Disclaimer: Would never be mine.
Warning: fluff? Long chapter? OOC maybe? Overusing some words?
A/N: Honestly, I never thought so many reviews for the previous chapter, since it didn't have any Akakuro moments. So, I'm really overly grateful for all those reviews, fave and follows you all gave me! Thank you very much! Each of your reviews really encouraged me to write more and to know there's someone who likes my writing really boosts my confidence! I love you all! XD
I tried to reply to all my reviewer, but if I actually miss someone out, just tell me. Here is guest reply~
Van965: you're welcome! Thank you for replying and reviewing again too! It really made me happy to know you're still around and to know you like my story (you made me cry out of happiness). Thank you again for loving the previous chapter. I was actually quite nervous posting that chapter, since there's no akakuro in it, so I'm really happy that all my reviewer, including you, gave me such positive response. Thanks for giving me your opinion! You didn't annoy me at all, in the contrary, I love long review! (You see, I tend to talk a lot too, like now, lol). I hope you'll enjoy this update~
Guest 1: here's an update~
Guest 2: Thank you for giving me your opinion!
Guest 3: Thank you for loving it! Here is the new chapter ^^
Guest 4: Sure. More it is then~
(Okay, it's kind of weird to just call anonymous reviewer with guest 1, 2, or 3, so if it's okay with you, please state your name. It'll make it easier for me to address you.)
Don't worry, this chapter contain Akakuro in it. It's not just you guys who were impatient to read Akakuro moments, I was itching to write it too! This chapter is about Kuroko's interaction with the rest of GOM like I said before, including Akashi~
I got my beta reader! Let me introduce her, she is Fangirling-girl who will be my beta from now on~ (Now I don't have to worry about my grammar, lol) *hearts* This chapter is beta'd by her. Here is the second part, enjoy!
Not all lies remain lies,
not all truths remain truths.
Whether lies become truths, or truths become lies,
we are the ones who choose.
Listen to your heart and trust it, because the answer has always been there from the beginning.
Day 2 – Perhaps, it's not just a rumor (part 2)
He was walking along the hallway, quietly, swiftly moved his body away from bumping with other students. Kuroko let out a relieved sigh, he's glad to find his peace again. Well, at the cost of sacrificing Kise, of course. The model right now must have been swarmed by his rabid fan-girls, panicking or maybe whining about how Kuroko had left him alone. The bluenette just shrugged though, he might seem innocent but, deep down, he was quite a playful and mean person, especially when it came to his attitude toward the blond.
Kuroko hastened his walking pace. He needed to reach the library before the lunch break ended. After all, he already used up quarter of his break time conversing with Aomine and Kise.
The teal haired teen used his invisibility to the max, avoiding the possibility of any other hurdle that might come in his way again. But, he must hadn't counted another possibility of running against a giant wall.
He crushed into something, or someone, hard. Kuroko flew few meters backward for good, because of his light weight and the other party's tough built, combined with the bump impact.
He landed on the floor nicely. His body flinched by the impact and his usually blank face contorted in pain slightly. After Kuroko regained his composure, he was searching for the book that was missing from his hand.
"Ah…" He heard a voice muttered –which truthfully didn't really sound like—in pain (at all).
"Book? *Slurp* Why there *slurp* a book *slurp* flying?"
'So, that's where it goes,' Kuroko thought impassively. Seemed like the book had flown from his hand and hit someone.
The bluenette tilted his head. He narrowed his eyes. That voice… why did it feel so familiar?
He lifted up his head and found a tall giant standing not far from him. The purple haired giant carried lots of snacks with him. Half of them were inside his pants pockets, while the others were inside two plastic bags he was holding in his left hand, and there was one stuck inside his mouth.
"Ah…" Kuroko murmured.
The purple haired teen shook the book in his hand, confused, while sucking the lollipop in his mouth nonstop. He looked at his surroundings, searching for the owner of the book, but found nothing.
"Down here. That book is mine."
He cast his sight down and found the teal haired teen sitting on the floor.
"Hello, Murasakibara-kun," Kuroko greeted.
Murasakibara's eyes were widened slightly, surprised by what he saw. "Kuro-chin," he said, as he walked toward the smaller teen.
"I'm sorry. I—" The bluenette tried to stand up, but before he was able to finish his words, he quickly found himself being lifted up by the tall giant easily.
"Kuro-chin, what *slurp* are you *slurp* doing on *slurp* the floor?" Murasakibara asked, holding Kuroko with both hands, left the smaller teen hanging in the air.
Kuroko furrowed his eyebrows. "Murasakibara-kun, please put me down. Also, don't speak while eating. It's impolite," he scolded. There's tint of annoyance in it and it's not only because of the purple head's act.
'How could Murasakibara-kun lift me up this easily? I'm not that light… am I?'
If there's another thing that bothered the smaller teen other than his height, then it must have been his weight. It looked like everyone could carry him effortlessly. And, when he said everyone, it meant not only Murasakibara, but also Aomine, Kise and Midorima (they had done it before). As for Akashi, he never did that, but maybe he should try to ask? Because their captain was the closest in built with the bluenette, and if even the redhead was able to carry him, then…
Kuroko shook his head, trying to refute any possible outcome that came to his mind—and all were the worst case scenarios.
'Perhaps I should eat more? I might even be able to build up more muscle,' he thought, nodding to himself determinedly, while poking his –not really visible— muscle.
Kuroko was too absorbed in his thought that he realized too late he was actually not within the giant's hold anymore. Instead, he was now hanging on his shoulder. Murasakibara walked lazily along the hallway, carrying snacks in one hand, and Kuroko in the other.
It's embarrassing (even though Kuroko's face was still as stoic as ever) and attracted too many unnecessary attentions. They practically became the center of everyone's attention. How could they not? In those people eyes, there were snack-carrying monster and blue haired… ghost? They needed to squint their eyes to make sure they indeed saw something, and not just a hallucination, since the bluenette looked like a blurry image (Kuroko was using his misdirection to the max, but still couldn't erase the trace of his existence because of Murasakibara's strong presence). They're not sure whether it was a human or… you-know-what.
