Spark | Kuroko no Basuke x OC

Driven to a Corner

At the start of the second half, both teams walked out and proceeded to get into position. Like Riko predicted, Kise was benched for his injured foot until Coach Takeuchi says otherwise. The third quarter will be their chance to score as many points before the miracle can be put back in. On the other hand, Kaijo seemed to notice that Seirin was also missing someone from their team—not a player, but rather their perky manager—and can only wonder why.

"Was it really a good idea to leave Okuma-chan back there?" Furihata asked as he sat on the bench with the rest of the team. The girl was taken by surprise after Murasakibara Keiko dropped the relationship bomb and was not in a state to carry on like normal.

"It might be worse if she was out here without some consolation first," Riko responded with a small frown as she thought back to the coy grin Murasakibara Keiko sported. "I am sort of worried, but Okuma-chan is with her brother, too, so it should be fine."

"I see..." Furihata nodded. "It was such a shock when they showed up. I wonder what they wanted Okuma-chan for."

"Me too," Kuroko chimed in softly, making the others turn to him.

While he kept a blank face, they thought it wasn't too difficult to know what the male was feeling in this case. They had found out long ago that he bore feelings for their manager and anytime something was amiss with her, it would cause Kuroko to become uneasy. It was perhaps even harder for him knowing that Tomoko was with Murasakibara, someone who he never got along with in the first place.

Poor Kuroko... they thought collectively.

Though, Kuroko blinked and wondered why he was receiving such sad looks from his teammates.

-----

Meanwhile, Tomoko felt like a deer in headlights. How could she not be when the news of her brother going out with a Murasakibara suddenly hit her? Despite being in different years, her brother was similar to her in that he never showed much romantic attention to the opposite sex. She of course didn't know that it was because he was always too busy trying to scare the boys around her away to pay attention to himself. Hayama truly was the only male species that he accepted near her.

Her silence and wide-eyed stare caused Murasakibara to waved a hand in front of her eyes, "Tomo-chin?"

"Was that too much?" Keiko wondered while Ichirou's face was contorted into a worried frown. Did she disapprove?

"Ichi-nii... I..." she finally started to say, causing everyone to regard her next words carefully. Her whole body shook and it scared the male a great deal until he saw how her eyes lit up with excitement. "I'm so happy for you!"

"Eh?! R-Really?"

Despite everyone looking relieved, Ichirou was muddled with confusion as he did not expect that kind of response. Actually, he had no idea what he was expecting. Tomoko only nodded with a grin as she looked back from Keiko to her brother.

"I knew you couldn't have disliked Mura-kun and his sister! Does this mean that you and Mura-kun are friends now?" she asked and turned to the impassive giant next to her and hugged him. "I'm so proud of you both!"

"Hmmm~"

"Your sister supports us," Keiko hummed along with a renewed expression. "How sweet!"

"W-Wait!" Ichirou panicked at how his sister was so casual about the entire ordeal. The point was that he was going out with Keiko, not that he suddenly grew a heart to tolerate the woman's brother! Shouldn't the girl have a different response than being glad that he was suddenly friends with the enemy he's trying to protect her from? "I still don't like the Murasakibaras!"