Part two of -Gathering Stars-. It's until three by the way :)
-6: Gathering Stars II-
There's something not right today. Wrong. Misplaced. Not supposed to be. Why is it that I'm already here and Seijuro isn't? This…is weird. This is the first time I got here first. Feeling both shock and disappointment, I sigh and sit on the rusty swing, dangling ever so slowly waiting for Seijuro to come. Thinking on the bright side, atleast I'll be able to see how Seijuro gets here now.
I wait. And I wait. The sun's almost down and he isn't here yet. Supposedly, the sun is the indicator of our time. When it goes away, so does our time stop. The black long car gets here at that exact time everyday. I look up the sky and see that the orange has already started its go away parade. He didn't come today…
I get off of the swing and its creaking sound unusually irritates me more than usual. Just as I was about to leave, I hear the grass behind me rustling. A mop of red comes towards me. Hey, he still came…
A small smile creeps into my face, but it slowly fades as I see that though he's here, the black long car is already here too.
"Seijuro…" I say in a barely audible whisper. Seijuro finally stands before me. But how can I be happy knowing that he'll be leaving in a few seconds too?
"Tetsuya…some things came up…" he says looking at me, in my down cast eyes. He notices that I don't want to look at him so he lifts my chin up and makes me do so.
"Sorry for not being able to inform you. But, from today onwards I'm not sure if I'd be able to meet up with you everday. Some days I can, and some I can't. But don't worry, I promise that I'll try my best to be able to see you okay?" he says that, his face and voice softening at the same time. I don't understand why he gives me so much of his time and attention and actually explaining so seriously like this. Maybe because I've become his sort of best friend?
My heart felt a sting at those words. I won't be able to see him everyday anymore. Some days will be back to normal. Where I sit here alone and do mostly nothing but think. But not only that…I feel sad because I know he's still hiding something from me. Why won't he just tell me already? Maybe he doesn't trust me as much as I do to him yet…maybe I should give him more time and wait…longer.
Finally deciding on that. That I would just wait. I force a small smile and tell him:
"I understand. Okay." Seijuro pulls his hand away and tell me it's getting late, that I should go home. He will too.
We parted with the usual 'byes', but without the usual 'I'll be back tomorrow.' from him. Sometimes I can't help but think that Seijuro is actually way older than me.
A small group of three continues their way in the supermarket. Namely Midorima Shintarou, Takao Kazunari, and me, Kuroko Tetsuya.
I find myself enjoying their company and joining in the conversation with comments here and there. They don't look disturbed by my presence either. We go to our last section. The milk section. Midorima grabs one carton of milk and so do I and Takao. Yes, milk is really good for the body.
"Hey, we all got milk. Finally something we all buy." Takao says eyeing the milk in his grasp. And I actually noticed that too.
"Yeah." I voice out my agreement with his statement.
Midorima looks at me then at Takao. He sighs then says, "What I don't understand is why you don't prefer the food that I buy."
Takao Kazunari snickers. Then laughs. This is starting to become a usual scene for me after just a couple of minutes. "But Shin-chan! The things you buy are really..uh..different?" he says hushing down his self from laughing loud again. And thus, they go on with their usual thing.
Usually when I shop, I only take a few minutes and finish quickly. But this is the first time that I reached almost more than one hour. Guess it's the small conversation in each item we buy or discuss. It's actually more fun this way, I discovered. Going with their flow has a nice vibe and feeling too.
We go around the mall with bags of what we bought in our hands when a rumble is heard. It's not mine. I look at Takao and see that he's looking at Midorima. I look at Midorima and see that he's looking away. Takao only smiles and says that we should eat since he feels hungry too. I nod and point at the nearest fast food.
Should I or should I not be surprised to see Aomine Daiki and Momoi Satsuki here?
The girl immediately notices us, or rather Midorima and waves, gesturing for us to come and sit with them. I see Aomine Daiki have his common sleepy face intact, but his sapphire eyes widen a bit as he saw our group approach their table.