The teal haired teen was squirming, trying so hard—but failed to shove off the giant's hold on him. He let out a sigh and finally surrendered himself to let Murasakibara brought him to wherever he wanted to go.
The purple haired teen kept walking. He turned left then walked outside the school building. Kuroko tweaked his eyebrows, confused to where the snack monster was heading.
"Murasakibara-kun," he called.
"Hmm…" the taller teen hummed.
"Murasakibara-kun," he called, again.
"Hmm…" The same response.
"Murasakibara-kun."
"Hmm…"
There's a vein popped up on Kuroko's forehead. Was he playing with him? The teal head initially thought, but he quickly dismissed the idea. It's Murasakibara he was talking about. Dealing with the purple head was the same as dealing with children. He got to be patient, since the teen was basically a kid inside a giant body after all.
"Murasakibara-kun, can you—" They—he— stopped abruptly. '—put me down, please?' was what the bluenette originally wanted to say before he bumped his forehead with Murasakibara's back because of the sudden halt.
He rubbed his forehead gently, trying to cease the pain. He, then, found himself being put down by the taller teen. Kuroko was just going to complain when the purple head pulled him down to sit between the teen's grasp.
They're now in the school garden, outside the building, sitting on the wooden benches. Murasakibara was now chewing a different candy inside his mouth while hugging Kuroko inside his embrace.
The teal haired teen sighed. "Murasakibara-kun, please don't carry me like that next time."
"Why?"
"Because it's inappropriate," he answered. "Besides, I'm not some sacks, so please just do it normally."
"But, it's *munch* faster *munch* like that and *munch* I like carrying *munch* Kuro-chin. Kuro-chin *munch* is so *munch* light," the purple haired replied.
Kuroko twitched. "Even-though I might not weight much, I still dislike being carried like that." So much for sarcasm.
"Then, is bridal style okay?" the giant asked innocently.
"No," the bluenette replied quickly. Where the hell did that come from anyway?
"Eh? But, Kise-chin said, Kuro-chin will like that."
Oh… He was so gonna kill Kise for this. 'Maybe twenty times of ignite pass kai will be sufficient?' Kuroko thought seriously. There's evil glint in his icy eyes (in the same time, Kise was shivering by the sudden chills).
"Any kind of carrying is prohibited. Just do it in normal way." He put emphasis on the word 'any' and 'normal'.
"Okay…" Murasakibara mumbled.
One problem was solved.
"Also, why do I have to sit like this, Murasakibara-kun?" he asked, quirking his eyebrows.
"Because *munch* Kuro-chin is so small. *munch* He fit *munch* perfectly *munch* like this," the giant answered, putting in two more candies into his mouth.
Was he testing his patience? He didn't just bring up the word 'light' –which was a sensitive issue for the bluenette— but also another taboo word: 'small'.
"Murasakibara-kun, choose between eating and speaking," he said coldly. '–and stop calling me small,' he added in his thought. But, then again, compared to this tall giant, he indeed was quite small. Everyone was.
The purple haired teen nodded, obeying Kuroko —which was a really rare case.
He put his chin on top of the smaller teen head and tightened his hold on him. "I like being with Kuro-chin like this," Murasakibara muttered and smiled.
Kuroko heaved a sigh. He really could never stay angry with the teen. This tall giant was just being honest, and he never had any evil intention with whatever he was saying. Maybe that was the reason why they got along very well with each other, except in the matter of basketball of course.
Murasakibara stared at Kuroko. They're always crashing with each other when it came to basketball, because of their principle's difference. But, other than that, they're compatible. He liked spending time with Kuroko and he was one of the very few people the purple head wouldn't mind sharing his snacks with (and that was actually such a big deal coming from the snacks-eating monster).
He rubbed his face against the bluenette's hair. It felt soft and nice. The light blue color of his hair resembled his favorite cotton candy, fluffy and tasty. He could feel himself drooling. He had this sudden craving to just bite the teal haired teen.
"—bara-kun. Murasakibara-kun?"
Kuroko called out to the purple haired teen, confused with the other party's sudden silence. There's tint of worry in his tone. He turned to face Murasakibara.
"Is there something wrong?"
He was silent for a moment before staring at the smaller teen blue orbs intensely. "Kuro-chin looks tasty. Can I eat you?"
Kuroko in return stared back at him blankly. "I'm not edible," he replied, deadpanned.
"Really? Can't I try?" he asked back, tilting his head and giving the bluenette his puppy dog eyes.
"You can't. I believe I'm still a human and not some kind of food," he answered flatly, completely ignoring the giant's pleading eyes.
The purple head looked dejected by Kuroko's refusal.
The teal haired teen pitied —or not Murasakibara's depressed expression and was just going to comfort the teen when he heard someone talking.
"For real? Those punks were really crazy to stand up against the teacher like that!"
"Yeah! They even involved in a brawl with them!"
"Brawl? Were they crazy or what? So, were they expelled?"
"Nah~ They only got detention that forbid them from coming to school for two weeks."
"But man, how insane could they be to do something like that."
"I heard they were ordered, by some redhead dude."
"Ordered? By who?"
"Yeah, it was this dude from basketball club. The captain or so I heard. Seemed like a dangerous person. What is his name again… Aka—"
"The basketball team's captain? You mean that Akashi Seijurou?"
"You know him?"
"Of course! He is pretty famous! I heard rumor saying that he can twist people around with just a finger and, if you get into the bad side of him, you are done for."
"Scary! Then, does that mean he ordered those punks to oppose the teachers? Perhaps those teachers were nuisances to him, so he tried to get rid of them!"
Kuroko was listening carefully to their conversation. He was annoyed by the statements. Why was he kept hearing bad things about Akashi anyway?
"Kuro-chin, here, have some cookies," Murasakibara said suddenly, broke him off from his annoyed state. The purple haired teen was offering him some vanilla flavored cookies.
