Kuroko's Basketball: I'm not the boss?

Kise stood at the doorway, watching Hiyori admiring herself in the mirror, without saying a word, just standing there.

Without turning his head, Xiang Yang raised his hands, which were slightly damp, and tidied his hair: "Come in."

"Go in? You, do you think the bathroom is your home or your office...?"

Kise muttered a complaint to himself, but his body language betrayed him; as he entered the restroom, he closed the door behind him.

"Is there a problem?"

Xiang Yang asked the question knowingly, while inwardly calculating his next words.

[Today, right here, we must get to the bottom of this!]

At this moment, the two were once again in sync, and even their thoughts were remarkably aligned.

Kise spoke first: "I want to join the Chinese nation. Changing my nationality or anything else is not a problem!"

Xiangyang, who was still looking in the mirror at the sink, paused upon hearing this. He then took a few steps back, reflecting his entire body in the mirror.

"why."

Xiangyang straightened his clothes, his eyes still fixed on himself in the mirror. His words seemed to be a question, but his tone was very flat.

"Hey?"

Kise looked slightly taken aback. Why?

"Uh...because..."

"Because I went to China, you have to come too, and play ball with me?"

Before Kise could finish speaking, Xiangyang interrupted him. He looked in the mirror and saw Xiangyang, who had been focusing his gaze on him at some point, and swallowed hard.

Unbeknownst to them, Xiangyang once again took control of the conversation between the two.

"Um...we promised each other we'd play basketball together after graduation..."

Kise's tone weakened, but his eyes still held that stubbornness; he hadn't given up.

Seeing Kise's posture, Xiangyang pursed his lips slightly, swallowing back the words he was about to say.

To be honest, Xiangyang was somewhat moved. He had also imagined what it would be like if Kise really accompanied him to China!

They will shine on the international stage in the future, continuing the story of the twin stars and becoming a legend in basketball history.

Unfortunately... it's impossible.

"After I was indirectly eliminated by the Japanese Basketball Association, my feelings were very complicated. My basketball dream was shattered. For a kid like me, it's not something that can be laughed off."

Xiangyang took out the handkerchief Masako had given him from his pocket and slowly wiped the remaining water from his hands. As he walked towards Kise, he continued, "Just..."

When I was struggling with the decision of whether or not to give up basketball, the Chinese Basketball Association extended an olive branch to me.

"Ryota, do you know how I felt when someone suddenly told me, 'Let's go somewhere else, you can still play...' in that situation?"

Xiangyang walked up to Huangse, looked up and stared into his eyes. At that moment, Xiangyang's eyes were like a still lake.

Disregarded by the Japanese Basketball Association, he yearns to become a professional basketball player, and even seeks a breakthrough in his abilities as Yuki tries to catch up with him.

Xiangyang had many reasons to force him to join the Chinese, but Kise was different.

From beginning to end, all he wanted was to play basketball with Xiangyang.

"Have you discussed your thoughts with your family? Do you have any reasons why you want to go to China besides me?"

"Do you... have that determination, Ryota Kise?"

As he finished speaking, Xiang Yang spoke slowly and deliberately, his eyes remaining calm and unchanged.

He had made up his mind to accept that future without Kise.

……

……

"This tonkotsu ramen is still so delicious!"

"This is nothing! There's a ramen shop to the east that's always packed! And the taste is absolutely amazing!"

"Let's go try it together another day."

"Huh? Where's Ryota-senpai? Has he already gone home?"

At the entrance of the ramen shop, Yuki turned around and looked around, only to find that the boy who seemed to always live in the spotlight was gone.

With Masako's handbag slung over his shoulder, Xiangyang stood casually by the roadside, whistling softly.

……

……

"His aunt."

(I'm back.)

Kise pushed open the front door of his house, called out instinctively, and then took out slippers from the cabinet and sat on the stool by the door to change.

Before he could even take off his shoes, he heard hurried footsteps coming from the stairs in his house.

Have you eaten?

Huang Ma's hair was a little messy, and she was still wearing her pajamas, as if she had just lain down to go to sleep.

"Ah, I've already eaten. Mom, you can go to sleep. Don't worry about me."

Hearing Kise's answer, Kise's mother secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and the worry that had been hanging over her was finally put to rest.

"Honestly, even though I let you go out and hang out with your friends, I didn't make you come home this late! You didn't even tell me you weren't coming home for dinner tonight!"

His mother's familiar nagging voice passed by Kise's ears. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender and said helplessly, "Mom, I just forgot. Besides, I didn't get home that late today!"

After saying that, he gestured to the alarm clock on the table. The hour hand had just pointed to 9 o'clock. In the past, when he was chatting with his disheveled female friends in a hotel in Japan, he would get home much later!

However, Huang Ma wasn't having any of it. She turned the alarm clock upside down on the table and launched into another lecture for Kise.

Kise: ...

"Stop, stop, stop! Mom, I'm going back to my room to rest. You should rest early too!"

After saying that, Kise picked up his backpack and was about to rush back to his bedroom. Hearing the incessant chatter behind him, Kise sighed inwardly.

Honestly, she nags me like this every day. What if I'm not around anymore?

Who are you talking to with all this...?

Thinking of this, Kise suddenly paused, his hand that had just been on the doorknob also stopped.

He looked behind him at the figure slowly walking upstairs, and for a moment he felt something, his lips moved slightly.

"mom."

"What's wrong?"

Kise: ...

"It's okay, Mom, you should go to bed early."

squeak-

The sound of the door opening.

Kise leaned against the door, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

"Forget it, I'd better not tell my mother about wanting to change my nationality. She wouldn't understand anyway."

Kise scratched his head, a relieved smile on his face, took out his phone from his pocket, and took a deep breath.

"Beep—beep".

"Moses, Moses?"

Hearing the voice on the other end of the phone, Kise bit his lip and did not speak immediately.

On the other side, at Xiangyang's home

Xiangyang, who had just taken a shower and had a towel around his neck, couldn't help but feel puzzled when he heard no one answer the phone.

"Hello? Hello?"

Xiangyang tried calling twice more, thinking it was someone playing a prank, and was about to hang up when he heard a roar from the other end of the line.

"Little Xiangyang!!"

[Ryota?]

Xiangyang paused, remaining silent and waiting for Kise to continue.

"I've thought it through. You can go to China or anywhere else, it's up to you. But no matter where you go, I will defeat you head-on on the field!"

"As a member of the Japanese national team!"

"Hmm... I'll wait."

As the phone rang, Kise, panting heavily, tossed his phone aside and plopped down on the floor.

Hearing Huang Ma's anxious calls coming from outside the door, a hint of helplessness flashed across Huang Se's face.

[To build up momentum... I was too loud just now!]

With a sigh escaping his lips, Kise got up and opened the bedroom door. Looking at his mother, who looked worried, he began to explain.

"Without Mom, I'm not under a lot of pressure! I'm not sick, I just... I just had an emotional outburst! It's nothing, don't worry."

"??? How could that be? I'm not heartbroken, really nothing..."

……

……

Sunny Home

Xiang Yang, who was the first to hang up the phone, examined his phone with a slight smile on his lips.

On the sofa, Masako, who was half-reclining and watching TV, glanced at Xiangyang's expression and asked, "What's the good news?"

"It's not exactly a good thing, it's just that the kids in the family are growing up."

Xiangyang touched his nose, feeling a faint joy in his heart, and hummed a few tunes softly.