黒子 テツヤ

Idly, Mayuzumi glances at his phone. Seems the weather isn't going to let up any time soon. There's only so much an umbrella can do when it's windy raining heavily. Today feels especially unlucky, even for him.

He sighs at Kuroko's words. Really, he shouldn't have even asked. It's not like he ever could have wound up at a place like Seirin. Like it or not, Mayuzumi still feels loyalty to Rakuzan. But would it have been too much to ask for, a normal team with friendly people? Not that he would have been noticed at all if it wasn't for Akashi. Maybe it is a bit complicated.

Sure, Mayuzumi kept complaining about how annoying everything related to his team was, but at the same time he was proud of them. Otherwise, he wouldn't have threatened Seirin with losing the next time they played. Right there, just the two of them: a declaration of war in a broken elevator.

Enjoying it while it lasts... There was a moment of silence on his part. Of course, Kuroko knew that his time at Seirin was limited, but he had already felt what it was like when Teiko team collapsed. He had no intention of allowing a bittersweet goodbye to happen again. “I am aware. And we will not lose.” How? Surely they'll come up with something.

It was also true that he wasn't going to be there… “You can always repeat the year if you want to be there. We will beat you again.” And perhaps Kuroko sounded more confident than Mayuzumi would like to hear. The part about repeating the year was a joke, although he didn't know how good a student Mayuzumi really was.

Admittedly, having a normal conversation with Kuroko isn't that bad. He doesn't give off pretentiousness like the other Miracles, at least. Mayuzumi's high school basketball career is over, so there's no reason to still cling to the results of the Winter Cup, other than pettiness. And while Mayuzumi can be very petty, it also doesn't seem entirely worth it to be angry all the time. More than anything, Mayuzumi doesn't want to waste his precious time with emotions that go nowhere, so he will try to be more polite... a little.

Meanwhile, there were no signs of movement around the elevator. No voices, no noises, nothing. It had only been out of service for a short time, so it was still too early to draw any conclusions. What could be heard, however, was the weather getting worse. Rain, perhaps?

"...You look like a cat person." He nodded, in agreement. If they were talking about appearances, Kuroko could perfectly imagine him reading with a cat on his lap. Stroking it from time to time without looking up from the book. Would he own a cat?

Kuroko could continue talking about pets / tell him more about Nigou / but the last question caught him off guard again. This senior sure liked to change the subject abruptly.

"Huh? Right, I... just in case, I mean." Suddenly Mayuzumi feels a bit embarrassed for vocalizing that. Now Kuroko thinks he's anxious about the situation for some reason, while in reality he could be stuck here for an hour and he wouldn't really care as long as he had time to read. "Even if they forget we're both here, they're still going to fix it so other people can use it... so it doesn't matter." Perhaps Mayuzumi simply had the urge to assert himself despite the uselessness of doing so, just to pretend like he has some control over the situation, and by association his life. He's not going to admit that, though!

Mayuzumi seemed to have reduced his level of hostility towards him, for now. He was even willing to engage in simple conversation with him, such as asking him about Nigou. Apparently, the puppy was the most popular member of the Seirin team... or his senior liked dogs.

Despite his attempt to ignore Kuroko, he can't help but remember that the original, old model (ugh) of the Phantom Sixth Man (so corny) is surprisingly frail. Somewhere deep down, he finds himself wondering whether Kuroko will be okay if they're stuck here for a long period, which is stupid because there is no reason for him to care at all.

At least his senior quickly gave him something else to focus on.

"But you are older than me" At Seirin, he already had a beloved senpai who reminded them from time to time of the importance of respecting their elders, it didn't matter the school they assisted to. If it was annoying for him then there was only one correct way. "Then, is Mayuzumi-san okay for you?" Look he remembers your name. The answer didn't really matter because he no longer had any other way to call his senior, so he had already decided that he could call him that.

Now that his miserable time on Rakuzan's basketball team has come to an abrupt and merciful end, Mayuzumi Chihiro can do whatever he wants. That includes going to Tokyo whenever he feels like it to do some shopping and go to fan events and pop-up shops, ignoring the endless string of texts in the Rakuzan basketball club group chat from his kouhais who still constantly try to get his attention despite the way they treated him.

More than anything, he enjoys browsing through secondhand bookstores in Tokyo that may have different offerings than the options in Kyoto. One such place is his destination today, a bookstore tucked into the top floor of a giant mall.

