The American Cousin Chapter 8: Bloody Numbers, a kuroko no basuke/黒子のバスケ fanfic

No comments on my lateness.

Don't own The Wanted, I had a pack of skittles when I wrote this, and I only own an iPod.

Warning: blood and Akakuro

Listen to "Gold Forever" by The Wanted.

Chapter 7 Bloody Numbers

(6 months after the training camp, 5 months into the second semester of second year in Teiko.)

(Classroom- Akashi, Kuroko, and Rocky's)

(Lunch time)

Rocky sat on her desk while she ate her half-American, half-Japanese lunch. Akashi and Kuroko sat in the desks next to their American friend. Their bentos were both full of fresh meats, vegetables, and rice. Rocky was telling the two of one of her many endeavors of her time in L.A.

"-And so this kid was all like "Ah!" when Molly, the local stray dog, bit his butt! I, being the hero I am, ran over and got Molly off him. I found out he went to my school with his "big brother". His big brother is really this upperclassman (AN: Rocky is referring to English, not Japanese. In English, we say upperclassmen, not sempai.) of ours and was also his best friend. He and his friend are also fantastic at basketball. I'd swear that they would give five of you 'Miracles' a run for your money." Rocky boasted about her friends back in her homeland (1). Akashi had long since blocked her out, being used to her crazy tales, but Kuroko was not and listened, genuinely fascinated with the story.

"Your friends sound interesting. What was the guy's name that had been attack be the dog?" Kuroko asked Rocky with an amused voice.

"Ah... I don't remember. Something Taiga... I just always called him Tiger." Rocky tried to remember. "Well I never bothered with his family name. (AN: Now I'm referring to Japanese." We call each by our first names in America, or given name here.) Oh, well I'll ask him when I see him again one day." Rocky mused over with a bright smile on her face.

"How do you know you two will meet again? The odds are against you with that, Rosa(2)." Akashi asked with a smirk.

"Grrrr... First, it's Rocky and you know it. Second, wipe the smirk off. I know you too well, Sei-kun. Third, I left without saying goodbye, so it's not the end between Taiga and me," Rocky stated matter-of-factly. Akashi and Kuroko smiled at her resolve.

The cousins had been recovering well after the sudden passing that happened only months before. (AN: It happened about... add that over there... add that there... more numbers... about 6-7 months ago. Yeah Math! I swear I'm great at math, but I wrote this on a Friday and I turned my brain off.) Akashi had confessed to Kuroko at the beginning of the semester. She said yes and they have been a very happy couple since. Rocky became the assistant manager. She mainly focused on the third and second strings and the Miracles sometimes, too. Said albino was also on her way to becoming the strongest in their school, having joined the school's troublemakers. Life was perfect for them. They thought it was like the shining morning after the storm. They would later come to think of this time as the 'eye of the hurricane'.

"Oi, Sei-kun, what time is it?" Rocky asked, turning to face her cousin.

"Almost noon. Why must you know?" Akashi answered then asked. Rocky got off the desk she had been previously sitting on.

"Well, I promised Mura-kun I would give him a packet of Skittles from America." The American started to clean up her lunch. "Also, I'm skipping class again with Ahomine and I need to get to the roof before he gets the good spot."

"Rocky-chan, you mustn't keep skipping class. I understand you only take audio notes (AN: What did you expect? She can't read or write anymore. She's blind! (PS. She takes tests by telling an aid the answer she thinks it is and the aid writes in down. They would be in another room for this.)) and English is your first language, but this would not look good on college applications." Kuroko lectured Rocky. Rocky just brushed her pleads away. Rocky skipped English everyday and chose to sleep on the roof with the Miracles' Power Forward. Rocky hated her English class for two reasons: 1) It reminded her too much of her home, and 2) the American exchange student who was in their class (3). "Kal-san might like some familiarity while being here. He's cute."

Rocky had been drinking the last of her drink, preformed a spit take at what the teal head last stated. "What the hell? Are trying to get me and him together or something? Kal is cool and all, but I don't need romance in my life right now. I'm just too busy."

"I'm just worried about Rocky-chan's future. Not many people will hire a blind person, let alone a blind girl here. I care about you," Kuroko told Rocky. Rocky sighed.

"First, you sound like my uncle. Stop it. It's creepy. I don't need two of him. One is more than enough." Rocky finished cleaning up her lunch and spit. She then turned to face the couple. "Second, I'm moving back home after college. Americans are more open to new ideas. No offense but this place is too... I don't know..." Rocky couldn't finish.

"Old fashion?" Akashi tried to fill in.

"Sexist." Rocky stunned the couple. "Women are pressured to marry here and leave their jobs for child-baring and house life. That's not me. I don't want to marry because I have to. I don't want to marry at all. Anyway, I got to go. Peace!"With that, Rocky walked away.

