YEEESH, THAT TOOK WAY TOO LONG! I'M SO SORRY, GUYS! I'M TAKING MY FINAL EXAMS TO OFFICIALLY BECOME A PRE-K TEACHER ASSISTANT AND I'M AT MY LIMITS WITH MY DAMN SCHEDULE! ANYWAY, HOPEW YOU LIKE THIS NEW ONE! COULD IT BE KAGAMI FINALLY FOUND A SOLUTION TO HIS PROBLEM? (NO WORRIES, THERE'S SOME JUNKO AWESOMENESS AS ALWAYS IN THIS CHAPTER)
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN KUROKO NO BASKET, ONLY MY OCs AND THE PLOT OF THIS STORY.
/A bakery? Really? I'm disappointed in you, Kagami-kun./
"Shut up, Kuroko-teme", Kagami grumbled, blushing. He gave his cell phone one more glare, and then hesitantly put the thing away. He didn't want to appear too engrossed with it – women didn't like it when they saw that.
Hell, why was he so nervous, anyway? He had been on dates. Once he entered college it was a damn easy thing to do. He had even surprised himself at how good and suave he had been with the ladies. Everyone had expected Aomine to be the well-sought bachelor, but it was Kagami who had taken on that role. So what made this particular date so different?
"Eeeh?", a lazy drawl made him twitch. God, he needed to stop being so jumpy! "Kagami, why so tense? You look like you're about to propose or somethin'…"
The fireman blinked stupidly at the purple-haired giant. He was tempted to tell him to kindly fuck off, but he knew this would only make him look like an idiot, mouthing off at the owner of the shop you're sitting in. Not the best idea for a blind date, but he wanted some familiar ground, and this was the closest thing he could get.
Still, he had to give it to Murasakibara. He had hit the nail on the head.
Because that was exactly the problem. He was here to propose to a woman he would meet for the first time. And he realized that, ironically, the choice of the bride had not been left up to him. It was Kuroko who had done most of the work. Because he was sensible, and reasonable. And Kagami was not.
It's not that he was into easy targets or whatever. In fact, he always liked challenges and for his women to be elegant, and feminine. Being around females like Coach Aida and Alex had, after all, traumatized him enough that he wanted nothing to do – romantically speaking – with bold and head-strong girls. But, as it turned out, those successful, independent, chic and elegant females weren't interested in I nsta-marriage that came with a full-grown child to care for on the side. Hence, Kuroko's intervention.
The shop's signature bell rang as the door opened, and the fireman gulped, slowly raising his head to look at the person who had walked in. His mouth felt dry and he had to rub his palms on his pants to make sure they weren't clammy. The sight that greeted him made him thank his lucky stars that at least the candidate was presentable enough – he really owed Kuroko one, didn't he?
She was of an average height, with breasts that looked smothered by the knit brown sweater she wore. Her feet sported practical, low-heeled brown loafers with tightly-tied laces, and that discouraged him a little until he got a good look at her behind. Those well-worn jeans hugged her butt rather appealingly. She asked Murasakibara something in a hushed tone, and when the ex-Miracle pointed towards him, she gave a grateful, shy smile and started walking to his table, pulling off her brown wool knit cap, with that ridiculous pom-pom on the top. As she did, a mass of soft-looking, glossy black hair fell on her shoulders, covering them from view before her fingers hurriedly brushed them back, between her shoulder blades.
Kagami reminded himself not to think about what those tresses would feel like wrapped around his fingers, and focused on her eyes. A pair of black pools stared at him in horror behind oval glasses, and he realized she had stopped walking.
"It's you", she breathed out in a fearful tone, and he had to frown at that. Standing up slowly, so as not to spook her any more, he took a few tentative steps and paused when he saw her body tensing, as if ready to bolt should he come any closer.
"I'm sorry", he tried to calm her, hoping his "soothing fireman voice" would work on her the same way it seemed to do so on scared civilians trapped in burning buildings. "Have we met before?"
Confusion replaced the terror, and she, too, frowned, her unpainted lips coming together in a cute pout "Yes. You screamed my head off for carrying flowers at the hospital the other day."
He blanched for a bit – and then cursed Kuroko and his own life for never going easy on him. He had destroyed his chances with this marriage candidate before even proposing!
Shit…
Amano Yachiyo had never thought that she would get to meet the brute who had scared the hell out of her when she had visited her dead grandmother. Like, ever. Which worked fine with her, because never seeing him again would be too soon for her liking.
Now she was staring helplessly at her plate. Under normal circumstances, she would have enjoyed the lavender cake with the purple frosting and the yellow sugar, cute little crowns. Murasakibara-san was a genius of all things sweet, and she herself frequented the Cookie Rookie quite a lot to claim that.
