Kuroko awoke to the sound of his phone ringing. "Hello?" he answered, still half asleep.

"Good morning, I think?" Kise replied on the other end of the line. "I'm already outside your place so…are you ready to go yet?"

"J-just give me five minutes," Kuroko said scrambling to make himself presentable. A quick glance at the clock showed Kise was early. VERY early. School didn't start for another hour. He wondered if this was the blonde's way of trying to make up for causing them to be late yesterday. He appreciated the gesture, but he really would have liked to sleep in a little more, or at least been warned what time he would get here beforehand so he didn't have to be racing around at the last minute. But there wasn't much he could do about that now.

Kuroko made it outside 10 minutes later to find Kise waiting, thankfully without the fangirls.

"S-sorry. I'm too early aren't I?" Kise apologized. "I wanted to avoid a repeat of yesterday, so I thought if I left early enough I could avoid the fangirls but…" Kise looked at him sheepishly. "I should have warned you I'd come this early. Sorry."

"It's fine," Kuroko said. "I'm actually glad we won't have to deal with them today." Especially two of them in particular…

"R-really? Good! I don't want Kurokocchi to get jealous again." Kuroko tried half-heartily to swat him, But Kise easily evaded the pathetic attempt. "Anyway, ready to go?"

They took a different and rather roundabout way than what Kuroko was used too, presumably to avoid Kise's fangirl mob. While it did take considerably longer than Kuroko's usual route, they still arrived on campus with time to spare.

"Good, they aren't here yet," Kise said. "Momoi has a doctor appointment after school, so we don't have practice today. Want to do something after school since we have time?"

Kuroko nodded. It wasn't like he had any other plans.

"Good. I should probably go now, before the fangirls show up and start bothering you again. Wait for me in the usual place, okay?" He took off before Kuroko could say anything.

I don't know where the usual place is.

Kuroko tried asking his teachers to see if he had any reports due, but none of them knew what he was talking about. The only other incident of note was when he ran into Momoi between classes.

"Tetsu-kun!" she called running over to him. "I know I told you last week, but I just wanted to remind you there's no practice today in case you forgot."

"I know. Kise made sure to remind me this morning."

"Oh." Her face fell. "About Kise…there's something I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Kuroko asked her. It was unusual to see Momoi like this.

"I'll get straight to the point. Do you know who your boyfriend really is?"

Well, that confirms that. "Kise…my boyfriend…who he is..?" He figured he wasn't making much sense, but he couldn't really bring himself to care. He was still trying to make sense of the fact.

"You don't know? You must not have had a bad experience yet," Momoi said. "Listen, I checked for myself, and I think that rumor might be true."

"Rumor?" He really had no idea what she was talking about.

"I thought you already knew! The rumor that he goes out with people like it's a game, and then tosses them aside three months later. He's not someone you should be falling in love with, Tetsu-kun."

Is Kise really like that? He probably could afford to be, considering the size of his fanclub. And rumors usually have at least some truth to them. If so then…

Momoi noticed Kuroko's face fall, and tried end on a more positive note. "Anyway, it's none of my business. I trust you know what you're getting yourself into. But that doesn't mean I won't worry about you. I'd like to talk more, but I have to get to class. I'll catch you later."

"Thank you for telling me."

"Of course. You're my friend." And with that, she took off for her next class, and Kuroko did likewise.

After school, Kuroko waited outside his locker. He wasn't really sure where he was supposed to meet Kise. He waited for what felt like forever, but there was no sign of him. When Kuroko was about ready to give up and head home, Kise called his phone.

"Kurokocchi, where are you? I'm already here, and I don't see you anywhere."

"Sorry. I'm still by my locker."

"What? Why?"

"Um…"

"I'm heading there now. Wait for me."

"Okay."

