Soul Vrazy: Thank you for your review. I think you mean Ki-kun and Midorin's date... You can see their small date in this chapter. Hope you'll enjoy it :D
BrokenBlackCat: Thank you for your review. Yep! He was so persistent about it. This is Akashi we are talking about after all. There is no way he will give up that easily. Hahahaha, it's not asking advice more like complained about what he had seen to Kise. After all, Aomine was still pretty much in denial or oblivious towards what he is feeling for Tetsumi.
TheAiko1996: Thank you for your review. About the one-shot, it will be a while before I finally posted it since I've been pretty busy lately. Don't worry I'll work on it when I have time though. But for now I want to focus on writing update for this story first. Thank you once again for your review :)
NewSlove: Thank you for your long review. Well I have my own reason on making Akashi more stalkerish in here though I still try to keep his personalities in tact. I agreed with you, Wakamatsu was indeed funny too in his own way. He was one of my favorites in Touou too. The one-shot won't be posted for a while since I want to focus on updating this story first because of my busy schedule, it will probably take a while before I manage to post that one-shot. Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon this fic.
ibookworm281: Thank you again for your review. It's nice to know you like the previous chapter. And you're welcome :)
BasketFreak21: Thank you for your review. I'm glad to know you like the side pairing as well though the main pairing is still AoKuro. Hopefully, this chapter will satisfy you as well :D
ConfusionRunsRampant: Thank you for your review.
hitomi65: Thank you for your review :)
KShieru: Thank you for the review. The mystery between Kuroko and Aomine will be revealed bit by bit later as I don't want to rush it. Hopefully you will enjoy this chapter too.
psychotic luv: Thank you for your review. There will be some AkaKuro along the way but this story is mainly focus on AoKuro. I hope you could understand that since that was the main pairing for this story. Anyway, hopefully you'll enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke. If I do, surely it will be filled with lots of yaoi in it! The idea of Tetsumi's strategic ability which requires her observation skills was borrowed from Starian NightZz with her permission (I thank her once again for that). Also, I don't own the cover for this story, I merely taken it from pixiv. The credits for the cover goes to アケ with pixiv id 635762.
Warnings: AU. OOC (it happens in this story). There will be a lot of gender bending too in this story, so if you feel bothered by it; I suggest you leave now. Unbeta, so beware of some mistakes and errors the authoress made. Also, please read the authorres' notes or the side notes (if there is one) because usually I write some important thing in there.
Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Drama, Romance
Pairings: AominexFem!Kuroko, Slight AkashixFem!Kuroko, One-sided KisexFem!Kuroko, KisexFem!Midorima
"..." for memories in Italic
'...' thought in Italic
And "..." present time
-Memories Lane, Her Request-
I know it's hard to remember, the people we used to be
It's even harder to picture that you're not here next to me
You say it's too late to make it, but is it too late to try
And in that time that you wasted, all of our bridges burned down
I've wasted my nights, you turned out the lights, now I'm paralyzed, still stuck in that time
― Maroon 5, Payphone
Chocolate hazel eyes watched his tanned friend anxiously as the housemaid served them some snacks and beverages. Aomine had been surprisingly quiet since the time he stepped inside the blond model's house and it befuddled the bubbly model. Aomine Daiki isn't one who will stay quiet that long after all. That only meant there was something wrong with the tanned ace.
Aomine merely nodded his head briefly in gratitude at the housemaid before she left them alone. The tanned teen took his cup of tea and sipped the liquid slowly. Placing down his cup of tea, Kise bit his lower lip as he anxiously looked up at his tanned friend. "It's rare for you to visit me all of sudden, Aominecchi." The blond model stated after some moments of silence between them. "Is there something wrong? You looked like something is bothering you,"
"It just-... I can't understand it!" Aomine grumbled, his eyebrows furrowed in deep confusion over his own feelings.
"Huh? What do you mean, Aominecchi?" The blond teen looked confusedly at the troubled dark blue haired teen across him.
"I don't like it! To see her with that damn guy like that; it's annoyed me! Damn it! Why I have to feel something like this!?" Aomine snapped sharply, sapphire blue eyes filled with rage at the reminiscence of what he had seen.
Kise eyed the tanned ace cautiously, fully aware of the fact that the other was pretty pissed at the moment. It was rare to see him this angry though. The last time it had happened, it had been because of their ex-teammate; Haizaki Shougo. Somehow, the blond model couldn't stop but wonder just who it is that managed to anger Aomine that much. 'Probably it involved Kurokocchi though.' was the only thing Kise sure of.
"Uh... did you talk about Kurokocchi, Aominecchi?" The Kaijou's student smiled sheepishly, chocolate hazel eyes looked back at his middle school friend in confusion and a bit of hesitation. Even though he understood well enough that the other guy was pissed, Kise was still at loss at what the tanned teen had blurted out towards him. The sight of the befuddled blond snapped Aomine out of his tirade, sapphire blue eyes blinked in disbelief at the blond model before he sighed heavily in exasperation; finally realizing the fact that the model hadn't understood him even a bit.
