My mind was plagued. I'm sorry, I'll get back to plot immediately. This is an extra chapter~
SCHOOL IS OVER TOMORROW HALLELUJAH FANIME STARTS FRIDAY HALLELUJAH. Don't worry people, I'll be writing in those three hours I'll have to wait in like for my badge. ;D
Disclaimer: "Kuroko no Basuke does not belong to me", I whisper softly as the fandom draws a pentagon around me and sacrifices me to Satan. (I go on Tumblr, but I don't have one).
Btw the dates in this chapter are actually real (I checked) but everything from every other is two days off.
Extra Chapter: A story of the meeting and progression between Kuroko Tetsuya and Takao Kazunari (and their roommate).
Friday: February 29, 2036. 10:06 A.M.
College entrance exams. Yes, it was indeed that time of the year for high school graduates hopeful in their struggles to pursue a higher,more advanced level of education–such as it's been for centuries in Japan. What has changed is that–since about thirty years ago, the dates have been pushed further and further back, and so most testing occurs during late winter or early spring, as opposed to in April.
At the moment, an eighteen-year-old Kuroko Tetsuya is lost on the campus of Tokyo Gakuin University, a relatively new college established somewhere in the early twenties. The simplistic paper map in his hands did him no good as he attempted to navigate the campus, so he decided to look for some kind of directory that would, hopefully, be more accurate.
The blue-haired man made his way down one of the concrete walkways, keeping an eye out for an electronic bulletin board of some sort (he was sure he had seen one somewhere) that would give him instructions on how to get to the examination hall for incoming applicants.
He barely even noticed when a large densely-packed crowd of joggers started to trudge through, quickly clearing the path of any unfortunate individuals in their wake.
Sumo wrestlers.
Why this university even had a professional sumo team, Kuroko didn't know. What he did know, however, was that the assembly of mawashi-clad men (the majority of them unhealthily overweight for some reason) did not see him, and so he slowly lifted his feet to take a few steps onto the synthetic grass that lined the path.
Before he could start though, he felt something grab his arm and forcefully yank him backwards, resulting in a loss of balance and his face being pressed up in something that felt like a man's chest.
Because it was a man's chest.
"Are you okay?" a voice asked him as he felt the hands on his head and around his back lax and remove themselves.
Kuroko did not know that this would be the beginning of, for lack of better term, a "beautiful friendship".
Turning his head and eyes upward, he saw a taller, dark-haired man with slate-blue eyes and a wide, cheerful grin."Ah, yes. I am not hurt. Thank you for helping me", Kuroko bowed and replied back, monotonous as ever even though he was, to be put simply, vexed at the current situation.
"No problem. Are you visiting an older brother or sister here or something? If you are, the student dorms are that way," the man said, pointing a finger toward a collection salmon-colored buildings. "The people at the front desk let you in as long as you tell them your name and who you're related to."
"…Actually, I am looking for the building where they are holding entrance examinations."
"So you're looking for someone there? The testing is gonna start soon though, so you should probably hurry up", the stranger grinned, "I'm on my way there myself. You could follow me if you'd like."
"I would very much appreciate it," the blue-haired man said as the two started walking.
Conversation on the way to the exam hall was all initiated by the black-haired man, and Kuroko would always respond curtly; It wasn't that he was trying to be rude or anything, it's just that he wasn't accustomed to speaking more than a few words to anyone (aside from his family) for anything other than school related duties or work.
Things like, "so what's your name?" and "do you want to go to this college too?" were asked, and Kuroko would give his usual stunted, one-word responses. Nevertheless, the taller man–who had introduced himself as "Takao Kazunari" somewhere along the way (and by the way, had started to call him "Tet-chan")–still remained undiscouraged by the lack of emotion evident in the other's mannerisms. If anything, he seemed to take it as a challenge and set to passionately conversing about some new first-person shooter game that had come out last month.
In a few minutes, the two arrived at the exam building–a majestic ziggurat painted a creamy, ecru white and decorated with braided vines creeping up its sides, along with lush, vibrant flowerbeds spread out at the structure's front. When entering, they found the inside was just as superb as its exterior.
The floor is polished very nicely. Granite, I think? Or maybe marble? Hmmm…that is a very nice chandelier...
"The general testing area is this way", Takao announced, pulling Kuroko by the arm for the second time that day.
The exam hall was a huge, brightly-lit room with hundreds of desks lined up in straight, neat rows. The woman sitting at the front desk barely spared them a glance as they walked in.
Takao dug into his pockets and pulled out a shiny emblem with the university's insignia printed on it. "After the testing starts, anyone without this badge gets kicked out of the room, so you should find whoever you're looking for quickly. The desks here all come with a fingerprint scanner, so if you have the ID code of whoever you're looking for, you can ask the woman at the front desk to help you."
Kuroko gave a slight nod. "Thank you for helping me again, Takao-san."
"You know, you don't have to be so formal just because I'm your elder", the dark-haired man laughed as he walked away to find an unclaimed desk to sit and wait at.
"The assessment period will begin in thirty minutes. We ask that all unauthorized individuals leave the examination room. Anyone who fails to comply with our conditions will be forcefully removed, along with any related test-takers."
