Thank you all who are following this story! Hope you like it so far.
To Meiyo12: yay! what a lovely first review :3 it sped up my work ~ I'm glad you like the story ^^
Well, onto the chapter. Hope it will not disappoint you ~
3. Chapter:
The one about the Phantom
Tetsuya had a good life. An ordinary one. However you looked at him he was an average person. His grades were acceptable, his looks ordinary. He never stood out, it was actually a complete opposite. Tetsuya was alright with being invisible. He was used to it. If he was a character in some novel he was damn sure he wouldn't be a main character. He wouldn't make even a side character either. But he could be a narrator. A nameless one whose face you would never see. Or so he wished that it would be the case.
"I'm home," he muttered after silently pushing the house door to open.
The door made no sound, his steps were light and his words were whispers. He could hear mother preparing dinner in the kitchen but it didn't seem that she heard him. He didn't mind that. Silently like a mouse he slipped into his room.
He could go to kitchen and say hi to the woman, he would spook her by appearing out from nowhere, she would laugh, ask him how was the training camp and dismiss him afterwards until the dinner was ready.
Asuka Kuroko was a nice woman. She had long silky brown hair and beautiful lilac eyes, her voice was sweet and her smile charming. Tetsuya liked her. They got along quite well. He even called her mother. Yet he never thought about her in that way. She might have been his father's wife, but there was no relation between her and the boy. And even though they were close, there was a rift between them.
She married his father and Tetsuya was just his father's baggage. She tolerated him, she was nice to him but that was it. Once Tetsuya was old enough they were bound to have a baby. He knew that well. But not once did he regret his father deciding to divorce his real mother.
The light blinded the bluehaired boy. He squinted his eyes and frowned. He hated taking pictures.
"You are so cute here~!" his mother beamed looking at her camera. Suddenly, she paused.
"Huh? Tetsuya, you were there too? Well, alright. Step back so I can take a picture of your sister again."
The grip of his mother was like one of an eagle with iron talons. Her nails dug into the little arm of a boy and showed him to the side. He scowled but didn't dare to protest. He glanced toward the girl with the same blue hair and azure eyes like his.
The sad and shy smile she gave him changed into big bright and fake one once she looked back to the camera. She wore fluffy white and pink dress with lance and ribbons and big pink bow on her head. She looked like an angel, Tetsuya thought.
"Alrighty~," their mother sang. "You are ready for your first day of kindergarten. Go find your father."
His sister jumped to him, took his hand and pulled.
"Let's go, Tetsu!"
The smile she gave him was like the one she put on in front of camera and yet different. This one was warm as the rays of the sun. The boy squeezed the girl's hand.
"Um," he nodded returning the smile.
"You did well," Tetsuya praised the dog after slipping from his house back on the street.
As if the dog was reading his mind, the small creature was silent the whole time they were inside. Thanks to that none of the other occupants of the house knew that Tetsuya was there. The bluenette didn't really wish to talk to his father and he certainly didn't have the mood to talk to mother. So he just put his things in his room, grabbed his ball and then headed to the closest basketball court with Nigo at his heels.
"I'm alright," the boy petted the dog once they got there.
The little creature was still silent and looking at him with those big azure concerned eyes. How an animal could be so sympathetic was beyond Tetsuya's understanding. Yet those eyes of his didn't calm him down. They were too much like his own eyes. And that meant too much like his eyes as well.
Tetsuya looked away his hand scratching the dog under his ear. Feeling his fluffy fur between his fingers magically worked. Tetsuya breathed in and out and then smiled.
"Thank you," he leaned toward his pet pushing him into embrace.
Nigo licked his master's chin and barked once Tetsuya let him go. The boy took his ball and dribbled it moving toward the pole the dog behind him trying to catch the ball.
He played with the dog until the night came and long after. His father called him three times during the time but the boy didn't bother to answer. He just sent a text letting him know that he was alright. But that was a one big lie.
"Daddy?"
The man with ashgray hair and light blue eyes hidden behind rounded glasses turned his attention to his little son.
"What is it?" he smiled gently.
His smile was kind like the one the boy's sister adorned her face with. Tetsuya liked that smile. It was different then the one his mother had. Her smiles were hideous. The smiles of his sister and father were pure and tender.
The boy was looking at his feet before he raised his eyes to look into his father's.
"Nee-chan is a girl, right?" he asked innocently tilting his head.
At that time Tetsuya didn't understood those feelings that were reflected in his father's eyes. Fear, guilt, shame. He would come to be able to decipher them all at later age. At that time he was just a child. Curious and confused.
"W-why do you ask?" the man stuttered trying to smile kindly at the bluehaired boy.
"Kids in the kindergarten were mean to her. They called her weird because she was wearing dress. But girls wear dresses."
The troubled face of the child brought even more guilt into the man's eyes and heart.
