Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke is written and illustrated by Tadatoshi Fujimaki, published by Shueisha. Nothing belongs to me, but my fanfics and OCs are mine.

Possible Genres: Romance, Drama, Action, Shoujo, Crime, Girls with Guns…

Note to self: Chapter 21 was uploaded on December 8, 2013

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Texting

Chapter 21: I'll Be One Of Your Best Friends!

This month's round will have to cancel. Recently, suspicions are rising within the police force. Bullets, leave all of your guns behind for your own safety. Standby and be prepared when we resume the second round next month. It was a text message from their boss.

Right away, Seki deleted her text after reading it and closed her dark green cell phone. Today was the second day of May and Seki was spending her afternoon with Yamauchi in the same jewelry store. Koizumi was working here today too, but she had gone to the bathroom while another girl was working at the cashier register. Yamauchi was poking at the single white-feathered necklace. She smiled at the item and then Seki pushed up her glasses. "Yamauchi, check your phone," she told her.

Yamauchi looked at her quickly, "Eh?" Seki just shook her head and Yamauchi took her blue cell phone out from her sky blue purse. But then it vibrated and she saw it was from Kagami. She smiled and answered it quickly, "Hello, Kagami?" Heaving a sigh, Seki's eyes turned to the necklace Yamauchi was touching before.

"Uh…" Kagami uttered from the other side of the call. Yamauchi smiled wider and walked her right slowly. "I heard from Kuroko that Aomine seemed interested in a friend of yours."

"Oh, ahaha," Yamauchi beamed happily. "Really…? I wonder who?"

"Aomine didn't say. But it seems like a fake rumor to me, so I'm not sure."

Giggling, Yamauchi happily requested, "Go ask him then. Don't worry, it'll be our secret!"

Seki was still staring at the feathered necklace. She folded her arms to her chest as Yamauchi was chatting away from the phone with Kagami. Her eyes were emotionless and she waited for her friend to be done. 'I hope she's not forgetting how important it is to be a Bullet,' Seki thought to herself. She was worried for Yamauchi because her friend seemed too into her life outside of 'work'. But that was not the only thing that ran through Seki's mind.

"Kagami-kun, please?" Yamauchi politely pleaded. She was very interested, even if she had not seen Aomine before. The idea of his friend being interested in her friend made her excited. "Maybe you can even ask one of Aomine's close friends?"

Kagami snorted, "Sure, I'll try. But I doubt Aomine would even tell Momoi himself."

"Take your time," Yamauchi nodded to herself. "…Oh, are you going to come and see us again during summer vacation?"

"Oh, Kise said something about that," Kagami seemed to just recall. "Where are we going to meet again?"

"It wasn't decided yet."

Kagami quickly said, "Sure, I'll be there. I think Momoi wanted to go too, so Kuroko would probably come along."

"That's good to hear!" Yamauchi smiled, blushing a bit. "…Do you remember we're going to play Spin the Bottle?" There was a long pause and Yamauchi blinked a couple of times. "…Kagami-kun?"

"Ah, crap!" he sighed heavily. "I completely forgot about that!"

Yamauchi giggled. She knew he had forgotten. "Then you don't have to come," she blushed, feeling timid. But she did want him to come. She wanted to see his face again, even though she did not wish to lose her first kiss in such a game. 'Oh,' that just gave her an idea.

Kagami mumbled a few words shyly before clearly saying, "Uh… yeah… I'll come. I already sort of… promised just now."

"Okay!" Yamauchi smiled widely, her heart beating. The two of them had a long silence and she closed her eyes with a blush. "Kagami-kun… have you ever kissed anyone before?"

The phone ruffled and dropped on the floor loudly. Yamauchi slightly moved the phone away and nervously waited until he was ready to answer. The phone moved around and she could hear his voice stuttering. "I—Uh, well…" he started to fake a cough and she pressed the phone to her ear again.

