Author's Note: Hello again. I was feeling kinda iffy about the second chapter, so hopefully this one is better. It gets better as we continue, I swear. For once, I've actually written a majority of the story instead of writing one chapter each week. Plus, KnB is so much shorter than KHR, so it's easier to finish writing. In any case... Enjoy!
I glance at Kise as he invites me to go somewhere with him. He even barged into my classroom the second the bell rang grinning and calling my name like the cheery idiot he is. "Hm?" I ask. "Why are you inviting me out?" I gather my books. "If you don't have a good reason for it, I'd rather not. We're supposed to attend practice, after all."
"I mean, we're going to be going against them, so why not?" he asks with a smile.
"'Them'?" I ask. I think for a moment. "Ah, you mean Seirin?" I'd heard from the coach earlier that we'd be having a practice match with Seirin soon.
"Right! Kurokocchi goes there, so I thought I'd go and say hi!" he explains.
"Is that so?" I reply as I sling my bag over my shoulder. I fold my arms. "So? What does that have to do with me?"
"I thought that it would be useful for you to see who we'll be going against," he replies. I suppose he can be pretty smart every once in a while.
"Scouting, huh?"
He grins at me. "Plus, I wanted to introduce Kurokocchi to my future girlfriend." I take my compliment back. He's just an idiot after all.
I give him a deadpanned look. "You're awfully full of yourself," I reply as I fold my arms. "That first part of your reasoning was pretty good though, so I suppose I'll take you up on your offer."
He smiles. "Yes!"
Somehow, we end up at his house though. "So, what are we doing here?" I ask as I fold my arms.
"I thought that it would be inconvenient to have our school bags during the visit, so you can leave your stuff here and come back for it later," he replies as though that notion is completely reasonable.
"What's with that logic?" I ask. There are so many things wrong with that sort of reasoning. I'm not sure if I'm right, but I swear that I catch a glimpse of that cunning shine in his eyes again. This guy... I'm somewhat wary about this idea now. The first thing that comes to mind is his possible motives behind his, but the next smile he flashes me is completely innocent. Going against the warning bell that goes off in my head, I take my cellphone out and leave my bag on the floor against the wall next to his. I sigh deeply. "Alright." I'll just kill him if he tries anything on me.
He smiles at me. "Let's go then!" He looks so cheery and stupid again, I'm not sure what to do.
Just then, a girl walks over and looks at us blankly. "Oh?" she asks. She looks a bit like Kise. His sibling maybe? "Aren't you supposed to be at practice? Why are you bringing a girl home with you?"
I reply immediately, "I'm the manager for the basketball club. Kise invited me to visit Seirin so that I can do some scouting."
She nods, but seems somewhat unconvinced.
"Anyways, we're going," Kise says. He takes my hand and drags me out of his house.
I look around Seirin with Kise as we get on school grounds. "So this is Seirin. New and pristine, just like I expected." As we walk towards the school building, I can feel everyone watching us and I can hear them whispering.
"Look, isn't he hot?"
"And tall. Wait, is he..."
"The model!"
Hm... so he really is this popular, huh? It's true that he is good looking I suppose, but still... Girls are so simple minded. Being good-looking isn't all there is to a person.
I watch as they play a practice game. Whoever the red-haired guy is, he's pretty good. He seems like he's on a different level from the others. His speed and strength is good. The way he moves shows his experience. There isn't much else I can glean from that short snippet of their practice though. I don't know much about basketball, but even an amateur, like myself, can tell that the maneuver that he just executed isn't very easy to pull off.
I cringe as a group of girls start to surround us. Crowds aren't my thing. "Kise," I start.
He laughs weakly. "Hey, don't look at me with such an irritated expression," he says. "It really hurts, you know? It's not like a meant for this to happen."
I sigh. "Alright, alright," I say. I suppose that he is right. It couldn't be helped. I turn to the Seirin guys who have directed their attention to us. "I'm sorry about this."
"It's nice to see you two again," Kuroko says.
"Good to see you," Kise replies.
I nod. "And you as well," I reply. I'm surprised that he recognizes me. We've only spoken briefly before.
Kise rubs the back of his head. "Sorry, really. Um... Do you think you could wait five minutes?"
Kise deals with the fans and then, they finally leave. "W-What are you doing here?" the guy with the glasses asks. He looks at me, and I guess he assumes that I'm the manager because he asks, "Scouting?"
I nod. Bingo.
Kise and I walk over to them. "Well, when I heard that our next opponent was Seirin, I remembered that Kurokocchi went here, so I thought I'd come say hi. We were the best of friends in middle school," he explains with a smile.
"Not more than anyone else," Kuroko replies.
"You're so mean!" Kise says. He starts to tear up and he covers his eyes with his hand.
The other team members read an article that featured the Generation of Miracles back when we were in middle school. "Since your second year?" the guy with the glasses asks.
