Kuroko no Basuke

Mad Love

Chapter One: Kise

It was the day before the long awaited summer holidays. The whole of Teiko Middle School was in a buzz over their plans for the break but other than that there was also talk about the basketball club.

Everyone knew that the third year members were leaving, that meant that their school idols would no longer be here after the summer break. The basketball club's sudden rise in popularity came from after being featured in a magazine. Almost every single student knew of the members of the basketball team, and almost every single girl was hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous model, Kise Ryouta before he leaves school.

Ikeda Tora, like every other third year in Teiko was happily enjoying her last remaining day of middle school. It's been a tough few years in middle school, but now that she's finally graduating it seems she may actually miss this place. But while upset over leaving, she's also just as excited to start going to Kaijo next term.

"Hey Tora~!"

Momoi waved from the classroom door.

"Hurry up!" she called. "We're gonna leave without you!"

Tora said her goodbyes with her classmates and headed over to Momoi. Since arriving at middle school as a second year, Momoi and Tora clicked immediately and have been the best of friends since. Even though they're in different classes, they'd always find some way to spend time together – normally being Momoi dragging her to watch the basketball practices or one of their after school shenanigans.

"I can't believe this is the last time we're all going out together…" Momoi sulked. "I'm going to miss Tetsu-kun so much!"

It was a weekly custom for the basketball club to go out after their Friday practices. Venues range from karaoke bars, restaurants and sometimes to someone's place. But their group has been growing smaller of late since Aomine's leave from the club to various members' refusal to their invites.

"I don't see why you don't just go to Seirin with him," Tora said. "… But I do admit it's strange to like someone like Kuroko-kun…"

"Oi! That's better than being in love with Akashi-kun!" Momoi teased.

"I'm not in love with him!" Tora's cheeks turned beet red. "I-I… I just-."

"Hai-hai," Momoi patted her shoulder. "I get it, I've heard this same speech so many times already. I don't love him! I just think he's super cool and mysterious! Blah, blah, you've got to come up with better excuses, Tora."

"They're not excuses," she huffed back. "And I never said he was super cool!"

"Sure, they're not, and I'm sure it's nothing you haven't thought of before," Momoi grinned. "But seriously, if I were you I'd just give up on Akashi-kun."

"Why?"

"For starters, you've never spoken a word to him before," she crossed her arms. "And two, he's a little nutty. Three, you're going to different high schools. Four, you're taller than him. Lastly, you're way too good for him. Look at yourself – you're smart, pretty and you've got plenty of other good guys chasing after you."

"Yeah?" Tora rolled her eyes. "Like who?"

"…" Momoi felt trapped. She knew exactly who, but she couldn't bring herself to tell her. In fact, she knew two somebodies that would love to go out with her. "Uh… A-… Well…"

"See?" Tora chuckled. "Don't worry about me, Momoi. You just concentrate on Kuroko-kun."

The two quieted down about their little boy problems as they reached the front gates. The turn up was a lot more impressive than they have imagined, the whole of the Generation of Miracles were assembled minus Aomine.

"Tetsu-kun!"

Like every other day, Momoi bounced off to Kuroko without a look at anyone else. She grabbed his arm and led him out of school grounds first. This was generally what everyone thought as a sign to follow.

Well at least that's what Tora was going to do.

"Hey Ikedacchi!"

"Domo Kise-kun," she smiled back.

Kise was one of the only people on the team she could speak with properly. In fact, they've grown incredibly close over the two years. If they weren't hanging out with the whole group after schools, they'd be out walking home together. The only others she felt comfortable being Kuroko, Midorima who was her classmate and Aomine before he grew detached. Momoi had put the effort into introducing her to everyone on the team, but she shied away from Akashi and Murasakibara as she found them a little more intimidating.

Like Momoi had said, Akashi was a little nutty, but that's what Tora liked about him. He was brutally straightforward with everything, if he didn't like you he'd tell you right off. She once heard from Kise that Akashi had told his homeroom teacher off and then threw a chair out a glass window. She hadn't believed him of course, until she saw the remains of the chair on the sports field after school.

"So, last day with everybody, huh?" Kise said.

"Yeah," she nodded back. "I'm going to miss this."

"Well I'm sure Kaijo wouldn't be so bad," he shrugged.

"Eh? How did you know I was going to Kaijo?"

"Oh, I heard from Momoicchi," he chuckled slowly as he looked the other way. "You know her, girl can't keep her mouth shut."

