Hidden Beauty

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Basket Forty-Seven: Shock and Relief

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On her way home, Kuroi couldn't help but get this off-feeling about everything. She pretty much ignored Kira and Mikurei, who walked behind her, for the most part.

In an annoyed huff Kira told her to walk faster, poking her arm. Kuroi made a noise and looked at Kira questioningly, not having heard what her sempai had said. "What?" She asked, blinking.

"I said move faster!" Kira said with her voice raised as if she was yelling to a deaf person. Kuroi rolled her eyes but complied, picking up her pace.

"Why?" She asked after a couple moments of silence.

"Why, what?"

Kuroi sighed but elaborated, "Why do you want me to go faster? This is the pace I normally walk, anyways..."

"Because, your normal pace is slow." Kira retorted, scoffing.

"Well, sorry. But I was thinking."

"About?" Mikurei asked softly, giving her friend a curious stare. Kuroi took a second to collect her thoughts. "Everything." She replied. Mikurei nodded slowly, knowing Kuroi didn't want to pursue the topic.

"At least we're almost there." The cobalt blue haired girl stated. Kuroi's eyes darted up and indeed they were almost at her house, judging from the familiar stop sign which was spray painted by some hooligans. 'Just half a block away...' Kuroi found herself thinking, wondering why she was dreading arriving home so much that it made her stomach churn uncomfortably.

A couple minutes later they stopped in front of her house. Kuroi spun around and arched her eyebrow at the two girls. "Uh, bye?"

Kira and Mikurei looked at each other, the elder of the trio stepping forward, "Uhm, actually-"

"Could we come inside?" Mikurei cut in.

"... Sure. I guess." Kuroi pushed the strange feeling further away as she made her way to the door. She dug her keys and was surprised to find the door was still unlocked. She made a sound but shrugged nonetheless and proceeded to enter. Kuroi held the door open for the other two, waiting until they fully entered before closing it softly.

The black haired girl took her shoes off and tossed her sweater aside. She ruffled her short hair before making her way into the living room; "I don't know if my mom would let you stay for din-" She froze, seeing four figures currently occupying the living room. Her mother and father sat on the couch, where as she guessed the blob of black hair and blond hair belonged to Kasamatsu and Kise. Kuroi blinked, then rubbed her eyes. "Am I going crazy?" She asked no one in particular.

Her mother and father shared a look while Kise and Kasamatsu did the same. "Honey, your friends said they wanted to talk to us about something important..." Kayate spoke up finally, causing Kuroi's stare to shift to her mother.

"... What?" She asked quietly.

"Well..." Mikoto fell silent, motioning for one of the boys to speak. Kasamatsu stood, rather quickly, with his hands against his side. He had a look of seriousness plastered onto his face with a matching aura to boot. Kise also had a humorless expression upon his face as he too stood next to Kasamatsu.

Kuroi directed her gaze to Kira and Mikurei and shot them a 'what the hell is going on?' look before shifting her purple orbs back to Kasamatsu who had cleared his throat.

"I'm Kasamatsu Yukio. The Captain of Kaijou's basketball team." His pause caused Kuroi to ask her question, taking a few more steps into the living room.

"Kasamatsu, what are you-" She began, but Kise held up his hand, making her fall silent as she stared at the blond in confusion.

"We're here on the behalf of the team to ask you if you'll please reconsider your decision of taking your daughter off our team." His voice was soft, yet stern, as he spoke. Kuroi forced herself to look at her parents who hadn't yet taken their eyes off of Kasamatsu.

Kayate sighed and looked at her hands which here folded on her lap. "Why? It isn't allowed." She stated. "Not only would my daughter get in trouble for this, but you as well." Kuroi's eyes widened, remembering that she had told her mother not to tell the principal of what she had done because she hadn't wanted anything bad to happen to the team.

Kasamatsu nodded in acknowledgement, finally dropping his fierce gaze. "I understand that. So does our Coach. But, honestly," His eyes found Kuroi's as he continued on. "Our team doesn't feel the same without her on it." With that, his attention was cast back at her parents.

"Even if it's just tell the end of the school year... Please, reconsider your decision." Kasamatsu lowered his head and bowed, Kise following suit. Kuroi, feeling lost, glanced at her parents.

They looked slightly uncomfortable and just about as lost as she appeared. Her mother peered in her direction and Kuroi looked away. Her nibbled on her bottom lip, keeping her eyes anywhere but her parents.

She could hear her mother sigh and Kuroi finally chanced a look at them. Her parents shared a meaningful look with each other before directing their gazes back to Kasamatsu.

"If anything goes wrong... then I'm taking her back off." Kayate said, making up her mind. Kasamatsu and Kise's head's snapped up, surprise etched on their faces. Kuroi's eyes widened as she stared, open-mouthed, at her mother. Her lips moved but no words came out as she was at a loss on what to say.

"That means... Yasuhirocchi is back on the team?" Kise was the first to break the silence after her mother had spoken.

Kayate gave a nod and smiled softly. "Yes." She replied. That 'Yes' caused everything to click back into place and Kuroi felt overwhelmingly overjoyed. She cried out and practically tackle-hugged her parents, nearly knocking them both over.

"Thank you!" Kuroi exclaimed, voice wavering as tears threatened to spill. She could hear her father chuckle as he ruffled her short hair. Her mother simply rubbed her back soothingly, her motherly instincts kicking in.

"We know how miserable you've been recently, so we've been talking." Mikoto chided, watching Kuroi wobble as she stood up slowly. He steadied her and also stood, giving her a proper hug.

"I- Is that what your secret was about?" Kuroi sniffled, looking at her mother. Kayate blinked and shook her head. Kuroi stared at her quizzically before she was hugged by Mikurei. "That's great, Kuroi-chan!" Mikurei gave her a big smile, unable to contain her happiness. Kira just snorted, mumbling something about group hugs weren't her thing. Kuroi rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time that day and pulled Kira in. "Might as well." She told her, smirking when she felt the older girl join the hug.

The two girls pulled away and Kuroi gave them a thumbs up before she was tackled into another hug. "Uwah!"

"Yasuhirocchi! Welcome back!" Kise wailed, crushing her with his strength. Kuroi laughed but then gave a cough as she was squeezed a little too hard. "Kise, dying-"

"Idiot!" Kasamatsu chopped the model's head, causing him to let go of Kuroi and grab at his head painfully, groaning. Kasamatsu turned his annoyed glance from Kise to Kuroi. They stared at each other before grinning. Kuroi threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, "Thank you." She smiled.

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TuT I'm so happy~ Kuroi is back on the team! Hooray~! *sparkles* Everybody celebrate! xD

Anyway, this calls for people to join my fanfiction family ;D If you're interested, just drop me a PM~

~WinterAssassin~