insouciant || ON HIATUS

ℂℍ𝔸ℙ𝕋𝔼ℝ 𝟝𝟡

"What the hell?!"

"Murasakibara!"

Mamoru dangled in the air, large hands under his armpits like he was the lion cub from that one lion cartoon. He blinked, baffled, and stared at the ball in his hands.

"Hi, Moru-chin." Murasakibara set him down, though he practically draped himself over the smaller boy as he held a half-eaten box of chocorooms in front of him.

Oh, well, he did like chocolate. Mamoru accepted his silent invitation and nibbled on the chocolate cap, remembering when his grandmother had given him and Maiko a bag from the nearest Japanese store.

Murasakibara looked at the surprised players and the referee. "Sorry, but could you wait a minute?"

"You're late, Atsushi," Tatsuya scolded him like a disgruntled mother hen, looking faintly irritated.

"Sorry," Murasakibara droned, not looking sorry at all, as he pulled out a handful of chocorooms and chomped down on it. He lowered the box in front of Mamoru again, though there were only a few left. Mamoru took another two. "I got lost."

"It's been a while, Murasakibara-kun." Kuroko murmured, blue eyes strangely steely.

"Oh, Moru-chin and Kuro-chin," the tall teen drawled. He looked down at Mamoru as the white-haired boy looked up. "Did you bring snacks?"

"I did not."

Murasakibara let out a sigh as he straightened up. His eyes fell on Kuroko, who was still toeing the line of a scowl. "You're as serious as ever."

His tone dropped dangerously.

"You look so serious, I really just want to crush you." A nasty grin slipped on his face, sadistic tendencies showing through. He left Mamoru to stand directly in front of Kuroko.

His hand covered the top of Kuroko's head like he would crush his head right there. Mamoru tensed, though he knew Murasakiabara lacked the motivation to actually go through with it. His thoughts proved correct as the giant simply ruffled Kuroko's hair. "Just kidding."

Kuroko let out an aggrieved noise, irritated at the unprompted contact. His hand slapped Murasakibara's hand away. "Please don't do that."

"Oh? Are you mad? I'm sorry." Murasakibara straightened up to smirk, obviously not contrite at all.

"Murasakibara-kun, please stop antagonizing my teammate." Mamoru slipped in front of Kuroko, staring him in the eyes as best as he could.

"I thought you weren't coming," Tatsuya piped up, glancing at Mamoru. He wasn't sure if Tatsuya jumped in for his own curiosity or to help Mamoru. Either way, he was thankful.

"Actually, it's your fault for changing the meeting place at the last second," Murasakibara sighed. Mamoru tucked the basketball under his arm as Murasakibara leaned over Mamoru once more like a human blanket. His other hand reached into the plastic bag of snacks to pull out a bag of potato chips. "I only came because you said you wanted to go sightseeing around Tokyo. But you're just playing street basketball."

"Sorry, sorry." Tatsuya chuckled. "They were supposed to be down a player, but I saw Mamoru and thought it'd be fun."

"Wait." One of Kuroko's teammates from Seirin piped up. "Didn't Yosen play in Inter-High? Doesn't that mean he played too?"

"No, I didn't play," Murasakibara sighed, chewing through three chips at a time. At the sound of disbelief, he licked his fingers as he answered, "I mean, the only reason I didn't play was because Aka–chin told me not to."