Kise arrived a few minutes later. "What's going on? You've been acting really weird since yesterday. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"N-no-"

"Yesterday when you asked me to walk you to school, I was more happy than anything, so I didn't ask. But that's not something you'd normally ask for, is it?" Kise said. "You know, you could trust me a little more. I am your boyfriend, after all."

This sounds almost exactly like what Aomine said…but I don't know which one of them is really my boyfriend. Maybe neither of them are. Kagami said something about it possibly not being the real world…

"You're awfully quiet. What's wrong?" Kise questioned.

"No, it's nothing."

"Okay. Then let's go."

When they got to the park, they noticed a disturbing sight. There were three kids trying to play on the basketball court, but they were being harassed by a group of street thugs.

"Come on, you've had enough," the bullies' ringleader said. "Give someone else a turn."

"But we just got here," the children protested. "Wait your turn."

"OUR turn? Why don't we settle this with some basketball."

"Who are those thugs?" Kise asked.

Kuroko watched them play for a while. There were more bullies than there were kids. It was hardly a fair fight. This feels familiar somehow. When one of them tried to complain, the bullies simply threw them to the ground and laughed.

Kuroko couldn't take it anymore. "There's nothing fair about this," he said walking over to the bullies. "This isn't basketball. Basketball doesn't use violence."

They laughed. "Fine then. We'll play you instead."

"Mind if I play too?" Kise said coming up behind Kuroko. "Five on two should still be in your favor, even if we are closer to your age."

The bullies started with the ball, but somehow Kuroko quickly got it away from them and towards Kise, who easily made a basket. The game pretty much continued to follow that pattern. It was obvious the bullies didn't have much experience at basketball. Why do I have this sense of déjà vu?

Eventually, the two of them were one basket away from winning. The bullies hadn't even scored. "You're shooting is sloppy," Kise told them. "You shoot…like this." The ball landed effortlessly in the basket, winning them the game.

This…this is the same as that memory I had during practice. It wasn't mixed up like it was with Aomine or non-existent like it was with Midorima. Maybe this really is the real world?

The bullies took off. "Cowards," Kise commented. "Here," he told the kids, "you can have your ball back."

"Thank you so much," the kids chorused. "You two were so cool!"

"Not really…" Kise said, slightly embarrassed.

Just then, a girl around their age made their way over to Kise. "I was watching the whole thing," she told him. "You were amazing. I like you. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Kise looked shocked for a second, but it quickly switched to something akin to anger. He looked like he was going to yell at the girl, and Kuroko tried to intervene.

"Kise," he said grabbing his hand. "It's getting late. We should go home." He jerked his head in the direction of the children, hoping Kise would get the message that he shouldn't start anything in front of them. The three kids were all currently watching them with wide eyes.

Thankfully Kise took the hint, and his face returned to a more neutral expression. "You're right. We should go home," he told Kuroko starting to walk away. "And I'm taken," he called back to the girl.

Kuroko followed Kise, leaving the girl to gape like a fish.

"Sorry," Kise apologized once they were in front of Kuroko's house. "I should have controlled my emotions better back there. I know you have a soft spot for kids."

"I'm just glad you took the hint."

"Still, it wasn't much of a date, was it? I'll make it up to you though," Kise said, invading Kuroko's personal space. Kuroko wanted to back up, but as he was already backed against his door there wasn't really anywhere else for him to go. "You know, it's hard to kiss you with your eyes open. Do you not want me to?" Kise asked, voice slightly hurt.

"Um…"

"I won't if you don't want me to. But do you really not want me as your boyfriend? Was I deluding myself into thinking that you had come to love me?" Kise's asked.

"I…"

"Close your eyes. I'm not going to hurt you, Kurokocchi." Kise begged.

Kuroko couldn't. Momoi's words were playing over and over in his head. Could he really trust Kise? Or was the blonde just using him for temporary entertainment?

"You still won't," Kise said sadly. "I just can't seem to make you fall for me."

"P-please stop," Kuroko pleaded.

