Author's note: Thank you so much for the reviews I got! I'm happy this story was able to brighten your day a little. I seriously considered naming this chapter page break city because there are so many page breaks in here. I wish I could have figured out how to reduce their number a little. I hope you enjoy the chapter regardless.

"I…um…uh…" Kuroko could literally feel his face heat up.

"I-it doesn't have to be like that…" Kise said holding his hands up. "I can sleep on the floor. I'm not that desperate. If you tell me not to do anything, I won't."

"That's…um…uh…"

A hurt look crossed over Kise's face, but it was replaced by laughter so quickly that Kuroko wondered if he had imagined it. "I'm joking. You can stop worrying now. I'll walk you home."

When he got home, Kuroko once again tried recording the day's events in the journal. Even though that hadn't worked so well last time, he felt like he needed to try something. He was distracted from his writing by the now familiar text: What's up with your daily report?

This text again? What do they mean by daily report? Kuroko once again decided to ignore it. Hopefully it was just someone pranking him.

A few days later, Kuroko's arrival at school was a bit out of the ordinary. Some girl was talking to Kise, but she quickly fled in a flurry of tears, almost knocking Kuroko over in her flight. He was too far away from where the conversation took place to hear what was said. He hesitantly approached Kise, who was standing against the side of the building with his hand curled in a fist. He looked pissed.

"Kise…" Kuroko tried.

"Oh, Kurokocchi." Kise's face softened, although his voice still lacked its usual cheerfulness. "Good morning."

"Did something happen?" Kuroko asked.

"Why is it girls never hesitate to try and steal me, even when they know I'm taken?" Any warmth Kise's face had regained was now gone. "They always say things like 'I'm more fun' in a way that's only half joking. Sometimes, I think I really might hate girls." His tone took on a dark expression.

"Kise…?" This was not the same overly cheerful and energetic blonde that Kuroko knew. He was starting to become worried.

"Sorry," Kise said, his face quickly changing back to one Kuroko was more familiar with. "I was just wondering why I can't understand how girls think." His voice had regained its usual tone as well.

It sounded a lot more serious than that…I'm actually kind of worried about him.

"I wish I knew what you were thinking too…" Kise said, his tone losing some of its luster again.

The five minute warning bell sounded before Kuroko could reply, and the two of them quickly scrambled towards their classes.

On his way home from school, Kuroko ran into the short red haired male again.

"Good evening," they called out to him. "It's nice to meet you. Or, is it nice to see you again?" They paused for a moment. "You're going out with Kise Ryouta here, right? Then let me warn you: Be careful not to make any enemies."

What does he mean? And how does he know all this?

"Sorry for holding you up," the stranger said. "I'll leave you now." They headed down the other side of the street.

Some days later Kuroko was home with a cold. He was woken by his phone.

"Hello?" Kuroko answered.

"What happened? What's this about you being out sick?" Kise asked from the other end of the line.

"I haven't felt well all day," Kuroko answered. He rally just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Are you okay?"

"I have a headache."

"I'm coming over right after school. Go back to bed for now. You sound like you need your rest.

"Okay," Kuroko replied, and did just that.

"I brought you some medicine and stuff," Kise said when he arrived.

"Don't you have practice?" Kuroko asked looking at the clock.

"I skipped. It would have taken me forever to get here if I had to deal with the fangirls. Since they know I have practice, skipping it seemed like a good way to avoid them."

"Oh…"

"Are you feeling okay?" Kise asked, placing his hand on Kuroko's forehead for a moment. "You don't feel too hot, but we should probably take your temperature just in case. I'm glad you're doing better than I thought, though."

"Yeah."

"You haven't eaten all day right? I'll make you something. What do you think you can keep down? You can be as demanding or selfish as you want."

"Thank you," Kuroko said.

"If you happen to fall in love me, that'd be all the thanks I'd need," Kise teased, before heading into the kitchen.

Kuroko woke up the next day to a text message from Kise.

Good morning. I hope your fever is down today. I thought you might still be sick, so I made breakfast yesterday too. It's in the fridge. Eat it if your stomach isn't upset.

He seems like a nice guy Kuroko thought. But then there' that rumor…I wonder which is the real Kise?

Kuroko returned to school a day later.

"We're starting practice now," Momoi told all of them. "And Tetsu-kun, since you caught a fever despite me constantly telling all of you to take care of yourselves, you get to do extra warm-ups."

"O-okay…" Has she always been like this?