"Haven't Satsuki told you about it?" Aomine asked after he calmed down, his eyes looked questionably at his blond friend.
"Told me what?"
The confused expression on the other's face showed Aomine that Kise was clearly at loss at what had happened. The dark blue haired teen couldn't help but wanting to groan out loud at the blond's obliviousness. Sometimes, Aomine really wonder how come the model always gets highest scores in academic when he was this dense. "Tetsu got herself a stalker," The taller teen deadpanned.
"Eh? A stalker? Kurokocchi?" Kise frowned, not really believing what he had just heard.
"Yea. Tetsu got herself a stalker. And a dangerous one in fact. The bastard looked up for her information and threatened her to have a match with him. He even had the gut to underestimate her skills when she refused him!" The tanned teen was practically snarling now as he gripped his cup of tea tight enough until Kise was afraid that the other would broke his mother's precious tea set out of anger.
"A-... Aominecchi," The blond model called out for his tanned friend hesitantly. Being in the close range with one angry Aomine Daiki made Kise felt nervous as he feared for the other to hurl his cup of tea at Kise out of anger. Really, he only hoped the dark blue haired teen won't destroy his mother's precious tea set since the older woman will be furious if that happens.
"What?" Aomine snapped, sapphire blue eyes glared heatedly at the blond model out of frustration.
"Did you come here because of that...?" The Kaijou's student continued slowly, chocolate hazel eyes looked imploringly at his tanned friend's expression.
Aomine was silent for some moments before he crossed his hand over his chest as he averted his gaze away from the blond model. "I just saw that damn guy walked with her on my way to go home."
"Aominecchi... did you by any chances feel jealous?" Chocolate hazel eyes looked inquiringly at the teen across him. Now that Kise had thought about it again, it was understandable if Aomine was jealous over the fact that their petite friend was going out with someone else. After all, even though Aomine never said it out loud; it was obvious that the ace was feeling something for their light blue haired friend although the guy was too dense to notice it by himself. Kise really wanted to shake the living daylights out of the tanned teen for that. Really, how can a guy be that dense!?
Sapphire blue eyes widened at the question, a look of disbelief crossed the tanned teen's face as he looked at his blond friend as if the other had just spouted some nonsense. "What did you say...?"
"Did you get jealous that Kurokocchi was with someone else, Aominecchi?" Kise repeated exasperatedly.
"Are you out of your mind!? There is no way I felt that! Damn it, Kise! It's not time for playing around!" Sapphire blue eyes glowered at the bubbly model as he growled.
"If you're not jealous, why it should bother you that much that Kurokocchi was out with someone else?" Kise questioned softly, rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands. He could feel the tell-tale sign of headache coming from this kind of conversation. Knowing how stubborn and dense the ace is regarding his feeling for their cerulean eyed friend.
"I'm worried, okay?! Don't you feel the same too? Who knows what the creep will do towards Tetsu when they were alone together?" Aomine hissed. His mind had briefly went back to the time when the girl had gotten hurt because of his carelessness. Aomine really didn't want the same thing to happen all over again. Besides, he really doesn't trust this red haired stalker.
"I do worry about Kurokocchi too, but we all know that she was capable on taking care of herself, Aominecchi. Besides, from what I have heard; I don't think this Akashi Seijuuro guy is going to hurt Kurokocchi either if he was so persistent on getting a match with her." The pierced blond pointed out calmly, as he sipped his tea slowly.
The tanned ace huffed at the reply he was given as he averted his gaze away from those chocolate hazel eyes. He knew that Kise was right but it still agitates him to know that damn red haired bastard was near with Tetsu! He doesn't want the petite girl to get hurt again, damn it! Crossing his arms over his chest, he looked the other way, the anger simmering down now that he had gotten it off his chest.
"I know it bothers you so much, Aominecchi. But let's trust Kurokocchi on this. I'm sure she knows what she was doing," The model said softly after some moments. "If anything goes bad, I won't hesitate on helping you to protect Kurokocchi. But for now, let's just trust Kurokocchi's decision."
"I do trust Tetsu. It's that red haired bastard that I don't trust," Aomine frowned, as he closed his eyes briefly in exasperation. The redhead always gives him a bad vibe after all. It's not a surprise if Aomine doesn't trust him even for a bit. Besides, the fact that he doesn't like it when their light blue haired friend was with a strange guy was another thing that made Aomine labeled the redhead as dangerous in his mind.
"Hmm... we all know that Kurokocchi won't be that reckless, Aominecchi. She wasn't a captain for nothing after all."
"I know. Tetsu was smart enough to know when she has to be careful around some people..." The dark blue haired teen grumbled, his thoughts drifted off towards their times in middle school when the petite girl was the captain of their basketball team.
Chocolate hazel eyes looked at the faraway look on his tanned friend's face curiously. Now that he thought about it again, Kise never heard anything about how his dark blue haired friend first met with their light blue haired former captain. The only thing he had gotten out of the petite girl was the fact that both she and Aomine had met with each other long before the two of them met with each other in Teikou. Though the girl had mentioned that Aomine probably doesn't remember about that meeting since the guy was pretty forgetful about little things like that.