Seki glanced over to them, noticing Yamauchi was in her own world. It sounded like Yamauchi was waiting for Kagami to answer her and Seki slowly walked over to them quietly and curiously.

"…No," Kagami replied, his voice calming down. "I never… kissed anyone…"

"Heh," Yamauchi smiled faintly. Her face felt even warmer. Then she whispered, "Kagami-kun… I… um… can we kiss over the phone?" Again, the phone dropped on his end as Yamauchi blushed really hard. She covered half of her warm face with her hand with embarrassment.

\o~o/

Kagami picked up his phone from the ground with a shameful frown. He was in his bedroom, doing homework at his desk. When he put his phone to his left ear, he could not utter a single word. She was waiting for him, so he had to say something. …Something! Moving his right arm up on the desk, his mouth buried into his palm. 'Aren't we moving too fast?' he asked himself, trying hard not to be blunt. But he really wanted to say it. What were her thoughts about all of this?

The two of them were only talking on the phone for two weeks. He made attempt to call her regularly since he had her number. She even called him herself every now and then. While he talked about basketball, she responded she went to study them a bit and shared his interest. Sounded like she was trying hard to get to know him. But she never talked about what she liked, even if he tried to hint it.

"Um," Kagami's eyelids lowered a bit.

Yamauchi then spoke, "I like my first kiss to be with you…" She laughed uneasily for a second. "Even though it's virtually, but…"

He blushed and could not find his words. Not a single one again. Becoming frustrated with himself, he found himself asking, "Do you… like me?" His eyes widened and he greatly regretted asking. She was very quiet and it was killing him. Smiling a bit, he told her, "Yeah… we'll kiss… virtually…"

She giggled quietly, "Okay. On count to three…?"

Kagami prepared himself mentally, "Yeah." His hand ran through is hair.

"…One… two…" Saying 'three' in his head, Kagami pressed his lips to the mic of his phone. But soon Yamauchi surprisingly cried, "Seki-chan?"

\o~o/

Seki had taken the phone into her hand and frowned to Yamauchi's pouting lips. "Kagami, sorry, give me a second," Seki hung up on him. Before Yamauchi could ask what was wrong, Seki quickly said, "You have a text message from work. Hurry and read it first."

"Oh?" Yamauchi blinked. Seki handed her phone back and she took it. While she was looking up her text messages, Seki looked away and sighed heavily. "I see," Yamauchi deleted the message and closed her phone. She smiled nervously and seemed worried because Seki seemed upset. "Seki-chan, sorry about that." Yamauchi understood Seki took her work seriously and with pride, so she was not angry with her friend.

"No, it's fine," Seki pushed up her glasses, turning away. "I'm going to head home now. Don't be here for too long."

Yamauchi followed her closely and smiled, "No, we'll walk home together!"

Seki did not look to her and they both exited the store. "…I'm sorry, but I need to be alone, Yamauchi," Seki said, walking to the left and hurrying.

"Ah, Seki-chan?" Yamauchi blinked, taking a few steps. But Seki waved and continued at the same pace. "Okay then…"

Heading to the corner, Seki kept on walking fast. 'I keep forgetting how it feels like to be hurt when I like someone,' Seki thought to herself. Gripping on her black bag on her shoulder, she ran faster.

She never told anyone she liked anybody before. And most of them were always girls that she took interest in. No one would care about Seki's feelings, even if she confessed. Because she was girl who liked a girl. No one ever cared about that. Even if Seki ended up feeling damaged because of her unrequited love, she would be fine sooner or later. '…But it really hurts,' she told herself, slowing down to drag her feet. If she told Yamauchi her feelings, it might only make her friend feel awkward.

After a short time, Seki stopped herself the moment she almost bumped into someone. She backed away and fixed her expression, looking up to apologize. "Sorry," she did not look at him long. All she saw was his short black hair, shaded with green, and some bangs were over above his right eye. Seki hurried to pick up her pace again and merely wanted to head back home.

