I apologize for my very abrupt disappearance. It could not be helped, but to pacify...here is a peaceful fluffy one-shot of precious Kuroko. I am not sure of my schedule and warn my readers that I may very well fall off the face of the earth again. But, I will always try and return to this brilliant world of fanfiction.
This is also in honor of my own birthday, which passed a few days ago. I have often missed characters' birthdays, so this is also for Kuroko and any of you guys who have had their birthday recently. Happy Reading!
Kuroko awoke to the feeling of slimy sandpaper licks caressing his forehead. Tetsuya #2 stared down at him from his spot on top of his chest, wagging his tail in excitement. Patting the eager puppy on the head, he slowly worked himself into alerted consciousness. Rolling over on his bed, he glanced at the clock. 6:15.
Hm. He was early. Usually, he arrived at practice more than a little late, after everyone had finished warming up. The rest of the team was usually too sheepish of overlooking his existence that they never questioned his true presence. But it was all in good humor, he supposed, as even he could admit his aura was a bit minimal in comparison to others.
Kuroko sat up on the edge of bed, combing delicate fingers through his hair to straighten out the more haphazard pieces. His Seirin uniform was laid on top of his desk chair, clean from yesterday's laundry. The number 11 was printed in bold and seemed to stand out even more against the light setting of his bedroom. The paleness of the morning light cast odd shadows in the corners of his bare walls.
After dressing, Kuroko padded into the kitchen, a toothbrush hanging from his mouth. He absentmindedly brushed, the morning slowly catching up to him as he blinked a few times. Something felt...off. He couldn't possibly reason out why though, the simple logic escaping his mind. Ah well, he mentally shrugged, it would come to him in due time.
Spitting in the sink, he walked around the kitchen island to reach into the refrigerator. There was a milk carton with almost all its contents gone. He held the carton upside-down and watched the tiny drops flow out and hit the floor in quick splashes. Sighing, he tossed the empty container in the trash bin and pulled out some apple juice instead. Drinking a decent glass, he soon realized that he had no food in the rest of his home. The fridge was practically empty and his cupboards were bare of anything edible. He would have to go grocery shopping soon.
On an empty stomach (bare except for some juice), Kuroko slung on his backpack, gave the back of his blue hair another ruffle, and walked out of the door. The air was cool and breezy, quiet except for hints of birds happily chirping. He tugged his jacket a little tighter as the wind brushed his untidy hair into his eyes.
The walk was nothing out of the ordinary. But still, Kuroko could not figure out why there was a tickling in the back of his mind that he had forgotten something fairly important. He had his uniform on, he had locked the door before leaving his house, he had done all his homework (not that his teacher's really noticed)...so what could be possibly be missing?
The sun was crawling up the sky when Kuroko neared the school building. It was a beautiful spring morning, with buds of daylight flowers opening in regards to the brightening sun. Entering the school building, he made his way into the gym. The large doors were shut, but he could hear the resounding sounds of sneakers hitting the smooth floors as balls were dribbled, back and forth. There were a few shouts, a sharp whistle, and sounds of heavy breathing. No doubt, the coach Riko had already worked the players into a sweat first thing in the morning.
He opened the doors without hardly a sound, his feet treading lightly on the polished floor. Kuroko had predicted correctly, as he could see their captain Hyuuga removing his glasses to wipe the sweat from the bridge of his nose, Izuki breathing heavily with his hands on his thighs, and many of the other boys in similar positions. Riko seemed to be berating them of slacking off while one of the other freshmen bursted into complaints. It was a boy whose name Kuroko could not recall.
Kagami, his red-tussled hair gleaming with sweat, seemed to be the only one who was remotely alive after the intense workout. Kuroko walked right up to him, realizing in annoyance (once again) that at head level, he was parallel to the redhead's chest. So, without much guilt on his part, he gutted his partner in the stomach.
"GAAAAH! THAT HURTS YOU BASTARD!" Kagami screamed, his hands immediately rubbing the sore area as he noticed Kuroko. "Dammit Kuroko!" He was quick to punch the smaller boy in return, using the same amount of force to knock him back. Kuroko hardly gave a flinch.
The rest of the team had noticed their exchange, with varying expressions of amusement (as this was a bit of a daily occurrence for them). Riko immediately felt a great deal of shame overcome her, as she berated herself for not noticing the practically invisible boy earlier. Hyuuga rubbed his neck in an uncomfortable way, since his neck hairs always seemed to rise awkwardly whenever Kuroko successfully scared them (which happened too often sadly). Pushing his glasses up with determination, he greeted the blue-haired boy.
