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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"That's typically the case, isn't it?" He looks amused at the idea of the two of them at a super high-end restaurant. "The more expensive it is, the less you get. Something about the chefs only providing you with what's necessary to understand the vision of the dish, I think."

It's good to hear that Akashi's doing well, though, especially with the notion that he hasn't been as lonely as he always seems.

As for what he's been up to... "Now that Interhigh is over, I've been researching universities. It won't be long before the Winter Cup rolls around and I'll be too busy with training again."

Reaching the counter, he will now struggle to get the cashier's attention to no avail.

"Yeah, it's so annoying! The food tastes so good, and yet there's, like, only one bite!" He put on a pout. "I got a steak, and it was so good! But it barely filled me up. The dessert was just as small, some chocolate cake thing that was pretty heavy, so I guess it evened out. I was still hungry, though."

Honestly, he's a teenage boy and not finished growing! He was projected to hit 194cm at least, maybe even 200cm (though he doubted that). He needed fuel to keep growing and keep playing basketball.

"Still, it was a nice experience, even if I'm not in a rush to repeat it."

He turned his attention to the cashier, giving her a dazzling smile after watching her eyes skip over Kuroko onto him. "Three burgers, a chocolate shake, and vanilla shake," he said. "Is one enough for you or should I make that four burgers?" he asked Kuroko.

"At least it's not coming out of your pocket." The one upside of fine dining on Akashi's dime.

He entirely expects getting ignored, so he nods, appreciating that the blond remembering his small appetite. He gestures that he'll go grab them a table in the meantime, settling in with a book while he waits for their food.

"It wasn't, but I didn't want him to spend so much on me. I mean. Even if it were a date, I'd want to go dutch, you know?" He paused.

He waves Kuroko off and waited for their order, smiling prettily at anyone who looked at him, winking at a little boy about three or four who was staring, who then hid behind his mother's legs.

Once he gets the meal, he looks around for Kuroko, finding him easily. He pushed Kuroko his meal and took a sip of his chocolate shake. It had been a while since he had a shake. "Whatcha reading?" he asked.

He does notice Kise's antics with the child, hiding a smile behind the pages of his book. Once Kise arrives finds him, he sets it aside and eagerly takes his vanilla shake, sipping with a shine in his eyes.

"I'm reading a translation of Pride and Prejudice." It wasn't very in line with his typical picks, but his curiosity was piqued by recent events.

Kise wrinkles his nose. He’s not much for reading, to his father’s despair. “You know, I’ve always wondered if you read any of my dad’s stuff. His pen name’s Nagisa Touma. He writes fantasy stuff. He used to read them to me as bedtime stories. Well, sanitized versions of them.”

He took a bite of one his burgers, chewed and swallowed. “They’re not ecchi or anything, but the have a lot of subtext.”

Kuroko blinks in surprise. "Your father's a writer?" He certainly did not expect that.

"I tend to prefer stories revolving around mysteries and heavy themes like existentialism." Just casually. He sips at his drink thoughtfully. "I don't normally read fantasy, but lots of subtext sounds appealing..."

"Yeah, light novels mostly, though he has one regular novel out too; I think he used another pen name than his usual. I can't remember it, though. I know that one is much more adult. Based on his university years. I remember he called it his big experiment."

Kise takes another sip of his shake.

"Dad's bi, so there's loads of gay subtext to go along with the innuendo." It was the reason why Kise was so comfortable with his sexuality because his dad was comfortable with his.

He starts on his burger as the blond chatters away.

"How interesting. Nagisa Touma, was it?" He's typing it up on his phone as a note to check it out later. "I'll have to see if his books suit my taste."

He looks up at Kise as he goes for a sip. "Will you be attending the same university as your father?"

"Yup! Fun fact, that was his surname before he married mom," Kise chirped before taking another bite of burger, chewing, and then swallowing. He's not a barbarian. "Let me know if they're any good. Mom's the family's breadwinner, but he has a dedicated fanbase."

Another bite and swallow, and oh, the first burger's gone. Huh. That went faster than Kise expected it to. "I haven't read them, mainly because I wanted to keep the memories of the bedtime versions, you know, clean."

"I can understand that - there's something special if it's a childhood memory."

He is going through his own burger so, so slowly. "I'll try not to spoil that if I give you my thoughts."

“Sounds great!” Kise said.

Kuroko ate so slowly. Was he even halfway done? Kise didn’t inhale food like Kagami, Murasakibara, and Aomine, but he had a healthy appetite. He can get away with having a more flexible diet than other models because of how active he was. But still, he was a teenager.

“You know, I never asked what your parents do.”

He is enjoying his meal and pacing himself! There isn't any need to rush when this is his only burger and it will fill him up in no time.

"Ah, I suppose it's not very interesting, so I never bought it up. My mother was a teacher. My father is a museum conservator. He specializes in paintings and scrolls."

Kise looked Kuroko over. “I can see you being a teacher,” he said. “A conservator, so he like, works on stuff to make sure it doesn’t fade or something?”

He took another sip. “My mom’s a cooperate lawyer. My oldest sister’s a model. I think I told you she’s the one who got me my first job. And my other sister in university, studying law like mom.”

"Yes, he does restorations and upkeep on artifacts. He's been trying to see if I'm interested, but I think I'd prefer another career path... I'm not sure if I'm entirely suited to be a teacher, either."

But he does like kids. Lots of think about.

