Sorry it took me a while to get this chapter out! I am, as I've said before, review powered, so when I only got a few (VERY enthusiastic, thank you) reviews for chapter 20, I was a little discouraged (I was SO SURE you guys would love it!). The reviews have slowly come in however, so thank you to all of you who wrote. This chapter is a change of pace, so sorry to those who will be disappointed by that. I hope you enjoy it regardless.
P.S. Telling me what you like about the story is even more helpful than telling me that you like it! Thanks again for the reviews!
"Excuse me, Midorima-kun." A girl from first year called out tentatively from the doorway. She was blushing prettily, and everyone in the class, who had been getting ready to go home, turned to stare at her; a girl calling Midorima out was unheard of. "Kise Ryouta-kun is waiting for you at the front gates." Ah, of course, that explains it, Midorima acknowledged. The girls in his class squealed in excitement, and pushed past the messenger in their haste to get close to the model. Midorima was left glancing around in astonishment; people were always so strange when it came to Kise.
"Are you alright?" Kuroko asked the girl, materializing directly in front of her and making her scream in fright. Midorima sighed. Kuroko hadn't even been trying.
"Um, yes," she replied, clearly off balance.
"Thank you," Midorima said solemnly, as he picked up his iron and book bag and headed for the door. Kuroko appeared beside him, and Takao caught up moments later.
"So mean, Shin-chan! You could have waited!" Midorima ignored that, and kept walking. Finding Kise was always so easy because he was inevitably surrounded by a hoard of girls; nothing had changed there.
"Kurokocchi! Midorimacchi! Takao!" Kise called out with a cheery wave, spotting them from the midst of his entourage. The model glanced at his fans, and with practiced skill got them to disperse. With basketball practice cancelled due to mid-terms, they had planned to study together, but Midorima had the uncanny suspicion that their plans were about to be high-jacked.
"We could pretend we didn't hear him," Kuroko suggested quietly to Midorima. Despite the fact that Takao was already waving back happily, Midorima considered the option with care.
"It's tempting," he agreed, although neither of them had slowed their steps.
"Kurokocchi!" Kise exclaimed as they approached, hugging the bluenette tightly.
"I can't breathe, Kise-kun," Kuroko said, giving Kise a mere second to fix that before using an Ignite Pass on him.
"That hurt!" Kise wailed. "I've missed you, Kurokocchi!"
"We just saw each other on the weekend." Kuroko's voice sounded normal, but his face was crimson. What happened? Midorima wondered, glancing between the two, and noticing the faint tint on Kise's cheeks. Midorima had been so preoccupied with his parents' divorce and moving into Akashi's condo that he hadn't noticed any developments between Kuroko and Kise. Well, he may not have realized regardless, it wasn't one of his strengths.
"What are you doing at Shutoku, Kise?" Takao asked, breaking the tension.
"Ah! I came to get Midorimacchi!" Midorima froze, overcome by a sense of dread. There was only one thing he and Kise did together, and that was...
"Why?" He asked, hoping, for once, that he was wrong.
"Eh? I found a great new manicurist-" Kise babbled happily, apparently unaware of the way the blood drained from Midorima's face at the words.
"No!" Midorima interrupted forcefully. Takao and Kuroko both stared at him in shock. It was unlike him to be so vehement in his responses, so their reaction wasn't a surprise, but they didn't understand.
"Eh?" Kise asked, looking innocently puzzled. "But Midorimacchi, your nails looked so good last time we went for a manicure together!"
"They did not!" Midorima denied. Just the memory of that was too much.
"They were super cute!" Kise insisted.
"She drew carrots on my nails, Kise! Carrots!" Those words sent Takao into a fit of laughter, and Kuroko seemed to actually be shaking with the effort not to join in, but Midorima was too focused on stopping Kise to deal with those two.
"That's because with your green hair and orange jersey-"
"Don't say it, Kise!"
"You look like a carrot!" Takao finished the sentence for the blond, roaring with laughter. "Finally, someone gets it!"
"I do not!" Midorima objected, feeling himself blush in embarrassment. Kuroko seemed to have gotten ahold of himself, but anyone familiar with him could see the suppressed amusement in his eyes. Takao, on the other hand, had simply collapsed to the floor laughing.