"Right, of course you did," she sighed, taking a glance over at her friend who was all over Kuroko. "You know, I was just speaking to Momoi about Kuroko-kun. You also think they should just go out already too, right?"

"What?" Kise laughed. "As if! Do you know how dense Kurokocchi is? I bet he doesn't even realize it… Plus she looks happy as she is now."

"Yeah, you're right," Tora took a better look at them. 'We're missing a certain someone though…'

Kise nodded along with a smile as he watched the two in front.

"Hey! Where should we go?" Momoi called from the front.

"Karaoke!" Kise shot a fist in the air. "Karaoke!"

"Can we not?" Midorima sighed. "I have enough headaches regarding you without the singing…"

"But it's our last day together as a team!" Kise said. "I think we should do something fun!"

"Absolutely not, if you continue to insist-."

"I'd like to go to a karaoke bar," Kuroko voiced.

"Not you too, Kuroko-."

"I think it's a good idea."

Midorima froze in his place as Akashi spoke. Everyone stopped and turned to face the team captain. These were one of those moments when Tora adored Akashi. Without even raising his voice, he managed to get everyone's attention at one go.

"Yeah! Karaoke it is!" Momoi cried. "Isn't that great, Tetsu-kun?"

"Y-Yeah…" Kuroko could feel his legs giving out, as she held on tighter. "Uh… Momoi-san… I can't breathe…"

Tora was too busy watching the two to realize that Midorima had caught up to the front half of the group. He walked straight past Tora and Kise and looked to be heading even further.

"Hey!" Kise grabbed onto Midorima's collar. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Home," he huffed. "I refuse to go singing with you."

"But it's more fun with lots of people!" Kise grinned. "Right, Ikedacchi?"

"Yeah," she agreed with a nod. "You should come, Midorima-kun."

The boy glared at her through his glass frames but eventually sighed. The two have established a close sibling-like relationship over the two years, and now he found it difficult to refuse anything she said.

"Alright!" Tora grinned.

"So what's today's lucky item?" Kise asked, looking Midorima up down. "I don't see anything."

Midorima looked to his feet and said nothing.

"Did you forget it or something?" Kise laughed. "That's so unlike you."

"I didn't forget it!" he snapped back.

"Yeah? Then where is it?"

"…"

"He so forgotten it," Kise told Tora, in which she nodded back.

The two gave him an obnoxious look. As much as Midorima enjoyed Tora's company when she was alone, when she was with Kise she was just as bothersome as the blond.

"I didn't!" Midorima practically growled. "… They're on my feet."

Both Tora and Kise looked down and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"They look the same," Tora said.

"It's the socks, okay?" Midorima was starting to get annoyed by the two. "The socks are pink."

"… What?" Kise held back a snort. "Let's see."

"I want to see!"

"Ikeda, I've always been lenient with you, but don't push it!" Midorima held her head at arm's distance. "And you," he looked up to Kise. "Don't you even think about it!"

XoXo

"Midorimacchi's such a party-pooper."

Kise and Tora stared at Midorima's sleeping form beadily. He had actually managed to fall asleep with everybody singing on the top of their lungs. Kise and Tora who were regular karaoke-goers have belted out all they can and were now resting on the plush seats.

At the front of the room, Akashi and Kuroko were singing (murmuring more like) to some female pop group song whilst swaying along to their dance moves. It was incredibly embarrassing just watching the two, but no one said a word. The two were surprisingly into karaoke considering the cool façade they put on with everyone.

Kuroko did a little spin just as the girl on the screen did hers, and Akashi flung a wrist over his face dramatically in a finishing pose.

"Wow!" Momoi applauded. "That was amazing!"

Everyone (except for the sleeping Midorima) clapped along. It was difficult to tell if they were flattered or annoyed with their passive faces, but as Akashi wasn't doing anything strange so they saw this as a good sign.

"That was fun," Kuroko murmured. "Another song, Akashi-kun?"

"Another song," the redhead nodded back.

One of the many cellphones placed on the table began chiming as the two went to pick their next song. Kise picked up the ringing phone, and checked for notifications.

"It's Midorima's Oha-Asa horoscope updates," he held the screen sideways to show Tora. "… Your lucky item will bring great misfortune."

"The pink socks?"

Both Tora and Kise had the same thought in mind, the two looked up from the screen simultaneously each bearing devious grins. The plan was simple – Kise would remove his shoes while Tora kept on guard making sure Midorima stayed asleep. Then after the difficult part was done and out of the way, Murasakibara would snap a photograph.

Moments after the next song began, their plan went into action.

