I do not own Kuroko no Basuke.


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Chapter 7: Snow


"You know, Kiyoshi-kun, she is a bit abnormal, right?"

A soft voice from a female student echoed in nearly emptied classroom and Emi Kiyoshi paid no heed to the question. She had her short brown her cut in something like a pixie cut but looked far more boyish than one suited for a girl. Her chocolate eyes stared down at the homework, completing it so she would not be doing it so late. She bore the normal Yosen High school outfit for girl's which happened to be white button up shirt with a red bow that hung low on her neck, black sweater, and gray plaided skirt.

"Eh, what do you mean by that?" Another asked and she continued to scribble away at the problem in her notebook, scratching the paper with her pencil as she wrote down the answer.

"You don't notice it?"

She tried not to wince at the small comment and continued solving the problem, almost done with it.

"For a girl, her height is quite tall, right? She is almost the size of some of the shortest boys in the school." One continued to comment and she did not seemed bother by this, as she has gotten used to it and holds no distaste for it.

"What about her wearing the sweater through the summer? Even during the hottest day, she refused to take it off, right?"

Those were the questions she did not want to hear and her hand that was once she steadily writing out the answer, started quivering at the mere mention of her sweater. It was leading her thoughts astray and terror spread throughout her body and her eyes unknowingly grew wide. She attempted to control herself but her body wasn't agreeing with her.

"Kiyoshi,"

The new voice had her head turn in the direction who of who called her name and she looked to see the sensei at the doorway.

"Someone is here to see you." He said and she blinked at this as confusion wrought over her features until she nodded and stood up while grabbing all of her stuff, leaving the room. The group of girls who had been commenting on her continued to observe her as she left and she softly shut the door behind her, following the sensei towards the teachers' office. Her hands clutched together and she kept her gaze low, trying not to draw any attention to herself. The pace was slow but it allowed for her heart to calm down and once the sound of footsteps stopped her gaze moved back up. The sensei stopped once at the doorway to all of their desks and she remained still as she stared at the tall figure looking out the window, where snow clung onto the empty branches of the trees.

"…Teppei-san?" She said in a soft whisper and the figure turned towards her, his half-long brown hair framed his dark eyes that glowed at the sight of her. A familiar gentle smile sketched across his features and he bore heavy gym clothes with a Seirin jacket zipped up all the way with a red scarf wrapped around his neck to keep himself warm. His thick eyebrows drew away from each other at the sight of her and then a large goofy smile took over his entire features.

"Emi!" He shouted and he then opened his arms wide as he was suddenly by her side and enveloped her. She stood still for a second before a gentle smile formed over her features and too hugged him back, a small blush coating her cheeks. The sensei then coughed and she snapped out of it but Teppei continued to hug her.

"Teppei-san," She said and he looked down to her still with a goofy grin, "Could you let go of me?"

He blinked at this before chuckling and released her out of his hold, running his fingers through his hair at this.

"Sorry, sorry, I got excited seeing you." He said and she nodded at this, still smiling.

"It's fine." She said while the sensei then left, returning back to his desk, "What brings you here, Teppei-san?"

He stopped scratching his head and glanced away for a second before she realized he wished to talk somewhere else.

"…I guess it must be important." She said as they then started heading towards the staircase in a slow pace and he nodded at this.

"Hai. I needed to talk with you." He responded and she blinked at this, tilting her head to the side at the comment.

"And you wanted it to be face-to-face?" She questioned and he again nodded at this before reaching the stairs. She began her descent but didn't hear other footsteps behind her and she looked back up, staring at her cousin who simply smiled down at her.

She knew that smile too well.

She stared up at him with sorrow filled eyes and he continued smile down at her.

"…How long has the pain been bothering you, Teppei-san?" She asked and he chuckled at the comment, knowing she knew the true intention of his smile.

"…It's nothing to be concerned about." He said in a calm voice and she remained still, waiting for his answer, "…it only just started up, Emi."

Her heart cracked a little at this and she bit her lip at this, knowing this day would come but not as soon as she hoped.

"Please don't lie to me, Teppei-san." She said in a soft tone and waited for him to respond but he instead started moving his way down the steps. He took each step carefully and at an extremely easy going pace, clearly his facade not breaking at this. Her heart was caught in her throat and she waited patiently for him to get down. When he finally reached the same step as her, he turned back towards her and gave her his infamous smile again.

"Don't worry, Emi." He said as a way to try and ease her mind but only accelerated it, she brought a hand to her chest and clutched her sweater tightly in it.

"…Teppei-san, be honest with me." She said again with her lips trembling and looked up him, knowing he too was like herself.

He would always put others in front of himself and hid them from the pain.

"…We'll discuss it fully when we're outside." He answered as a way of both holding back his answer and her terror.


When they had reached the outdoors, snow had scattered among the ground and the gentle flakes floated down from the sky. A soft cloud escaped her lips from this and she stared up the sky, her hands reaching out to catch some flakes but as soon as they touched her skin they were already melting.

"Ah, right!"

Suddenly something was wrapped around her neck and she blinked at the soft and warm feeling now cozying up to her cheeks. She looked down and now wrapped around her neck was a magenta scarf with small specks of white knit into it. Her cheeks were now flushed and Teppei chuckled at her slightly shocked state of mind.

