Chapter Text
«Come with me,» she had called out when he turned around. «If you had loved her as much as you claimed, you wouldn't have fallen for me.» "Tetsu." He lingered. She had spoken out loud what had seemed "Tetsu." to be his greatest fear. He wanted to run, run away, and never "Tetsu." turn back. But for now he just left her there, standing in the "Tetsu." harbour while his feet took him to a quieter place. A place he needed to think. "Tetsu."
Tetsuya looked up and into his eyes. The other one immediately averted his gaze to stare back at his feet, slumping further down in his seat on the train which they were taking to get back home.
Ever since that game, things have slowly gone back to the way they were. The two of them were hanging out sometimes, warming up to talking about more than just superficial topics. More than just basketball and the Winter Cup. Tetsuya could tell it would take more time to go back to how things were before, but it would be worth it. He liked being around Aomine and he had treasured their friendship.
With a soft smile, Tetsuya watched the taller boy for another while. He couldn't see his face, but his posture and fidgety hands spoke more than words. Another four stops before they had to part. Tetsuya returned his attention back to his book.
"Tet-" - "You can tell me what is on your mind, Aomine-kun." He turned to the next page. "Although I do have an idea what this could be about."
The answer was a grumbling and another small slide down the seat.
Tetsuya couldn't suppress the growing smile any longer. "It must have been a while since the two of you had a one-on-one, so I can understand why you are anxious to ask."
In an instant Aomine froze in his seat before scoffing. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Tetsu."
"I will give Kagami-kun your number, so he can call you when he's free." He turned the page again. "There's a really nice streetball court quite close to where he lives. He surely would love to play against you."
Aomine snickered. "Why would I want to play that idiot?" The cocky smile was apparent in his voice. "Are you sure you're a good team mate, Tetsu? Seeing how much you want his ass to be beat and all? I think somebody should tell that coach of yours how much you want your own teammates to lose. I wouldn't have taken you for a sadist, Tetsu."
Amused, Tetsuya turned to look at the other one. With his head leaning on the back of his seat, Aomine stared up to him. His eyes filled with all the brightness and childish joy, that made Tetsuya suddenly feel very nostalgic. He inhaled into the tight spot in his chest, when Aomine bumped his shoulder into his side.
"Thanks, Tetsu." He mumbled, the corners of his lips twitching upwards.
Kuroko returned his attention back to his book, the warmth from the body by his side a welcome company.
~
It had been a normal Monday so far, although Tetsuya would have to admit that the lighter mood floating around the classroom was hard not to notice. Still, he was looking forward to practice after school, and when he finally got to put on his basketball shoes, something inside him felt complete again. He let Nigou out of his bag to linger outside the gymnasium, and let himself inside. Two steps was as far as he got, when suddenly someone grabbed him from behind and lifted him off the ground.
"I got him!" Kagami shouted, earning a 'good job' and thumbs up from Koganei.
Tetsuya was quite amused about being carried around like a doll. "What is this about, Kagami-kun?"
"We got bored, so we started a game of 'who can spot Kuroko first'. I won." He emphasized the latter by lifting him up some more until his head was pressed against the smaller one's shoulder blades. Instead of slowing down, he stepped up in speed.
"Is this something you play often?" Tetsuya asked with a grin as they passed Riko and Hyuuga who were busy studying papers that held their new training regimen.
"Nah, this was a first." Koganei answered. "The others are taking too long today, if you ask me. Hey, Tsucchi! Let's do a piggyback ride race against those two!!"
And indeed they did. Tetsuya switched positions to Kagami's back and both of the teams were chasing through the gymnasium until they were joined by Furihata carried by Kawahara. Riko did yell some 'Don't exhaust yourselves before training!', but those were elegantly ignored during an energetic round of piggyback tag.
Izuki was the last one to arrive, naturally greeting everyone with a 'Don't let yourself be carried away!', dissolving the piggyback group into groans. Hyuuga took the chance to scold their goofing around until Riko started practice.
"He's just mad that Kiyoshi-senpai wasn't around for him to join us." Kagami said during stretching which promptly earned him a slap to the back of his head. The rest of practice went rather uneventful.