"Tetsuya," he placed his hands on his son's shoulders and squeezed gently, "there is something you need to understand."
"Tetsuya! You have a friend here!"
The bluenette pushed his dog off of his lap and stood up. Nigo growled dissatisfied. He loved to nap in his master's lap.
'Who might he be? Especially at this hour?' Tetsuya wondered as he was descending the stairs. He rarely invited his friends over so there weren't really many people who knew where he lived.
"Yo!" Tetsuya came face to face with a certain redhead.
"Good evening, Kagami. What are you doing here?" the boy asked with an usual stoic expression.
"What the hell do you mean what I'm doing? What are you doing? You skipped practice today!" he growled angrily. "Coach is pissed, you know. She is gonna kill you for today and yesterday as well."
Kuroko could feel a cold sweat on his back. He totally forgot about the coach.
"I'm really sorry. I trained on my own since I thought that there is not much I can do in practice with the others. I will make sure to properly apologize to coach and others," the bluenette bowed his head slightly looking back at his friend a second later.
He didn't speak it aloud but his eyes were for once easy to read. 'Please, leave me alone.' Unfortunately, Kagami was either too dense or too stubborn to do as Kuroko wished.
"Kuroko, stop fucking with me," he shot him a killer's look. "What is going on? Explain."
Tetsuya lowered his head not willing to look him in the eyes. There was a long silence before he turned around and headed toward the stairs.
"Please, follow me," he told him and not caring whether he obeyed walked into his room.
Taiga was really pissed at him. He thought they were friends and couldn't stand Kuroko trying to distance himself from him even thought he was able to figure out that it was probably a delicate problem. He didn't care about some boundaries at that moment, he was willing to punch it out of the smaller boy.
He entered Kuroko's room and almost immediately jumped out of it as he was greeted by dog's barking.
"Why is not that beast locked somewhere?" he squeaked.
A light smile appeared on Tetsuya's lips before he lifted the dog into his arms.
"Why should I lock him up? He is a friend and a companion of mine. You are surely cruel, Kagami," Tetsuya gave him a sad puppy-eyed look before ushering him into the room and closing the door leaving Nigo in the hall.
Taiga surely wasn't a shy guest. As soon as he was in he helped himself and let his enormous body fall onto Tetsuya's bed.
"Your room is pretty boring," he concluded after examining it with his eyes.
"It is an ordinary room," the bluenette sighed seating himself on a chair.
"Kuroko," Kagami placed his hands on his knees leaning a little bit forward and raising his chin up.
"Speak," he commanded.
The boy was still hesitant but in the end he sighed.
"You know, it's a little bit uncomfortable for me to talk about it."
"What the hell are you trying to say?!"
"Lower your voice, Hiromi. You will wake them up!"
"Don't you dare tell me what to do!"
The little boy froze. He stayed hidden behind the door too afraid to go to the bathroom now or move at all. He might make a noise and alert his parents if he did so.
He was afraid of fights. And he hated when his parents argued. Because when they argued they became angry. Especially his mother. And when his mother was angry she was really scary. She didn't even hesitate to hit him at those times.
"It was cute when he was a baby but it went too far! Kids are cruel, they are already picking on him and it will only be worse once he starts the school," his father's voice came, quiet but anxious.
Was he talking about him? But kids didn't pick on him. The one they bullied was his sister. It took a while for a tired child's brain to remember the conversation he had with his father a while back. The one he didn't completely understand back then.
"I don't know what you are talking about. Nagisa is a girl. She is my daughter and she will wear whatever I give her to!" his mother hissed finally decreasing the volume of her voice.
"You are crazy! Nagisa is not a girl, he is a boy. You will only end up destroying him. I won't let that happen. Stop with this madness or bear the consequences."
"No offense," Kagami snorted scratching the back of his neck, "but your mother is sick."
Kuroko sighed silently agreeing with him. Even after all these years he never dared to badmouth her but what he thought about her wasn't nice at all.
"So, earlier with Kise and Nakamura that was your older brother who lives with your mother who made him to dress in girly clothes," he summed it up.
"That is right," he confirmed.
"But why the hell did he end up in the care of your mom? Didn't your father ask for divorce because he wanted to help your brother? So your mother wouldn't be able to make him dress like that anymore?" the big boy questioned.
Tetsuya pulled his legs closer to his body and hugged them. He leaned his head on his knees and closed his eyes.
"That was his intention, but then..."
Kagami waited for Kuroko to continue but no words left his mouth.
"Well? Are you trying my patience?" he frowned displeased with the long silence. It wasn't the first time Kuroko did something like that.
"Boys~!" knocking on the door and sweet female voice interrupted them.
Both shot a glance toward Tetsuya's stepmother who now stood in the door.
"The dinner is ready. Would you like to join us, Kagami? You can even stay here overnight if it is okay with your parents," she offered with a kind smile.
