5 Times Kuroko Was The Older Sibling

MURASAKIBARA

"Murasakibara Atsuhi really wanted to cry."

Murasakibara gets a tad overwhelmed and Kuroko tries to discreetly put a stop to his friend's unhealthy coping habits.

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Yōsen was still in Tokyo due to the tournament and decided to stop by Maji Burger to get something to eat after the game. They sat down in a booth after ordering and started chatting. Murasakibara was not in the mood though. Although he was never too talkative when he is forced on team outings, today was different; he lost. Since he lost, he has been shoveling food down his throat nonstop to distract himself from the feeling in his stomach. Was it guilt? Regret? Murasakibara didn't know. Maybe it was the crushing feeling of not being on top anymore — losing. He was never the best at recognizing his feelings.

Huh? When did the food get here?

Murasakibara looked down at the food with a bland expression before beginning to eat. Himuro looked at his friend with a worried expression. He's never seen Murasakibara act like this in all the months they've been together. He would assume that the loss would be tough since he was part of the Generation of Miracles — the unbeatable team. Unknown to both boys, the feeling Murasakibara held was regret. Regret for all the times he toyed with teams. Regret for all the things he's said to people. All these things that he'd wish he'd never have done were piling and piling.

Murasakibara Atsuhi really wanted to cry.

Before Murasakibara could delve too deep into his thoughts, he grabbed another burger and started eating. The rest of his team didn't think much about it since the boy was always eating, but there was someone who did notice the abnormal eating habits.

Kuroko was sitting at his normal table when Yōsen entered. Maji Burger had good milkshakes and he was really craving one after their game. He paid them no mind and wasn't planning to even go near them until he noticed Murasakibara. Looking back, he hasn't seen him stop eating since their match. Kuroko decided to watch more before he did something unneeded.

Okay. That's enough.

Kuroko stood up and walked up to their table and was only noticed when he took Murasakibara's tray. His sudden appearance earned some surprised yelps followed by grumbles, still not over their loss. Murasakibara just gave the shadow a bored stare, shifting between the tray and Kuroko himself.

Kuroko stepped back when Murasakibara tried to reach toward the tray, "Kurochin, give that back..." He made another lazy attempt to grab the tray.

Kuroko was not impressed, "You're sad." He noticed Murasakibara's eyes widen slightly, ceasing any attempts of taking the tray, "You only eat non-stop when there is something on your mind." Kuroko gave him a dead-eyed stare and dared him to say he was wrong.

Murasakibara slumped back in his seat, only looking back up when he felt something get pushed into his hand, "Ne, Kurochin, what's this?"

"Pain killers," Murasakibara looked down at the pills and they were indeed painkillers. "You used to do this a lot in our first year; you would get stomach aches after a while." Murasakibara remembers. Despite how much he said he disliked the basketball he was always nervous about messing up or doing something that could affect his teammates, which is why he started bringing an excessive amount of snacks to practice.

"Thanks, Kurochin," He grabbed his drink and swallowed the pills earring a slight nod from the phantom. Before he could say anything else, Kuroko was gone — it's not like he knew what to say anyway. His food sat in front of him again but he didn't reach for it. Murasakibara was sucked back into his thoughts. Maybe he should talk about it with someone, it's what he did when he was a first-year. The lingering effect of the bluenettes true intention of bringing up Teiko wasn't caught by the purple-haired giant. Maybe he will get better little by little.