"I still have to go grocery shopping. Want to join me for dinner?"
It was dark already and the two of them were walking from school towards the train station. Every once in a while, they had stopped to wait for Nigou who apparently had found something incredibly interesting by the sidewalk.
Tetsuya hummed in thought. "I think my mother works late today, so it should be okay. I will call her later and make sure she knows that I'm eating with you."
Kagami grinned brightly at that. "Sure! I can make an extra serving for your parents, too, if you want."
"If it doesn't trouble you too much, they would love that. Thank you." Tetsuya smiled before turning around to look after Nigou once again.
Staying at Kagami's had become more and more of a regular occurence. Sometimes they would just cook dinner together and eat, sometimes they played video games until Tetsuya's last train would arrive, and sometimes Kagami reluctantly let himself be helped with homework before a particularly hard exam. All in all they had become used to spending time together, even if it wasn't about basketball.
Tetsuya fastened Nigou's leash outside the convenience store. They entered and Kagami went straight for the vegetables. It was a picture Kuroko would never get used to, a huge teen trying to figure out which eggplant was the ripest, which potato wasn't too old or which spice would go best with the dish he had planned for the evening. Tetsuya suppressed a grin, before unzipping his jacket due to the warmth inside the store. The previous action didn't escape Kagami though.
"What's so funny?" He demanded in a mock angry tone. "Does this look funny to you?" He pressed a package of carrots against the smaller one's cheek. Tetsuya started laughing before he got caught in a headlock by the other one.
"Stop it, Kagami-kun!" He said in between his laughing fits. One more violent ruffle through his hair before the taller one let go of him. He put the vegetables into the shopping basket before picking it up from the ground. "You're in a good mood today." Tetsuya observed.
"I am?" The other one answered taking three packages of Curry out of the shelf.
"You must really like playing against Aomine-kun."
Kagami snorted. "What does that have to do with anything?"
Tetsuya expectantly stared at him before poking him in the ribs a couple of times. He had to make use of Kagami's newly discovered ticklish spots.
"Stop it! Stop it already!" He shouted in between doubling over from laughter. "Okay okay, we did play! Are you happy now?"
He indeed was.
"He came over yesterday, and we played a couple of times. He showed me this really cool trick where you" He took a stance and motioned his right hand to a shot. "So yeah." He took a can of coconut milk out of the shelf and pointed it at his company. "But that arrogant moron is not the reason why I'm in a good mood today, got it?"
"What is the reason then?"
Kagami stared into his basket in thought, counting something with his fingers. "Huh?" He turned back to Tetsuya, took his wallet out of his bag and strolled towards the cashier. "To be honest, I didn't even notice it until you said it."
Kuroko grinned and carefully hugged Kagami's side as if he was made of glass. "That is very sweet of you."
"Don't mock me, you stupid jerk!" Kagami answered flustered, softly pushing the other away to pay for the groceries.
~
"That is a very elegant dress, Momoi-san." Tetsuya noticed before taking another sip from his vanilla milkshake.
"Ah, thank you, Tetsu-kun!" She beamed in reply, proudly sitting up straight in her chair.
They had met for Fruity Thursday at a cake shop that Momoi was dying to try out. Now that Tetsuya was talking to Aomine more frequently again, it was only natural to spend some time with her as well. Although Tetsuya had to admit, that his start with Momoi was a bit awkward. He didn't really know what to say. Across from him Momoi was poking around in her strawberry cake, so the feeling seemed pretty mutual.
"Momoi-san, can I be honest with you?" The boy stopped stirring his shake with the straw and looked up into her eyes.
She was still toying around with her fork, and bit her lower lip before nodding.
"I'm… I'm sorry for what happened in Teiko. I didn't mean to hurt anyone's feelings."
Momoi let go of her lip and turned it into a soft smile. She picked up a piece of her cake. "Are you talking about me or Dai-chan?"
"I'm here with you, so I'm apologizing to you, not Aomine-kun. I still haven't found the right moment to tell him."
