insouciant || ON HIATUS

𝕎𝕀ℕ𝕋𝔼ℝ ℂ𝕌ℙ (𝕊𝔼𝕀ℝ𝕀ℕ 𝕍𝕊 ℝ𝔸𝕂𝕌ℤ𝔸ℕ)

Even with the scarf Kuroko gave him a few winters ago, he still feels the biting chill.

It's a few hours before Kuroko's game against Rakuzan begins, but he feels the nerves already. Mamoru stares at the basketball court wistfully. If he tries hard enough, he can imagine the phantom bodies of their Teiko selves on the court. He can't clearly imagine himself there, but as long as he can see the others' faces, he's alright with that.

Earlier, Kuroko had sent him a text. Simple and polite, like he always is.

Kuroko: When Seirin wins, I'd like you to call me by my name. I think the others would like that too.

He said "when", not "if". His determination is admirable. He hasn't changed much since the first day they met. The sun's setting now, sinking into the horizon and washing the surroundings in amber.

"Oh? Moru-chin?"

Mamoru blinks out of his thoughts, surprised to see Murasakibara and Tatsuya walking towards them with their team. As usual, Muraksaibara's snacking on something.

"Mamoru!" Tatsuya's face brightens as he scampers forward. He comes close, leaning towards him. It's such a Tatsuya thing to do, that he finds he doesn't mind the close proximity. "Did you want to play?"

He states the obvious fact first. "There's no ball."

Before Tatsuya can suggest something, Murasakibara pipes up. "I don't wanna play basketball. We're already gonna watch basketball later." He rattles his bag of chips with a morose look and throws away the cleaned-out bag. He procures another one from who-knows-where and hands it over.

Like clockwork, Mamoru wordlessly pops the bag open and hands it back. As usual, Murasakibara shakes the bag towards him, offering. It happens to be honey butter chips, so he can't help but accept.

Tatsuya watches their exchange with a brilliant smile. "You two are so cute, you know that?"

"Eh?"

"It's not cute at all," Mamoru protests lightly, dusting his fingers off. He finds Murasakibara slightly childish and it's a bit of a pet peeve, but it's not like no one has a pet peeve. Mamoru still cares for him as a brother, but he's not his favorite person. He would like to say he doesn't play favorites, but he really does have a favorite.

Tatsuya chuckles like he doesn't believe it, but he drops it. "Are you going to watch Seirin's game tonight?"

"Of course," he answers without dropping a beat. It's impressive how far Seirin's gotten, beating almost every member of the Miracles. To beat Seijuro, it means more than anything else.

"We should go together then," Tatsuya exclaims. He looks at Murasakibara, grinning. "Right, Atsushi?"

Murasakibara, in a rare moment of agreement, nods. "Let's hurry up."

Mamoru falls in line with the giant and his childhood friend. It feels strange to have two people from two different times be with him here, but he's not complaining. For the most part, Yosen keeps to themselves. They introduce themselves briefly, but he's relieved they don't include him within their little conversation. He doesn't have the mental capacity to learn about three stranger's lives.

Murasakibara offers him more chips, which raises some eyebrows from them, but he's learned to ignore them by now. "Thank you, Murasakibara-kun."

Murasakibara clicks his tongue irritably. "You call Aka-chin by his given name."

"Yes?" Mamoru's brows furrow together with some confusion. "He told me to."

"You should call 'Atsushi' then," he demands petulantly. Someone in the team trips on something.