Hidden Beauty

Basket Four: Duty as a Man

'It's really weird walking around with a wig on.' Kuroi stared at the ground, kicking a random pebble. A while ago she had finished her homework and took a shower as told. Currently, her father had sent her out to the convenience store, simply because they had run out of her dad's favorite ice cream bars.

Her father loved his ice cream bars. Kuroi couldn't fathom why he wanted one at 10 o'clock at night, though.

'You know, at least I look like an actual girl...' She tilted her head at her own thoughts, laughing at herself. After about ten more minutes passed, Kuroi noticed the brightly lit convenience store within sight, all she needed to do was pass some dimly lit children's park and then she'd be there in a matter of a couple minutes.

"Hey, babe.."

"Eh?" Kuroi stopped, peering over her shoulder curiously. There were four guys behind her, all smirking. She paled, but turned around to face them. 'Why couldn't I feel them coming?' She frowned, taking a step back. She backed right into another guy, who looked older than the other four.

He easily grabbed both her wrists, holding them above her head. "O- Oi! Bastard, let me go!" She growled, kicking at the guy helplessly. He chuckled and held her away from him, a sickening smirk on his butt-ugly face.

"We were out looking for some fun and then you happened to walk by. So, I figured, why not." He snorted, grinning widely.

Kuroi glared furiously at him, wishing that she really was a boy this time. Oh, wait, neither's a win-win, since he figured that they would have harassed her even then, maybe wanting to beat her up and steal her money or something. Either way, it was a loss. Damn.

"I don't care what you think, you ape!" She hissed as she dangled, barely able to stay on the tips of her shoes.

"Hey, I don't think angering that monkey would do you any good." Kuroi froze, cocking her head to look over said monkey's shoulder. 'That voice…'

"K- Kise!" She gasped, stumbling as the older guy hastily turned around. "Kise Ryouta? You mean as in the model?" The guy growled, casually pushing Kuroi to the side. She stumbled and fell onto her butt, huffing angrily.

"That isn't any way to treat a girl." Kise narrowed his eyes, a cold and unforgiving look upon on his face.

"Tch. I hope you won't mind if we break your pretty little face." The man hissed, motioning for the other four to move closer.

"So you think my face is pretty, too!" Kise suddenly sparkled, a huge grin on his face. Kuroi twitched, the sudden urge to smack him rising. She would, but then she couldn't. She should actually be using this time to escape, but she'd feel way too bad if he got beat up trying to defend her.

Kuroi stood, weighing her options. If she stays, there could be a possible chance that he finds out who she is, which is very dangerous. It would immediately get her kicked off the team, and she couldn't have that, could she? Not after she worked so hard just to get on.

She was brought back to the present when she heard a cry of pain, her heart twisting painfully when she thought it was Kise. She quickly looked, froze and blinked stupidly. The five guys were on the ground, holding bleeding noses or bruised body parts.

"..." Kuroi acted automatically and rushed forward to Kise, grabbed the sleeve of his casual-looking jacket and dragged him all the way to the convenience store. She stopped outside, and sighed loudly from relief. "Oh gosh, I thought I was a goner! You saved me, I guess." She laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head. Kuroi bit her lip and looked everywhere else than the young model, who was smiling rather innocently.

"It's my duty as a man!" He grinned, raising his fist in the air happily.

'Yet you act like a child.' Kuroi thought, smiling at him.

"So, what are you doing out so late?" Kise asked, walking inside the convenience store.

Kuroi followed him, without paying much attention. "Oh, uhm, I needed to buy something, it's actually really importa-"

"Ohh! So you came here to buy it too!" Kise asked, his expression holding happiness as well as excitement. "I knew it was going on sale here first, so I rushed all the way down here just to buy a copy~!" He grinned, grabbing something from the shelf and dropping it in Kuroi's hands.

"B- Buy what?" She asked, about to look down.

"My new photo-book, of course!" Kise smiled proudly, as he pushed her along to the cash register.

"Wha- no! I came to bu-"

"Nonsense, I know you're a fan!" Kise gave her thumbs up. "I promise you'll like it!"

"Yea- N- no!" Kuroi stuttered, starting to get confused from his fast-talking.

"Then after we can talk!"