The bluenette tilted his head, puzzled, couldn't understand the reason for the sudden cookies offering.
"I like Aka-chin. He would give me snacks sometimes and treat me sweets every time I did good in basketball. He maybe strict, but Aka-chin is never wrong, " Murasakibara started explaining. "That's why I always obey Aka-chin's order, and will always be, because in the end, Aka-chin is always right." He took some cookies then put them into his mouth.
'Was he trying to cheer me up?' Kuroko thought as he watched the teen munching the cookies.
The teal haired teen smiled, amused by Murasakibara's consideration since he rarely cared about anything other than his snacks.
Kuroko took and eat the vanilla cookies. "Thank you," he said then pulled out a handkerchief out of his pants pocket, rubbing it to Murasakibara's mouth. "You have cookies crumbs on your face, Murasakibara-kun."
The purple head hummed in response, enjoying Kuroko's touch on him.
After a few minutes, the bluenette stood up, stepped out of the taller teen's hold. "I need to go now, Murasakibara-kun."
Murasakibara nodded, watching as the teal haired teen took his book and walked away.
The library was crowded by many students. Most of them were third year students who were busy preparing for their upcoming final exam. Among them, there's one green haired teen that was busy sorting out books on the bookshelves according to the first syllable of each of book's title.
"Really, they're just starting to study now because the final is near. What a bunch of slacker," he muttered, complaining.
He tapped his glasses and letting out a small 'tsk' in annoyance.
The green head, also known as the shooting guard of Teiko's basketball team, Midorima Shintarou, could be seen to be working diligently as a member of library committee. He placed all the books in order and to perfection. He let out a satisfied hum when he had finished arranging the books in the way he liked them to be, neat and well-organized.
He seemed too lost in admiration toward his own job that he didn't realize a teal haired teen was standing beside him.
"Midorima-kun."
He jumped slightly and quickly turned his head to where the voice was heard.
The green head tugged his glasses. "Kuroko, say something if you are here. It's rude to just appear suddenly," he scolded, trying so hard to hide his shock and his heart which was beating rapidly. Midorima really just couldn't say things honestly.
Kuroko stared at him blankly. "You're the rude one, Midorima-kun. I had called you for five minutes, but it seemed you were more interested in admiring your work," he replied bluntly.
The glasses teen was reddening slightly, then quickly coughing to hide his embarrassment and averted his eyes to look back at the bookshelf. "A-anyway, what are you doing here?"
The bluenette narrowed his eyes. "I'm also one of the library committee members. What's wrong with me being here?"
Both Midorima and Kuroko had been the library committee members for three years. They'd joined since their first year. They both loved books and could actually get along well in that term, apart from the green haired teen who was always so obstinate to deny it and instead, would insist that they're the exact opposite, like because he's A blood type and Kuroko's B, and bla bla bla. (Kuroko usually would just ignore it).
"I-I mean, you're not supposed to be on duty today, are you?" he stammered.
Kuroko nodded. "I just come here to return a book, as well as to borrow a new one."
"I see." Midorima cast his sight back to the shelves. "Then, what do you want here? Aren't you going to borrow another one?"
"I am," the bluenette replied, as he pointed a book on the upper shelves in front of Midorima.
The spectacle teen moved backward to let Kuroko moved in. The teal haired teen tried (read: failed) to reach the book. He stood on his tiptoes and stretched out his hand but, unfortunately, Kuroko wasn't tall enough, even when he gave his all to grab the book. Midorima watched in silence. He would never admit it out loud that Kuroko looked cute with that slight pout on his face.
He coughed softly. The bluenette glanced at him with blank expression which, in a way, asked him what's wrong.
"Move, Kuroko," Midorima said, then stood in front of the shelves and grabbed the book easily.
The green head turned toward the smaller teen and hold out the book. "Here," he said as he tugged the tip of his glasses and averted his eyes from Kuroko. "Don't get me wrong. I'm on my duty to sort out the books. I don't have time to watch you in your pathetic attempt to claim the book, that's why I had no choice but to lend you a hand. I only helped you so that you could get out of my way faster."
The teal haired teen took the book from Midorima's hand. "Thank you," he said softly.
Kuroko stared at the taller teen. It was really so like Midorima to say things in a roundabout way. He knew that the green haired teen had already finished doing his job. After all, he did took his time to admire his neat and perfectly done work. Midorima really just wouldn't express his feeling honestly, to just say that he had helped the bluenette because he had been aware that Kuroko couldn't have done it.
Kuroko's gaze softened at the thought. "I appreciate your help, Midorima-kun, though you should be more honest."
The green head choked briefly. "What— what do you mean by more honest?! I'm always honest with myself," he remarked.
"Is that so," Kuroko answered, deadpanned.
"What's with that resp—"
"Why did they challenge him?" a rather loud voice interrupted Midorima before he managed to finish his sentence.
The disturbance irritated the green haired teen, as a vein popped up on his forehead and how he muttered, 'Don't they know not to be loud while in library' in annoyed tone.
"It seemed that they made a bet. The loser got to obey the winner's orders. They obviously thought they could win against him."
"Win? Against Akashi Seijurou? I don't know whether they were brave or just simply idiot."
"Yeah, I think they thought they had a chance by challenging him in group. Let's see... they were from shogi club, chess club, and igo club, if I remember correctly. They all ganged up on him, proposed thing like he needed to play against those entire clubs' member and whoever won would own the loser."
"What a cowardice way! One against that many?"
"Guess they're just desperate. Anyone would know that Akashi has power here. Having him on your side is the same as ruling this school. It doesn't matter how dirty they have to be, if it means they can win. The problem is, their opponent is just too overwhelming."
"So, they got crushed?"
"Complete defeat. They totally didn't stand a chance against him. And now, he gets all those people as his lackeys. Idiot, weren't they? Who in their right mind would even deliberately get themselves to become his opponent? It is Akashi Seijurou that we're talking about! He's the nastiest among all the people I know!"
'Again', Kuroko thought in annoyance. Everywhere he went, there were always talks about 'Akashi this', 'Akashi that', and not even once he had heard a nice thing about it.
