A/N: Longer-than-usual update! XD (Probably also boring. /cries.)

This chapter's told in the third person point of view - not centering on one character this time. Please tell me if it turned boring! I'll use the Third POV less next time...

Short Japanese Lesson! (You might need this.)
Mou = a Japanese expression. Somehow equivalent to "Argh!" or "Ugh!"
Shiro = White
Kuro = Black
Onii = Big brother. Different honorifics may be used. In this story, "-chan" is used

"I'm so sorry, Kise-kun!" apologized the female freshman, bowing countless of times to show how sorry she was. Selfish as it might be, she just had to get her plan into action despite knowing that things were getting heated up between her schoolmate and her friend's tiger-ish teammate. "I really am sorry! I arranged plans today!"

The model just laughed it off, knowing that there's no helping it. What's done is done. He did want to beat the crap out of Kagami through his elite basketball skills though. That was maybe a sign to show that he'd have to do that at the proper time - the Winter Cup. Plus, he'd be competing with his Kurokocchi again! So maybe Mashiro's interference wasn't so bad. "Don't worry about it, Mashiro-chan!" he assured with a friendly smile.

She stopped bowing, looking up at him with question in her eyes. "Are you sure, Kise-kun...?" she asked. The blonde nodded, grinning. She then thought of an idea. "I'll treat you to something to make up for what I did! I... I won't take 'no' for an answer!" she responded almost timidly, if only she wasn't staring up at his topaz orbs with that determined gleam in her amethyst ones.

He stepped back uncomfortably. As a guy who has his source of income, high allowance, and a history of girlfriends, he was used to treating the girl like a proper gentleman would. But, man, it really did seem like she won't let him disagree. "If you insist, Mashiro-chan..." He chuckled forcefully.

Mashiro let out a relieved sigh. "Where to?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

Seemingly far-off memories flashed through his mind. The usually cheerful male flashed a sad smile. "Follow me, then!" he announced with fake enthusiasm before walking ahead of her. It was her confused eyes which followed him first before she actually did, reluctantly.

She caught up to him, walking by his side as she did her best to keep up with his pace. She looked up to the blonde wearing a gentle smile as his eyes only looked ahead - probably remembering something. "Where are we going, Kise-kun?" she asked anyway, snapping him out of his mental time travel.

He looked down to his companion as they walked. He noticed how... short... her height was as they walked side by side, compared to him, anyway. She barely reached the height of his feet to his shoulders! He saw his distracted reflection on her wide amethyst orbs filled with curiosity. Did he seriously got those flashbacks like a sentimental female juvenile? He replied through a mischievous smirk. "You'll see when we get there!" he answered before walking faster. Boy, he loved making people curious and making himself seem like the mysterious type.

"Eeeh?" The albino girl pouted childishly before following the blonde. "No fair! I'm paying for it!" she complained, catching up to him. She tugged on his sleeve, making him look at her, his playful grin still plastered on his face. "Where?"

The player chuckled then grinned ear-to-ear. "Not telling!"

"Mooouuu!" the girl complained.

Kise laughed.

This was not the kind of thing the teenage girl expected.

She was expecting something grand - a five-star cafe or something - or just somewhere... guy-ish. With how Kise acted like it's a state secret, she sure expected something more for their destination.

"A... convenience store...?" Mashiro asked, tilting her head and looking at her companion with utter disbelief.

"Yeah!" Kise nodded with a cheeky grin on his face. "Let's go!" He went ahead enthusiastically, leaving the girl completely dumbfounded. She followed him after a few seconds, anyway.

There was nothing special in the convenience store's interior. It has automatic doors that opens whenever it senses someone in near it, a cash register on a counter in front operated by a cashier, two racks of magazines, newspapers, and other publications, isles for food and other necessities, and three refrigerators for drinks and two for refrigerated deserts at the back. It wasn't even larger than an average store. It was perfectly ordinary. They also passed by two convenience stores so the female wondered why they had to go to this certain store. Did they sell anything special or something?