"One, two, three..." Akashi counted down. Kuroko looked at her boyfriend weirdly, wondering what he was doing. Rocky was almost to the door when it happened.

Crash!"Damn it!" Rocky cussed as she ran into the wall right next to the doorway. She could navigate her way around the school without anyone's help, but she could never find the doorway of the class she spent the most time in, her homeroom. Kuroko laughed at the sight of the albino rubbing her forehead, understanding now why Akashi counted down. Said red-head got up and helped his cousin out the room. When Akashi returned, all he could do was sigh.

"That girl is going to be the death of me. I just know it." Akashi complained. Seeing the normally composed captain complain had become a daily occurrence ever since his cousin came to live with him that summer.

"'That girl' is still your cousin and you still love her, Akashi-kun. That reminds me, I have a question I've been meaning to ask you." Kuroko said. Akashi perked up at the question from his girlfriend. "Months ago on the bus, Rocky-chan said that her mother was your father's adopted sister. What did she mean by that? Are you not real cousins?"

Akashi flinched a little, not expecting that question, but relaxed almost as quickly as he tensed. "It means just that. Her mother and my father are not of blood. My aunt's parents were business associates of my grandfather. The whole family was in a terrible plane crash, only four people survived. Rocky's mother had been one of the four and the youngest, too. I think the other three survivors were a stewardess, the co-pilot and another older passenger, but that is off subject. They had been on their way to visit my grandparents and father, who was about ten at the time. Aunt was nine. She had no other family left in America or more accurately no family alive willing to take her in. My grandparents felt guilty about their deaths, blaming themselves because they were coming to see them. They love Aunt like the daughter they never had and wanted to make up for what happened, so they adopted Aunt." Akashi explained to Kuroko. Kuroko could only stare in bewilderment at her captain.

"I never would have... I'm so sorry." Kuroko displayed great sadness on her usually black face.

"Don't tell Rosa that, she will yell at you for what she would assume is pity." Akashi lightly chuckled. Then a serious, grim frown swept across his face. "You know, these are not the only misfortunes in her family. If you look up her family tree and how many have died, you would find many horrific deaths. One right after the other. Rocky calls it 'the curse of the Smiths'. Rocky's true last name is Smith. She didn't want to bear her old last name in fear of this 'curse'."

"Oh." This was all Kuroko could say. "Akashi-kun-"

"Seijuro."

"What?" Kuroko inquired.

"Call me Seijuro."

"Why?"

"Because I want us to call each by our given names. It is too formal and cold calling each other by our family names." Akashi explained with a light smirk. "Say it."

"I don't know."

"Say 'Sei'."

"Sei."

"Ju."

"Ro."

"Now say it all together, Tomoko."

Kuroko blushed until her cheeks were the color of tomato. "S-Seijuro."

"One more time. This time don't stutter."

"Seijuro."

"Good. From now on only call me that. Come on class will begin soon. We need to clean up." Akashi got up and put away his bento. Kuroko copied his actions. Kuroko looked up and notice something was off. 'Where is Kal?'

(To the roof. Rocky gave Murasakibara the candy during conversation between Kuroko and Akashi, nothing happened of importance so I'm not going to write it. This chapter will be long enough as it is. Aomine and Rocky are already chilling the roof by now.)

Say my name like it's the last time,
Live today like its your last night,
We want to cry but we know its alright,
Cause I'm with you and your with me,
Butterflies, butterflies..we were meant to fly,
You and I, you and I..colors in the sky,
We could rule the world someday, somehow but we'll never be as bright as we are now.

We're standing in a light that won't fade,
Tomorrow's coming but this won't change,
Cause some days stay gold forever.
The memory of being here with you,
Is one I'm gonna take my life through,
Cause some days stay gold forever.

Promise me you'll stay the way you are,
Keep the fire alive and stay young at heart,
When the storm feels like it could blow you out remember,
you got me and I got you..cause we are, butterflies, butterflies..we were meant to fly,
You and I, you and I..colors in the sky,
When the innocence is dead and gone,
These will be the times we look back on.

I won't, I won't let your memory go cause your colors they burn so bright,
Who knows, who knows what tomorrow will hold but I know that we'll be alright

Butterflies, butterflies..we were meant to fly,
You and I, you and I..colors in the sky,
We could rule the world someday, somehow but we'll never be as bright as we are now.

Aomine pulled the earphones out of his ears, trying to take in and understand the song.

"So, what do you think of the song?" Rocky asked the blue-haired teen. She was smiling in anticipation.

Aomine thought about it for a moment. "What are they talking about?" He answered with a stupid expression. Rocky instantly deadpanned, then dropped her head and sighed.

