Work Text:
Disclaimer:
- Kuroko no Basuke (黒子のバスケ) is created by Tadatoshi Fujimaki, serialized in Weekly Shounen Jump, published by Shueisha, and animated by Production I.G.
- The writer does not intend to gain any material from this.
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1.
The very first time Kise met Kuroko wasn’t actually when they were both in their second year of middle school.
It happened long, long before they met officially at Teikou’s basketball court. It happened on a quiet afternoon in an autumn that Kise had forgotten the important numeric details, such as the day, the month, and even the year. Kise only remembered the chill breeze of autumn air, the long trail of fallen leaves on the road, and the grey clouds floating far on the sky, and a particular sand box consisted of only a boy who was still trying to show how to make a castle, despite the absences of any audiences there.
The boy finally gave up at one point, and dropped all of his tools. He stared and realized that he was left all alone at the sand box. Kise remembered, he had a bright blue hair, resembling what sky would look like in a bright summer day. Kise also remembered, the boy had the same eye color as the boy’s hair color, which was, bright blue as well.
The boy stood and cleaned his pants, then moved to sit on a nearby bench. He pulled a book out of nowhere and started reading.
Kise blinked in confusion, but the boy continued to read, and at some point, Kise continued to walk, leaving that boy behind, much like what he was going to do years, years later. Kise remembered, at that time, he never greeted the boy.
He never said hello to the boy, not even once.
2.
The first time Kise met Kuroko, as everyone had already known, was at Teikou’s basketball court.
It happened when everyone was there, watching Kise being trained by Kuroko. Kise started the year with dissing Kuroko’s ability in basketball and ended the year with clinging heavily to Kuroko’s arm. Kise knew he was being extremely loud and Kise also knew Kuroko disliked it, but at the same time, Kise also knew Kuroko kinda liked it.
Kuroko kinda liked the attention Kise gave to him, so Kise always gave him his most excited greetings everytime he met Kuroko, in or out of the court.
“Hello, Kurokocchi!!”
Kise finally gave up at one point, gave up his greetings, and gave up his stares towards Kuroko. He chose to direct them to a dead and unliving scoreboard that he was going to regret years, years later.
At some point, Kise tried to greet Kuroko again, because he still felt obliged to do at least that. After all, Kuroko was his mentor on his early basketball days.
Kise said hello, but there wasn’t any real emotion from the beginning.
Much like the book that Kuroko once pulled out of nowhere long time ago, Kuroko slipped out of Kise’s life to nowhere.
3.
“Hello, Kurokocchi.”
Kise met Kuroko again in high school, and got his offer turned down, as everyone had already known. Kise learned a lot, Kise matured a lot.
Kise greeted Kuroko, and Kise blinked in confusion when Kuroko replied back with a quite smile on his face.
“Hello, Kise-kun.”
4.
Kise persuaded Kuroko into sharing a flat together when he learned that Kuroko entered the same university as his. It took literally a year and broken pipes in Kuroko’s old flat and a frustrated-looking Kuroko, staring desperately at his ruined kitchen and bathroom, before Kise’s wish could finally be fullfilled.
It went quite like this:
“Hello, Kurokocchi, so—“
“Only for a few weeks. Until I find a new flat, one that hasn’t got any broken pipes.”
However, it actually became like this after years, and years, and years:
“Hello, Kurokocchi! I’m so glad I can finally go home because today is so tiring and—whoa! It smells so good. Is that curry? Do you buy it or cook it yourself—“
“Get a shower first before you start rambling again, because you stink, and hello, Kise-kun.”
Kise shouted on top his lung, “So mean!” but eventually dragged his legs to their bathroom. He knew that Kuroko wasn’t completely serious with his words, although he probably really stinked at that time.
Ever since Kuroko moved to this shared flat with Kise, they continued to live together even after they graduated college and started their real job. Kuroko worked as an editor in a quite famous publisher, and Kise traveled a lot as an active journalist. It was true that due to their jobs, they rarely met each other, but once they did, they usually used their time to enjoy each other’s company in their apartment, or sometimes in an amusement park.
After Kise finished taking a shower, he joined Kuroko on the dining table. Kuroko didn’t waste his time, and went back to work after he emptied his plate. Kise, of course, would follow Kuroko to the living room.
