Chapter 8
Hm, I'm not too sure of this chapter but felt like I should post it anyways since it's been a good month since the last update. It wasn't meant to take such a serious turn, or at least serious compared to the previous chapters. The next chapter is already in the works (at least in my head) so hopefully it will be lighter and cheerier.
Anyways, hope you enjoy this!
Akashi wasted no time in pushing his following plans into motion. Sending a meaningful look to the giant next to him he tilted his head subtly towards the two bluenettes walking in front of them. Other than an almost inaudible sigh, Murasakibara offered no complaints and moved forward obediently. He would only ever do this for his adored Aka-chin. Still munching on the packet of crisps he held in one large hand, he proceeded to interject himself between the ex-partners. One of whom immediately began to yell abuse and demands of explanations for his actions. Shooting Mine-chin a brief quelling look, Murasakibara peered down at his smallest team mate. After a quiet moment of contemplation he stretched out his arm, offering the phantom player the colourful metallic foil package reverently.
"It's the new flavour."
The loud protests coming out of Aomine's mouth abruptly stopped. Kuroko in turn glanced impassively over his shoulder at his devil of an ex-captain before smiling slightly up at taller boy.
"Thank you, Murasakibara-kun, it's very kind of you to offer," Kuroko murmured, reaching daintily into the packet and withdrawing a chip. Coincidentally, he caught sight of Aomine-kun's face whence he quickly stuffed the salty treat into his mouth before he burst out laughing. The pale boy could already hear an odd noise coming from behind him which, funnily enough, sounded a lot like Kise-kun's gurgle of laughter which was abruptly strangled at the end, most probably their illustrious leader's doing. Instead of turning around and getting sucked into the blonde's crazy antics, Kuroko marched stoically along with Murasakibara-kun, occasionally engaging in quiet conversation, leaving his light standing stock still in the middle of the pathway.
It was going to take a force of nature for Aomine to scrape his jaw off the floor. His mind was in a whirl trying desperately to process the highly irregular happenings of the past few hours. And even though it hurt his head and made his eyes sting a little from concentrating so hard, it was a lot better than to dwell on the heavy feeling in his stomach, the hard lump in his throat and a hell of a lot better than to sort out the intermittent pulses of sharp stabs in his chest.
The afternoon, in fact the past month, had gone from irritating to something that seemed to have crawled its way out of his darkest nightmares. Before today, he had prayed that this was some kind of evil twisted prank being played by the universe. Firstly, seeing Kise's hands and body all over Kuroko had been bad, and sure, Aomine had wanted to rip the stupidly pretty blonde's head from his torso for even thinking of looking at his shadow, let alone actually laying a hand on him, but he had known that despite what Kuroko might have said that one afternoon, it had meant nothing to the small bluenette.
But then Midorima of all people suddenly developed an avid interest in Kuroko. Only one phrase had been going through Aomine's mind, the second he realised the green-haired boy's intentions, "What. The. Actual. Hell." That smug arrogant son of a bitch had never shown any partiality towards Kuroko. Ever. What could have possibly possessed the long ranged shooter to fucking kiss his shadow? Then to make things even more bizarre, to the point where Aomine's brain was actually starting to throb, Midorima had raced off before the kiss was even finished to chase after that Shutoku point guard. That was the one point Aomine couldn't get over. How could someone have the honour of kissing those pouty lips and not take full advantage. Hell, Aomine had only gotten the briefest of tastes of Kuroko's mouth and he had been dreaming, yearning, to repeat the experience. That bespectacled bastard had gotten a full extra 0.5 seconds on Aomine and had run like a bat out of hell, through the door, after another male. To the formless shooter, this was taking idiocy to the edges of extreme.
Then the whipped cream on top of this messed-up-afternoon-sundae-from-the-depths-of-hell – because, no, the cherry was yet to come – was getting a desperate, hysterical call from Takao that Midorima was in the fucking hospital. The whole team of miracles had frozen and stared at each other in horror and abject fear before getting up as one and racing to the hospital at inhumane speeds – all the while attempting to push down the tidal wave of concern and muttering prayers to any deities who deigned to listen – only to find upon getting there that Midorima was fine, more than fine, from the way he was clutching at the dark haired boy in his lap. And seriously, ew, Aomine could have lived the rest of his life happily without having to see his superstitious teammate eating another guy's face off.
As according to Akashi's wishes, the former teammates left the hospital quietly, leaving the two new love birds in peace and before they had walked more than half a mile from the place and WAY before the shock had settled, the metaphorical cherry from purgatory landed on the sundae of suffering that was Aomine's life. Murasakibara offered Kuroko his snack. An opened snack that the freakishly toy boy had already started on. A snack that was of the current 'Limited Edition Flavour of the Week' promotion. Aomine's heart stopped then and there. This, coming from the Yosen player, was equivalent to a fucking marriage proposal from anyone else. Aomine's poor abused organ was abruptly restarted by the kick to his chest when he saw Kuroko accepting said proffered treat. And still, Aomine clung onto the hope that this was some sick joke but not once did his former partner glance back at him, to gauge his reaction or to shoot a rare cheeky smile that would have signalled that everything was fine, it was just a joke and 'relax, Aomine-kun'. Instead the four Teiko teammates continued along the path as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, as if Aomine's universe had not suddenly swerved and severely tilted off its axis. He was so used to Kuroko being the centre of his world, and even during their falling out, Aomine had held onto the belief that his shadow would come back, come back to him and thus had reserved that spot, keeping it empty, waiting for his partner to realise that he had belonged to and always will to Aomine Daiki.
But now, Aomine wasn't so sure that he ever had.
I'm tossing up between exploring Murisakibara's intended romance further or just leaving it brief snippets in the later chapters, what do you guys think?