Everyone... this is a 'climax chapter'. meaning there will be a problem. XD.. but that doesn't mean the story will be over soon. XD I have lots of climax in my mind and probably some of them will be added to this story...I think. I am never sure. Ahaha. What I am sure about is that this chapter isn't funny. (. _ .) but... meh. XD.

You may now continue reading~

Chapter 15 -Fade away

Kise Ryouta walks into the room and finds Yachiyo already seated on her chair.

He walks up to her and sits down. Yachiyo notices this and greets him; "Good morning." But she wasn't looking at Kise. As usual she was reading a book. Even so, Kise didn't speak.

He started crying.

"Me-meganekko.. *sniffs*… that's….. the first… *sniffs*…UWAAAA" Kise tries to say with overflowing tears.

"You look weird Ikemen." She replied and turned a page. "Stop crying."

"It's just that…. You… YOU GREETED ME GOOD MORNING FIRST." He then cries again. "I didn't even have to greet you first." He starts wiping his tears with his sleeve.

"You're overreacting." Yachiyo said. Still not looking at him.

"I guess we have to work on your attitude though." Kise teased.

"And I guess we need to work on your brain damage." She said as she turned to face him.

She was smiling but it was a mocking one. He didn't mind. He just smiled genuinely back.

"Where's my homework?" Yachiyo asked.

The girls from their class turn their heads and looks at her. The two didn't notice the stares.

"Oh right. Here is yours. You can double check it if you want." Kise said he handed over the homework.

.

"Jeez, doesn't she have any shame." A girl loudly said in the background.

"Mikage-san, she can hear you."

.

Kise and Yachiyo heard but only Kise turned his head around.

"I can't take this anymore. First Kise-kun made her a bento, then she makes him do her homework?!" Mikage said again. Louder this time.

Kise stood up and said; "You've mistaken."

Yachiyo grabbed his arm. Kise looks at her, but she just shook her head. It was a clear sign of 'don't do it.' Instead, Kise pulled her up and said loudly.

"First of all, I made her lunch because I wanted to. And second, we accidentally switched bags so we switched the homeworks." His voice was strong. Serious. "Why is he always doing this…" Yachiyo thought as she looked at the serious faced Kise.

"Don't judge her because of me. And if you have something to say against her, say it to me first. Because… I am her friend."

"Friend…" she quietly repeated the word.

Kise turns to her and says: "Megane—"

But he was stopped when Yachiyo stopped grabbing his arm. Instead, she moved her hand and grabbed Kise's hand tightly. Kise blushed but then her screamed…

Because Yachiyo quickly dragged him out of the room. Quickly and forcefully.

They were out of the building in just a moment. Kise was furiously blushing as he stared at Yachiyo's hand… holding his. "W-wait! Meganekko! Where are we—"

But he was interrupted again when she turned around and stopped. As usual, she wasn't looking at him. She just looked down. But it was clear she wasn't happy.

"Meganekko…" Kise said.

"Why… why did you do that." Yachiyo said. "You didn't have to."

"Because you are my friend." Kise said. "I won't just let them say bad things about you like that."

"You're ruining your image." She said. Still looking down.

"My friend is a lot more important than my image."

Yachiyo didn't say anything. But after a few seconds, she tried to say; "Ikemen—"

"Stop it, Meganekko. Even if you say I shouldn't, I'd still protect you. Aside from the fact that Kurokocchi told me to, you are still my friend. Even if Kurokocchi tells me to stop, I wouldn't…. Meganekko—"

He stopped when Yachiyo punches him hard on the stomach. "Since when was I your friend?!" she shouted.

Kise holds his stomach with his free hand. He laughs and said. "I got used to your punches; I think my stomach is iron now. Ahahahaha…." He looks at her hand still grabbing his.

"If you aren't my friend, then why do I care about your safety, and why do you care about my image. And… why are you still holding my hand."

She didn't say anything. She was just looking down. Not letting him see her face. But… "She's trembling…" Kise thought. His face is now full of worry.

"Meganekko—" Kise walked closer to her and crouches down a little to see her face. His eyes widened and he froze. It's the first ever time he saw it.

Yachiyo, she was crying.

Despite the thick glasses, some tears are still flowing on her cheeks. She was also blushing a little.

She noticed Kise looking at her face and pushes his face away. "STOP LOOKING AT ME!"

She turned around, letting go of Kise hand and started wiping her face with her sweater sleeve.

"I hate this… it's hard to wipe sweat with glasses on." She took her glasses away and wiped her tears again.

