swan_forest | Unrequited Love?

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kise ryouta

Unrequited Love?

Kaijou and Seirin had just had their first practice match, which was shaping up to be a tradition of sorts. This time, Kaijou had gone to Seirin. The gym was nice, newer then Kaijou's but maybe not as big.

He was breathing heavily, but smiling broadly. It always felt good to play, even if it was just a practice match and they weren't going all out. After all, he wanted to keep some of his new tricks up his sleeves, just like he was sure Kagami and Kuroko were hiding some of their new tricks too. This year's match had ended in a draw. Better than last year's practice match, which had ended in Kaijou's loss by two points.

Just thinking about Kuroko made Kise look over to the Seirin team, focusing in on the smaller boy.

For awhile now Kise had realized that he had feelings for Kuroko. Kise had looked up to Kuroko for awhile, but it wasn't really until after the Winter Cup that Kise realized he was probably in love with Kuroko.

He took a towel that one of the first years offered him. "Thanks," he said absently. He scrubbed at his face, his thoughts racing. He had been thinking about Kuroko a lot lately, and seeing him only brought those thoughts back to the surface, only pushed aside when the game had begun. Now with the game over he couldn't focus. The warm glow in his chest that came whenever he thought about Kuroko was back with a vengeance.

The Kaijou team was gathering their things and getting ready to board the bus. He told the first year that he'd be along in a bit and began to head over to the Seirin team.

"Kurokocchi~" he called out. No time like the present, he thought. He didn't know if Kuroko would return his feelings, but he was hopeful. The time Kuroko had cheered him on while he went up against Haizaki stood out in his mind.

"Kurokocchi! You got a minute?"

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Kise, despite claiming otherwise, is friendlier than most of the miracles. If pressed, he'd say it's because he fakes it better. The truth is he's thawed considerably under Kasamatsu's not-so-tender care and Kuroko and Kagami taking on and beating the entire Generation of Miracles, making them realize they're just humans too.

The idea of a prize perks Kise up some. "Okay, let's go." He takes a breath and steels himself. He realizes he's attached himself to Kuroko and lets go.

"So," he begins as they start down the path. "Akashicchi's a lot more cheerful than he has been. It's kinda weird."

Softening up all the Miracles was an unintentional (and pleasant) side effect of his revenge.

"Is it?" Kuroko sweeps away some low-hanging vines as they come upon some half-broken liondogs lining the path. "I think it's nice. I hope it means he has been happier."

"I don't know him as well as you do," Kise began. "And it is nice to see him happier. I'm just not as used to it, I guess."

He paused, considering Akashi. He's handsome, rich, and very intelligent. And he's... nicer? He'd be the perfect boyfriend. Maybe he could use him to pretend to like until he gets over Kuroko. "He's less scary? And softer?" He paused. "I ran into him after a shoot in Kyoto a week ago, it was an event my agent wanted me to go to, and his dad wanted him to be at. He looked handsome in his suit."

He side eyed the liondogs. "I hope we're not getting a tengu mask. Their long noses freak me out a little."

"More like he was in our first year, then. And I didn't know Akashi-kun that much longer than you, Kise-kun."

Kuroko casually pets a statue as they pass them, making their way up to the worship hall. There seems to be a rattling noise echoing in the distance, soft and muffled, making it difficult to know where it was originating from.

"I was hoping for a Noh mask-- it looks the most frightening in the dark." He wanders closer to rotting rope to the bell and turns to Kise. "Should we pray?"

"That's true. Haizaki gave you guys a really bad name." He gave a dramatic shudder. "I really don't like him."

Wait. What did Kuroko want? "Kurokocchi! Don't say that!"

And of course, the wind blows and there's another rustling of tree leaves and a screetch of what's probably a cat getting stepped on by another pair. Kise lets out yelp and darts over to Kuroko, wrapping his arms around the short boy and clinging to him for dear life.

"--!"

The unexpected latching on has Kuroko tilting the other way and he flails onto the rope to steady himself. The bell lets out a deafening rattle, which clearly spooks the local animals, as a whole flock of birds squawk and depart noisily from the trees around them. In the distance, a scream can be heard.

"Ah..."

What a cascading effect.

It takes Kise precisely sixty seconds to extract himself from Kuroko. "Sorry," he said, his face pink from shame. Mostly. Only a little from having held Kuroko so tightly against him, in a way, he had thought about doing a lot and liked how the other boy felt in his arms.