But she knew that she would have to face and accept her fate sooner or later. And unfortunately, the deadline Granny Uta had given her indicated it would be the former. She took a deep breath and of Harmony, the little flower shop with its bright red tent over the display at the window on the front. The sky blue wooden door. Straw-woven baskets full of flowers, displayed in and out. Tiger, the red Somali cat, lazing about around the shop, content in his self-proclaimed flowery home.
She opened her mouth, hoping against all hope that she would convince the tall red-head to accept what she was about to spit out, when the man in question jolted in his seat, and sent a terrified glance at her right side.
"Nigou?!", he sputtered like he had seen a ghost, and instinctively sent his long leg flying towards her.
The strong kick rattled her, and she closed her mouth quickly, biting down on her tongue – hard. She tasted blood and nearly whimpered, but it seemed like her bad luck wasn't over yet.
"Kagami-kun, you suck at this", a monotone voice drawled right behind her. "We've been watching you for a while now, and you're a terrible date. Do it properly."
The sudden speech inches from the back of her head made her squeal and then choke as she was on the process of swallowing. Coughing violently, she faintly registered that she had showered her… date with spittle and blood. Not a lot of the latter, but really, right now quantity didn't matter, the mere fact it was dripping down his cheek did!
Silence fell in the Rookie Cookie, like time itself had stopped. Mortified, she glanced around, wishing for a hole to hide into. Murasakibara-san and his assistant were frozen mid-work, gaping at the scene. Kagami was still as a statue, salive and blood still adorning his face. Behind her, Tetsuya-san and Nigou were blinking in the same creepily synchronized way they always did – she realized now she should have recognized the dog's name when the red-head yelled it, and the voice behind her that startled her. But she was in too much of a shock and had been focusing only on getting this over with.
She wanted to cry. God, this was humiliating. She rose abruptly from her seat, opting to run away and go hide in her flat. But as she did, her eyes caught Kagami's flaming hair, and how it shone crimson as the light fell on it. It reminded her of Tiger's fur. Flashes of Harmony made Yachiyo's fists clench, and she knew, deep in her heart, she had to at least try.
With steps steadier than she thought possible, she circled the table, and then bowed deeply to the astonished male she had just spit on.
"I know that I just spit blood on you, and this is probably the wrong time, but would you consider marrying me?", she asked, her voice trembling, yet determined in her plea for help. "It's for a good cause."
"E-Excuse me…?", a voice squeaked from behind Tetsuya-san's back, and the couple turned to look at a boy peeking out from behind the kindergarten teacher, his brown eyes wide with fear and shock.
"Akira?!", Kagami now stood up, too, glaring daggers at the aqua-haired male shielding the child. "What the hell, Kuroko?! You promised you'd babysit for me!"
"His maid doesn't like me", the teacher shrugged.
"You have a kid?!", Yachiyo shrieked, now really wishing she hadn't just proposed to the man.
"Atsushi, have anything with caramel and nuts in it?", a lazy female voice right after the doorbell's chime made them all look at a scantily-clad woman with an impossibly big bust who dragged her feet towards the giant baker. She looked like a stripper who had decided to use the "naughty nurse" them for her opening act. "Damn Kazu made me eat some salad with salmon in it. Who in their right mind eats that shit and then produces masterpieces? Fuck me, I need some sugar and STAT."
The interruption seemed to break the two men behind the counter out of their stupor, and they both rushed to show her a variety of tarts. She selected a couple, and then turned her bored amber gaze on the small group at the corner – and froze. Blinking, she made her way towards them.
"Yo, Kagami, fancy meeting you here", she greeted, and her eyes slid on Yachiyo. "That your date? She's cute… Oh, hey, you should propose to her for that thingie you wanted. With the brat and - "
She stopped talking as her eyes fell on the dumbstruck boy. And then she grinned so wide, it was a wonder her face didn't split in two. "Sooo, you're the fire victim~"
"No, Junko", Kagami scrambled to get between her and the child, but it was too late as the woman had already taken something from her bag, "don't - "
"Alrighty, kid", she licked her full lips and aimed the gun she was holding at the youth. "Let's have a little chat, shall we?"
HEHEHEEEE, BET YOU DIDN'T THINK THE SHY MEGANE GIRL WOULD DO THE HONORS OF PROPOSING FIRST, DID YA? GO CHECK MY PROFILE FOR INFO ON AMANO YACHIYO, BTW, SINCE SHE'S AN IMPORTANT SIDE-CHARACTER FOR KAGAMI'S PART IN THE STORY. SEE YA ALL NEXT TIME!
PREVIEW:
"I was reaserching for my book. Kinda like how medical examiners do that autopsy thing on corpses."
"That's different! Totally different, you mandhandling, moving danger-to-the-society! It's like comparing cookies to cake - we're talking THAT much difference in levels of common propriety!"
"OK, one, don't talk about sugary stuff in front of me, Kazu has me on a fucking diet and I'm that close to eating YOU. And two, you're not helping your case in making me like you enough to work with you - in fact, your face keeps getting more annoying by the second."