Kuroko sat on the bench, waiting for his own cousin to pick him up. The fountain had stop operating and the water was reflecting the orange hues of the setting sun. The park he was in was relatively quiet. There were just a couple of people who were kind enough to feed the birds and couples who has the decency to keep their mouth at minimal volumes.
He had nothing to do. He just finished the novel he was reading. The guy really hopes his cousin would buy him a new one to keep him company during his stay at Kyoto. It's not like he had anything to do while in Kyoto but its good to be prepared in case his cousin has an emergency and would leave him.
His pale blue eyes found a girl wearing Seirin uniform entering the park. To his surprise, it was his classmate, Kobayakawa Ringo. Her usually messy bun was in a neat ponytail. And her glasses were nowhere to be found. He wondered what she has to do in this park.
After a long time of observing, fifteen minutes to be exact, Ringo was obviously waiting for someone. Plus, she was anxious. That is what he guessed. Basing from her pacing back and forth, frequent check if she looked fine and eyes trained on her phone, everything fits. A bit worried that his classmate might overexert herself, it was best to keep her calm and accompanied.
Kuroko still remembers the time when she passed out due to heat stroke. It was three months before when it happened. In a Saturday morning, the team decided to train by the courts. Everyone noticed the girl, Ringo, pacing back and forth. They didn't want to disturb the girl as it seemed that she was busy so they just continued in their own issues, basketball. It was around afternoon, when the sun was high up in the sky. Riko had thankfully stopped them because if they did more, they'd get sunburn.
"Should we invite Ringo-chan with us? She's been there before us." Koganei said to the team. Judging by the familiarity call, the team thought that the blackjack knew the girl.
It was then the girl wobbled and was about to drop on the ground.
Thankfully, with Kagami's speed and actual short distance with the girl, they avoided great damage. Riko assessed the girl and donned she had heat stroke. She immediately got treatment. Everyone got treated drinks thanks to her.
"Kobayakawa-san, would you like to sit with me?" he said.
The girl squeaked and turned to him. As soon as she realized who he was, she sighed in relief. She probably thought he was a creeper.
"Oh, Kuroko-san," she sheepishly smiled. "How long have been here?"
"Before you got here," he answered. "I'm waiting for my cousin. Do you want to wait with me?"
She blushed in embarrassment when she remembered the heat stroke incident. "Y-yes please"
It wasn't like of Kuroko to strike up a conversation but since both of them has nothing to do, he decided to do so.
"Who are you waiting for?" he asked.
The girl suddenly shifted. Kuroko noticeably saw the change. Her cheeks turned rosy and she wasn't able to meet his eyes. She was nervous, if not embarrassed. It was a trait Kuroko was amused of. Ringo always look people in the eye, stranger or not. If she didn't, then something was probably wrong.
Her shoes started to twiddle together and her grip to her bag tightened. "M-my lover," she blushed in shades of red.
That was new. Kuroko never assumed she was into one. She was one of the girls who asked if she could have Kise's autograph. Most of Kise's fangirls were single, well, he thought of.
"What about K-Kuroko-san? Who are you waiting for?" she asked, impressively yet clumsily changing the topic.
"My cousin," he answered straightforwardly.
She nodded and grew silent. He noticed that she started playing with her ponytail. A tick that every girl's had, if she touched her hair, she was thinking if not something was wrong. Should he ask?
Before he could ask, a gust of wind disturbed their peace. He closed his eyes to protect them from the dust.
"Y-Yuki..." he heard his companion's strangled whisper. It came out like she was about to cry.
He opened his eyes to see a tear drop off her face. Never did Kuroko ever seen such bittersweet smile.
Before he could react, the girl ran off. The guy was about to run after her when he heard his cousin and lover's voice call out for him.
"Tetsuya/Kuroko!"
He turned his head to see Akashi and Kagami running to his side. The redheads looked behind Kuroko, the girl running out of their sights.
"Who was that?" his cousin asked.
"Kobayakawa-san," he said with worry. It was a first for him to see her like that. Who was that Yuki?
"Ringo? What's up with Ringo?" Kagami asked, registering that it was indeed their classmate that ran out of the park.
"That I don't know," he answered.
