I don't own Kuroko no Basuke.


"You are your self's most beautiful when you smile."

Akashi Seijūrou


My Once Empty Life

(A Novel)


Chapter VII: Summer Jaunt [Part II]

"Um, Satsuki, don't you think this is a bit too much revealing…?" I asked Momoi Satsuki as I scanned myself in the full-body mirror in front of me. Satsuki made me wear a pair of baby-pink bikini. This was actually the first time I wore such thing.

"No, no, no. You are perfect, Tetsu-chan! I'm sure, I'm very sure, those good-for-nothing boys will fall face-first on your feet! They will salivate for the body that they will never get to touch! Let their eyes bulge out in their sockets! Hahaha! Mwahahaha!" Satsuki laughed like an evil madman. Something was wrong with her….

"Um, I have no intentions of doing that, Satsuki." I said between her hysterics. She immediately stopped and snapped her head to face me; her eyes were gleaming with disbelief.

"Tetsu-chan, a body like yours shouldn't be hidden under large pieces of clothes at a time like this. This is summer and we are on a beach!"

"But…."

"No buts! Now, be a good girl and sit on this chair so I can work on your hair." Satsuki cut me off. I sat down and let her do my hair. She fixed my hair up in a pretty bun and tied a cute red ribbon around it. She knotted the ribbon in a bow and let the tails flow down my left shoulder. "Kyaa! Red perfectly suits you!" She happily exclaimed as she giggled. Red suits me? Akashi-kun…. I thought. I internally slapped myself and looked down to hide my blush. "Tetsu-chan, you alright?" Satsuki asked me when she noticed my action.

"Un. Satsuki, is it okay if I do your hair, too?" I asked her and she beamed in happiness. I stood up and let her sit on the chair. I started to meticulously do her hair. I decided to give her a loose French braid. "There you go." I said when I was finally finished.

"Thank you, Tetsu-chan. It's pretty!" She cheerfully said as she touched her hair.

"No, I should thank you. This is actually the first time that I get to hang out like this with friends. Let alone do someone's hair. I'm happy. I'm really happy." I told her with a genuine smile. Satsuki answered me with a hug.

"Let's go?" She asked and I nodded my head as an answer. "Wait, why is there a cloth tied on your waist? When did you tie that?"

"Uh… I tied it before I do your hair? Let me have this, I really can't go out just by wearing only these." I explained as I gestured on the tiny pieces of clothes that I was wearing.

"Okay, okay." Satsuki finally gave in.


"Ah! What's taking them so long?!" Was the first sentence I heard when I and Satsuki emerged from the door. Aomine-kun was protesting, wasn't he? Ah, he wasn't the patient type, I remembered.

"Aominecchi, they are girls. Girls! That's natural." Kise-kun tried to explain.

"Ryouta is right, Daiki." Akashi-kun confirmed Kise-kun's statement as he closed his eyes, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned on the wall.

"I understand if it's Tetsu, but Satsuki is no girl!" Aomine-kun shouted. I turned my head to see Satsuki and as I presumed, she was burning with fire of rage. I'll just pray for Aomine-kun's soul, I thought as I sighed.

"That's harsh, Aominecchi! And you're so dead if Momoicchi hears you."

"Who care—!" Aomine-kun was cut off by Satsuki. "What the! Who the hell threw a fucking kittle to me?!"

"A-aominecchi…."

"What?!" Aomine-kun shouted. Then he noticed that Kise-kun and the others were looking at a certain direction—our direction. He traced their lines of sight and saw an enraged Momoi Satsuki. He's so dead…. I thought and knew that it was what everybody was thinking. "…Satsuki,"

"Dai-chan is such a jerk!" Satsuki shouted with a flushed face. No, her face was not red because of embarrassment, it was because of anger. Satsuki ran past the boys while covering her face with her arms.

"Oi, Satsuki…!" Aomine-kun tried to stop her but she kept on running. I calmly walked toward them and stopped in front of Aomine-kun.

"I think she's crying, Mine-chin." Murasakibara-kun said as he popped another piece of chip inside his mouth.

"Aomine-kun." I said as soon as I was in front of him.

"Wah!" Aomine-kun cried and clutched his chest in shock, "Ah, Tetsu, since when are you here? Don't just appear out of nowhere."

"Aomine-kun is so dense." I said impassively as I directly stared at his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but he closed it again as if he decided to not say it anymore. "And to answer your question, I was with Satsuki the whole time." I said and walked past them. I had to go after Satsuki.

