A/N: Well, I'm honestly surprised there are still people who read this. To make it up to you guys, I'll actually try finishing this series. If anyone's read most/any of my series-fics, they don't usually end. LOL. Bad me. But since the actual anime/manga is done, I probably can do it. So hang in there, guys (and me)!


Time seemed to skip as Kuroko did not notice anything else happen until he finally noticed himself seated inside a themed café, seated across his student, Rio, and her dear uncle. Come to think of it, they were similar in so many ways—their features, the tone they use on their words, and so on. How did he not notice?

"My sister got married then separated just right after Rio was born," Kise says, as if reading his mind. Kuroko's eyes which seemed to be stuck at the space between the two suddenly shifts to Kise's face. He looked entirely the same from way back then, only a bit more mature and handsome. The billboards did no justice to his wonderful features.

"Huh?" Kuroko lets out unconsciously.

Kise smiles and quietly laughs at his reaction.

"It just seemed you were curious."

Kise softens his gaze more, trying to ease Kuroko's tension. Ahh, it's really him. He's really, really right in front of me.

Had it been really six years? Kise wondered. Aside from the kind-of horrible face Kuroko was making, he had not changed. His face, his body, his tender aura—it was all still there, still intact. The pureness that he and his teammates reveled in was still inside of the boy—or rather man—in front of him. If he reached out and touched him, he could confirm it, Kise thought. He could confirm his presence. But he wouldn't. He will not scare him any further than he already has. Not now that he's actually close to him.

The little girl next to Kise stares at the two back and forth and somewhat realizes an aura that seemed strange to her. She furrows her brows and says out loud, "Hey, are you two fighting?"

The two men move their attention from each other to her.

Kids are certainly perceptive, aren't they?

"Fighting? What makes you say that, Ricchan?" Kise says in a childish tone.

Kuroko felt a slight shiver from how he said her name. It was definitely strange yet very familiar; soothing, yet very dangerous.

"Well…" Rio couldn't quite explain it. Not to herself, or them. However, she tries her best to convey her feelings. "Kuroko-sensei just seems so different. Not the happy sensei I see every day. Ryo-chan, did you do something to sensei?"

"D-Do? I'm not really sure what you're…" Kise trails off as he glances a bit at Kuroko. It was definitely obvious—Kuroko's rigidity. But he couldn't do anything about it now. "It's that, you know, Ricchan?"

"That?" Rio raises a brow.

"Y-You know? Sensei's probably just hungry! Gah! Where's that waitress?" Kise frantically tries to get the attention of a service staff as he pulls a pair of sunglasses from his side pocket. He hollers a female server and orders a few things from the menu he was given.

"He wears those to not be recognized," Rio explains to Kuroko, who is currently doing his best to ease his tensed body and mind. Kuroko heaves a sigh at himself and smiles at the little girl who reflects a wider smile. What the hell was he doing? He's making a kid worry about him. Now wasn't the time to look uncool, despite his worries.

Kuroko moves his attention again back to Kise who was still talking to the waitress. He and Rio were fussing over the menu, bantering about how excessive he was in ordering or how few she was choosing. Kise… this Kise in front of him was the Kise he wanted to see, the one he used to like. He was cheery, smiley and comforting. This made Kuroko wonder if all those years had done him and the rest good. Had his staying away changed them back to being kind people? Where were they now?

Somehow, he started to ease out a regular smile now. Kise catches this and smiles to himself too.

Kuroko joins in the fun and they finally settle on something. The waitress bows and leaves the table and the three finally left alone.

"Now that's over, sensei will feel a lot better now, right Ryo-chan?" Rio says gleefully.

"How about it, sensei?" Kise beams at him.

Kuroko furrows his brows a bit and laughs. He's still a bit reluctant, but he couldn't bear to make things anymore awkward for Rio's sake. "Yeah."

The three continue to converse, mostly talking about things Rio brings up, and avoiding anything about the six years of gap the two had between them. Whenever Rio tried to ask about something about it, they excused it off as 'adult stuff' and she doesn't pry any further.

"Well if anyone asked Rio about her secrets with Yui-chan, she wouldn't share too, you know?" she says with a huff, folding her arms on her chest. The two laugh gently at her innocence.

An hour and a half passes and they finally leave the café. Rio felt sleepy on the way and finally rested on Kise's back. As the two walk side by side, the awkwardness that had gone earlier finally seeped back in on the space between them. Kuroko was curious about so many things but he didn't want to ask. He didn't want to know just yet what Kise, or anyone for that matter, had been up to. Not after trying to totally erase their existence from his life.

"Kurokocchi."

That name. He was probably waiting for it. He was probably waiting for him the entire time to say that nickname once again.

"Kise-kun."

Kise was just the same. He had been waiting for him to return the acknowledgement from earlier on. He wanted Kuroko to know he was right here, walking next to him.

"It's been so long, hasn't it? Have you been doing well?" It probably took Kise a lot of courage to ask him that, Kuroko thought. They had, after all, been trying to avoid this.

"I'm… doing great," Kuroko says with a gentle smile. "I've heard a lot about you, even if I didn't want to."

"Ouch," Kise laughs. "That kind of hurts, but that's the Kurokocchi that I definitely remember."

Then a momentary silence.

"After two more blocks, we'll separate again, won't we?" Kise sadly says.

"We will."

Again, silence.

"You still haven't asked me anything, you know?"

"I know," Kuroko answers.

"Aren't you curious?"

"I am."

"And yet you won't ask?"

"And yet I won't ask."

Kise felt a pang somewhere in his chest but he just laughed it off. Kuroko could sense the hurt in his tone. Kuroko's eyes furrow in the slight guilt he felt. Well, Kise should have known better. What happened in middle school changed a lot for all of them. Kuroko bore that cross with him almost every day, changing him entirely from the one he and the others used to know. Had it made him more mature? More knowledgeable about how cruel the world could be? Kuroko was not sure himself. The only thing he was sure of was the feeling of coldness.

When they finally reach the intersection, Kise and Kuroko bid their farewells.

"It was great seeing you again," Kise says with all honesty.

Kuroko could only return him an indifferent smile, "I honestly wish I could say the same. But it was nice, all the same."

Kise paused for a moment. He was practically trying to memorize the Kuroko he was seeing now, still so kind, so the same as before. Kuroko saw the longing at Kise's golden orbs, how he seemed to want to tell him something, everything.

"Kise-kun?"

"Say, Kurokocchi," Kise says with a bit of darkness in his tone, "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not planning on going back any time soon. I'm thinking of getting to know you again, you know?"

"H-Huh?" Kuroko whispers.

"It's not just me, you know. Everyone's dying to see you again."

Kuroko stiffened. What was he trying to say?

"You met with Sacchan, didn't you?"

How did he know? Kuroko's eyes widen from his words.

"It was staged, by Aomine-kun."

Aomine? What? How?

"Well, sure, he did execute it, but it was someone else who planned it all."

What was he going on about?

"You know, him."

He didn't mean…

Kise could clearly see the fear in Kuroko's eyes and decided to leave things at that. "I just wanted to warn you. We're finally back. Those six years, we'll fill them again in no time. We've come back for you, Kurokocchi. That's why, the next time we meet, I'll be more serious."

With that, Kise turns his back on him and walks silently away, carrying the sleeping princess on his back.

Kuroko could feel and hear it—wheels. Spinning wheels. The wheels of time that stopped has finally spun once again.


A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed!