Perfect Match

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/13290789.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Category: M/M
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Relationships: Akashi Seijuurou/Kuroko Tetsuya, one-sided Momoi Satsuki/Kuroko
Tetsuya, Kise Ryouta & Momoi Satsuki
Characters: Kiseki no Sedai | Generation of Miracles, Kise Ryouta, Kuroko Tetsuya,
Akashi Seijuurou, Momoi Satsuki, Midorima Shintarou, Aomine Daiki,
Murasakibara Atsushi
Additional Tags: Teikou Era, Kise Ships It, Friendship, Love, Oreshi Akashi, (but Bokushi
is there too)
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2018-01-06 Completed: 2018-01-19 Words: 10,508 Chapters:
3/3
 Perfect Match
by orphan_account

Summary

According to Momoi, Kuroko has a crush on someone on the team. Kise makes it his mission
to find out who it is.
 Kuroko's Secret Crush

Kise was doing okay in school. More than okay, actually. He was a pretty great student. Not
because he stayed up late studying or anything like that. He was doing great because of his
amazing memory and the skill of learning things extremely quickly. The two traits that had
helped him master basketball, the sport he loved so much, but were also very useful when it
came to almost everything. Thanks to his abilities, he usually finished his homework in a
rather short time and could easily recall what the teachers had said that day if it was
necessary. No, he never had much problem when it came to learning.

But, the thing was, he had to write a story. Now that was a little bit tricky. It wasn’t that he
absolutely sucked at writing. He could probably even copy someone’s writing style if he
tried, but that wasn’t enough. He still had absolutely no idea what to write about and how to
keep the plot interesting. Well, being as perfect as he was, there was bound to be something
that he wasn’t good at, so he couldn’t really complain. But still. It was annoying.

Thank God for Momoi. When Kise asked for her help, she immediately agreed to come over
after school, so they could write the story together. He had never been so grateful in his entire
life. Well, more like this month. But, you know, details. The point is, she didn’t leave him in
the time of crisis all by himself and he appreciated that. He even bought her ice-cream on
their way to Kise’s house as a thank you.

Writing the story took them a long time. They argued about the topic, the characters, the plot,
the dialogue and whether to include a bit of romance in the story or not. But finally, they
managed to finish it. Their work brought a pretty good effect. As Kise read what they had
written, he smiled with pride. They did great.

“What do you think, Ki-chan?” asked Momoi when he finished reading.

“I think it’s brilliant! Thank you so much, Momocchi!” he grinned at her cheerfully.

“You’re welcome,” the girl smiled back.

Kise leaned back against the chair he was sitting on and sighed. He wasn’t sure what to do
now.

“I’m bored…” he said out loud, before turning to his friend. “Do you wanna watch a movie?”

“That would be nice,” Momoi nodded.

The choice of the movie wasn’t hard. They both loved tear-jerkers and one of the first movies
that they noticed on the shelf in the living room was Titanic. They looked at each other and
smiled in silent agreement. As Momoi sat down on the couch, Kise turned the TV on. After
the movie started playing, he joined his friend. About halfway through the movie, the pink-
haired girl put her head on his shoulder.
At some point, Kise’s mother came into the living room because she left her newspaper there.
She stopped and looked at them two for a few seconds, before smiling knowingly. Kise
frowned. What was that supposed to mean? Okay, the only girl he had brought home before
was his girlfriend (now ex-girlfriend) and Momoi was leaning on him, so he guessed they
looked sort of couple-y, but still. It was Momoi. Teiko’s basketball team manager, Kise’s
friend, not a girlfriend material. Sure, she was pretty, but Kise simply couldn’t see her that
way. It felt weird to think that his mother probably assumed they were dating.

“I think you’re mother thinks we are together,” Momoi voiced his thoughts.

“Ah, you’re always so observant, Momocchi,” Kise chuckled. “It’s a bit strange that she
thinks so.”

The girl shrugged.

“People usually assume that I’m dating Aomine-kun, so I’m used to it,” she said.

“Eh, it’s still weird. I can’t imagine us being together,” Kise scrunched up his nose.

“Me neither.”

After that, Momoi went quiet. She stared ahead of herself. It seemed like she was lost in
thought. The blonde looked at her curiously. What was going on in her mind right now? Kise
had never been a patient person, but he waited instead of asking, because as sweet as Momoi
was, she was even more terrifying when annoyed.

Eventually, the girl turned to him with a serious expression on her face.

“Ki-chan, can I tell you a secret?” she asked quietly.

“Eh? What secret?” Kise looked at her with interest.

The girl blushed.

“I’m in love with Tetsu-kun,” she said.

Kise furrowed his eyebrows.

“That’s a secret?” he asked.

He had known that Momoi was crazy about their phantom sixth player for some time already.
It was sort of obvious, wasn’t it? The way she would always want to walk home with him and
hug him and try to spend as much time with the teal-haired boy as possible.

“What do you mean?” Momoi seemed to be a little taken aback.

“Well, I have already figured it out,” said Kise. “I can’t blame you though. Kurokocchi really
is amazing, isn’t he?”

“Of course he is!” the girl agreed, before adding quietly. “Do you think he knows?”
Kise hesitated. He was pretty sure that Kuroko had noticed Momoi’s crush on him. However,
he did nothing about it, which meant that he probably wasn’t interested. Momoi was smart,
she would quickly realize that and Kise didn’t want to crush her hopes. But he guessed he
had to be honest, right?

“I think he does,” he said.

Momoi saddened.

“He doesn’t feel the same. He likes someone else, doesn’t he?” she asked quietly.

Now that was something new to Kise. Kurokocchi? Liking someone? Like that? Surely he
would notice, wouldn’t he? But then again, Kuroko always wore the same blank expression
on his face, not allowing anyone to read his emotions.

“Do you have any idea who it is?” asked Kise.

“I have some suspicions,” Momoi said.

“Well, who is it?”

“I won’t tell you! That would be giving away Tetsu-kun’s secrets! I can’t do that, Ki-chan!”
Momoi protested.

Kise sighed heavily and shook his head. Kurokocchi was his dearest friend, surely the boy
wouldn’t mind the blonde knowing his secrets. Why couldn’t Momoi just tell him? Now he
was really curious. The girl was rarely wrong, so there was a strong possibility that the teal-
haired player did, in fact, have a crush on someone, probably a person from their team. But
who?

“Don’t think about it, Ki-chan, just focus on the movie,” said Momoi.

Kise did as he was told.

Kise had been thinking about what Momoi told him. He was thinking about it while falling
asleep, while preparing for school, at lunch, during practice and doing homework. Now, as he
was sitting in Math class, bored, thoughts about their conversation still occupied his mind.
Whoever it was that had stolen Kurokocchi’s heart, he wanted to know. It was most likely
that it was one of them, a member of Generation of Miracles. Their phantom sixth player
didn’t have any friends beside them, did he?

Kise ripped out a page from his notebook and started writing down names of their team’s first
squad. Akashi Seijuurou. Aomine Daiki. Kise Ryouta. Midorima Shintarou. Murasakibara
Atsushi. He stared at the list, before crossing out Midorima’s name. It wouldn’t make much
sense, would it? Those two didn’t seem to get along that well. It was clear that they cared
about each other and treated the other one with respect, but they didn’t really like each other.
The rest of Generation of Miracles was more likely. Akashicchi was the one who discovered
Kurokocchi’s talent and it was thanks to him that the teal-haired boy played on the first
squad. Murasakibaracchi always shared his sweets with Kurokocchi. He, Kise Ryouta, was a
close friend to the sixth player and was additionally incredibly fabulous. Aominecchi was
also a possibility, since Kurokocchi spent so much time with him. Solving that mystery was
harder than Kise thought it would be.

During practice, he tried to pay attention to the others’ interactions with Kuroko. Of course
Aomine was talking to him. They were team’s light and shadow, after all. They passed to
each other a lot. Murasakibara didn’t speak much or look at Kuroko in general. Akashi, as
always, was commenting how everybody was playing. Hm.

He guessed he could probably cross out Murasakibara’s name off the list. The chance that
Kuroko’s mysterious crush was Akashi was also rather small, wasn’t it? Kuroko, even though
always blunt, sometimes almost cruelly, was much different from Akashi, who was strict,
ambitious, focused mainly on winning. Of course the crimson-haired boy was also polite
most of the time and respected them, but there was also something weird about him.
Sometimes, not usually but sometimes, Kise was scared of him. He wasn’t sure why, but in
those rare moments, Akashi seemed somewhat… darker, for some reason. That left Aomine
and himself. But which one was it? Man, finding out Kuroko’s secret was exhausting. Kise
didn’t have the strength or will to continue the investigation right after practice.

However, an idea popped into his mind as he looked at Midorima. The green-haired boy was
a genius, wasn’t he? And Kise didn’t mean a prodigy, a basketball genius, like all of the
members of Teiko’s basketball team’s first squad were, but, like, a brainiac. He was super
smart. He probably had figured everything out before even Momoi did, right? So all Kise
needed to do, was to convince Midorima to tell him. That wasn’t going to be that hard.

Kise changed quickly after the practice. Then, he waited. He didn’t notice Kuroko leaving,
but he never did, so he assumed that the boy had already left. Akashi said something about
having to stay in school for a bit longer. So Kise leaned back against a wall in the hallway,
and watched as Aomine and Murasakibara left. At the end, finally, Midorima emerged from
the changing room.

“Midorimacchi!” Kise called out to him, putting on his perfect smile.

The green-haired boy halted and looked at his teammate, narrowing his eyes. Kise pouted
slightly. Why so suspicious?

“What is it?” Midorima asked.

“How was your day, Midorimacchi?”

“It was fine. Just like the horoscope Oha-Asa predicted, it was an average day, without any
troubles. I also brought my today’s lucky item, so of course it was good,” the boy said. “The
horoscope also said that Cancers should avoid Geminis. And right now, I’m being bothered
by a particularly annoying one.”

“Huh? Annoying!?” Kise gasped. “Midorimacchi, why do you have to be so mean!?”

The green-haired boy ignored him and started walking, heading to the exit. The blonde ran
after him, quickly catching up.

“What do you want, Kise?” Midorima glared at him. “I don’t suppose you’re so interested in
how my day was.”

“I am! Well, it’s not what I really wanted to talk about, but of course I am!” Kise protested.

“Just get to the point.”

“Right. I need your help figuring out who Kurokocchi’s secret crush is,” said the blonde.

Midorima stopped walking and just stared at Kise, blankly. Then, he furrowed his eyebrows,
as if thinking hard.

“Kuroko has got a secret crush? And if he does, how is that my business?” asked Midorima.

“What!? You don’t know, Midorimacchi!?”

“No, I wasn’t aware of that fact. Are you positive that it’s true?”

“Momocchi says so,” Kise shrugged. “I figured it must be someone on our team.”

“Yes, that’s an assumption that makes sense,” Midorima nodded.

“And I figured that it’s not you – “

“Obviously.”

“ – and I don’t think it’s Akashicchi or Murasakibaracchi. Which leaves Aominecchi and
me.”

“I don’t think it’s either of you, but if you’re so sure about this, then it’s Aomine,” said
Midorima.

Kise grinned. He knew that his teammate would have the answer. But wait, how did he
know? Especially after claiming that he didn’t realize that Kuroko fancied someone?

“How are you so certain?” he asked, curiously.

“Well, why would he like you?” Midorima raised an eyebrow.

Kise gasped.

“Midorimacchi, don’t be so cruel to me! For your information, I’m lovable! Just ask my fans!
You know I have them! And they adore me! I’m adorable!” he said.

“Maybe. But Kuroko knows you and your personality,” the green-haired boy pointed out.

“Why do you have to wound me so much!?”

Midorima rolled his eyes.

“If you want to find out so badly, I suggest you tell Kuroko about how you used to have a
crush on him and wait to see his reaction,” he said.

Kise blushed. That was the past. He didn’t want to bring that up.

“But Midorimacchi, I will just embarrass myself!” he whined.

The green-haired boy simply raised his eyebrow once again.

“You embarrass yourself all the time, Kise.”

“Not true!”

The whole thing was still occupying his mind and that was the only reason he lost one-on-one
with Aomine this time. Not that he had ever defeated the other boy, but still. He could feel
that he would win this time if he focused more. Without a doubt. Right? Okay, maybe not.
But Aomine was just too freaking cool and awesome. But that was the reason Kise admired
him and joined the team. Because he had finally found someone who he couldn’t surpass,
who he couldn’t even copy. As frustrating as it was, it gave him something to look forward.

Anyway, Aomine noticed the lack of focus as well.

“What’s up with you today, huh?” he asked, drinking from a bottle of water.

“I just have a lot on my mind, Aominecchi, but don’t worry about me!” said Kise.

The boy shrugged.

“Whatever. I need to find Tetsu. He promised Satsuki during lunch that he would walk home
with us today and now he’s wandered off to somewhere.”

Kise froze. Wait. He wanted to realize Midorima’s plan today. He didn’t like it, but it was for
the greater good. However, he couldn’t do it in front of Aomine and Momoi. That would
make it even more embarrassing. But, their houses were closer to school that Kise’s or
Kuroko’s. So maybe he could realize the plan afterwards. Plus, he would have the chance to
watch the interaction between Aomine and Kuroko closely.

“Great! Can I walk with you too?”

“Sure,” Aomine shrugged.

They found the other two outside of the school building, on a bench, where Kuroko was
sitting with a vanilla milkshake and Momoi was practically glued to his side, talking
excitedly about something. As Kise and Aomine approached them, the girl looked a bit
surprised at the sight of the blonde, but happy nonetheless. Kuroko nodded his head in
acknowledgement of his presence.

“You’re walking with us?” Momoi asked, cheerfully.

“He is,” confirmed Aomine, before looking at Kuroko. “Oi, Tetsu, where did you get a
milkshake from?”

“Akashi-kun bought me one while Momoi-san and I were waiting for you,” the teal-haired
boy answered.

“Eh? Why do I never get any gifts from Akashicchi?” Kise asked.

“He bought you a milkshake but he didn’t buy anything for Satsuki?” Aomine frowned.

“No, he did. He bought me hot chocolate, but I’ve already finished it,” said Momoi.

Aomine seemed to relax. Kise smiled as Kuroko and Momoi got up from where they were
sitting on the bench. It was touching how Aomine seemed angry at the thought that someone
forgot about the pink-haired girl. Having a childhood best friend had to be so cool. But then
again, they all cared about Momoi deeply, not just Aomine.

“Who won the one-on-one today?” Momoi asked as they were walking along the sidewalk.

“Who do you think won?” Aomine asked, grinning. “Kise can try, but he can’t defeat me.”

“I just wasn’t focused today,” Kise pouted.

“Right. You have a lot on your mind, I forgot. Do you always forget to focus when you lose?
Because that would be every day,” the boy said.

Kise huffed as Aomine laughed. Then, Momoi started telling them about the next team they
would play. Apparently, their opponents were one of the best. Good. It was only interesting
when you played someone strong. He loved strong rivals. His friends seemed enthusiastic
about it as well.

Finally, they reached Momoi’s house and then Aomine’s. Now was the time for Kise to
continue his investigation.

“Ah, it was an exhausting day, wasn’t it, Kurokocchi?” he spoke up.

“I don’t feel that tired,” the boy replied.

“Right, you’re not the one who played one-on-one with Aominecchi.”

“I used to. I lost every time,” said Kuroko.

“Of course you did, you’re awful at shooting and running and… well, pretty much everything
except for passing,” said Kise. “But you’re still awesome, Kurokocchi, so don’t worry! We
wouldn’t win every single match if it weren’t for you.”
“That’s not true. But thank you, Kise-kun,” Kuroko smiled slightly.

“I’m just saying what I think! I really admire you, Kurokocchi. I even used to have a crush on
you, though I don’t anymore,” said Kise.

Midorima told him to watch Kuroko’s reaction. Well, that wasn’t very helpful when the boy
had the same blank expression all the time.

“I know. You followed me everywhere back then, it was very annoying,” Kuroko told him
bluntly.

“Eh? What do you mean it was annoying!? Everyone is so cruel to me lately!” Kise
complained.

The teal-haired boy didn’t respond. The blonde sighed heavily. What was it, ‘Insult Kise
Day’? He wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out that his teammates actually established such a
day. Aomine was most likely to come up with an idea like that.

“You don’t annoy me anymore though. You’re my friend now, Kise-kun,” Kuroko said after a
while.

“I would hope so! You’re my best friend too, Kurokocchi!” Kise grinned at him, cheered up a
bit.

“I didn’t say anything about you being my best friend,” Kuroko protested.

Kise pouted.

As hurt as Kise felt, since everyone was being so mean to him, the next day he was back to
his usual cheerful mood. At school he was greeted by one of his fans who gave him
chocolates. How nice of her. Finally someone who appreciated him. Another good thing was
that his investigation was going better. From their conversation yesterday, Kise concluded
that he couldn’t be the person who Kuroko had a crush on. Which left Aomine. That made
sense, didn’t it? The two had always been close. But for some reason, he wasn’t that certain
whether he was right or not. Maybe he should ask Momoi later.

By the time he strolled into the school cafeteria during lunch, the rest of the Generation of
Miracles and their manager were already there. Murasakibara was eating chips, looking
generally bored. Momoi was attempting to calm down Aomine and Midorima, who seemed
to be fighting. Akashi was talking with Kuroko, trying to tune out the argument happening at
the table.

“ – ridiculous. I don’t even know why I’m having this discussion with you. You still haven’t
apologized for stealing my lunch,” Midorima was saying, angrily.

“I didn’t steal your lunch, idiot, I just took some food!”

Kise joined the group at the table, sitting on an empty chair between Murasakibara and
Akashi.

“That equals stealing! The horoscope warned me to – “

“Why are you so obsessed with some dumb horoscope?” Aomine asked, annoyed.

“Dumb!? It’s not dumb, you – “

“Aomine, Midorima, please cut it out,” Akashi interrupted them.

The two fell silent.

“Yes, captain,” said Midorima, while Aomine rolled his eyes.

Kise decided to chime in. After all, those were his friends fighting.

“Look, Midorimacchi, I know that Aominecchi can be rather irritating with the whole
stealing our food thing – “

“What did you say?” Aomine glared at him.

“ – but sharing is caring, right?”

Midorima huffed in annoyance, while Aomine snorted.

“Just because I care for you, it doesn’t mean that I have to – “

The green-haired boy was interrupted by Momoi’s squeal. Kise also smiled widely. Aomine
just snorted again, Murasakibara kept eating chips, Akashi looked amused and Kuroko had
the same blank expression as always.

“Midorin, it’s so sweet of you to say that you care for us!” said Momoi.

Midorima paled.

“What? No, I didn’t mean – “

“It’s good to know that you care for the team,” deadpanned Kuroko.

“Aw, Midorimacchi, I’ve always known that deep inside, you had a huge heart and that you
love all of us!” said Kise.

Midorima glared at them.

“I meant that you are my teammates. Of course I care about you, after all thanks to each one
of you being on the team, we win every game. But don’t think I’m attached to you or
anything.”

“Midorima, you don’t have to be ashamed. We’re glad that we mean so much to you,” Akashi
said, a hint of an amused smile on his face.
The green-haired boy huffed and settled on ignoring them. Kise giggled. Did Midorimacchi
think he was kidding anyone? Of course he cared. They all cared. They were a team after all.
Yes, they were rivals as well, but they were friends. And that was all that mattered, right?

“I’m glad we’re a team,” Kuroko spoke up suddenly.

All heads turned to the phantom sixth player.

“Tetsu…” Momoi whispered.

“Kurokocchi…” Kise felt tears welling up in his eyes.

Akashi smiled.

“I’m glad you think so, Kuroko,” he said.

“Of course, Akashi-kun.”

There was something in the way Kuroko looked at the captain and said his name. Usually,
Kise wasn’t able to read his teammate, but right now, there was no mistaking that there was a
hint of fondness both in the boy’s eyes and his voice. He did get along with Akashi rather
well, didn’t he? Kuroko held the crimson-haired boy’s gaze, smiling slightly.

Oh. Oh. Of course. How could Kise not notice before? It wasn’t Aomine who was Kuroko’s
secret crush. No. The mysterious person was the one who Kuroko was staring at right now,
looking happy.
 Something's Wrong With Akashi

“I’m hanging up now.”

“No, wait! Midorimacchi, you have to listen to me!”

After Kise’s realization during lunch, he decided that he needed to call Midorima after school
and talk to him. He would know whether Kise was right or wrong. But, the boy didn’t seem
to want to listen to what he had to say.

“I’m not interested in Kuroko’s love life, Kise,” Midorima replied.

“But I’ve figured it out!”

“So you’ve come to the same conclusion as I have, that it’s not you?”

“Yes! But it’s not Aominecchi either!”

“Really?” asked Midorima, not sounding surprised at all.

“Really! I don’t know how I haven’t noticed before, it’s so obvious! Kurokocchi… he likes
Akashicchi!” Kise finished in a hushed voice.

He was met with silence. Kise frowned and glanced at the screen of his phone to see if
Midorima didn’t hang up. He didn’t. So maybe he didn’t expect it either and was now
speechless. Huh. There still were things that could surprise him. Interesting.

