Not So Perfect Strangers

Chapter 4

It had been a few days since Kuroko and Kise had their first meeting and "pseudo-interview" as Kuroko called it. The teal-haired young man was pleased at some of the progress that he made with the blond model as they started to talk about his work and where he has been along with where he wanted to go. At the same time Kuroko had been noticing that he had been opening up to a man that he just met a few days ago and it started to dawn on him that he was feeling more at ease talking to Kise than he had ever talking to another female and he dated Momoi at the publishing company for months!

The apartment itself was starting to take shape a lot more than he realized with a little bit of each person's personality coming through as Kuroko kept a lot of simple yet elegant decorations on the shelves he had put in by the kitchen and Kise had some of his posters and whatnot posted up but in places that the "more risqué" ones wouldn't be seen by important people. He knew that if the wrong people saw some of his centerfolds they might get the wrong idea about him and that is something that he didn't want.

Did Kise have a "bad" reputation? No but the fact remained that he was still a young man and needed all the work he could get and if people saw some of the more…"suggestive" poses he had done then there could be problems. What's more is he hadn't shown Kuroko these posters for that exact reason and he knew if he saw them that there would definitely be questions and definitely issues!

Kise was proud of himself though. He recognized that in the very short time that he had begun living with Kuroko his maturity had started to grow in him whereas the "old" Kise would not really have put much thought into who saw the posters or who he talked about them with. The old Kise would have simply been more "out there" and "flamboyant" with how he presented himself to people. His mother used to get on his case because of his behavior and would often lecture him about how he acted but he always acted rebellious towards her. There was one big fight they had after Kise came home from a party and he looked to have been drinking. In truth he hadn't but the stench of the alcohol got him busted anyways. Kise was never a drinker and would never do it because he didn't know how it would have affected him. The state he was in was simply because of the women that were there and that angered his mother whom gave him a good strong lecture and a whooping for allowing himself to get put in that position.

Kuroko himself had a different situation

Kuroko was always a young man that kept to himself and hardly spoke to people. In truth this arrangement where he was living with someone else was the first time he honestly started to open up to someone. When he dated Momoi they had brief conversations but most were about work and neither really opened up to the other. When they mutually agreed to stop dating Kuroko felt like he was going to go crazy not because of her but because really he didn't have many if any people really to talk to. Sure he talked to Hyuga and even conversed with Sakurai and Imayoshi before moving here but the fact remained that a lot of people looked at the young man as a complete introvert and as someone whom would never be happy because of everything he kept to himself and never let people get close. This was honestly the first time that the teal-haired author had to try and open up to someone and, while it wasn't easy, he knew that it was something that needed to be done to be able to have a peaceful coexistence.

"Kise-kun" Kuroko started "what would you like to do for lunch today?" he asked knowing that they had done some grocery shopping the day before.

"We have tuna fish right? I think I'll just make a sandwich and have that. I have to go out in about an hour so I don't want to fill myself too much." The blond model explained and Kuroko just nodded as he went to go make Kise's sandwich and himself a sub with some lettuce, onion, tomato and what's left of the tuna with some mayo and a pickle. Sure it wasn't a Maji Burger vanilla shake but it would do him fine till later tonight when hopefully they could have their first real dinner together. The past few nights it was garden salads and the like but he hoped silently that tonight the two could enjoy a proper dinner together.

Wait…he wanted to enjoy a proper dinner with Kise? Another man?! What was he THINKING!

Kuroko didn't have time to really start processing that new info as Kise came out dressed in an American Eagle t-shirt, Blue Jeans and white socks to sit at the table they had gotten from a friend a day before. It was a nice oak table with enough seating for about 6 people and they made sure to thank that friend when they got the chance. Kise sat down in front of his sandwich and thanked Kuroko before taking a bite and had a huge smile on his face.

"This is really good Kurokocchi. Are you always this good with food or just sandwiches?" Kise asked and Kuroko shrugged before answering.

"I know how to make simple things but I'm not good with elaborate food. I find that when I try to do things like that it usually doesn't end up right so I don't make anything overly complicated." Kuroko explained and Kise smiled and nodded at the answer. He learned how to cook some things from different staffers on the shoots that he did so if there was ever a night when they wanted to do something…more complicated then he would gladly help the teal learn how to make it or just do it for him. It was that important for him to help Kuroko grow even more than he mentally already had but that was going to take time and even he knew that.

Lunch ended and they both cleared the table as Kise went and grabbed his shoes and his things for the day and waved his friend goodbye. Kuroko returned the wave with a small smile as he walked out to the balcony and observed the city and its lunchtime rush for the first time that he could remember. The past few days had been crazy with him and Kise going to pick out furnishings and things that neither really had the time to just stand out there and take in the few that the city had to offer. It was truly a breathtaking view as he watched cars zooming through the streets and the birds fly through the afternoon sky with a few that managed to find their way to his balcony railing. This left a smile on his face as he continued to look out into the distance not really thinking about anything.

His counterpart on the other hand…

It sometimes just SUCKS to be Ryota!

