Chapter three: Hazelnut.
Ring ring
A groan.
Click
"Yees? Who is it?"
"Ryota, it's me."
"Oh, Akashicchi..."-a yawn-"What is it?"
"Did something happen at the warehouse?"
"Sort of... I think Kuroko mistook Aominecchi's room to be Momoicchi's and... I heard Momoicchi's screaming 'pervert' at Aominecchi who just got home earlier... Something like that, I guess-"
Beep beep
"He hung up..."
And once again, Kise Ryota went back to his dreamland.
"Stop calling me a pervert, please."
"I'm sorry but no can do, Hentaimine-san. Besides, I'm merely stating the fact." Tetsuka responded flatly, making Momoi cackle at the defeated Aomine.
Putting the last of her stuffs, Tetsuka zipped her bag, ready to go. After the unexpected incident, she couldn't expect herself to stay the night at the warehouse. So she decided to retreat to her dorm room for the night.
"By the way, Dai-chan, how's your mission?" Momoi asked. Her childhood friend turned his head at her, eyes widening as if just remembered something.
"My mission..."
"Yes, that's right. You guarded the client for a whole week. The report-"
"I should be sleeping right now because I'm so tired from my mission." He suddenly whispered to himself, audible enough to capture Tetsuka's attention. "I haven't finished the damn report, help me do it tomorrow will ya, Satsuki? G'night." He stepped away from the living room, long legs striding through the wooden floored hallway.
Momoi pouted, her cheeks puffing out with annoyance. "Dai-chan, if you continue being lazy like this, anyone could take your position in this elite team, you know?"
Aomine stopped abruptly. He glanced cockily at his pinkhead of a friend. "What are you saying?" He scoffed. "I told you, right? The only one who can beat me, is me."
And with that he disappeared inside his room.
Tetsuka blinked.
Did he just say the only one who's capable of beating him is he himself?
"Is that his motto?" Tetsuka murmured curiously, and she saw Momoi sigh, her hands on the side of her hips.
"Something like that. Seriously though that Dai-chan... He is too conceited for his own good!" The pinkhead slumped herself onto the sofa, hands now crossing and a pout visible on her lips. "I mean, fine, he is really good at missions. Sure, he could be named as the best among those elites-not counting Akashi-kun though, I don't really know what he's capable of-but he's too cocky!"
Hearing the still never-ending rambles just like a good listener she is, Tetsuka just nodded at each expression Momoi spat. And by listening to her, Tetsuka could get a firmer grasp of Aomine's personality. And so far, Tetsuka couldn't say she liked this tanned boy.
"-Anyway, tomorrow I won't help him with his report! I don't care if Shirogane-sensei scolds him or even demotes him. If Sensei really did that I'd laugh at Dai-chan's face, I swear!"
Tetsuka sweat-dropped. For some reason, Tetsuka wouldn't believe her words. And she got the feeling that tomorrow in their class she will see Momoi, despite shouting and scolding her friend, helping Aomine with his damned reports.
She sighed patiently as the pink haired female now rambled about how the hell Aomine could act sickly sweet and perfect in his missions, different from his everyday attitude.
Not long after Tetsuka left, the door jingled as it opened, and a certain male went inside, attracting Momoi's attention.
"Akashi-kun—"
"Where's Tetsuka?" His dark gaze almost made Momoi shiver. She immediately knew what it is all about. She knew sooner or later Akashi would hear of this unpleasant encounter of one of his best members and the newest addition of the team. But not this soon. She gulped.
"She just left." Momoi answered shakily. "What's wrong Akashi-kun?"
He sighed. "Well, I heard something very unpleasant from Ryota..."
Ki-chan! I thought he's sleeping! She cursed inwardly. As she saw Akashi's hetero-chromic eyes looked down on her, she swore she could see the murderous intent in them. "I-I-I can explain!" She yelped in vain—And were those snips of scissors she just heard? Oh my gosh Ki-chan Ihateyou—
A few moments later, a struggling Aomine was being dragged from his beauty sleep by a scissors-wielding male with a dark expression on his face.