"Well, Tetsu-kun, you seem to be less patient with me, seeing how the two of us hang out less often than you and Dai-chan." She remarked before taking a bite from her fork.
Tetsuya looked down at his shake.
In response, he could only hear her soft giggling. "It's okay, Tetsu-kun. I'd rather have it like that. I missed talking to you."
"I missed talking to you, too, Momoi-san." He looked back up at her.
She smiled again. "You know, this year was really hard for me. Taking care of Dai-chan all the time, the new school, those incredibly rude upperclassmen." She sighed and propped her head on her hand. "I was happy about any familiar face I met."
Encouraging her to go on, he took another sip of vanilla flavor.
"And I missed having a friend to talk to, you know." She hid her face behind her hands, peeking between her fingers. "So I'm sorry if I was… a bit overwhelming towards you. I was so glad to see you that I guess something in my head just snapped. I didn't mean to come off so pushy."
Tetsuya smiled. "It's okay, Momoi-san. I didn't really mind."
This time she sighed in relief. "I'm glad to hear that."
She took some more bites of her cake in silence. This time a comfortable silence. Tetsuya let a finger run over the water that has gathered on the surface of his glass.
"He's been playing with Kagamin lately. He's still pretending to hate it, but I can tell when he's being theatrical." She took one of the strawberries off the icing. "I guess that is the result of your meddling?"
"You know just as well that these two need a push from the outside."
"Tetsu-kun, I hope you're not planning to be Dai-chan's personal matchmaker now. I don't want to attend his wedding that soon." She laughed.
"Momoi-san-" Tetsuya wanted to scold, but the huge grin betrayed him.
"No, I'm just…" She smiled down at her cake. "I think I've been babysitting him for long enough already." She put down her fork and pointed at Tetsuya. "I think I deserve to go in retirement now, don't you agree?"
Tetsuya stirred his shake. Maybe she was right. Maybe.
~
Slipping into his street shoes, Taiga looked up to Kuroko who was busy buttoning his coat. "So, how's your weekend?"
The other one hummed in thought. "I quite enjoyed it. I was glad to help my grandmother take care of my grandfather. He caught a bad cold." He picked up Nigou to put him into his bag. "How was yours, Kagami-kun?"
Scratching the back of his head he did wonder. Well, how was his weekend? "I guess it was okay, not much happened." He zipped up his jacket and was ready to go. "I played Aomine on Saturday and… oh! I finally mastered this cool character in Tekken. You have to come over, this time I'll kick your ass for sure!"
Kuroko gave him that piercing look that he always found weirdly uncomfortable. Taiga turned around to open the door, and the smaller one answered in passing. "I'll have to think about it. This week is rather busy for me." Taiga followed him outside on their way towards the train station.
"Oh okay…" He tried not to sound too disappointed. Judging Kuroko's worried look, he failed in doing so. "I'm fine! Don't look at me like that." He tried to play it off with a soft laugh.
"You must get really lonely on your own."
"I said I'm fine, don't worry about it, Kuroko." He turned towards him and grinned. It wasn't like this had been the first time he spent his weekend alone at home, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. But apparently his company had a different opinion on that matter.
The smaller one bumped his shoulder against him, before he turned and put his arms around his middle in a hug.
"Uhmm." That was definitely new.
Not quite knowing what to do, Taiga awkwardly patted the other one's back in return. Maybe he shouldn't have zipped up his jacket. It was awfully warm for a winter day. Even his face was.
"Kagami-kun." He looked down to Kuroko who had leaned his chin against the taller one's chest, looking up into his eyes. Kuroko had those icy blue eyes that sometimes made him think of warm beaches and hot sand underneath his feet. It was weird how when they locked eyes like this, Taiga couldn't bring himself to look away. As if his eyes were glued to his. And sometimes, like this time, they were paired with the warm smile that only he could produce on his face. In those moments it felt like time stopped running and everything was just fine.
"Kagami-kun." The taller one blinked himself out of his trance. "It's getting quite warm with your arms around me."
Taiga released Kuroko from their embrace and took a step back. He forcefully shoved his hands down his pockets, and without much thinking, hid his face beneath his coat's collar.