A cluster of people–parents, siblings, friends, and lovers–all said their last words to the examinees and exited the room.
Takao pulled out his tablet computer and began to cram in some last minute studying.
"The exam will begin in two minutes. Please find a seat if you have not already done so and put away all personal belongings including–but not limited to–the following: electronic devices, study materials, food items, and beverages. You are not allowed to talk during this exam. After submitting your test, you are to leave the examination hall. Anyone caught disregarding these terms will be immediately escorted out of the building and will no longer be eligible for consideration of acceptance in this establishment."
Approximately twenty-nine minutes and twelve seconds after walking into the hall, Takao Kazunari experiences what he believes to be a mini heart attack as he finally notices the blue-haired boy sitting at the desk next to him.
"T-Tet-chan!? What are you doing!?" the dark-haired man exclaimed as the other latched open the scanning pad, pressed his thumb to it, and then closed it back up.
"This is one of the last tables left", he replied, placing his belongings–a reference book and a pocket novel–into his messenger bag which had been resting on the floor. The top of the desk started to slide back, and underneath, a touch-screen panel along with an electric pen was revealed.
"What!? But-You-Wait-" the words came out choppily and Takao looked off to the side; it was as if he expected to find someone else that shared his same amount of puzzlement as to why this boy–possibly still a middle schooler–had his fingerprint and ID validated without a problem.
Kuroko gave him a blank stare (which for him, was a normal thing) and explained, "you never asked how old I was", before holding up his ID for the other to see.
"Ehh… EHHHHHHHH!?"
Takao quickly stood up out of surprise, which was, admittedly, a bad decision on his part due to the fact that the desk and its chair were connected.
His thighs hit the blunt underside-
Bang.
And he landed back on the chair.
Thump.
"That sounded rather painful", Kuroko thought as the sounds reached his ears.
As if the look on the other man's face wasn't already a clear indication.
"Good luck with your exam, Takao-kun", the stoic man deadpanned as he slid his ID into his pocket.
"Ah! Wait, yo-"
"The examination period will begin now. You will have two hours to complete the assessment."
The sky-haired man stared at him for a short while but quickly turned his head back to his desk and began to fill in the answers to his questions. At that point, they both knew that it was time to get down to business.
This was the test that would probably decide the next few years-or-so of their lives.
With that in mind, Takao as well picked up his touch-pen and began choosing options and writing; he carefully racked his brain for the answers to the questions laid out in front of him. Every once in a while though, he'd take a short glance at the almost ghost-like man to his right and reaffirm that he was, indeed, a high school graduate like himself.
The exam room was silent except for the sound of people scrawling against the desk screens and the occasional tapping of shoes on the floor.
About an hour in, a few people started leaving–from the looks on their faces, it was either they completely bullshitted the test and gave up on trying or were just extremely intelligent, well-prepared, or confident that whatever they put down was enough to get them accepted.
Another half-hour and Takao had nearly completed his questions; he had just a few more on advanced calculus and writing comprehension skills (both of which he'd frantically brushed up on in anticipation of this day).
Meanwhile, Kuroko was skimming back over his questions and trying to fill in any he had skipped over earlier. Inside, he was a bit nervous about this even though he had prepared thoroughly enough and took several mock tests. Some of the problems, however, were completely foreign to him so he could only take his best shot while hoping he subconsciously knew what he was doing.
After a while, both men decided to stop prolonging their fates and finalize the decisions they'd made.
Studies have showed it wasn't very good to dwell on answers during test-taking after all; too much "deliberation" often leads to indecisiveness and an agitated, troubled mind unfit for this tactful process.
The first one to submit his exam and leave the room was Takao, though Kuroko followed a few minutes after.
He was surprised when he found the taller man waiting outside the building, a broad grin on his face when he proclaimed, "man, I was really surprised just now. You're older than I am, you know! So anyways, how do you think you did?"
And of course, Kuroko hadn't expected that the other would approach him again, so it took a long, drawn-out pause before he could find words to respond with.
"I think it went all right. And you?"
They chatted while walking toward one of the school gates, and when they reached it, they split ways towards their respective destinations.
In another two weeks, they would meet again in the campus cafeteria with a cheerful, "How's it going Tet-chan?" and a modest, "fine. Good afternoon, Takao-kun", given back.
Kuroko wasn't exactly sure how the other could find him so easily, or how and why he would even bother with him, but he found the company enjoyable even if they didn't have too much in common.
Besides the occasional conversation, it also hadn't been unexpected thing for the black-haired man to randomly approach him and invite him somewhere–things like a party or a goukon or whatever it was that was usually expected of college students. Takao seemed to know a lot of people from just about every department in the University. Every department.
Of course, Kuroko would always respectively decline as he wasn't used to that kind of thing and didn't have much of an interest; either way, it'd probably end up with just him reading one of his books. The only difference was that, instead of the quiet atmosphere of the library or the bus he rode back to his apartment, he'd be surrounded by other people (and most likely unnoticed).