Little did she know he was a former teammate of Kise, Moriyama Yoshitaka. He was actually watching her run off, sensing she was very upset about something. So he shouted, "You want to go out for ice cream?" But she kept running and he blinked. Not that she was cute, but seeing a girl with a troubled face worried him.

Moriyama finally turned around and resumed walking. He was just taking a walk and maybe run into cute girls and have them fall for him. His mind ran wild with the idea and he just never got tired of doing the same thing every other day.

Time passed and Moriyama suddenly caught sight of Kise inside a jewelry store. "Hm?" Moriyama quickly walked to the window. Kise was bothering a young girl with red-ish brown hair and she appeared to be very bothered. And Moriyama could hear Kise whining too. 'What is he doing now?' Moriyama thought, walking to the door.

The moment he opened it, Kise cried, "But Tomimura doesn't want me to bother her anymore! Please tell her how much I miss her!"

With a frown, Koizumi pointed her needle close to his eyes. Kise backed away quickly and she said, "You're banned from coming here on Saturdays, Kise." She only worked part time on this day and she hated how he showed up to trouble her with his pain.

"Koizumi!" Kise whined, rubbing his face in frustration. She went back to sewing, failing to notice a new customer arrived.

"Kise, what's wrong?"

The blonde blinked, flinching. He smiled brightly and turned around to see Moriyama right in front of him. "Senpai! You have to help me!" Kise exclaimed, tugging Moriyama's sleeve.

"If you introduce me to girls, then I will," Moriyama nodded, staring blankly. What was getting Kise so worked up about?

Koizumi then spoke, "Kise just got back from two mixers and I don't think he can do any more for the rest of the month."

Moriyama gasped and Kise backed away with a nervously laugh. "Kise, you didn't even think to invite me along?" Moriyama pointed to blonde's chest. He was very saddened and rather upset. Just how many times have Moriyama requested Kise to get girls for a mixer? It had been a whole year since he last told Kise too.

"But, you're busy on Sundays!" Kise countered as innocently as possible.

"I can always skip work!" Moriyama sighed to himself, very disappointed. "You owe me!"

Kise pouted, "Okay, fine, but you have to help me!"

There was a pause and Moriyama gave in. He looked to the blonde seriously. "What happened?" he questioned, being the senpai he was.

"I got this girl mad and she said not to bother her ever again."

Moriyama blinked, "…That's a… first…" That was what bothering Kise? Whining again, Kise turned around and around in frustration. Moriyama then inquired, "If you're fussing over a single girl… do you like her that much?"

Kise paused and avoided eye contact. Koizumi looked up from her sewing and she stared at the two of them suspiciously. Kise turned to grab Moriyama's arm and dragged him out of the store in no time. "Shh!" Kise hissed as the store door closed behind them. "Don't say that out loud! That girl in there is her friend!"

With a smile, Moriyama said, "That's also a first too, to see you acting like this." What kind of girl was she, to make Kise look desperate?

The blonde frowned, rubbing his face over again. "Maybe I asked the wrong people…"

Moriyama looked offended, "Hey, just wait a sec…"

From the counter in the store, Koizumi was trying to read the guys' lips. Kise was pulling on his own hair and tugging his friend's arm back and forth. Moriyama quickly pointed to him and said something with an excited smile. '…Kise likes Tomimura, huh?' Koizumi thought to herself with an expressionless face.

Koizumi reached for her phone under the counter and dialed away. Putting the phone to her left ear, she waited. It was just after the third tone and someone picked up. "Koizumi?" Tomimura's voice came on.

"I just wanted to let you know, Kise is here at my other work," Koizumi notified her. "He was complaining about how to make up to you and talk to you again."

Tomimura heaved a sigh, "…I'll come over right away. Sorry if he's bothering you about all of this."

"I'm glad that you know," Koizumi nodded, looking down to her sewing project. She ended up making a red heart shape. She was using white strings now and wanted to make wings around the heart. "You should come over right now."

"Oh, I was already outside," Tomimura told her. "I was planning to visit you too. It'll take me another three minutes, actually."