Kise rubs the back of his head. "That article exaggerated quite a bit. I'm glad to be called one of the Generation of Miracles, but I'm the worst of the bunch. They bullied me and Kurokocchi for it all the time."
"That never happened to me," Kuroko says with a flat expression. I stifle my laughter.
"What? It was just me?" Kise asks.
Something comes our way and I flinch, but before I can move out of the way, Kise pulls me to his right as he blocks the basketball that was coming our way. "Ow! What was that for? You should be more considerate, you could have hit her," he says a bit angrily.
Apparently, it was the red-haired guy from before. "Kagami!" his teammates scold.
Kise turns to me with concern filled eyes. "Are you alright?"
My heart is pounding loud enough for me to hear it, but either way, I frown at him and reply coldly, "What are you doing acting all high and mighty? I didn't need your help." I fold my arms.
He laughs weakly again. "Well... I don't know. I said that instinctively. It seems like you're alright though, Kimikocchi."
I raise an eyebrow at him. "And just when did we get so close, Kise? Do tell."
"Sorry for interrupting your little lovers quarrel," the redhead, Kagami, says. I send him a sharp glare and he cringes. Some of his teammates snicker and he clears his throat. "Don't tell me you came all the way here just to greet us. Why don't you play with me a little, pretty boy?"
"Eh? I don't know if I'm ready. But I just..." Kise seems to think about it. He was able to copy the dunk before, wasn't he? "Fine, let's do it. I have to thank you for that display."
I hate to admit it, but I'm interested in seeing how this plays out too. Kise returns the move that he just copied, as I had predicted, and it seems to leave everyone else in awe. I was surprised the first time I watched him play as well. What he does is more that just simple imitation. He takes the moves and makes them his own. That alone leads me to think that he's much smarter than he lets on.
Kagami falls to the ground. It seems that Kise is both stronger and faster than him. I'd say that we're in good shape for the practice game then. At this moment at the very least. Seeing this now, there are only two options for Seirin. Give up or toughen up. I'd say the latter is more likely. I can see it in their eyes.
Kise sighs. "I don't know about his," he says. He seems bored. "After something so disappointing, I can't just leave now." He starts to walk towards the other Seirin guys. "Give us Kurokocchi," he says with a smile. The others gasp. "Come join us," he says with Kuroko. He holds his hand out. "Let's play basketball together again." Another gasp goes around the room.
I have to admit, I'm somewhat surprised too, but I'll let it play out for a bit longer. So this is what he really came for... "I seriously respect you, Kurokocchi. It's a waste of your talent to stay here. Well, what do you say?" It seems like he's seriously looking for people to help strengthen our team.
"I'm honored to hear you say that," Kuroko starts. He bows. "I must respectfully decline your offer." I smile a little. He's as interesting as ever.
"That doesn't make any sense," Kise protests. "Besides, this isn't like you. Winning was everything. Why didn't you go somewhere better?"
"My thinking has changed since then," Kuroko explains to Kise, "More importantly, I made a promise to Kagami-kun. I told him that we'd beat you, the Generation of Miracles."
"It really isn't like you to joke around like that," Kise replies with a frown.
Kagami laughs from behind us and I turn to him. He's smiling. "What are you doing?" he asks. "I was gonna say that, Kuroko."
"I still have no sense of humor. I'm serious," Kuroko tells Kise.
Kise smirks and chuckles. He looks completely different from his usual cheery-self. I've seen this enough to think that the stupid cheeriness of his is mostly a mask. I like that. It doesn't change the fact that I refuse to date him though.
As the tension in the room rises, the girl, the manager, I guess, turns to me. "Who are you anyways?" she asks.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's nice to meet you, I'm Tsukino, Kimiko, Kaijo's manager," I say. "Although it feels like I'm cutting this short, we should be on our way. I hope that you'll forgive our intrusion." I bow and my hair falls in front of my face. I push it back and turn to Kise. "Kise, you too. You ought to apologize for barging in on their practice and creating the commotion that you did."
"Alright," he replies. He apologizes casually and we head out of the gym together.
"You're such a pain. There are girls squealing around you all the time and all you do is cause trouble," I say with a sigh as we head out of school grounds and towards the bus stop. There are some more girls fawning over him again, but he doesn't even glance at them. "Not that it's necessarily a bad thing, I suppose. It does lead to some interesting things happening."
He cheers, "Yes!"
"What are you getting so excited for?" I ask. "That's only for now. I'll get pissed if you stir up too much trouble."
"Alright, alright. I get it," he replies. He's still grinning though.
"You're a real idiot aren't you?"
"You're so mean, Kimikocchi," he says. He smirks at me. "You're just a tsundere though." He takes my hand and drags me to the bus stop with a grin. "Come on. After you get your stuff, I'll walk you home."
I think I'm starting to see it. The two faces of Kise. I don't mind them though. They're interesting.