"Well, in the song, they are basically saying life is short and that we need to live it up now. We need to hold on to the friendships we have now and remember them forever. One day, we are all going to be old and those old days are what we will remember forever. At our age, we could do anything, be anything. We could be very powerful when we are older, but these are our golden days," Rocky tried to explain her philosophy of the song to the blue haired idiot. There was a pregnant pause. Rocky was not comfortable with this period of silence. Aomine was usually noisy, but there was no noise from him. She sighed. "You don't get it do you? If you don't, tell me. I can't see your face or read mind."

"No, I get it. I was just thinking." Aomine said, sort of absent mindedly.

"Well I thought I smelt something burning," Rocky teased as she got up and put her iPod away. Aomine formed a tick mark? He was about to yell at her when she continued. "So what is on your mind?" Rocky gently asked. Her voice was full of warmth and understanding, something you usually hear from a caring mother. Aomine hesitated, not knowing he should tell her or not.

"I feel like Tomo and I have... drifted apart... ever since she started going out with your cousin. I know we never really got along, and that she is very happy with him, but I miss us walking home and hanging out. I'm just being selfish, aren't I?" Aomine asked the American.

"No, I think it is perfectly fine to want your friend by your side every and then, and not her boyfriend's. I mean, you are a part of her life and vice versa. If you were trying to steal Tomoko-chan away from Sei-kun, that's another story, but I know you only see her as a friend. I recommend you just to tell her how you feel. If you aren't comfortable with doing that, I would happily talk about it to her for you. Don't worry about Sei-kun, too. He is very understanding."

After Rocky had finished saying that, a group of boys busted through the door under the duo. Aomine recognized three of them as sempais. The fourth one was of their class and was the foreign exchange student, but didn't know his name. The sempais were beating up the already bloody foreigner. The four seemed oblivious to the new audience.

"I hear grunts and cries. What's going on?" Rocky asked. She very confused with what was happening.

"Three sempais are pounding the life out of the exchange student." Aomine whispered back, staying focused with what was taking place below. Rocky's eyes became wide with anger and fear for the American below.

"Dimensions, now." Rocky demanded.

"What?"

"How tall? How big? How strong do they look?" Rocky stated quickly through her teeth.

"The sempais are all about 178 cm (5'10"). One is kind of broad and fat. The other two are skinny as sticks. The American has my body, but he looks too out of it to fight back."

"Good. I'm going to save him. While I'm distracting them, go get the nurse." Rocky told Aomine.

"Wait. Why do I have to get the nurse? I can take them on, too." Aomine snapped back quietly.

"Be that it may, you're faster and I might run into a wall trying to get the nurse. Anything else?" Rocky condescendingly snapped back. Aomine stayed quiet for a moment. "Good."

And with that Rocky jumped down from their hiding spot to confront the bullies. Aomine felt bad for his having to leave Rocky behind, but he knew she could at least hold her own until he came back. Rocky was yelling at them to stop, but Aomine didn't care about that. He was waiting for his window or opportunity to leave without getting noticed.

...

There! Aomine jumped down and dashed to the door. He ran as fast could to the nurse's office.

"OI! Nurse-san! I need you!" Aomine called into the room the moment he got there. He expect the nurse to yell him, but he did not expect what came next. He heard two voices come from behind the curtain. Midorima and Kise (AN: I DO NOT SUPPORT THIS PAIRING AT ALL! NO DIRTY HERE OR EVER!) came out from behind the white fabric. The green head scowled and the blonde waved like crazy (4).

"Be quite, ganguro. Why are shouting? The nurse isn't here." Midorima said.

"Where is she?" Aomine spoke quickly.

"The main office." Kise answered cheerfully.

"Midorima, go to the roof with lots of bandages. Kise, get Akashi. Now!" Aomine dashed off after he said that. Kise ran off to get their captain. Midorima also did what he was ordered, even though he didn't want to, because he could hear the urgency in the idiot's voice.

By the time Aomine had got the nurse and got her to the roof, the fight had been long over. Midorima had bandaged the bullies and foreigner. Kal (the foreigner) had so many bandages, he looked like a mummy. The green head was discussing something with Akashi, Kise, and a teacher who must have followed one of the other two. Kal's head rested in Rocky's lap as both she and Kuroko, who must have followed her boyfriend quietly, tried to comfort him.

"What happened here?" The nurse exclaimed. She rushed over to Midorima, her student assistant. Midorima explained her what he knew had happened.

"-And this the result of the fight." He pointed to the bandaged bodies. "To be honest, if Rocky had not interfered, Kal-san may have had to be sent to the hospital. She saved his life."

The teacher, nurse, Midorima, Kise, Aomine, and Akashi turn to face said American. Rocky's glasses were not present on her face, exposing her snake lie eyes. Her clothes were askew. There was also blood splattered across the white skin of her face, making the red of her eyes and the blood stand out greatly. This, combined with the bloody bodies and the ideas of what happened, made the little girl look like a wolf in sheep's skin.