Not long after, screams could be heard from Almighty Elite Team's secret base.
Clack
Gold General captured the Bishop.
He took said Bishop to his left side as different colored eyes still gazing at the board, now thinking of the next move. He scrutinized heavily as he realized moving the King would be too risky. Moving the Knight would only make his Gold General more vulnerable. And no, other moves wouldn't be the best choice.
And that's when he noticed his new and fresh Silver General.
He almost smirked at the thought of the new addition in the team. Sure she didn't receive a warm smile as Satsuki introduced her to the elite team. And for some reason, he wouldn't be surprised if Daiki and Atsushi actually disliked her, just like how Ryota and Shintaro did. The green-haired teen literary narrowed his eyes distastefully when he requested him to deliver a message for her to meet the redhead in the shogi clubroom.
But he'd already expected this, really.
His slender fingers clamped the wooden piece. Of course those pieces of wood wouldn't move on their own, he-no, someone had to do it for them. They couldn't even make a decision by themselves.
Raising the Silver General to his eye-level, he focused on it in an almost wistful way.
When, he thought, will she make a move on her own?
Deep down he knew it would come. One day, it certainly would. He just had to wait a little bit more patiently. And of course he needed to prepare her to her full potential. That girl's current condition and abilities were still too far away from his liking (he almost scoffed as he recalled yesterday's incident). But with a little push, without a doubt, she could even pass his expectation.
He put the piece down on a square one diagonal step away from the first one, his other hand now taking the Rook that had become his Silver General's first victim-
Knock knock
He smirked as the door opened.
Oute.
"Akashi-kun?" Her soft voice called, closing the door behind her. "I heard from Midorima-kun that you summoned me."
He didn't even bother to turn his head to his guest. Although he knew now the girl was standing beside him. "Indeed I did."
Akashi took the shogi pieces and put them in the right place as Tetsuka stared at the traditional board game blankly.
"So, Tetsuka, I heard that you've met Daiki?" She shifted her gaze to Akashi when she heard him speak. He's still not looking at her, though.
"Daiki? Oh, you mean Aomine-san?"
The redhead nodded, then picked up one of the wooden pieces before staring at it almost disinterestedly.
"And it said that your first meeting with him was not really pleasant?"
Tetsuka involuntarily shifted her glance, unpretty memories of what happened back then in a certain navy-haired boy's room. So he had heard of it. "...Yes."
She could hear him sigh. "I would like to apologize, as the leader of Almighty Senior Division, for my members' inappropriate behaviour. I've disciplined both of them; Daiki and Satsuki."
"No, it's okay and it's actually my fault too—" She stopped abruptly as Akashi slammed a piece on the board, making a more than audible clack in her ears.
"Correct. It is also your fault. That's the other reason why are you here, Tetsuka."
"...Eh?"
"Your training is doubled. Next time, don't let your guard down and mistook rooms like that. You should have realized that you were in the wrong room the moment you entered Daiki's room."
Tetsuka inwardly sighed, but accepted her punishment nonetheless. "...I apologize, Akashi-kun. I won't let my guard down next time."
"Good."
"May I, uh, leave?" Akashi finally turned his head and stared at her in the eyes, the hint of michief in his crimson pairs made her flinch.
"Well, I don't mind if you want to accompany me, Tetsuka." He went back to his shogi board again.
"...I'll be here until lunch break ends, then."
Silence passed for more than a few seconds. The only sound accompanying them was the slams of shogi pieces against the board as Akashi were still putting them in the correct, default order. As he finished, he asked her,
"Have you ever played shogi before?"
Tetsuka shook her head slowly, her turquoise strands of hair danced along with the momentum. After getting a part of her face covered by her fringe, she tucked her hair behind her ear. She realized Akashi's twins of red were following the movements of her finger. She stared at him as he looked back at her. He suddenly smiled a little, lips twitching barely, but not unnoticed.
