Spark | Kuroko no Basuke x OC

The Dragon

"Sowwy!"

The blonde haired boy, named Hayama Kotarou, 'hmph'ed as Tomoko lifted her small foot. He took the laces into his hands but struggled to tie it as the strings continued to slip out of the loop whenever he tried to knot it.

"Heh heh!"

Hayama heard the younger girl giggle and his face bloomed a bright red. "S-Stop laughing! I'm just messin' up right now 'cause my hand hurts from the fall..." he tried explaining as Tomoko crouched in front of him and took the laces out of his hands.

"The dragon goes unda the bridge... Through the loop," she started to sing, confusing the boy at first as she looped the two strings like bunny ears and crossing one under to tie them together. At the last step, she smiled brightly at Hayama before pulling the two strings tight. "And finally... into the castle! See!"

He looked at the girl's finished work. The knot wasn't perfect; in fact, one loop was bigger than the other... Although Hayama should have felt embarrassed by the fact that someone a year younger knew how to tie shoelaces better than he could (he really could do it if he concentrated really hard; he'd have to fault his mom for always tying his shoes for him and got him used to it), one look at the beaming girl's earnest face and he didn't care anymore and couldn't stay mad.

She was actually quite cute. With the flower crown and wind blowing gently at her pretty sundress, she looked like a...

Hime...

"There you are!"

A beautiful raven haired woman and another boy wearing his school's uniform rushed over towards the two with relieved faces. "Mama! Ichi-nii!" Tomoko squealed happily as she pulled at her brother's pants.

"You had me and your brother worried," Chiharu chided at Tomoko before glancing at Hayama. "Oh? Who's this?"

"I made a new friend! He's, um," the girl had to pause because she realized that she didn't know the first-grader's name.

"Hayama Kotarou!" Hayama said casually and the girl nodded, introducing him again to her mom with a 'It's Ko-tan!'. However, he had to take a step back when the taller boy next to Tomoko suddenly glared down at him with suspicion. Woah, why is he glaring at me...

"It's nice to meet you," Chiharu greeted the boy before looking at the clock. She grabbed both of her children's hands before giving Hayama the same radiant smile. "We have to head back now. Where do you live, Hayama-kun? Do you want to walk with us?"

"Ko-tan, Ko-tan! Come play at our house~ Mama's making a cake!"

He felt Tomoko's free hand tugging at his sleeve. Growing excited, he almost agreed but then his face wrinkled into a sour pout when he saw a familiar figure waiting besides a black car by the entrance.

Following his gaze towards the figure, Chiharu nodded in understanding. "Maybe next time, then. You're always welcome to come by our home. You'll see Ichirou around school, after all."

"We're on different floors so we won't see each other," Ichirou finally voiced out with the same matter-of-fact tone. "I don't wanna hangout with a snot-nosed little kid."

"You love playing with your five-year-old sister though," Chiharu laughed at the comment.

"Imouto-chan's different!"

Although Ichirou was undeniably spiteful towards him for some reason, Hayama found that the older boy was kind of cool with his offhandish demeanor and sharp gaze. He wanted to be friends with the older boy if it means that he'll get to hangout with both of the siblings.