Title: Eraser.
Pairing: Kagaxfem!Kuro.
Warning(s): Semi-AU. fem!Kuroko, dark&nice!GoM, OOC-ness, errors and SLOW updates.
Summary: Kuroko Tetsuna collapses in the middle of the Teikou Junior High versus Kamata West Junior High match. And when she wakes up, a tall redhead claims he's her fiancé.
After being gone for, like almost forever, as an anonymous, that is, finally I have the guts to publish this fanfic. Long story short, I got the inspiration from Fujimaki-sensei's illustration for Kurobasu's favorite ship contest on Tumblr. And the recent Kurobasu chapters completed my muse.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
"If you were granted one wish, what it would be?"
Santa once had asked Kuroko Tetsuna with visible crinkles formed at the corner of his soft eyes as he smiled up at her. It was a million dollar wish for an innocent kid like her, but she had wasted it on a book.
If she were to answer the same question ever again, her answer would be;
"Erase everything."
…
..
…
From outside, it looked normal.
But, it didn't.
Behind their glory, successive victories, and formidable reputation as the strongest basketball team among junior high school and high school circuits, turbulence and upheavals hit them one after the other. Teikou Junior High Basketball Team was crumbling apart.
They were breaking apart.
It had begun with Aomine Daiki's sudden bloom. With his awakening talent, he had catapulted Teikou to international prominence, which marked the beginning of Generation of Miracle's era. But, that wasn't the turning point. The head coach, Shirogane Kozo had become the center of their team, keeping them together. He led them through victorious road while concealing his illness from the team.
Until one day, he had eventually succumbed to his illness and Sanada had to step forward to lead the team. Without their center holding them, Generation of Miracles had grown apart, away from each other. Aomine had changed. Murasakibara had changed. Kise had changed. Midorima had changed. Even their captain, Akashi Seijurou had changed significantly.
And Kuroko was left alone.
Not literally, they were still her teammates and playing with her, but the ones who returned to the gym after they won a preliminary match one afternoon weren't them. She had lost her teammates even before the Nationals started.
She was alone.
Her best friend, Ogiwara Shigehiro did realize the atmosphere changes around Teikou and he had asked her about it. All her reply was 'Fine'. Having her best friend worry about her was the last thing Kuroko ever wished for.
Kuroko had tried to do everything to get her teammates back, her friends back. She was sick to see them disappear from practices. It pained her to see the despair looks etched on the opponents' faces whenever her teammates derided their effort to strive for winning. Derided her effort.
However, after the argument erupted between her and Akashi, she knew nothing could be done. Everything had veered away since Akashi traded places. She could no longer see any sign of hope. She could no longer see their smiling faces. And she could no longer remember their smiles.
She could no longer remember how to smile.
All she remembered was how loud their manager, Momoi cry over her crumbling team. She knew Momoi was talking about the promise they had made, but she lied to her. And Kuroko couldn't spit out the truth to Ogiwara either.
In the end, Kuroko let herself be swept by the current, drifting away aimlessly. Part of her soul had gone. She was drowning in her own morose world. She could see, but she didn't look. She could hear, but she didn't listen. She could touch, but she didn't feel it. She was like a doll. And when a tall redhead talked to her with a weird accent, she barely registered his words.
Deep down, Kuroko was breaking, but she kept her façade on. Each word Aomine uttered sliced her heart like a knife. It didn't bleed, but there were scars. Every utterance Kuroko gave was bounced back to her, stabbing her heart. But, she never cried.
She had to keep her façade though it hurt her.
Then, it struck her hard. Watching a high school basketball team from Tokyo play reopened her stitched wounds. Kuroko couldn't tear her powder blue eyes away from the match. Determination, hope, persistence flashed vividly in their eyes. Screams and yells filled the court. The ball bounced loudly. Their shoes squeaked as they ran after the ball and made fakes. The net swished when the ball went into it.
Kuroko felt empty, yet brimmed over with sadness in the same time. Loneliness clenched her chest and envy gripped her neck. Watching them play brought back the nostalgia. She missed the noise Aomine and Kise made as they competed to each other to dunk the ball in. She missed the sweet smell of snacks Murasakibara brought to the practice. She missed Oha-Asa nonsense Midorima rambled on. She missed the warm smile that used to resting on Akashi's face.
She missed the warmness of camaraderie lingering around them while they were practicing together.
She hated this feeling. Kuroko wished she had never walked past them. Kuroko wished she had never looked. Kuroko wished she had never picked up the wallet off the ground. Kuroko wished she had never found them. Kuroko wished she had never watched them play. Because it hurt her so much to see them play with enthusiasm and joy.