"Oka-... Wait, what?" Kuroi groaned as she slowly pulled out the money. She blinked in confusion as change was given to her, and frowned once Kise pulled her outside.

She stared down at the bag, pulling out Kise's 'new photo-book'. She stared in shock and crouched to the ground in a huff. 'I was trying to buy ice cream! Not a stupid photo-book. Dad's going to be mad... Maybe I can say it was peer-pressure. Yeah... technically it was.' Kuroi's thoughts raced so much that they became jumbled.

Before she knew it, she was standing in front of the very park where she was nearly attacked, with the model standing beside her. She looked around for those guys, but there was no sign of them, making her sigh in relief for a second time. Awkwardly, she looked back at Kise, who wasn't even paying attention to her as he flipped through various pages of his photo-book.

"Hey," He suddenly closed his photo-book, his gaze turning into a serious one. "You seriously remind me of someone."

'Oh God, oh God. Goodbye basketball, goodbye Kaijou, goodbye male-me. Goodby-'

"Have you ever done modeling?" Kise asked, sparkling at her.

"... No." 'His mood swings scare me.' She kept her purple eyes locked on his, scared that he might recognize her.

"I see... Well, you should!" Kise smiled, walking inside the park area to sit on a swing. Kuroi slowly followed, almost cautiously, and sat down on the swing beside him, warm fingers tingling against the cold metal. It was probably past ten by now, maybe even close to eleven. Kuroi could already see her breath come out in puffs against the cold night air. The moon was already clear in the sky with the stars glittering around it.

"Oh, I'm Kise Ryouta, but I'm sure you already knew that." He pushed off from the ground, putting his weight into swinging back and forth. Kuroi nodded, doing the same but slower. "So," Kise reached his hand out, grabbing Kuroi's cold one in his, "What's your name?" He breathed out, small smile present on his face.

"!" Kuroi yanked her hand back, stumbling off the swing. "YO- YOU'RE REALLY AN IDIOT!" She yelled, kicking the pebbles under their feet at the stunned model before she turned to run all the way back to her home, hands still gripping the bag which contained his photo-book.

The next day, Kuroi was woken bright and early by her mother knocking on her door, telling her to get up. The very faint smell of breakfast drifted into her nose, making her sigh happily. "Are you up, Kuroi?" Kayate's asked with her voice muffled through the closed door, making Kuroi shift into a sitting position.

"Yeah, I'm up." Kuroi replied, yawning loudly as she stretched in the warm morning air. She stood, almost falling over from still being half-asleep, and clumsily made her way into her bathroom. Kuroi paused, staring at her reflection. "Jeez." She moaned, staring at the wig which was half off of her head, still messy as ever. She took it off, throwing it to the side carelessly as she did her business.

After spending the next ten minutes in the bathroom, Kuroi came out fully dressed in her uniform, hair combed to perfection, and teeth brushed tell they sparkled. She practically ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, plopping herself at the table. "Morning!" She greeted her parents with a smile before she began to eat her breakfast.

"Oh, Kuroi, I put your bento in your duffel bag." Kayate said, as she washed the dishes she used to make breakfast.

Kuroi coughed, smacking her chest so she wouldn't choke. "D- Did you?" She squeaked, remembering that her 'male-counterpart-equipment' was still in there. She chuckled awkwardly, eyeing the food in front of her. "Th- thanks, mom." The purple eyed teen smiled, shoving some more food into her mouth before standing swiftly.

Kuroi downed the orange juice in front of her and slammed the glass down. "I gotta go now! Bye, love you!" Kuroi spoke quickly, darting out of the kitchen. She nearly mowed down her father, but he was quick enough to dodge.

"Oh, Kuroi, where did you put my ice cream?" Her father asked, fixing his tie in the mirror that hung on the closet by the door.

"Uh- err... Melted! Have fun at work!" She stood up and kissed her father's cheek, and slipped her runners on before taking off.

Kuroi made her first stop at the mall, changing into the boy's uniform after wrapping the bandages around her chest, and throwing the wig into her duffel bag. She ruffled her hair and swung the bag over her shoulder before quickly sneaking out of the women's washroom unseen. Kuroi then went to go catch the train so she could be on her way to school.

Kuro/i sure lives a complicated life. ; u;

~WinterAssassin~