The bluenette's face darkened, that even Midorima would notice that Kuroko was getting ticked off by what he was hearing.
And he did realize it. The green head coughed quite loudly to let his presence to be known by those two gossipers.
"If you two were just going to talk about such pointless thing, then leave. This is library. You are supposed to be quiet in here. Or are you guys just so stupid to not know about that?" he scolded them sarcastically.
"What the hell is your problem?!" they responded angrily, felt offended by the glasses teen's insult.
Midorima sighed. "I'll say it clearer since, obviously, you two are too stupid to understand." He stared at them coldly. "You two are a nuisances."
They're going to rebuke back, but ended up being petrified when they felt an intimidating aura from the green head.
"D- Don't think you'll get away with this!" they shouted then ran away, disappeared from Midorima's and Kuroko's view.
He scoffed. "That's why I dislike idiots who can only bark," he continued in disgust, before cast his sight back to Kuroko. "And you, Kuroko, there's no need to be aggravated because of such foolish things."
The bluenette stared at Midorima. "What do you think about this, Midorima-kun?"
"About what?"
"The rumors about Akashi-kun. Midorima-kun surely knows about it, right?"
"There's nothing to think about." The greenhead adjusted his glasses. "I don't believe in things that aren't proven by fact."
"Even though you believe in horoscopes?" the smaller teen countered immediately.
Midorima flinched slightly. "That is different. Horoscopes is not superstition, it always comes true. I have never been proven wrong by believing in it. Besides—" he paused. The green haired teen realized he could go hours and hours when it came to horoscopes topic, so he stopped himself before he went out of his way to explain it. "A-anyway, it's foolish to be swayed by such pointless rumors."
Kuroko tilted his head. "Does it mean you believe in Akashi-kun?"
"Till now, Akashi has never been proved wrong. He always knows what he's doing, and there's nothing he had done or asked us to do that were useless, so I have no reason to not trust him," he replied firmly.
It was kind of surprised Kuroko at how much trust the green haired teen put in their captain. But, then again, Midorima always got along with Akashi, and he was one of the closest people with the redhead, other than Murasakibara. The bluenette smiled briefly at the epiphany.
"—so Kuroko, if you have time to worry about others, why don't you worry about yourself first? There's exam to be care about, also I noticed you had been off at the training." Midorima pulled out something from his blazer pocket and handed it to Kuroko.
"Here, take it. It's your lucky item," he stated, shoving Kuroko his supposed to be lucky item, which was a band-aid with rather unique (read: disturbing) pattern. The bluenette expected no less from Midorima. It didn't surprise him at all, knowing the glasses teen carried all kind of weird stuffs with him. Really, that's nothing new about it. Though, he had to wonder why Midorima carried Kuroko's lucky item with him (as he said).
The confusion showed on the smaller teen's face as he furrowed his eyebrows. When Midorima noticed that expression, he quickly shoved the band-aid into Kuroko's palm –quite forcefully—then averted his eyes from the bluenette.
He coughed for attention. "It's not like I care. I absolutely did not purposely bring it for you. I just accidentally heard it from Oha-Asa. You hear me? Don't misunderstand," he explained with a tone that emphasizing something.
Kuroko stared at Midorima silently. There's amusement flickered on his blue eyes when he heard the green haired teen's excuse.
"I just did this so you can be more focus in training. I absolutely hate slacker, and you won't be of any use if you don't pull yourself together," he continued, and Kuroko wondered whether the taller teen realized the blush forming on his face.
"Do you understand?" he asked, looking back at the bluenette when he heard no response from him.
He found a pair of icy blue eyes was staring at him. He watched as Kuroko gripped the band-aid in his hand tightly before nodding.
"Midorima-kun is really kind," Kuroko said softly. His mouth rose slightly, showing his rare smile.
The taller teen was taken by surprise, both by Kuroko's compliment and his smile.
"Wh—who say I'm kind? I only expressed my opinion. It's the fact after all." He rose his glasses up a bit. " Besides, like I said already, I did not do this for your sake. I just happened to hear your zodiac sign in Oha-Asa. Also, I did this only because it will complement my own luck, so it's totally for my own good. Don't think that I will thank you or anything by complimenting me, alright. It's not like I ask you anyway, and I don't need it," he stated quickly, hiding his embarrassment. He looked at anything but Kuroko. His face was reddening, betraying his own words, because it totally showed his happiness from hearing the bluenette's praise.
The green haired teen travelled his eyes back to Kuroko, after he was able to regain his composure. "Anyway, Kuroko, shouldn't you return to your class? You have the book already, and you don't have anything else to do here, right? If that's so, then leave. I need to finish my other duty, and you will only bother me by being here."
The bluenette eyed Midorima impassively. He understood that it was just the way the taller teen reacted when he was embarrassed. It wouldn't kill him to be a tad more honest, really.
Kuroko nodded. "Then, I'll take my leave," he said, bowing slightly then took steps away out of the library.
'What should I do with this band-aid?' Kuroko thought as he walked through the corridor, toward his classroom.
He shrugged then put the band-aid back to his pocket. Midorima had always carrying a lot of things as his lucky items, so he's not going to question why the green head even had a band-aid with him (at least, it's much more normal than a weird shape statue, or an extra big frog doll, or other unusual things, he had once brought with him). Though, he's quite curious why he brought the teal haired teen supposed-to-be lucky item and why it needed to be a band-aid.
There were not many students anymore in the hallway, because it's only about 15 minutes left before lunch break ended. Kuroko rubbed his stomach; he had yet to eat lunch. He had spent most of his break time with his teammates. It's strange how he actually bumped into all of them continuously. All that was left was Akashi, and then it would be complete.
Kuroko quickly shook his head. 'There's no way such coincidence is going to happen' was what he thought when he passed a room and saw a familiar figure inside. The bluenette stopped, then turned back toward that room. He peeked inside to make sure he hadn't just imagined thing.
