Hey guys! sorry for posting a little later than usual, I wasn't home most of the day so it slipped my mind. Anyways, this chapter's pretty long and unlike the last chapter this one is only about Midorima. I hope you enjoy chapter twelve!
All the rights belong to, Tadatoshi Fujimaki
Chapter Twelve, My Friends, (Part Two)
Akashi's eyes widened. 'Ryouta was almost raped? Should you be telling me this?'
Kuroko shrugged. 'I don't see why not, it spread around school fast. So everyone knows anyway. You would have learned somehow.'
The redhead rubbed his tmples. 'That is really wrong, did he get kicked out?'
The blue-eyed boy nodded. 'Kise-kun didn't want to tell his mother, so Aomine-kun did.'
'Oh, that's good.' Akashi was surprised at how nice Aomine seemed. 'So, what about the other two?'
'Well...'
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Midorima Shintaro,
'Hello, my name is Kise Ryouta. It's nice to meet you.'
'No!' Aomine said, slamming his hands on the desk. 'That was too polite, kids our age don't talk like that!'
'I'm trying, alright?!' Kise cried.
Kuroko sighed, Aomine had been trying to teach Kise to talk like other kids for the last hour. It wasn't going well. 'Kise-kun, I like the way you talk just fine, I don't see why you're so worried about it.' Kuroko said, speaking over the two yelling boys.
The blonde smiled sadly and turned towards the smaller boy. 'I know, but I've been told that I sound uptight and that no one would want to be my friend if I didn't start acting like a normal kid.'
The blank-faced boy shrugged, 'We're your friends. Why do you need more?'
Kise smiled again. 'I guess you're right, besides, we need to get to class.'
'If it really matters then why don't you try something else, something that will make you seem friendly.' Kuroko said.
'Something that will make me seem friendly?' The blonde asked confused.
'You're really friendly already, so it should be easy.' The small, blue-eyed boy said.
Kise smiled. 'I'll figure something out. Right now we need to get to class.'
Aomine sighed and threw his head back. 'Do we have to?'
'Yes, Aomine-kun. We do have to go to class, it would look bad if Kise-kun missed class.' Kuroko explained to the protesting boy.
'But why do we have to?' He whined again.
Kuroko and Kise exchanged a look. They grabbed Aomine under the arms and carried him towards the classroom, Kise doing most of the work due to the fact that Kuroko was as strong as a twig.
They carried him all the way into the classroom, where they set him in his chair and took their own seats.
Aomine's loud complaining was cut short when a green-haired boy entered the room.
A silence filled the room. Nobody ever talked to the boy, everyone thought he was strange.
He didn't even look around, he went right to the back of the class where his seat was and sat down.
He opened his bag and pulled out a glass bowl, he set it down on his desk carefully before getting his notebook out.
Kuroko exchanged a glance with Aomine and Kise, one that was exchanged throughout the entire room.
The green-haired boy didn't look up, though he could feel them, he ignored the stares. He shifted around and scribbled something on the top of the page. He waited, quietly counting to ten.
The teacher finally walked in and started class. She was new so she went around and got everyone's names. 'Is Kuroko Tetsuya absent today?' She asked, glancing down at the sheet.
Kuroko sighed. He was about to stand up when Kise did.
'No, ma'am. Kuroko Tetsuya is sitting right there.' He pointed at the chair Kuroko was sitting in.
The teacher looked at his chair again and blushed.'My goodness, I'm sorry Kuroko-kun, I didn't even see you.'
Kuroko told it was okay and she moved on. He looked at Aomine who rolled his eyes causing Kuroko to smile.
'Shh,' Kise hissed. He nodded over his shoulder to where the green-haired boy sat. The teacher made her way over and was getting his name.
'Midorima Shitaro.' He answered in a stiff voice.
'It's very nice to meet you, now Midorima-kun, why is there a bowl on your desk?' She asked politely.
Midorima looked down at the bowl and back up at the teacher. 'It's my lucky item.' He said quietly.
The teacher leaned closer. 'I'm sorry, I didn't catch that, could you speak a little louder?'