"Would you like to try? I can teach you." He gestured to the empty chair across the desk.
Wordlessly, Tetsuka sat down on the empty chair and her eyes immediately fixed on the board in front of her and in between her and Akashi. She took one of the pieces and tried to understand their positions and roles.
"That's the Knight." He pointed out. "It could move one step to the left or right, or two steps forward."
Tetsuka put the piece down as she processed the explanation from Akashi. She eyed another piece and raised it in front of Akashi. "What about this one?"
In the end, he explained all the pieces' features to her amusedly. The girl looked nothing like interested in the game he'd often invested himself in, but he supposed watching the monotonous girl curiously asking was quite entertaining.
After learning the basics and such, he finally challenged her to play with him. She stared him at the mention of his request. Then she replied, quite frankly, Akashi might add, "Why should I? It's obvious that Akashi-kun will win."
He almost heard sarcasm from her words despite the monotone. Not only sassing him with sarcasm, but she also just declined him in a bit of impolite way. Instead of lashing out about her impoliteness, Akashi decided to convince her, "It's just a friendly spar, Tetsuka." He said patiently.
"You could just challenge Midorima-kun, I'm sure he's good at this."
"I played him a few times already. It's about time I find a new sparring partner."
"Why not asking the shogi club members?"
How stubborn, he thought. He put his head on his entertwined fingers, leaning forward slightly. "I want to play with you, Tetsuka. Not them, not Shintaro." He said sternly, eyes darkening as a small spark of exasperation ignited inside of them. The bluenette stayed silent, face keeping her signature flat expression.
Akashi didn't even wait for her response as he did his first move, moving the pawn forward. Her response perked him up as irritation appeared on her usually passive face. He only smirked at her, "Your turn."
"I never said I agreed to this, Akashi-kun."
"Well, I'm not giving you any option from the start," he told her almost arrogantly, gesturing her once again to make an opposing move in the game. She frowned again before dragging one piece of pawn to move, finally complying.
They played for no longer than five minutes before Akashi knew that he was so close to winning. But it's not like he didn't know that he's going to win. He always wins. His eyes caught his opponent in front of him. Tetsuka seemed to understand her situation as she just stared at the board, hands scratching her long light blue tresses. But not aimlessly, she moved her Knight—one of the surviving ones from Akashi's endless devours, trying to find her way out from the loss. Akashi scanned her move when she raised her head, eyes now staring at his.
"Akashi-kun is really good at this," she began. He was about to thank her but she cut him, "But you're really exasperating."
He felt his eyes twitch.
Never in a day had someone made his emotion fluctuate like this. One moment she praised him, the next moment she tested his patience. Trying to hide his puzzlement and the increasing anger, he asked, "And why would you say that?"
A light-blue colored eyebrow rose, as if saying 'isn't it obvious'. "You forced me to a match in which you're obviously going to win." Tetsuka explained, eyes still boring into his crimson ones when she did so. He stared as she pouted. Funny how someone so indifferent in expressions as her was actually very blunt and straight-to-the-point.
But still, as funny as it was, it couldn't make his anger any less. He had to discipline her. He needed to.
"Thank you for being honest, Tetsuka. But," the redhead leaned forward dangerously, face only inches away from hers. "It'd be appreciated if you chose your words wisely."
A flash of both fear and shock sparked in her turquoise eyes. She leaned back due to the proximity between them, and she watched as he moved his Silver General, smirking in triumph.
"Oute."
Tetsuka was pissed off.
It was half past four in the morning when the aching pain in her whole body woke her up quite forcibly, making her cringe as now she tried to massage her legs.
Yesterday after school, a certain short (she knew she's in no position to say that, but whatever) redhead actually made her do her training twice as usual. Not to mention the new trainings; like scouts, push-ups, and running for laps.
Tetsuka really thought she was about to die.
So instead of visiting the warehouse like the day before yesterday, she decided to go straight back to her dorm, took a bath, and then went to hit the pillows without drying her hair first.
