Pass Through
A Kuroko no Basuke oneshot
by mew-tsubaki
Note: The Kuroko no Basuke characters belong to Fujimaki Tadatoshi-sensei, not to me. Sometimes I think the pressure of a real relationship might get to senpai… :s Read, review, and enjoy!
- ^-^3
His fingers strummed over the strings, hovering and not really plucking them at all. The thing was, he wanted to get up and do something, and it used to be that playing his guitar would be that thing to pull him out of any funk. But it didn't always work.
At least, not for all of the year.
Kasamatsu Yukio sighed and checked his watch. 8:02 PM. The digital reading annoyed him, and he wished he'd never been talked out of getting another analog watch to replace his old one. The thing was, analog watches and clocks were old and nostalgic and dependable. Digital watches read like the departure and landing times, and he despised the constant reminder that this was the life he'd settled into.
No use moping about it, he thought as he put his guitar aside and took out his notes for Kaijou's current basketball club. He flipped through the pages of stats, but the numbers swam before his eyes. Dammit. He really couldn't focus tonight.
The dark-haired man stood and looked around his bedroom in his decent-sized apartment. It was much better than the one he'd lived in during his university years, but it also wasn't the same being here on his own…
Kasamatsu shook those thoughts from his head and headed for the kitchenette, deciding the next best thing to defeat boredom was to eat. …or at least to cook. Besides, it was a special night tonight, and didn't that call for special food?
He grabbed a few things from the fridge and searched the cabinets, mindlessly tossing ingredients in the pot here and there. It kind of resembled something he'd seen his mother cook a dozen times, but Kasamatsu wasn't exactly paying attention. His eyes kept darting to the door and back. Any minute now…
But any minute turned into half an hour. Half an hour became an hour after that. Then Kasamatsu's watch read 10:34 PM, and he felt his eyelids become heavy. He turned the stove off, but he couldn't bring himself to eat.
With his back to the door and the kitchen, he left for his room, intending to pick up his guitar again and force something out of the creative side of his brain. Maybe even something with lyrics. Sure, he hadn't done that since high school, but there was no time like the present to pick up old habits.
Then the door creaked quietly open, and Kasamatsu's heart lurched while his expectations plummeted.
"Ah, Yukio-senpai," came Kise's soft voice.
Kasamatsu didn't turn around. He didn't trust himself to face that idiot with a straight face, not right now, not yet.
But then Kise came up behind him, smelling of dried sweat and stale smoke and instant coffee, and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Ah, Yukio-senpai~" he repeated, sighing contentedly. "I'm home."
Better than food, better than music—Kise's words always pulled Kasamatsu up whenever he couldn't surface.
- ^-^3
The following morning was torturous. Kasamatsu still had work early in the morning, and anyone who'd ever slept in the same room as Kise Ryouta knew that it was not easy to get the blond up.
"Hey, I'm already behind my own schedule," Kasamatsu grumbled, trying gently to push Kise's arms away from him.
"Five more minutes…," Kise moaned. His hands tightened on Kasamatsu's hips.
"No, you said that five minutes ago." Granted, Kasamatsu also didn't want to pull away from that warmth, but he had a paying job in this crappy economy, and he didn't want to give that up either. So he bent down and pressed a kiss at Kise's temple. "Ryouta, you can sleep in. You can meet me for lunch later. You can go visit your friends. Then you can pick me up." Kasamatsu paused, not adding "before you leave for work again." "But I have to go work," he finished, swinging his legs over the side of the bed as Kise's grip lessened on him.
Kise sighed and watched him dress—Kasamatsu knew; he could feel those hazel eyes on his back. "You should play hooky sometime, you know."
"That's not what us responsible adults do." Though he wanted to tell Kise that he should be the one to play hooky sometimes.
"How about I just come to Kaijou with you? It's been a while since we did that."
"No." Kasamatsu pulled his blue track jacket over his black t-shirt and picked up his notes from the desk in the corner by the closet. "I don't want the latest round of first years to be distracted."
He glanced at Kise, who mock-pouted, but that fake pout was soon replaced by a smile. "…all right, senpai. Lunch date and pick-up request ordered." He gave Kasamatsu a closed-eye, wide-mouthed grin then, wherein the corners of his eyes crinkled.
Kasamatsu looked away and left. He knew that smile too well. It was the one that always threatened to drag him back into bed, and always for more than cuddling, and he really couldn't be late for work.
