A Penny for Your Thoughts

Written by Whimsical Symphony

Sorry, been awhile, now have the next chapter released with more Suzume to go around, the grand entry of our lovely Kurokocchi, and shit happening. Hope you guys dig it and if you don't, just tell me why because I'd love to improve.

EDIT: Embarrassing error fixed. Ahem, Aika doesn't have kids. That was my own typo...

Chapter IV – Do I Care?

When Suzume woke up, she felt a warm something near her knees, and so she nudged it a little. Opening her eyes and waiting for the light to not blind her vision like it often did upon first waking, she looked around and knew immediately what the warmth was, and smiled a little.

Kise slept on the couch too, both of them surrounded in her large blanket. His long legs lay half sprawled off the couch, and part of his legs touched her knees, shins and feet. He looked peaceful, and suddenly, gratefulness pooled in her stomach. She didn't feel nearly as sick as she did the day before, and that was all because of Kise.

Stretching, Suzume shifted a little and wanted to get just a bit more sleep in. The shifting of the couch caused Kise to awaken slowly though, and sluggishly. Suzume wondered if he wanted to know just how bad of a bedhead he sported. Someone as vain as him wouldn't be pleased, she thought, biting back a grin.

"Good morning, sleepyhead. Get a good sleep?"

Her voice startled him, as that's when he realized he was not in his bedroom. He looked at her then, her unflustered appearance despite their current position. He wouldn't have expected to fall asleep on a couch with her – and even though that's all they did, he still found himself getting a tad embarrassed. He wondered if he was a flustered schoolgirl or something, to get so shaken up by just waking up beside a girl when nothing even happened. But then, he frowned when he looked at her. Suzume wasn't a girl, she was a woman. A full grown woman who thought of him as a kid, so everything was just fine.

"What're you breaking your head over thinking about? Work your brain too hard and even a 13% will be hard to get," Suzume joked. Seeing the flush on his cheeks then, she smirked and said, "What, you embarrassed? It's not as if I'm girl who'll go gaga over you, kid. Don't worry. If it helps, just think I'm a dude and we have a bromance so awesome we can have sleepovers and braid each other's hair."

Kise laughed a little then, forcing himself to relax, but feeling the heat from the contact of the skin of their sent him reeling again. Hell yes he felt awkward. But kind of nice, maybe, where their skin touched. He tried to drag his thoughts away from that place.

"That makes us both sound like girls, Suzume-senpai," he quipped. He shuddered at the thought of braiding her hair and having her somehow braid his short hair.

"Fine, think of yourself as a girl – doesn't matter much to me. Oh how I look forward to braiding your hair! Oh and we can paint each other's nails, Ryo-chwan!" she somehow managed to deadpan. Suzume nearly burst out laughing at the apprehension on his face. Pausing for a moment, she struggled to say what she wanted to say. A rare occurrence for someone who knew what to say like her. "Listen," he looked at her questioningly, "thanks. I feel a lot better since you came over. And, you know? Seems like you managed to chase bad memories away. I give you a score of 100% on that, kid."

Somehow her praise made his heart feel warmer. For him, honest friendships were rare – just something where he could spend his time in full enjoyment and chase away worries with his skills. Kasamatsu was one of those rare friendships, and he'd like to think of Kurokocchi and Momoicchi as those too. But most people he liked, he respected, but didn't get all that close to. Suzume made him feel as if he could achieve one of those ever elusive friendships.

"Anytime, Miyakigawa-senpai." Kise smiled at her and rose from the couch. Stretching his limbs he then said, "I should probably head out. Aika might be throwing a fit."

"I told her you were here already. Seemed surprised, but she's not worried." Suzume looked at him flushing from embarrassment. "Kid, you embarrassed you spent the night with a woman?" Suzume bit back a laugh. "And you said you had girlfriends before."

"I did – lots. I didn't do anything with them… that way and I usually found them too annoying to sleep beside," Kise admitted with a frown. He thought of his numerous girlfriends and how he used to evade the invitations they gave him to stay over. Even if he just held her, he knew he'd have to watch that her hands kept to themselves or she didn't chatter his ear off. And then there were the ones who clearly only stayed with him to show off to friends, so only got affectionate in public. "So you're actually the first. It's not in the girlfriend sense, obviously, but it was kind of nice."