Unable to bottle up his curiosity any longer, the model blurted out the question he had been dying to ask to the other from the start. "How did you meet with Kurokocchi, Aominecchi?"
"Huh? I think it was on our first day in middle school. She looked pretty surprised when she saw me though I don't understand why she looked pretty pleased at me as if I had done something great towards her that time," The dark blue haired teen answered nonchalantly as he remembered the girl's face when he locked his gaze with her on their first day as freshmen in middle school. Even though the petite girl's expression had pretty much remained impassive like always that time, Aomine still remembered how her cerulean eyes had brightened at the sight of him. Even up until now, he still couldn't understand what it is that had made her looked like that.
"Then, how Kurokocchi became a captain? Is it because of her abilities?" Chocolate hazel eyes sparkled in excitement at the thought of finding out the reason behind the petite girl's title as their captain.
Aomine eyed his blond friend warily as he sweat dropped at those sparkling chocolate hazel eyes which looked at him in excitement. The model was really like a kid when he looked like that. "I don't know much about that. But the captain pretty much trusted her abilities to lead the team at that time. Besides, her exceptional observation skill had been one thing that helped the team to become well-known like now." The dark blue haired ace murmured, looking at the carpet floor.
"Kurokocchi was pretty amazing when she used her strategy to win a match! She even made us won against that strong school without her when she was injured that time!" The model had a starry-eyed look on his face when he recalled their time back in middle school.
"Yeah. That was definitely the result of her works. If it wasn't because of that bastard Haizaki, she would have been playing with us at that particular match." The Touou's ace grunted darkly, sapphire blue eyes filled with fury at the thought of their gray haired ex-teammate. Aomine still remembered it clearly, how the gray haired bastard had pushed the light blue haired girl off of the staircase when she was going down out of his anger at the petite girl for her warning towards him. Even though Tetsumi had said that she didn't see the culprit who had pushed her off, Aomine was sure that it was none other than their gray haired teammate as the guy looked so smug at the sight of an injured Tetsumi when she finally showed up at practice after that incident.
The blond small forward looked at the taller teen across him silently. He was fully aware of the fact that Aomine was still angry about the incident that had happened towards their cerulean eyed friend. After all, the tanned teen had been pretty furious regarding that particular event that time. Aomine had been the first one to suspect the gray haired teen at that time, even went as far as to confront him about that. Although, Haizaki had of course denied it altogether. Kise didn't really know what had happened between the two after that, though from what he had heard; it was their female captain who had put a stop before the two of them fought each other. Kise never got the chance to find out about it though since Haizaki had been issued off the team after that.
"Aominecchi... What exactly had happened between you and Haizaki that time?" Kise asked slowly, chocolate hazel eyes stared curiously at the dark blue haired teen.
Aomine merely averted his gaze away from his blond former teammate; a small frown adorned his face at that particular question. "Nothing had happened between us," was the only reply he received from the other. The dark look on the other teen's face clearly told Kise that the dark blue haired teen didn't want to discuss the matter any further than that.
Later that night, after Aomine had gone back to his own house; Kise was texting one of his seniors in the basketball team when his cell phone began to ring. He looked at his cell phone's screen briefly before he answered the call.
"Hello?" He asked, a hint of confusion laced his usually cheery voice. It was rare for the bubbly manager to call him late at night. "Momocchi?"
"Ki-kun!" The bright pink haired teenager replied cheerfully on the other line. "Are you busy now?"
"Huh? I'm not busy," He creased his forehead. "What's up?"
"Did Dai-kun come to your place today?"
"Aominecchi? Yeah, he visited me. What is it? Is there something wrong?"
"Nah, it's nothing, Ki-kun. Dai-kun's mom was worried since he got home pretty late but it's okay now. So... what Dai-kun talked to you about?" The bubbly manager reassured the blond teen calmly, a hint of curiosity and excitement coated his voice as he asked the model regarding their ace's reason for seeking out Kise.
The blond model was silent for some moments before he chuckled lightly at the other's question. "Aominecchi was complaining about Kurokocchi who went out with another guy. Ne, ne, Momocchi, I think Aominecchi was jealous over that fact."
"Dai-kun was complaining!? That was new! Let me guess... He denied the fact that he was jealous and insisted that he was merely worried over her well-being, right?" Kise could practically hear the confidence in his friend's voice as the analyst said his theory.
"Right like always, Momocchi!" The bubbly model gushed out in awe at the right prediction.
"Of course! Never doubt my skill, Ki-kun!"
"Say, Momocchi... do you think Aominecchi will ever realize his feeling for Kurokocchi?" Chocolate hazel eyes locked his gaze at his bed sheets while his left hand fumbling with his blanket absentmindedly.
"Knowing Dai-kun, I don't think he will realize about it anytime soon. Though, I have to admit that he really does care about Tetsu-chan more than anyone. That doesn't mean I will give up towards him though!" Momoi answered before he quickly added the last part.
