Chapter three: Momoi
Now, Momoi wasn't usually one to answer other people's phones. That was just plain rude; especially without their express permission. But this was Aomine's phone, and if anyone had the right to answer it—for Aomine was currently curled up rather cutely one the coach, of course, she'd never tell him that—then it was her.
Creeping silently, the ex-coach tip toed into Aomine's kitchen, bare feet freezing on the tilled floor.
"Where is it, where is it…"
Turning on her heel, she found the phone hanging on the wall. Yes, it was a rather old phone. And, yes, Aomine did own a cell phone, but all of GoM knew that it was better to call the old relic then his cell when Aomine was at home.
It was a reminder, a present, a treasured memory, that had once belonged to the forwards grandmother.
Now, as for why she had yet to memorize where it was, despite all the hours upon hours she spent over, well…she'd been in morning for a while now, and really, who could blame her for forgetting about such a small detail?
Then again, Tetsu-kun might have…
With a shake of her head, Momoi quickly dispelled that line of thought and reached for the phone. Picking it up gingerly, she placed it by her ear and whispered a hello.
The random jabbering of Takao was her response.
Only after she hissed a rather firm "Silence!" did the speaker calm down enough to explain the real reason why he was calling, of course, only after he further explained that it was probably a good thing that Momoi answered the phone instead of Aomine, because he wasn't sure how he'd handle it.
Was a quirk of her eyebrow she voiced her uncertainty of such a statement, and almost went to wake up the teen himself, but Takao's next words froze her world and left her sinking to the floor, mind blank.
"Midorima saw Kuroko."
Eyes wide, tears threatening to fall, Momoi's grip on the phone became almost deadly.
Only barely did she note Midorima's voice in the background, telling Takao to give her some time.
Blinking back tears, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and stood.
Upon opening them again she was the feared coach of the Generation of Miracles, all tactics and plans, "Where can we meet?"
After they agreed upon the place, Momoi swiftly hung up and dressed, though still in stealth mode. Before she left, however, she wrote a small note and placed it on the fridge.
"I'm meeting with Midorima-kun, make sure you eat something, otherwise I'll offer you're services to Akashi-kun for the next week, Love ya, bye."
She had no intention of getting Aomine involved until she knew more about the situation.
0-0-0-0-0
Awkwardly, the three sat at an abandoned table deep within the recesses of the library, paper's strewn about and book's pilled to a rather hazardous height.
"So, Tetsu-kun has become a ghost?" Momoi asked, cocking her head to the side, though not out of disbelief, she had no reason to distrust Midorima; in fact, all of GoM were surprisingly honest with each other, but rather out of confusion. Not quit able to understand why Tetsu-kun, of all people, would turn into a ghost and then proceed to knock Midorima unconscious…then again, perhaps the last bit wasn't all that mysterious, as Tetsu-kun had a tendency of knocking people out with his passes whenever he got angry—or whenever he didn't have his daily milkshake—anyway.
"Well," Midorima began while adjusting his glasses, "it's either that or one of the two have become master illusionists, or I was drugged."
"But you said you didn't have anything." Takao pointed out in confusion.
"Exactly."
"Can't we just ask them in person?" Momoi crossed her arms while looking up from the book before her, "Then again, if they wanted us to know, they would have said something already."
"Exactly."
"But, seriously," Takao broke in, waving his hands about in the air, "who would have thought that Kise would have teamed up with Murasakibara in keeping secrets?"
Neither could find an appropriate response.
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Kise sneezed and Murasakibara almost chocked on a candy, thus leaving Kuroko to stare in both amusement and worry.
"Kise-kun," the ghost called, "this mean's someone is talking badly about you."
"Eh?!"
"And what about me?~" cried the giant and model together, before looking at each other and then redirecting their gaze to the speaker.
Kuroko shrugged, tilting his head to the side and sitting cross legged in the air, "Perhaps Midorima-kun is cursing you're lack of intelligence."
"Mean~!"
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Long after midday passed, the three were slumped in defeat. All the books before them gave only speculation, or the norm.
Like ghosts are remnants of the dead, they are often hard to see, they can possess the living; they haunt their place of death.
But Midorima had seen Kuroko in a restaurant several miles away from the crash site, so that couldn't be it; and their dead friend certainly didn't possess him, only…knock him out, and invade his dreams.
Eventually Momoi came up with an idea, an idea that, in all rights, should have been their very first, but considering their less than stellar predicament (finding out a loved one is haunting the premises); their brains were a tab bit fried and jumpy. Unsure if they should be happy or sad about Kuroko's apparent return.
In fact, it was only due to Takao's random comment that Momoi and Midorima finally grabbed ahold of their wits.
"Well, at least he's not a vampire."
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A/N: Alright, for those of you wondering, the "idea" that was mentioned will be explained in the next chapter.
Beyond that, thanks for all the favs, and even more so for the reviews. Another observer of the world, this story is due to your request. It was a wonderful idea, and I thank you for giving it to me. Hopefully this story keeps your interest till the very end.
Beyond that, remember, as always, one review is required before another chapter can be spontaneously born within my mind and then spat onto the web.