Unrequited Love?

[yellowcopycat]

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?"

Comments

[yellowcopycat]

Kise stands as well. "It was nice meeting you," he said with a polite bow.

Once the older Kurokos were gone, he turned his attention to Kuroko. "Anything else you wanna see?" he asked.

[misdirects]

"It's a little silly... but we can go write our wishes to hang." He gestured to the bamboo grove nearby, tables covered with paper strips and markers.

[yellowcopycat]

"Sounds good to me," he said. Kise still hadn't heard back from UCLA, so he was going to put down 'go to my dream university on his.

Didn't hurt to ask the divine for help.

[misdirects]

When they reach the tables, he grabs a strip and thinks for a moment before penning down: I wish for my friends' continued success and happiness.

A simple and direct wish. Reading Kise's, he gives a small nudge of acknowledgement with his elbow. "You'll hear from them soon, I'm sure."

[yellowcopycat]

"I'm kinda losing hope at this point," he admitted. "OSU would be good. But I guess I'm liking the idea of being close to Kagamicchi. Aominecchi hasn't mentioned anything to me about who's sent him offers, but that's not out of character. Has he said anything to you?"

He hummed and took a peek at Kuroko's wish. "Now I feel selfish," he said, pouting a little. But not didn't feel bad enough not to make his wish as he tied it to the bamboo. "I think Murasakibaracchi is going to States too, from what I can get out of him. He's mentioned OSU, something about one of their physics professors being really good. My eyes kinda glazed over when he talked about it. I keep forgetting his so smart when it comes to science. I always thought he'd become a pastry chef or something."

He brightened up with an idea. "He could make physics-themed cupcakes!"

[misdirects]

"They'd be foolish not to extend an offer to you," he muses, thinking back on conversations with their other friend. "I think Aomine-kun is actually a little nervous about his prospects, so he has been rather mum about it. Momoi-san has been trying to keep his spirits up."

Kuroko hums. "It's not bad to make a selfish wish. I just don't know what I'd wish for myself." If unrequited feelings are the only issue, he has it pretty good right now, he thinks.

"I didn't expect Murasakibara-kun to want to study abroad, but it would be nice for you to have company out there." He laughs a little at his cupcake idea. "He's always had better grades than I did, so I'm not too surprised at his interest, but somehow, I expected him to go out to Paris to study under a renowned pastry chef."

[yellowcopycat]

Humming thoughtfully, Kise rolled back on his feet and looked at the sky. "Well, I don't think he tried as hard as me to bring his games up this year."

He gave a shrug. "Aominecchi can be lazy. One of my coworkers said university in America lets you focus on what you want, so maybe that will get him more interested in education."

He still didn't know what he wanted to major in. He figured he'd just take some entry classes and see what he liked.

"I think he decided he wants to go pro too. Or he wanted to since first year and just didn't say anything because he didn't feel like it." He hummed. "I'm starting to get a little nervous, if I'm honest. Knowing Kagamicchi would be there was one of the reasons why I got attached to it. And it was closer to home than, like, most of the other universities."

[misdirects]

The idea of their futures creeping ever closer is pretty stressful, no matter how one frames it, but...

Kuroko reaches out to nudge at Kise's elbow for a touch of reassurance.

"Even if you don't into your first choice, it'll still be very exciting to set out on a new journey in another country. But, just in case..."

He grabs another slip and scribbles out: I wish for Kise-kun to get exactly what he wants.

[yellowcopycat]

Kise watched Kuroko, peeking over his shoulder. He takes a breath and takes another. "Don't think this is allowed," he said with a little laugh and wrote, 'I wish Kurokocchi all the happiness in the world.'

He tied it to the tree. Then quickly grabbed a third writing, 'I hope Akashicchi's father realizes how great his son is or leaves him alone forever.'

[misdirects]

"Well, no one said there were very strict rules about how these wishes work."

He smiles at Kise's additional wish, reaching up to tie both his wishes onto the branch. When he spots the third one, he tilts his head. "I suppose no progress has been made there, then?"

[yellowcopycat]

"I guess that's true. Let's make wishes for the others, then."

'I wish Aominecchi would get his head out of his ass,' he wrote, showing it to Kuroko with a grin.

"No," he said as he tied his wish for Aomine onto the bamboo. "I met him a few weeks ago; at an event that Sei brought me to. It was, like, for five minutes. He's not a nice person."