The model chuckled at his friend's enthusiasm regarding their petite friend. It wasn't a secret that Momoi was madly in love with the cerulean eyed girl. The guy wasn't discreet about it after all. Though, Kise had to admit that Momoi's openness on showing his affection towards one Kuroko Tetsumi made him respect the bright pink haired manager since the blond teen wasn't as confident as the other when he showed their petite friend his affection.
Besides, after he thought about it again, Kise couldn't help but realized that Momoi had been one of the few who really knows about their female friend. Their female captain was Momoi's crush after all. The model couldn't stop but wonder if Momoi also knows what had happened back in their second year in middle school which caused their female captain to resign from her position.
"Momocchi, do you know the reason why Kurokocchi resigned back then?" That question had been bugging him for a while up until now and he was really desperate to know the answer for that.
"Tetsu-chan's reason…?" The usually cheery voice asked quietly. Peach colored eyes stared wistfully at his lap. Momoi still remembers it vividly, how his adorable crush had asked him to do something for her. At that time, he hadn't thought much about it and had eagerly accepted the girl's request. If only he realized what he had agreed to…
"Momoi-kun," The usually passive girl called out for the cheerful manager calmly.
"Tetsu-chan! What is it? Do you need something?" Momoi asked happily, peach colored eyes stared at his crush in glee.
"Momoi-kun, could you help me with some things?" She asked calmly, cerulean eyes fixed her gaze to the young man across her.
"Sure! What do you want me to help you with, Tetsu-chan?" The manager heedlessly answered, not in the least felt suspicious regarding the sudden request.
"Momoi-kun… please handles the regular's training from tomorrow onwards. I have assigned Touma-kun to take over my position from tomorrow onwards, so please help him on handling the rest of the regulars."
"Tetsu-chan… what did you just say?" Peach colored eyes looked uneasily at his light blue haired crush.
"I resigned my position as a captain today, Momoi-kun. I've given the coach my resignation letter before," She replied. "Please take care of the team from now on, Momoi-kun. I'm counting on you."
When the petite girl had asked him to do some things for her, Momoi didn't expect her to ask something like this from him. He really didn't expect her to resign her position as a captain and quit the team. After all, as far as he knows; Kuroko Tetsumi had been the only one besides his childhood friend who loves basketball so much. To think that the other will stop playing it all of sudden made him worried.
"Wh-… Why all of sudden?"
"My grandmother was sick, Momoi-kun. And I have to watch over her until she recovers. I can't go to practice and handle the regulars while doing so. That's why, it's better if I resigned my position from the team. Please take care of the others, Momoi-kun." Cerulean eyes stared squarely at the manager, her voice remained monotone like usual.
Momoi was silent for some moments before he sighed in resignation. "I will try my best, Tetsu-chan. Should I tell Dai-kun about it?"
"…I don't think that's necessary. Just tell him I quit the team, Momoi-kun. And Momoi-kun…" Tetsumi was silent for some minutes before she replied the bubbly manager. "Can you please make sure that no one knows about me being a captain? I don't want anyone to know my name and the fact that I've became Teikou's captain in my second year in middle school. I-… I don't need the fame that comes from it,"
It was her determination which laced her voice at that time that made Momoi agreed to help her on that. Thus, the reason why the bright pink haired manager had went as far as to threaten those who know about Kuroko Tetsumi to never tell anyone about the cerulean eyed girl's identity. Aomine had been pretty furious when he found out about the petite girl's resignation but the dark blue haired teen never got the chance to confront the other about it as Tetsumi had started to avoid him from that time.
And even though he was pretty confused as to why Momoi threatened those who have known Tetsumi in a match to never say the girl's name towards anyone, Aomine never once questioned his bubbly childhood friend about it. Nonetheless, Momoi knows even though the tanned teen never asked anything about the light blue haired girl towards him; Aomine was worried about their female friend in his own way.
"Momocchi?" A hesitant voice called out for the cheery manager from the other line snapped Momoi out of his reverie as peach colored eyes blinked blearily.
"Huh? I'm sorry; did you say something, Ki-kun?" The manager asked sheepishly, an apologetic tone coated his voice.
"Are you okay, Momocchi?" The blond teen asked worriedly. His friend had zoned out for some minutes there before Kise called him out.
"I'm fine, Ki-kun. Ne, Ki-kun, what are you doing now?" Momoi answered quickly as he tried to change the subject of their conversation, not wanting to answer the model's question regarding their female captain. It's not like he didn't want to tell the other about it, it just Momoi didn't think it was his place to tell the blond model over that particular matter. The cheery manager was aware of the fact that his crush won't like it either if he says something he shouldn't.
Kise frowned at the analyst's question, fully aware of the fact that the bright pink haired manager was trying to change the subject and avoid his question. The blond will let it off for now. If Momoi went as far as to avoid the matter, it only meant the other doesn't want to talk about it. And knowing how Momoi is, Kise could only guess the manager doesn't want to do so in order to not anger their female friend.
