Chapter 3

Kuroko made sure to keep his head down when he made his way to the dining hall. Quietly but efficiently he bought a small affordable meal and left towards the back gardens for another lunch time hidden from the general population of students. Today the majority of the students seemed occupied about gossiping about the new members of the student council committee so he was glad for the small mercies that that afforded him.

He mentally sighed as he passed a group of girls talking about a rumour that was newly circulating the school. As he passed by, the rumor about the five members of the student council being soul bonded made him hesitate and he felt the irrational urge to just sit there unnoticed and listen to the group talk, but he didn't want to test his luck so he quickened his pace.

He reached the shade of a beautiful willow tree quite a distance from the main areas for milling students with plenty of time to enjoy his lunch. He sat there and nibbled slowly on his sandwiches whilst listening to the rustling of the willow branches and leaves as the wind whistled through it. He was always content among nature and he loved to bask in its comforts. It has been his silent companion since he could walk and he realized that at the very least he had this. The warmth of the food settled his starving stomach and he felt his mind growing drowsy. He drifted off feeling grateful for the salvation that nature provides.


Thud. Thud. Thud.

The rhythmic, reverberating sound of footsteps jolted him awake instantly and his body fell naturally into a defensive stance. He squinted in the direction of the school and his eyes widened upon seeing a small gaggle of girls running towards his general hiding area. Without hesitating he headed back to the school and took extra care to be even more unnoticeable than normal. In the safe vicinity of the school back gardens, he released a sigh of relief.

Turning around he started to head to the library when he noticed a student laying on the grass hidden behind the shrubs. Slowly, Kuroko's curiously tiptoed forwards and peered down to peek.

The student's hair was like spun gold and his nose was angular and refined. His cheekbones and jaw were well-defined and there was an aura of both a lethal predator and an innocuous prey in the way he sprawled there. But what drew Kuroko's eyes was the golden wrist cover he had on signifying his Superior heritage and the student council badge on his uniform. He decided that he was attracting too much attention by staring so he slowly stepped back. When he felt eyes upon him he realized his observation did not go unnoticed and hastily backed away.

A voice, however, stopped him from running off in panic.

"It's rude to observe someone and then leave without introducing yourself first."

The blonde haired boy slowly sat up and even though his smile was bright and cheerful and his pose relaxed and approachable, his eyes gleamed with the light of a dangerous predator.

"My name is Kise Ryouta. What's yours, stranger?"

Kuroko debated the merits of telling this person his name and decided that he would because there was a nagging feeling that told him he could trust Kise.

"My name is K-kuroko Tetsuya", he softly answered in reply, but a frisson of guilt for watching Kise without his consent went through him and he mumbled a small apology.

"I'm sorry for watching you like that...I was just curious to see someone sleeping there."

Kise tilted his head and his playful smile got even wider as he replied.

"Ah. I was merely hiding from my...fans. It's an occupational hazard I'm afraid."

Even though the smile on Kise's face was playful and his tone exuding nothing but laughter and fondness. There was a barely noticeable glimpse of pain in his eyes and a slight undercurrent of derision in his voice that struck Kuroko hard.

Without his consent, his mouth had blurted out.

"You don't need to fake a smile all the time."

When his mind caught up with what he had said, he was mortified at what he had done. It had been so long since he had lost control over his speech. For him, restraining his voice was a necessity of survival. Being quiet and near to the point of mutism was the safest way to not attract any attention to yourself, and he'd broken that unwavering rule so easily.

Kuroko looked back at Kise and saw a sincere expression of surprise and a hint of curiosity in those brown eyes. A few seconds of him staring warily at Kise ended when Kise threw his head back and laughed.

The sound of unadulterated joy echoed across the space and when he was done Kise was sitting there chuckling to himself. His eyes no longer held that lingering sense of bittersweet derision and his stance was more natural.

"I have never been told off by someone I just met to not smile all the time", Kise stated with mirth and a hint of exasperation in his voice.

"You are a surprise Kuroko Tetsuya", Kise said as he strolled towards Kuroko. The poise of a predator was still there but it was tempered by a truly relaxed and natural aura.

Kuroko was still warily eyeing him, but it was filled with an underlying sense of confusion that centered mostly around the concept that his words brought comfort and joy to someone.

"I'm going to call you Kurokocchi because you're my friend now", Kise stated confidently and Kuroko could not help but glare at that statement.

At the same time, a tiny feeling of hope rose in his chest at the thought of having friends and he ducked his head. The feeling of a hand on his hair jerked him out of his nervous inner dialogue.

Before he could remove the offending limb, a prickling feeling under his wrist clasp left him frozen.

Then the prickling sensation got even stronger. He was desperate to tear off his silver wrist cover and scratch the inflamed skin underneath, but he was afraid of what he might find there. Afraid of the name that he knew would be appearing on his wrist.

"You...you're", the softly spoken statement from Kise made him even more aware of the lingering touch on his head and the gentleness of that touch.

Kuroko was about the flinch away from Kise's other hand reaching for his left wrist but the gentleness of the touch lessened his instinctive fearful reaction. His left wrist was brought forward slowly and the wrist cover was unclasped with barely a noise, and he was faced with the stark physical evidence of Kise's name written in a soft, cursive scrawl across his skin.

In a beautiful brown and golden handwritten scrawl he knew was Kise's, it read:

Kise Ryouta

Kuroko could do nothing but stare numbly at his wrist because he knew. He knew he was starting to find what he was so desperately looking for, and he had already found one of the pieces.

He had found one of his bond mates.