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'... hungryyy...'
Unsurprisingly, the thought came from none other than the resident giant of Teikou's infamous basketball club, Murasakibara Atsushi. With eyes half-lidded, watching his friends squabble over food. Having already consumed his lunch, he was left to wonder where his handful of sweets earlier ended up in.
(Probably in his stomach, but Atsushi was sure he still had two bags of chips and a pack of lollipops at his disposal.)
"Oi, Kise you teme... that was miiine!"
"Eh, but it's Kurokocchi's-ssu!"
"You two need to stop stealing Kuroko-kun's food. Aomine, Kise..."
"Kuroko needs it more than you two-nanodayo."
Purple orbs shifted in attention back to his circle of friends, who had decided they should eat at the rooftop for the day, having gotten tired of Haizaki interrupting their peace to steal some of Kuro-chin's food. While Murasakibara had no problem moving places from their usual table, it still irks them that his friends chose the rooftop of all places. It's way too far, and very troublesome to get to, and Murasakibara hated stairs.
Who even decided to choose the rooftop anyways?
"Kuroko, you should finish your lunch."
"It's fine, Akashi-kun..."
Oh right, it was Aka-chin.
Murasakibara shrugged the thought off, deciding not to dwell on it after all. Shifting his focus back to his teammates, he watched as the others pampered over their shortest teammate who, despite his stature, is actually the eldest among them. The said teen, who had been the center of all the fuss, was sitting rather comfortably on his lap. It was cold outside, and it didn't help that they were situated on the rooftop, where the winds blow strongly.
"*sigh* Kuroko, that amount of food is rather unhealthy for someone of your stature."
"I take offense in that, Midorima-kun."
"I, as well, take offense in that, Midorima. Kuroko-kun and I have nearly the same height, after all."
"That is not the point-nanodayo!"
Come to think of it, wasn't Kuro-chin rather weak to the cold? That must have been why he allowed Murasakibara to place him on his lap like an oversized stuffed toy. Kuro-chin can be cunning when he wants to be, using him as his personal human kotatsu, how sly... Murasakibara mused internally.
"Kuroko, are you cold? You look paler than usual..."
Ever the observant, Aka-chin noticed. Murasakibara hummed as he looked down at the smaller seated on his lap. Because of their awkward position, he wasn't able to see Kuroko's face from where he was. Instead, he can only glimpse at the side of the tealnette's face when he turned to face the redhead.
"I am fine, Akashi-kun."
"Oi Tetsu, if you're cold, you should have said so. I could've brought my jacket up here..."
And oh, with his skin whiter than usual, his rosy cheeks were evidently flushed from the cold. Eyes staying trained on the smaller man's cheeks, he watched as Kuroko finished chewing his food before he replied to his partner. And was it just him, or were Kuro-chin's cheeks look softer than usual?
"There is no need to, Aomine-kun. None of us expected it to be this cold out."
"Tch, this is why you should all listen to Oha-Asa. You are quite lucky I brought a blanket with me. It is my lucky item for the day-nanodayo."
It looked really soft. Everything about Kuro-chin was soft. His hair looked like cotton candy, and having ruffled the teen's hair on multiple occasions (in which said teen slapped his hand away) Murasakibara could freely say that Kuroko's hair was as soft as it looked. And, hmm...? He even smelled like vanilla when he wasn't sweaty from basketball. Particularly right now...
"Uh, thank you, Midorima-kun."
"Midorimacchi! Since when did you have that?"
"I've had it with me since this morning-nanodayo."
"What's with stealing Tetsu's line?"
Kuro-chin... smelled better than usual. His normally faint scent was stronger. Maybe because of the windy area? Ah, but staring at Kuro-chin's plump cheeks as he chewed the food he was being forced to eat, it really looked soft, and squishy too...
"Really, everyone, it's fine... Lunch is almost over anyways."
"Regardless, Kuroko-kun should look after himself more. It would be bad if you get sick now, when basketball season is almost here."
"Ah, you're right... Akashi-kun."
... like a marshmallow...
"Of course, Kuroko."
'... I wonder...?'
"-ight, Murasakibara...?"
CHOMP!
Everything seemed to freeze when the normally silent tealnette let out a startled 'eep', looking just as shocked as baffled his teammates were from the sight they had just witnessed. On the other hand, Murasakibara sat there unfazed, only mildly aware of the tense atmosphere as he was more focused at the wide-eyed teen on his lap, his mouth clamped lightly on his cheek, not enough to hurt, but firm enough to feel.
Ignoring Kise's indignant squawk, Aomine's angry exclamation of 'Tetsu!', Midorima's horrified expression, and Akashi's wide-eyed stare at the unexpected gesture he committed, Murasakibara released the smaller's cheek as the other stayed frozen on his lap, too shocked to react.
"Kuro-chin..." Murasakibara drawled, making the teal-haired boy flinch as his eyes met a pair of purple orbs emitting complete seriousness. "... doesn't taste like marshmallow."
"O-of course not, Murasakibara-kun." after effectively calming the rapid beating of his heart, Kuroko was able to gain his composure. For some reason, the purple giant's explanation seemed reasonable enough to him. "Though, I would appreciate it if Murasakibara-kun doesn't do that again." he sighed, nonchalant above all else. Still, the action quite scared him.
"Hmm..." Murasakibara hummed, wrapping his long arms around the smaller as he placed his chin atop the other's head. "... but Kuro-chin tasted good though..."
That comment seemed to have snapped everyone from their shocked state, with Akashi exclaiming a 'Murasakibara!' in reprimand while Kise began wailing in the background. Aomine, in particular, was rather angry at what had just occurred, ranting about how 'Tetsu wasn't a food' and 'what do you mean by tasted good?!'. Midorima stayed spluttering, however, torn on whether he should join Akashi in scolding, or staying from where he was with a mortified expression permanently etched on his face.
Murasakibara stayed unaffected with it all, satisfied that he was able to sate his curiosity and content with what he found. Still, with the sudden uproar and chaos caused by the giant's whimsical action, nobody noticed how the silent tealnette's head stayed bowed down in fluster, cheeks turning red as he let out a sigh at the child-like male's antics, hugging his knees closer in embarrassment.
'Stupid Murasakibara-kun...'