The model went straight to the back. Of course, the anime club member followed. He walked towards one of the shorter and wider refrigerators and took out two pink ice creams on Popsicle sticks then showed it to her. "This is all I'm taking!" he stated, grinning. His companion only replied with a confused look on her face as if to say, "Seriously? That's it?". Kise chuckled. "Let's pay for them, Mashiro-chan!"

"If you say so. . ." she finally agreed, taking the ice cream from him. She also took a blue ice cream similar to his. Her male schoolmate followed her as she made her way to the line to pay for the sweet articles in the girl's arms.

Being the gentleman that he is, he took the items carried by his companion. He grinned ear-to-ear, telling her not to worry about it. She thanked him with a grateful smile.

She then spotted the magazine rack and he swear her eyes definitely sparkled. He looked at the area where she was looking at and saw himself. He was on the cover of the latest issue of Zunon Boy where a special interview with him was included inside. He grinned without even realizing it, thinking how cool he looked on that cover as he held a basketball in one hand.

The girl tugged the tall guy's sleeve, showing him her puppy-dog eyes. She pointed to the magazine rack excitedly. "Could I please take a look? Pleeeaaase?" she pleaded.

Kise chuckled. So Mashiro's also his fangirl, eh? He nodded. "Sure, sure!" he answered enthusiastically. Maybe she's simply one of those fans who still get to keep their cool and restrain themselves from spazzing and fangirling in his presence. He grinned with utter satisfaction, thinking that his charms actually got to her.

Or so he thought.

Instead of taking a copy of the latest issue of the Zunon Boy magazine, Mashiro took a copy of Shounen Jump Weekly, a thick manga magazine. She beamed widely at the publication in her hands, staring at the cover which consisted of a male sky-blue-haired character wearing a white jersey as he held a basketball.

Kise' s jaw dropped, his expectations shattering before his eyes. He expected words of admiration from Mashiro right after she gets a copy of his magazine. He felt more disappointed than he should've been.

Then she noticed the image of her model schoolmate wearing stylish clothes on the cover of the magazine beside one of her favorite manga magazines. Excitement filled her chest as she grabbed a copy then raised it up in the air. "Kise-kun! It's you!" she blurted a little carelessly with a smile on her face.

Wrong move.

Kise obviously sensed what coming for he quickly passed the ice creams to Mashiro.

Two or three girls took copies of the magazine and got the model to sign it for him. A maximum of five went to get a picture taken with him. Soon enough, he was surrounded by a small group of fans. Some even came from outside the shop.

Shooting Kise an apologetic look, Mashiro took advantage of the commotion to pay for their snacks. She went out of the store and waited for her famous schoolmate.

For almost five or ten minutes, she remained seated on a bench in front of the store, reading the manga she just bought. Good thing the ice cream they bought wasn't the kind to melt easily. Though she was craving to eat the ice cream she bought for herself, she decided against it. It was her fault he got caught up with his fans, anyway; not immediately eating her ice cream was her self-given punishment.

Kise came out with an exasperated look on his face which immediately evaporated upon seeing Mashiro. "Let's go, Mashiro-chaaan~!" he said with an enthusiastic tone and a bright smile. She looked at him with worry before standing up and walking beside him.

As they walked towards the nearest train station, they ate their ice cream. Kise looked at the plastic where the magazines Mashiro bought was placed in. He pointed to it. "Have you seen my article, Mashiro-chan? Was I awesome? I got pretty cool shots in there!"

"Huh?" Her head went up, her eyes wide with wonder. She scratched the back of her head using her hand holding the plastic bag, smiling a little sheepishly. "To be honest, I haven't... But I'm looking forward to it now that you told me about it!"

"Oh," was Kise's reply, feeling a little disappointed. "I thought you read it..." He pouted like a child whose request was not granted.

"I really am sorry, Kise-kun! But I'm truly planning to read it!" a flustered Mashiro replied, sensing his disappointment.

He laughed. "It's not really a big deal! But... what plan were you talking about, anyway?" he asked, steering the topic away. He bit his ice cream then looked down to his companion.

"Ummm..." She thought for a while, contemplating if she could trust the guy with her little plan. But, oh well. Kuro-tan may find out sooner or later, anyway, she reasoned out in her mind. She stopped walking then gestured him to bend down and he did. "I'm actually trying to turn them into a couple."

