Visibility

By: Aviantei

Chapter 03: Ambition

"Is it really that strange that I can pick out your presence so easily?" Airi asked, politely holding back her laughter. Standing beside her and waiting for the morning assembly, Tetsuya shifted a bit uncomfortably which was apparently enough for her to catch onto. "I'd stop if I could, Kuroko-san, but I don't think that's something that I can do so easily. Trying to keep track of the world around me is almost habit now…" The fact that she kept her eyes closed all the time made it harder to tell what she was feeling, although Tetsuya knew she couldn't help it. She seemed very expressive otherwise, which filled the gap enough to be able to tell she felt worried about the situation.

"I'm not asking you to stop, Watanabe-san," he said. "It's more impressive than anything else, really. Even people who can… see have a hard time picking me out." The word felt wrong, but Airi seemed pleased enough by his use of it. "You mentioned that you don't have much knowledge of basketball so the fact that you can find me on a busy court among other players is really what's impressive…"

Tetsuya had been just as shocked as everybody else whenever Airi had begun to point out his actions on the field before Youta could take notice of them. In the few practices that had followed afterwards, she had continued to find Tetsuya's presence, somehow being able to pick him out regardless of the situation. After being directed by his sister, Youta seemed to be on the route to accomplishing the same thing, although his accuracy was much lower. At the very least, Tetsuya could still slip away from the older sibling's presence if need be, given the advantage that he could read Youta's eyes to do so.

"Impressive, huh?" Airi frowned slightly, an expression more associated with thinking more than anger on the girl. "I guess so, but it's really just paying attention to your surroundings. Once Youta began to tell me the plays people were making, I began to associate their rhythms on the court with their names. After I learned how everyone else worked, I realized that the tenth presence on the court had to be you. Although I felt a little silly for taking so long…"

Tetsuya blinked at this information. "Why's that?"

"Because in the end it was obviously you! I mean, Kuroko-san is very distinctive in a Kuroko-san way… like whenever you feel it, you know that it's Kuroko-san!" Airi smiled, a sheepish note mixed in with her expression. "Ah, I'm sorry; this really isn't making much sense at all, is it?" She let out a small peal of nervous laughter.

"No, it's fine, Watanabe-san. I think I understand what you mean." Although he couldn't understand exactly what she meant, he still got the general idea. At the very least he could understand the difficulty in trying to communicate about things no one else could notice. In the end, to her form of vision, there was something about him that stuck out.

Tetsuya felt a smile begin to form on the corners of his mouth.

"Speaking of you, though, Kuroko-san, you seem excited for something," Airi commented. "Did something good happen?"

Tetsuya hesitated for a moment, not sure if he should tell the truth or just wait until Airi would find the answer herself. In the end the answer was given for him, a strong shout dragging the entire student body's attention to the top of one of the buildings overlooking the assembly.

"I'm Yokoyama Masaso from class 1-C! My goal is to support the members of the Seirin Basketball Club to victory until the day I can fight on the court myself!"

The assembly around them went from a stunned silence to chatter in seconds, the new students wondering what was going on, everyone's eyes glued on the rooftop. The other trial members that Tetsuya had come to know over the past week presented themselves in a similar manner. Even though she couldn't see what was going on, Airi's head was tipped up to the rooftop, a smile on her face.

"What is this?" she asked, voice quieter than usual. It was a miracle that the students could hear anyone else considering the noise they were all making together.

"It's the club initiation," Tetsuya answered. "The coach makes everyone do it to prove they have enough resolve to be on the team." Airi nodded in understanding, refocusing on the roof. It was surprising to think that a year had already passed since he had stood up there, looking down on the entire school.

After the potential members finished their speeches, Aida took a step forward. Since his own initiation hadn't gone this far, Tetsuya was interested to see what would happen next. Aida spoke, her voice filling up the most space on the courtyard.

"We are the Seirin High School Basketball Club! Those who have introduced themselves today are the new members! We intend to work our hardest to maintain our position as champions and be a team worthy of everyone's support! Thank you all very much!"

Aida disappeared from the edge of the rooftop, probably trying to avoid being caught by any teachers. The assembly took no notice, erupting in cheers. It was debatable that the only two left not shouting at the top of their lungs were Tetsuya and the girl beside him that had turned to face him.

"So, did you do this?" Airi asked. Tetsuya nodded, prepared to explain what had happened, but was cut off by the call for the assembly to properly begin.

Despite that, he got the feeling that Airi had at least picked up on his non-verbal answer.