Kise was still in shock… not knowing what to do. "She's… crying?"

"Meganekko, gomenasai!" Kise apologized. "I—I didn't mean to.." He walks to her and she turns around.

Her face… Her sapphire blue eyes were teary and sparkled a lot more. Her skin was pale but her cheeks were more pinkish due to crying. Kise blushed and she blushed too.

"STOP LOOKING!" she shouted at Kise.

"GOMEN!" she apologized again. He even bowed his head.

"Why are you bowing?!" she said again. But her voice seemed like it would break.

"Sorry, I just… I don't know what to do…" Kise said then he raised his head. Yachiyo was still wiping her tears. "I don't know what to do…"

"I hate seeing her cry… I wish I could do something… I wish I could say something… but… I can't think of anything else… I want to…" Kise suddenly grabbed her shoulders.

Her face showed shock as Kise pulled her close.

She was near… very close. And Kise had his arms wrapped around her. "I-I'm sorry. I know you would hate if I do this… but… I want to… I can't say anything else. So I…"

Yachiyo's hands were down. And her head was just on Kise's chest.

"I don't like seeing you cry…" Kise said softly. She didn't say anything. She just stood there with wide eyes as Kise hugged her tight. "But…."

"you do look cute when you cry though….."

That sentence made an angry nerve mark appear on Yachiyo's head and she said; "Ikemen…"

She clenched her fist and gave Kise the strongest punch she ever could. It was strong enough that Kise's now iron stomach gave in and he let go of Yachiyo.

"STOP SAYING WEIRD THINGS OUT OF NOWHERE!" she shouted. And looked down on him… "Iron stomach is no match for an iron fist, Ikemen."

"Take…. take me… to the hospital…" Kise tried to say.

"No." she answered.

Kise laughed out loud and said; "It's great that you are not crying anymore."

"I wasn't. I was just sweating."

This made Kise laugh out louder. He stood up and took something out of his pocket. A handkerchief.

"You still have some sweat on your cheeks, Meganekko." He said softly but when she looked at him, he blushed furiously. And inserted the handkerchief back to his pocket.

"Weird." She said as she slightly blushed. "Let's go back. It's time for class."

She walked away and Kise followed her. "Yes, ma'am."

As they walked down the hallway back to class. Kise was right behind her. He looked at Yachiyo as she fixed her glasses, turned around and said to him; "Hurry up, Ikemen."

He kept thinking of how she cried. He didn't like it.

He smiled and said to himself… "Don't worry. I won't let you cry again. I promise that."

Yachiyo turned around and said; "What? Did you say something?"

Kise walked ahead of her and said; "From now on... I'd keep my distance, Kuroko-san. It's better this way."

"Kuroko-san? Chotto, what-" Yachiyo tried to say, but Kise already entered the room.

.

Everyone had their eyes on Kise as he entered the room. Emotionless. Uninterested.

He sat down at his chair and switched the bags carelessly. Yachiyo just watched him from the door. "What is he doing?" she thought.

Yachiyo walked to her chair. And glanced at him. She tried to say "Ikeme-" But Kise made a loud noise; "Oii Murata-kun. Let's eat lunch together later~" He sat there in a carefree way. "I'm sorry, Meganekko." he thought.

Yachiyo just sat there. Confused. "Ikemen... what you doing this time... don't tell me..."

Everything went on. But Kise didn't pay attention to Yachiyo and so did she.

Time for recess~

Yachiyo just sat there. Not reading a book. "What is wrong with Ikemen... is he thinking this would work?"

Kise stood up and took something from his bag. He took the sandwich and casually threw it at Yachiyo's table. "Eat that." he said. Cold and uncaring. He started walking away like nothing happened.

Background: The clown girls had menacing grins on their faces.

Time for lunch~

Kise still didn't talk to Yachiyo. But instead of throwing the bento box. He just placed it casually at her table. He didn't leave the room. Not saying anything. Then after a few seconds he called; "Murata! Let's go eat lunch!"

"Oh... okay." Murata said with a confused expression.

Kise still sat there. And Yachiyo just stayed quiet.

"How long are you gonna do this." Yachiyo thought. She stared at the bento box and gripped the cover tightly. She stood up. Almost knocking her seat and walked out of the room in a semi-fast pace.

"Kise... what are you having for lunch?" Murata asked.

But Kise dropped his head on his table with a loud thud. And buried his face in his own arms. He thought. "I'm sorry." For a while he stayed that way until he said; "I'm having my dying soul for lunch."

Time for basketball practice.

