Dying Embers [Kuroko No Basket Fan Fiction]

Bathroom Encounters

                                                                            Teiko gym.

"How is the shooting practice going?" Shuiro asked the tall, green haired man beside her. Shuiro, Midorima and Murasakibara accompanied Akashi to the gym, where he believed Aomine was training. Shuiro had watched him multiple times before and refused to train him, he was blossoming without her help already, she felt no need to assist him.

Midorima looked down at her and pushed his glasses up with his taped left hand, while his right held onto his lucky item for the day. Shuiro eyes the cleaning spray-bottle and sighed; his supersticious horiscope thing was beginning to annoy her, "It's good. My arcs aren't high enough though." Midorima's voice was as stoic as usual.

Shuiro closed her eyes and smirked a bit, "I can help you with that tomorrow." Midorima nodded. He looked at the gym they were nearing, recognizing it as the rumored haunted gym that everyone was scared of training in. It was a silly assumption because in his opinion, ghosts weren't real.

Murasakibara shoved more of his food into his mouth and lazily gazed ahead of him. Sometimes Shuiro liked the fact she was short, especially when she was around Murasakibara. She was also rather grateful to his height as it was easier for him to score and gave him a reason to be placed into the first string. 

"Aomine," Akashi called as he entered the gym. "I thought I hadn't seen you around lately, but it seems you were here." 

When they entered the gym, the person Shuiro instantly questioned the phantom like man with strange ice blue haired man sweating beside Aomine, who looked rather happy yet tired himself. She liked seeing Aomine this happy, as she did with the rest of the first string. Though that made her wonder- why hadn't she noticed the stranger straight away?

Shuiro stared at the stranger, wondering why she couldn't sense him at all when he was standing directly in front of her. It was a mystery to her but something impacted Shuiro even more... His hair color was as unique as any other of the GoM so why hadn't she recognized him by his hair color? Perplexed, Shuiro stared at him with a blank expression. He was interesting, she had to admit. 

Shuiro felt a tingling sensation in her nose and her eyes widened the slightest and she turned, "I'll be leaving now." She said coolly, glancing over at her little brother, who looked like he wanted to talk to Kuroko. Shuiro understood him so she glanced at Murasakibara and Midorima, "Let's go. Akashi, don't take too long." Her little brother nodded, his gaze fixated on Kuroko. 

As they left, Aomine following along, Shuiro heard Akashi, "Can I ask you some questions?" Shuiro smiled lightly before the reason she left in the first place nudged her, and blood dripped from her nose. Instantly her hand reached up and blocked her nose. 

Shuiro tilted her head up and turned away, beginning to walk towards the girls bathroom. "I'll meet you guys at the gate." She said calmly before her pace picked up and when she was out of sight, she sprinted to the closest bathroom. Shuiro found the bathroom and rolled out as many paper towels as she could, pressing the to her nose before blowing, erasing the paper towel in the bin and repeat. It went on for a while and Shuiro wondered how much blood she was losing and with a quick glance, you could easily assume she was a vampire with her skin tone. 

"Damn," She murmured after washing her hands thoroughly. She was worried, yes, but she was only getting frequent nose bleeds and no other symptoms of ALL, "Hopefully it's just the flu." She groaned and slammed her hands on the bathroom sink, glaring at her reflection in the mirror. Her skin was near alabaster right now.

Suddenly Shuiro glanced at a certain bathroom stall in the mirror, watching as a shadow passed through the small gap in the stall. "Come out," She ordered, knowing the only business they had in that stall was to watch her. Slowly, and I mean slowly, the door swung open and revealed a tan, blonde girl with a prominent blush across her cheeks.

"A-A-Akashi-sama!" She squeaked, in constrast to her confident looks. Nasuko Amai, the timid, smart girl who sat next to Shuiro in class. She was infamous for her professional stutter. "A-Are you o-o-o-okay?" She stuttered timidly, glancing at the pile of red tissues in the bin. 

Shuiro narrowed her eyes out of instinct, feeling like she was going to be interrogated. "Is there a reason you're in the toilets so late, Nasuko?" She regarded coolly, wiping her nose subtly before glancing at the girl through the mirror, watching as Nasuko cowered under her gaze.

"W-Well, Akashi-sama, i-it's a l-little e-e-e-embarrassing!" Shuiro rose her eyebrow before she scanned Nasuko, eyes stopping when she noticed something. Shuiro closed her eyes, a humiliated blush crossing her face.

"I see, I'm sorry for invading." Shuiro could see the reason, the evidence subtle but there on the floor. Perhaps she missed? Whatever the reason, she hoped Nasuko would clean it up before another female saw it and freaked out.

 Nasuko's eyes widened and she looked down, bowing her head. "N-No! Y-y-you did n-nothing w-w-wrong!" Shuiro shrugged before she stood straight and turned around, regarding the timid girl in front of her. 

"I trust that this conversation and what you've seen wont leave your mouth, Nasuko?" The girl's eyes widened as she thought back to the scene she managed to catch a glimpse of through the door. "And god forbid you regard me as 'Akashi-sama' again. It's Akashi, that's all."

Nasuko stuttered and flinched so constantly in that conversation that it was like she expected Shuiro to lash out at her if she made a mistake. Shuiro assumed that was the kind of reputation she had, and she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about it. "I-I'm sorry for d-d-disturbing you, Akashi-senpai!" Shuiro sighed once more, "We're the same age, Nasuko. It would be inconsiderate of me to allow you to refer to me as your 'senpai'. Just 'Akashi' is all that's needed. Understood?" Nasuko nodded frightened. Shuiro nodded coolly before she washed her hands once more and went to leave.

"And I trust you wont repeat what has happened in here, right?" Nasuko gave another one of her terrified nods when Shuiro smiled sweetly. "That's good. It was nice meeting you," How fake could she get? Shuiro left the bathroom, looking around before she sighed in relief. She then walked towards the main building of Teiko. 

She began to think of what she would say to shake her little brother off of her back because god knows how clingy and protective the younger twin could get over his beloved older sister. She could always say that she had the flu, but he would've noticed it before she did if it were the truth. She wondered if she could just ask him to drop it, but she knew he wouldn't- Akashi wasn't the type of person to do things half-assed. 

How troublesome he was...