Speak of the devil. His blue eyes widened slightly when he saw a redhead inside the room. 'Akashi-kun?'
Kuroko lifted his head to read the sign attached above the door. It's written 'Preparation Room' on it.
He tilted his head, confused. 'What is Akashi-kun doing here?'
The teal haired teen knew he should have left his captain alone, but curiosity won over him as he found himself walking into the room.
There, sitting on a chair, was none other than the teen whose name had been came up wherever he went today. The red haired teen was sitting leisurely, with a shogi board placed on the desk in front of him. Kuroko quietly watched as Akashi Seijurou played the game alone.
"What is it, Tetsuya?"
The bluenette flinched slightly as he heard his name being called. He found a pair of heterochromatic eyes settled on his.
"Don't just stand there. Come here," Akashi said while gesturing Kuroko to sit in the chair beside him.
Kuroko hesitated a little before walking slowly toward the pointed chair. He wasn't sure whether he should oblige or just leave, but then he recalled that the redhead hated it when someone disobeyed him.
The bluenette sat carefully, felling a bit uneasy as he sensed the other's stare on him. He shifted slightly, trying to make himself comfortable, before casting his eyes back into Akashi's.
"So, what bring you here?" the red haired teen asked, he moved one of his shogi pawn forward.
"I just coincidentally passed here when I saw Akashi-kun," he answered.
Akashi just hummed as response. His eyes still glued to the board.
"What are you doing here, Akashi-kun?"
The redhead moved his sight away from the board into Kuroko. "It's as you can see," Akashi replied, smiling.
"Playing shogi alone?" Kuroko asked bluntly.
Akashi chuckled at the bluenette's bluntness. "Yes, alone."
The smaller teen furrowed his eyebrows. "But, isn't shogi a game for two people?" he asked as the matter-of-fact. Kuroko might not familiar with the game itself but, at least, he knew shogi was not a one person game.
"It is," the redhead answered, then took one of the shogi's pieces and held it between his fingers. "But, it doesn't mean it has to be played by two people," Akashi continued as he gazed at Kuroko.
The bluenette quirked his eyebrows. "I don't understand."
Akashi put the shogi piece back into the board. "Haven't you heard a saying 'against oneself'?"
He was silent for a moment. "Does that mean you play against yourself, Akashi-kun?"
"Exactly." The red haired teen looked at Kuroko. "Want to try it, Tetsuya? You can be my opponent," he proposed.
"I never play shogi," the bluenette answered.
"I can teach you," Akashi said, smiling amusedly.
"I must humbly refuse," he replied monotonously.
Akashi laughed lightly. "I'll let you go for now, Tetsuya. But, I'll get you do it next time." His mismatched eyes were glinting mischievously.
Kuroko was more than sure the redhead would really do it. He sighed then averted his eyes to his surroundings. "Akashi-kun, how can you be here? This room was usually locked right?"
The preparation room was usually used to put documents or files, so it was locked most of the time. This was actually Kuroko first time to be here.
"I have the key with me," he answered, pointing the key that was laying next to the shogi board.
"Why do you have the key?"
"It was given to me," the red haired teen simply replied, focusing his attention to the board again.
Kuroko was just going to ask 'how', but he quickly refrained himself. There's no use in asking, since it was Akashi he's talking about. If the redhead wanted something, then he could easily obtain it. Kuroko really didn't want to know how he had done it. That reminded him of the rumors he had heard about.
"Akashi-kun, can I ask you something?" the bluenette asked.
"Sure." Akashi settled his eyes on Kuroko's with interest. He straightened his back. "What is it?"
"Are the rumors true?"
The red haired teen raised one of his eyebrows, "Rumors?" He smiled knowingly. "Which one?"
Kuroko stared at him, deadpanned. "So, you know about it."
"I can hardly not," he simply replied.
'I doubt there's a thing you don't know about,' the bluenette thought. Because Akashi always knew about anyone and anything, that nothing could be hidden from him.
"Then, all of them, are they true or not?"
Akashi was silent for a moment. He let his eyes stared at nothing.
"Say, Tetsuya, have you eaten yet?" he suddenly asked, looking back at Kuroko, smiling.
"No?" the bluenette answered, taken aback by the unexpected question. Why did the topic shift from rumors to whether Kuroko had eaten already or not?
The redhead took out a lunch box out of nowhere (Kuroko didn't really want to know where he got it from). He placed it on the desk beside the shogi board.
The lunch box was quite big. It colored in black with phoenix pictures on it. The box itself had traditional feeling on it and looked expensive. Akashi opened the lid, showing the foods that looked delicious, and Kuroko could see most of the foods were traditional dishes. He recalled that the redhead liked traditional stuffs.
"Unfortunately, I only have one pair of chopsticks," he stated, taking out the chopsticks out of its case. "You don't mind, do you, Tetsuya?" Akashi asked, his tone was implicating something.
But, it seemed that Kuroko was a bit too oblivious about thing like this.
"I don't," he answered flatly.
Because, sharing one pair of chopsticks meant indirect kiss.
The red haired teen chuckled amusedly. That was just so like Kuroko.
Akashi took a piece of sweet omelet with his chopstick and fed it to the teal haired teen.
"I'm not—" the smaller teen was just going to refuse when Akashi cut him.
"Eat," he said with a low voice. There's a menacing aura flowing out of him. He was smiling but those pair of mismatched eyes was telling him, 'I won't accept no.'
So, Kuroko opened his mouth and allowed Akashi to feed him.
He chewed on the food. It tasted delicious. The sweet omelet was so fluffy and it was melting inside his mouth. Now, he realized that he actually felt quite hungry. Guess he should thank Akashi for sharing some of his foods.
The bluenette watched as the redhead took a piece of grilled fish fillet and put it in his mouth. He observed how skillful Akashi was at using chopstick. Kuroko thought the way his captain eating and handling the chopsticks looked beautiful.
The redhead took piece of *nikujaga and fed it to the smaller teen. "About the rumor," he paused, as he watched Kuroko opened his mouth and eating it. "What do you think of it?"
