Chapter 2
Kise knocked at the door of his house, waiting for someone to answer. He had reached surprisingly early, wanting to be away from Kuroko's house before he slips up. He was taken out of his thoughts when the door opened. He saw a woman with long golden hair and brown eyes standing before him. His mother.
"Good morning Kise-san," he greeted.
"Ah, Kuroko-kun," she jumped in shock as she didn't notice him there. "Please come in!" she chirped. He laughed to himself, as his mother has not changed one bit. When he entered his house, the first person he saw was Kuroko. As a matter of fact, Kuroko ran up to him and embraced him in a suffocating bear hug.
"Kurokocchi!" Kuroko squealed. "I'm so glad you came!" he released him and then saw the luggage that he had. "Let me bring that up to the room for you." Kuroko took them and went up the stairs. Kise could only look on in shock. He was surprised that Kuroko imitated him very well. A smile crept onto his face, as it seemed as though imitating his personality won't be an issue for Kuroko.
As for Kuroko, he felt like dying. Imitating Kise is easy as he knew what to do but to actually do it…that's where it's taxing. To act so childish…Kuroko hated it. How do you do this every day Kise-kun? And what's worse, Kuroko had no idea how long this situation will last. He entered the room, and placed the bags on the bed. He really didn't want to go back down there. With Kise's mother at home, he'd have to look at Kise and address him as 'Kurokocchi'. The thought made him shudder. He did not like this at all, but he knew that it was only getting worse. He sighed in resignation, and stood up to go downstairs. When he reached the door, he felt himself bump into something, but couldn't see what it was.
"Kurokocchi, you could at least say sorry you know." Kise whined.
"Huh?" looking down, Kuroko realized that Kise was standing before him. He made a yelp as he staggered backwards. He hadn't noticed Kise standing there. He hadn't noticed his own body standing before him. He now knew that others felt when they don't notice him. "Please don't scare me like that Kise-kun. I'll get angry." He said in his usual monotone.
"What?" Kise said as he busts out laughing. "But you do this all the time to us!"
"It's not my fault you guys don't realize that I'm there."
"Tsch," Kise couldn't find anything to counter Kuroko with. "Anyway, why don't we head to the basketball court? Tomorrow is Monday, we can't waste any time."
"Let's go at noon. We need time to make our plan of action." Kuroko said going back to Kise's bed. He then sat down and prompted Kise to follow. "Let's start by telling me more about yourself, Kise-kun." Kise turned red at that statement.
"I thought I'd never see the day!" he squealed in delight as he enveloped Kuroko in a bear hug. "My Kurokocchi actually wants to know me better!"
"Kise-kun, I have to. I'm in your body, remember?"
"Fine, I'll start." He huffed.
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Kise's mother walked up to her son's room with food to give the boys. As she approached the room, she heard laughter. Slowly opening the door, she saw both boys talking and enjoying each other's company.
"That's not even the half of it!" she saw 'Kuroko' say. "My senpais get even crazier than that!"
"Boys," she called in a sing-song voice. They looked at her with surprise and shock, wondering how long she had been standing there."How about some snacks?"
"Thanks Mom. Kurokocchi and I are going out for a bit," Kuroko walked over to her. "You won't mind if we take these with us right?"
"No, but where are you two going?" she asked.
"I don't really know Kanagawa, so Kise-kun was going to show me the exciting places." Kise answered.
"Alright, have fun now boys, but don't stay out too late." With that, she left the room. Kuroko could hear the threat in your voice, and he didn't want to find out what would happen if they stayed out late like the last time. He then tugged at Kise's shirt as he walked out of the room. Once they were out of the house and onto the road, Kuroko let out a sigh.
"You sure know how to lie through your teeth,"
Kise smirked. "When you have an army of fangirls like I do, then lying becomes a weapon that needs constant sharpening."
"Oh really now, Kise-kun."
"Yes really Kurokocchi!" Kise shouted.
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At the court, Kuroko saw that there were cones lying about. This immediately gave him an idea. Kise didn't seem to realize or he chose to ignore them.
"I don't know how long this will last but I just got an idea for you to better my passes." Kuroko said as he walked ahead of Kise. The boy then realized that Kuroko was picking up the cones and placing them at different areas on the court. Kise was about to question Kuroko but he held back.
"Kise-kun," Kuroko called. "I want you to pass to this cone," he pointed at the cone that was closest to the net, "…without the ball touching the other cones."
"Ehh?" Kise said in shock. "We only did this yesterday."
"Stop it Kise-kun." Kuroko said. "You can do it." He took the basketball and threw it to Kise. He then motioned for Kise to stand in the midst of the cones. Kise stood in the middle of the court with a cone in front of him; he deemed it to be a defender. Looking about, he saw that cones were set in a full court man-to-man. He looked at Kuroko who had on a tiny smile on his face.
"Pass the ball in any way to me,"
Wordlessly, Kise did a chest pass to Kuroko who when the ball came in contact with his palm, he used his left hand to send it flying to the cone. It knocked over the cone and that cone only. Kise was breathless. Amazing, he was taken out of his thoughts by Kuroko.
"You can try Kise-kun; after all, you were very good yesterday."
"Fine," Kise murmured. Inhaling, Kise closed his eyes and visualized what Kuroko did and what he did yesterday.
