The Wager (Kuroko no Basket)

Phase 10: Help Him

I stretch as classes ends. We've got proficiency tests in two days, but I'm not the slightest bit worried about that. With Shintaro and Akashi out of the way, I have a shot at placing first. I'll be top ten at the very worst. Just as I finish packing my bags, one of my classmates calls me. "Tsukino?"

"Yes?"

"Kasamatsu-senpai is looking for you," he replies.

I nod. "Thanks," I reply. I grab my bag and head outside to find Kasamatsu waiting for me right outside the door. "Can I help you?"

"It's about the proficiency exam," he begins. Ah. Why do I get the feeling that I know where this is going?

"Let me guess," I say. "You're worried that Kise will fail the test, therefore, not allowing him to be a starter on the team?"

"Exactly," he replies with a nod. "Your grades are good, right?"

I nod. "You want me to teach him, don't you?" I reply.

"If you could," he replies.

I nod again. "Understood. I don't want to say it, but we all know that we'll need him in order to stand a chance."

He nods. "I bet he's thinking 'who needs grades if you can play basketball?' right now," he says.

"Strange. I thought the exact same thing." I fold my arms. "Well I suppose that I'll go and get started then. With his grades, I'm going to need all the time that we have left."

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I head into a nearby coffee shop, because I spot Kise sitting with a book in hand by the window. I head in and stand behind him. He's got headphones on. He puts his book on the table and leans back in his chair. "Who needs grades if you can play basketball?" he asks with a sigh. This idiot... Stop being so predictable. If I can start guessing what you'll say word-for-word, we're going to have problems. He looks at his book again. "That whole 'you can't be a starter on the team if you flunk this test' stuff was a lie, right?" He leans back in his chair again. "Just how uptight is our team?" He rests his head on the table. "I'm bored."

I choose to make my presence known. "Then allow me to keep you from being too bored," I say as I take the seat across from him.

He bolts upright immediately. "Kimikocchi?"

"I'm going to have you study so hard, you won't even have the energy left to be bored," I say seriously. Kise cringes. "Go get another coffee, and get one for me while you're at it too," I command. "You're going to need it. Your cram lessons begin now." He looks somewhat scared.

"K-Kimikocchi, you can't force people into these things," he says with a weak smile.

"Says who?" I reply as I fold my arms. "Do you want to win nationals or not? If so, you'd best get me that coffee now and begin cramming."

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I fold my arms and think as it quickly becomes evident that my way of studying doesn't work for him. "Alright fine. We'll do this differently," I decide. I'll make everything interesting for him so he'll remember some of it at the very least. I let out a deep sigh. "This place is going to close soon. We're going to my house to continue then," I decide. "You're studying until classes start tomorrow, understood?" Kise's eyes are wide. He looks like he might cry. He follows me back home though. As we head back, I start to figure out ways to make this work somehow.

Nothing comes to me as we walk down the street, so I decide to give Shintaro a call. He's bound to have something, at least. Shintaro picks up on the second ring. "Kimiko?" he greets. "What is it?"