"Eh, if I'm not too much of a trouble?" he bowed his head sheepishly.
"Not at all~," she gave them one last smile before she went back to the kitchen.
'It is not wise to invite Kagami for dinner,' Tetsuya thought but didn't protest. It was nice to watch him eating so hungrily. He looked like a hamster. The only worry he had was whether they would have enough food. And Kagami's harsh questions afterwards.
"Nee-chan? Do you want to play with a ball with me?"
The girl looked at him with sadness in her eyes. Tetsuya hated seeing his big sister sad, but that was all she was lately. When he tried to help her she would plaster on her face a fake smile saying that it was only her tummy hurting. He believed her at that time.
"Sorry, Tetsu. Mommy bought me those new dress yesterday. She will be upset if I dirty them," she smiled at her brother apologetically.
She wore simple mint green dress with a big yellow bow around her waist. It would be really bad if she dirtied them. Their mother had a foul mood lately. She would spank her and she would probably spank Tetsuya too if it was destroyed.
"We will play later," the girl promised.
"Okay," Tetsuya smiled running off to play on his own.
"It is boring without nee-chan," he pouted and shot a look back at his sibling.
"Why can't brother play with me if he wants?"
"Now, will you continue?" Kagami lied down on the mattress Asuka prepared for him beside Tetsuya's bed.
He glared at the dog who lied on Kuroko's pillow warily. It didn't matter how much he hated sleeping in the same room as a dog that could jump at him and bit him anytime during the night he had no saying in it. Nigo was Kuroko's dog and they were in Kuroko's room and that was the end.
Tetsuya sighed and tried to move the dog away so he could ie down too. Kagami could tell that he was stalling. The redhead was a lot calmer after eating so he waited patiently. Yet his patience had limits and he reached them rather quickly.
"Stop it! Finish it, finally!" he hissed.
"As you wish," the boy obeyed surrendering the pillow to the pet.
"So, dad became tired with mom's behavior and wanted divorce. They fought over our custody. Dad...he might have won," he hesitated.
"But he didn't," Taiga completed.
"Not really. More like that he gave up."
Kagami raised his eyebrow. "What kind of father would give up on his kids?"
"You don't understand. He gave up on my brother because of me," the bluenette said lowering his head once more so his bangs would cover his eyes.
"What did you do?" Taiga asked hesitantly only to meet Tetsuya's frightened glance after he shook his head.
The bluenette touched his left shoulder lightly trying to stop the shivers that ran through his body. His shoulder felt heavy and a long forgotten pain stabbed him leaving him without an energy.
"Nothing. It was just... my brother, he... he is terrifying."
Kindergarten was not really that bad. But, on the other hand, it wasn't really that good either. Most of the time Tetsuya would just stick to his girlish doppelganger. The two of them often played with a ball or simply draw pictures in silence.
Tetsuya didn't need anyone else beside his brother. He didn't like other boys since they were mean to Nagisa and he didn't care about girls since they completely ignored him. Nagisa was a different case.
The girls would often approach him trying to make him play with them. He did everything he could to get rid of them. He had no desire to play with dolls. When Nagisa thought that his brother wasn't watching he would glance enviously toward the boys. Tetsuya did notice that, eventually. Yet he said nothing.
Tetsuya would always tell himself that everything was alright. He had Nagisa and Nagisa had him. And that it was enough. He didn't need anything else so the same logic should apply to his brother.
He always associated the sadness in his brother's eyes with their mother. And Nagisa would always cheer up when they played so the little boy assumed that the sadness would always disappear with ease. And when his brother smiled he would cheer him up as well. Never did occurred to him that that smile could have been a fake one.
"Tetsu," the sheepish voice of the bluenette in lightblue skirt alerted the boy.
He stop in the middle of drawing a weird-shaped tree and looked up to see his sibling playing with paper flower he just cut from the color paper.
"Nee-chan?" he tilted his head his big azure eyes following his brother's little fingers that started to slowly rip the flower apart.
"Don't do it!" he pouted. "It's a shame. That flower was so pretty."
Nagisa didn't say a word. He didn't even look at his brother. The boy just continued ripping the paper flower making the other bluenette quite uneasy.
"What's wrong, nee-chan?" a worried look appeared on the boy's face.
Nagisa's hair was a little bit messy and on his skirt and shirt were smudges of red paint. The other kids were picking on him again. Their mom was going to be furious.
"Nee-chan, nee-chan, nee-chan...can you finally stop it?" Nagisa muttered suddenly.
His harsh tone spook the other boy. Tetsuya froze watching his brother's body shake. A cold run up his spine and the air felt a lot heavier than before. He couldn't move. It felt like a snake crawling around his body paralyzing him. He never noticed Nagisa taking those scissors. He only noticed his cold eyes and a pain that erupted from his shoulder out of nowhere. He wasn't sure but he would swear he heard his brother whisper.
"Why don't you disappear?"