AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm really sorry for updating so late T_T I had my exams this week (can you believe it? An exam on a saturday DX) so I wasn't really able to type the chapter. But here it is! Chapter four! And it's longer than the previous chapters! Yay XD And for those who are confused, the timeline of this story is wherein Seirin had lost to Touo/Too (however you spell it) but Kaijo has not yet gone against Touo/Too. And from this chapter on wards, Kuroko and Kasamatsu would be written in their first name, seeing as they're brothers now and have the same last name. I don't own Kuroko no basuke, please enjoy~
CHAPTER FOUR
It was early in the morning when Yukio wakes up. He stares at his ceiling, trying to remember what he did yesterday. He was still half asleep so he doesn't remember much, but when he regains more awareness, he remembers what happened yesterday. Kuroko...that phantom player from Seirin who is also part of the Generation of Miracles...is now his younger brother. Right, they talked about going out today. The teen sits up, stretching his arms. He glanced at the clock to see that it was around seven thirty.
As soon as he finished freshen up, he headed downstairs for breakfast. He sees his step mother by the kitchen, preparing the meal on the table. He offered his help, but the teal haired lady refused.
"Can you please wake Tetsuya up for me, instead? That boy sometimes oversleep and skips breakfast. Maybe you can force him out of bed." Manami requests.
Yukio nods before going back up stairs, on the way to wake Tetsuya up. Sheesh, it was already bad enough that he doesn't eat enough, but he sometimes skips breakfast too. He knocks on the door first, checking if the teal haired male was up. Hearing no answer, Yukio proceeds to head inside Tetsuya's room. The younger teen wrapped himself with his blanket, making it look like he was in a cocoon. Yukio sat on the bed, making the bed creak softly yet it did not disturb the teal haired male. At first, he tried shaking his shoulder, hoping that it wasn't that hard to wake the younger one, but it proved hopeless when Tetsuya did not bulge awake.
"Oi, Te-tetsuya...wake up." It felt weird to be calling the teal haired male by his name. But they are family now, and he should get used to calling the younger teen by his name. He shook his harder and called his name out again, which was unsuccessful. The teal haired male remained asleep.
Yukio scratched the back of his head while he tried to think of ways on how to wake the younger teen up.
Then he smirks. If this doesn't work, he doesn't know what does. He pulled off the covers off the teal haired male, revealing the sleeping teen. Tetsuya groaned, wondering where his warm, cozy blanket went. But sleep still has a hold of him and does not allow him to wake up. But he jolted awake when he felt cold hands poking his sides, tickling him. He laughed then covered his mouth, trying to conceal his voice. Yukio didn't stop, even though the younger teen was already awake. Tetsuya tries to stop his brother, but to no avail, as his arms felt weak.
"P-please! I'm awake! I'm awake!" the teal haired male begs.
Yukio stops his tickling as he chuckled. Tetsuya was panting, tired from laughing hard. Well, as hard as he could. It has been too long since he laughed that hard. He then looks up to the older teen and gave him a smile.
"That was unfair." Tetsuya mumbled.
"Well, you were being stubborn." Yukio countered.
"What time is it?"
"Around eight. Manami-san called us for breakfast. She asked me to wake you up."
"I see."
Tetsuya sits up from the bed, as he stretched his arms. His bed hair was apparent as well, his hair pointing in every direction. Yukio tries not to laugh. The older teen tried to fix the soft teal locks, combing it with his fingers. He never thought that a guy's hair could be as soft as this...wait, Kise's hair is soft too. He knew that because the blonde took care of his hair well, using many kinds of hair products to keep it soft and shiny. Well, as expected from a model. But Tetsuya's was...different. It felt natural.
After few more minutes of fixing the younger teen's bed hair, it was finally tamed. Yukio waits for Tetsuya to finish freshen up and change in the bathroom before they headed downstairs for breakfast. Manami greets both of her sons, ushering them on the table with the food laid on the table. The two teens thanks for their food and began to eat. Tetsuya took his time, not really used to eating breakfast. Yukio notices, as he looked at the teal haired male's portion of food.
It seemed like Deja vu.
Yukio sighed. The kid's going to get sick if this is how much he eats. Just look at him! So short and thin! Very pale too!
"Oi, Te-tetsuya..." Kasamatsu was still not used to the first name basis.