It was an agonizing déjà vu.
She clenched the railing tightly until her knuckles turned white and bit her bottom lip. Her fringes hung over her scalded eyes. No, she wouldn't let Momoi see her in this weak state. One was enough. There was no need for another tear.
"Tetsu-chan?" Momoi gently called out. "Time to go."
Taking a deep breath, Kuroko turned to the pink haired manager and walked off without sparing any glance.
Later, she learned the team lost.
And later, she learned the team's school name.
However, does it matter anyway?
Then came the Nationals semifinal match. She found out Ogiwara's school, Meikou Junior High would be their opponent in the final. She could see Ogiwara was smiling and cheering with his teammates across the court. It stirred up a feeling inside her. Balling her knuckles into fists of determination, Kuroko volunteered herself to play in the match against the Genius Twins, who had caused troubles to Teikou a year before.
"You suddenly fire up, huh?" Kise nonchalantly asked.
"This is unlike you, Kuroko," said Midorima, looking at her with a stoic face.
Her coach contemplated for a moment. "…understood. Either way, I was planning on preserving the five main players in preparation for the championships. I'm benching Murasakibara and Aomine at the beginning," he gave her his permission.
Stealing a glance at the opponents' bench, she found the twins shooting her sharp glares. A dark atmosphere whirled around them, indicating they were dead serious this time. Nonetheless, Kuroko didn't waver at all.
However, as the match continued, Teikou, again, led the match although some of the Miracles were on the bench. Kuroko could see a deep sense of despair overwhelming the opponent team. They looked pale.
Despite of the match favoring Teikou, she wasn't smiling at all. Her heart was still empty. Her teammates were still playing solo, neglecting each other, only focused on making some scores. Kise dribbled past opponent smoothly and straight dunked the ball, without giving a bat to his teammates. Midorima took the ball whenever he could and shot across the court to the hop. She did nothing but passing the ball when she was granted. Her body was moving around the court, but it was soulless.
Then, one of the twins broke down. He was standing before her, clutching the ball greatly as if his life depended on it. Kuroko came forward to stop him. At first, she saw the ball, however, in a split second; she felt a very hard impact hit her in her head. The impact spread across her brain in milliseconds and it caused her momentarily blurriness.
Kuroko heard nothing, but she could see shock sweep across her teammates' faces faintly. Everything seemed to spin around. The spotlights became brighter and brighter till it almost blinded her. In amidst of blurriness, Kuroko could see the ground inching closer and closer.
Then, she went blank.
…
..
…
"Well, doesn't have anything to do with me anymore, but… have fun, I guess."
She had forgotten how fun feels like.
…
..
…
Faint sounds rushed to her ears like waves. Her head was throbbing, as if it was going to explode. Her lashes felt so heavy. Her throat felt scratchy. She felt so rough. Through lidded eyes and blurry vision, she could make out a wisp of pink leaning closer to her. Then, she felt warm hands cup her face.
That was definitely a person.
The figure mouthed something. Kuroko squinted to read the moving lips, but her brain was still foggy. After few excruciating seconds walked past, finally, her sense of hearing came back to her.
"…you hear me, Tetsu-chan? Say something, please," said the person in a familiar feminine voice.
"Mo… Momoi-san?" Kuroko forcefully wrenched her eyes open.
Momoi let out a loud gasp. A stream of tears spilled over her cheeks as she whispered prayers to Gods. Then Momoi turned her head to the door and shouted; "Dai-chan, Kagamin, Tetsu-chan is awake!"
Still under the dizzy spell, Kuroko raised a brow in pure confusion.
Yes, she knew 'Dai-chan'. But…
…Kagamin?
Kuroko brought her hand up to her forehead. She could feel a smooth material against her fingertips. Her hand traveled down to the sides, studying the foreign material. Ah, so, her head was bandaged up. That twin must have hit her very hard. Her ears still caught Momoi's high-pitched voice, as if trying to get some help.
When her vision slowly cleared up, Kuroko let her powder blue eyes roamed around the high ceiling. It was pale white. Reeks of disinfectant, medicine and sour smell punched her nose. Discomforted by the smell, Kuroko diverted her gaze to her side, and she saw an IV drip in her left hand, attached to a small bag of clear fluid. On the table stand, she saw colorful flowers and cards lined up neatly. Slightly panicking, Kuroko scanned around the foreign room.
She was at the hospital?!