"This one won't draw carrots, Midorimacchi!" Kise assured him, as if that would make everything alright.
"I don't want anything drawn on my nails, Kise!" Midorima dug his heels in, determined.
"Don't be like that, Midorimacchi!" Kise easily dismissed Midorima's objections and grabbed his hand. "Let's go!"
"Have a nice time, Midorima-kun," Kuroko said blandly, causing Midorima to snap his head around and stare at Kuroko in outrage.
"Kuroko!" Midorima protested. Why is it so hard to hold my ground with these guys? Midorima thought, already anticipating how this would end.
"I've already booked our appointments, so we've got to hurry." Appointments? Midorima wondered uneasily. Kise must be referring to two manicures, not any other sort of appointments. Right?
"Have fun, Shin-chan!" Takao added, wiping tears from his eyes. Kise towed Midorima along for more than a block before trusting the greenette to walk by himself. They moved quickly to avoid letting Kise's fans swarm, although Midorima let Kise choose the path; he had no idea where they were going, after all.
"I heard Midorimacchi is living in the same building as Kurokocchi," Kise eventually commented, without looking at him. Midorima frowned.
"Akashi owns the penthouse," he explained. "Since my parents are getting a divorce, he offered to let me stay." Kise chuckled slightly, but it lacked the blond's trademark energy.
"Yeah, Kurokocchi was pretty worked up when he found out that Akashicch and Murasakibaracchi could have had their own rooms upstairs instead of staying with him all the time." Midorima thought that was a perfectly reasonable response. Before he could say as much, though, Kise swung around to face him, meeting his eyes squarely. "I kissed Kuroko." Midorima froze at the words, his heart racing as he imagined himself capturing the bluenette's beautiful lips.
"...How did it happen?" He asked, a little hoarse.
"I gave him a back rub, and..." Midorima idly wondered if he should have taken advantage of all the leg massages he had given Kuroko and kissed his way up those flawed, beautiful legs.
"You don't need to tell me this," he said instead.
"We're sharing, so I won't hide," Kise disagreed. "This won't work if we can't be honest amongst ourselves."
"...That's not one of my strengths," Midorima finally admitted, causing Kise to choke.
"You aren't good at hiding things," Kise assured him, as though that was a good thing. "We know you." And those words were a strange sort of balm to Midorima; to be known and accepted anyway was not a small thing.
Akashi faced Ogiwara, the last conversation they had had, just before the championship game in middle school, echoing loudly in the empty school corridor. Akashi had heard that Ogiwara stayed late after kendo practice, and had timed his arrival accordingly. With Ogiwara now living in Kyoto, it was inevitable that Kuroko would be spending a lot of time with the brunette in two months time, so it was best to make amends now.
"I wanted to apologize," Akashi said, taking the initiative. "What I said before, what I did as captain, was.. uncalled for."
"Yes, it was," Ogiwara agreed, obviously disinclined to make things easier on Akashi. Well, Akashi had expected that.
"You don't think you have a reason to forgive me," Akashi continued, "but you're wrong." Ogiwara frowned at him. "You need to forgive me, and the others, for Kuroko's sake."
"How so?"
"Kuroko blamed us, at first, for what happened, but I convinced him that it was as much his fault as ours." Ogiwara's face darkened at that admission, and Akashi didn't blame him. Not, of course, that he would allow his regret to show. "He had not argued when we toyed with other teams, although it bothered him, which I felt meant that he did not have the right to complain when we toyed with yours."
"That's not true!" Ogiwara snapped instantly. "You really don't know anything, do you?"
"Oh?" Akashi replied, raising an eyebrow. People had accused Akashi of a lot of things in his life, but that was a new one. Of course, other people had survival instincts. "Enlighten me."
"I was his first friend! Until he met you guys, I was his only friend!" Akashi had suspected as much, but it was good to have confirmation. "Of course he didn't want to loose his first group of friends! Anyone would be scared under those circumstances! It's not his fault! Even at the time, I knew it wasn't his fault!" The brunette was getting agitated defending Kuroko, something Akashi took note of for future reference.
"I agree," Akashi interjected smoothly, cutting off Ogiwara's rant, "but Kuroko can be stubborn, and now that I put that idea in his head, it's quite difficult to convince him otherwise. As long as you suffer, he will too." Ogiwara stared at him in silence for a long moment.