Kise carefully untied the laces and slipped Midorima's foot out of the shoe. He almost burst out laughing when he saw that the socks were not only pink but had an embarrassing cartoon design on them.

"Tora!" he called quietly. "Look at this!"

"What- Oh my god," she covered her mouth to stop from laughing out loud. "Is that meant to be Hello Kitty or something?"

"I can't even tell," Kise rubbed a tear from his eye. "Oh, this is brilliant."

"That's what you get for falling asleep, Midorima-kun~."

Slowly, careful not to wake the boy up, Kise lifted Midorima's foot onto the low table in front of the sofa. It was tedious business, but rewarding blackmail material.

"Okay! Okay! Picture!"

Murasakibara got up from his seat and grabbed one of the cells off the table. He flipped on the camera and waited for the two to get into the frame.

Tora and Kise bent forward up to Midorima's knees and leaned into one another to fit into the phone's small camera frame. It was a close fit with their heads touching each other, but it worked out.

"Alright…" Murasakibara murmured. "3… 2… 1…"

-SNAP-

-SNAP-

-SNAP-

-SNAP-

-SNAP-

The next few seconds happened so quickly that in no time Kise was lying on the floor after being punched by Tora, and Midorima had woken up to find his embarrassing socks on display to everyone.

Murasakibara ignored the yelling going on in front of him, and scrolled through the camera's gallery for the photographs just taken.

The first one was of the two posed with Midorima's pink feet. The next one was slightly different… with Kise grabbing Tora into a strong kiss. The third one looked like a scene from some cheesy romance film, with them staring at each other after Tora placed a hand between their chests. The fourth of Tora ramming her little fist square into Kise's jaw, and the last one was of Tora after she's hit Kise onto the ground (there was also Midorima who had just woken up in the background).

"Wow…" Murasakibara flipped back and forth between the second and fourth picture. "…"

He looked up again and saw Midorima getting on his feet while Tora yelled at Kise. She began kicking him, but luckily for Kise she doesn't seem to be making too much of an effort.

"What," she huffed. "Did. You. Do. That. For?"

Tora spoke between kicks. Even if she's mad at him, she couldn't bring herself to give him genuine kicks.

"I'm going to kill you two!" Midorima yelled, picking Tora up.

"Let me go!" she kicked. "I'm killing him first!"

"Whoa! Whoa!" Momoi came over immediately. "What happened here?"

Murasakibara tilted the phone screen to Momoi on the second picture.

"Oh my god…" she gasped, clicking to the next picture. "Oh wow… Okay, um…"

She walked over to where Kise laid, and helped him onto his feet. She then turned to Tora who was still flailing in Midorima's arms. The boy holding Tora wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but when he woke up, he saw Kise getting knocked back after being punched by Tora.

Glancing around her, Tora noticed that the whole room now had their eyes on her, Kise, the phone screen and Midorima's feet. Akashi grabbed the phone from Murasakibara and clicked through the pictures passively. There was no change in his expression as he flipped the phone shut and stuck it in his pocket.

A horrifying realization hit her.

The phone must have been Akashi's.

"… Midorima-kun?" she mumbled. "Please let me go…"

"What?"

"This is embarrassing!" she called. "Let me go!"

Tora elbowed him in the ribs; the second he dropped her, she grabbed her things and ran for the exit.

The group watched her go without a word and then turned to look at Kise.

"What did you do?" Midorima demanded, his brotherly instinct kicking in. "What did you do to her?"

"That doesn't matter anymore!" Momoi put an arm between the two. "You've got to go after her, Ki-chan!"

"But-."

"Just go Ryouta."

It was highly unusual for Akashi to voice his opinion, especially on trivial matters that didn't concern him. No one said a thing about it though, and turned back to Kise.

There wasn't much Kise could say to them at the moment. In fact, he may be better off not saying anything to them before speaking to Tora first. He picked up his bags and headed out to look for Tora.

Tora was on the verge of tears. Never has she felt so embarrassed before. Just what in the world made Kise thought it was okay to just grab her into a kiss? Her first one gone, just like that, to her best friend, and in front of her crush too.

Running along the street, she did her best to avoid hitting anyone that was coming her way. But as her tears fell, she couldn't keep an eye out on where she was running – or whom she ran into. A wall-like figure was in front of her, he was tall too by the way he seemed to loom over her head.

"Sorry," she rubbed her eyes quickly. "I didn't mean to-."

"Why are you crying?"

Peering up, she froze when she met with Aomine's heavy gaze. She stepped back slightly and began rubbing her eyes again.

"I wasn't crying."