And those thoughts of cuddling with Kuroko often turned into thoughts of other activities with the other. That, thankfully, wasn't close to the forefront of his mind, so he could push those memories aside and step up to Kuroko and clap his hands twice before bowing to the shrine. He was still shivering and really, really wanted to get going.

"Let's go. I hate these sorts of things. Please take the lead?"

Kuroko unfortunately doesn't fully comprehend the struggles the other boy is going through at all and assumes it's because he's frightened.

"I didn't expect Kise-kun to be such a scaredy-cat."

He also claps twice with a bow as a quick appeasement to whatever spirits reside here before holding a hand out to Kise, aiming the flashlight towards the building.

"Let's go into the main sanctuary."

Fortunately, most of his shame is because of his fear, so it all works out.

"Why do you think I never voted for a horror movie during movie night?" he said, taking Kuroko's hair. "I'm okay with city sounds. It's rural sounds that scare me."

He takes a breath, steeling himself. "Yes, let's go."

He can't help but notice how well Kuroko's hand fits in his. It's warm, a little calloused from basketball.

They walk into the sanctuary. "I wonder who this shrine was for," he wondered, mostly to himself, as he looked for a mask for them to grab. "Ah, there's our masks." They're hannya masks, which while creepy looking, don't creep him out as much as the noh masks Kuroko was talking about. He walks over, still holding the other's hand and grabs on. "These don't scare me," he said. "It's things I can't see that scare me."

He gave Kuroko a wink. "Except you."

"You always were exceptionally good at finding me, despite that."

Kuroko isn't sure if that annoys him or finds that heartening when he's put so much time into training to erase his presence.

After finally obtaining the mask, there's the sound of something clattering by the door, moving about the outer walls of the sanctuary. A ghostly figure seems to dash by the windows and Kuroko follows it with his flashlight before it stops right at the closest decayed window. It's wearing a Noh mask and a white funeral kimono and the angle of the light makes the mask a thousand times more frightening, especially as it makes a crackly snarling sound, raising its arms in an intimidating manner.

Kuroko, for the most part, is rather stone-faced, but moves in front of Kise. "Oh, they're really trying their best."

"Well," Kise began. He doesn't want to bring this up, but it's Kuroko, so. "I had a huge crush on you, so I wanted to see you."

The past tense is a lie, but Kuroko already rejected him, so he's trying to move on. Kuroko will probably see through it.

And then there's movement. Since he can see the person, he's less scared of it then he was of the cat screech from earlier. "We've got the mask. Let's put the seal on and go." Please lefts unsaid.

He sees through it but won't point it out. There's no need to rub it in when Kise's clearly doing his best to get over him.

The person playing the ghost lets out a very audible groan of disappointment at failing to scare them and ambles away sadly. Kuroko can't help but snicker a bit at how indifferent Kise is to it compared to the earlier spooks.

He tugs them back to the front of the hall, finally letting go of his hand to fetch the seal from his pocket. He holds it out to the blond. "Want to do the honors?"

Kise gives a shudder as the ghost person leaves. He wasn't as scared, but he was creeped out by it.

"Sure." Kise tkaes the seal and places where he got the mask and then turns to his friend. "Let's go. They're probably going to try to scare us on the way back. And I really want a bath."

A nice soak before bed would be good. They had worked very hard today.

"A dip in the springs would be nice... Otherwise, I'm not sure how we'll survive tomorrow's training."

Riko was a beast when it came to their training menus, after all. Kuroko will try not to think about that and focus on completing their test! He moves past the doors and scans the area with his light before giving a thumbs-up to Kise.

"The coast is clear."

Kuroko, with his straight face and the thumbs up, is forever going to be one of the funniest images Kise ever sees. It never fails to make Kise smile.

One of the reasons why he likes him. (Think about Akashi, pretend you have a crush on him.)

"Then let's go." He squeezes Kuroko's hand and offers him a smile.

It falters when there's a scream in the distance, but it sounds familiar... "Was that Kagamicchi?" he asked as they started to head back.

Kuroko squeezes his hand back, not at all minding being emotional support during their return.

"Kagami-kun is also a coward when it comes to spooky situations. Even more so than you, I think."

"Didn't you say he was scared of your dog?" That was a more common phobia because dogs could be BIG. Like, Murasakibara big.

As they get closer to the finish line, Kise lets go of Kuroko's hand. Kise didn't want questions from his teammates, the ones he was close to (aka, the other starters and those on the bench) had more or less put together what happened. Someone had called Kasamatsu to cheer him up. He didn't want them to see him holding Kuroko's hand and start asking questions.