"Your family's very diverse. Are you thinking of following in their footsteps in law?" Kuroko can't personally see Kise as a lawyer, but he's always full of surprises.

"Ew, no." Kise wrinkled his nose at the idea. "I'm aiming for the NBA in America. Supplementing that with modeling. Sometimes I think about getting behind the camera, but sitting on a computer making edits doesn't really appeal to me."

He takes another bite and chews a little slower as he thinks. After he swallowed, he added, "If I have to give up basketball, I wouldn't mind being an idol. I'm great at singing and dancing, and I already have a fanbase. I guess I could try my hand at acting too, but I'd never be a great one. But being on a super sentai show would be lots of fun. Barring that..." He smiled a little shyly. "When I was three, I wanted to be an airplane pilot. Dad got me a lot of toy airplanes back then. If I had to leave the spotlight, I could do that."

He smiled, picturing it. Being in the air. It could be fun. It was also hard to imagine, though. Being away from the attention that modeling and basketball brought him. He liked the attention. It wasn't the main reason he did it. He modeled for his sister and because it was nice to have money of his own. He played basketball because he loved the game, and he made so many actual friends doing so.

"Or, if they legalize same-sex marriage here, I could always be a trophy husband."

He snorts a little at that. "I suppose KiseRyo would make a good trophy husband. But it would be a bit strange seeing you on variety shows, if you became an idol." The novelty of seeing him sing and dance would add to that.

"But I think you could definitely make it to the NBA. You're an incredibly hard worker, they would be lucky to have you." He takes a couple bites of his burger, tilting his head. "You'll probably get to play against Kagami-kun and Aomine-kun." There was little doubt they'd both aim for the States as well.

"Hey, I'd look great doing those variety shows! And I would make an excellent trophy husband!" Kise said, puffing himself up and grinning. "I just have to find a rich husband, and luckily we already know one rich guy who likes guys." He takes a sip of his shake. "And Midorimacchi's going to be a doctor, so I guess I could seduce him too, but... no." She gave a dramatic shudder. "Midorimacchi would kill me during the honeymoon, or I'd kill him. Akashicchi's the better choice. Better looking, better manners, and I like guys shorter than me."

He hummed thoughtfully. It wouldn't be a bad life. Though Akashi probably wouldn't think about marriage until he was, like, old. Like thirty-something. And Kies wanted to be in love with whoever he married, if he was a trophy husband or not.

"I don't doubt that. I'm looking forward to it. I know Akashicchi and Midorimacchi probably won't, though I wish they would, and who knows what Murasakibaracchi will do. You'll try, too, right?"

"Akashi-kun and Kise-kun would be the very definition of a power couple." Perhaps too powerful, he thinks with a light laugh.

His smile becomes a bit wistful at Kise's question as he starts to toys with the straw of his milkshake. "I'm not sure I have enough skill... It'd be a hard sell." Even his unique abilities came with severe limitations and his lack of physical prowess made it even more difficult.

There are limitations to everything and everyone. Kise knows that. He knows his strengths when it comes to performance; it's why he said he wouldn't be a great actor. And Kuroko's physical limitations are, well, they fall short of Kise's own.

"I know," he said softly. "I think you're skilled enough, but I know it would be harder for you than the rest of us." He sighed. "I'd love it if you tried, and then I'd feel really guilty for pushing you if you failed. But." He made a vague gesture with his hand. "It's up to you, but I'll support you no matter what."

He looked down at his plate, and huh, the second burger was gone. He's not hungry enough to get another, though. "Anyway, I think, with the way Akashicchi's wining and dining me, so to speak, I'm starting to like him."

"Thank you." The corners of Kuroko's lips perk up a bit more at his kind words. "I still have time to think on this. I might try out for the team in university, but..." He can see the writing on the wall. It would be a long and arduous journey. And in the end... "I've been very happy playing basketball with everyone."

His smile looks a little more sly at Kise's revelation. "Oh? Not a bad choice." Spoken as someone who also had a crush on him. "Akashi-kun would make a good boyfriend."

"Me too," Kise said, grinning at Kuroko.

He didn't know what he expected from telling Kuroko that he started liking Akashi. But that little sly smile wasn't it.

He wasn't sure how he felt about that. But suddenly, pretending he liked Akashi stopped feeling like playing a game and more like lying.

But. But the person he likes doesn't like him back. So he's allowed this. Allowed to pretend to get over Kuroko. Kuroko doesn't need to know. It'd only hurt him and make things awkward between them.

"He would," Kise said. "I don't know if it'll go anywhere because we live so far apart, and he's busy, and I'm busy. If I asked, he'd probably say no for those reasons." He blew out a dramatic sigh. "Dating's hard."

Sorry, Kise! Kuroko is too earnest and would fully support his friends getting together, if that's what would make them happy.

"Perhaps he can already tell. I always had the feeling he knew I liked him in middle school." Akashi did seem to have an uncanny skill for reading the hearts of others. "It wouldn't hurt to try."

Crap. Crap. There's no way Kise can abort this. Crap. Carp. Fuck.

"You are forbidden from telling him!" Kise yelped, all panicky. Akashi does already know he's faking a crush on him. He also knows Kise has it bad for Kuroko still.

"I'll think about it. If you promise not to play matchmaker!"

Kuroko is assuming that Kise might be too embarrassed about having his previous crush help with his new crush.

"If you're sure..." He looks mildly dejected.

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Hey sorry! Got sick.

omg no problem at all, hope you feel better now!!

I am thanks!

❤️❤️❤️

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