And now here she was. Waking up with a headache and aching body. And whose fault was that? Oh yes. Akashi freaking Seijuro.
Ignoring her complaining muscles and cells, she took another shower, and went to the cafeteria. It was early, but never too early for a snack. She thought maybe satisfying her sweet tooth would boost her mood. When she arrived, the eatery was empty, which didn't surprise her. It's five in the morning, who'd be there?
Eyeing the food on the counter, Tetsuka saw the snack counter being restocked. Her eyes caught a sight of something similar, and was surprised when she realized what she'd found.
Expensive hazelnut wafers she used to eat as a child.
Tetsuka never thought of finding them here of all places. When was the last time she had them? Two? Three years ago? Her dad, Toshiyuki had stopped buying snacks for her when he considered her daughter 'too old for chocolates' (which later resulted to Tetsuka running away again).
Buying all of them, she took one from the plastic bag and ate them. Oh the crunchiness of the chocolate flavored wafers, and the melting hazelnut inside... Tetsuka smiled, satisfied as she dived her hand back in the plastic bag, taking another one.
It brought back memories, she thought with a soft smile. The bluenette remembered a certain boy who adored the snack as much as she did. How his mouth watered at the sight of her mostly expensive treats. How he'd help her in her escape only if she shared her wafers. How he'd share the last hazelnut wafer with her half-heartedly, dividing them not in half, but more like two thirds for him and the remaining for her. Not that Tetsuka minded.
But too bad she'd lost his contact. She'd like to talk to him again, about which school he attended, about his life, and she wanted to tell him about her freedom of Kuroko household.
And she wondered if he still liked these wafers as much as she did.
A few hours later, a very tall boy with violet tresses frowned when he found out about the sold-off hazelnut wafers.
"Satsuki did you see my TV dinner?"
"It's in the oven," The pinkhead replied as Aomine sighed in relief. "And I've added some stuff into it. It'll be more scrumptious!" He gasped dramatically.
"OI! What have you done to my breakfast—" he rushed to the working appliance as the door jingled open.
"Mukkun! Welcome back!" Momoi greeted cheerfully, as the tall figure walked inside.
But for some reason his expression didn't reflect her cheerfulness. Momoi eyed her teammate as he muttered lazily, "I'm home..."
"Mukkun? What's wrong? Are you okay? Did you get enough sleep? You can skip the class today if you want, you look dreadful," the female chattered as Aomine tried to plug his ears. Instead of helpful, her questions could make Murasakibara annoyed, damn it.
The bluehead walked to his taller friend, observing him. His face looked dark and more than tired, his look best to be described as... Sad?
"...The hazelnut wafers were sold out."
Silence ensued.
...
"...You're being like this because of some wafers?!" Aomine yelled with Momoi grabbing his arms immediately. "Dai-chan! Mukkun's upset now!"
Momoi sat beside the giant teen on the sofa. "You mean the expensive hazelnut wafers? Your favorite ones?"
"Someone bought all of them when the store had just restocked them..." He muttered darkly, ripping open a pack of Maiubo. Both shorter teens watched him as he munched on his snack, muttering stuffs about crushing that lucky bastard, and swearing that the next time for restock he'd buy all of them.
"A-Anyway, Mukkun," Momoi interjected, "How's the mission?"
The purplehead pulled some papers from his bag, throwing them into Momoi's hands. "It went well, I guess."
He remembered the latest mission he'd just finished. A conglomerate family asked him to guard an important artifact of their ancestors as they delivered the item over to Sapporo, where it'd be kept safely inside a safe in the family's main household. He'd be lying if he said that it was a smooth trip. Some mafias tried to hijack their train but luckily he caught them easily without harm on him or the bodyguards or some family members who went along with him.
Although he did become tired after the mission.
"Missions are just plain troublesome," he mumbled out loud, hand scratching his purple tresses as he yawned.
Both Momoi and Aomine just sighed at his lack of enthusiasm in missions.
