Hidden Beauty
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Basket Fifteen: The Beginning
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"Mom, I don't know what to do..." Kuroi dragged an exasperated sigh out, playing with the folded edge of the paper.
Kayate turned away from the stove, giving her daughter a studying look, before turning back. "About?" She questioned quietly.
"I don't know... About everything, I suppose."
"Well, maybe you should do what you think is right. Does this have to do with basketball?" She added after a moment.
Kuroi stayed silent, wondering how mothers knew everything.
"Maybe you don't want to let your friends down? But at the same time you don't want them to think any different of you?"
"Okay, seriously. Are you reading my mind or something?" Kuroi blinked, giving her mother a worried stare. Kayate chuckled softly, shaking her head.
"I'm your mother. Of course I know what's bothering my baby." She simply replied, opening the lid of a pot, stirring whatever it was inside.
"Ah... Thanks?" Kuroi cracked a smile, resting her head in her crossed arms. Her eyes traveled down to the crinkled form, staring at it for a couple seconds.
"Okay, I've decided," Kuroi stood, the chair scratching against the ground. "I'm going. So, please sign this!" She announced, holding the form out for her mother to sign. "Dad can sign it if he needs to when he returns." She added, grabbing a pen for her mom.
"Oh, Kuroi. This paper is all crumpled," Her mother sighed, taking the form away from her daughter's hands, and tried her best to straighten it, if only a little. "You should take better care of your things."
"I know..." Kuroi pouted as she was scolded by her mom. She watched as her mother signed the form after straightening some of the wrinkles out, and took the paper from her hand. "Thanks." Kuroi said, getting up from the table.
Kuroi walked out from the kitchen, and up to her room.
"Dinner will be ready soon, so wash up!" Kayate called up the stairs, just before Kuroi had a chance to shut her door.
"Alright!" Kuroi replied, closing her door with a gentle click. She tore her wig off, and threw it on her desk. She walked into her bathroom, and washed her face along with her hands.
'Why do I feel like this weekend will end badly?' Kuroi thought dreadfully, walking out of her bathroom to put her wig back on. She hesitantly walked downstairs, and into the kitchen, where her mother was busy plating food.
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The next day, Kuro was slowly making her way to school. She had just gotten off the train, and began to walk the rest of the way. She tugged at the ruffled strands of her short hair, in deep thought.
'It's bugging me... a lot.' She thought, frowning.
"Yasuhirocchi~!" Kuro blinked, and looked behind her to see Kise running up. "Hey, Kise." Kuro nodded at him, not even feeling surprised that he seemingly came out of nowhere.
The golden haired boy blinked, "What's wrong, Yasuhirocchi? You sound all sad and dejected." He pouted, walking up beside Kuro.
"Eh?" Kuro blinked, coughing only a moment later. "Sorry, I was just thinking, is all."
"Oh!" Kise smiled again, "Did you get your form signed?" He asked rather loudly, collecting stares from passing students.
Kuro winced at the loudness, and nodded a moment after. "Yeah, I did. You?" Kuro glanced down at her duffel bag, knowing the paper was shoved somewhere inside there. Hopefully it didn't get a crinkled again.
"Yup! I remember in middle school, I tried to forge my parent's signatures, and Akashicchi got really mad at me." Kise chuckled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
Kuro smiled at the memory Kise had shared. "Akashi-san... Sounds strict?" She guessed, finally spotting the school gates in sight.
"Yeah, sometimes he was. He liked his scissors, though..." Kuro watched as Kise shuddered slightly at that. She chuckled lightly. She stopped when she heard a buzzing sound coming from her bag. Kuro reached inside and dug around for her cell phone, before pulling it out.
'Maybe Sayuri got her cell back fro-... Riko-chan?' Kuro blinked, reading the text over.
'KUROOIIII-CHAAN! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME!?' Kuro cracked a small smile, as she put together her reply.
'No I haven't forgotten about you, Riko-chan. I was just really busy on the weekend. My cover was nearly blown, actually.' She hit the send button, and held onto her phone as she continued walking.
"Who was that?" Kuro almost jumped out of her skin, turning to look at Kise. "You were still there?" She asked quietly, still shocked.
"Yeah, I was here the whole time... I feel like Kurokocchi saying that..." Kise shook his head, smiling innocently. "Was that your girlfriend?"
"Uh, no. It's Riko-chan..."
"Riko-chan?"
"Err, the Captain of Seirin?" Kuro supplied, shrugging.
"Oh! The one with small chest!" Kise looked weirdly awe-struck.
Kuro's cell buzzed again at the moment, and she pulled up the text to read it.
'Why do I feel like someone is talking about my small chest!?' Kuro chuckled awkwardly.
'I don't know...' She sent her reply, and looked back at Kise. "You shouldn't talk about girls' boobs so casually." Kuro sighed, entering the school. She walked down the familiar hallway, towards her class.
"Goodbye, Yasuhirocchi!" Kise waved quite dramatically, making Kuro face palm as she walked into her classroom, sitting in her seat.
Kuro glanced up at the clock, and sighed. There was still six minutes till school actually started. But maybe it was a good thing, because she felt her phone buzz again.
She read Riko's reply, and decided to tell her about what had happened on Sunday.
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Wednesday and Thursday had flown by pretty fast, ending with Kuro standing at the front gates of the school, waiting in the early morning cold.
She sneezed, nearly dropping her bag in the process. Her duffel bag, which contained four days' worth of clothing, her tooth brush, hair brush, and some money. Yes, today was Friday; the beginning of the four day training camp-thing, and it was 4:45 in the morning.