Not wishing to climb eight flights of stairs, Mayuzumi steps into the elevator and leans against the back wall, idly scrolling through his phone (and still ignoring the group chat). The elevator rises several floors before stopping, and Mayuzumi doesn't even glance up, assuming that someone has gotten on the elevator. However, a few moments later a voice through a speaker apologizes for a technical difficulty, and Mayuzumi sighs, resigned to his fate of being stuck here while they fix the line. He has a couple books in his bag, so he can sit down and read since he's in here alone...

...or so he thought. His gaze flicks towards the opposite wall, and Mayuzumi has to hold back a confused noise when he sees that he is very much not alone, but instead in the presence of one very quiet Kuroko Tetsuya.

Had he gotten on the elevator alongside Kuroko and just not noticed? There's no point asking him how long he's been there, since he knows what the answer will be (I've been here the whole time). Mayuzumi scowls, wondering how the hell he had managed to run into Kuroko in the entire massive city of Tokyo. It's like the gods are up there somewhere mocking him. My luck is terrible.

"I'm going to read, so don't bother me." There's no reason to say hello or spout fake pleasantries, and certainly no reason to lie and say it's nice to see you. The existence of this insufferable first year is the reason the last year of his life in the basketball club has been hellish, and he's not about to acknowledge him as though they are friends. Perhaps it is their fate to cross paths, but it certainly isn't required that he engage with this fate. "Do me a favor and make yourself invisible... oh wait. You already are."

The presence of his new misfortune companion might have been minimal, but Mayuzumi personally was quite... unforgettable. Kuroko had been staring at him for a while, but he was noticed only when their eyes met, apparently. In less than the blink of an eye, he realized that his presence was not welcome, but just in case his senior did not hesitate to express it in words. We were in a bad mood, huh?

Anyway, shouldn't they be at least a little concerned that the elevator stopped without any apparent explanation several floors up?

Without saying anything (not that he was given much space to speak), he quietly dropped down to sit on the floor and crossed his arms over his knees. It was hard to know how long they would be there, and his stamina wasn't exactly abundant enough to just stand there.

At least it was, until... His brain suddenly decided it was the perfect time to remember some unpleasant things. Things that Kise was hoping would've been buried since long ago.

--

Earlier today.

"Thank you for having me." As always, Kise seemed to be in good spirit, a whirlwind of joy. He barely had time to put his things away in the space that had been prepared for him before seeing the inside of his house. More welcoming than expected. Because of his personality, he thought it would be a stylish house that might make him feel out of place, but that wasn't the case.

"I didn't get lost." Touched by his tease. "You were texting me the whole way anyway." There wasn't much difference either; it really felt as if Kuroko had gone the whole way with him. Nothing to complain about! "Uhm... neither of us eats much, so ordering delivery would be a waste..." Now he was thinking loud. "I'm curious to know what you usually eat at home, so I'll go for that."

"It's okay." At least now, upon hearing that apology -even if it wasn’t really necessary-, Kise had managed to visibly relax. Until now, he hadn’t realized that his shoulders were too tense. "It’s not your fault, my reaction was... Exaggerated. You didn’t do anything wrong." Another awkward laugh, once again trying to brush it off as if it wasn’t a big deal.

"Exaggerated... I don't think so." It didn't seem like a calculated reaction that Kise could control and claim had gone too far. "We've never talked about doint it, so…" Another mistake, but enough with the apologies. He already understood that Kise didn't blame him, so moving on.

Amber eyes looked for Kuroko, and carefully analyzed his body language, he wasn't good at reading people but upon hearing the maids talk as well as how the latter was acting around children it was getting harder and harder to think that this stranger had any malicious intentions towards the Yae Village. "House of Kaslana..." Even if said village was hidden, everyone has at least heard of that name before. "Hm." The blond now gives it more thought, suddenly this situation sounds more complicated than Kise anticipated. This is definitely more key information, useful too. But, should he be prudent and bring this up to Kasamatsu and the council?

If Kuroko was going to share a tiny portion of his reality, he would do so cautiously, avoiding to get the most negative consequences. It was difficult, but he had been trained and demanded the impossible since forever, so there was no point whether he could do it or not to start with. Enough overthinking.

"That's right." He raised his head again. Cooperative, but cautious. Believing that name providen gave Kise enough tools to protect himself from the council. "They can't get here. It's outside their domain. And my best option... at that time." That should solve the mystery of why he had appeared so badly injured in the vicinity of the village.