"Ah, you should know that girls are sensitive." I heard Reo-nee. He was talking to Aomine-kun.

"Shut up." Was Aomine-kun's response. He sounded like he didn't care, but I knew he was worried deep inside his heart. He should just express what he really feels, I thought as I sighed inaudibly. I turned to the right corner where Satsuki ran off to. She should be around here.


"Satsuki." I called her as I stood next to her. I found Satsuki after a few minutes of wandering around the beach. She was sitting on the sand while her face was buried in her arms. She slightly jumped on her place when she heard my voice. I think they're still not used to my low presence, I thought. Nevertheless, she turned her head up and faced me. As I thought, she was crying her eyes out.

"Tetsu-chan," Satsuki managed to say between her sobs. I sat next to her and looked at her, "Tetsu-chan," She said again, "Dai-chan is such a jerk. A big jerk!" Then she buried her face in her arms again.

"I know, I know. Aomine-kun doesn't understand your feelings." I calmly said.

"You're right, Tetsu-chan. He's such an idiot!" She shouted.

"You like him, right?" I said while staring at the ocean. Even though I was not looking at her, I knew she snapped her head to face me that instant.

"Wha-what? L-like w-who?" She stuttered. I turned my head to face her and saw that she was madly blushing while there were still tears in the corners of her eyes. She looked cute like that.

"You like Aomine-kun, right?" I repeated; I was looking at her this time.

"W-what are you talking a-about, T-tetsu-chan?" She tried to deny as she looked away from me.

"I've been observing you, guys, since I met you." I simply said.

"T-that's not p-possible. M-me? L-liking that j-jerk?" She said. I sighed and I stood up.

"I will not push you to tell me, but I think you should at least tell him. Who knows what will happen? He looked worried and concerned when you ran away from him. I'm sure he's cursing himself for saying such thing about you." I said and left her by herself. I knew she needed time to contemplate.


I decided to walk by myself on the beach when I left Satsuki. I was worried about her, but she needed time for herself. She must have had it tough until now. I sighed inaudibly for the umpteenth time that morning. This two-day beach trip was supposed to be enjoyed by everyone and we were just starting today, too. "Why are you making that face?" I almost jumped at the sudden voice that I heard beside me. I looked at my side and saw Akashi-kun standing there. "You seemed lost in your thoughts; you didn't even notice that I am standing beside you for a couple of minutes now." He continued.

"A-ah, Akashi-kun." I stuttered a little.

"Sorry, did I startle you?" He said, finally looking at me straight in the eyes.

"A b-bit." I said before looking down. What's with me?

"Are you okay? I never heard you stutter before."

"Ah, r-really? I think I'm just shy." I said bluntly.

"Why?"

"Because this is my first time wearing this kind of clothes in front of people." I said honestly as I gestured on the pieces of clothes that I was wearing. Weird, I didn't stutter, I thought. Akashi-kun travelled his eyes from my head to toe. He turned red and immediately looked away.

"Akashi-kun, are you sick? You're so red. What's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

"Ah, Tetsumi, don't you really know why?" He asked while still looking away from me.

"Hmm? Know what?" I asked back with curiosity lacing on my voice.

"Reo is right about you." I heard Akashi-kun mumble beneath his breath.

"Reo-nee? What do you mean?" I asked again. Akashi-kun sighed and started unbuttoning his white button-up long sleeves while still looking away from me. I just stared at him doing that. "Akashi-kun looks uncomfortable. Did I do something?" I asked him with concern. Akashi-kun removed his button-up top, took a deep breath and faced me. I could see that he mustered up a great amount of courage just to look at me. So I really did something, I thought. I looked down.

"Tetsumi, look at me." I heard Akashi-kun said softly, so I looked up to meet his beautiful heterochromatic pair of eyes. I felt like there was a spell cast upon me that instant. He moved his face closer to mine. We were only three inches away from each other's faces now; even so, I remained impassive. After a couple of minutes, Akashi-kun sighed tiredly. "Tetsumi, you are too innocent for your own safety." He remarked before placing his white button-up long sleeves on my shoulders.

"What you mean?" I asked out of curiosity. Akashi-kun straightened up his back and gently smiled at me.

"It's nothing." He answered. "Let's go? The others are waiting for us in the cottage."

"You're right, but what about Satsuki?" I asked, remembering Satsuki. Nonetheless, we started walking toward the cottage where Reo-nee and the others were waiting.

