The Wager (Kuroko no Basket)

Phase 1: Get Asked Out

Since I was a kid, I've never been a very extroverted person. I suppose that I'm more introverted, but even so, that's not quite it either. I'm just someone who people find difficult to get close to, I suppose. So when I agreed to help manage the basketball club at my school, the last thing I expected to occur actually happened. I've thought about it so often lately, that I'm not even sure of where I messed up. I even asked Kise what happened. I suppose that I'll go over his point of view...

____________________________________________________________

The plump coach of the Kaijo basketball team walked into the gym with a girl following behind him. This of course, piqued the interest of everyone on the team. Kise glanced at her, expecting not to be too interested. She was short, maybe about 157 cm at most. Not too intimidating. If anything, she was kind of cute in a harmless kind of way. Her dark eyes surveyed the room quickly as she turned to face them as the coach did, her long, dark hair swishing behind her. "This is Tsukino, Kimiko, a first year. She'll be the manger from now on," the coach explained.

Kimiko bowed. "Nice to meet you all." She was actually really pretty. She didn't seem like someone that was easy to get along with though.

"If you have any questions, now would be the time to ask her," the coach added.

"Will you go out with me?" someone asked.

She didn't even bat an eyelash as she replied immediately in a blunt manner. "No."

"Oh shoot, there wasn't even a moment of hesitation," someone else commented.

Kimiko folded her arms. "I won't accept anything about this sort of stuff. I'm here as the manger, so direct only things relating to basketball to me. Anything else will be ignored. Thank you for your understanding." The way she spoke was familiar. Kind of like the way that Kuroko spoke, but with a bit more of an edge. As practice started, Kise watched Kimiko from the corner of his eyes. She was watching them intently and writing quickly on a notepad. He wondered what she was doing.

____________________________________________________________

Well, that's how it started anyhow. Pretty normal. I guess I didn't mess up there, at least. I sigh and shake my head as Kise winks at me. I'm really not sure what to do about this. It's actually pretty troubling. He's been doing this for days. That strange exchange aside, I think back to what he said happened next.
____________________________________________________________

Kise head out of the locker room, ready to head home, when sounds from the gym caught his attention. He peeked into the gym to find Kimiko cleaning up on her own. She sighed as she gave up on pushing the cart stuffed with basketballs back into the closet. She frowned and glared at the cart before taking in a breath and trying to push the cart again. So she was the kind of person who would try to handle everything on her own, even if she knew she couldn't do it. "Damn it," he heard her mutter. There was a spark of resentment in her eyes.

Kise took this moment to swoop in and help her. "Having trouble?" he asked. He pushed the cart into the closet for her.

"Thanks," she said with a nod. She picked her brown messenger bag up from the floor and slung it over her shoulder.

"Are you headed to the bus stop too?" he asked. She nodded and he grinned. "Let's go there together then." They head out together. As they walked to the stop, it was quiet between the two of them.

She pulled out her notepad once they of the stop and she began to write again. Kise glanced over her shoulder. She was writing about each of the players strengths and weaknesses and then making plans on how to use each member to their full potential! She wrote a few more pages before flipping to Kise's page. She glanced at it and began to write. She stopped mid-sentence though. "What made you stay?" she asked.

"Huh?"

"Basketball. What was it that made you stay?" she asked again. "Everything should have been easy for you with your skill. Boring even." She frowned. "Normally, I don't think that someone would have continued to play sports since it would be so easy. Was it Akashi-san and the others?" She turned to him and looked up at him behind her long, dark lashes. She'd seen right through him in an instant. Kise nodded, too dumbfounded to say anything. "I see," she replied as she nodded to herself. She put the notepad back into her bag and pulled a book out.

The bus came and they went in together. He took the seat next to her's and she didn't complain. He couldn't help but look at her from the corner of his eye as she read. She was pretty even without make-up. He doubted that she ever wore make-up for that matter. Too bad she wasn't taller. She could have been a model if she was. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but after what seemed like a very short time, she put her book back into her bag. It must have almost been her stop. "Would you go out with me?" Kise asked. He'd decided that he liked her, so why not?

She looked at him and for a brief moment, he saw her look at him blankly. Then, her eyes narrowed. "Is this a joke?" she asked.

"No," he replied with a frown. He wasn't expecting to hear this.

"You probably don't remember me, but I went to middle school with you, so I've seen your previous girlfriend. I don't fit in that category," she replied. She stood up. "Don't joke around like this with me. I haven't the slightest interest in things like this." She head out of the bus promptly, leaving Kise in a daze. He'd never been turned down so quickly before.

_____________________________________________________________

Or so he told me.

Damn, in the end, I still can't think of what would have caused him to ask me out. Not only that, but after I turned him down, he asked me out again and again every day following that. Thus, I decided to put an end to it yesterday...

____________________________________________________________

I turned to Kise as he asked me out again. "I've got an offer for you," I began. "I'm tired of you asking me out every day. If this doesn't end soon, I'll have to ignore you, and that won't work out too well, so how about this? You want to date me and you like basketball; I like wagers," I began. "So let's combine them. If you help Kaijo win the nationals this year, I'll go out with you."

He smiled, but it was different from the ones that I'd seen before. It wasn't some stupid happy-go-lucky one this time. It was competitive and eager. "Alright," he agreed. Even his voice sounded different. He was up for this challenge. His golden eyes glinted and I got a sense of just how smart he actually was. My eyes widened a little and my heart seemed to skip a beat. Shit. What just happened?

I think that I've made a mistake. One that I can't undo easily.

____________________________________________________________

I've messed up big time, but I plan on correcting this as soon as I can. There's no room for things like this in my plans.