"Akashi-kun, would you mind if we wait for a while? Rin-chan seems like she's not here yet."
It was then Kuroko realized that they weren't alone. There was a girl with short hair approaching them. She was wearing a Rakuzan uniform, most likely Akashi's classmate.
"Who is she, Akashi-kun?" Kuroko asked.
The girl was carrying a rabbit plush within her arms. What was she? An elementary student?
"You must be Kuroko-san, Seijurou's cousin. I'm his classmate, Watanabe Suno. Pleasure to meet you, Kuroko-kun" the girl introduced herself and bowed. "She asked for a lift since she also has to pick her lover here. Coincidentally, her lover's from Seirin" Akashi explained.
Kuroko nodded in understanding. Lover huh? Sounds like Kobayakawa too. He paused. Lover? Seirin? He shook his head. He was pretty sure Kobayakawa was straight. Unless...?
"C'mon now Suno, I could call him now so we could already meet up and go to Kyoto already." Kagami whined. And he only whines when -"I'm hungry!" as expected if Bakagami. "Could your stomach wait Kagami-kun?" she fixed her glasses "I'm trying to get a piece of mind so I could properly apologize right?"
"We could get that while eating!" he retorted.
"Shut up,"
Their exchanged continued. Kuroko amusedly watch as his boyfriend was getting burned by the minute.
Akashi stood next to him and said, "Suno was sick for two weeks. And there was an incident wherein the school thought we were together. As I frequently visited her. When we realize we were both on the hot seat, she panicked and asked if anyone outside the school knew about the rumor. Few names were pitched in, alas, her lover was mentioned."
Kuroko mysteriously smiled and detected something "You're jealous." Akashi bitterly laughed "Ever since that loss Kuroko, my life had gone downhill."
"What happened?" he swiftly asked. He really doesn't want to hear his cousin's grudge against him.
"I courted Suno and I got dumped."
His eyes widened at the information. He thought it was unrequited secret love but…
Kuroko just ruffled his cousin's hair. "You've done well."
"Of course, I'm absolute " the redhead managed to say without breaking his voice. That's Akashi for you.
Kagami stopped within banter and turned to him. "By the way, what were you doing with Ringo in the first place Kuroko?"
"Rin-chan?!" Suno"s eyes got widened and it was then Kuroko realized. Suno. Snow. Yuki. Both were meeting their lovers here. Such a coincidence.
He said what entirely happened. By the end of the story, Suno ran off.
"Would she be alright? This is Tokyo you know?" Kagami asked to his cousin.
"Tokyo is like Suno's backyard. She won't get lost. Let's just wait by the car shall we?"
Kuroko detected the sadness within his cousin's tone. As his relative, all he could do was walk beside him and let him know he was there.
After an hour, Kuroko saw Ringo and Suno walking towards the car, their hands intertwined. The Seirin student was hugging a rabbit plushie. He smiled. He never thought a Kise fan would be a bisexual like him.
"Don't you hate losing Akashi?" Kagami stated insensitively.
The Shadow player jabbed him by the side and glared a "Why are you being a jerk, Bakagami?".
Akashi just leaned on his palm and smiled bitterly.
"Even if I did, I don't think I have the heart to break such a fragile happiness" he said.
Kuroko looked at the girl couple. True, they do look like fragile together. They also look happy... They look imperfect and perfect at the same time.
He held Kagami's hand. "Indeed."
Sooooooo, after a long hiatus. I'm actually back. Didn't thought I was coming back though. So this is me. Sorry for the typo. I probably changed my way of writing. I have this, block? I dunno. I have my girlfriend help me with that. Yes. I'm a girl and I have a girlfriend. (You folks will be the first to hear this instead of our parents) I'm pretty much chill with it. My friends accepted it. The reason my in a hiatus because… I'm getting in a confused relation what the fuck am I thinking moment for the whole time in my senior year. I also got this post-confession issue as well. I think I'll write about that too.
So yeah, I hope you like this shit I wrote to cheer my sick girlfriend up. I actually forced myself to write just to cheer her up. I cried when I write this. This ain't no emotional shit too. I pretty much changed. She cheers me on in pursuing the writer dream I threw like two years ago. I hope I'm doing the right thing.
It feels right when you see her smile no?
Rae signing off.