"You ready?" Kuroko asked.
"No, but let's do this anyway." He shrugged. Kuroko then did a bounce pass to Kise. When it hit the palm of his hand, he pivoted and shot the ball using his right hand. The ball flew towards the cone, knocking it over. The ball actually made it to the cone only tipping one of the other cones.
"Ku-Kurokocchi!" Kise jumped. "I did it!"
"Not quite Kise-kun," Kuroko said, pointing to the wobbling cone.
"Mou ~" he started to whine, "You can't be serious Kurokocchi!"
"Yes, I am." Kuroko deadpanned. "But you did pretty great yesterday, don't forget that. How about we continue what we were doing yesterday…only that we add the cones." Kuroko smiled. Kise paled. It was difficult enough to keep up with Kuroko yesterday and now he's adding obstacles? Kise mentally groaned and he knew Kuroko wasn't going to let up on him, so he decided to face his fate. However, he swore to take revenge on Kuroko when it's his time to teach. He was brought back to reality when he saw a basketball flying to his face. Instinctively, Kise used his right hand to the left, making the ball bounce over a cone and knocked over another. A smirk came onto Kuroko's face.
For the next few minutes, the two were engaged in a series of passes, the target changing from the different cones on the court to Kuroko himself. Kuroko would pass like a normal basketball player to Kise who would try to make the pass bend to the target. Kise was getting better and better, and when Kuroko saw this he felt at ease. Kise could actually fool the team tomorrow. But the problem lies with him.
"Kise-kun, I think we can stop here."
"Finally," Kise sighed. "My arms were beginning to seize up."
"You're getting better; you'll make a pretty good 'Kuroko Tetsuya'." Kuroko smiled. "Then again, that's the least of our problems." Hearing this, Kise knew that what Kuroko said was right. He could always watch some of the old Teikou matches to see what Kuroko was like in official matches and not practicing with cones. But Kuroko has to learn all sorts of moves. As an ace, he is the one who would score most of the shots. He would become a 'Light'. Kise chuckled at that, the boy who was always referring to himself as a shadow has now become the light. But then what's worst, Kuroko can't shoot from day one; so he has to be able to shoot, dribble properly…thinking on all these things Kise let out a groan. This will not be easy for Kurokocchi, he perked up and put on a smile at Kuroko.
"You said it Kurokocchi! Let's go!"
"Wait, what are we doing?"
"Dribbling."Kise grinned deviously. He took the ball from Kuroko and started. He was dribbling normally but then he slightly leant forward, catching Kuroko off guard. "This first one I'll teach you is the crossover dribble. Try to steal the ball." Kuroko got into position but due to Kise's grins he was uneasy. He knew what a crossover dribble looked like, but he never really tried it. After all, he didn't need to. Kise continued to dribble while Kuroko tried to steal the ball. But every time he reached for the ball, Kise would switch the hand that the ball was in.
"In a crossover dribble, the player switches from one hand to other using a single dribble. It's mostly used to keep the ball in the hand furthest from the defender." Kise explained. "It's used in a combo so to speak; make the crossover," Kise said this as he did the action, "get around the defender," he continued as he managed to get pass Kuroko, "drive to the basket." He finished as he made his way to the hoop. He stopped, and sent the ball in Kuroko's direction. Kuroko could only stand and stare. This dribbling session is going to take a while. Kuroko mentally sighed. Thank God he was already familiar with basketball.
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Kuroko sat on the court, breathless. His arms and legs felt like they were turning into jello. He and Kise were constantly at it, practicing the crossover and hesitation dribbles. When he looked to Kise, the boy looked as though he was dying. Kuroko knew that his body wasn't as strong as Kise's and he sincerely felt it for the other right now. Getting up, Kuroko took Kise under the arm and pulled him up. The two then headed over to where their bags were and took out the snacks.
"Kurokocchi," Kise groaned. "I can't continue like this."
"What do you mean Kise-kun? I don't ―"
"I mean your body feels like it's on the verge of collapsing! You need stamina and speed Kurokocchi!"
"Ah, that's what you meant."
"I'm going to have to help your body in that department Kurokocchi." The way Kise grinned gave Kuroko an uneasy feeling. "I'll have your stamina and speed increase and also, that diet of yours needs to go." He sighed. "I still can't understand how you eat so little and play basketball."
"It's not my fault Kise-kun." Kuroko huffed as he folded his arms.
"Haah? Kurokocchi, I think you need to tell me about yourself too. Every like, dislike, habits…everything."
"Kise-kun, if you know everything then you would become even more annoying." Kuroko said bluntly.
"Wahh!" Kise wailed. "So mean!" he sniffed. "I just wanted to be the best Kuroko Tetsuya, that's all."
Kuroko chuckled, seeing Kise's expression. "But I don't mind. When we get home, I'll tell you what you want to know." Kise beamed at that. He practically jumped onto his feet, grabbing Kuroko's collar in the process.
"We don't have time to waste! Let's go over what we did so we can go home!" He shouted, beaming with joy. Kuroko groaned at this. Where does Kise-kun get so much energy from? Didn't he feel like he was dying after all that practicing? Sighing in defeat, Kuroko followed Kise onto the court, much to his misery.
Thank you for reading!