The blond took in a deep, calming breath before he smiled in defeat at his once again failed attempts. "I'm just browsing some interesting places in the internet while texting one of my seniors in basketball team."
"Browsing some interesting places? Are you planning on going somewhere, Ki-kun?" Peach colored eyes looked confusedly at his cordless phone, as if by doing so he could understand the model's reason for doing something like that. The bubbly model wasn't one to do something like that after all. Unless…
"Are you having a date, Ki-kun?" Momoi asked straight-forwardly, his question caught the blond on the other line completely off-guard if the falling sound from the other line was any indications.
Kise rubbed the lump on his head from the sudden fall slowly. The blond model groaned quietly at the pain. Trust Momoi to guess the right answer in one attempt. The bright pink haired manager wasn't a fearsome analyst for nothing after all. His skills were really something to be feared of aside from Tetsumi's observational skill. "Ki-kun? Are you alright?" The voice from the other line asked concernedly.
"Y-…Yeah. You just surprised me, Momocchi. Why you have to be right all the time?" The blond small forward whined out, chocolate hazel eyes stared incredulously at his cell phone.
"You really shouldn't underestimate my abilities, Ki-kun. So, who is it? What kind of girl you are dating this time?" Peach colored eyes looked sparkled in happiness as he asked about the girl his friend was interested in with enthusiasm.
"I guess I forgot about that for a while. Her name was Midorima Shizuka; I just met her some weeks ago. She was an interesting one though. Just like Kurokocchi, she doesn't care about my popularity or my job. Instead she treats me coldly for breaking her lucky item at that time," Kise chuckled sheepishly; his hand scratched the back of his head lightly.
"Midorima Shizuka? Hmm… I think I have heard that name somewhere. Well, where are you going to take her then?" A thoughtful look crossed the handsome manager's face for a while before he asked the other regarding his plan.
"I still don't know where to take her, Momocchi. I'm not sure what kind of place she likes…" Momoi heard the disappointment in the blond's voice. "She isn't the same like other girls after all,"
Momoi stared at his lap for several seconds before finally allowing himself a shadow of a smile. "Well… that was a surprise. It's the first time for me to hear that the famous model Kise doesn't know what to do on dating a girl," Really, his blond friend was hopeless if he really at loss on dating this girl. Somehow, Momoi couldn't help but curious as to what kind of girl the blond model was interested in.
The next morning, one can found Midorima Shizuka stood in front of her closet. Emerald green stared at her closet in distaste; a small frown adorned her face. She had been pacing back and forth in front of her closet to find the right clothes for her first date but nothing looked right for her. It got to the point where she was so frustrated about it until she slammed the door to her closet shut. 'Ugh! Why I have to be this nervous!? It's not like I'm interested in him anyway…'
The blond teen who had bumped into her and replaced her broken lucky item had asked her to go on a date with him all of sudden. The other had practically looked at her with puppy eyes which made her unable to refuse him. Thus, resulted on her current predicament. All she had inside her closet was most casual clothes she wore around her house and some shirt she usually wore for basketball practice! And well, the uniform she wore for school. And none of it looked right for the date. The dark green haired teen sighed in exasperation at her current predicament, before she decided to just wear one of her casual clothes.
'It's not like I'm trying to impress him either with my looks…'
She walked over to her closet, opened the closet's door and peered inside to look for the right clothes. The glasses wearing girl reached out and grabbed a white long sleeved shirt and a beige cardigan, the one she usually wore around the house. After that, she pulled out her long dark blue skirt before she closed the door of her closet with a satisfied look. Once she had wore her clothes, she braided her long dark green hair so it won't get in her way. After made sure that she had brought her lucky item for the day, she bid her goodbye at her mother in the kitchen.
The both of them had promised to meet at the lamp post in front of the shop where the blond had last took Midorima to buy her lucky item. Since the cold girl had refused to wait anywhere far for him to come. Emerald green eyes looked around to see if the blond had arrived to no avail. It seemed like she was early than him or he was late. Irritated, she glanced down at her watch. It was exactly nine, the time that both of them have promised to meet. Just when she started to think that he won't come, her eyes found his figure approached her.
"I'm sorry! Have you waited long?" The blond said quickly, chocolate hazel eyes looked apologetically at the girl across him.
Midorima sighed lightly in exasperation, emerald green eyes closed briefly before she looked apathetically at the blond. "It doesn't matter. Where are we going today?" She replied flatly, as if she wanted to end the date as quick as possible.
Chocolate hazel eyes looked uneasily at the cold girl, a sheepish smile adorned his handsome face at the answer he was given. Hearing that kind of answer out of her made him unable to react. After all, it was the first time for him to get that kind of reactions out of girls. Usually all of them would be blushing and stuttering at his question already. Midorima Shizuka was really different from any other girls Kise had known.