- ^-^3
"Sensei, sorry for the delay."
Takeuchi picked his head up when he saw Kasamatsu arrive. "Ah, no, it's fine. Morning practice just began, so you're all right."
Kasamatsu nodded his thanks and allowed himself to be lost in work. Working as an athletic trainer (really, assistant coach) for Kaijou had always made sense after several years of university wasted taking general courses with no goal in mind. And, though playing professionally had once been a dream, Kasamatsu understood his hopes had been dashed choosing a university with a new club and few good players. Soon enough, even he'd stopped going to practice, and then he'd fallen out of practice, and basketball… He still loved it, but it was in a different place in his life now. Not to mention that it just wasn't the same playing on a team different from his high school one….
"…is Kise now?"
Kaijou's former captain blinked and stared at his boss, realizing Takeuchi had asked him about their old ace. "Sorry?"
Takeuchi grinned. "Oh, come on, Kasamatsu. You didn't exactly talk about him coming back, but your calendar was marked and you excessively checked it. He was due back in Kanagawa last night, yes?" He studied his colleague's face. "…he did come back, right?"
"Oh, yes, he's back. He got in late, is all." Kasamatsu left it there, and Takeuchi didn't bother him further.
As the morning gave way to day and the students left for their classes, Kasamatsu worked, trying not to think about how he'd come to live such a life. Kaijou was a nationally-ranked school—how could he have been so stupid to limit his own prospects?
Then again, Kise hadn't wanted to go to university. He'd worked a bit more as a model and then taken flying lessons for shits and giggles and ended actually going to flying school seriously and becoming a pilot. Who'd have thought it would've turned out that way?
Though Kasamatsu also had to wonder how it had turned out with the two of them, with Kise working on getting him while Kasamatsu was in school and Kise modeled and Moriyama pushing him just to give Kise a chance and then Kasamatsu and Kise had been together since, having gotten a place even six years ago…
Six years. Six years living together, eight of Kise being a pilot, nine of Kasamatsu working for Kaijou, and almost ten for them being together.
…yeah. Ten years together. What a thought.
- ^-^3
"Senpai~!" Kise was well and perky when he arrived at the end of the school day. "Have you eaten?"
Kasamatsu gave his lover a look. "Of course not. And you're late. I don't have much time before the students are done with day duty and start arriving for afternoon practice."
The model chuckled as if he'd made an honest mistake, but then Kasamatsu noticed the bag in his hand. "Sorry, sorry. I went to see Kurokocchi and Kagamicchi, but Kurokocchi wasn't home yet and Kagamicchi asked me to referee a match at the local playground's hoops between him and Aominecchi, who turned out to have today off, too…and then I bumped into Takaocchi before getting back on the train when I realized the time and went to get food, and I stopped to chat with him and Midorimacchi—well, more so with Takaocchi, since Midorimacchi still prefers to ignore us and correct our grammar and stuff from the sidelines…"
The shorter man held up a hand. "Okay, I get it. We can eat up on the roof."
Kise beamed at him, and they left to eat. Kise caught Takeuchi's eye and waved exuberantly, but the coach waved them on. Kasamatsu appreciated that he understood how precious the day was.
The couple ate take-out…from Maji Burger. "…well, I don't eat it often," Kasamatsu remarked.
"I know, right? I figured it might be a special treat, and since I was in the area and right there—so yeah." Kise ate without a care in the world.
Kasamatsu envied that, just a little. And that envy didn't add any flavor to his burger or fries.
- ^-^3
Kise, ever the gentleman, took their trash and left Kasamatsu to the rest of the workday. He informed Kasamatsu he'd remain in the area, though, so the wait wouldn't be as long as it'd been for lunch.
Kasamatsu tried to look forward to it, but his heart ached dully in his chest. …but he pushed his worries to the back of his mind, and focused on fostering Kaijou's new talent.
"When it comes to tournaments, we'll be on your backs about your grades," Takeuchi told the boys. "It doesn't always pay to be a talented idiot." He glanced at Kasamatsu, and they both had to stifle a snicker. They'd never known as talented an idiot as Kise.
After the players finished and cleaned up the gym, the staff surveyed them to figure out what, if any school troubles they were having. It had been Kasamatsu's idea to arrange study buddies once the information was gathered.