"But before we warm up, I want to remind you all about the trip," Momoi continued.

"Trip?" Kuroko asked.

"It will be a three day – two night island stay," Momoi said. "I thought it would be good for everyone to relax a little before we gear up for our next game."

Uh oh. This sounds familiar…

Momoi had the others do a scrimmage while Kuroko was doing his extra warmups on the other side of the gym. He got about hallway through them when Momoi came up to talk to him.

"The real reason why I had you do these extra warmups is because I wanted a chance to talk to you alone," Momoi said. "After I booked the trip, Kise's fangirls made reservations there also. You should prepare yourself."

"Thanks for the warning," Kuroko said. He was not looking forward to this.

"Also…Sorry about before. About saying those things about Kise, I mean. I was being nosy."

"No, I'm glad you told me," Kuroko said.

"I was just concerned. You used to say you hated Kise so much that you could barely stand playing on a team together. Then you joined the official Kise fanclub all of the sudden-"

"What!?"

"Shhh, they'll hear us. You forgot? He has so many fangirls that he has an official school club devoted to him."

Kise has an OFFICIAL fanclub? This was shortly followed by an even more disturbing thought. And I JOINED it!?

"You said you joined because there was something you wanted to find out," Momoi continued. "But when I heard the two of you were going out, I was really shocked."

What did I want to find out? Kuroko wondered. And why would I date someone I hate?

"Sorry," Momoi said, taking his silence the wrong way. "I just apologized for being nosy, and now I'm doing it again. I'm really sorry."

"I'm not mad," Kuroko told her.

"Listen, if anything happens, you can talk to me, okay? I'm worried about what his fangirl mob could do to you. I actually almost canceled the trip once I found out they'd be there."

"I'll make sure to avoid them as much as possible," Kuroko assured her. "And thank you for the offer."

"No problem. Now, go practice with the others. You've done enough warmups."

That night Kuroko thought about the day's events. He couldn't help but think back to the two girls that cornered him by the mailbox. They're with Kise's fangirls…So they're probably part of the fanclub. I wonder if the promise I broke has anything to do with that? He lost his train of thought when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kurokocchi. I need you to talk about something. Anything. I might die if I don't hear your voice. I'm serious."

"Kise…what's wrong with you?" His voice didn't sound normal. If Kuroko had to guess, he'd say he sounded drunk. "Have you been drinking?"

"Yeah, but I'm fine. I always want to talk to someone when I'm drunk." Kuroko could vaguely hear what sounded like drunken laughter. "Didn't I call you once before like this too? It really drove you up the wall." More drunken laughter followed, much louder this time. "Just talk about something. Anything. I want to hear your voice."

"..Are you all right?" Kuroko asked instead. He wondered if he should call someone, but he didn't know who.

"I told you, I'm fine. I walked all the way here by myself."

HERE!? Kuroko looked out at window, and sure enough, Kise was outside. "What are you doing here?" Kuroko asked him. Now he definitely wanted to call someone. Maybe the police.

"I'm like a stalker," Kise said, meeting his gaze through the window. His face had a sad expression "Sorry."

Yep, time to call the police. Kagami was right after all. He went to move away from the window.

"Wait!" Kise said. "Just listen from there. There's always been something heavy in my heart, making me suffer. But when I hear your voice or see your face, that something starts to melt." His face took on a very soft expression. "And then I'm okay." He paused for a moment. "A girl confessed her love for me again today. I rejected her and made her cry. But seeing her tears didn't make me feel guilt or pity. Just heavy. I thought, 'I want this to be over. I want to see Kurokocchi.' It's terrible, right? But I know that I'll never be able to escape from this fate. That's why I decided it was easier to go along with it and have fun with girls. But in the end, that didn't go well either." He paused again. "You're different. You've always been different."

"How am I different?" Kuroko asked.

"Because you're the one person I actually want to love me…and yet the only one I can't seem to affect. That's why you're special." He was silent for a moment. "Thanks for listening to me. I'm really glad I got to talk to you."

"No, it's…"

"It's late. You should go to bed. You don't want your cold to come back because your body is stressed. I'll leave now. Goodnight." The line went dead. Kise started to leave.

Kuroko threw the window open. "Kise…Goodnight."

The blonde turned to give him a small smile before continuing on his way.

Author's note: Next chapter should be up in a week. We're getting near the end of this pairing. Any guesses for which one is next? Speculate in your reviews.