Nonetheless, it only made the other girl more intriguing to Kise. After all, it's not every day he got the chance to meet with a girl who doesn't affected by his charms and good looks. And the fact that the other's behavior had fascinated him up until this far only made Kise more interested towards her. Midorima Shizuka really wasn't like any girls he had met. "Uh... how about we go to the zoo?" The well-known model asked hesitantly, chocolate hazel eyes stared hopefully at the cold girl.
The cool beauty sighed at the look she was given from the blond model who looked really childish at the moment. "Well... are we going or not?" She asked bluntly, emerald green eyes looked impatiently at him as she turned her back towards him.
"Y-...Yeah!" Kise said quickly as he catch up with the dark green haired girl.
Kise had been genuinely curious as to what Midorima was always doing on her free time, but the girl had looked blankly at Kise for his question; as if the blond had made a really poor attempt on trying to make a conversation. Which is why, Kise remained silent for a while before he started to talk about other trivial things again.
The famous model was resisting the urge to groan out as he was at loss on how to make the cold beauty beside him to loosen up a bit. He had tried almost every things he could think of to make the girl speak to him but the glasses wearing girl had just brushed all his attempts off. Somehow, Kise couldn't stop but wondering if the girl had only accepted his request to go on a date because he had annoyed her to no end regarding it. The thought of it only made Kise felt more depressed than he already was. After all, it was the first time for him to know that his charms didn't work on girls since usually all of them would be already blushing and trying to kiss him already. Besides, it was also the first time for him to be the one who ask a girl out for a date when usually he was the one who being asked by the girls.
When they finally arrived at the zoo, the blond teen had immediately attracting some stares from other people like always despite his attempt to disguise himself. A usual occurrence which Midorima was sure she had to expect if she hang out with the blond model again next time. After moving through the throngs of Kise's fans who were all dying to get close or even steal a touch of the famous model, both teens finally managed to make their way to the front gate. Chocolate hazel eyes glanced at the girl beside him who had hung very close to him while they were moving through against his fans. Apparently the dark green haired girl didn't really like the crowds. After they paid for the tickets, both teenagers soon moving through the gate into the zoo.
"Where do you want to go first, Midorimacchi?" Kise asked cheerily, an excited smile adorned his handsome face as he looked at the girl beside him inquiringly.
"I'd rather like to see the parrots. They are interesting to watch, as they are intelligent creatures." was the only reply he got from the other teen.
"Okay. Um, Midorimacchi...is that...your friends?" The model agreed quickly before his chocolate hazel eyes spotted some suspicious looking teens through the crowd who spied at the two of them while trying to be discreet of it.
The dark green haired beauty glanced behind them briefly. True to what the model had said, three of her teammates minus her captain were right behind them. Following them around while trying to be discreet about it. Though, the fact that Kise was able to spot them on right away only meant they were doing a bad job on being discreet. Midorima could feel her left eye twitched at the sight of her teammates. Really, can't those guys do something else instead of following her around like that? The usually stoic girl could already feel the tell-tale sign of headache from the thought of being followed by them in her first date.
"Just ignore them, act like you haven't seen them at all. They probably assume we haven't seen them yet," Midorima frowned, emerald green eyes locked her gaze at the road in front of them while trying to not pay any minds to her spying teammates. Kise merely nodded his head hesitantly, unsure of how to react at the other's demand. Nonetheless, the model was trying his best to ignore the heated glare on his back courtesy of Midorima's friends.
"Let's go to the parrots then. I heard they have a walk-in aviary. We'll probably be able to interact with them if you want later," The blond said quickly, trying to get their mind off from the fact that they were being followed in their first date. Midorima simply nodded her head in affirmation, the cold elegant teen seemed to enjoy the thought of being able to get close to the birds. With her teammates tailing behind them, the two of them made their way to the parrots.
Once they have arrived there, the two of them were able to handle the birds after sanitizing their hands first. Emerald green eyes looked in amusement at the jardine's parrot. The dark green haired bird's loud and constant babbling reminded him of a certain blond model beside her. The bird was cute though. While Kise thought that the ruppell's parrot really resembled the cold girl's personality with how the bird was quieter than others from its species. The entire time the two of them was looking at the birds, Midorima's teammates lurked outside the aviary.
'Really... can't they be more subtle on doing it?' Midorima groaned inwardly at the sight of them from the corner of her eyes. The three of them were gathering odd stares from other visitors with how they were standing suspiciously outside the bird aviary, glancing in regularly but not actually approaching. If that wasn't odd enough then Midorima didn't want to know how much more odd they can be. After the parrots, Kise and Midorima looked up the penguins, ostriches, and flamingos. During all this, somehow they managed to escape from Midorima's teammates. "Uhm... Midorimacchi?" The model called out for his companion.
Midorima glanced at him. "What is it?"
Chocolate hazel eyes stared at the girl hesitantly before he pointed his finger at the source of the crowd not too far from them. "Why there is a crowd at there? Do you want to take a look?"
The girl turned to see a crowd of people was gathering around the chimpanzee exhibit. Curious as to what was so interesting about it, Midorima wandered over. And sighed. She really didn't want to know how it happened. There inside the chimpanzee exhibit was none other than Takao while Miyaji and Kimura were trying to pull him out of there. She groaned when the raven haired teen spotted her.