Midorima glanced around the room to see all the eyes staring at him. 'I said, it's my lucky item...' He answered louder.
One of the children beside him raised an eyebrow. 'Your what?'
Midorima's ears flamed red. 'It's my lucky item for today, carrying it around will ward off bad luck...' He explained, sinking into his seat.
The student stared at him, and Kuroko knew instantly that people weren't going to ignore Midorima anymore.
'That's interesting... Midorima-kun...' The teacher said, smiling kindly.
Midorima's ears got redder as he sank lower in his chair.
The students didn't say anything on account of the teacher standing right next to Midorima, but as soon as class finished Kuroko knew that the insults would start to fly.
Class rolled by smoothly right up until the end. As they were leaving Kuroko heard the sound of glass breaking and knew instantly what had happened.
Turning around, Kise, Aomine and Kuroko all saw Midorima staring down at his broken bowl, tears welling in his eyes.
'Oh no, what are you going to do now? I hope the bad luck spirits don't come and get you.' One of the students hissed.
The teacher hurried over, mistaking the tears in his eyes for tears of pain. 'Did you get hurt?' She asked, concerned. 'You shouldn't bring glass into the classroom, okay Midorima-kun?' She said, once she figured out that he wasn't hurt.
'But... I didn't want it to break in my bag...' He said, sounding tearful.
'But it broke out of your bag.' One of the kids said, snickering.
Midorima stayed silent, rooted it to the spot, the teacher told him not move. She didn't want him to step on the glass.
Kuroko glanced at Kise and then at Aomine.
'Oh no, I don't see why we have to get involved. Let's just go.' Aomine said, dropping his shoulders.
Kuroko and Kise fixed their tanned friend with a spine chilling look.
'No, listen, we didn't see what happened. So we can't help him. Besides, let him fight his own battles. And how do we know he didn't just knock it over? It's not like they're calling him names or anythin' so we should leave him alone, he doesn't look like the kinda guy who likes when people try to help him.' Aomine reasoned.
Kuroko looked at Kise and shrugged. 'I want to help, I don't like it but Aomine-kun's right, we didn't see what happened so we can't really do anything.' Kuroko said, feeling dirty. His mother always said if you see someone suffering to go help them, no questions asked.
Kise sighed and walked out of the room, the other two following closely behind. Kise made them stop outside of the class so he could fix his bag and retie his shoes. Kuroko knew that the blonde was procrastinating so he could see Midorima leave, but the expressionless boy didn't say anything.
'Come on, you're takin' forever...' Aomine complained.
'Just give me a second please. I'm almost done.' Kise replied.
Just then Midorima walked out of the classroom, he glanced at the three boys and strode past them, muttering about getting a new bowl.
A few of the other kids walked out of the room and followed him down the hall. It was easy enough to assume that they were just going to lunch, but Kuroko knew that they were the kids from the back of the class, the one's who were sitting next to a certain green-haired boy.
Kuroko nudged Kise and nodded down the hall, Kise picked up on the hint and stood. 'Alright, I'm done, shall we head to lunch?' He asked, casually.
Aomine gave him a quizzical look before answering, 'Yeah, but don't say "shall." That's just weird.'
They walked to the lunch hall, the two smaller boys let Aomine do all the talking. They were both looking around with peeled eyes, trying to see Midorima. The were so busy looking around that they didn't even notice Aomine glancing around as well.
Kuroko finally spotted him, he was in the lunchroom talking to one of the lunch ladies. She handed him another glass bowl. A huge look of relief passed over his face, he bowed and said thank you. He made his way back to his table. obviously more comfortable then before.
The blue-eyed smiled to himself. Midorima may seem weird, but Kuroko was happy that the other boy seemed comfortable again, no matter what it is, it's good to have the things that make you happy.
Kuroko turned to go get his lunch as well when something caught his eye. A few students were making their way to Midorima's table. The reason Kuroko noticed was because Aomine tensed beside him. Kise looked over too. His mouth forming two words. 'Uh oh.'
They said something to Midorima and he shook his head. They said something again but he proceeded to shake his head.