"You left her so she can mull over her thoughts and feelings, right?" Akashi-kun said and it actually surprised me. I looked up at him, "I'm sure that at this very moment, Daiki is looking for her. If he's not that idiot, I bet he already found her." He said.

"So, Akashi-kun knows?" I asked. I decided to ignore the fact that he called Aomine-kun an idiot; it was the reality, anyway.

"Of course. Who do you think I am? Nothing escapes the eyes of Akashi Seijūrou." He remarked while smiling a proud smile, but I knew he was just joking. Anyway, joking or not, what he just said was right. Absolutely right.

"Right." I decided to go along with him, but my answer went out like I was pouting while rolling my eyes. I never rolled my eyes! I heard Akashi-kun let out a hearty laugh. It sounded like a calming bell chimes in my ears. His laughs were so contagious so I just found myself laughing with him, too. Soon enough, his laughs came into a halt. I stopped laughing, too, and looked at him.

"You laughed." He said.

"Yeah, I laughed." I said while scratching my cheek with my index finger.

"Tetsumi, I just said that." He said impassively.

"Yes, you did." I stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"How did it end up like this?" He asked no one in particular.

"Who knows?" But I decided to answer, anyway. Akashi-kun stared at me dead in the eyes and sighed audibly. I tilted my head in confusion. He sighed again for the umpteenth time that day. "Are you alright?" I asked. He regained his composure and warmly smiled at me.

"I'm okay, so don't worry. Shall we go?" He asked me and I nodded in response, "Anyway, you look better that way. You look more welcoming when you're laughing." He said. I looked at him sheepishly. I felt a genuine and warm smile linger on my face. Akashi-kun stared at me for a little while before speaking, "You are your self's most beautiful when you smile, Tetsumi. If laughing more often is impossible, you should at least smile. Do that more often." He stated and smiled his heart-fluttering smile at me.

"Really?" I asked and he nodded, "Then I should do that more often." I said.

"You will?"

"But it's not because of the things you said." I immediately defended myself. Wait, what? Do I have to? I argued within me. Akashi-kun laughed his genial laugh again, so I couldn't help but giggle, too.

"It's so rare to see Kuroko Tetsumi laugh. I can say that it only happens once a millennium." He stated with amusement lacing on his voice.

"I can say the same to Akashi Seijūrou, too." I said and then we laughed with each other again. Ah, it feels good. Being with him like this, I thought.

"Eh? Aka-chin and Kuro-chin are laughing?" I heard Murasakibara-kun's voice. I and Akashi-kun stopped laughing and looked what was in front of us. Ah, we were having a good time that we didn't notice we already arrived at the cottage. Kise-kun and the others were looking at us in bewilderment.

"I saw it, too, Murasakibaracchi. Kurokocchi looks refreshing and beautiful while laughing, but I don't know why it looks creepy when it's Akashicchi." Kise-kun thought out loud. Uh oh…. I looked at Kise-kun and as I presumed, he was as pale as a bond paper. He was covering his mouth with both of his hands like his life depended on it. I looked at Akashi-kun this time; he walked and stopped beside me, then he placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Red suits you well, anyway." He said softly. He looked at the ribbon tied around my locks and smiled at me. My eyes widened a fraction then I looked down to hide my blush.

"T-thank you, A-akashi-kun." I stuttered again. Ugh, this is so embarrassing, I thought.

"You're most welcome, my dearest." He said. If it was possible, I felt my cheeks getting hotter that moment. Akashi-kun removed his hand on my shoulder then spoke again, "I'll talk to you later. I have to take care of something first." I heard him say. I turned back to my normal self and looked up to see him smiling sweetly at Kise-kun. It would not take an idiot to know that Akashi-kun's current smile promised torture and affliction. Poor Kise-kun, I thought. Kise-kun immediately ran for his life but before he could be out of earshot, I heard him crying for Akashi-kun's forgiveness. I walked toward the cottage where Reo-nee and the others were preparing the foods.

"Tet-chan, would you like to help me with the barbeque?" Reo-nee said as soon as I stepped inside the log cabin.

"Sure." I answered and immediately went to help him cook the barbeque.

"Anyway, what happened a while ago? That was actually the first time I saw you laughing like that." He asked. I knew he was going to ask about it. I just sweetly smiled at him and shrugged. "Wah! Tet-chan, if you're going to smile at me like that, I won't be able to restrain myself from attacking you!" Reo-nee said with a high-pitched voice while swaying his hips sideways.

"Attacking?" I asked in confusion.

