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Kuroko is doing his homework when the doorbell rings. Setting down his textbook and giving Nigou a meaningful Don't chew on it stare, he heads down the hallway to open the door.
It's Kise. It's Kise in full wedding attire, which in this case means a floor-length white wedding dress complete with a veil on his head, long, lacy gloves, and an armful of flowers nestled against the crook of his elbow. Kise beams at him, taking a deep breath to speak.
Kuroko shuts the door with a gentle click.
When he opens it a minute later, Kise is still standing there. And he's definitely wearing a wedding dress; Kuroko's eyes aren't playing tricks on him. With Kise, though, you can never be too sure. Sometimes he simply glimmers so much, you unwittingly convince yourself that he rode up to your front door on a white horse, trailing petals in his wake.
Kise perks up again at the sight of Kuroko. "Kurokocchi - !"
Kuroko points. "Is that a real wedding dress or did you steal it from the drama club?" It looks very well made, if not exactly properly fitted.
"Huh? Oh no, it's real! The company had it ordered for a shoot. Not for me, of course, but Chieko-neechan let me borrow it."
Kuroko stares impassively as seconds tick by.
"Does it look good on me?" Kise asks.
"Kise-kun," says Kuroko. "You lost a bet, didn't you." Kise droops, and nods, and droops some more. Kuroko steps back and holds the door open with a sigh. "Please come inside before the neighbors see you."
In his eagerness, Kise trips on the hem of the gown and pitches over the threshold straight into Kuroko's arms. The bouquet hits the floor and scatters. Kuroko drags Kise to his feet, yanks the train of the dress inside, and shuts the door. Kise ends up trailing flower petals after him down the hallway as he follows Kuroko into the living room. Nigou bounds up to greet them, sniffing at all the different petals joyfully.
"Kise-kun, are you being bullied again?" Kuroko asks, bending to grab Nigou, who was trying to run around under Kise's skirts. Kise attempts to sit down on the couch, gives up, and plops down on the floor instead, the bridal gown ballooning around him like a cloud.
"I set myself up for this one," Kise says evenly, folding his lacy hands in his lap. "I already had the dress ready. You could say I volunteered."
"How did you get here?"
"I took a taxi."
"Wearing that?"
"Yes."
"You don't have a change of clothes, then, do you."
"No," mumbles Kise.
Kuroko sighs.
Kuroko finishes his homework while Kise plays with Nigou on the floor. "Okay, I'm done," says Kuroko. "Tell me what happened."
"Well, we lost to Shutoku in the play-offs."
"Yes, I know. I was there. I was very much looking forward to playing Kise-kun in the quarter finals, but we'll get revenge on Midorima-kun and the others for you."
"Kurokocchi is so handsome when he's resolved!" Kise clasps his hands, stars in his eyes.
"Keep going, you haven't told me yet why you're here in an expensive wedding dress. Nigou, come here."
Nigou is transferred to Kuroko's lap. Kise smooths out gauzy layers of petticoats and continues. "Kasamatsu-senpai is visiting to watch Kaijou play in the Interhigh. When he arrived, we were in the middle of practice, and we were running drills that Captain Hayakawa and I came up with to use against Seirin."
"It's an honor to be taken so seriously."
"Of course! Kurokocchi and I are rivals after all, and Seirin won last year's Winter Cup. You guys are the real deal."
"But you should have focused more on beating Shutoku, since you were playing them next."
Kise pouts. "Yes, that's what Kasamatsu-senpai said, too. But I was really looking forward to playing Kurokocchi and Kagamicchi again! Anyway, Kasamatsu-senpai got annoyed with me after practice. He said, if I hear 'Kurokocchi' out of your mouth one more time, you better take responsibility and ask Kuroko to make you his bride."
"He said that."
"Well, not those exact words. Actually what he said was that if my Kurokocchi bias ended up costing us the playoffs, then Kurokocchi had better be prepared to take on the consequences."
"I think what Kasamatsu-san probably meant by it was that Seirin better win the Interhigh, and then prepare to face Kaijou at the Winter Cup to settle the score."
"Wow. That makes a lot more sense, now that I think about it." Kise scratches the back of his neck sheepishly, or tries to at any rate. The bridal veil gets in his way. Kuroko reaches over and flips it over Kise's head. "Kurokocchi!" Kise splutters. Nigou yaps in delight and bats at the fluttering cloth with all four paws. He slides off the couch onto the floor and sits there for a moment blinking in confusion before meandering off to nose at the mess of flower petals again.
"So...why the wedding dress?" Kuroko asks, lowering himself down to kneel on the floor beside Kise.
"Because in dramas when the lead tells her lover, 'You better take responsibility!' she always means that he should marry her immediately! That's why I told the team, if we lose to Shutoku, I'll go to Tokyo and become Kurokocchi's bride. I'll even wear a wedding dress."