"Kuroko! We were just about to set teams for a quick warm-up game. It'll be the rookies versus the upperclassmen. Mitobe, Kagami, tip off." He nodded to Riko, who gave her affirmation before knuckling him in the head for "making decisions without her approval". Rubbing at his bruising head, Hyuuga tossed the ball to Mitobe to begin. The game went on without a hitch, Riko shouting occasional pointers from the sidelines, with her hands planted permanently on her hips. The game ended with the upperclassmen as winners, only because Kagami was still an injured imp with his uselessly torn leg muscles and Kuroko could hardly play at full power when his "light" was physically restrained. The coach nearly shouted herself hoarse in realization. ("What kind of IDIOT pushes himself to injury! Do you even understand what the term REST means? The damage is pulling Kuroko down too, you BAKA!")
At the conclusion of the game, all the team members sat out on the bleachers, drinking heavily from their water bottles and wiping away the remains of sweat. The heavy breathing had begun to even out when Kuroko felt another impression of something awry. He only took another drink of water, trying to wash away the strange feeling. It was beginning to bother him in the tiniest way.
A heavy hand thumped his back and he gave a small jump, though virtually impossible to detect by anyone else. Kagami gave a sharp-toothed smile from above him, his large body looming over the sitting boy. Sitting down heavily next to Kuroko, the redhead brashly rubbing one large fist into the blue hair, delighting in the boy's obvious resentment to such treatment.
"Coach is getting mildly loud on my leg," he rubbed his injured leg with a bit of a half-scowl, "But, I can feel your disapproval of me without you even opening your mouth."
"Yes, Kuroko-kun's eyes are deadly venomous. Snake eyes are venomous, get it? And they're silent too...hey, get it?" Izuki lumbered by, tying a sweat cloth around his forehead to push back his sweaty hair. His jokes were, as usual, ignored by everyone.
"Kuroko, are you feeling alright?" Riko asked in her concerned voice, pursing her lips. "You weren't at top game today, even though most of that was Baka-gami's fault." She sent a poisonous glare at the redhead, who shrunk away a little while the rest of the team realized that their coach's gaze was just as scary as their invisible player. "What's wrong?"
Kuroko tugged at the sweatbands on his wrists, keeping his eyes down.
"There's something I feel that I'm forgetting. And I can't remember what."
Just as he said that phrase, there was a loud bang of the door as it swung open with force. The back of the door hit the wall in a loud, resounding crack. The entrance revealed a tan, broad-shouldered man with inky blue hair striding through. Behind him was a line of rainbow hair colors...yellow, red, green, and purple.
"Hap-"
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KUROKOCCHI!" The tall blond man cut in before the tan one could finish his phrase. Before Kuroko could properly hide behind Kagami, the blond was in front of him and pulling him into a fiercely uncomfortable hug. "Aren't you happy to see me? Akashicchi said we had to come and get you." He squealed suddenly. "And I have the bestest gift EVER! You will love it!" Kise quickly pulled a magazine from behind his back. "It's the exclusive print of the my newest photoshoot, consisting of the very special Calvin Klein and Gucci sessions! It's not in print anywhere yet, but I got it for you! This way you'll be able to see me even when I'm not with you! Happy Birthday again!"
"Thank you, Kise-kun." Kuroko answered politely as he accepted the magazine, all the while untwining from the blond's massively long arms. But without real need because the model was soon torn from him as an angry-looking (read: permanent angry face) expression threw him aside.
"The hell, Kise!" He crossed his arms angrily, the muscles of his forearms bulging impressively. But Kise only stuck his tongue out at him in obvious smugness. Turning back, the striking ace of Touhou only managed half smile as he clapped his former shadow on the back. "Here, for you," he said gruffly, handing Kuroko a vanilla milkshake which he had bought from the nearby vendor. "Happy 16th, Tetsu. I was going to say it first, but fucking Kise beat me to it."
"You're just jealous, Ahomine!"
"What was that, blondie?"
"Exactly what you heard, Stu-pid!"
"I'm gonna shut your mouth permanently, bitch!"
While the two were busy arguing, another had stepped in front of Kuroko (who was sucking away happily at his drink), narrowly elbowing the power forward out of the way. Giving a toss of his green hair and a flick of his glasses, he narrowed his eyes at the small boy.
"Kuroko," he paused, looking the said boy up and down before tossing something into his lap. "Here." Midorima looked away, his cheeks slightly tinted an awkward pink as he stepped back. Kuroko set his drink aside and glanced down to see that it was a stuffed animal. Of a cow. Huh. On top was a small slip of paper, which read May luck be with you this year. How very fitting of the renowned tsundere.
