The fluffy finale.
Chapter 17: MusaKuro – Teikōmon! – Part 3
"Remove. Yourself. From. Tetsuna." With his fiery red hair and haughty timbre, Akashi Seijurō's intimidating presence was instantly recognisable. Even his average height did nothing to deter him from instilling the fear of god into everyone at Maji Burger with just four words.
"Oi, you're welcome to put Tetsu down anytime now." It took Aomine Daiki's distinctive drawl to remind everyone to breathe again, and many a fanboy's jaw dropped at seeing their idol enter the restaurant.
"Akashi-kun, Aomine-kun, Midorima-kun…" Tetsuna greeted as normally as one could with one's feet dangling in the air.
"Kuroko…" Midorima Shintarō said from behind Aomine, his hands holding a large bouquet of roses. His forest green eyes narrowed at the scene before him. An unfamiliar person had Tetsuna up in the air and Akashi had an unconscious Furihata in his arms.
Yet, Aomine found Midorima's get-up more curious, sniggering, "What's with the flowers? Are you a host?"
"It's today's lucky item."
"You look ridiculoahhk!" The impact of Kise Ryouta's arrival interrupted Aomine's insult. "Kise?!"
"I made it in time!" Kise beamed. Still out of breath, he held onto the back of Aomine's shirt for support. "Ehh? Akashicchi, Aominecchi, Midorimacchi, what are you guys doing here?" Kise straightened to his full height and the fangirls fainted in recognition of his beautiful face.
The people in Maji Burger were completely star-struck. The appearance of Tetsuna's conspicuous cousins had taken all attention away from her and Murasakibara. Almost everyone had their phones out; taking photos; recording videos; doing pretty much anything that could cement the momentous event in their lives forever. In any case, it wasn't everyday that the renowned alumni of Teikō gathered in public, and now that they were, the full effect of their brilliance was almost blinding.
"Figured I'd get the Super-Duper-whatever vanilla milkshake for Tetsu," Aomine answered, slightly irritated that his blonde cousin was still using him as crutch.
"Same!" Kise smiled, becoming the instrument to the sound of a hundred ovaries collectively exploding across the room.
"Me too." Midorima adjusted his glasses.
"I had the same intention as well," Akashi agreed as he picked up the still-unconscious Furihata, one hand prudently pressing her skirt to her bottom. After all, most people didn't like flashing their knickers to the whole room. "Until I saw that."
"Huh?" Kise looked over Aomine's shoulder. "AHHH! Kurokocchi!" When realisation finally set in, he pushed past his cousins and pulled Tetsuna away from Murasakibara. Kise glowered at Murasakibara while he held Tetsuna close to him like a puppy guarding its favourite chew toy from the rest of the litter. Then, he yelled at his cousins for their lack of action, "What's wrong with you guys?!"
"My hands were full," Akashi defended.
"Ahh relax, it was just a kiss," Aomine drawled.
"What?! You kissed our Kurokocchi?!" Kise accused Murasakibara. "I can't believe you guys! Didn't we vow to protect Kurokocchi?!"
For some reason, Murasakibara found the strangers excessively tiring to be around, but it seemed like they were too busy with each other to pay much attention towards him. Maybe he could sneak away somehow and save the trouble of dealing with them. "Muro-chin… Who are these people?"
But before Himuro could answer, Aomine snapped.
"Arghh, dude you're so annoying! It was just a harmless little peck! We used to do that to her all the time!"
"When we were in kindergarten," Midorima added, the faintest of reds tinting his cheeks. "Don't make people misunderstand, idiot."
"Actually, I'm pretty sure there was tongue," Tetsuna wiped her mouth with the back of her hand now that she was free from both Murasakibara and Kise.
A figurative lightning bolt cracked within the cousin quartet as a deathly silence hung over the restaurant, one which was ultimately broken by Himuro's untimely death-flag response.
"They're the bonus legendaries that came with your mythical pokemon, good luck mate, you'll be fine."
Needless to say, the days that followed that memorable meeting at Maji Burger were filled with the cracking of knuckles, the giving of glares, the declaration of threats, and an endless array of bad pokemon jokes. All of which were brushed off by Murasakibara. He didn't really mind everything. He had already received his prize.
Food.
So much free food.
For such luxury, anything would've been worth it. Even if it meant dealing with the overprotective, scissors-wielding, Satan's reincarnation of a cousin with a despot complex; the bubbly, pretty-blonde re-embodiment of a Pyrenean Mountain Dog; the horoscope-fanatic doctor; and the pervert.
Yup, first impressions. Wonderful thing, aren't they?
Nevertheless, now, almost five people out of twenty-thousand at Teikō University could pick Tetsuna out from a crowd. Despite her lack of appreciation for acknowledgement, even she couldn't help but feel the tiniest sense of happiness at realising that shockingly sufficient statistic.
And she had none other than Murasakibara Atsushi to thank for the rest of her convivial days at Teikō University.
*6 Years Later*
"Baby-chan, give uncle a hug?" Aomine coaxed his cousin's 2 year-old daughter.