"Tetsu-chan~!"
Tetsuka blinked at the sight of a familiar pink-haired girl at her classroom door, and stood behind her was Aomine Daiki, his seemly permanent scowl attached to his face. She saw Momoi and Aomine threw a glare at Kise as the male begged forgiveness from them, then the team manager walked over to her seat, leaving Aomine yelling angrily at the almost crying blond. "How come you haven't forgiven me? It's been days!" Kise would whine while Aomine kicked him.
Ignoring the boys, Tetsuka turned to Momoi. "Tetsu-chan, wanna have lunch together with us? We're eating on the rooftop." Momoi grinned at her, tying her arms behind her back.
"If you don't mind, then," the turquoise-head said, grabbing a handful of wafers in her hand. Momoi stared at them in surprise. "Where did you get that?"
"The wafers? I bought them this morning."
The taller female's eyes widened. So she's the culprit! But then an idea popped in her head.
"I just remember! Our member just got back from his mission, and I think you have to meet him! He's the last member you haven't met yet," she explained cheerfully. "He likes sweets so much, so do you mind to share some of your wafers?"
Nodding, Tetsuka put some wafers into a plastic bag before standing up and walked with her new friend. Behind them were Kise and Aomine, now joking with each other. It seemed like they've solved their problems.
Tetsuka observed them quietly as she ate one of the wafers. She caught Momoi staring at her and her precious food. "So you bought all of them?"
She nodded. "Yes. Actually this is my favorite snack."
"Hee really? What a coincidence! It's Mukkun's favorite too,"
"Mukkun?"
"I'll introduce you to him when we get there,"
Finally arrived at the already occupied rooftop, Tetsuka bowed to Akashi and Midorima while Kise and Aomine went to their friends, and Momoi called the other boy; a very, very tall boy with striking purple locks. Tetsuka scanned the boy heavily, blue eyes widened in realization.
Momoi was dragging Murasakibara's hands when the hazelnut wafer in Tetsuka's mouth almost fell.
"Atsushi-kun?"
Violet eyes widened.
"Tetsu-chin…"
Curious pairs of eyes gaped at them, looking back and forward from their tallest friend to the much shorter one. Kise and Aomine almost choked on how close they addressed each other. Momoi's mouth was hanging open. Midorima furrowed his eyebrows heavier than usual. Meanwhile, Akashi only observed them, intrigued.
Murasakibara stepped forward, only to make Tetsuka take a step back, hiding the precious snacks behind her back. Both of them were smiling, at least their eyes couldn't hide their giddiness.
"I always told you to ask politely, not taking without permission." Tetsuka announced, sounding upset, although the visible glee in her face seemed to say otherwise. The giant grinned, usually empty eyes filled with joy. "Who says I want to take 'em? I was about to hug Tetsu-chin, you know," he whined childishly.
"Liar," Tetsuka chuckled, gaining surprised gasps from the spectators. Did she just laugh?
"Y-You know each other?" Momoi interjected, diverting Tetsuka's attention. She was about to answer when she felt Murasakibara's arms around her shoulders, embracing her from behind.
Momoi had to stifle a squeal as the others, except for Akashi, felt their breath hitch at the rare sight.
Tetsuka only turned her head softly, "You've grown taller again, Atsushi-kun."
"And you're still as short as ever," He rested his cheek against her soft turquoise locks, closing his eyelids somewhat peacefully. The shorter girl twitched in annoyance. "Stop mentioning my height—"
A cough interrupted their moment.
Akashi sauntered to the reuniting couple. "How surprising." He said flatly. "So, are you two," He eyed Murasakibara's arms that were wrapped around the girl's shoulders, "involved?"
Both teen stared at him. "Of course not. Tetsu-chin is my friend," The male replied first, followed by a simple nod from Tetsuka. "We've known each other for a long time, but," She studied her friend's features. "We haven't talked for almost two years, now."
Momoi voiced her thoughts, "So how did you know each other?" The others prepared their ears seriously, curious too about their meeting.