Kise had been stuck in traffic which made him a few seconds late (like 3 if you were wondering) and he got reamed out by Kasamatsu and the photographer of the shoot. It wasn't his fault that the lunch rush prevented him from making it on time! He tried his best to make it and he wished sometimes they would just back the heck off! He didn't tell them that of course because that would have started other problems with the photographer and even the higher ups at his agency. He knew how important this shoot was and for the first time he could say he wished he had Kuroko's lifestyle and job. At least HE DIDN'T have to put up with THIS!

The shoot started at about 2 PM and lasted for about 6 hours. Why that long? Well it turned out that he forgot he had the photoshoot to do for the one company, an interview with a magazine there that took about an hour and a half and then he had to go elsewhere to do something for another group that had asked for his services and the agency gave their consent without asking him! THIS is the kind of thing that usually gets him in one of his irregular foul moods! Why couldn't people just be upfront with him? Oh and on top of ALL of this…one of the shoots was for one of those magazines that he had hid the posters from Kuroko for. Imagine what kind of explaining he would have to do if Kuroko EVER found out about this!

As soon as the shoot and everything was over Kise went into his trailer and didn't come out for 30 minutes. Kasamatsu tried to go into the trailer and find out what happened but Kise had locked the door and wasn't opening it up for anyone until he could calm down and then maybe he would talk to his boss. Kasa knew that when Kise got like this it wasn't easy to talk to him but he also knew that things needed to be resolved quickly because there were other people at the shoot not happy and it all boiled down to his behavior.

"Kise open the door!" Kasamatsu exclaimed and finally Kise did as he boss asked and let him in the trailer. Judging from the red in his eyes Kise had all but cried out his tears and his eyes were as sore as sore could be. Kasamatsu knew something was eating at him and it was going to take a bit to get out of him. As open as Kise might be at times when something is truly bugging him it takes a bit to coax it out of him and this time was going to be no exception.

"You want me to tell you what happened out there don't you?" Kise asked sternly knowing that is why his boss came in. "Let's just say that there are things I will WILLINGLY do for this company and there are others that I would rather just off myself than do ever again!" he shot sternly and Kasamatsu knew what he was talking about.

"You don't like doing those kinds of spreads and shoots do you? That's what this is about isn't it?" Kasamatsu asked and Kise shot him a "No kidding" look and that's when Kasa just sighed before speaking again. "I understand your frustration Ryota…I really do but you know that every so often we get contacted by these people and they want you for these reasons. If you weren't the top model for us they wouldn't request you and you know it!" Kasa shot at him and Kise knew that he meant business about this.

"I get that boss but at the same time let's think about this. I just moved into a new place and I got a roommate that knows I do modeling and so forth but he doesn't know about…" Kise trailed off to try and get his superior to finish the sentence which he gladly did.

"He doesn't know that you have done shoots for the female targeted magazines or even the LGBT magazines right?" Kasamatsu asked and Kise just nodded "Would you rather I tell him then?" Kasa asked and Kise looked like he had seen a ghost. That was the ABSOLUTE LAST THING he needed Kuroko to find out at this point considering they just started living together. WHY would he suggest THAT?!

"N-No sir don't do that." Kise stammered and his boss waited to hear if there was more "I'll tell him myself eventually. I just need the time to be able to figure out how to tell him and see if he'll accept it. Right now its not the best time because we just…" Kise started to explain but was cut off in mid-sentence

"Because you just started living together right?" Kasamatsu finished and Kise nodded "That's fine Kise and I can respect that as your boss…I have to actually, but just don't take too long or else there could be issues later on. I've dealt with Kuroko before and he's a calm and quiet gentleman but I know when people keep things from him he gets aggressive quickly and sometimes its not pretty. I'm not telling you this to scare you or even as your boss now. I'm telling you this as your friend and because I feel you actually value Kuroko more than as just a friend right now but figuring out how to tell him is the hard part right?" He asked and Kise just nodded with a shocked look on his face. How did he know that?!

A few minutes later and Kise was allowed to leave after apologizing for his actions. This however made him later for coming home and he made sure to call Kuroko to tell him.

*Ring Ring*

Kuroko already knew it was Kise on the other end and when he looked at the clock he realized that something had happened but didn't question what when he answered.

"I won't ask what happened Kise but just get home ASAP…understood?" Kuroko asked sternly and Kise gave him an affirmative on the other end and the conversation ended as quickly as it started. When he snapped his phone shut Kuroko opened his laptop and his file called "KISE" where he made a note especially for it:

Something happened at the shoot. Kise was late calling to tell me that he wasn't going to be home when he thought and this worries me. It especially worries me because this could be a setback that we have a hard time overcoming but I promise to get to the bottom of this ASAP.

Kuroko saved the file, closed his laptop and walked out onto the balcony to observe the night in Tokyo. He knew that in order to be allowed to "fix" Kise that the blond would HAVE to start to break. He was just hoping that it was more a gradual crumble than an all out collapse!

Their journey was truly about to start!