Then, he got more... serious.

"It may seem like I don't care about my life." That may have been true, but Kuroko wasn't free enough to consciously think that. His life was never his alone. "But if I die here, they will know. And won't take it well."

Kuroko carefully closed the subject, because he couldn't share any more information about himself. It was already dangerous enough for the village to be aware of what he was playing with, but if they used it reasonably, it could be good. It was also his silent gratitude. Although he was a prisoner, it was no exaggeration to say that these had been the best days of his life.

He liked spending time with the shadow / he enjoyed the other's company and particularly enjoyed talking about things outside of basketball. Kise sometimes even went to Seirin, even though they didn’t live relatively close, just to be able to see Kuroko. It would be a lie if Kise said he wasn’t eager when Kuroko accepted his invitation of coming over to his place. Truth be told, he wasn’t expecting anything to happen besides watching a movie, but he wasn’t exactly against it either.

I didn't think you had it in you.

Okay, that made him blush. Come to think of it, it was unlikely that he would do that. His surprise was justified, but there was something else that continued to bother him. "I... didn't think much about it. I was comfortable with you and it occurred to me that... we could.“ Kuroko also liked to surprise his partner from time to time, but it backfired a little today. ”I should have asked you first, sorry about that."

...No, even then he still didn't quite understand why Kise had been scared. He had never seen that expression on his face before. As Kuroko had already thought before, he would wait for the right moment to ask.

Okay fine, let’s just stop being vague. It was Kuroko who happened to be watching his every move, and Kise felt like he had a stalker hovering over him. Again, this was funny considering Kuroko’s lack of presence; it felt as if he was being… Well, threatened was not the correct word, let’s just go with intense concentration, the same sentiment they both had when being rivals on the basketball court.

"Hm?" First one to talk huh, like nothing happened. That was to be expected but it wasn't enough to make Kuroko forget about what he saw.

"Yes, I do." That was it: a precise, short answer. No holding back. "But I don't think this is the best time to do it. I can wait." A little of holding back, maybe. "I guess I was making you uncomfortable again... Sorry, Kise-kun."

"No, forget it. I don't want to make a mess at your parents' kitchen and have them get mad at you... No offense." Kuroko also liked them, and they always let him stay over. It was in his best interest to keep them happy. If he didn't know about Aomine's cooking skills, from his response he could already guess. "Let's try something else." Thinking again, long and hard, thinking... oh. "What about... a bath?" But you didn't need him for that Kuroko. Unless... "You and me? Your bathroom is big enough, isn't it?"

There was a warm, cozy feeling building up in the lower part of his body, which would soon be begging for attention. But before all that, the taller one appreciated the closeness; the warmth radiating from Kuroko's body was also nice. Even with both of their shirts already taken off, it was starting to get even hotter.

"Tch... Ya think I care if they ask?" There was absolutely nothing wrong with him wanting to mark his boyfriend. People could talk all they wanted / he didn’t care. Hopefully, he wouldn’t be hearing complaints from Kuroko once the initial high wore off. Now that he had full permission from his lover, his lips pressed down even further / with purpose / and he started to suck. This time harder, and surely that would make Tetsu let out noises at the small, sudden change in pace. The pressure lingered, deliberate and possessive, until he was sure the new red mark on his lover's nick would later bloom into a deep and dark purple.

The kisses on his neck melted his thoughts, until the change in intensity made him realize that his neck was a rather… sensitive area. "A-ah!" An involuntary moan escaped him, surprised by the pinching sensation caused by something as soft as his lover's lips. It was a moment / the taller one immediately withdrew / left him and his shame behind / along with a rush of heat coming directly from his lower region. Ugh. Even his body was tense for a second, but now was craving for more.

Kuroko touched the area with his fingertips and noticed that there was still a little saliva left from the hickey he now owned. Judging by Aomine's look, it was going to be quite noticeable later on, but that wasn't a problem for him. Not for his present self, at least.

"So.. it's my turn to make you mine?" That mark triggered something in him, and now he didn't want to stop. He didn't want to stop before, but now, even less.

Kuroko brought one hand to his neck, but this time the goal wasn't to caress him, but rather to hold him. He tried to imitate what Aomine just did: placing his lips on his neck and sucking a little harder. But that wasn't all he did. His dominant hand dared to go a little further / placed itself right between his legs / over his clothes / groping and massaging what was already turned on.