"Ah! Shizu-chan!" People were starting to look around for who he was talking to. "Shizu-chan! The one with the beige cardigan and long dark blue skirt!" Now their attention was settled on her. Kise looked mildly amused at Midorima's friends' outburst. A zookeeper appeared and started barking orders at the people closest to him. Midorima immediately used that opportunity to slip away. Kise followed after her silently.
"Ugh! That guy! How the hell he managed to end up accidentally in the chimpanzee exhibit?"
"Does he close to you, Midorimacchi? He called you with your given name," Chocolate hazel eyes looked curiously at the cold girl beside him.
"That guy always does what he pleases regardless my objection. Anyway, where are we?" The dark green haired girl read the signs and found that they were close to an exhibit she'd rather like to see. Thanks to her teammates' current adventure, it was deserted around the exhibit. Looks like they could be useful sometimes.
Inside, a panda was serenely eating bamboo. It was cute. The model glanced at the glasses wearing girl, he found that the dark green haired girl was enthralled with the panda. It was rare to see one. This zoo had to have gotten special permission from the Chinese government. Midorima turned to meet his gaze, the girl raised one of her eyebrows at the look on his face. Emerald green eyes locked with chocolate hazel eyes, as Kise smiled softly at the girl beside him.
"You're the first girl I asked for a date, Midorimacchi." Kise said all of sudden, startling the cold elegant girl beside him. "I'm glad that I bumped into you that time. It appears I have to thank your lucky item for once."
Emerald green eyes looked startled at the sudden exclamation, completely taken off-guard by the model's sudden confession before she replied him lowly, a blush adorned her face. "I'm glad I met you too, Kise. I guess you're not so bad either..." Kise began to move towards Midorima. The model looked as if he wanted to do something, but before he could do anything, Midorima's teammates ruined the moment. Apparently, they have managed to get Takao out of the chimpanzee exhibit.
"Shizu-chan! Why did you pretend to not know me back there?" He complained, coming up on them.
"Unlike you, Takao; I have more dignity than to acknowledge you when you were embarrassing yourself,"
Takao glared at the blond model who looked amused at the exchange between two friends. Apparently the raven haired teen didn't trust the famous model a bit for dating his friend.
"Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you go to practice?" She asked, emerald green eyes looked inquiringly at her raven haired teammate. Midorima was sure that they all have practice today, hence the reason why she asked a day off from the captain before since she had to go on a date with Kise. Besides, looking at Takao who was only alone at there when he was with Miyaji and Kimura before; Midorima could only assume the two seniors left the raven haired freshman all by himself after the stunt he had pulled. Probably feeling embarrassed after what had happened.
"I, uh, well, um... it was...canceled! It was canceled, and I wanted to see the...flamingos!" Takao spluttered. "I was just going there now. Would you like to come with me?" Takao said quickly, feeling nervous under his friend's scrutinize gaze.
"We've gone there. You should still go and see them, if you came all the way out here just for that. Maybe we'll run into you again later." Kise piped in after some moments of watching the two of them interact with each other.
Takao looked reluctant at the suggestion though he couldn't do anything to argue. He walked off, looking a bit miffed. Once the raven haired teen was nowhere to be seen anymore, Midorima's gaze returned back at the panda. "Midorimacchi?" Kise called out for the girl beside him. The dark green haired beauty jerked out of her trance, emerald green eyes turned to look at the blond.
"We should go see the rest of the animals before we go home," The blond continued as he extended his hand at the girl. Midorima stared hesitantly at the famous model's hand, her eyes looked back and forth from the blond to his extended hand before she finally took his hand in her slowly. The bubbly model grinned widely before they left, heading towards the next exhibition.
After seeing all the animals, both teens walked back to their home. The sun was getting lower in the sky. It was about seven, judging from its position in the sky. Kise couldn't believe he'd spent five hours in the zoo without even realizing it. It had to have something to do with his companion. Grinning, he waited until they were close to the zoo's front gate, then pulled out his surprise for the cold elegant beauty beside him. He had bought it at the gift shop while Midorima wasn't looking.
"Midorimacchi! Surprise!" Kise handed her a stuffed panda bear.
Emerald green eyes stared at the stuffed panda bear for a while, before a blush adorned her face. "Th-... Thank you," Midorima stuttered a bit, taking the stuffed panda bear off the blond's hand before she looked away from the blond in embarrassment. "Actually, you don't have to bother with it." She muttered after some moments, still looking away from him.
They stopped at small cafe on the way back to Midorima's house to grab a bite to eat. Once they have arrived at the dark green haired girl's house, Kise stopped right in front of the fence. Chocolate hazel eyes looked sheepishly at the other teen who stared at him expectantly. "Is there something else you need?" Midorima turned her head to look at him in question, only to feel his lips on hers as he put a hand on her cheek and slowly kissed her. He caught her tense hand and gently enclosed it around his. He placed it to his chest, eliciting a light moan from the girl as she parted from him and stared at his chest.