One boy complained about his literature class. "We're focusing on this theme of finding stories from other cultures that inspired Japanese proverbs… I don't understand much of what we're reading," he confessed. Looking at him, he kind of reminded Kasamatsu of a talkative Nakamura.
Kasamatsu and Takeuchi frowned. "Well…," Kasamatsu began. He sighed. "Do you have your book? Maybe I can flip through it and make some sense of it. Do you need it for tomorrow?"
The student didn't, so he passed Kasamatsu the text. Kasamatsu glanced at the front and back covers, observed that it consisted of myths and short stories, and decided to have a proper look at it later.
"Line up!" Takeuchi said. "Bow!"
And then the players left to head home.
Takeuchi motioned to Kasamatsu with his head as the few other trainers went on ahead. "Good work today, Kasamatsu."
"Thank you." The former point guard bowed and grabbed his things.
Outside, Kise had half melded into the shadows waiting for him. The blond perked up when their eyes met. "Yukio-senpai! Have a good day?"
Kasamatsu's face reddened, and he instinctively gazed at the ground even though it was getting too dark for Kise to notice. "…idiot. My day was fine."
"Mine wasn't," Kise said as they headed for the bus stop.
The shorter man looked up at Kise, concerned. "Did something happen after lunch?"
Kise said nothing until the bus stop, and then he took Kasamatsu's hand in his and leaned his cheek atop Kasamatsu's black hair. "Yeah. You went back to work."
Oh. So that was all. It was just Kise being childish and nothing more. Kasamatsu bit his lower lip. "Well, we're going home now."
"Mmm."
And that seemed to be the rest of the conversation for the evening.
- ^-^3
The next morning, Kasamatsu awoke alone.
His alarm trilled until he smacked it, and then it switched over to some annoying pop song on the radio, so he turned the thing off. Looking at the clock, the digital face stared back at him as an unfair reminder.
Well, at least he could feel on his cheek the ghost of the kiss Kise must've left before he'd gone to catch another flight.
Kasamatsu carried on with his morning like usual, and his day passed like usual, and his night arrived like usual. He had skimmed the student's text, finding a myth or two here and there familiar, but the topic annoyed him too much, so he decided he'd better find the kid a study partner soon or the kid would be screwed.
- ^-^3
Weeks passed.
Kasamatsu carried on like usual.
The mythology student had a make-up exam right before the Interhigh, but he made it to the tournament. Kaijou placed, but they didn't come in first—an odd echo of Kasamatsu's third year.
Still the topic annoyed him.
- ^-^3
Weeks turned into months. Once he got airmail from Kise. It was postmarked to have come from Hawaii.
As the seasons changed, Kise talked about the next time he'd be home. Maybe for Christmas, probably for New Year's—but he wasn't certain yet.
Kasamatsu asked to borrow that textbook once more.
- ^-^3
He'd never really read myths, save for a few for a literature class for a university requirement ages ago. But Kasamatsu understood why they annoyed the kid, even though he kind of liked the storytelling in some.
The thing was, myths always explained some aspect of life that people didn't want to blame each other for. Planted a crop at the wrong time? Forgot to pray to the right god or goddess. Arranged marriage a mishap? Must've pissed off the love goddess.
And yet…
- ^-^3
Kasamatsu sat sadly in front of the television, sipping a can of beer he'd just opened. The television special was, of course, centered on New Year's, which it'd be in four hours.
He glanced at his watch. 8:02 PM.
Okay, so just under four hours.
Some pop star came on and promoted a new song to celebrate the coming year, but Kasamatsu muted the TV then. Her voice was nice and cute, but somehow the song grated on his ears, sounded sad and heart-wrenching despite the sweet vocals and upbeat tempo. The contrast was…annoying.
Oh, for New Year's, if only he could settle on a new word for "annoying"!
At that moment, someone knocked on the apartment door.
He hadn't been expecting anyone, so Kasamatsu hurried. And, when he opened the door, there stood Kise, jacket unzipped over his pilot's uniform. One of the straps on his carry-on bag was off his shoulder.
"Yukio-senpai." Kise's smile was soft and endearing.
Yet all Kasamatsu could see in his mind's eye was the last time Kise had been "home," and just how long that had lasted. And the year before…and the year before, and before that and that and that—it had always been the same. Kise was with him, but he was never with him except for maybe two times or so a year.