“Is it romance again, Kurokocchi?”
Kuroko sent an e-mail to his author first, before finally answering Kise, “Yes. It is romance again.”
“So boring, don’t you think so?”
“But this one actually has a pretty good plotlines,” Kuroko replied, still with both of his eyes on his laptop’s screen.
“What is it?”
“It is still the publisher’s secret.”
“Well, okay.”
Kise angled his head towards the window when he realized Kuroko would remain silent for the next thirty or even sixty minutes later; it happened before anyway.
“The season will change and summer will finally come,” said Kise, still was staring at the outside’s view from the window. Kuroko gave a sort of nod as a way to answer Kise.
A memory suddenly strucked Kise and he drew a small smile on his face. “That reminds me of our first meeting. I joined Teikou’s basketball club before the summer start, yes?”
Silence suddenly fell onto the room, because Kuroko had stopped typing.
“Yes, you did. However, it wasn’t really our first meeting.”
The replied made Kise frowned in confusion immediately. “Pardon?”
Kuroko set down his laptop, then brought his legs to lay a bit on the sofa. He stared straight to Kise’s honey-colored eyes. There was a ghost of smile, a rare view to everyone, even for Kise, on Kuroko’s face.
“We met earlier, long, long before Teikou.”
Kise put his face on the palm of his hand, a look of excitement was slowly being formed on his face. “Continue, Kurokocchi.”
“You probably didn’t remember this, but we met on a quiet afternoon in an autumn when we were about at elementary age, I think. You saw me building a sandcastle and had that look of confusion on your face,” said Kuroko in a monotonous note, and all the while, Kise gaped because yes, he remembered this.
“Wait, Kurokocchi—you’re that boy?”
“First, Kise-kun, I personally don’t know that you refer me as that boy—“
“No! No, no, I mean—you’re that one boy that got left behind by all of his friends at that sandbox—?”
Kuroko’s tone might be flat, but his eyes always spoke way too much; this time included. With a quiet voice, Kuroko answered, “Yes.”
Kise silenced himself, and kept that silence for the next two minutes. After three minutes, Kise was about to open his mouth for apologizing, but Kuroko spoke first.
“Yes, I am that one boy that got left behind. I tried to join the others, but apparently my presence was too low, that no one seemed to notice me. In the end, I reverted back to what I actually wanted to do, which was, reading.”
Kise stared, stared for a very long time that resulted with his head got slapped by Kuroko.
“That hurts, Kurokocchi!”
“You have that look on your face. I dislike it. Besides, it was just an old story that doesn’t matter anymore,” said Kuroko, and gradually he changed from slapping to coaxing Kise’s blond hair.
“… Yeah, okay. You won’t be alone anymore, anyway.”
It took half a minute, but finally, Kuroko smiled albeit just slightly.
“I believe so.”
“Great! Now, I want to do something that I can’t years ago, which was introducing myself to you!” Kise took Kuroko’s hands and held them tight. He smiled brightly to the blue-haired man in front of him.
“Hello! My name is Kise Ryouta. You seem to be alone. Mind if I join you?”
Kuroko blinked, and looked back and forth from their joined hands, to Kise’s face, and then to the hands again. He slowly opened his mouth, and with a quiet voice, he said something with a smile that reached his cheeks.
“… Hello, Kise-kun. My name is Kuroko Tetsuya. Pleased to meet you….”
5.
The very last time Kise met Kuroko was, probably, never. Kise would always meet Kuroko, anytime he wanted, now that the blue-haired man had resided to a permanent place.
Kise laid his bouquet of daisies, flowers that Kuroko liked very much when he was still breathing in this world. This happened on a quiet afternoon in an autumn that Kise always remembered every important numeric details, such as the day, the month, and even the year, for he had visited Kuroko’s grave routinely.
Kise was now fifty something, and Kuroko died on a car accident involving a drunk driver about twenty years ago, and Kise would still greet Kuroko even after years, and years, and years.
The blond kneeled slowly, then coaxed the cold tombstone the way Kuroko had coaxed his head when he was alive.
It went quite like this:
“Hello again, Kurokocchi. Today, I…”