"Yes! Yes! Attacking you with a super-giant hug!" He excitedly said and then he tackled me on the floor.

"Oi! Reo-nee, what are you doing?!"A hysterical Hayama-kun immediately came to my rescue. He lifted Reo-nee, who was currently sandwiching me between his body and the mahogany floor. "Reo-nee, are you trying to kill Tetsumi-chan?!" Hayama-kun asked a still ecstatic Reo-nee. Flowers and sparkling rainbows were his background.

"What? I'm just giving our cute Tet-chan a bear hug~ Is it that bad?" Reo-nee answered blissfully.

"What? You're asking what's bad? You're obviously squeezing the living daylights out of her!" Hayama-kun frantically explained to Reo-nee who was still in abnormal high spirits. It was so abnormal that it was starting to worry me. "Tetsumi-chan, Reo-nee is not in his normal self. Run for your life. Now!" Hayama-kun told me.

"I think you're exaggerating the situation, Hayama-kun." I said flatly.

"But look at his eyes! They are in shape of a flower." Hayama-kun said as he pointed his index finger at Reo-nee's eyes. I looked at Reo-nee's eyes and found that they were still in normal shape.

"You're hallucinating, Hayama-kun."

"I am not! Just run for your life." He insisted. I decided to go help Midorima-kun so Hayama-kun would shut up. Midorima-kun was preparing a soup if I was not mistaken.

"Midorima-kun, may I help?" I said. Midorima-kun looked stunned because of my sudden appearance but he immediately recovered, I guessed.

"Do what you want." He simply said. We stayed silent for a while until Midorima-kun decided to speak, "Are they usually like this?" He asked and I gave him a look of confusion, "Hayama-san and Mibuchi-san." He elaborated.

"Hmm. It's usually Hayama-kun who gets scolded by Reo-nee, but I think today is an exception. Reo-nee is a level-headed person; maybe he ate something peculiar earlier." I explained and Midorima-kun nodded. "Are you worried about them?" I asked him, he abruptly halted what he was doing and looked at me.

"I am not worried. I could care less about them." He flatly replied. He sure emphasized the word 'not'.

"If you say so." I shrugged. "Do you think Kise-kun will be alright?" I decided to ask about Kise-kun. It had been twenty minutes since Akashi-kun went for him. I didn't want to use the word 'hunt'.

"Who knows? Kise should have kept quiet if he wanted to live longer. I knew his thoughtlessness would trouble him in the future, I just didn't expect it to be so soon." He stated. I kept quiet and stared at him for a while. "What?" Midorima-kun inquired when he felt my eyes on him.

"So Midorima-kun is worried about Kise-kun?" I finally spoke after a few minutes of silence.

"What?" He asked again.

"Midorima-kun is worried about Kise-kun, right?" I repeated.

"That won't happen." He defended.

"Really? Midorima-kun is such a tsundere." I said honestly.

"Wha—! I am not!"

"Midorima-kun is losing his cool. That's new."

"What—" He stopped and inhaled deeply, "Kuroko, you sure like to mess with other people's minds." He calmly stated.

"Whatever do you mean, Midorima-kun?"

"Never mind…."

"Okay." I said.

"Tetsumi." I heard Akashi-kun's voice behind me.

"Akashi-kun." I said as I turned around to face him, "You took longer time than I thought. How's Kise-kun?" I asked and averted my eyes from him to Kise-kun.

"I just talked to him, no need to worry." Akashi-kun assured me with a smile.

"But Kise-kun looks like he is in a state of bemusement." I said while still looking at a confounded Kise-kun in the corner.

"I'm sure he's just thinking about our conversation earlier." Akashi-kun reassured.

"If you say so."

"Oh, Momo-chin and Mine-chin are here." I heard Murasakibara-kun. I and the others looked at the direction where Murasakibara-kun was looking. I thought that Aomine-kun and Satsuki were in an awkward situation judging from what I sensed. They were walking by each other's sides, but they were looking away from each other.

"Satsuki." I called for my pinkette friend. She turned her head to me and smiled awkwardly then ran to hug me. "What happened?" I asked. She pulled me to the right corner of the cabin and faced me. Now that I could have a clearer view of her face, she was blushing madly. Her face is so red, I thought. "Are you alright?" I asked again.

"Tetsu-chan, h-he kissed me." Satsuki stuttered.

"Aomine-kun?" I asked and she nodded vigorously.

"Dai-chan k-kissed me." If it was possible, Satsuki turned redder."W-what should I d-do?" She asked frantically.

