Fandom: Free!/Kuroko no Basuke

Characters/Pairings: Rei, Kise

Words: 682

Summary: "You think too much," Kise replies, poking Rei on the forehead.

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notes: wow hahahahaha like what is this even

i was writing like 50 other things (including another knb/free! crossover) when suddenly this came by the miracle of writer's block like what are priorities right

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"Wow, so that was, like… um… terrible," Kise finishes, rubbing awkwardly at his neck as he waits for Rei to pull himself out of the water.

"I… could have done without that… confirmation, Ryouta-san," Rei tells him, hushed and embarrassed, wiping his face thoroughly with the towel Kise hands to him, as if the action could scrub away the shame that had been piling up ever since he let himself fall victim to the pleadings of a certain enthusiastic blonde classmate.

"Sorry," Kise says, shooting him an apologetic look, "but, well," he gestures vaguely, "you know I can't really help you with this, right? I mean, it's not like I'm a coach or anything."

"I know, Ryouta-san," Rei replies, lifting his face from the towel and folding it onto his arm. "I don't expect you to help me learn as fast as you do—your talent is truly something else, after all—I was merely hoping I could get some criticisms—pointers, if you will—on my style."

"On your… style?"

Rei nods. "My teammates have all agreed that my form is perfect—naturally—but seeing as I am still unable to swim, there must be something missing."

"And that's… style?" Kise asks again.

"Perhaps style may not be the right word," Rei muses, putting his hand to his chin thoughtfully, "but something more like… beauty?"

"Beauty," Kise repeats, eyebrows furrowing slightly. "You want be to criticize your beauty?"

"Or my lack thereof," Rei clarifies. "I know it hasn't been a pleasant sight."

"It, um, wasn't that bad," Kise assures, throwing in a playful laugh and pat on the shoulder for good measure.

Rei looks at him evenly. "'Wow, so that was, like… um… terrible.'"

Kise shifts his gaze away quickly. "It was a metaphor."

"You mean a hyperbole."

"I'm not really good at school, okay."

Rei stifles a laugh.

"In any case," Kise says, ready to turn this conversation back to not about him and his academic misadventures, "why don't you give me a rundown on why this whole swimming thing isn't working out for you again, and why you called me here to help."

"Alright then," Rei complies, a hint of a smile still on his lips.

"So," Kise says, after a fairly detailed account on What You Missed on the Daily Life of Rei, "you joined the swim club because they convinced you it could be beautiful—" Rei nods, "—but you can't swim even though they all tried to teach you—" Rei nods again, if reluctantly, "—so now you think maybe the reason you can't is because you're not beautiful enough?"

Rei moves to adjust his glasses. "That's the general idea, yes. It's already been proven that I can float, and everyone has commented that my form is perfect. Thus, comparing how I swim with everyone else, I see that perhaps I'm lacking another variable: beauty."

"But I thought only one of your teammates was a beautiful swimmer?"

"Well it is true that Nanase-senpai swims the most beautifully, but after observing Nagisa-kun and Tachibana-senpai these past few days, it would be unfair of me to exclude them as well."

"Hmm," Kise hums, "and since I'm a model, you figured I would know a thing or two?"

"That's what I was hoping, yes."

"Well…" Kise starts, "you could try not being so stiff all the time."

"Stiff…?" Rei asks.

"You think too much," Kise replies, poking Rei on the forehead. "You can't calculate looking good; it just has to happen."

"So… what do you suggest I do?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yep," Kise nods, giving Rei a thumbs up. "Nothing. You just gotta go with the flow, you know? Turn your brain off for a while. Thinking's only managed to get you to sink, so maybe not thinking will get you to swim."

"…And do you really think this will work, Ryouta-san?"

"Well, something's bound to, right?"

"…Right."

Rei can only hope he finds that something before Kise decides to fall back on his original plan of bringing him in as a swimsuit model for the summer collection.

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more notes: lol so i'm sorry if you actually got this far because like this is terrible and i feel terrible

anyway i figured i should give some details about this au/whatever

um, 1. kise (and the rest of everyone in knb) is a 2nd/3rd year (can't decide oops) because knb debuted before free! so headcanon logic states knb-verse is older than free!-verse

2. kise and rei's family are friends so basically they've known each other since they were kids. i debated them being cousins but that idea went to my other fic (which i will finish so help me god) so yeah

2.5 the reason rei calls kise ryouta-san is because they've known each other fir forever so first name basis but kise is still older so rei shows him respect (i also thought about something like ryouta-nii but reasons so it didn't happen)

2.75 i couldn't decide what kise should call rei, (reiichi was the most prevalent thought, but it feels weird for me to have kise actually call someone by their first name lol) so i just didn't include it

3. this note has gotten like rly long gomen (i guess i'm trying to make up for writer's block?) so imma stop now