But an arm around the shoulder wouldn't raise too many eyebrows. Especially since he had warmed up to more people than just the other starters. So he slings an arm around Kuroko's shoulders as they get to the finish line.

"Are we first?"

"He's terrified of Nigou." Which is a crime since the puppy is the cutest team mascot. "Nigou can surely sense his dislike and tries very hard to be his friend."

Kuroko doesn't think much of Kise's closeness - he was hugged often enough by the other boy, though he hadn't had to deal with it since before his confession...

Riko looks amused to see them return already and confirms that they are indeed first. She hands them an envelope - it holds two tickets to Wanwan Land, a newly opened dog-themed amusememt park. "Sorry, we could only afford two after sinking the budget into this camp," she laughs, "so figure out amongst yourselves who's the lucky one to use them for the perfect date."

"Poor Kagamicchi."

Kise automatically reaches and takes the tickets. "Kurokocchi can probably make better use of them than me," he said and then handed them the Kuroko. "He has a dog, and I get super busy with my job." And he can't think of anyone who would want to go. He can't imagine Akashi with a dog. He's a horse boy. Hmm...

He offers Riko and the managers a smile. The new Kaijou manager still blushes a little when he directs his charm at her, but she's slowly becoming immune.

Taking his arm off Kuroko's shoulders, he starts heading to the onsen. "C'mon, Kurokocchi. We should strategize how to make sure Momoicchi doesn't find out about this and invite herself on your date."

(He's very proud of himself saying that. And not sparking jealousy in himself.)

Kuroko's eyes do sparkle a bit at the idea of a dog-themed park when Kise passes him the ticket.

"Ah..." He looks slightly put out at the Momoi comment. "Though I wouldn't mind spending time with her, I wouldn't want to mislead Momoi-san..." He taps a finger against his chin as he trails after Kise. "Maybe I can give them to Kagami-kun. He can use it as an opportunity to conquer his fear."

"You could take him on the doggie date," Kise teased as they reached the men's changing room. Since they were the first ones back they were the only ones here. Kise grabbed one of the offered towels and went to a basket, beginning to strip. "It'd probably be good for him to have a friend with him."

He turned to look at Kuroko. "Why is he scared of dogs? Did one bite him as a child?"

He deposits the envelope into a basket of his own and proceeds to peel off his t-shirt, taking the time to fold it neatly.

"Hmm, I do recall him mentioning something to that effect. Perhaps it's also because of his namesake - inherently more of a cat person, maybe?"

Kise does a half-ass job when folding his clothes, but at least he's just not dumping it in there.

Kise opens his mouth to say something and is distracted by Kuroko's chest. Did he put on more muscle since last year?

"That kind of phobia can be hard to get over," Kise finally said and shuddered, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "I still freak out over worms because some other boy chased me with one when I was in kindergarten!" Granted, he wasn't running away in fear if he saw one. He just grimaces and is careful to step over them.

He turns back to his basket, pushing down his sweats, folding them half-heartedly before dropping them on top of his t-shirt. "Though dogs are much cuter than worms, so maybe it'll be easier for him because of that."

Edited 2022-12-26 09:22 (UTC)

Thanks for noticing, Kise! He has been very diligently adhering to their coach's training menu and his guns are the tiniest bit more impressive than last time.

"I didn't expect Kise-kun to be afraid of such a small creature." He isn't teasing, honest, but there is a touch of playfulness in his voice. Kuroko turns to look at Kise briefly, but then remembers he should probably not look while they're undressing... and moves to quickly finish stripping himself, wrapping a towel around his waist. Still curious, he wonders, "do snakes elicit the same reaction from you?"

"I think it's the slime," Kise said as he pushed down his underwear. As he has his back to Kuroko, he doesn't notice Kuroko turning towards him. He kicks his underwear into the basket and puts the towel over his shoulder. "Snakes I have no problems with. They're dry. Did I ever tell you I got to play with one during a photo shoot?" He turns and beams at Kuroko. "I was ten, and it was so much fun! The photographer just had a bunch of kids playing with animals for his art thing."

And speaking of modeling, Kise's form hasn't changed that much from last year. He's taller, but his muscle tone is the same. His agent doesn't want him to get too buff, so his weightlifting is different from the others, so he doesn't bulk up.

And because of modeling, Kise is totally comfortable just being naked. He's never done nude photography because he's still in high school, but he has modeled underwear.

"Want me to wash your back?" he offered.

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