Even if Aika would want to know exactly what happened and how. But for once he felt he could sleep peacefully without worrying about stupid things. Suzume always did that for him.

"I see then. Glad you don't find me annoying, kid," Suzume offered with a slight smile. Somehow, she day about nothing with, waste the day away staring at the clouds. "Don't call me Miyakigawa anymore, kid. What about Suzume-senpai, or if you're brave enough, I don't care if you shoot the honorific off."

"Suzume-senpai?" he tested. At her nodding with acceptance, he didn't know he'd feel so unbearably happy and warm. Kise looked at her and laughed a little. "You have a bedhead, Suzume-senpai." And really, she did, and it made her almost look cute, somewhat vulnerable in comparison to when she walked out in public not giving two craps about her appearance, looking cool and composed with a devil-may-care attitude.

"So do you, Ryouta-chan. We match," Suzume deadpanned. Then also rising from the couch, she smoothed Kise's hair down for him. "There we go." His hair felt soft really, as expected of a model.

"Thanks," Kise murmured. Raising his own hands, he smoothed down Suzume's hair for her, threading his fingers in her hair. He looked at her unflustered appearance, how she just looked at him not some fabricated human being, some perfect person who didn't have flaws. And he remembered how she had the courage to point out his own flaws to him, make him aware of his own shortcomings. Removing his fingers from her dark hair, pleased at how neat it looked now, he said, "There. It's neat now."

Suzume chuckled. "Thanks for your expertise, kid."

"No problem, Suzume-senpai." He jokingly saluted her. Then, grinning slyly, he leant down and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. To her credit, she didn't look at all like she'd blush. "I just kissed the last of your illness away," he said. Giving her a quick embrace then, he continued, "Well, I should be heading home now. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Don't worry, kid," Suzume told him warmly. "I'll be okay." It felt good knowing that someone appreciated her, actually – even if the kid decided to show it with a kiss. The hug felt nice though, like for once, she could rely on someone else. In a weird way, Kise became her therapist too without even knowing.

When he left after a prolonged goodbye, because really, Kise Ryouta never kept his mouth shut, she lounged about on the couch and decided to continue watching Star Wars. Looking at everything he did to take care of her, Suzume was grateful to him.

She wondered whether he was starting to become a real friend to her. Even if in age, she was older and had much more life experience than he did.

Kise left his school early the next day to visit Seirin, giving some excuse to the teacher about a modelling shoot. Usually, it didn't work, but this time, his sensei was impressed with his performance in class. And about that essay. So in his heart he thanked his senpai for it all.

Tapping his feet idly as he leant against the wall connected to the open gate, he wondered when Kurokocchi would come out and ignored the girls staring, giggling and pointing at him as they often did. They hadn't spent a lot of time together at all since he decided to go to Seirin. He imagined all the good times they would have had if he decided on Kaijou as his school of choice.

"Ah, Kise-kun. What are you doing here?"

Kise turned around and noticed Kuroko Tetsuya staring at him with that blank gaze. He appeared out of nowhere, as usual.

"Do I need a reason to spend time with my best friend, Kurokocchi?" Kise told him with a smile. "We don't see each other that much."

He pretended not to notice the stares on him, not just because girls obviously were starting to realize that the Kise Ryouta was at Seirin, but also a bunch of other stares.

"Who is he talking to?"

Understandably, Kurokocchi's lack of presence brought that on.

"We're not friends," Kuroko replied honestly. "We just went to the same school."

"That hurts, Kurokocchi!" Kise whined petulantly. He remembered all that Kuroko taught him during their years at Teikou and how much he learned from the small basketball player he once underestimated. And he remembered how they often went out to eat, even if he often dragged Kuroko along with him, and how much they played games together, even if he often dragged Kuroko into that too. They had a lot of fun together, even if to Kuroko, he wasn't Aomine. "Anyway, I wanted to treat you to food today, so let's go."