With this, they were out of the eye and back in the storm.

(Now, Kagami is walking Rocky to Aomine's (AN: this is short, promise.))

"So, how much longer 'til we reach the idiot's place?"Kagami asked Rocky in English for the... Well Rocky had lost count after the 16th time.

"Well which street are we on?"Rocky snapped back. "If ya tell me the street, I'll tell ya the time."

"We're on (insert random Japanese street name),"Kagami grumbled. For that, Rocky smacked him upside the head. "OW!"

"Aomine's place is just around the corner,"Rocky stopped and turned to the hot headed teen and switched to Japanese. "Well, I got it from here. I can sadly smell it from here." Rocky shuddered. Rocky turned to leave, but was stopped.

"Oi, Rocky, why did you come back to Japan suddenly at the end of seventh grade? One minute you're in the hospital for head trauma, the next they're saying you've been transferred to Japan. Now you're here living with Ahomine, and most of all, you're blind. If what everyone is saying is true, then it seems you're running away from Akashi. You can talk to me. What happened?" Kagami questioned.

"Tiger, it's-" Rocky tried to explain, but stopped when she heard a certain blue-haired teen coming.

"Oi, there you are Rosa!" "Rocky!" "Where have you been all day? Momoi said you called and said you went to sign up for school," Aomine called out to Rocky. Then he noticed Kagami standing behind her. "What is he doing here? You know him?"

"Hey, Ahomine." Aomine formed a tick mark. "I've known Tiger here longer than I've known you. I know what he looks like. You, not so much." Rocky teased the blue haired teen. Said girl straightened her back. "Anyway, I was at Seirin all day. Tomoko-chan is there. Tiger was a nice surprise."

"Wait, you didn't know Bakagami went there?" Aomine asked then noticed something. "Wait, Tiger?" (AN: I figure Aomine would pick up more English than Kuroko.)

"Yeah, I was wondering about that. If you were Akashi's cousin, how did you not know where all the Miracles were?" Kagami added on to Aomine previous statement, ignoring the latter.

Rocky sighed. "Akashi told me where each of you boys were, but he never saw Kagami as a threat. He may have when I first told him about you, Kagami, but he does not now. You could beat every Miracle right before his eyes, and he still not respect you as a threat. His arrogance has grown to a dangerous level. Momoi must have been too busy to mention it. Anyway, I got homework I need to work on. See you tomorrow, Tiger." And with that Rocky walked off to her temporary residence with Touou's Power Forward. Aomine lingered a bit after she turned the corner.

"Hey, Kagami," Aomine spoke after a few seconds of quiet between the two. He amazed Kagami by using his family instead of the insult he normally uses. "I heard part of your conversation earlier. If you want to know what happened, I'm willing to tell you. If you know her as well as she is insinuating, then you know she won't mind if I tell you. Here's my number." Aomine handed him a folded piece of paper.(5) "Call if you want to know." Kagami nodded in understanding. Aomine walked away towards his home.

Kagami stared at the piece of paper, then scoffed at it. He stuffed it in his pocket and walked home. The whole way he only thought about one thing. 'What did I miss?'

Holy chap! I'm a year older as of November 7th. Happy Birthday to me. Alle Gute zum Geburtstag! (Happy Birthday in Deutsch (German))

I'm done. *bursts into tears* Any questions? Don't be afraid to ask me. I have time and no life.

(1)- Kagami probably had returned to Japan by this time, but Rocky won't know this, so she thinks he is still in the states.

(2)- Akashi sometimes calls Rocky "Rosa" and sometimes "Rocky", depend on the mood and contexts. Here, Akashi is teasing her, wanting to get her upset in a friendly matter.

(3)- This is the boy OC I wanted. A friend gave him to me. His name is Kal Jones. She loves Hetalia (I do, too. I highly recommend watching it.) and he is America's son, California.

(4)- Okay, back story here. Kise was being chased by rabid fans like normal. He was looking for a place to hide when Midorima grabbed him and dragged him into the nurse's office where he was covering for the nurse who was in a meeting. They were hiding until Aomine came in there. So all you Midorima x Kise fans, I'm not sorry. I can't comprehend them together. If I don't understand a couple or if they are to much of a crack pairing, like a cross over, I don't like it except for a few very rare cases, which I won't mention.

(5) My beta reader thinks this sound unrealistic. So, I'm going to clarify it. He had scrape paper in his pocket and just so happened to have a pen too. he hid behind the corner and on the wall he wrote his number on it. Questions?!

If there is any this you don't get, I more then welcome the comments and reviews. I'm on my knees begging for you to review. If you knew me in real life, you would know I don't like begging. AT ALL.

Have a good day

The Lonely Rose Petal