“That… that sounds ridiculous… but it’s actually possible,” Midorima said hesitantly.

“So you agree with me!?”

“I’m saying that your theory isn’t impossible, I’m not agreeing with you.”

“But it makes sense, right!?”

“I… yes, it does.”

“They are both the shortest on the team! Wouldn’t they be adorable together?” Kise squealed.

“… I was going to say that it makes sense because Akashi was the one who discovered
Kuroko’s talent and Kuroko does seem to be fond of him. I think they’ve eaten lunch together
on the roof once.”

“They what!? Why didn’t I know? I need to know everything! Do you think they’re secretly
dating!?”

Midorima hung up. Kise frowned. He sighed and put the phone back in his pocket, before
lying down on the couch and turning the TV on. He rested his head on a pillow and yawned.
He wondered if Momoi would tell him the truth if he asked her if Akashi was the person who
Kuroko had a crush on. He grabbed his phone once again and dialed her number. She didn’t
answer. Damn it.

He yawned again and buried his face in the pillow. He was tired. He wanted to sleep. But the
situation he found himself in didn’t let him rest. He shouldn’t get so involved in this. It
wasn’t really his business. But Kurokocchi was his friend and if he had a crush on their
captain, then Kise wanted to help him.

Soon, he drifted off to sleep.

The next day, he went around the school looking for Momoi. He needed to talk to her, but she
was nowhere to be found. Kise thought that he would be able to catch her in the cafeteria, but
she didn’t appear at lunch. It was a bit concerning. He wasn’t the only one who seemed to
think so.

“Oi, have you guys seen Satsuki today?” asked Aomine, while stuffing his mouth with
chocolate.

The rest of the Generation of Miracles shook their heads. Kise frowned. Where was she?
Especially now, that he knew Kuroko’s secret. They needed to discuss it and make a plan to
find out if Akashi returned the teal-haired boy’s feelings.

When he did find Momoi, he froze. She was crying. The classes had finished and he was
about to go home, when he noticed her outside of the school building, sitting under a tree,
hiding her face in her hands and sobbing. Kise stared at her, confused and angry. Why was
she crying? Did someone upset her? He clenched his fists and quickly started walking in the
tree’s direction. A few girls tried to stop him on the way, wanting to talk to him, but that one
time, he waved them off, focusing on his friend instead.

He sat down on the ground next to her. She didn’t seem to notice him. Kise hesitantly reached
out and put a hand on the girl’s shoulder. She flinched.

“What’s wrong, Momocchi?” he asked.

Momoi turned to him, blinking. Tears were streaming down her face. Her big pink eyes
looked so sad. Kise felt his heart aching. He hated it when his friends were hurt.

“Ki-chan?” the girl choked out quietly.

“Did something happen?” Kise asked.

Momoi sniffled. The next thing he knew, she was in the his arms, sobbing into his shoulder.
Kise hugged her, frowning. Why wasn’t she telling him what was wrong? He stroked her
back, trying to calm her down.

“Hey, Momocchi, what made you so sad today?” he asked softly.

“Ki-chan… do you… do you think I’m… shallow?” asked Momoi quietly.

The blonde boy blinked, surprised.

“What? Did someone call you shallow? Who?” he frowned, angry.

“I’m… I’m not sure what was her name. It was a girl from my class… she… she said t-that I
was shallow a-and that all there i-is to me is m-my looks and – “ Momoi didn’t finish because
she started crying again.

Kise hugged her tighter, feeling furious.

“A-and she said t-that I… that I only b-became the manager b-because I wanted to get closer
to the young geniuses a-and that I don’t… deserve to… be Ki-chan’s friend,” the girl sobbed.

“So it was one of my fans, eh? Do you remember how she looked like, Momocchi? I won’t
ever speak to her again. That’s ridiculous. You’re not shallow. And you love basketball, that’s
why you became our manager,” said Kise angrily.

Momoi was silent for a moment. Kise waited as she tried to calm her breathing. When she
did, she looked up at him again.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Kise gave her a warm smile.

“There’s nothing to thank me for, I only told you the truth.”

The girl smiled back.

“Also, Aomineccchi was looking for you,” added Kise.

Momoi grabbed her bag and got up on her feet.

“Well, I’ll be going then,” she said.

“Wait!” Kise stopped her.

Maybe it wasn’t the best time, she had been crying just a minute ago, but he needed to ask.

“What is it?”

“Is it Akashicchi? The person who Kurokocchi likes, I mean,” he asked.

“That’s what I think,” Momoi confirmed.

So he was right. Who would have thought?

It was a bit strange, knowing that Kuroko liked Akashi. Being aware of that fact, Kise
couldn’t help but to start noticing things. Like that their captain was almost always the first
one to notice the teal-haired boy’s presence. Or that when Kuroko’s blank expression
changed slightly, it was usually because of Akashi. Or how Akashi’s eyes were fixed on the
phantom sixth player more than on the others during practice. Or that the crimson-haired boy
received most smiles from Kuroko. Kise started wondering if Kuroko’s feelings for Akashi
were mutual. They probably were, weren’t they?

Those two appeared at lunch together. Before, Kise would had simply ignore it. After all,
how many times had he walked to the cafeteria with either Midorima or Aomine? But now,
he started reading into his teammates’ actions.

“Hello, everyone,” Akashi greeted the Generation of Miracles politely.

“Hello,” added Kuroko.

The others nodded as a greeting. Kuroko took a seat beside Kise, while Akashi sat between
Midorima and Momoi. Sitting away from each other? Kise frowned.

“What’s with the sudden change of mood, Kise?” Damn Aomine and how he noticed the
change in the blonde’s expression. “Are you so upset that Akashi joined us?”

Akashi raised an eyebrow.

“Eh? Of course not! I’m always happy to see both Akashicchi and Kurokocchi!” said Kise.

And as the group fell into an easy conversation, he spaced out a bit, thinking. He suspected
that Akashi returned Kuroko’s feelings, but he needed to be sure. The same went for
Kuroko’s feelings for Akashi. Also needed confirmation. But how was he going to get them
to talk about it? Especially considering that none of them had said a word so far.

“Oi, Kise, you listening?” he was snapped out of his thoughts by Aomine’s voice.

“Sorry, I zoned out,” Kise gave him an apologetic smile, while scratching the back of his
neck.

Aomine rolled his eyes.

“Satsuki suggested that we all go to the movies after school or something,” he said. “You in?”

“Everyone is coming?” asked Kise.

“Satsuki, I, Akashi and Kuroko. Midorima and Murasakibara apparently have more important
things to do,” the dark blue-haired boy said.

Akashi and Kuroko were going as well? Maybe that was an opportunity to get a better look at
their interactions. Maybe it could even be arranged that those two would sit next to each
other.

“Sure,” he said.
Momoi smiled widely.

“Great! I want to sit between Aomine-kun and Tetsu!”

Please, Momocchi, don’t ruin my plan.

“Then Akashicchi can sit on Kurokocchi’s other side and I will sit next to Akashicchi,” said
Kise quickly.

He got a few weird looks, but thankfully, no one had any problem with his decision. Good.
Going to the movies was what they needed. They should choose a scary movie. Then,
Kuroko would get scared and maybe Akashi could hold his hand. Or something like that.
Okay, it probably wouldn’t happen, but who knows, right?

