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Kuroko no Memory

Chapter One: Land Lord

She hadn't noticed at first, how strange the new tenant was. Sure, he was quit handsome for someone so young, and, yes, the way he skipped home from work was a tad bit odd, and sometimes she could swear she's seen him talking to thin air, but then he'd turn and he'd have one of those fancy new ear pieces in, making her wonder about his job. He was a good kid, a little crazed, and she could have sworn she recognized his face from somewhere, and she didn't want him mingling with the wrong crowd (for there was no way someone so young could possibly be that rich).

However, she never noticed simply how strange, how odd, the new tenant was until little Rion, a young boy with an ever blank face, and her assistant (a volunteer from long ago), had pointed out that it was rude never to acknowledge the tenants companion. She had told the boy, of course, that the young man had no companion, and while at first it looked like Rion was ready to protest, the boy stayed silent, never to mention it again. But it had awakened a seed of doubt within her, what if someone was there? Was she really, truly, so rude as to ignore them?

It wasn't till the next day that she found out more about the new tenants mysterious companion. She'd been cleaning up the recently vacated room, just beneath the young man's, with Rion when a strange sound was heard. She had ignored it at first, but the noise was persistent, clanking and banging. "He's cooking," Rion declared, not once looking up, dutifully continuing his task of picking up trash and cleaning the windows (how the child was such a wonderful multi-tasker was far beyond her). She had, of course, wanted to ask exactly 'who' was cooking, considering the only resident of that room was currently off at work, she had seen him depart herself, and he'd yet to return. But after spending much time with the child who was, sadly, her only true companion, she knew that she'd get no answer. Not when she could figure it out herself.

With a sigh, she left the room to her assistant and proceeded to the floor above. She wouldn't nock, she never did, her old age giving her both confidence and experience enough simply not to care, no matter what she walked in on. And so she had swiftly opened the door, entering the apartment with a silent grace only age and a history of dealing with thieves could grant.

Skillfully she particularly danced her way to the kitchen, and halted. She couldn't bring herself to so much as blink as she stared at the scene before her, pots and spatulas and other cooking utensil's flying about, pulled by unseen strings. She wasn't scared, no, she had dealt with ghosts before, knew their work, but this was the first time she had ever seen them cook. And with such skill and grace to boot! If this ghost was capable to talking, or communicating in some way, she decided, she'd ask for some advice.

After all, she couldn't keep relying on Rion to do the cooking.

It took a long while, in which she took silent notes and gave equally silent praise, before the ghost (still unseen) noticed her presence. Of course, because the ghost was invisible, she had no way of knowing when, exactly, the ghost noticed, but the sudden silence filling the kitchen was a dead giveaway.

Suddenly paper was thrust into her face, a neat set of letters hurriedly scratched upon its surface with a random pen, floating in the air.

You should leave.

She knew well enough that it wasn't a threat, simply a warning, noting the time from the clock that hung atop the stove, she knew the ghost was right, the young man would return anytime now, and he wouldn't take kindly to her intrusion, he loved his privacy after all, and, seeing the ghost, she supposed she could understand. If anyone else were to notice, they might call an exorcist and try to get rid of it.

"You have nothing to fear," she laughed, shaking her head and allowing grey locks to fall in her face, "I will leave shortly, and I will not tell, that is—" she paused, particularly feeling the dread that rolled off the invisible being, "so long as you promise to teach me how to cook."

The shock did not have to be seen, and she laughed once more, perhaps the time spent with the seemingly emotionless child downstairs was good for her after all, if it gave her the ability to read the feelings of a ghost, or, perhaps ghosts could project their feelings, or was that ability limited? She made a mental note to ask Rion later, the child knew far too many things to be normal, but at times like these she supposed his knowledge could come in handy.

You want me to teach you how to cook?

"Yes," she smiled, tilting her head to the side before realizing something, perhaps Rion's influence wasn't completely good after all, her manners appeared to be deteriorating, "Ah, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Etsuko Airi, you are?"

The ghost took a while to answer.

Tetsuya Kuroko

She chuckled lightly, "Well, Tetsu-chan," the ghost seemed to jolt, the paper flinching back, but more out of surprise than anything else, "till next time."

With a slight skip to her step she walked out of the apartment, lightly closing and locking the door behind her, before walking down the stairs, passing the skipping young man, with a smile she returned to her helper and nodded once to herself, happy to have solved at least one mystery. After all, who wouldn't skip home when they were greeted with such wonderful cooking skills?

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A/N: We still have awhile before I can't write anymore, so I figured I might as well post this. And, for those curious, yes, most of the chapters will be in someone else's POV, not Kuroko's or Kise's. This is due to the title, and there was some foreshadowing in this chapter. Anyway, tell me what you think, personally I love Etsuko, but how about you guys?

Beyond that, if I have time I'll post another, but as it's getting closer to the 17th of March I'm getting busier, so the chapters might all be this short.