(Not So) Perfect Strangers

Chapter 1

*RING RING RING*

Ah the familiar sound of an alarm clock waking you up…don't you just hate it? Well for one particular blond it just meant for him the long day was beginning!

*Yawns* "Why do they start my day so early? Don't they know better?" came the voice of the young man that had just gotten woke up by the dreadful device as he pulled the sheets back and climbed out of bed and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Morning Kise" A woman in about her mid-30s called to the blond whom just lazily waved "Hi" as went and grabbed a box of cereal and his bowl before sitting down at the kitchen table. "Long night son?" The woman asked and Kise just nodded trying to get the haze of the night out of his head. He actually TRIED to act responsible like he was told but even he had to admit that the party was a little too wild even for him. What's worse is he was expected at the agency today for a meeting with some top Executives that were working for the clothing line that his agency has a contract with and that usually meant about 5 hours in a boardroom and then another hour of press.

Oh don't misunderstand what I'm saying. Kise actually loved what he did for a living because of the people he's met and the contacts he made in his short time as a model and with how quickly he became one of the agency's top representatives. The thing was there was…something else that Ryota wanted in his life to help him through his crazy world and maybe even slow it down for him. The questions that formed in his head were "What was it?" followed by "WHERE was it?"

Meanwhile in another part of the city

It was about 6 AM and a young man with teal-coloured hair got up about 15 minutes before his alarm was scheduled to go off. He was almost always an early riser and good about getting ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead for him. It didn't matter if it was a meeting or if a deadline was forthcoming he always tried to anticipate what it could be so he would be ready for whatever happened.

The young man walked down the stairs from his bedroom and headed into the bathroom unnoticed by anyone in his house. This was standard for some reason and no one could figure out why really. Its not like he doesn't live there or anything of that nature but for some reason unless the members of his family were really paying attention they would/could and DID miss him a lot of the time. The running joke for his colleagues at his company was that he was the "ghost that helped run the place" because no one really ever saw or heard from him a lot of the time…it was kind of eerie!

After showering and shaving what little facial hair he had on his face the teal-haired young man walked out of the bathroom dressed and ready for breakfast with his parents. These always proved eventful because of the fact that…they sometimes would forget he was there!

Just not today...

"Good Morning Kuroko!" His mother called and he smiled and bowed. Kuroko usually isn't one for showing emotion but when it comes to family he always was respectful no matter what. He could have to get to a meeting within an hour and he would always stop and kiss his mother goodbye before leaving (provided she was home). The thing about today was that not only was Kuroko going to a meeting but he also was going to be looking into an apartment in the city as it was time for the nest to finally empty.

Back at the Ryota Residence

"Kise" His mother began "Have you thought about what it would be like to live on your own or at the very least in an apartment with another person?" she asked and the blond nearly choked on his egg. What was his mother asking this for?

"Actually mom I'll be honest. I haven't really thought about it only because of how busy things have been lately. I've wanted to but I couldn't because of all the parties and shoots and whatnot." He explained and his mother understood where her son was coming from. The lifestyle that Kise lived was one where he couldn't settle down even if he wanted to. He almost always, from the time he left the house till about 1 AM, would be either at a meeting or a shoot or doing some interview for a pretentious girly publication that his mother didn't like but understood that he had to for his job. The thing of it was she knew that at some point he needed to start to take things a little easier than he was.

"I understand Kise and trust me I respect that you have a dedication to your job. I respect why you come home as late as you do and why when that alarm goes off sometimes you dread it…but you might seriously need to figure out something in life that could help you or at the least be a 'balance' for you that you don't have right now. The girls you see at the parties? They look at you like you are some kind of object more than anything and that's not something you want is it?" She asked and he shook his head "no". Kise knew that he needed to slow down but right now it was a very busy time for him and he knew that things would only get worse the closer Summer came.

"I'll have a look at the listings for an apartment when I get a minute today. I know that I have about an hour break before I get into the real meat of the day so I'll check out some apartments then…sound fair?" Kise asked and his mother nodded as he finished his breakfast and hurried to get ready before he had to really go. Today was NOT the day to be late to his meetings!

As Kise put on the finishing touches to his outfit for the day and made sure that everything was perfect for the meeting he kissed his mother goodbye one final time and then headed out into his crazy world. What he DIDN'T know was it was about to get even more nuts!