[misdirects]

He lets out an amused puff at his new wish. "Aomine-kun has been getting better about that, at the very least."

His mood sombers a little at Kise's recollection. "That's really a shame... Akashi-kun deserves much better than that."

[yellowcopycat]

"Better, but it's still half in there," Kise said with a laugh.

Letting out a sigh, Kise recalled the time he met Akashi's father. "But meeting him made a lot of things make sense about him in middle school. I wish Sei was coming to the US. To get away from him."

And to get help. There was a lot of stigma against mental illness in Japan. Well, there was a stigma for it everywhere. And someone as 'important' as Akashi-san would never let his child get the help Akashi needed.

[misdirects]

"I suppose Akashi-kun is duty-bound... It would be ideal for him to leave and grow on his own terms, but I can't say I know what the pressure is like for him to uphold such a prestigious legacy."

They lived much simpler lives than Akashi did. "If it eases your worries, Midorima-kun and I will try our best to support him here."

[yellowcopycat]

"You know what they say; the grass is always greener on the other side."

Well, being rich really did have its perks, as Akashi can pretty much do whatever he wants in Kyoto while his father's in Tokyo, and because he's not a party animal who doesn't step out of line unless one of his Uncrowned Kings managed to go convince him to go to a party.

"That does," he said with a sigh. "And he'll have Mibuchi, Hayama, and Nebuya too. They're his forever people now. Like we are."

[misdirects]

"Forever people... that's a good way to put it. I like that."

It is a beautiful way to think of their bonds.

"He'll be in good hands. Even if his family does not appreciate him, we do."

[yellowcopycat]

"From what I've seen, it's just him and his father. So..." He blew out sigh.

Well, there wasn't much they could do until Akashi was an adult and he could legally live wherever he wanted.

And even then, Akashi Masaomi's reach was long. But one can hope.

"So I'll be leaving him in your care when I'm not here."

Shit, this got serious.

[misdirects]

Kuroko is always going to help out his friends, but... "Since it's a direct request from you, I'll spare no effort."

Maybe it's a little weird to promise your crush to look after his soon-to-be(?)-ex, but a tight-knit group like theirs was always bound to be a little bit incestuous. "I suspect he may get worse about his perfectionism as we get older, but I'll remind him it's okay to simply be."

[yellowcopycat]

[ooc: It's okay! I'm in the middle of moving, so things are slow on my end.]

"Thank you," Kise said, pulling Kuroko into a hug. "He will. But between you and the rest of us and his Uncrowned Kings, except maybe Midorimacchi because he's just as bad as Seijurou is, we'll get him to relax."

[misdirects]

( hope your move goes well! )

He wraps his arms around Kise and relaxes into the hug with a small sound of amusement. "I'll make sure to school them both into the art of loosening up. And in that same line of thinking, perhaps we should go play some festival games now?"

[yellowcopycat]

After the hug, Kise pokes Kuroko's forehead. "You're not very good at that school, either. You are better than they are, though."

Looking over at the games, Kise nods. "Let's go have some fun."

[misdirects]

He rubs at his forehead with a pout. "I'm very good at loosening up. Any time not spent on basketball is spent reading." A very relaxing hobby, he'll have you know.

Kuroko walks leisurely through the crowd, weaving through people as he looks back to Kise to make sure he's keeping pace. "Shall we go hook a yoyo or shoot for a prize?"

[yellowcopycat]

"Please, I know how fandoms get. I have one. And dad has one." Though he wonders how involved Kuroko would get. The other boy doesn't seem like the type to write fanfic.

And he doesn't remember if Kuroko's a good artist or not... He leans towards not. But Kise can't draw either.

"Yoyo," he said. "Those are easier. Though maybe now I can duplicate Midorimacchi's aiming skill."

[misdirects]

"I rarely engage with the online communities. I find little fulfillment in it." Because any time not spend reading is spent on basketball.

He makes his way over to the yo-yo stand and pays the stand runner to give them each a batch of five hooks dangling off strings of paper. "I think Midorima-kun would be offended to know you're using his most prized skill to win a festival prize." Kuroko crouches carefully down by the pool filled with colorful balloons and tries to look for an easy mark.

[yellowcopycat]

"There are offline things to do, like cons and book clubs. Dad's gone to a few cons."

Snorting rather indignantly, Kise shook his head. "As if he doesn't use it himself."