Kuroko no basket: sweeter than marshmallows

-34-

Murasakibara Atsushi

Runi didn't show up for the practice match the next day, Aka-chin acted as Rakuzan's coach and they won.

I wonder why Runi didn't come to the practice match, she used to love watching everyone play. She didn't look like herself yesterday either...

Her hair was short and messy, and she looked like she lost a lot of weight, which isn't good because she had to gain weight to begin with. But what shocked me most were her eyes, they spark they had were gone.

And that's my fault.

It took me way to long to realise how I feel about her and I shouldn't have acted the way I did that day, and I shouldn't have ignored her the way I did. But seeing her made my heart hurt and my stomach ache, I couldn't even finish a bag of chips..

A deep sigh leaves my lips and I look up to the stars, it's already dark outside.. I can go to her hotel room again, I just want to see her smile like she did before. And I told her that I would make her mine, I don't have a clue on how to do that. She lives twelve hours away damnit.

I could transfer to Rakuzan and spend my third year there.. But that would take too long, besides, Rakuzan is one of the top schools in Japan and my grades aren't that impressive, my family name doesn't hold any power either.

And I doubt that Aka-chin would help me out, he has been ignoring my messages lately. I don't blame him, I would do the same if I was standing in his shoes.

A high pitched scream forces me out of my train of thoughts and I quickly walk towards the sound, I turn the corner and that's when I see it.

A man pulling a woman into a dark alley. She tries to break free but he hits her on her cheek.

It makes my blood boil.

It only takes four steps to grab the man by the throat and push him up the wall, his eyes are big and he opens his mouth. He's not that big..

I could snap his neck easily.

"What do you think you are doing?" My voice sounds colder than I intended, but this man doesn't deserve more.

The man grabs my wrist in an attempt to break free but it's not nearly enough.

I'm just about to hit him in his face when someone grabs my free arm.

"Stop it! you are killing him!" The voice sounds familiar..

I turn my head a bit and stare right into the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen, it's her. Runi is holding on to my arm with both her hands, she has tears in her eyes and her left cheek is slightly red from where the man hit her.

"Let go of me." it's only fair to return the favour to him isn't it.

Her eyes widen slightly but she does what I say.

And I hit the man in his face, the sound of a breaking bone fills the alley and I drop the man to the ground. He's still alive but he needs a trip to the hospital.

I turn around to face Runi again and she's looking up at me with big eyes. I clench my fists to make sure not to kill the man for real. Who knows what would have happened if I didn't hear her scream?

"Are you okay?" I want to touch her so badly.. But I can't. Not after what she saw and what I did.

She nods and scrapes her throat a bit "t-thank you.."

"You really shouldn't walk alone at night you know.." This is what.. The fourth time I saved her from a creep after dark?

"It's not that late so I thought it would be okay..." She turns her head away from me.

A sigh leaves my lips "I'll walk you to your hotel" Aka-chin will be furious when he finds out what happened.. I should take the guys ID.

Runi is already a step ahead of me and pulls his ID from his wallet. She puts it in her bag and looks up to me "I'll make this guys life a living hell.." There is a fire in her eyes that I haven't seen before.

We exit the alley and start walking towards her hotel in silence, I forgot how slow she walks...

The days when there was still a spark in her eyes.

Aka-chin is already waiting at the entrance when we finally get to the hotel. The silence was killing me..

"What did you think you were doing?!?!" Aka-chin yells.

Wait, Aka-chin yelled?

"Do you have an idea how worried I was?!" He closes his eyes and rubs his temples "do you know what could have happened?!"

"You mean what actually happened?" I put my hands behind my head.

"What happened?" Aka-chins eyes turn cold.

"A man tried to pull her into an alley, he hit her but I made sure that that's the only thing he got to do." I should have kicked him as well, maybe break his arm. He deserves it.

Aka-chin immediately turns to Runi "are you okay? Do you know who did this?"

Runi nods "I have his ID in my bag, I'll send a picture of it to Miyu and she'll take care of it." She smiles "but I'm fine! Nothing really happened. Besides, I thought Murasakibara would kill him if I didn't stop him."

"He deserves it." Aka-chin says with a cold voice before he sighs. "I have to make a few calls... I'm glad you are safe."

"Who did you c-" Runi starts but she gets tackled by a blur of blond hair.

"Runicchi!! Where were you?! Akashicchi called me in a panic!" Ki-chin yells "wait why is your cheek red?!"

"Hi Ryo-chan.." Runi mumbles "nothing happened. Muraskibara was there and he nearly killed the guy."

Since when does she call Ki-chin Ryo-chan?

Ki-chin looks up to me, the playful look is nowhere to be seen "you should have!"

"No it's illegal to kill him." Aka-chin says.

"But I'm cold so I'm gonna take a bath.. Thank you for looking for me Ryo-chan" she gives Ki-chin a fast hug before entering the hotel.

Ki-chin sighs "I'm glad she's save. But this is the second time it happened.She really shouldn't go out after dark.."

"Yeah try to get her to listen to that, you have no idea in how much trouble she gets on a daily base." Aka-chin shakes his head "I've been trying to get her to learn martial arts but she's stubborn."

So the assaults are a normal thing?

"But thank you for saving her" Aka-chin gives me a small nod.

"Don't worry about it.. I have to get back.. See you later." I turn around and walk away.

The days where she was following me trough school while talking about nothing seem so long ago, I wish I could return to those days and never leave.

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Hey guys I hope you enjoyed this chapter!