Kuroko rushed around the house in a frantic mess, throwing clothes into the drier, pouring three glasses of milk, and desperately trying to find his missing right shoe. "Kenchi! Where's my shoe?"
"How should I know?!" was the response he received from the upstairs bathroom.
Kuroko groaned and continued his search as a seven year old girl sleepily slumped down the stairs. "Ah, Nina, can you make sure Shiiro remembers his homework?"
Nina yawned and nodded, downing a glass of milk. "Yeah, you're going to be late, Tetsuya. Go on, I've got this."
Kuroko smiled at his youngest sibling, hugging her tight. "Alright, but um, where's my shoe?"
Nina rolled her eyes and pointed to the ceiling fan, where the missing shoe dangled from its laces. Kuroko sighed, "Thanks. I'll see you tonight!" And with that, he ran outside, hoping to make it to school before he was late once again.
XXXXX
When the bluenette arrived, he was met at the classroom door by his teacher. The disgruntled man held out a piece of paper, and Kuroko took it with a sigh, not even having to look at it to know what it was. He would be staying after school again.
He quickly made his way to his seat and plopped down, ignoring the drones of his teacher's lecture. Kuroko closed his eyes, still tired from having helped his brother with his homework all night. Just as he was about to doze off, he felt the weight of eyes on him, and he turned to find Akashi Seijuro seemingly staring into his soul. And since neither of them were interested in common courtesies, a staring contest ensued. Even as the impatient instructor called Akashi out, asking him some random question that was, in fact, no part of the current lecture, they never looked away from one another. The redhead calmly answered with ease, earning a glare of sorts from Kuroko.
It really pissed him off, the way Akashi looked at him. He knew the look of disgust well, but Akashi's was on an entirely different level. It was a look of absolute hatred, and it confused Kuroko more than anything. Akashi didn't know anything about him. What gave him the right to look at him like that? To look down on him? To loathe him so entirely?
"Mr. Kuroko, I assume you have a reason for spacing out in my class? Yet again."
Kuroko sighed as he turned his gaze to his irritated teacher. "Yeah, I do actually. But I know that the distracting redhead glaring into my soul over there is of no importance to you, and I should just get over myself, right?"
The man's frown deepened as he loomed over Kuroko, but the bluenette showed no sign of retracting his words.
"Kuroko. I don't care if Mr. Akashi's staring bothers you in the slightest. At least he can still listen effectively and answer any question I throw at him. At least he's-"
"The perfect student, yeah, I know."
The man sighed. "Be sure to stay after class. I don't want you running off again."
XXXXX
As the school day ended, Kuroko begrudgingly made his way to the teacher's lounge where he was met with his still rather annoyed teacher. And who happened to be with him at that moment? Akashi Seijuro. Kuroko held back a groan as he caught the attention of both males.
"I'm here, but I have to get home soon," he said quietly, noting the redhead's familiar glare.
The instructor sighed but chose to ignore the large amount of tension radiating between the two students. "Kuroko, I would like to discuss your tardiness-"
"Sorry about that, sir, but I have a reason."
"You always do…"
Kuroko sighed and ran a hand through his unkempt hair. "Look, I don't expect you to understand, but I have three kids at home to take care of, and I really need to get going. Can we discuss this later?"
The man sighed in consideration, but before he could answer, Kuroko was gone, running down the street toward his home. If he ran fast enough, he could make it in time to make a fire, so the kids wouldn't have to freeze any longer than they needed to in this cold, bitter season of winter.
XXXXX
In the end, Kuroko had barely made it in time, and the house was just getting warm as his siblings ran inside, dumping their bags and coats at the door.
"Tetsuya~ You made a fire~" Nina sang as she grabbed a soda from the refrigerator. Shiiro slipped the bluenette a slip of paper as he made a beeline for his room upstairs. Kuroko looked down to find his graded homework assignment from the night before. At least someone was passing his classes. Kenchi grumbled under his breath as he sat by the fire, warming his hands as the flames danced dangerously close to his skin.
"Kenchi, don't get too close."
The teenager rolled his eyes. "I'm not an idiot, Tetsuya."
Kuroko bit back his concern, but he couldn't help but smile at his small family. They weren't the typical family, but they were doing just fine. Even if Kuroko was failing all of his classes, running on an average of two hours of sleep a week, and currently unemployed. They would be just fine.