Neither of the two men could remember the first time the older man had actually accepted one of Takao's proposals. It might have been after the thirtieth or fortieth time or so; no one had really been counting.
Unlike the other suggestions he'd made, the man had been asking around for volunteers to go help at one of the local animal shelters. And so Kuroko, being an unexpected lover of just about all furry creatures (or at least to Takao), had immediately agreed.
That day had been the first that Takao had seen him smile.
From then on, the pestering had been upped a few (more like, a lot of) notches and the invitations came much more frequently–of course, they had become more mild activities since Takao knew he'd be swiftly shot down for anything else.
Somewhere in the middle of all the study sessions they had and lunch breaks between their classes, Takao had successfully wheedled his way into Kuroko's life–not that the blue-haired man minded.
Before the start of their second year, Kuroko had gotten tired of having to commute to the university which was forty minutes (when conditions were favorable) away from his lodgings; the reason he had rented the place was because it had been cheap and he usually wasn't one for being wasteful. Takao, who'd felt they had become familiar enough, offered to help him find an apartment with the use of all the connections he had. Really, he had a lot.
While in the process of the search, they had failed to find any affordable single-occupant flats being rented out. They had, however, found quite the bargain in a nice three-room apartment just ten minute's walking distance away from campus.
The rest is pretty much self-explanatory.
Though that's not gonna stop me from explaining it anyways.
The two had put up an advertisement looking for another tenant on a website associated with the university and had gotten a few replies within the next week.
After picking out someone normal and pleasant from among the group–not the guy they were sure was a hardcore druggie; or the obsessive-compulsive eater who was, apparently, a huge heavy metal fan (heh, get the pun?); or the three-peat offender of "indecent public behavior" who actually turned out to be a very muscular woman–they got the lease signed for the next two years. There were more people than this, but Takao would really rather forget about all the interviews they held and leave them in the past.
Kuroko agrees with those sentiments.
The three men assisted each other with the move–which actually wasn't very needed because none of them had much to carry in, save for Takao's videogame collection and some small furniture.
They got along rather nicely; the housemate the blue-eyed men had gotten was a kindhearted and rather average-in-all-aspects man named Furihata Kouki. Like them, he was also becoming a college sophomore.
And now, here they are another trip-around-the-sun later.
Kuroko is still pretty impassive, but he's gotten a lot better.
Takao is still loud and obtrusive, and he hasn't gotten better.
And yes, these two are still "BFFs", as Takao calls it (and Kuroko still doesn't know what that means).
Another funny thing though:
Kuroko did not understand–or even consider–the fact that, for the first three months that had followed their meeting, he had been aggressively hit on.
Wednesday: April 2, 2038. The release date of Kiseki World Online.
A loud crash sounded out from the genkan, and Kuroko and Furihata turned their heads from the TV to see their black-haired flatmate practically skipping in.
"I'm home~!"
"Welcome back", the two others said back to him. Then Furihata proceeded to half-fall off the couch and flail like a fish out of water as he clung to the sofa upside down.
"HOLY CRAP KUROKO, HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE!?"
"Since you started singing and dancing along to children's cartoo-"
He was silenced by the pillow thrown at his head.
Takao laughed and put down his heavy bags before merrily crooning, "I'm gonna be in my room for the next few hours, 'kay~?" He kicked off his shoes, lifted the gaming gear he had purchased, and quickly rushed into his room to set it up so he could begin playing. From inside, Kuroko heard him call out, "you guys should get one too! I'll be so lonely without you!"
"I'm poor!"
"It doesn't matter Kou-chan, we're all poor!"
"You will wake up the neighbors if you keep shouting."
Takao popped his head out around the door frame and laughed maniacally. "Tsk tsk tsk, this is what these soundproof walls are for", he affirmed as he knocked on them. Nothing could stop him as he started to sing his lungs out to a butchered version of what might have been Jingle Bells.
Well, except for a pillow to the face.
"That was mean, Tet-chan!"
"You deserved it."
A loud computerized "beep" sounded out from his room, and the smile on Takao's face grew. "Well then, I'll see you guys later. Remember to save me some dinner later!"
"Kay."
When the Takao receded into his room once more, Furihata turned to Kuroko and asked, "do you think you're gonna start playing it too?"
The blue-haired man paused, taking a moment to ponder to inquiry.
Takao-kun won't stop talking about it, but it does seem a bit interesting. And I don't have much to do anymore since I'm taking fewer classes this year and there's less work at the Kindergarten. Perhaps it would be a good experience.
"Hmm… it seems like it might be fun and I do not buy many things anyways, so I guess-"
"-Maybe?" the sentence was finished for him.
Kuroko gave one of his unnoticeable miniscule lip curvatures and nodded.
"Yes, maybe."
With the help of Takao, he discovers the joys of the VR world three weeks later.
I admit it. I ship TakaKuro. But again, my OTP is KiKuro.
Maybe I should write a rival sandwich fic someday.
On that note, I wrote a new fic yesterday. If anyone likes AkaFuri, I implore that you read it (though only prologue is up) This won't get in the way of KWO though, because this obviously takes priority.
Thank you for reading~