"E-Ehhh?!" Kise exclaimed then stepped back out of surprise and slight disbelief. He couldn't really imagine his Kurokocchi getting his own girlfriend. He just... didn't seem the type. Plus, there's also their former pink-haired manager to worry about if Kuroko does get into a relationship.

"What does that mean?" she asked, feeling quite offended as she observed Kise's look of disbelief. Either he thought the little plan wouldn't work or he thought that the phantom-like guy has little probability to get a girl to fall for him. "Kuro-tan isn't that bad! He's got his charms!" she defended him.

Kise laughed due to her defensive response. "That's not what I meant!" He chuckled. "But... 'Kuro-tan'? And he calls you... 'Shiro-chan'?" he asked a question demanding an explanation that'll also answer the other questions in his head.

"Ah! Those nicknames? I made them up! I thought the contrasting colors of our surnames are kind of cool so..." She shrugged, licking her ice cream.

She just explained about the nicknames, not what's really behind them. It never really crossed Kise's mind that Kuroko would be calling a girl with a nickname made for only the two of them. Plus, it simply seemed unlikely! "You two seem close, calling nicknames like that... Did you two used to be in a relationship or something?" he joked.

"Relationship... I think we did...?" she replied thoughtfully.

Kise's eyes widened. "WHAT?!"

Mashiro giggled. "Just for an hour though! Just some... pretend thingy. But we're just childhood friends! Onii-chan and Kuro-tan always plays basketball whenever Onii-chan has free time and I always watch them. Shigehiro-kun used to join them a lot of times..." She trailed off. Her face then fell, probably remembering a sad memory but she quickly recovered. "They're awesome!" She bit into her ice cream then immediately regretted it. "Cold cold cold!" She waved her hands up and down.

"A-Are you okay?!"

She nodded, laughing sheepishly.

Kise let out a relieved sigh.

"Anyway, Kise-kun, why did we have to go to that store? There are lots of other convenience stores," she asked, curiosity dripping from her voice. Even her eyes staring up at him conveyed the same feeling.

"Well..." He did ask her a lot of questions, so it was only fair that she'd ask him too. "My former Teikou teammates and I used to go there a lot," he explained, beaming brightly at her. "I kind of miss it."

Mashiro nodded. She knew how it felt. She missed her friends back in middle school. They all went to different high schools. What's worse, her best friend moved to Kyoto. Though she visits her once in a while, she still missed her friend. "I think Kuro-tan feels the same way," she said then smiled sympathetically at him, remembering the picture of the Teikou Basketball Team displayed in Kuroko's room. It greatly reminded her of a rainbow. She actually used to call them the Rainbow Team to tease Kuroko.

"Eeeh?! Really?!" Kise definitely got cheered up with what she said. Why, his reaction was similar to a girl who was smiled at by her crush! "Uwaaah! I'm so happy! Kurokocchi and I really are best friends!"

Mashiro laughed.

They then arrived to the train station filled with people. (Of course, they finished up their snacks by that time.) After doing the required procedures, they rushed to the area where they are to wait for the train. The train was already leaving in a matter of seconds. Out of impulse, he grabbed her hand not to lose her as they ran, Kise in the lead. Fortunately, they made it.

"Kise-kun... really... is... a fast... runner!" Mashiro said in between tired and heavy pants.

"Did I push you too far?" he asked, concerned. She didn't seem the athletic type... or he ran too fast.

She shook her head as she smiled reassuringly, leaning on the closed doors of the train. There wasn't really any free seats. "I'm actually thankful," she stated, catching her breath after.

Kise made his infamous fangirl-squeal-triggering smile. Mashiro, however, treated it as a normal smile and smiled back.

On the second stop of the train from where they got on, it was Mashiro's turn to leave. "Well then, see you tomorrow, Kise-kun!" She smiled cutely, waving at him, before she walked out of the train and into the platform.

"See you!" Kise replied, smiling. Unconsciously, he definitely looked forward to 'tomorrow'.