The teal haired male blinked in surprise. This is the first time he heard the older teen use his name (of course, he did not hear Yukio calling him again and again when he was still asleep). "Yes? Yukio-san?" he decides to reciprocate the gesture, using the older teen's name as well.
"Yukio is just fine." The older Kasamatsu insists.
"Yu-Yukio..." Tetsuya tries, and it felt weird calling someone without a suffix. But if that's what he wants to be called, then he doesn't mind.
"Anyways, is that all you're going to eat?" Yukio points at the small portion of food on Tetsuya's plate.
'Not this again...' the teal haired male thought with a small pout "I can't finish it if there are too much." he reasoned.
"You were able to finish all the ones I placed on your plate." the older teen retorts. 'I never thought a guy like him would be so stubborn.'
"..." Tetsuya isn't going to give up. He's not going to finish the food the older teen will put on his plate.
The teal haired male groaned as he clutched his stomach with his head on the table. Yukio was beside him, a small smirk on his face. No matter how much the teal haired male refused to finish the food the older teen placed on his plate, Yukio was still able to force Tetsuya to finish all of them.
"Boys, I left lunch in the microwave! Just heat it up when you're hungry!" Manami reminds them as she slipped on her shoes, getting ready to leave the house for work.
Yuuta has already left earlier morning, before the two teens were even up. Manami's shift doesn't start until ten so she made breakfast for her two children. She waved good bye at Yukio and Tetsuya before leaving the house.
Now that the two of them are alone, they were engulfed with awkward silence. They're still not used to having each other as brothers, no matter how much they want to get to know each other. And so, the two stayed quiet, not a word exchanged between them.
'We should at least talk about something...anything. This is getting too awkward.' Yukio thought. He turns to the teal haired male. He was fidgeting with his shirt, not sure of what to do as well. The older teen sighs. He has to take the initiative.
"Tetsuya...do you...do you want to talk about something?" Yukio nearly slapped himself. What was that? That sounded lame!
The teal haired male blinked before giving a small smile "When did you start playing basketball?"
Yukio was surprised. He was expecting a no, or a nothing or some sort of rejection. But he was happy that Tetsuya wanted to talk. "Well, I started basketball when I was in grade school. One of our neighbours back then played basketball, he was the one who introduced basketball to me. I actually played baseball before basketball. We used to fight which sport was better..." there was a nostalgic look on Yukio's face, as he remembered his childhood. "But I started to like basketball more and more when we played in the street court. I eventually tried out for the club in the beginning of my middle school. But by that time, my friend moved away."
"Does he...still play basketball?" Tetsuya asks, a curious look on his face.
The older teen was happy that the teal haired male was keen on listening on his story. He was worried for a second that the younger teen was bored of his story. "Well, yes. He does. He's part of the basketball team in Kaijo. He came back for high school."
"That's good then...the two of you are still able to play basketball together." there was a another smile, yet again, on Tetsuya's face. It was small, but it was full of genuine happiness. Yukio couldn't help but to return a smile on his own.
"How about you? How did you get into basketball?" Yukio this time asks, curious as to what the teal haired male's story is. According to what he hear from kise before, Tetsuya really love basketball.
The younger teen chuckled "The way I started basketball is almost the same as you, Yukio...san." the teal haired male could still not manage to drop the suffix. Yukio huffs, but in time, Tetsuya would get used to it and drop the 'san' someday, he thought.
"I had this neighbor who really loved basketball. He was the one who introduced me to it. I was really bad at it, but I grew to love the sport and joined the basketball club in middle school. But he also moved far away and never saw him again." was the short story of the teal haired male. Tetsuya purposely left out details about middle school, but Yukio does not mind. He knew that the younger teen was part of the Generation of Miracles and it seems that there's something about their past that only they know about. He's not going to pry for what happened if Tetsuya wasn't willing to tell him.
"So...do you two still meet?" Yukio curiously asks.
There was a blank look on Kuroko's face. He suddenly remembered Ogiwara's broken look, how he found out that his best friend stopped playing basketball, that he lost connection with the person who brought him the sport he loved the most...but his smile returned, pushing the dark thoughts away to the back of his mind.
"We lost connection, and I don't know where he is either."
After their talk about basketball, they decided to have an early lunch so that they can leave the house earlier and have more time for Yukio to give Tetsuya a tour around. The two had ate in silence, whereas Yukio placed more food on the teal haired male's plate once again. Both washed the dishes, as they tidied the dining table.