She shivered slightly, remembering her mother telling her the day before to wear her hat before she left. Kuro wished she would have listened, but she may have been too busy freaking out to remember at all.
Her cold fingers reached up and slowly played with strands of short black hair. She had left her wig behind, because one; She didn't need it for the next four days, and two; ... Well, there wasn't really a second option, because she plainly did not need it.
'Why am I the first one here?' Kuro thought, closing her eyes. She shoved her hands into her jacket pocket, trying to keep the cold away. 'And why are mornings so cold?' She sighed, leaning against the gate.
A couple minutes later, she heard shoes scraping against the ground. Her eyes snapped open, glaring at the annoying sound. "Ah," Her glare melted, staring at the spiky haired Captain. "Kasamatsu-sempai."
"Morning." Kasamatsu said, looking tired.
"Good Morning." Kuro replied, taking a step away so Kasamatsu could lean against the gate.
"There's nothing good about it." He sighed, yawning. Kuro smiled, and just shrugged in response. "Anyways, how long have you been here?"
"Since 4:30 or something..." Kuro answered, looking towards the dark sky.
"Jeez, you know I said 5:00, right?" He quieted another yawn with his hand, eyes shut as he breathed in deeply.
"The train. If I took the later one, I would have been late." She shrugged again. "I don't want to be late." She added.
"Good." Kasamatsu grunted quietly.
"So, heheh... Training camp. Sounds like fun... and Death." Kuro winced, practically able to feel the pain.
Kasamatsu smirked at her, crossing his arms. "It will be Death." He noted, making Kuro groan. Her thoughts about what the training would be like were interrupted by voices suddenly filling her ears. She turned and stared at the group walking up.
Kise, Hayakawa, Moriyama, Nakamura, Kobori, and a couple other second years all walked up.
"You're all late." Kasamatsu glared, pushing himself away from the wall.
"Morning." Kuro bowed her head, following Kasamatsu's suit as they all flooded into a circle.
"Ehhh! We're only late by five minutes!" Kise whined after he checked his cell. He pouted as he put it back in his pocket, zipping his jacket up further.
"Crispy mornings suck." Kise grumbled, shivering ever so slightly. Kasamatsu kicked Kise, nearly sending him tumbling to the ground.
"Moron! You should dress warmer, or I'll hit you!" Kasamatsu nagged, sending the Ace an intense glare.
"Se- Sempai, you already did hit me..." Kise wailed as he closed his eyes out of fear of getting hit again. "Besides, the other first and second years are late!" He shielded himself just in case.
"I already know they are, and they shall all suffer for it." Kasamatsu's smirk only deepened.
"He's plotting." Kuro heard Moriyama whisper to Kobori, who only nodded silently. She blinked, and looked up at Kasamatsu, who seemingly heard nothing from the two.
About twenty minutes later, everyone was finally gathered. Now, they only had to wait for the bus, which was supposed to be there are 5:30.
Kuro yawned loudly, bending forward in a stretch. She had been up since three in the morning. Her worried state would not let her sleep peacefully. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, and was about to sit on the ground since she was tired of standing, but then the bus drove up, honking three times.
She jolted, and stood back up, coughing. Kuro grabbed her duffel and scooted into the 'single file line' that Kasamatsu had started, and slowly began moving onto the large bus.
Now that Kuro got a better look at it, the bus wasn't an average school bus, but a nice looking expensive bus. She raised her brow at it as she stepped inside, a fancy looking butler-guy taking her bag to put it in the side of the bus.
She sat at the very front, which had four seats all together, two on each side, facing each other. She chose the one facing the front, beside the window. Kise hopped onto the bus, and plopped himself right beside her with a huge grin on his face. "Do you like it?" He asked almost impatiently.
"Like what?" Kuro questioned, looking around in case she missed something.
"The bus!"
"Oh, it's nice." Her purple orbs flitted back to Kise's golden eyes, nodding slowly.
"I told my parents about the weekend training camp, and since they adore sempai so much they decided to borrow him the bus!" Kise stated, making himself more comfortable in his chair.
"They... adore Kasamatsu-sempai?" Kuro chuckled, shaking her head, almost finding it hard to believe.
"Yup! I think it's because he keeps me in check." Kise laughed, kicking his feet up on the opposite chair.
Kasamatsu was the last one on the bus. He stopped only momentarily to talk to the bus driver, and then he twirled around. He scanned the entire bus, mentally counting to make sure that everyone was accounted for.
Kasamatsu kicked Kise's legs aside, ignoring his cry of shock, and sat opposite of Kuro, staring intently out the window.
"Jeez, Kasamatsu-sempai!" Kise whined, rubbing his knee softly. Kasamatsu, to distracted by the moving trees, didn't reply to Kise.
This made both Kuro and Kise blink, as they shared a curious look. Kuro only shrugged, and leaned back into the soft cushioning of the chair.
It was so soft that she could just fall asleep.
"Ah, Kasamatsu-sempai," Kuro sat up straight, reaching forward to poke the older boy. Once she got his attention, she continued, "I was wondering, how long it will take to get there?" She asked, leaning back again.
Kasamatsu stared blankly for a moment, before the question finally registered in his head. "I believe three hours." He nodded, turning his head back out the window.
Kuro nodded, and also turned her head to look out the window. 'I guess a couple hours of sleep won't do any harm...' She thought, closing her eyes as the bus rumbled gently.
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Sorry it took so long, I was busy the last couple days! OTL~ *coughCaughtsevencrabscoughcough* :D lol.
Again, thanks for reading and everything! ^^
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