The teal haired teen was chewing the food a few times and swallowed it. "What is there to think about?" He narrowed his eyes. "Akashi-kun, I'm the one who asked the question."
Akashi smirked in response. "Then, let me rephrase. Do you think it's true?"
He munched on another food the redhead had offered. His face was blank, and Akashi wished the bluenette could at least show some expressions about whether the foods were good or not. "I don't know. So, which is it, Akashi-kun?"
"What if I told you it's not?"
"Then, I'll trust Akashi-kun," he answered directly.
"You will? What if I lied?" The red haired teen eyes were flickered with mischievousness.
Kuroko look straight at him. "You don't lie, Akashi-kun," he replied firmly.
Akashi chuckled, impressed with the bluenette's straightforwardness. "I'm honored, but you shouldn't be too trusting, Tetsuya."
"I'm not." Kuroko paused. 'Maybe,' he added. "I just think I shouldn't take the rumors seriously, since they are only rumors after all." The teal haired teen watched as Akashi picked a piece of fried tofu and eating it. The thought of feeding Akashi crossed his mind briefly, though he quickly dismissed it, since he doubted the redhead would ever let him do that.
"Besides, Akashi-kun has never lied, so if Akashi-kun says it's not true, then I'll believe it."
"You are right. I don't lie, because there's no need to." Akashi closed his eyes briefly. When he opened his eyes, Kuroko saw seriousness painted on those mismatched irises. "You know, Tetsuya, perhaps it's not just a rumor."
He smiled knowingly. "There's no smoke without fire. So, unless it really did happen, even just for a little, the rumors wouldn't have existed."
Kuroko was listening seriously. It was just like Akashi to speak in circle.
Akashi put down the chopsticks. He pulled out a bottle of thermos –again, out of nowhere (Kuroko got this urge to ask, but he chose not to. Besides, he doubted the redhead would answer him). He purred the content out to the thermos lid which was also functioned as a cup. It smelled like green tea. He saw Akashi sipping the tea elegantly, before offering it to the bluenette.
He took the cup, blowing it briefly to reduce its hotness then sipping it. He watched as Akashi leaned back against the chair and his eyes travelled outside the window beside him. His gold and red eyes were gleaming by the reflection of sun ray. The red haired teen was looked deep in thought, before averting his eyes to the shogi board.
"For me," he trailed, letting his finger to touch the board softly, "this world itself was like this board. The whole board was a stage and humans are the pieces." Akashi picked one of the shogi pieces then looked at it interestedly. "A pawn, you see?"
He glanced at Kuroko. "Shogi is a strategic game. You need to plan your steps carefully and the ability to read your opponent is essential. Think ahead of everything, of what the best move to do, of how to anticipate the other party's moves and which pawn to be used the best. Those are all you needed to be able to outwit your opponent," the redhead explained with a cold smile plastered on his face.
He looked back at the board. "I like shogi. This game suits me really well. Play smart, and you'll have everything according to your will," he chuckled lightly, placed the shogi piece in his hand back to the board.
"As for the pawn…" Akashi moved a piece forward. "I'll use anything that is useful for me," he said, as he moved another piece to the left. "But," the red haired teen trailed, he took one piece away from the board. "I have no need for useless pawn," he continued with a cold tone in his voice and tossed the piece away. His heterochromatic eyes were staring at the discarded piece indifferently.
He cast his sight back at Kuroko and smiled. "That's why, I won't say that the rumors are entirely false. There might be some truths mix within, though I have to say that I despise underhand way. I would never let myself fall that low," the redhead said firmly.
The bluenette stared at him blankly. "I see."
Akashi raised one of his eyebrows after hearing the smaller teen's flat response. "That's it?"
Kuroko twitched a bit, staring back at the redhead impassively. "What do you expect, Akashi-kun?"
"Hmm..." He picked up the chopstick again and fed a meatball to Kuroko. "I just told you I might not a good person, Tetsuya, and you just shrugged it off."
The teal haired teen ate the offered meatball then munching it nonchalantly. Now, they actually became so natural at doing this. Akashi seemed to enjoy feeding the smaller teen, whereas Kuroko was just going along with his captain's whim. The ever clueless Kuroko.
"I never once expect you to be a good person, Akashi-kun," he answered, deadpanned.
Akashi laughed lightly, amused. "That's harsh."
"So, I wasn't expecting anything when I asked you the truth."
The redhead leaned his chin on top of his palm which was placed above the desk. "You're not having a change of mind?" his mismatched eyes glanced at Kuroko expectantly.
Kuroko was silent for a moment. "I'm not. Besides, I don't know about Akashi-kun well enough, so I can't judge." He settled his icy blue eyes on Akashi's. "But, I have spent a lot of times with Akashi-kun in basketball. You also taught me my current style of basketball, letting me to be one of the regulars —to be one of you all. You also gave me the place where I belong to. Akashi-kun was the one who gave me what I have now. Therefore, regardless of what the rumors say, I'll still trust Akashi-kun."
Kuroko smiled. "Not from the rumors, but instead, the words that coming out of Akashi-kun's own mouth, that's the one I trust."
That statement had taken the red haired teen by surprise.
"You're so naive, Tetsuya," he stated, leaning against the chair. "You never think badly of people, no matter who they are."
"Is it bad?" the bluenette asked in monotone.
"No." Akashi fed Kuroko another sweet omelet. "I guess that's your good point," he continued, his heterochromatic eyes that were gazing at Kuroko softened. 'Just the opposite of me'.
Because, Akashi Seijuro was someone who would only trust himself and the abilities that resided within other people, not the person in general.
After the conversation had ended, they're eating in silence. It didn't take long for them to finish up all the foods. After rested up for few minutes, Kuroko stood up.
"I think it's time for me to head back, Akashi-kun."
"I'll be going too," Akashi said as he stood up. He started to clean up the shogi board, lunch box and the drink.
The bluenette saw the opened window and made an attempt to close it up. "I'll close the window."