Yachiyo was still in the classroom trying to fix her things. While Kise sat there.

She had this expression. Not happy. Not mad. Not sad. Just... a straight face. She walked out of the room with the other girls smiling with victorious. And with Kise just sitting there.

At the gym.

"Manager, what do with do with the practice?" Moriyama asked Yachiyo who was writing something down on a little blue notebook.

"Just repeat the same practice yesterday." she replied while still writing something down.

"Are the regulars gonna do the special training?" he asked again. "Kise always have to-"

"No." she said finally. Still looking at the blue notebook. "Just do the regular training. "

He walked away from her and turned to Kasamatsu; "Seems like she's in a bad mood."

"Kise seems to be in a bad mood too." He points at the Kise who was doing freethrows.

"He never made a single basket count." Kasamatsu added. Kise shot the ball but dramatically missed.

Then they heard a loud annoying sound. It was the feeback of Yachiyo's megaphone. She turned it on to maximum volume. "EVERYONE, DO THE REGULAR TRAINING WE DID YESTERDAY."

Everyone covered their ears. Besides Kise who tried to shoot another ball again. But missed.

"Wait? No special training?"

"NONE."

"Not even for Kise."

"NONE." this response was accompanied by overflowing dark aura.

"Did they fight? They definitely fought. I am sure of that." Kasamatsu said.

Shigeru Saitou walked to the gym with his hands on both his ears; "My, my, Yachiyo. turn that thing off, please?" He said with an unsure smile but friendly voice.

"NO." she replied.

"*sigh*... Okay." He turned to Kise and called; "Ryouta~ Let's talk." in a friendly tone.

"There's no need, Shigeru. It's fine. It's better this way for Kuroko-san " Kise said. He shot one more ball and it landed perfectly on the basket.

"Kuroko-san? Well, Ryouta..." Shigeru said. "If you're gonna continue doing this, I'd take her away from you."

Kise stopped. He dribbled the ball and shot it again. Not answering.

.

"Are you sure, Ryouta? You aren't gonna stop me? Is that your final answer?"

Kise took another ball again. Not answering.

.

"If that's your decision." Shigeru said finally. He sighed.

.

Shigeru walks up to Yachiyo and pets her head. "Yachiyo, let's go on a date~" "date... date... date..." it echoed in the background

.

"Eh?" Yachiyo looked surprised. She was actually blushing. "Uhm... I..."

"Saturday, 1 pm. Let's talk about the details later. I'd walk you home." Shigeru said. Smiling, kind and friendly.

Everyone in the gym was shocked.

"Did he say.. DATE?! WITH HER?!"

"NO WAY! DATE WITH MANAGER?!"

"HE'S JOKING! HE IS! HE IS! RIGHT?!"

"THAT'S NOT A GREAT JOKE!"

Yachiyo took a quick glance past Shigeru's shoulder. Kise doesn't seem to mind.

She looked back at Shigeru and said; "Okay."

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" was the reaction of everyone except Kise.

.

Kise dribbled the ball again and throws a fade away shot.

.

.

He quietly said to himself. "How nice." His reaction... Priceless.

.

.

Kise started walking out of the gym and sees Yachiyo with Shigeru. He is with Moriyama and Kasamatsu, the two of them noticed his odd, straight face yet sort of mad expression.

"Ne, Kasamatsu, what do you think about Manager and President?" Moriyama teasingly asked. It was loud enough for Kise to hear.

"Well, I don't know… They look nice together? Right, Kise?" Kasamatsu asked.

Kise was clenching his fist and his aura was purple. You can clearly see the small nerve mark on his face. And that fact that his smile was twitching. "Yeah… they… look cute… together."

He thought; "That Shigeru is doing this on purpose."

Shigeru notices him and waves his hand high in the air. "Ryouta~~~" he called.

Kise raised his hand low and gave a twitchy smile.

Shigeru turned back to Yachiyo and held his mouth shut. "Pfffftt. He looks like he's gonna burst."

"Eh? Shigeru-kun?" Yachiyo tried to look back. But Shigeru grabs her cheek lightly and says; "No. Don't turn around, ne? Yachiyo." he said with a smile.

This froze Yachiyo and made Kise's purple aura turn black.

Meganekko was red. Ikemen was blue.

.

.

TBC

Fade away END

Fade away is my favorite type of shot in basketball. I love basketball XD. The next chapter will be... in my mind... interesting... maybe... ahahahaha. i dunno. I WON'T SPOIL... but... Tetsuya will be making an apperance. XDDD that's the only thing I could say. XDDD