and wasn't she supposed to be—)? Being late for school—and speaking of which, "first day of school?" did he suddenly transfer high schools without him knowing?—is the last thing on his mind, though, as he catches sight of the Teiko blue and white middle school uniform hanging in his wardrobe. He freezes, and slowly drags his gaze to read the date on his calendar.
April 3rd, 20XX
…
Okay, deep breaths. Pupils blown wide, Kise continues to stare at the red numbers on the calendar, mind in overdrive. This must be a dream. That's right, it's definitely a dream, and I'm definitely not 12, nor a middle-school student, nor about to meet Akashi and everyone else again someonesaveme. Pulling the bed covers off of him, he slowly starts to dress, hand only faltering slightly at the sight of the pristine uniform.
He very deliberately ignores the bright yellow letters Kise Ryota, Lvl 18, floating above his head in the mirror.
"Mornin', Ryo-chan!" Kise blinks dazedly at the sight of his elder sisters making breakfast. The elder sisters who had introduced him to modeling, and were the kindest people he ever met.
The elder sisters who died in a plane crash when he was seventeen.
"Ryota? Are you alright?" He snaps out of his daze to meet the slightly concerned gaze of Kise Hisana. The stray thought of she should be in her last year of high school now, came unbidden into his mind, and Hisana and Kirara watch with no small amount of horror when their beloved younger brother bursts into tears.
"W-Whoa, Ryo-chan! Ya alright?! What's with the waterworks?!" Kirara immediately turns off the stove fire and dashes to her sibling's side, but not before sending a glance to her older sister. Truce?
"Yes, Ryota, what's wrong?" Truce. Inwardly Hisana is seething with rage, because her baby brother is crying, and whoever made him do that will pay…!
Kise quickly shakes his head and wipes his tears away. Oh god, that was so embarrassing. "I-It's nothing, Hicchi, Kicchi! I, uh, just got a bad dream, that's all!" His sisters relax, and Kirara beams again. "Oh, okay, then! Now eat up, Ryo-chan, or you'll never be able to grow as tall as us!" Hisana nods her assent, shooting Kise a smug smirk.
"Hmph," he pouts (manly, dammit!), even as he sits down and starts wolfing down his breakfast, "you guys are just freaks of nature." Indeed, at 182 and 184 cm, Kirara and Hisana were way taller than normal teenage girls.
They just laugh.
(Meanwhile, Kise spots the yellow letters Kise Hisana, Lvl 40 and Kise Kirara, Lvl 38, and inwardly wonders how this was his life.)
On the way to school, Kise decides to try something out. "Hey, if there's video game letters on top of mine and everybody's heads, that must mean that there must be some sort of game menu, right—?!" He trips and falls flat on his face when the world dims around him.
"What was that?!" Brushing himself off, Kise checks out the yellow monitor screen in front of him. "Status, skills, party, quest log, items…? Eh?" He decides to tap the [Status] section first. Hm. Apparently, he was a twelve year old student attending Teiko Junior High with zero academic skill but with somewhat higher-than-average charisma. Nothing he didn't already know. He sighs and reaches out for the [Skills] section.
[A Gamer's Mind: Lvl Max]
[A Gamer's Body: Lvl Max]
"A Gamer's what?"
[A Gamer's Mind allows the player to calmly and logically think things through, granting the player a peaceful state of mind. Grants immunity to all psychological status effects.]
Kise raises an eyebrow. "Okay, this explains why I didn't freak out too much about everything. I'm pretty sure this isn't a dream anymore." He drags a hand over his face. "Okay, what's the other thing?"
[A Gamer's Body grants the player the ability to live life like a video game. After sleeping in a bed, the player's HP and MP will be restored, and will be healed from all status effects. Also, ERROR%27_s]
"Eh?" Kise scratches his head, frowning slightly. "What's with that 'error'?" He flinches when another yellow screen pops up into his face. "…?"
[Due to a system error in the game The Life and Times of Kise Ryota, the player will still retain the skill A Gamer's Mind, however the player will feel the damage like a regular person would. The server apologizes for the error. Have a good day.]
With that, the yellow screen disappeared, leaving Kise to stare after it like an idiot. "…Okay. That meant jackshit to me." 'The Life and Times of Kise Ryota…?' He shakes his head, and looks around. "…Since time has apparently stopped here," He glares up at the sky, "I should take the time to see what else I've got."
[Observe: Lvl 1—Allows the player to read the target's information.]
[Copy Cat: Lvl Max—Allows the player to flawlessly copy almost any action he sees. However, certain actions cannot be copied. For instance, actions that go beyond the player's physical level.]