"I met Atsushi-kun when I was running away from home, he helped me a lot since then."
"Tetsu-chin gave me a lot of snacks, and most of them are rare and expensive," Murasakibara explained, still embracing the turquoise-head comfortably.
"But how? Kuroko was still living in Tokyo back then." Midorima asked.
Murasakibara scratched his head. "Actually at that time I was on a mission," He confessed to his friends and to Tetsuka, "Usually I met Tetsu-chin either on a mission or on weekends,"
His explanation gained some 'ooh's and 'aah's from his teammates.
In the end, the Generation of Miracles spent their lunch break eating their meals, meanwhile Murasakibara had his head rested on Tetsuka's the whole time, gaining some looks from their teammates.
"Atsushi-kun, don't eat your food in that position. The crumbs will fall on my head." The shortest female scolded him, only to be retorted, "But Tetsu-chin's hair smells good."
Momoi held another squeal while the others sighed.
"Oi, what's your relationship, really?" Aomine finally brave himself to ask.
Both of them only smiled.
"Tetsu-chin is like my mother…"
"…And I could say Atsushi-kun is like my son."
Many jaws were dropped that afternoon.
"EH?!"
It'd been days and almost weeks since Tetsuka reunited with her friend, and they'd been closer ever since. Let alone being in the same team, to enroll the same school had already surprised them very much.
Since then, Murasakibara often accompany Tetsuka in her training. Even sometimes Akashi trusted his teammate to coach her when he's not available-even though in Akashi's case, probably he had his own intention in doing so.
Tetsuka even had a sparring with some members of the Group. She had one with Aomine, Midorima, even Murasakibara. She didn't win even one match, but, the members had to admit that her skills were quite surprising. Her skills had increased, too. She did realize the improvement of her body. She'd gained speed, strength, even flexibility. Akashi even (indirectly) praised her very much improving agility. He also mentioned something about how close to being ready she was. Tetsuka never knew the meaning of those words until today.
Without her knowing, that day she was introduced to the whole members of Almighty Junior and Senior Division.
Murasakibara had led her to the official secret base of the whole team which was located underground. They accessed it from the door in the warehouse, which will lead them to one of the entrance (Tetsuka had yet to know the main entrance). Inside the secret base, all members of Almighty were already gathered inside. And by the time she'd arrived, all eyes immediately pinned her to the bone, which made her wondered where all those invisibility of her disappeared to. Akashi brought her to the front of the crowd and instructed her to introduce herself after he'd done with his words.
"Kuroko Tetsuka, number fifteen." She'd introduce herself, making sure no words were spoken with a stutter. Most of the teens were shocked by the announcement. How could a small frail girl like her become a member of the Elite Group? She'd stand with the Generation of Miracles and she'd just been introduced today. Most of them questioned her ability, much to Akashi's expectation. Well, even the members of the Elite Group hadn't believed her yet. Akashi just shrugged the complains off.
That didn't go well for Tetsuka, though. She was a wreck. She'd been nervous. And nobody believed in her ability, except for Akashi, maybe. She could even see a senior named Nijimura dashed to the front to talk personally with Akashi about his decision. The redhead just told the older teen to trust his actions and give her a chance. Nijimura said more stuffs in defense but finally gave in and let the second year to his thing. Tetsuka prayed the gathering would end after Akashi and Nijimura's conversation. But it seemed like god had other plans for her.
Instead, she had another surprise to slap her hard.
"Tomorrow, she'll be accompanying me in my next mission."
...said Akashi Seijuro (who almost made Tetsuka strangle him on the spot).
A/N: Finally, after almost a month! I'm truly sorry for the wait, it's just arghh so many things happened. First; I broke up with my boyfriend. It seems simple, but it did a lot to me. It gave me Writer's Block, and whatever. I couldn't say I love this chapter. But still, I hope it you guys like it.
P.S: 1000+ VIEWS! Crackers is surprised :O