Sighing, Kuroko prepared to babysit Kise for the rest of the afternoon. "Fine, Kise-kun."

Kise grinned, understanding that his annoying personality often got him what he wanted.

They stopped by a nice café eventually. Kuroko ordered himself a smoked salmon sandwich and a cup of French vanilla coffee. Kise ordered himself a nice shrimp and pesto pasta and bubble tea along with it. It felt nice relaxing with Kurokocchi like old times, he thought, almost as if nothing in their basketball team changed. Or if it did, at least the dynamic between him and Kuroko stayed the same.

If he spoke honestly, he knew he wouldn't be able to bear it if something happened to his relationship with Kuroko. Even if he knew it wouldn't change much – Kuroko always behaved the same way, and acted as an anchor, some kind of constant for a lot of people.

Back then, Kise believed that if Kuroko didn't choose Kaijou, he'd lose him forever. Now, he realized he should have trusted in Kuroko more. Sure, maybe he would have preferred him there with him in Kaijou, but he didn't lose Kuroko as he thought he would.

He just saw him less often. But when Kise saw him, he spoke as if no time passed between their last meeting at all. It was refreshing to not have that awkward pause when one realized they hadn't seen their friend in months.

If he ever lost Kuroko, he didn't know what he'd do. Kuroko made Kise realize much about himself, gave him someone to truly admire. And he didn't know how much he gave to Kise either, completely oblivious to it.

Kise relaxed in his seat and asked, "How's the sandwich, Kurokocchi?"

"Salty," Kuroko replied, "but pretty nice." Taking a small nibble of it and then placing it down again, he asked, "did you just come here to see me?"

"Yeah," Kise told him. "I wanted to visit day before yesterday, but a senpai of mine fell really ill. I went over to take care of them."

Kuroko noticed that Kise acted curiously, and questioned, "Kasamatsu-san?"

"No… this is a friend of my sister's. Well mine too kind of. Actually," Kise looked at Kuroko for a second and said, "she reminds me somewhat of a mix between you and Kasamatsu-senpai. Coaches me but also makes sure I have my head on right. She always calls me a kid."

He smiled a little thinking about her, and wondered if she felt better than she did two days ago. And whether she still had those bad memories and nightmares plaguing her. Somehow, just by looking at her, he knew she lived a hard life. Maybe that's how she knew so much about people.

"You like her," Kuroko said bluntly.

"She's my friend," Kise corrected at once. He couldn't imagine being with her that way at all. Especially right when they finally recognized their status as friends, and not even ones that close. "She just makes me realize a lot about myself. Like you do, Kurokocchi. And… she's also older than me, so I wouldn't even be considered that way."

"She's not double your age is she?" Kuroko asked, raising an eyebrow and then eating more of his sandwich.

Kise shook his head quickly and said, "Twenty, she's twenty. And I don't even like her that way, Kurokocchi!" he protested.

"Whatever you say," Kuroko replied, bored.

Just then, Kise's phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and noticed that the caller was Aika. Blinking once, he picked up the call and held the phone to his ear. "Hello?" The conversation made his head reel, and his eyes widen. He wasn't ready to see them again, not at all. When he put the phone down, he stared blankly at the wall behind Kuroko.

They finished their meals in silence after that, and the tension could be cut with a knife. Kise paid, as he promised and they both made their way out the door.

"Kise-kun, wait," Kuroko called when Kise started to walk in the opposite direction. Kise paused and turned around, looking questioningly at Kuroko. He said, "Call me if you need to talk, or visit…" before walking off then, disappearing like the phantom sixth man he was.

"Thank you, Kurokocchi," Kise whispered to himself.

He knew at least no matter how much Kuroko denied their friendship, he still cared for Kise.

Aika sat at the dinner table beside Kise, and across from them were their parents who came back from vacation. Kise's dad almost never smiled – a straight-laced, serious man who wanted results from his children. And his mom, well, he must have gotten much of his looks from her, same with his other sister who got him into modelling. But he'd like to think he acted like neither of his parents, for while his dad was serious, his mom was incredibly materialistic. But at least she didn't insult him all the time, even though she often said that being beautiful was the most important thing, as was dating pretty girls and looking like a museum relic.

