To: Kuroko Tetsuya
From: Mikaze Ai
Massage: Good luck with Akashi-kun and the rest! If they try to kiss you, dodge them. Also, I might have caused a disturbance with your relationship with Kurusu-san. What do I do?
'Kiss...? That's a bit... It seems I can't process this information...' Ai thought, breathing a bit off. He looked at the time. 4:50. 'I'm going to be late, aren't I...' he thought, leaning against the bench.
"Oi, Tetsu!" a foreign voice called out from the fence. "Why are you still here? We're supposed to be at Teikou by now!" Ai turned to face the source. He was faced with an overly tanned male with navy blue hair.
"Aomine-kun..." Ai said, recalling the text he had gotten earlier. He got up and walked towards him. "If we're supposed to be at Teikou by now, then why aren't you there yet?" he questioned. The stranger identified as 'Aomine Daiki' rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
"I fell asleep, and Satsuki didn't wake me up," he confessed. "What are you doing, though? I expected you, if not Midorima, to be the first one there."
"Riko-san made me run laps, and it seems I have lost track of time," Ai informed, feeling a bit lightheaded. He knew his overdrive was over heating, but he couldn't do anything about it right now. The only solution he could think of was resting, but even so, it would take hours to completely 'heal'.
"Get your things and hurry up. I'll carry you there," the latter offered. Ai's eyes held bewilderment and Aomine felt his cheeks burning in embarrassment. "You look pretty tired, and I don't want you to get in trouble," he explained. Ai only nodded and went to collect his things, which was only a bag. He left before he could get caught by anyone, though before he left, he quickly sent Kuroko a text on how to deal with the kouhai.
To: Mikaze Ai
From: Kuroko Tetsuya
Message: A disturbance between our relationship? As long as you don't make any physical contact with him, it should be fine, since there is a 'no love' rule in the building. It's a ridiculous rule, don't you agree? I'm afraid I'll be late to the meeting if I stay here, so I have to end it now. Send me a message if anything goes wrong immediately, even if I'm still with 'Akashi-kun'
Ai sent the message and went out to Aomine. Once there, Aomine picked him up, piggy back style, and started running crazy fast. The breeze felt good against his overheating system. He could barely think straight when his overdrive was like that, which was rare. Before he knew it, the two of them were in front of a school. The taller one helped Ai get off of him, and then they made their way to the tree, arriving precisely at 4:52.
'Just on time,' Ai thought. He leaned against the tree, seeing as no one was against it. He watched as a red headed male, whom had a very intimidating aura, came into view. 'That must be Akashi' Ai mused, taking in his features.
'Akashi' had a slim, yet fitting body. His hair wasn't too long nor too short, and it complimented his figure well. If his aura wasn't enough to hold intimidation, his eyes definitely did: One was a fiery ruby red, while the other was golden as the sun. Ai could tell that the red head was the leader among the group, and no one dared to defy him.
"I assume you want to know why I have called you," he spoke, trailing off a bit. "We all know that the winter cup is coming, and I wanted to see if you all remembered our agreement. I presume you do, considering your expressions." Ai was confused. Nevertheless, he kept his usual, emotion-free face on while analyzing what he meant.
'What agreement is he talking about? Can he actually analyze what we're thinking by just our expressions? No... That's absurd. He must be looking into something else.' Before Ai could look deeper into it, he found blazing red and golden eyes inspecting his body.
"You're dismissed," he said, but then pointed at Ai, "except you, Tetsuya. I want to speak to you, privately." He emphasized 'privately', as if someone would eavesdrop on them. Clearly, someone would have, because the blond one, known as by 'Kise-kun' by Kuroko, shivered in fear.
Once everyone was gone, Akashi got dangerously close to Ai, tugging lightly on a piece of his hair.
"Who are you, and where is the actual Kuroko?" he accused, after great contemplating about Ai's own figure. Ai blinked, then softly pushing the latter's hand away from his head, then receiving a small glare from the red head.
"That's confidential, but-" Ai was then cut off when his phone buzzed from his pocket. He opened it, seeing the text was from the very person they were talking about.
To: Kuroko Tetsuya
From: Mikaze Ai
Message: Mikaze-kun, I believe Kurusu-san is blushing. I don't understand why, though, since all the waitress asked was 'Are you two together?'. How do I calm him down?
Akashi quickly swiped the phone right after Ai had finished reading it. After the red head was done reading it, he handed the phone back, and stared directly into Ai's eyes.
"You have a lot of explaining to do after you reply to him," Akashi said, tone scarring calm. Ai sighed, then responded on how to calm Syo down.
To: Mikaze Ai
From: Kuroko Tetsuya
Message: Sorry about this being a bit late, 'Akashi' took the phone away for a bit. If you want to calm him down, just mention something about him being short. If that doesn't work, then try mentioning the 'no love' rule.
