Won't Bring Me Down (Kise X Reader)

"Look at her."

"Yeah, she thinks that she's pretty."

"Ha! She's pretty alright. As pretty as the sole of my right shoe!"

A group of girls laughed as you entered the classroom. You sighed as you continued to your seat. Today was going to be another long day.

"Don't listen to them... Don't listen to them...", you silently muttered to yourself.

"Hey. She's talking to herself again!", a high-pitched voice whispered in a shout-like way. Or was it a shout in a whisper-y way? All you know was they were trying so hard to make you hear them. "What a freak!"

Cue the laughs. You impatiently looked at your watch. There were 10 minutes left before class started. You wished that you didn't go to school early.

--~•○●○•□•○●○•~--

*RIIIIIING*

It was finally recess. Letting out a sigh of relief, you hurried to your boyfriend's classroom. The thought of him made you smile. Alas, the hurtful totally-not-whispers continued even outside the classroom, but now's not the time to think about them.

Upon arriving at the door, you leaned on the wall next to it.

Your classmates never bothered to notice you. They probably didn't know you existed until that day... The day your relationship with your boyfriend became public. He was a famous model, the ace of Kaijo High's basketball team. It was no surprise that he was the school heartthrob. Meanwhile, you're an average student, with average grades, and with an average skill set. Not forgetting to mention your average looks, of course. Average everything. No wonder his fangirls couldn't accept you.

"____-cchi!"

"Aah!", you squeaked out. You staggered backwards in surprise. "R-Ryouta! You surprised me."

He chuckled. "You were expecting me, right?", he held out his hand.

You put your hand in his and nodded. "I was. I just got a little distracted."

The two of you started to walk away from his classroom. "You sure that's all?"

You gave him a small smile and nodded again.

"Phew...", he mockingly wiped away an invisible sweatdrop while looking at you. "I thought someone made my girl cry again."

Although you were quite broken right now, you couldn't help but smile when you're with him. "What would you do if someone did?"

He connected his fist with his other open hand. "Beat them up!"

You laughed. "You'll get in trouble!"

He slowly dropped his hands. "You're right... Would be bad rep."

"So, I guess I shouldn't tell you when someone makes me cry."

He protested. "Eh? I have the right to know!"

"Even if you do know, what will you do?", you looked at him with a blank expression.

He didn't reply immediately. You continued to walk up the stairs that led to the rooftop. When the two of you reached your destination, you put your arms on the railing. He did the same.

"I don't know...", he finally answered. "But I would make sure that I would be there to make you laugh."

You looked surprised for a moment, but eventually it melted into a smile. "Thank you."

The two of you chatted about various things; his grades, his next match, your plans for the upcoming weekend, and other random things.

"Ah... ____-cchi?", he suddenly said.

You tilted your head to one side. "Yes?"

"I have stuff to do at lunch so don't wait for me."

Your face fell. Ever since that day, you dreaded the times when his fangirls might catch you alone. Kise didn't know about your situation, since you didn't want to worry him. You were content with his presence. He made you feel safe.

"Is that okay with you?", he had a worried look on his face.

"Mm-hmm."

He suddenly held both of your hands with his hands. "Are you mad? I'm really sorry! I need to do this... but if you don't want me to, I won't go."

You laughed, half-faked. "It's alright! Do what you need to do. Don't worry about me."

"..."

"Really!", you kept on laughing. He was so adorable sometimes.

"...Alright then.", he pouted, but his face brightened up in an instant. "Are you free later? Let's hang out! That way, I can make it up to you."

"I'm free but...", you started to say. "Don't you have basketball practice?"

It was his turn to laugh. "I'll deal with that."

"Captain Kasamatsu might beat you up again..."

He continued laughing, but it didn't feel right. You looked at him suspiciously.

"H-Hahaha! Let's go.", he gently pushed you towards the door. "The first bell is about to ring."

--~•○●○•□•○●○•~--

"Ugh...", you groaned in your seat as the lunch bell rang. "I better hide myself and quick."

You got off your seat as the jealous glares pierced through you. Happy to be out of that classroom, you decided to eat your packed lunch outside. You kept walking until you reached the back of the school building.

"This should be the perfect spot, considering no one comes here."

You sat down on the ground, your head against the wall. You wished you brought a picnic blanket as you squirmed at the idea of sitting on rocky soil.

"This will have to do.", sighing, you pulled out your lunch from your bag.

You were eating in peace until you heard familiar voices and annoying laughter.

"Oh no.", you thought to yourself. You packed up your things hurriedly and fled to the side of the building opposite from the source of the sound. You were about to turn to the corner, until...

"Oh look who's here!"

"Crap."

You turned around to face the group of girls. "Hello Himeko.", you weakly muttered.

She laughed mockingly. "Did you hear that, girls? Or is there a bug somewhere?"