He hated it.

While Kise did have an ego, and did like to dress and look nice, he didn't think it to the level of his mother who pushed her ideals onto her own children.

"So, Kise, you got a 13% on that test of yours, didn't you? Useless," his father, Kise Kyouya, said, then picking up his fork and having a portion of the meatloaf on the plate.

"Don't say that, honey! He works hard at modelling, you can't expect him to be good at everything. He's decent at English, but look at how many people admire our darling child and his sister because of how many magazines they've been in!" his mother, Kise Ume, protested vehemently. She turned to Aika and said, "You should follow in the footsteps of your brother! You're definitely pretty enough."

"Being beautiful is not important, but his intelligence is! Do you want him to be an airheaded bimbo? At least Aika has the grades," Kyouya retorted, cutting harshly into the meatloaf yet again and stuffing it into his mouth.

Both children looked at each other, minding each other that no matter what their parents said they wouldn't take it personally.

"But one thing I agree with your mother about is that you have to associate with the right people. Who is that slovenly friend you told me about, Aika? The one who helped you when you were drunk? I can't believe you became friends with her – Suzume or something, right?" Kyouya said, oblivious to the shock painting his son's features. "You need to associate with better people. From what you told me about this girl, Aika, how 'cool' she seems- she just comes across as trouble. Not only that but you haven't met her in an educational setting. What if her grades are terrible, you shouldn't be associating with her!"

"Yes, yes – but if she's gorgeous, feel free to bring her inside!" Ume quipped. She looked at Kise, "Are you seeing anyone, dear?"

Aika knew trouble when she saw it, and if Kise clenching his fists didn't mean trouble, she didn't know what did. If she wasn't honest with her parents then they would have found out anyway and then thrown a fit about her lying to them. They couldn't recognize a good person when they saw one, wouldn't ever see what a good person Suzume was. She knew that. And knew that her and her little brother had become friends, strangely enough, and for Kise especially, she'd become an honest friend, judging on how protective he was of her now.

"No," Kise said bluntly, much like what Kurokocchi would have done. "I'm not in the mood to talk to you right now, sorry." Without waiting for anyone he slipped on his shoes and walked out the door – into the rain, into the night.

Aika hoped he'd come back soon. And that he wasn't to hurt by what their parents said. Those two were angry enough for him too.

When Suzume got back from doing groceries late at night, she didn't expect that when she reached her door, Kise would be sitting, sleeping, in front of it. Observing him she noticed the skin around his eyes red and tear tracks on his skin. Something clearly happened to him to make him sad, and for some reason, he'd ran to her.

A little concerned then, she took her phone out of her pocket and dialed Aika's number.

"Hello?"

"Any idea why your kid brother is outside my apartment unit?" Suzume asked, hoping for a clear answer.

"Oh, he's there then, that's good. Listen, our parents aren't the nicest people, he stormed out during dinner today…" Aika trailed off then. "Can you do me a favour and look after him today? I don't think they expect him to come back either."

"Don't worry, I would have even if you hadn't asked me." Suzume, with that, hung up. Putting down her shopping bags, she knelt next to Kise's form and shook him awake from the shoulder. "Kid, wake up."

Groggily, he opened his eyes and saw Suzume looking at him, worried. He knew that she knew something was up. "Sorry," he apologized, feeling bad for intruding upon her already.

Suzume shook her head and said, "Don't worry about that. Just come inside. I let Aika know where you are." She took his hand and noticed how cold it was. His parents must have said some shitty things, she thought mildly, knowing Kise reacted badly to just about nothing. But whatever words were exchanged between them, she had to now cheer him up and figure out what was up. "Kids like you enjoy ice-cream, don't you? I just got some green tea flavoured ice cream at the store…"

Somehow, despite everything that happened to him, Kise wanted to laugh a little at her attempt to cheer him up. He liked being honestly cared for. He didn't have much of that in his life. And the fact she didn't even mention anything about his situation yet. Honestly, she acted so familiar to Kurokocchi. "Thank you, Suzume-senpai."

He wondered if he'd ever find it in him to call her Suzumecchi.

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