Someone tapped his shoulder. It was Kuroko.

“Eh?” Kise turned to the teal-haired boy.

“You’re zoning out again, Kise-kun. Is something wrong?” he asked.

“Nah, don’t worry Kurokocchi. Everything is awesome!” Kise said, flashing him his perfect
smile that he had learnt at the beginning of his modeling career.

But the phantom sixth player had to know that something was up, and so did the rest, because
they all knew Kise well enough to tell that his smile wasn’t genuine and that something
suspicious was going on. Eh, let them think what they want, Kise thought, I need to focus on
my plan.

“Oi, Kise, you’re doing it again. Seriously, what’s wrong?” this time it was Aomine who
asked.

“Aw, Aominecchi, is that concern I hear in your voice?” Kise batted his eyelashes at his
friend.

“It’s not, idiot,” Aomine rolled his eyes.

Kise gave him a cheeky grin, before glancing at Kuroko, who was still looking at Akashi.
Someone really needed to do something about it.

Kise convinced the others to go see a horror movie. Unfortunately, he had forgotten just how
scared he usually got watching them. His plan wasn’t really working out. Kuroko wasn’t able
to focus on Akashi, because he was busy comforting Momoi, who was holding his hand
tightly, burying her head in the crook of the teal-haired boy’s neck whenever the movie got
too frightening. Aomine was constantly rolling his eyes, making comments like ‘Satsuki, stop
clinging onto Tetsu, it’s not that scary’ or ‘Just get a room you two’. He definitely wasn’t
helping. Akashi also couldn’t focus on Kuroko because, of what Kise was deeply ashamed of,
the blonde himself needed support during the movie and was gripping the crimson-haired
boy’s shoulder, repeating over and over ‘Akashicchi, how can you be so calm!? It’s so
scary!’.

“Kise, could you let go of my shoulder?” Akashi glanced at him, seeming a bit annoyed.

“S-sure,” whispered Kise, trembling with fear.

“You do realize that it’s not really happening?”

“Y-yeah.”

Momoi had the exact same problem. Now, she was holding Aomine’s hand too, seeming torn
whether to seek comfort in her best friend or Kuroko.

“Calm down, Satsuki, I’m trying to watch the movie,” Aomine muttered.

“But… it’s terrifying,” the girl whispered.

“Don’t worry, Momoi-san, I’ll buy you ice-cream later,” Kuroko offered politely.

Momoi turned to look at Kuroko with happy wide eyes.

“Really?”

The boy just nodded.

“Tetsu-kun! You’re my hero!”

And Kise could swear that Akashi looked irritated all of sudden. He couldn’t had just
imagined that. He knew he didn’t.

“There’s no need for that, Kuroko. I will buy ice-cream for the both of you,” Akashi spoke
up.

“Oi! I want ice-cream too!” shouted Aomine.

“Me too!” added Kise.

The people sitting behind them shushed them.

“I’ll buy ice-cream for all of you, but be quiet now,” Akashi said.

They listened. But, of course, Kise shrieked in terror barely two minutes later.

Once the movie ended, it was a relief for all of them. Kise quickly excused himself, saying
that he needed to go to the bathroom. Instead, he took his phone out of his pocket and dialed
Midorima’s number. The green-haired boy pretended not to care, but well, it was Midorima,
he only acted like that. Kise was sure that he was probably dying to know the details.

“What is it?”
“Midorimacchi! I’m calling to tell you how my plan worked out.”

“Let me guess. They still aren’t together, nothing has changed.”

“Well… yes.”

“It went terribly, didn’t it?”

“Midorimacchi! Don’t say it like that!”

“So I suppose it didn’t go terribly, then?”

“No, it did. Momoi was clinging onto Kuroko through the whole movie and I forgot I was
afraid of scary movies as well and suffered in silence.”

“You were clinging onto Akashi.”

“How did you know!?”

“There’s no way you ‘suffered in silence’. You always cry when you’re scared and you start
panicking.”

“Don’t be mean, Midorimacchi,” Kise pouted. “Anyway, I have to finish the call, I told the
others that I’m going to the bathroom.”

No response. Kise glanced at the screen. The other boy had already hung up. The blonde
sighed and went back to his friends, putting on his perfect smile. They were waiting by an
ice-cream parlor, already eating. He frowned. Couldn’t they wait? But then, he noticed
Momoi holding another ice-cream, which was untouched. Was that for him?

Just like he suspected, the girl handed out the dessert for him to take it.

“Thanks, Momocchi,” he grinned at her. “How did you like the movie?”

“It was scary,” the girl shuddered.

“I couldn’t watch it in peace because of you two,” Aomine huffed.

“It wasn’t interesting anyway,” Kuroko shrugged.

“Perhaps you shouldn’t suggest a movie that you’re afraid of the next time, Kise,” said
Akashi.

“I wasn’t afraid!” the blonde protested.

The crimson-haired boy raised an eyebrow.

“Are you trying to say that you were shrieking and grabbing my shoulder in random
moments for no reason?”
Momoi giggled and Aomine snorted, while Kise pouted once again. His friends indeed were
very mean to him. Only Kuroko kept his expression blank.

“Fine, so maybe I was a little scared,” admitted Kise.

“Man, you were even more terrified than Satsuki was,” said Aomine, grinning.

“I was not!” Kise protested.

“Were too!”

“Was not!”

“Were too!”

“How about you two stop arguing and we call it a day?” Akashi interrupted them.

“Yes, captain.”

“Kurokocchi, do you like Akashicchi?”

They were getting milkshakes, and Kise decided that there was no point in guessing and he
should just ask Kuroko if he had feelings for their captain or not. Surely, he would tell him
the truth, right? So there he was, waiting for his chocolate milkshake and Kuroko’s vanilla
one, but more importantly, waiting for the boy’s response.

“Of course I do. Akashi-kun is a very good friend,” said Kuroko.

Kise sighed.

“No, I mean do you like him romantically?”

Silence. Kuroko blinked. Then he blinked twice. Then their milkshakes were ready and he
went to get them, leaving Kise without an answer. When he came back, the blonde boy
looked at him expectantly.

“So?”

“What is it, Kise-kun?”

“I asked you a question.”

“I’m aware of that,” said Kuroko.

“Well? Do you like Akashicchi?”

Another moment of silence.

“I do.”

Oh. That wasn’t so hard to get out of him. Maybe Kise should had started his investigation by
asking Kuroko about it straight away. It would probably save him a lot of time.

“Are you going to tell him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Why didn’t you when you used to have a crush on me?”

Kise didn’t have an answer to that question.

He was playing one-on-one with Aomine and, again, he couldn’t focus. Now that he had a
confirmation that he was right about Kuroko’s feelings for Akashi, he needed to find out if
Akashi returned said feelings. Now, he couldn’t just approach the captain and simply ask
about it. The crimson-haired boy would probably deny it or pretend not to understand the
question. Besides, Kise didn’t want to upset him by asking personal things. No, he needed to
think about it carefully. Maybe he should openly hit on Kuroko in front of Akashi and see
how the crimson-haired boy reacted? Or ask Aomine to do it, to be safer. But that would
mean explaining his plan to Aomine. No, he would do it on his own. For the greater good.