"Good night, Midorimacchi. Thank you for today," He said happily, letting go of her hand and leaving the stunned girl.
Even after the blond had left her, she remained standing right in front of her house fence. The dark green haired girl brought her fingers to her lips and closed her eyes. Really, the model always knows a way to surprise her to no end.
Cerulean eyes watched her brunet friend mixing the huge bowl right in front of her. The frail looking brunet had came again to her house to teach her cooking. Both of them were standing in her kitchen while Tetsumi looked closely at her friend who showed her how to make muffins. The brunet had decided to teach the petite girl to make muffins for the day hence the reason why Tetsumi watched him with so much attention.
Tetsumi mimicked what the brunet had done slowly under Sakurai's watchful eyes. She had managed to create a successful batch; she only hoped she could pull it off by herself now since it was her turn to show Sakurai that she had indeed understood his teaching for the day. She was only about to transfer the blended mixture to the muffin tin near the running oven when the brunet beside her called out for her.
"Kuroko-san... can I ask you something?" The frail brunet asked hesitantly, his large brown eyes looked sheepishly at the petite girl.
"Hm? What is it, Sakurai-kun?" The light blue haired girl looked inquiringly at her friend as she raised one of her eyebrows after she had put the blended mixture into the muffin tin and put it inside the oven.
"About you and Aomine-kun... I think Aomine-kun didn't really mean what he had said to you," Sakurai continued slowly, large brown eyes looked down at the floor which suddenly looked more interesting to him.
Cerulean eyes averted her gaze away from her friend at the sudden question. A forlorn look filled her eyes briefly before she shook her head lightly as if by doing so could make her forget all about her problems. "I know that, Sakurai-kun. Aomine-kun was a hot-headed person after all,"
"If-... If that so... then why are you trying to keep your distance with him, Kuroko-san? I mean, even though you don't avoid him anymore; it was obvious that you were trying to keep him on arm-length so he doesn't get too close to you." Sakurai continued, large brown eyes looked curiously at his cerulean eyed friend. Tetsumi turned to look at her friend inquiringly. She had to admit that the other's question had took her off-guard. After all, it wasn't like Sakurai to ask something so personal like that all of sudden. Though, judging the situation they were currently in; it was understandable if her friend felt curious regarding it.
Sakurai fidgeted under the petite girl's stare as he added a small apology in the end of his words. When he had blurted out that particular question, he had been really curious over it. But as he looked at the girl's expression, somehow Sakurai wasn't sure if he had done a good thing. The light blue haired girl had looked a little troubled after all. Just when Sakurai was about to reassure the petite girl about it, Tetsumi answered his question.
"I just don't want him to get too close anymore, Sakurai-kun. I just don't want him to get hurt..." was the only reply he got from the passive girl before she went quiet and looked away from him. The only indication which told Sakurai that the girl refused to elaborate any further regarding that matter. The brunet could only hope that Tetsumi will get free from whatever it is that had made her restrained herself from getting close to the tanned teen again. After all, it was obvious even to him that the light blue haired girl really cares a lot about the tanned ace.
Authorres' Notes: Thank you for all your reviews in the previous chapter. So, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Anyway, I can't promise that the next update will be as fast as this one since I will be pretty busy for some next months until I get my holiday again. That's why, please be patient for the update. I will try to update as soon as possible though I really can't promise you on that.
Like what I have told you before in the previous chapter, this chapter is mainly focused on Kise and Midorima's relationship progress. I hope you all enjoyed their small date. This chapter started with Aomine who complained at Kise for what he is feeling regarding the sight of Akashi and Tetsumi together, which only tell Kise that Aomine was indeed jealous at the red haired teen. The reason why I particularly choose Kise to be the one Aomine complained to was because I think if he went to Momoi, Momoi will probably lectured him over that or get mad too since this involved Tetsumi going out with another guy. That's why I chose Kise. Besides, I want to write some bonding time between Kise and Aomine which showed that the two of them were indeed friend with each other and Aomine also trust Kise in some point. The two of them were pretty close with how they always practice together in the canon after all. So I want to show how the two of them were close friend although in a different way from Aomine and Momoi's friendship or Aomine and Tetsumi's relationship.
The next chapter we will finally see Hyuuga! It will be Fem!Hyuuga by the way, since I want to write Fem!Hyuuga again after I wrote Love Focus. We will see some interaction between Kise and Tetsumi again. Also how Aomine is going to accept his feeling for Tetsumi slowly by telling her something he had been feeling since she had left him. Well... what do you think of this chapter? The one-shot which featured KagamixFem!Himuro pairing will be delayed for a while since I've been really busy for it. I will still write it though but maybe I won't publish it anytime soon. Anyway, please tell me what you really think of this chapter. Lastly, thank you once again for reading this story of mine. And like what I have stated in every of my stories before, I'm sorry if there are some mistakes and error tenses in this story of mine. Have a nice day~