"You idiot," he reached for her. "I'm not that easy to fool, just tell me why you're crying."

"I'm not!" she evaded his grasp as she stepped past him. "I got to go now!"

"Wait!"

He didn't want her to go, but neither did he chase after her. Tora and him may have been close before, but now he felt he had no business chasing after the girl. After all, they were heading to different high schools and chances are they won't speak to each other again.

With this resolve, Aomine headed towards the street crossing.

XoXo

Looking all over outside the karaoke bar, Kise had no clue to which way Tora could've gone. He scanned the crowds on both sides for the girl, but he didn't see a hair of her. Just when he was about to lose hope, he saw Aomine walking along across street.

"Aominecchi!" Kise called.

Aomine knew exactly who it was to use such a nickname. It probably made sense though; where Tora was, Kise wouldn't be far. He glanced over in acknowledgement.

"Have you seen Ikedacchi?"

"That way," Aomine pointed to the way he just came from. "Saw her a minute ago."

"Thanks!"

Running down the street, Kise looked all over for any sign of the dark-haired girl. Even though Aomine has pointed him the right way, there was still a lot of space to cover. He went with his gut instinct and checked out the park where they usually hanged out at after school.

Luckily for him, his gut instinct was right. He found Tora rolled into a ball tucked under one of the slides at the park's playground. He wouldn't have spotted her if her things weren't scattered all around. Picking each piece of her belongings one by one, and placed them onto her leather bag.

"… Ikedacchi?"

Kise was careful with his approach. He knew he had upset her greatly, but he couldn't help himself earlier when faced with Tora so closely. For a whole year, he's tried to ignore whatever he felt for her, knowing that she's had zero interest in him. Though no matter how hard he tries, he can never get over that soft spot he had for her.

"Ikedac- Tora?"

"Go away," she mumbled. "I don't want to see you right now."

"Ike- Tora, I'm sorry," Kise bent down to her level. "I'm really sorry."

"That doesn't solve anything!" she looked up to him.

"… Tora, I'm so sorry. I wasn't-."

"Why would you do that? Taking my first kiss like that!" she raised her voice. "How did you think I was going to react?"

"Look!" Kise stood up. "I don't know, alright? I don't know why I did it. I just really like you, okay? Even now with you shouting at me, I still really like you!"

"Then why didn't you say something!" she scrambled onto her feet. "Instead of coming out of nowhere like this, you could have just told me! You could have told me… then… Akashi-san… then you wouldn't have embarrassed us both in front of everyone!"

Akashi's name didn't slip past Kise. He heard her loud and clear.

"What's this about Akashicchi?"

"Nothing!" Tora frowned. "And I'm the one angry here!"

"Do you like him?" Kise asked. "… Have you always liked him?"

"No!" she cried. "Leave me alone! Go away!"

"Tora," he held her wrist. "Tell me what he has that I don't."

"It's not that!" Tora tried to pull her arm free. "You're two very different people! I can't compare you two like that. He has qualities that I like, and you have your qualities that I like."

"What are they?"

"… Stop it."

"Tell me, Tora!" he gripped her shoulders tight.

"That's enough, Kise."

The two looked over and saw Midorima stepping onto the playground. Standing closely next him was just Momoi, thankfully it looked as if everyone else has stayed behind.

"Ki-chan, stop it," Momoi ran over, pulling Kise's hands off Tora's shoulders. "If she doesn't want to tell you, she doesn't have to."

"Come Ikeda, I'll take you home," Midorima picked her things up.

Without sparing the blond another glance, Midorima tugged Tora out of the playground. He and Momoi had planned this beforehand, he would take her home while she would stay behind and try to talk some sense into Kise.

Once Tora seemed to have calmed down, Midorima returned her bag to her.

"Thanks," she looked up slightly.

"It's a bad day for Virgos," he murmured. "Don't think too much over what just happened. I knew that idiot had a thing for you, I never expected him to act on it though."

"… You knew?"

"It was obvious by the way he looked at you."

"Isn't he like that with everyone?"

"No, Ikeda," Midorima looked her in the eye. "Just you."

"Oh god," she felt her tears pooling again. "I feel like such an idiot…"

"As I said, don't think too much about it," he told her. "You've got the whole summer to think things through before going to Kaijo."

"What do you mean?"

"He's going to Kaijo as well… hasn't he told you that?"

"… No."

First Kuroko no Basuke fic, haven't read that much of the manga so not sure if I'm portraying some characters right and Kise seemed hella OOC but here goes nothing!

Reviews would be kindly appreciated ^_^