"What do you mean? Shouldn't you be happy to know that he likes you, too?" I asked her.

"B-but… W-we have b-been friends since we were c-children. H-how do y-you expect me t-to react? It w-was also m-my first k-kiss."

"Hmm. You have your point." I said and went to my 'thinking mode', "Satsuki, first of all, you should calm down." I told her. She took a long, deep breath then looked at me again. "Did you tell him what you feel?" I asked her and she shook her head no. "Is that so? To tell you honestly, I have no knowledge about things like this so I don't know if I can help you. But one thing is for sure, you should tell him what you really feel because that would make him less worried. After all, he likes you, too. That's one in a million; don't you think you're lucky to be liked back by someone you like?" I explained. I smiled reassuringly at her and left her on her own for the second time. She needed it, after all. I walked toward Akashi-kun and he welcomed me with a smile.

"Is she alright?" Akashi-kun asked.

"Not quite; her brain is a mess." I replied with all honesty.

"Why?" He inquired.

"Aomine-kun kissed her." I stated. Akashi-kun gave me a look of disbelief but I nodded to confirm what I said earlier.

"Is that so?" He simply said and I nodded again, "Hmm. You're right, if we would look at Daiki, his face is flushed. We could hardly see it because of his skin color." Akashi-kun stated while looking at Aomine-kun. I couldn't help but giggle at his statement. "What?" He asked.

"I didn't know that Akashi-kun could say such thing." I said between my giggles.

"Is that so? I guess I'm surprised at myself, too." He said and giggled, too, but then he stopped and spoke, "Tetsumi?" He called my name.

"What is it, Akashi-kun?" I inquired.

"I have something to tell you." He said. Is it just me or the air really became serious around here? I thought.

"What is it?" I asked nervously, but he smiled reassuringly.

"I'll tell you tomorrow in the sunset."

"Are you asking me to watch the sunset with you? Just the two of us?" I asked.

"Yes. Is it alright?" He asked while smiling.

"Un." I replied after a minute of contemplating. I am getting really nervous now, I thought.

"Aka-chin, Kuro-chin, the foods are ready. Let's eat." Murasakibara-kun called us.

"We're coming." Akashi-kun responded, and then he faced me, "Let's eat?" He asked and I nodded. We walked toward the table where the others were sitting. I sat next to Hayama-kun while Akashi-kun sat next to me. Aomine-kun and Satsuki still looked awkward, nevertheless, still sat beside each other. They would make a good couple, I thought. I looked at Kise-kun and saw that he was still in a state of shock. I wondered what really happened to him. We prayed then we started eating. They were really lively: Midorima-kun was ranting to Murasakibara-kun about the crumbs that fell on his hair. Kise-kun was back to normal but still avoiding the gaze of Akashi-kun. Aomine-kun was being a gentleman to Satsuki; he was the one who put the foods on her plate. Reo-nee was back to his self and was scolding Hayama-kun about his diet, who in return, ignored Reo-nee's lecture. I smiled secretly but it seemed that it didn't escape Akashi-kun's watchful eyes. Then something happened that I didn't expect. Akashi-kun kissed my forehead. I was genuinely astounded, but I tried my best to stay calm. I couldn't! I felt my face turning red and I immediately looked down. Good thing the others were so busy that they didn't see what happened. "I like it when you're embarrassed." I heard Akashi-kun said between his chuckles. If it was even possible, my face turned redder. Ugh, I hate this, I thought as I tried to calm myself. I felt Akashi-kun's big hand on my head and patted me.


We played beach volleyball after we finished washing the plates. After a few hours, Kise-kun was half-buried under the sand by Murasakibara-kun. We also took many pictures and even recorded a video. We enjoyed the rest of the day, and then we watched the beautiful sunset together. Today was such a nice and beautiful day. So many unexpected things happened, too. I'm so nervous about what will Akashi-kun tell me tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to it, I said internally.

The first day of our two-day summer trip ended wonderfully.


Wah! I'm so sorry for the long wait! So for waiting, I'm presenting you this very long chapter (This is the longest chapter that I have written so far.). Anyway, I'm going to tell you that the climax of the story is nearing! Kuroko-chan's parents will also make an official appearance in the next chapter. I will also introduce a new character in the story in chapter IX. The long-awaited twist in the story will begin very soon! I'm so excited! Blah blah. Enough with the long rant.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading this! Don't forget to leave a review. Your reviews inspire me the most! So long!

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