It never ceased to amaze Tetsuya just how excited Airi seemed to get over the little things. He hadn't been able to keep track of how she felt after the ceremony had started, something the attentive teen was unused to. After all the effort he had put into understanding people by what their eyes did in middle school, he was suddenly up against a person he couldn't read because she didn't use her eyes. So if she had been disappointed by not being able to talk some more, Tetsuya wasn't the one to judge.

But she definitely was interested. Airi flagged Tetsuya over to the desk cluster that belonged to her and her brother during lunch. Youta was much simpler to read than his younger twin, and Tetsuya could tell the other boy was just barely containing his animosity. It brought into question if it was because Tetsuya was male or Youta just didn't like sharing his sister's affection.

"So what was your goal?" Airi asked before Tetsuya could even properly sit down in the chair he had pulled over. Youta paused in unwrapping the pair of bento boxes, looking to his sister and raising an eyebrow. Airi giggled. "Oh, I'm sorry, Nii-san. Kuroko-san and I were talking about the basketball club's initiation this morning and I got curious about what his goals were."

Airi's words gave Tetsuya the opportunity to sit himself and his lunch down, and Youta the time to resume distributing the bento. "Really?" Youta asked. It was almost disconcerting how interested he could sound whenever Tetsuya would have guess that he didn't care. Airi nodded picked up her chopsticks, clicking them together a few times. "I guess I'm curious, too. How'd a soft spoken guy like you manage to shout anything, let alone loud enough to make it so the whole assembly could hear you?"

"To be honest, I didn't," Tetsuya said. Youta smirked.

Airi rapidly attempted to swallow her food before speaking. She almost looked like she would choke. "Eh, why not?" she managed to ask in the end, leaning a bit forward across the table. Youta discreetly slid his sister's bento out of the way of her uniform.

"Well, I was going to. The coach was going to let me use a megaphone." Airi nodded in understanding, sitting back and crossing her arms as if in deep thought. "However, we were stopped by the teachers before I got to take my turn." Airi's lips parted but she didn't say anything. Tetsuya decided to continue. "Since we were supposed to do this to enter the club, I sort of…"

Now that he thought about it, his actions were a bit embarrassing. Tetsuya scratched at his cheek. "You sort of what?" Youta asked. Even though Airi couldn't look at him, Tetsuya got the impression that she was focusing in on him in her own special way.

"I snuck onto campus early in the morning and wrote out 'We will be the best in Japan,' on the schoolyard with the line drawer," Tetsuya said. Airi gasped, covering her mouth with the hand wielding her chopsticks to muffle the sound. Even Youta looked visibly impressed, which Tetsuya felt a small amount of pride from.

Airi regained her composure, the position of her shoulders adjusting with the act. "And you didn't get in trouble at all?" she asked. Tetsuya shook his head before he could stop himself. "Wow. I understand that you're lacking in presence, Kuroko-san, but to not have anyone see you do something like that…"

"Not bad," Youta concluded. "I guess something like that was good enough to pass. At least you didn't give up on joining because you couldn't pull it off."

"I had no intentions to give up," Tetsuya asserted. The tone in his voice surprised even him; actively expressing self-confidence was an act more suited to others. "Joining the basketball team and working with my teammates to obtain something was very important to me. I feel very lucky that we were able to reach the goal we all wanted."

Airi was beaming, like she felt accomplished by just hearing the words. Since she didn't say anything, Tetsuya was at a loss for what she was thinking. Youta was busying himself by using devouring his own lunch as an excuse not to say anything.

"Is there a chance I could see your handwriting, Kuroko-san?" Airi asked. "I know it won't be a perfect matchup, but it would help me visualize what the scene looked like. If you don't mind."

Tetsuya was at a loss for words. Youta let out a heavy sigh, and Tetsuya just could tell the lack of enthusiasm for explaining it. "Get a notebook or a notepad or something," Youta instructed. "If you press down hard enough, she'll be able to feel the indents in the second page."

The idea hadn't even occurred to Tetsuya. Airi had already set her own lunch aside in favor of going through her desk. When she was done, there was a notebook being offered alongside a pencil, just waiting to be used. Tetsuya took the items from his classmate's hands and did as instructed.

He wasn't really sure how well this sort of thing would work. As a precaution, Tetsuya found himself retracing his letters several times, pressing the borrowed pencil increasingly harder against the surface. Still uncertain, he held the notebook back out, and Airi retrieved it with zero complications.

Her fingers lightly skimmed over the paper the first time, then went slower a second time. Youta didn't say anything and Tetsuya followed suit. Something like this probably required concentration and Tetsuya wasn't going to be one to break it. In about a minute, Airi went through the motions to return the book to storage, seemingly satisfied.

"I think his handwriting's almost neater than yours, Nii-san," she commented.

