After School (Kuroko no Basket Fanfic)

Faded Grey | Chapter 2 | Haizaki

Even though this guy causes such a fuss he seems to sleep lightly enough. As soon as we reached my room he collapsed down on my bed and fell asleep almost instantly. Even though I was angry he didn't ask me if it was okay first I couldn't exactly find it within myself to care enough to wake him up, so I just left him there and decided I would camp out on the couch in the living room. It's not like it's the first time I've fallen asleep watching TV there.

As soon as I drag a spare pillow and blanket into the room, though, I pause as I see someone had already stolen my idea. There, sprawled out on the couch like some teenager, is my old man. He's tall, and kind, and honestly always just looks like an easy-going office man with the gray stubble on his chin and his cheap glasses. He always has that goofy grin on his face and his hair is slicked silver.

What people don't know is that he's a depressed drunk who can't seem to get over the death of his wife long enough to take care of even himself. He doesn't have any friends, and he's lonely at work. Don't get me wrong. It's not like I care about the guy, or care that he even cares about me or my younger sister, but it's just depressing to watch him waste his life away day after day. Watching him fake all those smiles all day and then drink himself to sleep is just exhausting... Why does he even care to fake appearances? It never made any sense to me.

Regardless, it doesn't look like he's waking up anytime soon, so I just decide to sleep on the floor in my room rather than fear my old man's wrath in the morning if I decided to sleep in his room. As I walk down the hallway I notice only one light on- it's coming from my sister's room.

Gently I knock on the door and I get an annoyed groan in response that tells me I'm allowed in. When I enter the room she's at her desk scribbling down note after note in a composition notebook. "What the hell are you doing up so late?" I ask her, keeping my voice low so as not to disturb the two other resting souls in the house.

She looks up at me with tired eyes, and I can tell she's been at this for way too long. She leans back in her chair and stretches her arms. "I have a big test tomorrow, bro. It's not like I'm doing this just because I want to. I can't be stupid my entire life like you."

She's starting to grow into her body, though she's still way too young to be burning the midnight oil like this- or talking to me like that. As a twelve year old girl in middle school she's pretty cute with dyed-black silky hair that's pulled back into a long ponytail. She has mother's bright-blue eyes- just like I used to before mine faded into a dark grey color. Though, on the downside, she's still pretty flat, short, and thin. "If I'm so stupid, then why'd you copy my hair?" It wasn't until after I'd gotten my hair dyed black that she decided she was going to up and do it too.

"Shut up!" She raises her voice- glaring at me. "Everyone has black hair- it's totally cool!"

"It's not cool now that YOU have it." As if on cue my eyes roll and I turn to walk out the doorway- my hand on the door handle.

She tosses a book at my head, and somehow I manage to catch it before it's spine attacks my skull. I turn around to yell at her- forgetting that the door to her room is still wide open. "What the hell, Saeko?! Don't just start throwing textbooks at my head!"

"How else am I going to knock some sense into that thick skull of yours?!" She growls back- hands curled into fists.

Yes, it's always like this between us. I do something, she copies it, and then we fight about it. Well, we fight about pretty much everything nowadays- not just the fact that she copies everything I do. We never had anybody to really scold us about fighting, I guess, so it's come to petty daily arguments every day with us, and we never seem to ever make up. We just end up yelling at each other and slamming doors and then the next day of arguments begins. Well, that's family, I guess.

I'm about to say something in retort when I get a gently tap on my shoulder and the creepiest whisper in my ear. "Oh, Hai-za-ki~ You wouldn't dream of raising your voice again with your senpai in the next room, would you?"

I grit my teeth as I turn to look at that creepy grin on his face. Nijimura-senpai sure is scary... "I'll do whatever I damn well please." I challenge back as quiet as I can manage as I turn and leave the room before storming back into my own room. I thought about slamming the door to show my discomfort, but I was already in for a scolding, so I wasn't about to get hit twice for something like that. So I just lay down on the floor and lay my head on my pillow- throwing my blanket around my shoulders.

I could hear Niji apologizing to my sister and gently close the door to her room before he walks back into my room- closing the door behind him. Obviously he's displeased that I woke him up with my yelling, but I don't dare turn to face him. "Did you really have to talk to your sister like that? How much of a punk do you have to be to resort to yelling at your little sister?"

"Shut up." All I can manage when I'm this exhausted is a faint sigh as I close my eyes. "She started it."

"How mature of you." He slides back into the bed and pats the side of it. "You'll just get more grumpy if you sleep on the hardwood floor all night. I promise I won't bite."

"I don't believe that for a second..."

When I actually do open my eyes to look at him he's scooted as close to the wall as he can to allow me space if I wanted to crawl back into bed. "Suit yourself."

I'm actually shocked I didn't get more of a lecture out of him, but perhaps even he's too tired to scold me anymore tonight. Though, in the morning, the lecture will probably begin again. With a sigh I stand myself up and crawl into bed beside him- knowing he's right and hating ever second of it. I turn so that way my back is facing him so that way I won't have to face him if he decides to turn over and give me a conceited grin and say something like 'I knew you would' or 'senpai knows best' or some stupid shit like that. However, he doesn't do any of that, and he falls asleep just as fast as he did merely an hour before.

I don't understand him. How can he be so concerned about me to stay here? To waste all of his time on me? It doesn't make any sense. That's the only thing I can think about as I close my eyes and begin to drift off into sleep. Maybe with enough time I'll understand it all, but I don't even know if I want to.