One of her friends replied, "There must be! I can hear something annoying."

"Yeah, me too. I hear many annoying things."

"What do normal people do to bugs?", she smirked at you as she asked that question to her posse. "We squash them."

Cue the laughter.

"Why bother answering your own question?", your brows furrowed. You couldn't stand them anymore.

They went nearer, and surrounded you. You were trapped.

"Listen here, Ms. I'm-So-Pretty!", she reprimanded with venom laced in her words.

"Is it just me, or do you look like a snake?", you spat. "Because you act like one too."

She looked shocked, her mouth wide open. She looked funny.

Suddenly, one of her friends grabbed your hair. "Watch what you say to the Kise Ryouta Fanclub President!"

"Make me!", you growled. "Also, that's a stupid title!"

With a sudden movement, you felt your left cheek sting. How dare she-- She slapped you!

"Listen here, girly!", she continued her previous sentence. She changed the endearment though. "Kise Ryouta and you don't match!"

"And you do?", as you thought of that, you scoffed.

"You're clearly not his type.", she continued.

"You think you are?", you interjected with a weak glare.

"Of course! He wants girls who won't bring him down.", she smiled triumphantly. "And I definitely won't. What about you? I heard he's skipping basketball practice because of you."

You weren't able to make a comeback. She was right. Your Ryouta has been skipping his practices and his photo shoots because of you.

"Heh.", the snake smirked. "Let's go girls. I think we've squashed her enough."

--~•○●○•□•○●○•~--

School was over. You were sitting quietly on one of the school's benches.

"Should I wait for him? Or should I go home?", you thought out loud.

Kise has been sacrificing a lot for you lately. You didn't want him to. He had a bright future ahead of him, and you didn't want to be an obstacle.

In the end, you decided to text him to cancel the date.

"____-cchi!", you heard someone shout. You knew it was your boyfriend because he's the only one attaches ridiculous suffixes to people he respects.

For the first time, you weren't happy to hear that familiar voice. You turned away and proceeded to walk towards the school gate.

"____-cchi...", you heard someone softly say as that person put his hand on your shoulder.

You stopped walking.

"Are you mad at me?", he asked. "Sorry I took too long!"

You poked his cheek. Judging by him wincing, you knew he took too long because he had to ask the captain of the basketball team to let him skip this practice.

"You didn't have to do that.", you looked at him. "Now you have to practice twice as hard tomorrow."

He took your hand and laughed. "You're worth it."

"Honestly...", you sighed and let him lead you.

Soon, you reached a cafe. It was your favorite one. They served really delicious parfaits here. Additionally, this was where you and your boyfriend had your first date.

"This place, huh.", you said idly.

"Yep!", he cheerfully replied as he opened the door for you. "After you."

"Where's your disguise?", you asked as you entered.

The two of you sat down when you found an unoccupied table. "Don't need one. They know that I have a girlfriend now."

"Right...", you silently replied as you watched the waitress approach your table.

He told the waitress your orders. The waitress was fidgeting. She kept on tucking her hair behind an ear.

"Right... Are you sure they know?", you glared at him.

Your orders arrived. That was the only time you started talking.

"Can you believe it? Kurokocchi managed to--"

"Ryouta.", you interrupted his talk about his former teammate.

"Y-Yes?"

"Do you love your modelling job and basketball?"

He blinked a few times and then answered, "My job as model? My sisters made me do it. It's not that I don't like it. I do like it. The people I work with are terrific and fun to be with."

"And then?", motioning him to continue.

"Do I love basketball? Yeah! It's really fun and I don't really know how to describe it. There's just the feeling of adrenaline in every play. The feeling of triumph whenever I get a basket. And then there's always someone better... Because of those people, you get inspired to improve yourself. Then there's also--"

"Then stop skipping your shoots and your practices because of me!", your voice was strained and unintentionally loud. Hot tears rolled down your cheeks.

He stared at you with his mouth slightly open, frozen with surprise.

"Stop sacrificing the stuff you love because of me!", you continued.

He closed his mouth and smiled. He moved to the seat next to you and hugged you. "It's just that I don't want to sacrifice my time with someone I love more than basketball."

"I thought you hated girls who bring you down?", you weakly asked him.

"Who said you bring me down?", you felt him smile.






"If anything, you lift me up."


--~•○●○•□•○●○•~-- Extended Ending --~•○●○•□•○●○•~--

Kise stopped sacrificing his photo shoots and his practices. Instead, he brought you to his workplace and to practice. Knowing that basketball made him happy, made you happy as well.

The girls from the Kise Ryouta Fanclub apologized and asked to be your friend. You replied with an "I'll think about it." and with a triumphant smirk.

"Ryouta, what did you do to them?"

"Nothing, really. I just told them to stop hurting my girl."

Also, you never kept the people who made you cry a secret from him. True to his word, he was always there to make you laugh.