It was like that damned goddess who had to split her time between her lover and her mother—but at least she got half a year, and not just two days.
Kasamatsu thought about saying all of this, but he decided against it. Kise wouldn't understand what he meant. Kasamatsu wasn't even sure he knew what he meant. Maybe he'd had more than a few sips of his beer—
Suddenly, Kise kissed him, but his smile had disappeared. He looked at Kasamatsu. "Senpai, what's wrong?"
Shit. Shit. He should've known Kise would read it on his face. Kise only had Perfect Copy because he was so good at watching people—no way could Kasamatsu have skated by.
"Yukio."
His name on Kise's lips was cruel. "It's not fair…" He balled his hands into fists at his sides. "It's not fair. Why? Why, when it took so long for me to look at you? Why, when it took so long for us to come together? Why, when we could have this happy life and live it together?" Kasamatsu clenched his jaw. "Why don't I get at least half a year—spring or winter—with you?" Really, he wanted to add, "Why doesn't this seem to bother you?" but he refrained from doing so.
Kise didn't look surprised. Instead, he cupped Kasamatsu's cheek in his hand and pressed their foreheads together. "While I might not understand all of that, I feel the same way, senpai." He took one of Kasamatsu's hands in his and unfurled it, entwining their fingers. "So let's go."
"What?"
"Lock up behind you. Grab your coat. I'll call or email Takeuchi-sensei later that I might not bring you back right away. But I'll give you as much time as I can right now. And then I'll finally talk to my bosses about my schedule and how often I go out of the country and—"
"Wait, you mean…" Kasamatsu glared at him. "It's your work. I can't just tag along."
"Why not?" Kise winked, but there was nothing playful about him. He meant everything he was saying. "I'm the captain, and what the captain says stands. Did you really think you were the only one regretting not seeing you for more than a day at a time?"
The dark-haired man swallowed the lump in his throat. Honestly…he hadn't thought Kise had been giving it as much thought. Though now he realized how silly that sounded. There are two things Kise's never half-assed about, Moriyama had once told him when he'd told Kasamatsu to give Kise a chance. Basketball and you. So just give in already.
Kise grabbed a nice dark coat—the lightweight pea coat he'd bought Kasamatsu years ago because he'd wanted to show him that Kise wasn't the only one who could make clothes look good—and helped Kasamatsu into it. Then he pulled the older man out of the apartment, turned off the lights, and locked up. "Ready?" Kise asked.
Kasamatsu was still dumbfounded, and swooning a little, that he merely nodded.
"Good." The blond grabbed his hand and jerked him into a run. "Then hurry! We've gotta make it to the airport! I wasn't supposed to have a layover, but I had to arrange this to happen because I missed you, senpai!"
"Ryouta, you—!" Kasamatsu glared at him for screwing around with his work. If they hadn't been running, he would've kicked him. But he supposed he'd save that for later, when it would be all right for even the captain to move around the cabin…
…or maybe he'd let it slide. It'd be easy to forget another dose of Kise's stupidity when he'd done all this for Kasamatsu.
- ^-^3
Sometimes I go back and forth as to who might love whom more in this ship, but I can really see it being equal, tbh, for just this reason. This fic was actually inspired by the song "Tooryanse" (which means "Pass Through") by the Jpop group Passepied—I love this song and highly recommend it. It is not annoying as Kasamatsu heard it, but quite lovely, though it really does get intense/tense in a few parts which seems to contrast delightfully with the cute vocals. Anyway! This also ended up kind of being in the same universe-ish as another oneshot of mine, "Doesn't Fall Far," which is primarily Akafuri but mentions/has cameos from so many others. In it, Kise and Kasamatsu were mentioned as not being around for New Year's and after, so that helped shape this fic. Lastly, the myth Kasamatsu was wrestling with was (if you guessed it) the story of Persephone/Proserpina, the Graeco–Roman goddess of spring. Hades/Pluto fell for her and dragged her to the Underworld, but her mother Demeter/Ceres fell into despair so Zeus/Jupiter made it so that Persephone would spend half the year with Hades and the rest with Demeter; it's a myth to explain the seasons (i.e., why spring/summer "disappear" to be replaced by fall/winter). So yeah. I quite enjoyed writing this oneshot. I adore Kikasa, and always will! :')
Thanks for reading, and please review! Check out my other KnB stories, too, if you liked this!
-mew-tsubaki :3