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Smile
Kise was five when he realized that he was really good at faking things. He could fake anything from his brilliant smiles to his tears and no one would ever be able to tell the difference.
Maybe that was why he got caught up in the modeling industry; they were built on pretend smiles and looks after all. He was already blessed with dashing looks, so all he had to do was fake a smile and he was already a master of that. It was so terribly easy.
Easy. It was the word that defined Kise Ryouta's entire existence and he cannot honestly hate any word more than it.
Kise does not know when it was when he realizes that he had never smiled for real. Maybe it was when he once again became the star of yet another club that he thinks that there is nothing really worth smiling about. Kise had never felt the thrill of winning through hard work or the feeling of pride of a job well done. Everything could be done so easily of course. So he goes through thirteen years of fake smiles without feeling any sense of enjoyment from a boring world.
After all, there was nothing in this world was hard to conquer. Kise went through everything from baseball to music and he could find nothing that would put a genuine smile on his face. He starts everything as a bored amateur and ends as a bored master. Nothing ever changes. Nothing could ever give him the rush of adrenaline that he so wanted to feel.
Then he sees Aomine Daiki in action, and this easily conquered world collapses around him. He joins the basketball club and quickly rises in the ranks despite the fact that he had only been playing for a few weeks. It had been expected of course. What Kise was aiming for was beating the amazing skill of Aomine-cchi, as he now calls the tanned boy. It was a goal that won't be easily achieved and Kise was burning with excitement.
Imagine his disappointment when he makes it to the first string and realizes that he had been assigned a boring guy named Kuroko Tetsuya as his instructor. Maybe, Kise thinks to himself. This boy could be one of those athletes that look weak, but were incredibly strong.
Kuroko! Sit out if you are going to puke!
Kuroko! If you go for a lay-up then actually make it!
Kuroko! Don't let that new kid steal the ball from you!
. . . nope. So much for that hope.
The boy was everything Kise wasn't. He couldn't do the most basic techniques and regularly sat out due to over exhaustion. Kise can't think of anyone who could be as untalented as feeling was doubled when Kise realizes that Kuroko was actually a starter on the Teiko prestigious basketball team. He had been stunned in disbelief and doubt.
Then Kise was introduced to Kuroko's miraculous passes during the practice match and he realizes how much power Kuroko has in that frail little body of his. He had a skill that Kise had never seen before and can't even hope to replicate.
After that match, Kise feels something strange with his face. He glances in the window and realizes that he was uncontrollably grinning from ear to ear, and no matter how hard he tries he can't stop it. It was strange, Kise thinks, how much different a real smile felt compared to a fake one.
After thirteen years, Kise Ryouta finally experienced a real smile. It was a smile that could only come with the pride of trying so hard and actually succeeding. He was learning to finally work hard for something he realized that he really did love.
"I am really loving basketball!"
No matter how many years later, Kise would always look up to Kuroko-cchi because he was the first person to bring a genuine smile to Kise's face and show what it was like to feel the love of a hard-won victory. There would be no one Kise could respect more.
So I tried a more angsty chapter . . . tell me if you like it or not in a review. I want to focus more on humor, but sometimes I just get an idea that isn't very funny. Well I hope you still like it! Remember to tell me which type of story you prefer!
-SWP