Back at the Tetsuya Household…

"So you're going apartment hunting on your lunch break?" Kuroko's mom asked and he nodded. He had explained to her that there were a couple of places that weren't far from where he worked that he figured he could get a place at. The thing was that at least one of them was a 2 bedroom and the rent was a little steep even for him but he knew that he would cross that bridge if/when he came to it.

"You've done well in raising me for so long that its time I go out and see what I can do on my own. I know I have the problem where sometimes its hard to find me but I've learned to figure out how to work that and help people. I have to figure out now how to work it if I end up living on my own in an apartment and to see if I can cope with it." Kuroko explained and his mother smiled. She knew that her son would be alright but the thing of it was that wasn't what worried her. She wondered to herself many times if Kuroko did his "vanishing act" on purpose to avoid other things…relationships for one!

Was Kuroko bad around girls? Well considering that his job for the most part didn't really require interaction save maybe at parties…you could say it wasn't the best! Unlike Kise whom would have to go somewhere and mingle on a daily basis Kuroko's job was different. He worked as a freelance writer/published author so he pretty much could stay in and do his work if he needed to. The only times he came to the office really was to get the assignments he needed or if there was an important meeting like today. When that happens he usually would go to the office, attend the meeting, and then do some clerical for his boss if the secretary wasn't in and there were times he was grateful that either a) she wasn't in or b) that his low presence worked a lot of the time. He once had to go to a function with her and well…yeah!

The day went on for both men and it yielded almost similar results believe it or not!

Kuroko was being given a huge contract to finally work for the company as an actual writer! The reason given was that his work was so well written and consistent that they needed to keep him because other big companies were asking for him…just not at the price they knew he wanted. Its not that Kuroko was a greedy man either…far from it but the fact was that he knew in his head the amount that would have worked for him and the fact that he didn't have to beg for it was a HUGE plus for him! Considering the next step of his life that he was about to embark on he was going to need the income.

As for Kise…almost the same exact result!

The agency was so impressed with his past two photoshoots and interviews that they gave him a raise from what his current contract were to be! This couldn't have come at a better time for him with him thinking about moving out in a week or two. The problem was going to be finding a place especially considering the raise didn't kick in immediately.

With the meetings at the respective agencies/publishers done the two men spent most of the rest of the day scouring for a place within their budgets that they currently felt capable of renting. They knew they could afford a big expensive studio but what did they really want?

"It doesn't HAVE to be a big place" Kise said to himself as he looked at some that had studios that weren't what he wanted. He might have had his rowdy times but he tried to keep those OUT of his place when he could. He once got scolded because a party got out of hand and someone ended up in the hospital. That sacred him because there was belief that the woman was poisoned when she just had a really bad flu bug and that made him feel a lot better. What he wanted was a place that he could start to just get things in order with his life if he was going to do this right…problem was the price of the places that he was looking at were so ridiculous for rent! Who affords those?!

"If it's a nice place where I can just see the city skyline and look out over the balcony then I'll be happy. I've been so accustomed to the view that I had from my bedroom that I forget what the city looks like sometimes." Kuroko said to himself as he looked at places. A lot of the places were nice but the view was kind of "eh" for him. He looked a little disturbed when he saw one that he wanted but…YIKES!

"Problem Kuroko?" a fairly tall man with short black hair and glasses asked as he walked over to his friend and looked at the computer screen with him

"Oh hey Hyuga" Kuroko noted "I was just looking at apartments and…

"Out of the range you want or not what you are looking for?" Huyga asked and when Kuroko answered "Both" this gave him an idea….what they didn't know was over in another building the SAME idea was about to be pitched.

"So you want to rent a place that is big enough but not like 'party central'…correct?" A young man in a suit and tie asked Kise before nodding and speaking

"Correct Kasamatsu. I'm looking for a place where I know that I won't be tempted to bring a party with me because…I get enough of that at the shoots." Kise explained and Kasamatsu had to check to see if his friend was running a fever. Kise almost always liked to bring home a woman or two…or three with him! There would be NO WAY he wouldn't still have that urge right?

In the two different companies the same subject was talked about for about 30 minutes and both subjects agreed to check out the place that was being talked about. Kise did it mainly because he knew if he didn't Kasamatsu's temper would act up and in Kuroko's case he knew anything was worth a shot.

One question remained:

What would happen when these strangers finally met?