As soon as they were done with their preparations, they left the house and started to walk, side by side.
"We'll get you a duplicate of the key soon." Yukio informs the teal haired male. He mentally noted to remind his father about it.
Kanagawa is a quiet prefecture. There is nothing much, unlike Tokyo, but it was peaceful. And Kuroko Tetsuya treasured peace and quiet. The older teen walked him around, showing him places like the park. the amusement parks, the mall, and finally, the basketball street court. The teal haired male enjoyed the older teen's company very much. They had gotten to know each other and it seems that they get along very much.
But that wasn't the only thing that happened during their tour around kanagawa. Yukio had panicked when he 'lost' the teal haired male, as he shouted for his name and looked around him. He instantly got worried when he couldn't find the younger teen anywhere. Then he spluttered in shock and surprise when the teal haired male suddenly appeared in front of him with two ice cream on hand.
That was Kasamatsu Yukio's first time experiencing the infamous misdirection outside basketball.
"By the way, Tetsuya...are you joining the basketball team?" the older Kasamatsu asks. He's been thinking about this question since last night, wondering if the younger teen was going to be joining their team. If that was the case, that would mean that they would have two people from the Generation of Miracles. And he wants to play basketball with Kuroko too.
"I...I cannot." the teal haired male casts his eyes down, as he avoided eye contact with Yukio.
"Why not?" Yukio further asks.
"Because there's an oath between the Generation of Miracles that we all have to fulfill." Tetsuya vaguely explains.
The older teen raised a brow. An oath? What kind of oath would that be that doesn't even allow Tetsuya to join the Kaijo team. "I'm not going to pry on what that is. It's none of my business. But if anything is troubling you...you can talk to me."
Tetsuya looks at the older teen in surprise. Then blushed a bit before turning away. No one...no one had ever said something like that to him. Well, Ogiwara doesn't count because they were childhood friends.
Yukio gave a small smile "Come on, let's go somewhere to sit. It's getting hot."
The two of them spent their time inside the air conditioned cafe, drinking their cold beverages. It was indeed, a hot afternoon. The sun was shining brightly, and they could barely feel the wind. Yukio had ordered iced coffee, while Tetsuya ordered his usual vanilla milkshake.
'This guy...he looks really happy with that drink.' Yukio thought as he watch Tetsuya enjoy the cold treat. He has discovered something new about the teal haired male.
The Kasamatsu brothers enjoyed their time in the cafe in peace and quiet.
They traveled to Tokyo to pick the puppy up from the vet. Yukio rarely goes to the city, not unless it's important, so he took his time looking at the scenery. It was different from Kanagawa, the province that was peaceful and quiet. Tokyo was the opposite. It was always crowded with people and it was noisy.
The doctor greets the teal haired male but not before getting surprised by his presence and nearly getting a heart attack. Tetsuya introduces Yukio to the doctor, while the older man warmly greets the older kasamatsu.
"Nigou is fine now. He just need some more rest and water to get more better." the doctor informs the teal haired male as he ruffled the puppy's head.
Tetsuya sighed in relief. "Thank you for taking care of him doctor." he said before giving him his fee and taking the necessary medications for the puppy.
The puppy was asleep, covered on a small blanket and was placed on a basket with a small pillow for him to lie on. Tetsuya gave a small smile to the puppy, whispering words like 'I missed you' and 'Get better soon'.
Yukio really found the scene cute.
They got home before dinner, their parents already home. Both their mother and father greets for their return, while the two of them greets back. Tetsuya excused himself and headed to his room, to place Nigou in his room. Manami informs her son that dinner would be in few minutes. Yukio goes to his room as well, to freshen up and change into more comfortable clothes. But before he could enter his room, the younger teen called out to him.
"Yukio-san...would you mind coming with me to Kaijo tomorrow? I need to submit my remaining requirements for records." the teal haired male asks. He was hesitant at first, but after today, he wanted to spend more time getting to know the older teen more. He never knew that having a brother would be this great. He has someone to depend on to, someone who would listen to him, and someone who would always be there...
There was a thoughtful look on his face before he gave the younger teen a smirk. "Sure. But on one condition."
Tetsuya blinked in surprise, but nodded anyways "And that condition is?"
"You have to call me Yukio. Drop the 'san'. If you could do it without stuttering, I'll give you a tour too." Yukio offers.
"I...I will do my best."