Sugar-coated Love (Kuroko no Basuke Fanfiction)

01: Marshmallows

Murasakibara Atsushi's POV

"Another boring day," I muttered to myself as I opened up my last pack of chips.

One by one, I savored each piece as I waited for Himuro outside the convenience store where he went inside to buy some food for me. We were already in Tokyo, on our way to the airport to meet his friend from Los Angeles, when I suddenly ran out of snacks again.

I watched the busy people passing by, and the cars, and the children---the same old scenery I would always see every single day.

Boring.

Nothing really triggered my interest now except basketball. And food.

"Oi, Atsushi."

I lazily turned to Himuro when I heard his voice behind me. I took the plastic of groceries from his hand, examining the things he bought for me.

"Thanks Muro-chin," I said without even glancing at him. But I went stiff when I saw a pack of marshmallows inside the bag. I turned to Himuro with a questioning look. He knew I didn't like marshmallows. It was the only thing I never wanted to eat.

He got the meaning of my stare. He shrugged his shoulders. "I forgot, sorry. And they ran out of chips too," he said but didn't sound apologetic at all, still wearing the usual pokerface.

I only gave him a blank stare before glancing at the pack of marshmallows in my hand. And as much as I didn't want it, memories came rushing back to me.

Bittersweet memories that I thought I'd long forgotten...

***

"Hi! Can I play with you?"

From the tea set above the table, she shifted her gaze into my face. Her eyes met mine. But instead of answering, she ignored me and continued what she was doing. She was having a tea party with her stuffed toys and barbie dolls. There were cups of tea and a big plate of cookies above the table. There was also a big bag of marshmallows at the side.

I hummed. What she was playing was really boring yet I would always see her play the game every single day. I only lived next door and I would always see her in front of that table together with her plush toys and tea set whenever I passed by here.

There were a lot of things to do aside from only sitting in here all day. I could teach her some fun and enjoyable games if she wanted me to.

Yeah. If she wanted to. Because from the looks of it, she didn't even want me here.

"It's rude to stare," she said all of a sudden without even looking at me. She still had that American accent but her voice was really kind of angelic and soft. This was the first time I heard it. We'd never talked before despite the fact that we were only neighbors and my parents and her grandfather were friends.

It was only a year prior when she came to live with her grandfather. I heard from my Mom that she was from America and that her parents were there too but were already divorced.

I stared at the skinny, pale girl in front of me. She was really aloof and she rarely goes out too. It's like their yard was the only available place she could play in the whole world. Her grandpa would drive her to get to school too, then picks her up after class. I've never actually seen her out on her own, not even once. She was like an overprotected princess. Her grandfather said that she was just the same age as me, but for a seven-year-old kid, she was too silent and lonesome. I wondered what's her problem.

"What's your name?" I asked, not moved.

I knew her name, but I wanted to hear it from her. I was really being friendly. I didn't know but she was kind of interesting.