"Wait, Tetsuya," the taller teen said as he reached out his hand toward Kuroko's, that was ready to close the window. "That side is dangerous. It's rusty and sharp on its edge, it can cu—"
But he was too late. In return for saving the teal haired teen hand from injury, Akashi's finger was the one that got cut. "—t your hand… I guess it's too late," he chuckled, watching the blood coming out from the wound on his forefinger.
Kuroko's face turned pale briefly. He was stunned for a second before reaching out his hand to touch the redhead's injured finger. "I'm sorry, Akashi-kun."
"It's okay," he replied calmly.
"But, it's…"
"I said I don't mind," Akashi cut the bluenette off. He ruffled Kuroko's hair softly when he saw a guilty expression on the smaller teen's usually blank face. "Don't worry about it, Tetsuya," he added, reassuringly.
The act relieved him a bit, but still couldn't completely get rid of his guilt. Kuroko was quiet for a moment before an idea appeared on his mind.
Kuroko pulled Akashi finger to his mouth and licked the wound. it caught the taller teen by surprise, but he did nothing about it. Kuroko was so engrossed in doing the 'first-aid' that he failed to notice how the redhead watching him, bemused.
"How does it taste, Tetsuya?" Akashi asked, smirking.
It took Kuroko few minutes before realizing what he was doing. "Ah, I'm sorry, Akashi-kun. I'm used to do this to myself each time I'm wounded, because it can make it better, so I just unconsciously…" Kuroko tried to explain. He pulled the red haired teen's finger away from his mouth.
"I don't mind. You can keep doing it, Tetsuya," he replied.
The bluenette stared at Akashi, confused. It took him few seconds to realize what the redhead had meant, when he saw a smirk on his face and those heterochromatic eyes looking at him playfully.
There was a very faint red emerged on Kuroko's cheek. "Don't tease me, Akashi-kun," he said quickly, pinched Akashi's finger mildly hard, but still didn't release it from his hold.
Akashi laughed lightly in response.
The teal haired teen (tried to) ignored Akashi, keeping his stoic face in place. He then remembered something. "I have a band-aid," he muttered.
Kuroko shuffled through his pocket and took out a band-aid. The redhead eyed him interestingly.
"Why do you have a band-aid, Tetsuya? Also... rabbits?" he asked curiously, recognized the pattern of the band-aid to be a bunch of really cute rabbits wearing ribbon, with flowers as the background.
"I received it from Midorima-kun and, yes, it is rabbit," he answered, deadpanned, making an emphasis to the 'rabbit' part. The bluenette put it on Akashi's finger. "He said it was my lucky item."
"I see." The red haired teen pulled his hand and looked at the band-aid, not saying anything else. He understood immediately when Midorima's name came out. Most of his things, 'lucky item' he always proclaimed, were weird and unusual stuffs.
His emperor eyes noticed Kuroko's stare on him. "It really is my lucky item," he heard the bluenette mumbled.
Akashi quirked an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because it let me see another side of Akashi-kun that I've never know before. Different from the usual Akashi-kun, the captain Akashi-kun... This is the first time I saw a tender Akashi-kun, and I'm happy to be the one who discovered it. Besides, it also helped to tend the wound," he replied innocently, smiling slightly while looking at the taller teen.
Akashi eyes were widened slightly from hearing Kuroko's frank answer. He was silent for a moment before putting both his hands inside his pants pockets. "The break is going to end soon," the redhead said suddenly as he looked at the wall clock.
He glanced at Kuroko. "You have to return to your class, Tetsuya," he said, escorting the bluenette to the door.
The teal haired teen furrowed his eyebrows, confused by the sudden act, but chose to shrug it off. "I understand. See you later in practice, Akashi-kun," he bowed politely then walked away.
Akashi mismatched eyes watched as Kuroko disappeared from the his sight. He leaned against the door, ran a hand through his red hair and sighed.
That was the first time Akashi Seijuro found himself flustered.
"I'm beat!" the blond cried and landed himself to the floor. Both of his arms were on the floor, holding his weight as he leaned backward slightly. He stretched his legs to relax all his strained muscles. There was so much sweat dripping out of his body.
"I can't move. I'm so tired that I could die. Today training is so exhausting," he complained.
"Shut up, Kise!" Aomine growled as he threw a towel straight to Kise's face hard.
"Ouch! That's hurt, Aominecchi!" he wailed, grabbing the towel out of his face.
The tan teen snorted. "Like I care." He stared at Kise, wiping his sweat with his sleeveless shirt. "Just go die."
"That's mean! Why did Aominecchi tell me to die?" Kise sobbed.
"You said it yourself," the dark skinned teen simply replied.
"I wasn't serious!"
"Will you guys shut up?! I can't concentrate!" the green haired teen interrupted. He was holding a ball in his hand above his head, ready to shoot.
"But, Midorimacchi, Aominecchi was being mean to me! He told me to die!"
There's a vein popped up on Midorima's forehead. "If it can make you shut up, then go die."
"Not Midorimacchi too!" Kise started to tear up.
"Ryouta." A voice was heard from behind Kise.
Immediately, the blond turned around, his body was moving reflexively every time he heard that voice. There were only two people who could make Kise reacted like that—Kuroko Tetsuya and Akashi Seijuro. The former could turn him into a puppy with wide grin and starry eyes beaming with happiness, while the latter could make him pale, fidgeting and trembling in fear. It looked like his nightmare; the latter was the one who called him. The model gulped as he was faced with a smiling Akashi.
"It seems like you still get a lot of energy, did your training portion wasn't enough?" Akashi asked with low voice. "Should I increase it, Ryouta?"
Kise was fidgeting nervously and gaping like a fish, "A-Akashicchi…"
"Kise-chin looked like a fish," Murasakibara pipped in as he opened a pack of snack and started munching it.
"Murasa—"
"Just let Kise-kun go this time, Akashi-kun," the teal haired teen cut in.
"Kurokocchi…" The blond was beaming up. He was felling moved to find his beloved became his savior—
"You can punish him later. Maybe give him the clean up duty for a whole week," he continued in monotone.
