Summary: Kise and Kuroko are VERY good friends. Essentially, somewhat oblivious (on both sides), but completely shameless (also on both sides) KiKuro flirting. Shoemaker!Kuroko Baker'sAssistant!Kise Romance/Frienship
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The Shoemaker and The Baker's Assistant
There was once a shoe maker named Kuroko Tetsuya, who lived idly in a small village of the Teiko Kingdom. He wasn't particularly skilled at shoe making, but kept at it tirelessly because why the hell not. The need for shoes wasn't exactly going anywhere, so the business was pretty much a sure thing.
Kuroko sat quietly in his workshop, humming tunelessly as he worked on his latest pair of shoes. He looked up when a clock in corner of the room started to chime. Seeing that it was three o'clock, Kuroko promptly set aside his work because three o'clock is always tea time.
He decided he would go out for a cup of tea, but once he was on the cobblestone streets, Kuroko found it much too cold to walk all the way down to the tea shop. Instead, he moved swiftly into the bakery across the road. No sooner had he entered the crowded bakery, than an excited voice shouted his name.
"Kurokocchi!" the blond baker's assistant called happily across the room.
Kuroko offered a small smile and found an empty table by the window while the blond worked his was through the room. Once he reached Kuroko's table, he gave the blue haired boy a quick hug, leaving his arm draped around the other boy's shoulder.
"I'm surprised you saw me come in, Kise-kun," Kuroko told his friend. Kuroko had a very low presence, and it was a very odd day when anyone noticed him before he announced himself. Despite being close friends, even Kise was often caught unawares.
Kise gave a small laugh.
"I didn't need to see anything," said Kise with a grin, "Three o'clock and a chill that could freeze fire! Kurokocchi, of course, wimps out from crossing town to go to the tea shop and, instead, stops by the bakery to bum a cup of vanilla tea and a few hot rolls off of his charming and gracious best friend." Kise ended with a playful wink.
"Am I really so predictable?" Kuroko asked with the smallest of smiles, "You make it sound like I'm taking advantage of you."
Kise laughed again, springing off of Kuroko to stand straight and tall.
"If it's Kurokocchi taking advantage, I'll offer any service," Kise said in a voice that would border on sultry if it weren't so cheerful, and gave a mocking, yet graceful server's bow.
Kuroko, stoic by nature, gave little response to the dramatic display. Still, his reaction, or lack there of, seemed to please Kise, who gave another cheerful laugh and went off to fetch them food and drinks.
Kuroko looked out the window. It had started to rain since he entered the shop, and Kuroko was perfectly content to watch the falling drops as he waited for Kise to return.
Kise came back to the table, placing a tray of tea and rolls in front of Kuroko, before slipping into the seat across from him. The shoemaker poured himself a cup of tea. Kise took a leisurely bit out of one of the rolls and turned his gaze to the rainy streets.
"Waah! It's getting stormy out there!" the blond exclaimed, "I'm not looking forward to walking home through that!"
Kuroko quietly sipped his drink and studied the blond across from him. Kise's expression didn't match his words at all. Instead of disappointment or reluctance, Kise's face held a bright smile. Kuroko gave a small sigh.
"Kise-kun shouldn't say something like that when he knows he isn't going home tonight," Kuroko said quietly, "especially with such an unconvincing expression."
"Ah, Kurokocchi knows me too well," said Kise as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
Kise lived in a small apartment across town, while Kuroko live in the rooms above his shop. With Kuroko's home so close to the bakery, Kise would often wander over after work. And on days when the weather was particularly nasty (and sometimes even when it wasn't) Kise would spend the night at Kuroko's shop.
"It seems Kise-kun may be the one taking advantage of me," the blue haired man said in an emotionless voice.
"Then I'll be in your care tonight," Kise said with a sly grin. Kuroko let out another sigh and took a long sip of tea.
"I suppose you will," Kuroko muttered into his drink.
The pair chatted for a while longer, until Kise needed to get back to work. Since the weather failed to improve, Kuroko remained at his table the rest of the afternoon, deciding that he might as well wait for Kise to finish his shift.
It was early evening when Kuroko and Kise left the bakery to hurry across the street to Kuroko's shop. The weather had grown fierce, and as they made to cross the street, a grand carriage rattled by. The vehicle splashed a great deal of water over the two friends and sent Kise tumbling back into a muddy puddle.
"That looked like a carriage of the royal procession," Kuroko observed, "It seems as though our town has a high rank visitor."
Though the carriage was long gone, Kise gave a shout of protest in its direction.
"Waahhh! I'm all covered in muck!" Kise whined childishly, "Aristocrats should behave with more grace!"