"Why did you do it?" The brunette finally asked. Akashi had been expecting the question.
"We were... bored," Akashi acknowledged. "In most games we competed amongst ourselves for points, but even that was loosing its' appeal." Ogiwara grimaced at that, but never took his eyes off Akashi's.
"That's not all of it, is it? Is it because Kuroko and I were friends?" Ogiwara sounded almost guilty saying that, and it was Akashi's turn to fall silent. Given Kuroko's profound affection for both Aomine and Kagami, Akashi had long since accepted that Kuroko had a soft spot for stupid guys; it made Ogiwara's perception all the more surprising.
"Is that all you wanted to be?" Akashi asked, stalling. "Friends?" Colour rose in Ogiwara's cheeks, answering the question for him.
"What about you?" Ogiwara snapped defiantly. "How do you look at Kuroko?" Yes, Akashi mused, Ogiwara clearly has underdeveloped survival instincts.
"When I realized he wasn't safe at home, I got him out of there," Akashi replied sharply, disinclined to let Ogiwara speak to him like that. The way Ogiwara froze told Akashi everything he needed to know about that topic. "So you knew something was wrong."
"No, I..." Guilt clouded his features. "I didn't know."
"You suspected," Akashi said, and the words fell like the accusation they were.
"I... yes, I suspected. Kuroko never told me anything, I just... I got the impression that he played streetball because it was cheap - free, really, since I always brought the ball - and the longer he practiced, the less he was home."
"But you didn't do anything to help him," Akashi pointed out ruthlessly, "and you threw Kuroko away." He realized then that Ogiwara was not the only one struggling with forgiveness, because throwing Kuroko away was something he really couldn't forgive.
"So did you! How do you think he felt on a team that never passed?"
"He was still on the team," Akashi felt his temper stir. How could people not understand something so simple? Akashi had his choice of over one hundred players, but even though other players were technically stronger than Kuroko, even though they might have gained more points with someone else on the court, Kuroko was too important to them to be removed. "We never threw him away."
"What kind of apology is this?!" Ogiwara burst out. "What right do you have to tell me what I should have done?!"
"I was considering asking you to join us next weekend, since we often gather to play streetball," Akashi answered, forcing his temper back, and keeping his voice mild, "but I'd like to know what sort of person you are before I include you." Ogiwara stared at him slack-jawed.
"You want me to play with you? Who is playing?"
"The six of us often gather, although Kagami from Seirin and Takao from Shutoku occasionally join us," Akashi explained.
"The six of us meaning the Generation of Miracles and Kuroko?" Akashi frowned at Ogiwara's phrasing.
"Kuroko is one of us."
"That's not what most people think." Akashi shrugged, honestly unconcerned with what other people thought. "That's not what Kuroko thinks, either." That made Akashi pause, because that did matter.
"We play full length three-on-three games," Akashi informed him, setting aside Kuroko's misconception for another time, since Ogiwara seemed to be considering his offer.
"That... would be exhausting." Akashi nodded.
"I would like Kuroko to be able to take more breaks, but we need a seventh player for that." Ogiwara stared at him, apparently suspecting a that there was trap somewhere in there.
"Why did you crush my team?" Ogiwara asked again. Akashi gazed at him, realizing that Ogiwara would not agree to play with them without the full answer. Knowing what it would mean to Kuroko to have Ogiwara join them, Akashi forced himself to swallow his pride.
"I was jealous," Akashi admitted with feigned nonchalance, watching Ogiwara jerk in surprise at the admission. "When he realized that we would be facing you in the finals, he asked to start," Akashi told Ogiwara; not sure if he would understand the importance of that statement, Akashi continued, "it was the first time, in the two years that he had played with us, that he made such a request." Ogiwara's face softened. "I'd never seen him so excited. I knew about your promise, and I wasn't willing to watch you take him away. You hold a place in his heart so easily."
"Kuroko doesn't know that you like him," Ogiwara commented.
"I know," Akashi replied. "I'll probably confess next weekend. There are a few things I need talk about with him."
"You just..." Ogiwara seemed nonplussed by Akashi's casual admission. Akashi smiled.
"You have crumbs on your cheek," he added, turning and heading out the way he came.