Youta scowled. "Whatever."

Tetsuya took the opportunity to finally open his own bento. "So what about you two?" he decided to ask before beginning to eat. "What sort of goals do the two of you have for yourselves?" Youta just glared. Tetsuya replicated the older twin's tactic of eating to avoid having to give a response. Airi, however, paused in the continuation her lunch to put her chopsticks down.

"My goal, huh…?" she said. "Well, above anything else, I think I'd like to live as close to a normal life as possible with my condition." Airi smiled a little, although the tilt of her eyebrows made it seem almost sad. "I don't like how people treat me different simply because I'm considered to be 'disabled.' I believe that if I work hard enough to be self-sufficient, others will be less likely to structure their actions around my condition, and more likely to respond to the kind of person I am."

She let out a small laugh, a mix of humor and something else that Tetsuya failed to identify before the sound disappeared. "That and I feel bad making Nii-san do so much work for me all the time. After all, he should be free to do what he wants without feeling like he's obligated to always stay by my side."

"Don't be ridiculous," Youta snapped. His volume was dangerously close to rising, and Tetsuya winced. Airi looked like she noticed it, too, but didn't say anything. Youta caught himself, lowering his volume and smoothing out his tone for his next words. "I mean… I don't mind doing any of that stuff for you, Ai-chan. If anything, I'd say that would be my goal."

Airi only sighed. Tetsuya took the proactive role. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is this." Youta corrected his posture and placed a hand palm down on the desk in front of him. "If there's one thing I'm good at for certain, it's working my butt off to make Ai-chan's life easier. In fact, the only reason I bothered to attend high school is for her sake. If I can't stay by her side, then she'd have to go to some special school or not go at all.

"The first one is obviously out of the question since Ai-chan would never be able to stand that. It counteracts her goal. The second one would just be a waste. Ai-chan is super smart and way better at school than I am. So her missing out on the opportunity to further her education would be stupid. So if this is what I gotta do to make sure she gets to reach her goal, then it's fine with me."

Tetsuya could only nod through his mouthful of rice. Both of the Watanabe twins had provided much deeper answers than he had expected. In comparison, his own goals seemed to be something minor, something that could be overshadowed. After all, they were both thinking about the future, and Tetsuya had been so focused on recovering from his middle school life in order to move on.

Even so, I don't think that makes it any less important.

Besides, there was something else that was bothering Tetsuya. Even though at first glance their goals seemed to work together, something seemed off. Even if he couldn't read Airi with absolute certainty, Tetsuya was confident that she wasn't overly content with Youta's words. As much as he wanted to ask, though, Tetsuya also had the distinct feeling that now wouldn't be the time to do so.

"See what I mean? Nii-san's a bit of a hopeless to convince otherwise," Airi said. She managed to laugh and smile. "You really do work hard for me, Nii-san, so I'd like to do something big for you every now and then." She took another bite of her lunch, grimaced, and swallowed. "Maybe I should start with properly learning how to make tamagoyaki; this is getting ridiculous."

"What are you talking about, it tastes fine," Youta retorted. To add emphasis, he took a rather large portion of the egg dish, consuming it without difficulty. "See? Delicious." Airi only winced again, letting out a heavy sigh as she reached for her juice box. Tetsuya was left to wonder if the food wasn't really that bad or Youta had just lost all sense in his taste buds.

Airi made her steps down the street, making sure to maintain a straight line as best as she could. Youta had been able to compile a route from their new home to the school that avoided any major traffic spots so as the make traveling safer. If he had had his way, they would be taking buses everywhere, but that wasn't something Airi had ever found interesting, let alone cost-effective. It was much easier for her to enjoy traveling if she had better access to perceive the world around her.

Even so, she was cautious. While she knew when to take steps and turns, where to avoid potholes, Airi had yet to become entirely used to the route they had come to take home. It was harder using sounds in open spaces than inside buildings to keep track of her location, and there was always a chance she would miscount her steps. That wasn't a reason to give up, though. After all, it may not have been a route she would have been able to make on her own, but with Youta, it was possible.

It wasn't the first time she had thought about obtaining a cane to make traveling easier, even if she didn't like to admit it. It would be a benefit, but it would also be a way for people to take prejudice, unintentional as it could be. Not to mention, Youta was someone she could rely on, far more useful for looking at the world than any cane could ever hope to be.

"Ai-chan…" Youta said. He was keeping close to her side, within a radius less than arm's reach. Being this close let him move things out of the way, stop Airi if she was about to step somewhere dangerous, and let Airi keep tabs on his presence for cues of which direction they were going in. It also made it easier to hear the tone in Youta's voice, apprehensive for whatever else he was about to say.