“You seem off again, Kise. It’s like you want to lose or something,” Aomine complained.

“Sorry, Aominecchi. Got lots of things on my mind.”

“Again?”

“What can I say? I’m a busy person.”

The first opportunity to try seeing if Akashi would get jealous happened after practice. The
three of them were the only ones left in the changing room, the rest having gone home
already. Kise mentally prepared himself for it, before saying the first nice thing that came to
his mind.

“Wow, Kurokocchi, even after practice when you’re all sweaty, you still smell nice!”

Wait. That wasn’t a good thing to say. Sure, it was a compliment, but a weird one. Especially
that Kuroko didn’t really have a scent, just like he lacked of presence. As expected, he got
funny looks from both of his teammates, though, he liked to believe, the one from Akashi
was also a one of annoyance.

“I thought I didn’t had a scent,” Kuroko pointed out.

Damn it.
“You don’t, Kuroko,” Akashi assured him. “Kise is acting weird again.”

“I’m not! I’m just saying the truth! Maybe Kurokocchi doesn’t have a scent, but if he did, I
bet he’d smell like roses!”

“What makes you think that?” asked Akashi, his voice a bit off.

“Well, isn’t everything about Kurokocchi amazing? He’s special! He’s our phantom sixth
player! And just look at him, isn’t he the prettiest?”

Okay, so Kise was probably now walking on thin ice and he really didn’t like how Kuroko
was staring at him judgingly as if wondering whether the blonde had gone mad or not, but it
was working, because it was clear now by looking at Akashi’s face, that their captain didn’t
like Kise gushing about the teal-haired boy.

“Kurokocchi’s voice is nice as well! Sort of like birds singing or – “

“Kise, enough,” Akashi snapped. “Kuroko is most likely weirded out right now. So stop.”

Ah, there it was. Jealousy. Kise would be extremely proud of himself, if it wasn’t for the fact
that Akashi looked as if he was ready to kill him. It was one of those moments when his
teammate seemed so hostile and strange, as if he was a different person. It passed quickly
though, and just a few seconds later, the captain seemed to have calmed down. Good.

“Sorry,” said Kise.

Akashi ignored him, instead turning to Kuroko.

“Do you want me to buy you a milkshake?”

“You don’t have to, Akashi-kun.”

“But I want to.”

“I have my own money.”

“Yes, but I have more,” Akashi tried to reason with Kuroko.

Despite still being a little scared, Kise smiled. Ah, young love. Such a beautiful thing.

“ – and he seemed like an entirely different person! But just a moment later he offered
Kurokocchi to buy him a milkshake.”

“Hold on. Can you repeat that?”

“He offered Kurokocchi to buy him a milkshake. I know, it’s sweet!”

“No. The other part.”

“What? That he seemed like an entirely different person?”

“What if… Kise, how about you try to walk him home and while the two of you are alone, you
start gushing about Kuroko again?”

“Why would I do that? I think I’ve already established that Akashicchi is jealous when I
show Kurokocchi my affection.”

“No. You can’t be sure. I strongly suggest you follow my plan. I’m not wrong, Kise. You need
to be certain.”

“I guess you’re right. I knew you were in fact interested in the others’ love lives!”

“… Yes. That’s exactly what I’m curious about.”

“Akashicchi! Let me walk you home!”

They were after practice again and Akashi was the last one to leave the changing room. Kise
was waiting for him. Midorima was smart. If he was convinced that his plan was going to
work, then it was. At least, he hoped so. Maybe there was a bit of doubt at the back of Kise’s
mind.

“Why?” Akashi asked, confused.

“I’m bored and we rarely hang out together!” said Kise.

Akashi was quiet for a moment.

“Okay,” he decided.

“Great!” Kise smiled at him.

They gathered their things and headed to the exit. They walked in comfortable silence. They
were never really close, so they felt no need to talk. Kise would probably be fine with that, he
didn’t shut up all day anyway, but he needed to speak this one time. It was the only way to
find out if his assumption was correct.

“So, you got pretty angry at me when I started talking about how nice Kurokocchi smells,”
said Kise, not sure how to start the conversation. “Why?”

Akashi glanced at him.

“It was strange of you to say those things.”

“Nah. Kurokocchi deserves to be praised,” Kise said.

He didn’t want to upset Akashi, but that was part of the plan. Why did life have to be so
hard?

“I’m sure Kuroko knows how much we appreciate him,” Akashi said coolly.

“But of course I appreciate him the most!” Kise insisted.

Yes, he was definitely walking on thin ice.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah! He’s my favorite person! And I think I’m his favorite person as well! He probably
likes me even more than Aominecchi. Probably much more than he likes any of you,” Kise
grinned, trying to make it look genuine.

Akashi stopped. Kise felt cold. His captain slowly turned to look at him, and the blonde
froze. He recognized the aura surrounding the crimson-haired boy. That dark, unfamiliar aura
he had felt a few times before. But now, it was a bit different. It was stronger. And his eyes –
Kise gasped. One of Akashi’s eyes turned golden. It was terrifying. The way the captain
stood, the way he looked at Kise as if he was just a mere insect, it truly scared the heck out of
him.

“Be silent, peasant.”

What? Akashi had always been somewhat scary, but he had never been so… dramatic and
insulting. That was… that wasn’t Akashi.

“What?” Kise choked out.

“You shall stay away from Tetsuya, do you understand, Ryouta?”

Tetsuya? Ryouta?

“You shall obey my orders, for my orders are absolute. If you oppose me, you will pay. But
you won’t try that, will you?” whoever it was in front of him, looked him in the eyes, and
Kise felt his knees failing him and soon he fell back, hitting the sidewalk underneath him.

“Akashicchi…” Kise whispered.

“Goodbye, Ryouta. Remember to leave Tetsuya alone.”

Kise wasn’t going to lie, he totally freaked out. After his conversation with Akashi, he ran
home as fast as he could, before shutting himself in his bedroom and being quiet for the rest
of the day. He even cried. He was terrified. The person he talked to, whoever that was,
seemed to know him, but it wasn’t Akashi. It couldn’t be. And what was with his eye turning
golden? No, it was definitely too much for Kise.
Which was why now, at school, he was doing his best to avoid Akashi. He would have to talk
to him eventually, but it was going to be awkward as heck, so it was better to procrastinate it.
Kise didn’t show up at lunch and was already thinking about some excuse to skip practice
that day. He was a genius, it wouldn’t do much bad if he skipped once, right?

“Psst, Midorimacchi!” he called out.

The green-haired boy stopped in his tracks and looked around. When he noticed Kise, he
frowned, but nonetheless walked over to him.

“What are you doing, Kise?” he asked.

“Hiding from Akashicchi,” the blonde said in a hushed voice.

“Why are you – “

“Midorimacchi, I did as you said. And there is something wrong with our captain.”

Midorima’s frown deepened.

“What happened?”

And so, Kise told him everything. How he and Akashi were walking and everything was fine,
but then he the crimson-haired boy got annoyed when Kise started talking about Kuroko, and
then… well, he wasn’t sure what exactly happened. One second he was talking with
Akashicchi, and the next… he wasn’t. The person who threatened him was someone else. He
was sure of it.