Murasakibara and Tetsuna had just welcomed the arrival of their second daughter, and the whole gang were helping out at the couple's house. Well, one of them was helping out.
"No." The 2 year-old was exactly how everyone remembered Tetsuna to be at 2 years-old; cute; cautious; precocious.
"Hahaha, rejected," Kise laughed.
"Shut up," Aomine muttered. He had never been rejected by a female before; he wasn't going to start now. "Baby-chan, wanna cuddle?"
"No." She repeated, making Kise laugh again. Precocious indeed.
"Hey Éclair-chan, huggles?" Kise opened his arms wide.
"Huggles!" The toddler giggled, running into Kise's arms with glee.
"Yay!" Kise bounced her in his arms. "Hahaha, uncle Kise's the best right? Not like that grumpy uncle Aominecchi."
"Who are ya calling grumpy?!" Aomine asked – grumpily.
"Enough," Akashi began. "At any rate, Daiki, you should stop referring to her as 'Baby-chan', she's no longer a baby."
"Akashi…" Midorima sighed. "More importantly, don't you mean it sounds disturbing?"
"Like a paedophile?" Kise quipped.
"Exactly," Midorima nodded.
"Pedofaiele." Éclair pointed to Aomine.
"Oi… Quit teaching her weird stuff. And baby-chan's a cute nickname," Aomine shrugged.
"You're just trying to hide the fact that you can't pronounce her name properly. Right, 'E-ku-ya'? Hahaha…" Éclair didn't understand a single thing the adults were saying, but she laughed along all the same.
"Tch… What? The 'r's are hard. Why did they give her a foreign name anyways?" Aomine complained.
"What's wrong with it?" Behind them, Murasakibara and Tetsuna asked in tandem.
"Éclairs are small, soft cakes of choux pastry filled with cream and topped with chocolate icing," Murasakibara explained thoroughly. As always, food was one of the rare things the tall man never cut corners with. "And my daughter's small, soft, and sweet."
"Mama! Mama!" Éclair reached and clung onto Tetsuna the moment the mother came close enough to collect the child from Kise.
Murasakibara smiled as he looked at his wife and child. He didn't really understand how all of this came to pass. Maybe it was just meant to be. He and Tetsuna had always had the odd argument here and there, and they were essentially complete opposites; she was practically invisible; he attracted attention wherever he went; she was a hard worker; he was a chronic slacker, at least towards everything besides food.
Yet, somehow, in the end, the two of them had managed to get together, love each other, take care of each other, and now, they had two beautiful daughters together.
Murasakibara patted his daughter's little head, careful of his strength. After all, his hand was almost bigger than Éclair's entire head. That had been the scariest part about fatherhood for Murasakibara. How could a lumpish, pillar-like mass of a human be gentle enough of a father to a wee baby?
However, despite the cliché, everything did change the moment Tetsuna gave birth to that little human being. Make no mistake; Murasakibara still had no idea what to do most of the time. Tetsuna did most of the parental care while Murasakibara almost always played assistant. But, he wasn't completely useless; the kitchen was his domain.
A husband who could cook, what girl wouldn't want that? Plus, he made sandwiches.
"Tetsuna-chan, come look. Amandine-chan is so cute!" Furihata chirped from the nursery door.
"Amandine is a Romanian chocolate sponge cake filled with chocolate or almond cream. They can be cut and then covered in a soft chocolate cream or they can be topped with a hard chocolate glaze." Murasakibara gave the explanation nobody asked for.
In the nursery, it was apparent that the 1 month-old Amandine was still sound-asleep in her cot.
"Look," Furihata whispered. "Amandine-chan's little socks rolled off her feet while she was still asleep – and they still have the round shape! Isn't it amazing?!" Furihata was smiling so brightly that Tetsuna didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't.
"Hmmm… Babies sure are mysterious…" Murasakibara contemplated as Tetsuna bent down to give Amandine a little kiss on the crown.
Six years ago, Tetsuna would've never called it – having such a happy domestic life with someone like Murasakibara. Like any relationship, some days were easier than others, but their journey thus far, though not always smooth, had been thoroughly fulfilling. Tetsuna knew that eventually, as they all grew older and their children grew up, even the memories of them trying each other's patience would become fondly remembered.
The happy times, the sad times; they were all precious experiences Tetsuna was glad she had someone like Murasakibara to share with.
"You seem to really enjoy babies, Kouki," Akashi asked.
Furihata, so smitten with Amandine's little movements, forgot that the man she had always been intimidated by was less than an arms width away. "Of course, I can only hope that someday, my own babies would be this adorable."
"Then, have them with me. I'm sure our children would be charming."
The paragraph about Murasakibara's first impression of the cousins are from imKimthewriter's review. Thanks to Hazard for the baby name. I found the food theme fitting since it was because of food that they managed to meet each other. But, many thanks to everyone for all the suggestions.
That's all folks. The GOMxFEM!Kuroko series is over. Thanks for reading all these silly short stories. I really appreciate everyone's support. If you managed to chuckle, whether it be at me or with me, then writing this series has been worth it for me.
Bye bye.