[Perfect Copy: Lvl NA—Allows the player to flawlessly copy any action he sees, disregarding the physical limits of the player. However, this action can only be held for five minutes.]
[Zone: Lvl 3—Allows the player to reach the full limits of his body's potential. Can only be held for a short period of time.]
"I didn't know that there were levels to the Zone." Kise muttered. "Er, Quest Log…" He jerks back when yet another screen pops up in his face.
[Congratulations, you have discovered a Secret! You don't have to tap a screen in order to get to it; you can just say the name, and it will appear! Try it!]
"…I don't even… Quest Log." Strange music filters through from his surroundings, and Kise makes a face. Should I be surprised?
[The Quest Log shows what quests you need to complete in order to progress in the game. Look, the first one's here already!]
This time, he didn't even blink when another screen appeared.
[Quest #1: School Time, Basketball Time!—Hurry to school and sign up for the basketball club! Reward(s): ?]
"Well, I was going to do that anyway…" Kise folds his arms and pouts. "But what's with that question mark?" He looks around again. "And where's the exit button?"
Suddenly, the world regains its colour, and everyone around him starts moving again. …Guess I don't need to search for one. Kise glances at his watch, and pales. But before that, I have to make sure I actually get to school!
"Join the Cooking Club!"
"Like sports?! Join the Tennis Club!"
"No, the Badminton Club!"
"No, the—"
Kise tries his best not to get trampled on by the apparent mob at the school gates. "Since when were there this many people?!" Spotting the letters 'Basketball Club' at a large booth, He hurries towards it, but not before also spotting a familiar mop of red hair. Well, too late to stop, I guess.
"Hello. Are you signing up for the Basketball Club?" His gaze meets Akashi's (nearly face-faulting at the red letters Akashi Seijuuro, Lvl 25) and he nearly freezes. Act natural, act natural, act natural…ahh fuck it. The trick to dealing with Akashi was not to show fear; the aristocratic teenager could somehow smell it like a shark for blood. "Yup, I am! You are too, right?" The shorter male nods curtly. "Yes." As Kise quickly fills in his name on the paper provided to him in the awkward silence that follows, he catches a splash of light blue. Turning his head to the left, he sees Kuroko Testuya, face buried in a book, and most likely waiting for the pen. Kuroko Testuya, Lvl 13, huh.
"Here. You signing up for the basketball club?" When he receives no response, he lightly pokes the blue haired teenager, startling both him and Akashi, who was staring at the strange blond who was apparently talking to no one. "Hey, that book may be interesting, but it's rude to ignore people, you know!" He grins while Kuroko stares up at him, eyes slightly wider than usual.
"You…you can…see me?" Kise can practically feel Akashi burning holes into the back of his head right now, and he resists the urge to run away screaming. "Yeah, of course! You're right there, you know?"
What? Akashi narrows his eyes. Even I didn't see him until you did.
"…Ah." Kuroko still feels confused. Not even his parents could see him as fast as that blond just did on the best of days. How could he just…do that? He is jolted out of his thoughts by said boy's voice.
Kise holds out the pen. "Wanna use it?" He chuckles when his answer is a quiet 'yes, please.' "By the way, what's your name? I'm Kise Ryota!"
"Kuroko Testuya. Nice to meet you, Kise-san."
"Nice to meet you too, Kurokocchi!" And before Akashi can open his mouth (because Kise knows he will, if not to just insert himself into the conversation), he spins around, beaming, ignoring the murmured 'Kurokocchi?' "And what's yours?"
Silence reigns for a few moments, in which Akashi keeps boring holes into Kise, and Kuroko gives his new acquaintance a deadpan 'what-the-fuck-are-you-suicidal' look. Kise ignores it.
"…I am Akashi Seijuuro. Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Ryota-san." Kise beams again.
[Passive skill: Dazzling Smile!]
He ignores that too.
"Nice to meet you too, Akashicchi! Let's get along!" he inwardly cheers at Akashi's momentarily stunned look. Just then, he looks up at the school clock and pales. "Uh oh, we're gonna be late for school if we keep standing here! Come on!" I want a perfect attendance, dammit! He takes both teenagers by the hand and drags them both to the school doors.
He doesn't see Kuroko's blush, or Akashi's wide eyes.
Because there isn't enough Kise love out there.
I swear I was going to work on my other stories, but then I read FruitPastilles's First Foot In The Door, and well.
Also, can anyone tell me what classes the Generation of Miracles were in? 'Cause I could only find that Kise was in the same class as Murasakibara, and that's it.
Question, comments, answers. They're all accepted!