Midorima listened. And for once, he didn’t interrupt him, he didn’t comment until he was
finished, he didn’t scoff, roll his eyes, or call Kise stupid. No, he kept his face serious. He
focused fully on the story, as if it was finally something he deemed important. And when the
blonde ended telling him what happened, he was quiet.

“So, what do you think, Midorimacchi?” Kise asked.

“I agree.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes. Akashi… I don’t think Akashi is one person. There is, in fact, someone else inside him.
I have suspected it for a while, but wasn’t sure whether to believe it… I didn’t know if I
wanted to believe it. But, I guess, we can be certain now,” the green-haired boy said.

“So there are two Akashis…” Kise whispered.

“Yes. There are.”

“Akashicchi?”

Akashi froze. Kise watched the crimson-haired boy tense up at the sound of his voice.
Slowly, the captain of Teiko’s basketball team turned around, facing him. Both of his eyes
were red. Good. So it was the Akashi he knew. Still, Kise couldn’t help but to feel uneasy.

“Hello, Kise.”

“Akashicchi… about yesterday – “

“Ah, yes. I do apologize for my behavior. I was… it was a bad, exhausting day and I was…
stressed. Of course that doesn’t excuse the way I talked to you, with no respect, but I hope
you’ll understand. I can assure you, that it will not happen again,” said Akashi, giving him a
polite smile.

Kise stared at his teammate. Why was he pretending that everything was normal?

“Akashicchi, please tell me, what did happen?” he asked.

“I’m not sure I understand what you are asking. I was rather harsh towards you, that’s all that
happened,” said Akashi.

No. It wasn’t.

“You were different.”

“I suppose it may have seemed like it, since – “

“Who was I talking to yesterday? Was it… was it really you?” asked Kise quietly.

Akashi tensed up even more.

“I… of course it was,” he said.

“But it wasn’t… this you,” Kise protested. “That was a completely different person,
Akashicchi. Is there… is there two of you?”

A short silence followed his question. Akashi simply stared back at him for a few long
moments. Then, the crimson-haired boy sighed heavily, looking resigned.

“There have been two of us for a long time. The other personality tends to affect my actions
sometime, but… we don’t switch too often. Although it happened yesterday,” he replied.

Kise wondered what it had to be like. To have two separate personalities inside you. Two
different people, and still the same person at once. It must have been weird. Strange. Did they
talk to each other inside Akashi’s mind? Also weird.

“Does anyone know?” asked Kise.

“No, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone,” said Akashi firmly. “Anyway, I
must get going now. Goodbye, Kise.”

The blonde boy watched him walk past him, heading for his next class. However, before the
captain could disappear, Kise spoke once again.

“Akashicchi?”

“Yes?”

“If you told the team about your… personality split… they would understand. They would
support you. We’re your friends, you do realize that, right?”

He could swear he saw a small smile on Akashi’s face.

“Yes.”
 Everything Works Out In The End

Convincing Momoi’s parents to let Kise stay for a sleepover was hard, but eventually they
agreed. It took a lot of repeating that the two of them were just friends and that their
relationship was purely platonic, Momoi promising that Kise would sleep at the opposite side
of the room, and the blonde lying about being in a happy relationship with some girl from
school. Finally, they succeeded. Which was why now Kise was telling the girl about his latest
photoshoot while braiding her hair. Momoi was listening with interest. It was nice to have
someone who was actually happy to hear about his modeling career. Of course everyone on
the team was great, but there were many things they didn’t agree on and arguments among
them occurred quite often. But with Momoi, it was easy to find something they were both
interested in. She was almost always eager to go shopping together or help him dress for a
date. Also, now they had a new important matter to discuss. Namely, what to do about Akashi
and Kuroko. Kise was still waiting for the captain to tell the whole team about his personality
split, but he needed to plan ahead what to do afterwards. His matchmaking mission was not
over yet.

“Momocchi, do you mind if we talk about Kurokocchi and Akashicchi for a bit?” Kise
changed the topic.

He looked at the girl somewhat warily. After all, even though she had come to terms with the
fact that Kuroko liked Akashi, she was still in love with the teal-haired boy. She was the best
person to scheme with, but Kise didn’t want her to feel hurt.

“Yes, Ki-chan, don’t worry. Of course I’m sad that Tetsu-kun doesn’t return my feelings, but
most of all I want him to be happy,” she said with a sad smile.

“Ah, you really are a great person,” said Kise.

Momoi giggled happily.

“Thanks, Ki-chan! That’s nice of you to say that!”

“I’m just saying the truth. Now, back to Kurokocchi and Akashicchi. What do you think we
should do about – “

He was cut off by the door swinging open suddenly. Aomine, looking rather gruff and bored,
walked into the room leisurely, shutting the door behind him.

“Oi, Satsuki, do you – wait. What the hell is Kise doing here?” the boy asked, noticing the
blonde.

“It’s great to see you too, Aominecchi!” Kise called out. “Did you miss me?”

“We’ve literally seen each other, like, two hours ago,” Aomine muttered. “Anyway, what are
you doing here?”
“We’re having a sleepover,” explained Momoi.

“Yeah! We’re going to watch Glee and eat ice-cream after we figure out how to get
Kurokocchi and Akashicchi to confess their feelings for each other,” added Kise without
thinking.

Aomine stared at him, while Momoi let out an exasperated sigh. Then, Aomine gaped some
more. After a long, long while, he blinked in confusion and slowly moved to sit down beside
the two of them.

“You’re going to watch Glee and eat ice-cream after you what?”

Right. He didn’t know about Kuroko’s crush on their captain. So, the next few minutes were
spent on Momoi and Kise filling Aomine in on the details. It was clear that he was shocked
and it was all new to him, but eventually, he started seeing that it made sense.

“But why do you want them together. Aren’t you head over heels for Tetsu, Satsuki?” asked
Aomine, glancing at his best friend.

“I am, but I if he can’t return my feelings, then I still want him to be happy and find someone
who loves him!” the girl said.

“Huh. So, what’s the plan?”

“We were about to discuss that when you showed up.”

“So, there’s no plan?”

Both Kise and Momoi shook their heads. Aomine frowned.

“Well, we need to come up with one,” he said, stating the obvious.

“Yes, we know that,” said Momoi.

“How about we trap them in the locker room after practice?”

Kise’s eyes widened in horror.

“Aominecchi, we don’t want to die. If we trap them in the locker room, the only thing it’ll do
is make Akashicchi and Kurokocchi angry. I suggest we trick them into confessing to each
other while playing truth or dare.”

“I don’t think they’ll agree to play,” Momoi pointed out. “Maybe one of us should get
Akashi-kun to admit his feelings for Tetsu-kun and record it.”

“Nah, I don’t think Akashicchi will fall for that. He’s scarily smart and observant.”

They exchanged a few more different ideas. None of them were good though. The best one
was probably the idea to promise Kuroko to buy him a vanilla milkshake every day for the
rest of the month if he confessed to Akashi. Unfortunately, they weren’t very eager to spend
their money on that.

“I think it’s all too complicated,” said Aomine. “Why don’t we try something much more
simple?”