Mikaze Ai
From: Kuroko Tetsuya
Message: Sorry about this being a bit late, 'Akashi' took the phone away for a bit. If you want to calm him down, just mention something about him being short. If that doesn't work, then try mentioning the 'no love' rule.
Kuroko closed the phone and stared at the still blushing blonde haired teen, although it was barely noticeable in the first place. He decided to discard Ai's words and do it his own way... well at least at first.
"Syo, you're a bit red. Are you feeling alright?" Kuroko had asked, after the two of them ordered food. He then felt the latter's forehead and said, "Well it doesn't feel like you have a fever.." The blond's face turned redder at the contact, and he immediately pushed his hand away.
"I'm fine!" He seethed. Kuroko cocked an eyebrow up, he moved his head a little at the blond's remark.
'Maybe I should do one of those things Ai said in the text.' Kuroko thought. He recalled the message from Ai from earlier and decided on the first option.
"You seem shorter than usual, Syo," Kuroko said.
"This again?!" Syo exclaimed, then got shushed once receiving a glare from the teal haired male in front of him.
'I didn't think he'd react like that.' Kuroko observed. He took a sip of his milkshake, noting the flavor of it.
"My data says that you're 5'3, and from my speculation, you look around 5'1."
'Again with this data stuff?' Kuroko questioned himself
"Well sorry if my appearance doesn't match up with your data," Syo mumbled, taking a bite out of his food.
"Judging from your reaction, it would seem as if you don't want to be here," Kuroko assumed.
"Obviously if you keep noting my height, then I wouldn't want you around," Syo stated. He then added, "I didn't know you would comment on my height again when I asked to join you."
"You didn't have to come, though,'' he pointed out. Syo stuck his tongue out at him and crossed his arms.
"I was bored, and you seemed more distant than usual. You're never on your phone either," Syo stated.
"Maybe I want to change a little," Kuroko suggested. He then looked at his phone to see the time. "It's 2:50 right now… We should probably go back to the academy now." He swiped the milkshake from the table and headed out, following behind Syo. While walking, he hadn't even noticed a photographer in a bush nearby.
x X x
Kuroko successfully found Saotome's office. He stayed in the meeting, noting the important things like concert dates and how successful they were. After the important business was over, everyone was about to leave the room, except Saotome pulled Ai to the side. He waited a bit before showing his computer screen to him.
"What do you suppose this is?" Saotome pointed to a picture of a flustered Syo and a calm Kuroko in the cafe from earlier.
"I wanted to get food and Syo decided to follow me," Kuroko answered, unfazed by the image. All he could wonder is how someone could have taken the picture.
"Are you sure it's not a date?" the latter asked, voice rising with every word said.
"Affirmative. Just us eating. I can assure you that it is not a date," he promised. The red haired director sighed heavily in contemplation.
"Because of this picture, you are aware of the many questions you'll be asked, correct?" The addressed teen could only nod 'yes', not knowing what else to reply. It was apparent that Saotome didn't want him to speak regardless. He breathed in heavily, then calling up Syo to come to his office.
x X x
"We have to what?!" Syo exclaimed after hearing the plan. Apparently Saotome had a plan that the two of them would have to pretend that they were an actual couple. Kuroko knew that this was also punishment for their carelessness, though.
"Every time one of you go out in public, the other had to come with. It's simple. The press will buy it, sales will either go up or down, though the probability of it going down is very low. After a while, they will get bored of the story and leave you alone. Simple as that," Saotome explained.
"Why can't we just tell them that we aren't actually dating?" Syo whined, out of confusion; not of retaliation.
"Because the reaction for the leaked picture was very positive. If we tell them that it's a hoax, then the attention would drastically drop. Syo groaned, finally agreeing to the plan.
'I believe I need some more advice,' Kuroko thought, mentally sighing. The two were dismissed from the office, and once out, Syo broke the silence.
"It can't be too bad, right? It'll only be a few weeks or so," he said, trying to be optimistic. The latter nodded, but added something as well.
"Let's hope that it is only a few weeks," Kuroko found himself mumbling. The two of them trekked their way back to the dorm room, only to have to face a surprise waiting for them.
Unsaved Draft:
To: Kuroko Tetsuya
From: Mikaze Ai
Message: I have found myself in quite the predicament this time. How would you handle a situation if you and Kurusu-san had to fake a date? It seems Akashi-kun has found out our facade. There's no use in lying to him either.
It's longer than usual.
Upon rereading my story, I have realized that around 1,000 words isn't efficient enough to entail Ai's and Kuroko's advetures, thus I am giving you twice as many words. I hope you enjoy this series so far!
~xoxo Author
