Kise P.O.V.
Kise was just taking a walk in the park. He had on a white V-neck, dark grey-blue skinny jeans, and golden-brown shades. He sipped coffee from a nearby cafe. He was just supposed to be taking a small break today. After all, today was the day. The day Kuroko disappeared. Kise sighed. His high school life was not supposed to go like this. Kise was supposed to keep on challenging Kuroko and Kagami forever.
Kise was supposed to be able to keep fighting against Seirin, Rakuzan, Yosen, Shuutoku, and Too. Kise was supposed to keep playing with Kaijou. He wasn't supposed to quit basketball because it was so painful. He wasn't supposed to move to America because he couldn't look at Japan without feeling like his chest was being crushed by an elephant. None of this was supposed to happen.
But it did. Kise shook his head. Kise knew that Kuroko would have fought with everything he had to get home. Kuroko was not coming home.
"Ah, Akashicchi would kill me if he knew how much I keep thinking of Kurokocchi." Kise whispered to himself, "Akashicchi would not want me to keep dwelling on the past." Kise smirked to himself at the thought of his old captain. Kise sat down at a bench. He finished his coffee and threw away the cup.
"Um..." a stranger's voice said in English, "Can you give me directions to the nearest airport?" Kise looked at the young man sitting next to him. He wore a black long-sleeve hoodie and navy skinny jeans. There seemed to be a T-shirt underneath the jacket that was the same color as his hair. There was white Beats headphones hanging around the man's neck. The man seemed about as tall as Kise, but much skinnier. His face was long with sharp features.
The man's eyes were a deep azure, like looking down into the ocean with sunlight streaming in, and being unable to see the ocean floor, and his eyes were slanted and tilted upwards toward the end. The man had light blue hair, like a faint wisp of cloud on a clear summer day, thought much of it was covered by the hoodie. Then Kise realized that the man had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and that Kise had just been sitting alone a moment ago.
"KYAA!" Kise shouted jumping upwards and away from the bench. The man sighed as if he had been treated like that many times before.
"A-ah, sorry." Kise said sheepishly. Then he realized that the man must have a low presence like Kuroko. Kise knew who annoyed Kuroko would get when people didn't notice him, "Say, you must have a low presence, huh?" The man tilted his head at Kise.
"A low presence? I guess that's one way to explain it." the man nodded, "But yes. How did you know?"
"I-I had a... friend who is like you." Kise stuttered and sighed at the thought of Kuroko, "He always did that to me, and just to tease me, too." Kise couldn't help but smile at the memories. Such good memories they were.
"Oh, really?" the man laughed, "Damn, sometimes I do that, too!" Kise smiled. He liked this man. Kise found the man open and really forgiving, especially when Kise had been so rude to him.
"I'm Ryōta Kise, by the way. You asked for directions, right?" Kise sat back down and pulled out his phone. He opened up a digital map of the area, "Here we go, see you..." and Kise showed the man how to get to the airport.
"Thank you!" the man graciously thanked Kise, "Ah, but I'm so rude! My name's Tetsuya Kuroko, thank you for your help." Kise felt like he'd been struck in the face with a pan. TETSUYA KUROKO?! As in the Kuroko Tetsuya that had suddenly vanished from Kise's life a couple years ago?
"K-Kuroko Tetsuya?" Kise stuttered, not even realized that he was speaking in Japanese, "As in, my dead friend from middle school Kuroko Tetsuya?" Kuroko blinked at Kise with much surprise.
"Uh, maybe? But I don't think I'm dead..." Kuroko seemed caught off guard that someone who could speak English so fluently could speak Japanese so well as well, but that was just Kise's assumption. It was hard enough to see what he was so surprised about. Kise couldn't reply, as his throat had constricted. All that came out was a small strangled noise.
Could it be? Could Kise have finally, finally found him?
"Why are you going to the airport?" Kise asked. Where was Kuroko going now?
"Ah... well... I'm going back to Japan, you see..." He trailed off. Probably because Kise was shooting off rainbows and stars.
"I'm going back to Japan later this week!" Kise said excitedly, "Do you think you could meet me at Maji's? I want to talk to you about where you've been!" Kuroko tilted his head at Kise.
"Maji's?" Kuroko echoed, "Was that... somewhere we went to a lot?"
"..." Kise couldn't form words. How did Kuroko not remember? Some of the GoM's most memorable moments had taken place there! What was wrong with Kuroko
"Ah, sorry, I probably should have explained, huh?" Kuroko grinned sheepishly and chuckled, "Sorry, when I was 15, I got in a plane crash when I was flying to America from Japan. This accident led me to have permanent amnesia. I've been living in America ever since." This explanation was very monotone and robotic, leading Kise to believe that he had said that many times before.
