Left Behind

Chapter Six: Resolve Part II

Murasakibara had always been tall. It was hereditary. He didn't mind it. He really didn't. At least until it came to other people. Others could be so mean. They were always intimidated by his height. He could still recall his kindergarten teacher thinking he was in the wrong class. It happened a lot in the early years. There were a few kids who thought his height cool, but with everyone else's' reactions his mean bitter comments casted them away before he could truly realize that they hadn't been mocking him.

Third year came around and things were no different.

Desks were aligned orderly in rows, pressed against each other so everyone would be seated by someone else. A seating buddy. Everyone had someone else to sit next to but him. No one wanted to sit next to him. Not even when food was brought around to their room for lunch did he interact with the others.

It was later that week when Murasakibara realized he forgot his pencil case on the table at home. He looked to the board and back to his page. How was he supposed to do anything without a pencil? Suddenly a pencil appeared on his desk. Huh? Magic? He was too surprised to pick it up.

"You didn't need one?"

The sudden voice scared him. He looked around not knowing where it came from.

"I'm here."

Murasakibara looked down to his left to see a boy in a blue hoodie. "When did you sit down?"

He frowned. "That's not nice, Murasakibara-kun. I've been sitting beside you from the first day."

"Liar." No one wanted to sit next to him.

"I'm not lying."

Murasakibara stared heatedly at the boy. The intensity would scare the other kids away.

"You can borrow my pencil."

"Huh?" The tall kid had already forgotten the magical appearance of the pencil he needed.

"The pencil. You forgot yours, right?" The boy smiled knowingly and didn't tease him about forgetting something as simple as his pencil.

"This is yours?" Murasakibara started to piece together how the pencil appeared on his desk.

"Who else would put it there?"

Murasakibara didn't respond unused to the boy's attitude. He took the pencil and hurried to catch up on the note, resting his tired hand occasionally by doodling pictures in the margin.

He didn't even realize he never got the boy's name.

.

Yōsen was currently participating in the Interhigh Preliminaries. As expected, Kuroko watched game after game from the sidelines as a benchwarmer. He was amazed at their playing and their stamina. Even the days they had two games they could play both games without taking a break.

"Good game senpai-tachi…Murasakibara-kun…"

Murasakibara had told him he was only playing so much because the coach was making him. Kuroko hoped it was otherwise, but couldn't be certain.

"This is boring," complained Murasakibara.

"Tis only the preliminaries," said Liu.

"More like he's an unenthusiastic lazy ass," mentioned Fukui. Murasakibara didn't even comment back proving his point.

Kuroko defended him to the others' surprise. "Murasakibara-kun is one of the hardest working players. You shouldn't call him lazy."

Okamura intervened, "We shouldn't be arguing; we should be celebrating! Preliminaries are done and we're moving on to the Interhigh."

"As it should be," Coach Araki said. She didn't expect any less of her team. She trained them. They weren't allowed failure. Especially not this early in the season. "We also have our spot reserved in the winter cup, but don't think that as a reason to slack off."

They really want to deal with the coach if the slacked off. She could be loud and violent if pushing the right buttons. Not to mention that training wouldn't only be increased during practice, but she was the gym teacher to most of them so she could treat them unfairly in class too.

Kuroko asked Murasakibara a question as they left the auditorium.

"Hmm…but it's so far away."

"You could visit your family while we're there."

"They're usually off doing their own thing on the weekends anyway. I would be an empty house."

"Hey Kuroko!" Himuro forced his way between Kuroko and Murasakibara. "You said Tokyo, right. Count me in."

.

"You know, when you invited Atsushi to Tokyo I thought for tourism." Himuro hadn't had time to explore Japan. Ever since he came back he stayed in Akita. Not the most exciting place to be.

"Why would we tour Tokyo? We're from here."

"Seriously?" Himuro shouldn't have been surprised. They did live in the dorms. "One of you will have to show me around sometime."

"Himuro-senpai doesn't have to stay with me. If you want to tour, you can go off on your own."

"Being alone is no fun."

The two walked into a sports complex. Himuro was amazed at how many people were there. This was a high school basketball game, right? It wasn't even the finals or anything either. The game was 38-62. There was three minutes left, but the teams were pretty average. "This many people don't show up to the games in Akita."

"It's not this game they're here for." Himuro looked over to Kuroko after sitting down. They managed to find some empty seats. "It's the next game."

"Next game..? Who's playing?"

Kuroko ignored him as he stared blankly at the two teams playing their hardest until the end.

Finally Kuroko said, "Shūtoku and Tōō. Midorima-kun and Aomine-kun will be playing against each other."

Himuro caught sight of something in the corner of his eyes. "Hey Kuroko. Let's move over there." The sixth member didn't argue and followed when Himuro was already up and moving without a response. Kuroko didn't really mind but… He looked back to try and see what Himuro had seen. He couldn't be sure, but Kuroko knew he hadn't imagined it.

Sorry if I ever disappear for a few weeks-month on a story. I usually get distracted by something life throws me or something leisure. This time I read Hako no naka (In a Box) [and the other six related parts] which was translated by Nostalgia on 9th Avenue. I recommend it (It's online).