—or not.
Akashi smirked. "That's a good idea, Tetsuya."
All the other regulars were watching Kise pitifully, as he was reduced into crying mess by those two evil pair. Momoi was seen to be frantically comforting the blond from the mental breakdown.
They're just finished doing their afterschool practice. It was still the same intense training as they always did, even though the championship was already over, and they're going to quit the club soon, as the need to focus on graduating was more necessary.
"Akashi-kun," Kuroko suddenly called as he walked steadily toward Akashi.
The redhead averted his sight, from the amusement of watching Momoi's futile effort to cheer Kise up, to the bluenette. "What is it, Tetsuya?"
Kuroko stopped right in front of Akashi. He lifted his head up to stare straight into his captain's eyes impassively. "Akashi-kun, will you go out with me?"
Time seemed to stop. All of them were taken aback by their phantom player's abrupt confession. Aomine was agape, Midorima dropped the ball he was holding, Murasakibara crushed the snack in his hand, Momoi fainted and Kise… poor Kise had died—okay, not really die, but relatively close. He was so shocked that he froze like a statue with cracks all over, ready to crumble anytime.
Even Akashi looked surprise as his eyes widened slightly, though he quickly regained his composure. As expected from the tyrant. "Mind to elaborate, Tetsuya?" He glanced toward the blond. "I think you just killed Ryouta."
'And clearly not just him,' the red haired teen thought amusingly, as he swept his sight through all his shocked teammates.
The bluenette blinked briefly and tilted his head, confused. He didn't understand the big deal of what he had just said that led to this kind of reactions' from his teammates.
"There are things I want to buy," Kuroko started explaining, returned his gaze to Akashi. "Like books for studying and new basketball shoes. I thought Akashi-kun may be able to help me out."
"So that's what you mean," the redhead smiled in understanding. "I don't mind, Tetsuya. When will—"
"Kurokocchi!" Kise cut in, back to live. His voice was so loud that it echoed throughout the gym. "So it's not to ask Akashicchi out, but just to have him help Kurokocchi." The blond nodded to himself in relief. He seemed so happy to hear Kuroko's explanation that his near-death experience a moment ago had been long forgotten.
"Oh no!" he shouted, had been hit by sudden realization. "Even though it's not in that way, but Kurokocchi had asked Akashicchi out!" Kise's eyes were darkening in horror. He rushed toward Kuroko. "Wasn't that mean a date? You can't, Kurokocchi! Akashicchi is—"
Before the blond managed to finish his sentence, he was stopped in his track of approaching Kuroko as a pair of scissors flew past him. It barely missed him, since the scissor were able to cut his cheek slightly. There were drops of blood flowing out of it.
"What were you going to say, Ryouta?" Akashi smiled dangerously. "Why don't you say it again? This time, slowly and clearly," he continued as his heterochromatic eyes were glinting murderously.
The model was frozen on the spot. His face was whitening and his body was shivering vigorously.
Aomine was just going to snap at the redhead when the blond had reacted first. He felt grateful now that he hadn't done it; at least, he was spared from his captain's wrath. In exchange, he scowled in annoyance. He didn't understand why Kuroko asked Akashi when he was the bluenette's best friend. It was him who Kuroko usually hang out with, for God's sake. He had yet to notice that the ache in his heart was called—jealousy.
The teal haired teen furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, as he watched the scene that was rolling in front of him.
"So, Tetsuya," Akashi returned his attention to Kuroko. "When will we go?"
"Tomorrow Sunday. Is it okay, Akashi-kun?"
"Sure. Where will we meet? Should I pick you up in your house?" he asked, smirking playfully.
The bluenette frowned a bit. "I'll appreciate it if you didn't treat me like a girl, Akashi-kun. I don't need you to pick me up," he replied sternly. "Let's meet up at Higashiya Park at 10."
The rests of Generation of Miracles were listening seriously as their captain and their smallest member exchanged words with each other. They watched silently, letting a lot of thought appearing on their mind. They seemed to come into one conclusion, the same thought were planted on their mind, and it didn't go unnoticed by the redhead's knowingly eyes.
It's already late in night, but there's still one blond teen seen laying on top of his bed, busy with his cell-phone, typing something.
.
From: The fabulous Model
To: Aominecchi; Midorimacchi; Murasakibaracchi
Subject: Date Observer Party.
Ugh, I wanna go with Kurokocchi too! Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ I'm so jealous! ╥_╥
Let's go observe Akashicchi and Kurokocchi's date tomorrow! (*^▽^*)
I'm worried about Kurokocchi. Because, it's Akashicchi, you know… ヽ( ￣д￣;)ノ
WE HAVE TO PROTECT KUROKOCCHI's CHASTITY! (*≧m≦*)
.
-MESSAGE SENT-
Next Chapter: Day 3 - Date and Troubles
(No sneak peek because I'm lazy, lol XD)
*Nikujaga: a Japanese dish of meat, potatoes and onion stewed in sweetened soy sauce.
A/N: It finally out... i'm sorry, this is late. I just got a lot to do =_=
and this chapter was quite a challenge. It kind of obvious i had a lot of fun putting emoticons into Ki-chan's message ;D I got carried away when writing Akashi's. Blame him! (Scissors flying) and i got stuck at Midorin's part. it was really hard to grasped his character, he was one of the reasons why it took me so long time to wrote this chapter. It's Midorin's fault, okay! (It's because you're an incompetent author—nanodayo!) *close my ears with both hands from hearing Midorin insult*
Anyway, I hope I make it up with this long chapter~
By the way, my lovely readers, are there anyone who got trolled by the previous chapter sneak peek? You know what i mean XD
Question Time:
1. Should i put Momoi too in the date observer (destroyer) party?
2. Where should they go for their date? i have few ideas in my mind already, but i wanted to know you guys opinion too!
The next chapter will be late, because i got exam real close now ;A; I'll update once it's over.
Wish me Luck, and review? (It cheer me up)
Thank you for reading~