The lunchroom monitor walked over, he talked to the group of kids for a minute and they left. He smiled down at Midorima and spoke for a few minutes, nodded and left as well.
Kuroko had a bad feeling in his stomach.
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Kuroko, Kise and Aomine sat in class, an awkward silence floating around them, they all knew that Midorima was in this class, but he had yet to show up, class was going to start in a few minutes and he was always on time.
'I wonder where he is...' Kise said, finally asking the question they were all thinking.
Kuroko sighed, 'I have no idea. But, I have a bad feeling...'
Aomine nodded. 'Yeah, I don't like it either.'
'Wait!' Kise yelled, standing up. The teacher didn't tell Kise to quiet down, it was never a good idea to tell your boss's child to behave.
'What?' Kuroko and Aomine both asked.
'Look!' He said, pointing out the window.
Outside the window they could make out figures half-dragging another figure down the steps, and the figure being dragged had green hair.
They all looked at each other, once again sharing the same thought. We have to get down there. But the question was, how?
The answer came in the form of a swirl of blonde. 'Excuse me, sensei! I need to be excused, and my friends to need to come as well!' Kise said, it was more of a statement than a request.
The teacher blinked and nodded. 'Alright Kise-san, but hurry up.'
'Yes ma'am.' Kise replied. He gathered his stuff and hurried out of the room, not even checking to make sure that the other two were following him.
'That was awesome, Kise.' Aomine said, running to catch up.
'Well, when you grow up like I did, you learn how to get your way.'
'Still, that was cool. I think your weird talkin' might be more useful then we thought.' He said, giving the blonde a big grin.
Kise smiled and blushed. 'Thank you, Aomine-chii.'
'Aomine-chii?' The tanned boy said, sounding confused.
'Kuroko-chii said to say something that would make me seem more friendly. And I think it's cute... Speaking of, where is Kuroko-chii?' The blonde said looking around.
Aomine looked over his shoulder, and let out a yelp. 'Tetsu!'
Kise looked to see why his friend was yelling, when he saw Kuroko lying on the ground.
'Too fast...' Kuroko mumbled.
Aomine looked at Kise and nodded.
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Kise and Aomine ran as fast as they could while carrying Kuroko between them.
'Aomine-chii! Do you see them?' Kise asked breathlessly.
Aomine shook his head. 'I don't know where they went.'
'That way...' Kuroko said, pointing towards the garden.
The two boys gave each other a fleeting glance and silently agreed, they didn't know why, but they knew that Kuroko was right.
They ran for a few more minutes before finally locating the green-haired boy.
Midorima had a bruise on his face and his glasses laid on the ground by his feet, and someone had scribbled his name in red ink on his right arm. Otherwise he wasn't injured too badly. But Kuroko could see the clear panic on his face, two of the students were holding him, while the biggest one was holding some sort of object in his hand.
Midorima was struggling against the stronger boys holding him, but to no avail. 'Give that back!' He yelled, sounding hysteric.
'It's just a bowl, geez, calm down, it's not like I'm going to drop it...' The boy taunted.
Midorima's eyes filled with tears. 'Please! I need that!' He screamed, violently trying to break free.
The kids laughed, ignoring the clear hysterics that the other boy was in, the biggest boy instructed them to put his glasses back on, and as soon as they did, he let the bowl slide slowly from his hand.
Midorima's eyes widened in horror as he watched his lucky item fall slowly to the ground.
'Go Aomine-kun!' Kuroko yelled, breaking through the silence.
Aomine dropped the smaller boy and shot forward, he lunged and slid against the ground, his hand sliding under the bowl just before it hit the ground.
Kuroko let out a sigh of relief, he didn't know why, but the glass bowl obviously meant a lot to the green-haired boy.
'Where'd you come from?!' The boy who dropped the bowl asked, shock evident on his face.
Throwing the bowl over his shoulder, Aomine got to his feet. 'What is your problem?!' He shouted.
Midorima watched in horror as his lucky item flew through the air a second time. A sigh escaped his lips as Kise lunged forward and caught it.
'Aomine-chii! Be more careful, please!' The blonde yelled.
