Hidden Beauty

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Basket Seventeen: The Stay {Part Two}

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Kuro turned her head in fear, her heart literally skipping a beat, her stomach sinking, a lump forming in her throat as her eyes landed on Kasamatsu.

Her eyes immediately drifted to the black hair of her teammate, and then her eyes went straight to his grayish-blue eyes.

Kuro's voice caught in her throat, and nothing came out. She wanted so badly to scream 'This isn't what it looks like!' or maybe even 'Get out!'... But the words wouldn't come out, and she was left to helplessly stare as Kasamatsu could only blankly stare at her in shock.

"I- I'm sorry!" Kasamatsu struggled out, voice cracking.

"Wa- wait!" Kuro cried, yanking her shirt back down as she tried to chase Kasamatsu down. She only ended up tripping over her own two feet, landing on her knees rather painfully.

"Kasamatsu! Wait, I said!" Kuro yelled, followed him into his room. Kasamatsu stopped, eyes cast on the ground as a soft blush was splayed on his face. "I'm sorry, b- but, please, just listen to me first!" Kuro pleaded, voice wavering as tears threatened to prick her eyes.

Kasamatsu only stood there, biting his lip as if he was in deep thought. Kuro waited a moment, before she realized that he wasn't going to say anything. She sighed, and walked over to the bed, collapsing on it.

"My name is actually Yasuhiro Kuroi... Not Kuro. And yeah, I- I'm... a girl..." Kuroi murmured, her gaze intently focused on the vanilla carpet.

"Why?" Kasamatsu asked, almost so quietly that Kuroi couldn't hear him.

"Because, I just really love basketball... What I said about Seika, my school, it's partly true, I was actually on the girls' basketball team, but they really did suck." Kuroi chuckled awkwardly, resting her chin on her hand, her eyes never once meeting Kasamatsu's.

The silence was killing her, and for some reason, it made her head throb painfully (or was it just when she banged her head on the coffee table?). Her heart skipped another beat, as she took the silence as a chance to look up at Kasamatsu's face when she heard him turning around to face her.

Kasamatsu's cheeks were a shade of red and pink, as his gaze landed on her. Kuroi's eyes widened slightly, as she felt her own cheeks heat up. She quickly looked away, frowning as she touched her cheeks.

'Why's my face heating up... He's like, the third person to know. Well, he is the first guy to know my secret.' Kuroi whimpered, looking away from Kasamatsu.

She curiously looked back up, watching as his grayish-blue orbs darted to her than anywhere else but her. He cleared his throat, slowly sitting down on the bed, his hands gripping the sheets so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

"So," Kasamatsu started, pausing only to lick his lips. Kuroi kept her eyes on him, waiting for him to continue. "You're a girl... Even all those times?" Kasamatsu winced, looking as if it was still hard to believe.

"Yeah... Sorry about that." Kuroi ducked her head, staring at her lap which her hands were now resting on. "I... I understand if you want me off the team..." Kuroi mumbled softly, shutting her eyes as she waited to be yelled at.

Yet, the only noise she could hear was the soft breathing coming from both Kasamatsu and her.

Finally, Kasamatsu spoke, well, more like made a noise, which sounded like a scoff. "Kick you off the team? Just because you're a girl," He sighed, "You're going to have to tell everyone else, because they deserve to know as well. I mean, we are a team, after all." That rare sweet smile spread across his face, making Kuroi's heart speed up a tad.

"Do- does that mean... ?"

"Yeah, you can stay... But if you get found out, it's not just you who'll be in trouble. It'll be all of us." Kasamatsu said seriously, turning his head to look out the window.

"Wait, what about Coach?" Kuroi asked softly, breathing deeply to calm her heart.

"Mm, we'll tell him when we return. He's understanding like that." Kasamatsu nodded, thoughts drifting back to his second year in highschool. He shook his head to rid of the flooding memories, and instead looked back at Kuroi.

"Well, I guess I should go tell the others..." Kuroi announced, standing up. Kasamatsu followed suit, standing up also. He scratched his head awkwardly, staring at the ground as his cheeks turned red again. "D- Do you need some help?" He asked in a stutter, making Kuroi smile.

"Sure... Thanks, sempai!" Kuroi grinned, wrapping her arms around Kasamatsu's neck in a hug.

"Yo- y- you're wel- welco- come!" Kasamatsu shut his eyes, shaking slightly. He only managed to pat her back in his shaking state.

Kuroi pulled away, smiling slyly. "Don't worry, sempai. I'm still the same as before! You don't have to treat me any different." She assured, "And, I'll even help you with your fear of girls!" Kuroi gave him a thumbs up, grinning cheekily.

"I- I... yeah..." Kasamatsu gave up his part of the argument, already knowing that Kuroi was right. He didn't know if it could be called a fear, though, he just couldn't handle girls for some reason.

"So not looking forward to this..." Kuroi groaned, running her fingers through her short strands of black hair. "Well, better to get it over with." She grunted, snickering as Kasamatsu took a couple steps back from her.

