Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke does not belong to me.
A/N: Akashi's using surnames here because presumably he's still in Oreshi-mode after the Winter Cup.
Warnings: silliness, mild suggestive content between characters of the same gender, characters behaving oddly, and abnormal plane configurations that shouldn't be thought about too closely. Proceed with caution and I hope you like the chapter! :-)
On the Dangers of In-Flight Entertainment
Chapter 2
Kuroko carefully walked up the aisle searching for people he knew. He saw Murasakibara sitting with Himuro and another Yosen player he believed was named Liu a few rows up. Kuroko was unsurprised to see a pile of discarded snack wrappers had already accumulated on the tray table in front of the purple haired athlete; Murasakibara was most likely equal parts hungry and bored. Kuroko sincerely hoped that Yosen had devoted at least one carry on bag to stashing a reserve of goodies for their snack-motivated giant if they didn't plan on buying out the entire supply of refreshments from the on-board store. Kuroko had terrifying memories of an incident from their Teiko days when the snacks had been accidentally overlooked for an away game. It had never happened again; in fact "Murasakibara's snacks" had earned a place of honor on the preparation checklist for all games after that. He waved briefly, a gesture which they each returned, before he continued up the aisle.
Akashi hailed him from the exit row that was also the bulkhead; Kuroko wasn't going to speculate on how the teen managed to claim such a desirable seat for himself when there were many much larger players that would have cheerfully killed someone to sit there. He was sitting by the window with Imayoshi at the aisle and Mibuchi in between them. Wakamatsu, Sakurai, and Susa from Too filled in the middle row and on the other side of them sat Hanamiya, Hara, and Seto from Kirisaki Daichi on the left side of the aircraft; clearly this was one of the most dangerous rows on the entire plane. Kotaro sat behind Akashi with Mayuzumi and Nebuya as his seatmates, they acknowledged Kuroko indifferently, still not completely over their recent defeat at the Winter Cup.
Kuroko moved in front of the exit row to lean against the bulkhead for balance. He began addressing those around him, "Hello Akashi-kun, Mibuchi-san, Imayoshi-san. I hope your flight is going well so far?" They returned his greeting and commenced conversing with relative ease given the history between them all.
"Hello Kuroko-kun, I am sorry if Aomine is causing trouble for you. We heard your coach earlier. He's difficult to control but it sounded like she has things well in hand." Imayoshi's polite greeting hinted at his amused understanding of the seating arrangements Kuroko was contending with.
"It can't really be helped, Imayoshi-san. Aomine-kun and Kagami-kun have equally forceful personalities. I am hoping one or both of them will take a nap soon, it might improve their tempers."
"Are you suggesting they're cranky and need naps like toddlers?" This was from Mibuchi and his soft voice was clearly entertained by the idea.
Kuroko briefly considered the situation, "Yes, that might be the best way to understand it. They don't really bring out the best in each other outside of competitions, and being cooped up isn't going to help that."
"Hmm, and what are you going to do if Aomine decides you're his teddy bear again, Kuroko?" Akashi was referring to a rather uncomfortable episode from Teiko when Aomine had fallen asleep on the bus after a game and unconsciously snuggled with Kuroko as if the smaller athlete were a stuffed animal. Kuroko hadn't been strong enough to extract himself and everyone else had been too busy laughing to help him. Momoi-san had promised to obtain custody of all photographic evidence, but Kuroko hadn't held out any real hope she'd destroyed them. He had a rather sneaking suspicion that upon confiscating everyone's phone she'd merely forwarded the images to her own account before ostensibly deleting them from the others' phones.
"That is not very nice of you to bring up, Akashi-kun." The pout that adorned Kuroko's usually inexpressive face was surprisingly charming and several of the athletes nearby found themselves gaping at him in astonishment.
Wakamatsu leaned over to participate in their conversation; he was interested in any potential ammunition to use against the wayward power forward. "If it does happen again, please send Kagami up here to let us know."
Akashi merely smiled when Kuroko immediately denied any possibility of that happening. He didn't feel the need to tell Kuroko that Momoi hadn't had the courage to delete the photo from his phone. If history did indeed repeat itself, he had no doubt that the image would be captured by many of the people on the plane whether Kuroko sent someone to alert them or not.
An unexpected bout of turbulence at that moment sent Kuroko off balance. He'd relaxed just enough that he couldn't stop himself from falling forward, but he did succeed in catching himself before he face planted into Mibuchi's lap. Instead he'd managed to brace himself using the armrests, but it still put them uncomfortably close to one another. Kuroko offered a soft apology and began to straighten when Mibuchi saw something distressing about the male in front of him.
"Kuroko-kun, why aren't you taking better care of yourself? Your lips are chapped! It happens so quickly to those of us with sensitive skin at high altitudes you know."
Kuroko's puzzled expression made the elegant player sigh with exasperation. Once Kuroko returned to leaning against the bulkhead, Mibuchi began rummaging in the bag he wore across his torso and started removing all kinds of vials and tubes that had somehow made it through security. He found what he was looking for and handed one to Kuroko who took it cautiously before reading the label "Whispered Kisses Lip Balm, Blushing Rose Pink." His eyebrows shot up and Kuroko shook his head while politely thanking the older teen for his concern and returning the product to its owner.
As if they'd discussed this ahead of time, Imayoshi, Mibuchi, and Akashi exchanged a gleeful glance and while the Too and Rakuzan captains each grabbed one of Kuroko's arms to pull the smaller teen forward and hold him still, Mibuchi quickly and expertly applied the gloss to the shocked Kuroko's lips. The shimmer looked especially fetching with the embarrassed flush that stained his cheeks and his tongue reflexively darted out in response to the unfamiliar sensation.
There was a pause as those around them took this in and several helpless giggles erupted at the picture Kuroko presented. It was Mayuzumi that surprisingly came to his rescue by reaching over and handing Kuroko one of the packets of hand-wipes that had been distributed earlier.
"I'd suggest a swift retreat, Kuroko, if you don't want a repeat of that. They're a little too pleased with themselves for you to get away with just removing it and staying here."
Kuroko thanked Mayuzumi for his help and after glaring at the three co-conspirators that were still chuckling madly, he left and headed toward the lavatory so he could repair the damage in peace. His mistake was forgetting that Mibuchi's bag contained other unknown beauty aids and that as Mayuzumi had mentioned, they'd found the incident entirely too entertaining to let Kuroko get away with denying them their fun so easily.
Three heads leaned in to plot all-out war on Kuroko in the form of an ambush-style makeover. Plans were made and if an occasional cackle was heard, then those around them knew better than to question or interfere. After all, international flights are murder if you don't plan accordingly, and none of them had earned a reputation of being a poor strategist. Akashi demonstrated a particularly ruthless brand of foresight by recruiting Momoi, who was only too happy to be included.
Mayuzumi sighed as he listened to what was in store for the other phantom player. He'd already done his good deed for the day, but he sure hoped Kuroko's misdirection worked in confined spaces or he was in for one hell of a surprise.