"What is it, Nii-san?" Airi responded. She stopped, an outstretched arm brushing against the rough surface of an old telephone pole. They were at one of the few intersections their route took, one of the landmarks in Airi's mental world. Youta took on the duty of looking for cars while Airi listened for their motors. Once the path was deemed safe, Youta stepped forward, Airi taking the cue from his footsteps.

"About what we talked about today…" Youta never danced around his words like this. Airi knew what was coming before he even said it. "You know, you don't have to stay like this. There's still plenty of time before it's too late. You could still have the surgery."

The surgery. It was almost its own existence by now, with how often it was brought up. Youta treated it like it was some fix-all, some god. Airi always had a little twist of uneasiness in her stomach at the mention of it. The idea of getting her vision back, to see the same way she had as a child was something she had equal amounts of nervousness and longing for; a fairy tale ending that couldn't possibly exist.

"Come on, Nii-san, don't waste your energy worrying about things like that," she said, a light tone in her voice. This was what she needed to do whenever the topic got brought up, to prevent herself from breaking. "I'm fine. Even if we had the money for things like that, they'd need to go into the move, right?"

"What's it matter?" Youta's voice was a bit farther away than Airi had expected, and she followed him into the turn. The next time he spoke, the words were coming from the proper location. "I'd think that Ka-san and Oyaji would be okay with doing something that would benefit you. Besides, you wouldn't have to worry about things like having people treat you differently if you could see."

That much was true, but it didn't change the situation. Airi slipped into the serious tone she tried to avoid using towards her brother, just because it was necessary. "I'd rather money like that go into better things than tending to me. I've adjusted well enough these past few years, so by the time I'm completely blind I'll manage just fine." Youta remained silent, not presenting further argument. "Besides, surgery like that is expensive. Even if we came into some money suddenly, there's no guarantee there will be enough to pay for it, even with insurance."

"That still doesn't mean we shouldn't try," Youta grumbled. He adjusted, his school bag being held up over his shoulder. Airi knew he was dissatisfied, but couldn't go easy on him. She was content with the situation, so why waste the extra effort? Putting together the extra money would be too much for something so selfish. "Listen, Ai-chan, I've—"

"Been buying lottery tickets every day? I know," Airi responded. Youta was shocked enough that she just had to giggle. "You think I don't keep track of where your allowance goes? I know you try to pay for everything, but you always have a little bit less then you should have." Airi smiled, genuinely letting the expression come into existence. "If that's something you want to do for me, I'm grateful. But that's all you ever need to do for me, okay?"

Airi would have bet anything that Youta was scowling. Even so, he controlled the tone of his voice well. "Yeah, yeah. I still have enough money to get something good for dinner, so why don't we stop by the store on the way home? Better than pulling together what little we have at the house and trying to make something out of it."

Airi nodded. "That sounds good. As long as we stop by the house and change first. There's no need to wear our uniforms out so soon…" She sighed, not wanting to have to say the next choice of words. Even so, it was the one thing Airi didn't think she would ever get used to. "Would you help me pick out my clothes…? I haven't memorized everything new that I received at Christmas time so I need someone to make sure I don't dress like the way I see."

"Of course, Ai-chan," Youta answered. The request was enough to satisfy him, lifting up his mood from the previous conversation. Airi was glad. The only things she liked less than talking about the surgery was how serious Youta was about it and how sullen he could get whenever the conversation ended without ending in his favor. "So what do you think we should have for dinner tonight? Maybe some seafood? We haven't had any in a while, so it would be a nice change of pace."

"Sounds good, Nii-san." Airi hoped her brother was genuinely smiling as turned down the path that led to their front door.

Well, it looks like this story is the one that wants to be shared with everyone, so here it is!

A huge, huge thanks to Marblelover, Kiku-pyon, AngelHeartObsession, Fairy Tail 77, alia03, CherryPop0120, ciarra halle, Yuuki-Hime 2097, Sora Rai, Aki Kurusu, Jacob Fern, Plexi Pink, MsReinvited, KiLLer-S-Queen, MikoSasesko, Painted Scales, yoshi-in-black, shygirl5817, via26, Hairclip, CloeGryffindor, and wildarms17 for your respective follows, favorites, and reviews! I'm shocked by the sheer number of you there are! I'm glad that everyone seems to be enjoying this story!

I'm a bit behind in some writing goals I'd like to accomplish, but rest assured that this story is on my list of priorities and I won't stop working on it! I'm actually super excited to finally get through enough writing to dedicate some time to the next chapter~

Next time, Airi has an encounter and Youta makes a declaration! please look forward to it!

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