"Bāchan knit this for you for an early Valentine's Day!" He exclaimed and she blinked at this before gently pulling at the scarf, the threads pressing against her finger tips. She smiled at this and looked up to him, giving him a warm smile in return.

"Thank you, Teppei-san." She said and he nodded at this as they then started heading out around the school's premise. The campus covered entirely with a light dash of snow that her shoes squashed it down and she stayed close to him, keeping a close eye on him. Finally spotting a bench, the two approached it before Teppei cleared the small amount of snow off of it with his hands and Emi sat down on it, placing her bag on her lap.

"It's so nice out." He said and she glanced over to him, noting how his eyes were focused on the sky.

"…Hai, the snow is so beautiful." Emi said back and grasped her hands tightly together, "Teppei-san, why did you come to Akita today?"

He continued to hold a smile on his face as he then turned to her and said, "I'll be going to America soon."

She froze at his words before the shock washed away with melancholy and whispered back, "I see…"

"Bāchan and Ojiisan finally got everything sorted out." He answered back and she noted how at ease he was, "I wanted to go tell you the news personally."

"Thank you for doing this, Teppei-san." Emi spoke back and the cold started biting back as her lips were slowly becoming chapped, "I'm glad that you're finally getting the help you need."

He leaned down and snow started collecting itself on his hair, before saying, "I'll be gone for a while. I'll be there for probably five or six months depending on how fast I recover from the surgery."

Emi gave a sad smile at this and brushed some small part of her hair back and said,"I'm glad that you'll finally be able to heal properly, Teppei-san. However long it takes, then it will heal naturally and you will be able to play basketball as soon as you can."

"You say to kind words, Emi." Teppei said back and she chuckled a little at this statement, "Kenshin said pretty much the exact same thing."

The mention of her brother caused her to return back to a more calm nature and she looked over to him, seeing that he looked more concern at his last sentence.

"When will you be heading over?" She asked in a hushed voice and he leaned his head onto his hand.

"By the end of this month." He answered back and she too leaned her head against the palm of her head, eyes narrowing at this.

"How well did Kenshin react to this?" She continued to ask and at this, he frowned a little.

"He was surprisingly quiet about it. He does seem genuinely happy that I'll be receiving help but…" He said and struggled to say the next few words he wanted to speak.

"He's not looking forward to being alone with Bāchan and Ojiisan." She answered for him and he nodded at this, releasing a breath that caught on with the cold air.

"…He still wants to go to Seirin though." Teppei said which caught her off guard and whipped her head in his direction.

"Really?" She asked and he blinked at the small smile that was gracing her features, raising an eyebrow in confusion at this.

"Is there a reason you don't want him to go to Yosen, Emi?" Teppei questioned the girl who stared at him for a second before looking back down to her clutched hands, eyes narrowed and saddened.

"…I don't think…he'll be able to make it here…" She responded back which lead the basketball player to further this curiosity.

"What do you mean by that?" Teppei continued to ask as her gaze lifted back up to the sky, her expression unsure.

"…Kenshin…you know how he is, Teppei-san." She said in a whisper and he nodded softly at this, "I don't think he'll be able to forgive Murasakibara for what he did to you. He won't be able to make it a day without losing himself in the process."

Teppei narrowed his eyes at this and folded his hands together, stating back, "I hold no grudge towards Murasakibara. Seirin had won over him, so he should not be bearing a grudge at this. It has been done."

"…for you Teppei-san but for Kenshin…it's another story for him." She murmured and he slowly nodded at this, understanding her proposition quite easily.

"It's fine, Emi." He said and gave her big, bright smile, "I figured you would say something like that. I've already mentioned him to Riko about being on the team next year."

Her features softened at this and happiness blessed them now instead, joy that he had done something like that for Kenshin.

He proved himself so many times to her that some people can still be kind in the world.

Tears started drifting down her face and Teppei blinked at this before he started freaking out that she was crying, unsure what to do since he thought that this information would cheer her up.

"EH?! Did I say something wrong?!" He said as he started to freak out but she shook her head back and forth no, gentling wiping away her tears with her fingers.

"No, it is not that at all." She said and smiled at him, his own eyes widening at this, "You did something that I so happy about. Kenshin will be thrilled to hear this. He'll be able to enjoy himself to his full extent without any worries."

His features relaxed at this and looked back up to the sky, some snowflakes landing on his nose.

"Thank you for talking about it with me, Teppei-san. I appreciate it." She said as the tears had finally stopped.

"You're my cousin, Emi. I wanted to let you personally intend of over the phone." He said then slowly pushed himself up, whipping down his clothes and offered her hand. She graciously grabbed it before being pulled to her feet and she wrapped the scarf tighter around her throat.

"Would you like to have lunch with me? My treat, Emi." He said and she nodded at this, while pulling on the ends of her sweater.

"Thank you,Teppei-san. I can still pay for myself, you don't need to be concerned about me." She said and he waved his hand at this, giving her a large happy smile.

"No, it's impolite to let a girl pay for her food when she's with a man. I would not feel right about you paying, Emi." He answered back and a soft blush covered her cheeks at this, as it would no one had really ever done that for her besides Kenshin.

"Ok, thank you for the offer, Teppei-san." She said as she bowed her head a little and the two started on their way to get food, not noticing that far off in the distance behind a window a certain purple haired giant was watching them in not much interest but as a way to kill his time instead of listening the sensei's lecture.