Angels Overheard

To Betray

15.

Words, Kuroko thinks, are strange things. They can be fashioned into intricate sentences of praise and adoration that can boost one's ego to the high heavens; or twisted such that they become sharp and cruel, lethal enough to deliver the finishing blow.

Kuroko isn't surprised when the jeers and insults return full force in the next few days, and he just grits his teeth and bears it. The verbal abuse slides through his skin like needles, slowly but surely shredding the fragile threads that hold him together, until eventually, Kuroko falls apart.

Kise isn't here to protect you anymore.

It doesn't matter, he rationalises. Kuroko doesn't want or need to see Kise (liar). He's lived his life before even having met Kise, and it was bearable, it shouldn't be a problem for him to endure everything alone now (liar). After all, Kuroko is sure Kise doesn't want to see him either.

Neither cruel words or Kise, however, is the reason Kuroko takes a few days off school (Kuroko firmly believes this), because there is no way any of those factors are powerful enough to break him. In reality, Kuroko does indeed feel unwell, days of (almost) self-starvation and countless of sleepless nights pilling up upon his too-thin shoulders. It is inevitable that Kuroko's brittle self (although he hates to admit it) is unable to withstand the overwhelming pressure.

The fever is nothing overly serious, but enough to render his entire being heavy and drowsy.

His parents aren't home again, but Kuroko doesn't really notice anymore. He burrows deeper under the covers. Hidden away from the world beneath thick, soft cotton, smelling sweetly of detergent and softener is his escape.

He supposes that he must have fallen asleep at some point, succumbing to exhaustion, because he can see Kise's face swim into focus before him, expression cold and cruel. It then twists and morphs into Kagami who dons a black and white basketball jersey, dribbling a ball across an empty court and watched on by a purple giant and a red cat with mismatched eyes wearing a crown.

When Kuroko blinks to see the swirling patterns on his ceiling swim into focus, he realises that his ears are clogged with a shrill ringing.

Reaching a hand blindly to a side, a feels for his phone. The glow of the screen sears his eyes, and Kuroko squints to see that he has five missed calls from Kagami and — Kuroko freezes and he suddenly finds it painfully hard to breathe — one missed call from Kise.

Kuroko's finger hovers over the 'call back' button.

Why did Kise even want to talk to him?

Should he call back?

Kuroko isn't sure, but the adrenaline pouring in at the moment make his head feel light and giddy. He jabs the button without blinking and raises the phone to his ear.

It feels like an eternity before the dialling tone ends, and Kise's thin, trembling, voice flows through the earpiece.

"Ku- Kurokocchii?"

Kuroko's throat feels dry and it burns to swallow. He's surprised he doesn't wheeze when he finally answers.

"Hello Kise-kun. I'm surprised you called."

The silence the follows is cold and cruel. Kuroko can hear Kise's shuddery breaths before the model replies, and when he does, his voice almost cracks.

"Kurokocchii didn't come to school for a long time."

"I know."

"Why?"