Running her fingers through her hair in confusion, Kuroko felt her hair was slightly longer than usual. What? How long had she been here? Days? Weeks? Months? How about the match? How about the Nationals? How about her promise to Ogiwara?!
The door was slid loudly, revealing a very tall tanned man. Kuroko immediately recognized him. Aomine Daiki! Eh, since when he'd grown taller?
"Aomine-kun?" she whispered in cracking voice, but Aomine managed to catch it.
"Fuck's sake, Tetsu, you scared us!" Aomine heaved a sigh of relief as he entered the room. "Well, at least you're fine."
Behind Aomine, a tall redhead with distinctive split eyebrows followed suit. Both of them had worried look on their faces. They rushed to her side; however the redhead leaned much closer to her than Aomine.
Redhead like Akashi-kun… Akashi-kun's distant cousin?
Hesitation slowed down her motions, giving the redhead an opportunity to take a hold of her hand. Kuroko reflexively went rigid under his scrutiny. He peppered each of her fingers with soft kisses and rested her hand against his cheek. "Gosh, I thought I was going to lose you," then, he kissed her palm. "You okay?" he had a weird accent.
Not knowing what to answer, furthermore, her mind was still blurry, Kuroko stammered; "Ye… yes." Her heart indeed went doki-doki, but…
…Who is he?! Why is he kissing my hand? Aomine-kun, Momoi-san! Why aren't you doing anything?! What is happening?!
"Thank goodness she's fine," Momoi chimed in. "Be grateful, Kagamin. You better tell your mother your wedding won't be postponed! Now, I shall go get Midorin and the nurse. Take care of her for awhile, okay?" Momoi turned on her heels and headed out of the room.
Kuroko felt dizzy. What wedding? And the smile that played across Momoi's face, it looked warm. Not the smile that Momoi usually had. It was like Momoi had recovered. Kuroko looked at Aomine. Aomine just grinned and playfully bonked the male's head. The redhead looked flustered despite of the stern look that he tried to keep.
She almost couldn't believe herself to see a smile plastered on Aomine's face. What…?
One question swapped to another, pilling up in her cluttered mind. But, she didn't have any answer. She needed an explanation! But of course, the redhead's identity was her top priority after being kissed repeatedly by him. Once courage had returned to her after gulping down a thick lump in her throat, she asked the redhead courteously; "I'm sorry, but who are you?"
They blinked at her for awhile. An awkward silence fell between them. The atmosphere felt weird and Kuroko didn't like it. Aomine barked a laugh, as though he was trying to lighten the gloomy atmosphere up. Since when did Aomine become so nice to ease up the atmosphere? He never cared about her before.
"Okay, Tetsu, you've got us! Seriously, it worked! You caught us off guard!" said Aomine between his laughter. But, having no response from Kuroko killed his laughter. "…oi, Tetsu, just stop this joke… this is way too much."
Kuroko kept her confused face. No, she seriously couldn't fathom what was going on right now!
She continued staring at the redhead. At last, the redhead responded. He let her hand go, pain drifting across his chiseled face. "Hey, Kuroko, are you serious? Please tell me you're joking."
"No, I'm not. I don't know you."
"You sure?"
"Yes, I do not know you. I do know Aomine-kun and Momoi-san, but, you, mister, I've never seen you before."
His shoulders drooped like there was an enormous rock befell upon them. His eyebrows knitted together. She watched as his throat bobbed and his hands clenched tightly. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. The redhead looked hurt.
Her head throbbed again at the sight. Kuroko chewed on her lip, it felt chapped and dry. She didn't understand. What was happening, really? Who was he? How long had she been stuck in this hospital actually? How come Aomine could grow so tall within what, days, months? How about the match? What happened to the Nationals?!
Where's Ogiwara-kun?!
"Hey, Kuroko," he called out patiently, hurt sounded vividly in his tone, but he concealed it with a soft smile. Or tried his best to conceal it she thought. Guilty jabbed her in her heart. Who was she actually to him that he looked so wounded when she'd told him she didn't know him?
He took her left hand and slipped a cold ring to her finger. Kuroko threw a question look at the redhead and looked her hand. Its diamond glittered beautifully against her eyes. She brought her attention back to him.
Morphing to a weary smile, the redhead gently said, "I'm Kagami Taiga, your fiancé."
Huh?!
Author's note: Hahaha... frankly, I don't know what the hell I've written up there. Confusing, no? Me too. -_-
Oh well, any suggestion, comment, even complaint, do share it with me.
Till then...