"I should probably be offended, but it's too funny." Kuroi hummed, watching as Kasamatsu looked slightly sorry with a hint of shame.

Kuroi stepped out of the room, then into the living room area. She saw Kise and Hotaka sitting on the couch, with Hotaka nearly passed out.

Kuroi met Kise's eyes, and saw that they held worry in them. She suddenly felt very self-conscious, and cast her gaze to the ground, before looking at Kasamatsu.

Kasamatsu cleared his throat, making Hotaka snap out of his half-dead trance. Kise only stared, silently waiting for someone to say something.

"Uhm... I have news? No, more like... a secret... to tell everyone." Kuroi coughed, nearly losing her voice for a moment. She licked her lips, and slowly looked at Kise, practically pushing Hotaka's curious stare out of the way.

"I'm a... girl." Kuroi has her eyes shut, too afraid of what their reactions would be. 'Would Kise hate me forever?' The thought raced through her head, as she just stood there, listening to the shaking trees blown by the soft wind.

"Yasuhirocchi... is a girl?" Kuroi finally mustered up the courage to open her eye just a crack, and saw that Kise looked somewhat shocked, yet relieved in a way. Hotaka was weirdly staring in awe.

She gave a small nod, and waited awkwardly, for anything to happen. A couple minutes passed, and Kuroi sighed, not particular in relief.

"So..." She looked at Kasamatsu, who had his hands on his hips. He only shrugged, pausing momentarily to blush and turn away almost shyly.

At least it made Kuroi feel somewhat better, if anything.

Kuroi nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard Kise start laughing. It wasn't a soft kind of laugh; it was an all-out crazed scientist kind of laugh. Her good feeling dropped, and was replaced with confusion. She scratched her head, wondering if Kise had finally snapped or something.

"Uhm-"

"Yasuhirocchi! You're a girl!" Kise burst out, remains of giggles echoing in the room.

"Ye- yeah... I'm sorry. For everything." Kuroi bowed, staring at the carpet. "My name is really Kuroi... Last name is the same, though." Kuroi laughed awkwardly.

"Why?" Kise suddenly asked.
"Why... what?" Kuroi blinked, still confused.

"Why are you sorry?"
"Well, for lying. For... being something that I'm not. For hurting you, tricking you, transferring schools, joining the baske-"

"Don't say that!" Kise snapped, suddenly standing on his feet.

Kuroi flinched away as Kise took a couple steps up to her. She closed her eyes, waiting to be hit or something, as she saw Kise's hands shoot up.

She breathed a sigh of relief when he grabbed her shoulders, and didn't punch her or slap her.

"You're good at basketball!" Kise argued, shaking Kuroi's shoulders gently. "You shouldn't be sorry for anything! Who cares if you lied, you're telling the truth now, right? And that's better than just saying nothing and leaving it like this forever! I'm glad I got to know you! And I don't care if you're really a girl or not, cause you're still Yasuhirocchi to me!"

Kuroi stared, tears forming in her eyes. "Do you really mean that... ?" She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, ignoring the way her voice broke as she stared into Kise's strong gaze.

"Of course." Kise's voice was soft to her ears, as she nodded slowly, lowering her gaze to the floor. "Okay." Kuroi smiled, laughing as she wiped away her tears.

"Uhm, do you still want me here, Kasamatsu-sempai?"

"Wh- why wouldn't I?... I- I mean, why wouldn't we!?" Kasamatsu huffed, crossing his arms as he glared at the beige carpet. "You're already here, no point in going back anyways. It's like I said, we're a team." He nodded, stomping out of their room and to who-knows-where.

Kuroi watched him go with an amused look, before turning to Hotaka. She felt a big bad for him, because of his confused expression. "Still taking it in?" She winced, watching him nod slowly. "Sorry." She shrugged.

"Actually, I should probably go tell the others, now." Kuroi twitched, kind of wishing that any of this had never happened in the first place.

She looked at Kise, and at the door that Kasamatsu had stomped out of, then at her hands. She clenched them, watching as her knuckles turned white. 'No, I'm glad I made that decision to come here. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to meet such awesome people, or... hear those words from Kise...' Kuroi stared at the blond, who was busy poking Hotaka. She shook her head, and took a step towards the door before Kise grabbed her hand.

"I think you should tell them at dinner time! It's only in another hour." Kise advised, smiling innocently.

Kuroi blinked, and nodded slowly, "Yeah, alright."

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I bought a beginner archery set a couple days ago, so I've been practicing a lot... I need a better arm guard e.o; I have so many bruises and welts from the string snapping against my arm lol. It was somewhat painful to finish typing the rest of this xDD

Thanks for being patient, everyone! And thanks for all the votes/reviews, seriously. Thank you~!

Kasamatsu obviously won by an overwhelming amount. JK. Well, he did have a lot of votes, whereas Kise was simply pushed to the side D; Sorry, Kise. At least you went all epic!

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