"Amnesia?" Kise echoed dumbly, "Oh, that's why you never came home."
"Hai." Kuroko nodded, but he still looked a bit troubled, "Home... meaning I knew you personally?"
"Hai!" Kise grinned at Kuroko, "We were close friends in middle school, and we had fight, starting in the middle of our third year, but we got over it!" Kise sighed. He could have said they were best friends, but now Kise didn't want a close friendship with Kuroko, he wanted their old chemistry.
"Really? Wow, was I a dramatic child?" Kuroko asked sincerely, "My grandmother says that I am to expressive." Kise couldn't hold in his laughter.
"You? Expressive?" Kise couldn't believe his ears, "You were the most deadpan, monotonous person I have ever met. If you had heard your best friend suddenly started cross-dressing, you wouldn't even bat an eye!" Kuroko's eyes widened.
"Are you sure you're not exaggerating?" Kuroko asked dryly, "That sounds like... really hard." Kise smiled.
"Yeah, it probably was. But all for basketball." Kise shrugged, "I mean, you loved the sport so much, and it isn't like you're sacrificing much, so you kept up the facade."
"I play basketball?" Kuroko tilted his chin and looked skyward pensively, "And why would I stay so emotionless?"
"No! No!" Kise cried out, a bit ashamed of himself because he didn't do a good job explaining, "I mean, yes, you played basketball, but you weren't emotionless, you just didn't show it! And it was to help you make your low presence a weapon, and to help with your misdirection!"
"Oh! You mean that magic-trick-thing?" Kuroko smiled, "I can see how a low presence, coupled with misdirection would be a fearsome weapon."
"Hai!" Kise thanked Kami-sama that Kuroko understood. How embarrassing would it be for Kuroko if he got the wrong idea? Especially in front of the GoM or Seirin? He was sure to run into one of them, so if Kuroko didn't quite grasp the concept and talked to his old friends, it was going to a disaster. And Kise would be in so much trouble...
"Ah, arigato gozaimasu, Kise-kun." Kuroko offered a small bow.
"Of course, Kurokocchi!" Kise grinned, "But remember to meet me at the Maji's in Tokyo on the 21st, m'kay? I'll be there by eleven!" Kuroko smiled and waved as he walked away towards the airport. Kise watched Kuroko's retreating form. When Kuroko walked out of earshot, Kise pulled out his phone and instantly called Akashi.
"Ryōta." Akashi greeted from the other side, "Why have you suddenly called?" Kise could barely contain his glee.
"Akashicchi!" Kise whisper-yelled, "Guess who I found!" Akashi sighed. While he had missed the blonde, Akashi had been in no rush to deal with Kise's hyper-ness. Only Kuroko had had the patience to handle Kise. Though it was good to hear that Kise was feeling fairly cheerful today, of all days.
"How am I supposed to know, Ryōta?" Akashi sighed, "And you haven't answered my question."
"Kurokocchi, Akashicchi! Kurokocchi!" Kise said happily. Akashi sucked in a harsh breath and stiffened at the mention of Kuroko.
"What about him?" Akashi's voice came out colder and harsher than he'd meant it to. Luckily, it was Kise, so Kise didn't mind. Much. Does ice-cold shivers down your spine count as "much"?
"That's who I found!" At Kise's words, Akashi's mind went blank, "I found Kurokocchi in America! But he got amnesia. I don't know the full story, just that now he's going to Japan again. He's going to meet me at Maji's on the 21st, sometime around eleven, so bring everyone there!"
"I... I'll be there, Ryōta." Akashi hung up. Kise couldn't stop himself from rocking on the balls of his feet for a few seconds. Then he cheerfully walked on. While he was excited to see Kuroko again, he couldn't exactly drop everything to hang out with him, no matter how much he wanted to. No, but Kise would finish his work here then meet up with Kuroko.
"I will see you again, Kurokocchi." Kise promised the bluenette, "Promise. And this time around, I'll treat you better than before. I'll be better than before."
[A/N: If this chapter makes you think that this is a AkaKuro, or KiKuro, or even a GoMxKuro, that's completely understandable. I reread my work, and I cringed at how dangerously close to become one of those three, or even all three of those pairings. But I'll remind you again. This fanfiction doesn't have a pairing. Maybe a platonic (friendly, not sexual) AllxKuro, if you really wanted to know.]