"Thank you Midorima-kun. I'll treasure it always." He held the cow up to his face and touched noses with it. The others around him silently 'awwed' and the green-haired man only flushed more, though his expression seemed vaguely pleased. He stepped aside, allowing an even taller, purple-haired man through.
There was a pocky stick hanging from the man's obscenely large mouth, his eyes drooping lazily. Stooping down to head height with the blue-haired boy (which had him practically sitting on the gym floor) he handed him a hastily wrapped package of sweets. There was a crooked bow tied on top of the box labeled Chocolate Kittens and a single vanilla pocky stick stuck between the package and the ribbon. Kuroko gently took the pocky stick out and stuck it in his mouth. Without hesitation, he reached out a pale hand and patted the giant man on the head in thanks as he chewed the pocky. Murasakibara's eyes only drooped in a happy laze as smiled. Without saying anything, he simply allowed Kuroko to pet his purple locks before moving aside to sit on the the opposite bench.
Kuroko moved his gaze up to match the ones of his former captain and shivered inwardly at the familiar red and gold eyes. They were frosty with the tiniest bit of insane amusement. The rest of the the captain's face was blank and impassive, though his eyebrows were lilting upwards in a casual way that fooled no one.
"Tetsuya." Akashi's voice was just as stern, just as unforgiving as it had been when they were at Teiko. It had only seemed to strengthen more in its steeliness, allowing not even the tiniest sliver of impractical childishness to slip unnoticed. Standing at full height, he was only taller than Kuroko while the freshman was sitting. But, his stature seemed utterly enhanced by his impenetrable composure. He held a steady hand to the invisible boy's cheek, letting his fingers graze the skin. His touch was as cool as ice, feeling like daggers rather than a light caress. But, Kuroko did nothing more than acknowledge the touch, his eyes never moving from his former captain's. Akashi looked farther amused, leaning back and letting his hand fall away. "Happy birthday. I do hope your best wishes come true." His words seemed to hold hidden intent, but Kuroko only nodded his head in thanks.
"It's your birthday, Kuroko? How come you didn't mention it?" Riko seemed to shriek, though her voice was surprisingly steady. Kuroko shrugged, a bit uncomfortable at the weight of everyone's gaze upon him.
"I forgot."
"This is what you forgot? Your BIRTHDAY?!"
Between Hyuuga's disbelieving face and Kagami's stunned expression, he could only tilt the corner of his lip in a somewhat sort of a smile. The rest of the team looked simply amused at this, completely used to Kuroko's odd quirks. Kuroko himself allowed a warm flood to fill his heart. Clutching his stuffed cow, he lightly viewed the crowd in the gym with the lilt of his blue eyes.
So this was what he had forgotten. His birthday. Such a silly little thing, that he had completely overlooked this tradition. But deep in his heart, he was glad that his family had remembered.
He could see bright, airy yellow Kise flapping his arms about ridiculously, yet somehow still managing to look as effortlessly perfect as a model. Deep, thundering blue Aomine was scowling in perfect synchronization to Kagami, his formidable stature reminding Kuroko of his tender nature down beneath all his menacing features. Shrewd, intelligent green Midorima crossing his arms, turning his head in an obvious tsundere-style. Carefree, relaxed purple Murasakibara eating his pocky sticks with such innocence that completely rivaled his court temperament. And lastly, calculating, vicious red Akashi whose leadership had brutally beaten Kuroko down and completely reconstructed him in the ability the invisible man possessed today.
He was quickly pulled back from his thoughts as louder voices pierced through his reverie. Kuroko sighed softly, reveling in the commotion of his former team and feeling the slightest tinge of reminiscence. It was a bittersweet moment.
"Hey, Kurokocchi, let's go! Momoicchi is setting up for the surprise party!"
"And you call me an idiot? It was called a surprise party for a reason!"
"Oha-Asa told me that surprises were going to fail because of overzealous Geminis."
"Maa...Kisechin is stupid."
"Let us be on our way. Ryouta, you're exercise tables are quadrupled."
"WAAAH? YOU CAN'T DO THAT, I'M NOT EVEN ON YOUR TEAM ANYMORE, AKASHICCHI!"
"What did you call me, Ryouta?"
"N-Nothing, Taichou."
Though, he reasoned, it was definitely more sweet than bitter. This was his family; his uncontrollable, mess of a family. And even with the distance between them, he still loved them all with each strum of his invisible little heart. He would enjoy the moments he had with them, few as they were. This was truly the best gift of all.
Happy Birthday, indeed.