"I don't know why I thought it would work this time. I guess I'm not used to having to try so hard."

"Huh?"

"You're the first person I've dated who hasn't been head over heels in love with me. But I'm going to change that. I will win over your heart, Kurokocchi. I won't admit defeat."

So he has dated lots of other people before. But I guess I really shouldn't be surprised…

"Anyway it's late and I need to get home. Good night, Kurokocchi."

"Goodnight," Kuroko replied as Kise left towards his own house. But just before Kise left his range of hearing, Kuroko heard him say something that made his blood freeze:

"One more month."

It's true… His phone went off before he could further process that thought. It was the same message he had gotten earlier: What's up with your daily report?

Again…who is this? Kuroko went inside his house. It was late, and there was no point worrying over things he couldn't control. He decided to get some sleep.

A few days later Kuroko decided to go for a walk since he didn't have school. He hoped it would clear his head and allow him to think. But as he was walking, he spotted Midorima and Kise. And it looked like they were arguing.

"I didn't think it would be you, Midorimacchi."

"It's been awhile, Kise."

"So it's finally come to this."

"It's a shame, really. If you want to beg for mercy, now's your chance," Midorima declared. "I've created the ultimate weapon to finish you off."

"Do you really think you can defeat me?" Kise taunted.

"Parting is such sweet sorrow, but I'm afraid this is the end for you."

"I'll take you down," Kise said.

"Take this!" Midorima said, reaching in his backpack for something Kuroko couldn't see.

He's not going to SHOOT him, is he!? "Please stop!" Kuroko cried, running between the two of them. Unfortunately, he slipped and fell on his face.

"Sorry," Kise apologized after the three of them had gone to Kise's place to patch up Kuroko's face. "I didn't know you were there. I never expected you to jump in. You really fell spectacularly though." Kuroko made another mock swat at him, which Kise easily dodged. "Sorry. Does it still hurt?"

"No, it feels much better thanks to Midorima."

"That's good, although I still can't believe you thought I was going to shoot Kise." Midorima said. "I perfected a new basketball technique that I wanted to try out but…"

"It doesn't matter anyway," Kise said. "Mine new secret move is good enough to pound yours into the dust."

"So you two were just talking about basketball?" Kuroko asked. He felt stupid.

"Of course," Midorima said, pulling the basketball out of his bag. "What else would we have been talking about?"

Kuroko wanted to crawl into a hole and die of humiliation.

"Um, I'll go get drinks since I dragged you both here," Kise said, noticing the awkward atmosphere. "Even though my place was the closest, that's no excuse not to be a god host. I'll be back in a minute." He headed into the kitchen.

"Is this your first time seeing Kise's place?" Midorima asked when the blonde had left.

"Um…" Kuroko didn't remember ever being here before, but then again, he didn't remember a lot of things. He didn't think there was a safe answer to this question. What if he guessed wrong? Surely they'd know something was wrong with him.

"So you haven't been here before. That's unusual. Up until now, Kise has always broken up with his girlfriend after three months for some reason-"

So what Momoi said was true… Kuroko felt his heart sink.

"-but I think you're different from the rest of them. You don't seem to be blindly in love with him them like the rest were. I've never seen Kise work so hard at a relationship with anyone else. To think it's possible there's someone that even Kise can't win over…"

"Don't say that," Kise said, coming back in with drinks. "I still have a few weeks left to make him fall in love with me."

A few weeks until it's been three months? But why does he always break up after three months anyway?

"I should be heading home," Midorima declared after an hour or so had passed.

"Alright. But next time, I am going to crush you with my new skill," Kise taunted.

"We'll see about that," Midorima said before exiting.

"Want me to walk you home, Kurokocchi?" Kise asked after Midorima had left. "Or would you rather spend the night here?"

Author's note: Cliffhanger!...kind of. This chapter was really long. Akashi makes a brief appearance next chapter, so that's something to look forward too. It should be out in a week. Until then, review!