Kise was walking leisurely behind Midorima, listening to the green-haired boy go on about
how foolish Kise was for not getting his lucky item for today, especially that the horoscope
predicted it to be tough for Geminis.

“Aw, I knew that you cared, Midorimacchi.”

“That’s a false assumption. You’re a valuable player, I simply don’t think it would be good if
you died today,” said Midorima.

Kise laughed. He was sure that deep down, Midorima cared for all of them. They were
friends after all. A team. Or maybe rather something like family. They had some
disagreements. They constantly got into fights. He wasn’t sure what the future held. Maybe
they would grow apart. Stop being a team. But in the end, they would still help each other
when it mattered the most, right? At least that’s what he wanted to believe.

“Ryouta. Shintarou.”

Both of them turned around slowly. In front of them was standing Akashi, one of his eyes
golden, his face expressing superiority. Even though he was shorter than Kise and Midorima,
it felt as if he was looking down on them.

“H-hi, Akashicchi,” Kise said nervously.

Akashi smirked, seeming pleased that he was recognized.

“Hello, Akashi,” said Midorima, uneasily.

“Why are you standing still? You are allowed to keep walking,” said Akashi, passing by
them. “Are you two coming or not?”

Kise quickly rushed after their captain and so did Midorima. They exchanged glances, both
thinking the same thing. They wouldn’t disobey the Akashi they knew because they had a lot
of respect for him. They would never disobey this Akashi, because he scared the hell out of
them. Kise couldn’t say why exactly, but the crimson-haired boy was terrifying right now.

By the time the three of them arrived at the cafeteria, the rest of the Generation of Miracles
was already sitting by their usual table. While their teammates still couldn’t hear them, Kise
spoke up again.

“Akashicchi… does that mean that you’ve decided to reveal this other personality to the rest
of the team?” he asked.
“Indeed. I suspect that in the future there may be a necessity of me replacing the personality
you’re used to for a longer time. It’s better if all of you get used to it and learn not to oppose
me,” said Akashi in a cold voice.

Kise glanced at the rest of the team. How were they going to react? Were they going to be
scared? Disappointed? No, they would for sure be supportive once the shock fade away,
right? Especially Kuroko. He would still accept Akashi the way he was. Otherwise, Kise’s
plan would be ruined and those two would never get together.

“Aka-chin,” said Murasakibara, who was the first to notice them. “Kuro-chin insists that
vanilla is better than chocolate. What do you think?”

Kise held his breath and sat down on a chair next to Aomine’s, while Akashi chose to sit
between Momoi and Kuroko.

“I do not deem it an important matter, Atsushi. Neither of you is going to win this pointless
argument, since neither of you is willing to change their mind, so you should stop fighting
over trivial things like that,” said Akashi.

Everyone except for Midorima and Kise stared at him. It must have caught their attention that
Akashi called Murasakibara ‘Atsushi’. They probably noticed the difference in the tone of his
voice as well. Not to mention, the Akashi they knew would just chuckle and say that he
didn’t have an opinion on whether vanilla or chocolate was better. And, of course, there was
the most obvious change, namely, the golden eye.

“It’s not trivial,” Murasakibara protested. “How can Aka-chin say such things?”

“I can say whatever I wish to say, and you shall not disagree,” Akashi said.

“Who are you?”

All heads turned to Kuroko, who asked the question. His usually blank expression turned into
one of surprise and fear. That wasn’t good.

“Well, I’m Akashi Seijuurou, of course,” said the captain.

“You’re different,” Kuroko protested. “Something is wrong.”

“I’m not different, Tetsuya. There’s always been two of us. We just switched places for a
moment. I’m just as much Akashi Seijuurou as the other personality, the one that you know,”
the crimson-haired boy replied. “And you shall treat me with just as much respect.”

Suddenly, he seemed to space out. It didn’t last more than few seconds though. A frown
appeared on his face.

“The other me is saying that I’ve intimidated you enough and he wishes to come back. I hope
you remember my words or otherwise, you will regret it.”

He leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes. His expression became somewhat anxious, and
when he opened his eyes, they were both red, looking worriedly at his teammates, who were
still in shock.

“I… I thought that as my teammates, you should be aware of his existence,” said Akashi, his
voice lacking any emotion.

“What the fuck was that?” Aomine chocked out.

“My other self,” the captain explained. “I do apologize for not telling you before, I didn’t
think it was that important.”

“You didn’t think it was that important!? You have a fucking psychopath living inside you!”
Aomine shrieked.

“He can hear you,” said Akashi.

Aomine paled. Meanwhile, Kuroko looked at Akashi.

“Thank you, Akashi-kun, for trusting us enough to tell us.”

“Yes, we really appreciate that!” added Momoi. “Even though the other you is rather scary.”

Kise let out a sigh of relief.

“So, the Get Akashi To Confess To Kuroko plan is a go?” asked Kise.

“Yeah. But only if Akashi will be the normal Akashi tomorrow,” said Aomine.

“I think he will be,” said Momoi.

“Great. Then let’s do this.”

Akashi was in a good mood today. The day before his teammates found out about his other
personality, and as freaked out as they seemed to be, they were also supportive. It felt nice,
knowing that his friends were so accepting and that they understood. Especially Kuroko. His
reaction was what Akashi feared the most. But thankfully, the teal-haired boy wasn’t upset
about Akashi keeping his other personality secret from the team.

He looked forward seeing his friends today, but when he did, he noticed something strange.
All of them plus Momoi, except for Kuroko, walked up to him, and it was clear that they
were looking for him. What did they want? Why were they all together?

Look, said a voice inside his head. Shintarou is carrying a woolen glove. It’s our lucky
item for today.
How do you know what’s our lucky item for today?

I pay attention to what my followers are saying to me.

Akashi fought the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he greeted his friends with a polite smile.

“Hello,” he said.

“Good morning, Akashi. This is your lucky item for today,” said Midorima, handing out the
woolen glove.

I was right.

Akashi took the glove, a bit confused.

“Thank you,” he said.

“This is also for you!” now it was Momoi who spoke.

She gave him an article from some girly magazine, titled How To Win His Heart. Akashi
frowned. It was getting more and more confusing.

“I appreciate it, but why would you think I need – “

“It’s my turn, Akashicchi!” Kise cut him off. “What I can offer is some good advice! I
suggest you take him out for vanilla milkshakes!”

“What are you – “

“I think you should just use some pick-up lines on him,” said Aomine. “But, anyway, good
luck, man.”

“And give him this,” added Murasakibara, handing Akashi a box of chocolates.

Akashi stared at his teammates, dumbstruck. What was going on?

“Uh,” he stammered, very unlike him.

Don’t stammer. Have some dignity.

“I don’t understand…” he muttered.

“Well, we are wishing you good luck and helping with asking Kurokocchi out,” said Kise as
if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

What. Akashi blinked in confusion and felt his face heating up. Yes, he did have some…
feelings, for Kuroko, but was it really that easy to notice? And why would his teammates
suddenly decide to convince him to confess to the phantom sixth player? Especially Kise and
Momoi. Didn’t they like Kuroko as well?

They don’t deserve Tetsuya.

Be quiet.

It was nice, having his friends’ support, even though it was a bit strange and confusing. And
well, maybe they were right. Maybe he should do something about his feelings for Kuroko.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling.

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