"I don't believe it was done on purpose, Kise-kun," Kuroko stated blandly, looking down to Kise's position in the puddle.
"Kurokocchi!" Kise cried, his eyes filled with over dramatic tears. Seeing the beautiful man crying in the mud was too much for Kuroko, and he couldn't fight the urge to indulge the blond.
"Kise-kun," Kuroko said as he crouched down to look Kise in the eyes, "since we were already planning to take a bath once we got home, there's no reason to be upset even if you got dirty, right?"
Kise perked up slightly at the mention of a bath, but his pout stayed firmly on his face. Ah, Kuroko thought with an internal chuckle, he wants to be spoiled. Kuroko put his hands on Kise's shoulders and quickly pushed him back into the mud.
"Kurokocchi!" the blond said with slight surprise, "What are you doing?"
"Since Kise-kun is already dirty, there's nothing wrong with getting dirtier," the shoemaker gave a small smile, "Besides, it's been ages since we played around in the mud."
A huge smile broke out on Kise's face and he gave a great laugh of happiness. It truly had been years since the two of them had played around in the mud. It had been a favorite game of theirs as children.
"Kurokocchi is really one of a kind!" Kise exclaimed, rolling them over so Kuroko was pressed to the muddy ground, "The only one for me!"
Kuroko slyly lobbed a handful of mud at Kise's face, sniggering internally at the blond's whine of surprise. So with the grand carriage completely forgotten, the mud battle started. Once the pair was sufficiently coated in muck and slime, the two friends called it a tie and helped each other off the ground.
They went into Kuroko's shop and the shoemaker quickly went upstairs to run the bath. Kise followed after, trying to limit the amount of mud he tracked around the house. When Kise entered the bathroom, his blue haired friend was already in the large bathtub, looking at him blankly as he stood in the doorway.
"Hmmm," Kise hummed with disapproval, "Kurokocchi started without me."
"Kise-kun was taking too long," he said shortly.
"But Kurokocchi isn't good with the heat. It's dangerous if I'm not here to help," said Kise playfully.
"Then help," came the short reply.
"Hm, with pleasure," Kise gave a classy smile as he pulled off his shirt. The rest of his clothes followed suit and he slipped into the tub beside Kuroko, "Kurokocchi, come here and I'll wash your hair."
Kuroko turned himself around and leaned back against his blond friend's chest. Kise put some shampoo on his hands and began to gently work it into Kuroko's scalp. The blue haired man hummed happily as his hair was washed and rinsed. Once he was finished Kuroko turned around to face Kise and washed his hair too.
They stayed in the bath for a while longer, washing and chatting quietly, but the heat eventually got to Kuroko, and he slumped forward onto his friend's chest. Kise sighed wearily. This was a common occurrence. They both knew he had trouble with the heat, but Kuroko wouldn't admit it until he passed out. As a result, for fear that the blue head would let himself drown, Kise forbade his friend from taking baths unless he was present.
He gently picked his friend up and carried him to the bedroom. Kuroko was starting to regain consciousness as Kise set him on the bed. The blond quickly helped him change into his light blue nighty and grabbed a pair of pajama bottoms for himself.
"Why does Kise-kun always dress me in these sort of clothes?" Kuroko asked with a mild sense of resentment as he pulled at the hem of his night gown.
"It's because Kurokocchi looks so good in them!" Kise said enthusiastically, wrapping Kuroko in his arms and rubbing his cheek on the man's blue hair.
"I don't think it suits me," Kuroko stated bluntly, moving to pull up the hem of his gown. Kise's hand quickly covered his and held it in place.
"Then Kurokocchi should stop fainting in the bath and forcing me to change him," Kise said sweetly in his ear.
"Ah," Kuroko turn his head away, slightly embarrassed, "perhaps we should go to sleep now."
Kise gave a pleased laugh, and after pressing a kiss to Kuroko's temple, he released the boy from his hold. They made their way under the covers of Kuroko's bed and settled into comfortable positions, leaning on each other. They two friends drifted into an easy sleep, both very much unaware that they had passed very close to someone who would alter their lives considerably.
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I've decided to make this fan-fiction a collection of stories from what I am now going to be calling the Shoemaker!verse (spread it round, yo).
That means that there will be different stories here, some one-shots and others that span a few chapters. I'll change the summary and tags to fit the newest story, but I will keep all old summaries in the respective chapters to avoid confusion.
This is sort of a one-shot on it's own, but it can also be considered a prologue to the story that will occupy the next couple chapters.
Thanks for reading! Review if you can.