'I asked you what your problem was!' The tanned boy shouted again.
'Why is it any of your business! We weren't hurting anyone!' One of the children shouted back.
'No one got hurt?! Look at him! He obviously isn't okay!' Aomine's eyes flashed with anger.
Before the bully could reply, a voice called out. 'Hey! What's going on over there?!'
They all turned towards the voice and saw a young boy wearing glasses striding towards them. 'There better be a really good reason that none of you are in class! Unless you want the teacher to figure out...' He stopped in front of them all, a malicious smile on his face.
'I'm sorry, my friends and I saw a problem outside and didn't want it to go unnoticed.' Kise answered, stepping forward. He indicated his two friends. 'We saw some students dragging another student outside with the intention of violence, and as the Headmistress's son, I couldn't allow that, third year representative Imayoshi Shoichi, senpai.'
The boy named Imayoshi listened to his story with little interest. 'Alright, I think I understand, I'll take these "children" inside while you clean up out here.'
Kise nodded and Imayoshi grabbed the biggest boy. 'Let's go, I think the council will... enjoy talking to you.'
They watched them leave before turning towards the boy on the ground.
'Are you okay?' Kuroko asked, crouching down to eye level.
Midorima looked at Kuroko as if he just asked the stupidest question in the world. 'Of course I'm not okay! I'm not okay, nor will I ever be okay again! Look what they did! I'm going to die!' He yelled, tears falling down his bruised face.
'What do you mean?' Kuroko asked calmly.
But Midorima was hyperventilating, and he started to sway dangerously.
'Please, calm down...' Kuroko said, slight panic in his voice. His eyes traveled down to Midorima's arm, where the red ink was clear on his arm. His eyes widened in understanding. 'Kise-kun! Get me something to wipe this off with!' Kuroko ordered.
It took Kise a minute to understand, but then he shot off towards the school, appearing again only moments later with a box of cleansing wipes.
Kuroko took them and rubbed at Midorima's arm until the ink finally started to come off.
'There, it's gone now. See?' Kuroko said kindly.
Midorima looked down at his arm, he stopped hyperventilating and looked up at Kuroko. 'But, doesn't it still count?' He asked fearfully.
Kuroko shook his head, 'Maybe it would usually, but you have your lucky item, so you should be fine.'
Midorima looked around, 'Where's my bowl?!' His voice raised a pitch.
'Here you go.' Kise said, walking over to hand it to the green-haired boy. 'I think we should head to the hospital wing, and then back to class, don't you?'
Midorima accepted the bowl and looked around. 'You can go to class, I know you don't want to be seen with a freak...' He said, pushing his glasses up.
'No, we wouldn't want to be seen with a freak, but it would be nice to be seen with you.' Said Kuroko, standing up.
'I don't understand.' Midorima said, sounding confused.
Aomine walked over. 'Ain't it obvious? He's asking you to come hang out with us.'
The glasses wearing boy looked from Aomine to Kuroko. 'You... want to be... my friend?'
Kuroko nodded and Midorima's eyes filled with tears again. 'All of you?'
The other two nodded as well. Kuroko stuck out his fist. 'So, do you want to be our friend?'
Aomine and Kise stuck their fists as well.
Midorima's eyes traveled over the three friends. He slowly lifted his fist and tapped each of their hands with his own. 'That sounds like more fun then being alone.'
'Much more fun.' Kuroko answered honestly.
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Akashi shook his head, 'I can't even imagine...'
'Yes, if you can believe it, Midorima-kun was very fragile.' Kuroko answered, nodding to himself. 'He saw the school guidance councilor, and a therapist outside of school, he got a lot of the problems fixed. But he is still very superstitious.'
Akahshi stared at the ground, 'I can't believe he had to go through all of that...'
Taking Akashi's hand, Kuroko started to draw circles on the redhead's palm. 'I know it's hard to believe, but Murasakibara-kun didn't have an easy time either...'
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A/N In Japan, it's considered bad luck to write someone's name in red ink, this is due to the names on graves being red.
Sorry for the long chapter, I hope you liked it though!