Koizumi blinked. 'How convenient and thoughtful of you,' she mentally stated.

\o~o/

"Do you think that would really work?" Moriyama sighed, slapping his own face.

He pouted, "Of course! I don't care what I do as long as I am true to her! I want to talk to her again!"

Moriyama shook his head at him. "And here I thought I was the silly one," he shrugged to him. He still cannot believe how Kise was reacting. So much drama Kise was creating for himself too. Moriyama cannot see how peaceful this would be. When Moriyama looked to Kise again, he spotted a young girl walking to him as if she was going to say something.

"What?" Kise looked at him, confused. And then he turned to look over his shoulder, his eyes widened when he saw Tomimura. At least, she did not look mad. When she was close enough, Kise faced over to her right away. "Tomimura!" Kise said, almost shouting. She flinched at the tone of his voice and he rushed to meet with her. She stopped walking and stared at him strangely. He wanted to so badly hold her hands when he stopped right in front of her, but he kept his hands to himself. "From now on, I'll be one of your best friends!"

"What, no," she quickly told him off. This was not something she wanted to talk about. How crazy was he going to get anyway?

Tears were in his eyes, "But I like you so much! Please, let's be best friends!"

When he slowly moved to hug her, she hurried to dodge his open arms. Annoyed and glaring, she asked, "Can't we just be simple friends?"

He turned to her and held in a pout. "But best friends do a lot of stuff together," he said, gesturing his hands around that made no sense or whatsoever. "I want to get to know you more too!"

"Kise, shut up," she slapped her face, shaking her head at the same time. "For one, your fans will be after me. Don't you have a guy who's a best friend already?"

With a sigh, he gave her a depressed look. "I can have more than one best friend," he answered, slightly complaining.

"I don't want a 'best' friend, Kise," she looked at him in the eye, saying it loud and clear. She really did not need one either. What in the world got him to think like that anyway? When Kise was going to say something, she said first, "I don't want another best friend, okay?"

With a blink, he stared back at her. "…Why not?" he inquired. "It's good to have a lot of friends. And best friends."

Tomimura groaned as she looked away. Her chest ached and she rubbed her face in frustration. "I don't want to lose a friend. Let alone a best friend. So, it's harder to see them go."

Growing quiet, Kise wondered what she meant. But then concluding the tone of her shaky voice and her struggling expression together, it hit him. Tomimura took in a deep breath and leaned back a pole that was in the way. "…You won't lose me," he smiled gently. "So you don't have to be afraid of getting close, Tomimura."

She glanced to him and narrowed her eyes. "No," she said one more time. And she made sure it was the last one with a determined voice. The light in Kise's eyes was flickering and he looked like someone backstabbed him. Tomimura turned her eyes away from him and tried to be strong about it. "Look, Kise, I'm here to say, I'm sorry about being unkind before. We can still talk… like how we used to. We don't have to be best friends."

Moriyama walked up behind her, "Can I be a friend too?"

Tomimura raised an eyebrow and looked to the tall man. He was smiling and she fixed her eyes on Kise again. "A friend of yours?" she questioned.

Nodding quickly, Kise replied, "Yeah. This is Moriyama Yoshitaka. Senpai, this is Tomimura Mizuki."

"Please to meet you," Moriyama quickly faced to her directly and held out his hand. Tomimura blinked at him and took his hand, shaking it firmly. "You're very soft." She retreated her hand with a light glare and Kise chuckled awkwardly.

In the store, Koizumi walked to the window and glanced to them. It seemed like they were getting along now. Koizumi sighed with relieved. 'There, everything solved,' she moved to head back to the counter with the cash register. But Koizumi got the strangest feeling this would continue again in the future.

Author's note: As a reminder, this fanfic is about GoM x OCs. Not Akashi x Tomimura. I'm saying this because lately that's what I felt from the reviews. It was like a sign for me to get better in writing about the other characters and let them have some spotlight as well. And that, I will do!

Thanks for reading!