"You said that."
Kise nods.
Kuroko pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger.
"Kurokocchi... Does your head hurt? You should take a break from studying if you've got a headache."
"You're giving me a headache, Kise-kun. Are you saying that I should take a break from you?"
Kise shakes his head wordlessly. Kuroko thinks that the rims of his eyes look just a tiny bit wet. He sighs, scoots closer, smooths the veil back over Kise's head. "Chieko-san sounds nice," Kuroko says after a moment.
"She is!" Kise brightens. "I mean, all my senpai at the company are nice people, but Chieko-neechan is a real superhero. She's in charge of wardrobes, and she always helps me out in a pinch. When I told her I needed to borrow a wedding dress, she asked if it was for a friend. I said it was for me, for a secret mission."
"And she let you take the dress, just like that? She must have a lot of trust in you."
"I'm very responsible."
"But not very discreet," says Kuroko. "Photos of Kise Ryouta spotted in Tokyo dressed as a bride are probably surfacing on social media sites as we speak."
"Oh, that reminds me!" Kise straightens up, adjusting his neckline and fixing his hair. "We have to take a selfie so I can send it to the team and prove that I've upheld my end of the bargain!" Without further ado, Kise lifts the skirt of the bridal gown. As Kise pulls out his phone, Kuroko notes with considerable relief that he was wearing basketball shorts underneath all along.
Kuroko shakes his head. "Kise-kun really is something else."
"How do I look?" Kise asks, adjusting his petticoats around him.
"Simply breathtaking," says Kuroko, clapping politely. "Straight out of a bridal magazine."
He doesn't sound like he's teasing. Kise looks up, pink suffusing his cheeks, and meets Kuroko's steady gaze.
"I wouldn't mind really being Kurokocchi's bride. I'd love to hear Kurokocchi say, 'I'll make you the happiest person in the world'."
"Kise-kun..." Kuroko looks away.
"But I'm already happy, you know, when I'm with Kurokocchi. I wonder what it would be like to be even happier than this."
"I'm confident that Kise-kun is destined to know much greater happiness."
"I can't tell anymore if Kurokocchi is being serious or sarcastic when he talks like that." Kise puts on an exaggerated pout, but his eyes glimmer before fluttering close. Kuroko reaches over with both hands and brushes his thumbs across damp lashes.
"Let's not keep your team waiting, Kise-kun."
Kise holds out his phone at arm's length, and Kuroko leans in so that his head rests against Kise's neck. Kise flashes the camera a dazzling smile while Kuroko throws an impassive victory sign.
"Let it be known that Kise Ryouta always keeps his promises, on and off the court!" Kise declares during warmups the following afternoon. Coach Takeuchi is making the team run extra laps because he apparently does not appreciate getting a mass text containing Kise's wedding gown selfie. Their former captain is running with them for old time's sake (it's because I'm not getting enough exercise at university, Kasamatsu insists; his erstwhile teammates' understanding grins say otherwise).
"Hey, how come we're all being punished when it's Kise-senpai who likes playing dress-up too much," asks a first-year.
"COMPRAINING EALNS YOU EXTLA RAPS!" Captain Hayakawa roars.
"Yes, yes," says Kise placatingly, falling back to run alongside the grumbling underclassman. "I agree, it's unfair, it's the height of injustice. But what we need to do now is channel that frustration into energy and crush both Shutoku and Seirin in the Winter Cup this year!"
Kasamatsu falls in beside him, eyebrow lifting as he gives Kise an approving sidelong glance. "You've matured, Kise."
"Yeah?" Kise beams.
"Remember how you used to cry out of frustration after we lost? I feel reassured seeing you fired up and looking ahead for a change."
"I'm looking forward to Seirin versus Shutoku this week! You know, my husband is definitely going to get revenge for us against Midorimacchi."
"Your..." Kasamatsu freezes. "Your what?!"
Kise's grin brightens. "Well...Kasamatsu-senpai did say last time that I'm not allowed - "
" - to utter the word 'Kurokocchi' again during practice, yeah, but that doesn't mean - "
"- that I'm not allowed to brag about my husband!" Kise finishes gleefully.
"I TAKE IT BACK, KISE, YOU HAVEN'T MATURED A BIT. OI, COACH, GIVE THIS LITTLE SHIT HERE THREE TIMES THE TRAINING MENU AS PUNISHMENT!"
Kise takes off running at top speed as Kasamatsu aims a kick at him.
"Why does Kise-senpai do this to himself?" asks the first-year, watching Kise disappear around the corner of the gymnasium.
"He's a textbook masochist," Nakamura replies.
"Yeah," Kasamatsu says. He's grinning. "But he's Kaijou's ace after all, and he always keeps his promises."