Spark | Kuroko no Basuke x OC

It's Not a Weakness

Tomoko scrunched her nose sheepishly. "Something like that, but not really..." she didn't want her friend to worry because she knew he would blow it out to be more serious than it was. "Are you done for the day?" she asked. There was no doubt that Rakuzan would win their second match anyway, but even the top teams had to be busy with training during the game season.

"Coach's got us on a tight schedule... But hey, why don't you come visit me?! We're gonna be practicing at the gym in our hotel and you can come watch!"

At her childhood friend's offer, Tomoko gave it a thought. She was going to be cooped up in the house all day otherwise. Plus, she was curious about what kind of people were on Rakuzan, Hayama and Akashi aside. This would be a great opportunity to gage what they were like and make her feel better about not being able to watch her team play.

With that in mind, she smiled brightly. "I'll be there soon!"

-----

"Welcome! Are you checking in?"

Tomoko was in awe. She thought the outside of the hotel looked grand enough, but the inside was even more pristine. It was to be expected, she supposed, since Rakuzan was a prestigious school and had a lot of funds in their basketball club to afford such a nice hotel. Focusing her attention back to the lady behind the front desk, she politely told her she was only visiting. Hayama had told her to wait in the lobby for him.

"Hime!"

She saw the male bound up to her after coming out from the emergency stairs. He had a slight glisten of sweat around his grinning face.

"Did you run all the way down from the stairs?"

Tomoko laughed when he nodded proudly. "The elevators were too slow!" he said, but then he leaned in close to her face, his own scrunched in concern at the square bandage behind her fringes.

"What happened to your forehead?!"

"I... Accidentally hit my head..."

"Really?" he looked like he didn't believe her, but she nodded and assured him that it didn't hurt that much anyway. "If I find out someone did this..." he mumbled lowly.

"What did you say, Ko-tan?" Tomoko asked when she didn't catch his last words. The blonde only shook his head and took her hand in his with a snaggle-toothed grin.

"Nothing! C'mon, let me show you the gym!"

Hayama led the bewildered girl up the hotel, this time using the elevator, until they reached the floor where the recreation area was located. When they stepped off the elevator, he showed her a giant court enclosed by half-length glass walls; Tomoko noticed that aside from the main gym, there was a closed-off personal training gym next to it as well. She saw many people in the court, practicing in rhythm.

"We booked the entire recreation area for the time being, so everyone you see here are from our team," Hayama explained as he opened the door, and the once muffled squeaks of shoes and patterned whistles came to life. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"You're late," a very tall and beautiful looking male walked up to the two childhood friends with his hands on his hips. His lips twisted down in a small frown at Hayama when the male didn't look too troubled by the tardiness. His bright teal eyes then fluttered towards Tomoko, "Who's this?"

"I'm Okuma Tomoko from Seirin High, nice to meet you!"

When Tomoko bowed slightly in greeting, Mibuchi chuckled and recognized who she was. "Ah, Kotarou-kun didn't mention you were such a darling!" he complimented her good manners and cheery exterior. When the blonde came back the day of the opening ceremony, he had rambled on about finding his childhood friend who was Seirin's manager without shutting up. Now he finally got to meet her. "I'm Mibuchi Reo," he winked at the girl. "Are you here to watch us practice? Scoping out competition?"