"What a coincidence to see you here! Midorima-kun and… Takao Kazunari-kun, right?" the pink haired girl said with a smile on her face.
"Takao is just fine Ms. Manager." Takao answers eyeing the girl then the tanned male beside her.
"This is Mr. Phantom." 'Mr. Phantom'? Oh what a fitting nickname. Takao says gesturing for them to look in my direction, which is just right beside him. Both Aomine and Momoi look around. And it took sometime for them to finally notice me. They only noticed when I said the ultimately usual 'I'm here.'
"Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't notice you…" Momoi apologizes but having a really questioning look on her face. She's probably wondering why she didn't notice me at all at first.
"Woah! Since when you have been there?!" so Aomine does the questioning instead. I sigh and reply, "I've been here since the beginning." Both of their faces express shock , the girl recovered earlier.
"I see…then, sorry for not greeting you…I'm Momoi Satsuki, Kuroko-kun?" she says standing from her seat and offering a handshake, I take it and say,
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kuroko Tetsuya." She seems intrigued by the tone of my voice. But where did that weird and scary feeling come from when I shook this girls hand?
"Dai-chan, you should introduce yourself as well." We all swiveled our heads to Aomine.
With a sigh and a rub at the back of his head, he stands up and introduces himself as well. "Aomine Daiki." He quickly said then sat down again muttering, 'how long is Kise going to take' I think that only me and Momoi heard this for Takao and Midorima already started to ask me what I want to eat. I replied saying a burger and vanilla milkshake would do. So, the two head off to order. I notice that Aomine looks irritable right now.
Seeing as they did, I seated myself across Aomine for it to be easier for Takao and Midorima seat themselves when they get here. Momoi mutters something to Aomine and Aomine just says a 'yeah, yeah.' before looking at me.
"Hey, are you really like that?" he says crossing his arms over his chest eyeing me curiously. I see the girl beside him nod her head in approval seemingly wanting to know as well.
"Like what?" I reply though knowing the answer, but it's better to be sure right?
Momoi joins in the conversation by answering my question for Aomine. "You know, you're uh…not easy to see…?" I bet she was trying to say that in the kindest way possible, I appreciate that, but I'd prefer her just saying the fact that I really am somewhat invisible.
"I don't really know myself. I really am like this. I have a very low presence." I straightly reply but I don't think that answer was enough to satisfy them.
"Really now? You don't do that on purpose? Or you can't?" Aomine says and leans a bit observing me. Oh wow. Observing. I'm sorry to tell you Aomine but I'm much better than you at the 'Observing Game' I can see that you're actually really impatient right now, probably has something to do with Kise right? And I'm sure of it that the Kise that you're waiting for is Kise Ryouta, the model and your fellow Kiseki. Meeting Midorima Shintarou and Aomine Daiki today, I wouldn't be surprised if I complete the rainbow today as well.
Stopping my endless train of thoughts I only reply with, "Yes." Aomine just continues to eye me and Momoi starts saying that I have a really unique talent.
Midorima and Takao arrive and we start to eat, Momoi and Aomine also resuming theirs.
"Why are you guys here anyways?" Midorima says turning to face Momoi and Aomine.
Aomine replies :"Right back at you."
And Momoi does too, "You know, just eat after basketball. Also, we're waiting for Kise-kun."
"Kise Ryouta? Wow, does that mean I'd get to see the whole Generation of Miracles together? Exciting right Kuroko?" Takao says darting his eyes from me to someplace else. Silent murmurs turns into loud chatting and squealing.
Right at that moment we all look to see what the commotion by the door was. And there he is, Kise Ryouta.
"He's finally here." Aomine says a slight smile appearing on his face.
But what I noticed wasn't the blonde by the door, but the fierce red hair that passed behind him. Am I seeing hallucinations or maybe I'd really get to complete the rainbow today?