The rest of the way was passed in silence. Taiga tried to steal some glances at the other one. Kuroko's face still softened by his warm smile, his cheeks colored rosy from the cold. He never noticed how well winter suited the other one. That comfortable feeling of a warm blanket wrapped around him while snow flakes danced outside the window.
~
Her phone was already ringing when she let herself fall onto her bed. She looked outside her window, where the combination of street lamps and snow turned the darkness of the night into a low glow of yellow light.
"Kuroko Tetsuya speaking."
"Tetsu-kun! I hope I'm not interrupting you." She cheered while letting her toes poke into her blanket.
"Not at all, Momoi-san. Does your call mean you acquired the tickets?"
The girl groaned. "Tetsu-kun! That was supposed to be my surprise!"
On the other end of the line, the boy laughed softly. "I apologize, but I'm looking forward to it as much as you do. Thank you for getting them. I will pay you back when we meet next time, is that okay?"
"Sure. So what are you doing?"
"I finished homework and was about to continue reading my book."
"Is it really that good? What was its name again? 'The sparrow's song'?"
"Yes exactly. You're very good at remembering details."
Satsuki giggled at that.
"The story is about a man who falls in love with a foreigner, but his heart already belongs to a noblewoman. There are many twists that keep the story interesting, I should lend it to you. I'm sure you would love it."
"Oh, yes please, I'm getting really curious about it!" She turned to the side and stared at her unpacked bag.
"What about you? How was your day?"
The girl had to smile at the question before she dramatically sighed in exhaustion. "Club activities once again eat away all of my social life. I can't even spend five minutes of lunch break with the new friend I made until one of the upperclassmen from the basketball club asks me for another copy of the new training regimen. Why can't you boys look after your stuff more carefully?"
She heard soft laughter at the other end of the line.
"On top of that, Dai-chan acts like a diva. But at least he's attending practice regularly again, so I shouldn't complain." She sat up and yawned. "Spending time with you and Kagamin really lifts his spirits. Keep up the great work." She gave the wall across from her a thumbs up.
The other end of the line was silent for a while. Satsuki looked at her phone. Had her her battery run out again? No, that wasn't it.
"Tetsu-kun?"
"I'm sorry I got lost in my thoughts."
"Well, it's getting late. Better go to bed now."
"You're right, Momoi-san. I wish you a good night."
"Good night, Tetsu-kun."
Hanging up, Satsuki gave her phone one last look before she put it away on her nightstand. After switching off the light, she laid down on her bed again, pulling the blanket up to her face. She really liked the soft winter night sky.
~
Daiki was crouching down to ruffle through the fur on Nigou's head. The small dog whipped his head around trying to catch his hand but wasn't able to, so Daiki ruffled his head even harder. When he heard a whimper, he let go, letting Nigou jump up to him trying to lick his face. The boy had to laugh. He let his hands run through the dog's sides and put him down on all fours on the ground again. The dog looked panting up to him, Daiki imitated him by sticking his tongue out as well. "Can't get enough of me, huh?" He mumbled with a mocking grin. In response, Nigou barked, spinned around on his spot before lying down on his side. "Tch, spoiled brat." He started scratching the dog's belly until it was lying down on his back completely.
"Nigou is not spoiled, he just likes attention." Tetsu said taking a drink out of the vending machine, the only source of light in their proximity. "Much like someone else I know."
Daiki looked up to the other one who was smiling down at him. So what? Everyone liked a bit of attention. "You're one to talk, Tetsu." He picked up the dog and held him close to his own face. "Don't be so high and mighty and look down on us. Did you hear that, Nigou? He thinks he's better than us!"
In response Nigou just excitedly wiggled in his hands and licked him all over the side of his face.
Laughing, he let go of the dog and stood up again. He needed to watch his steps now with that ball of fur excitedly jumping around his legs. He looked back at Tetsu who took a sip of his newly acquired drink.
"So you and Kagami-kun are still playing together? He's always very excited after your matches."
"Ha! Of course that dumbass would be excited to get his ass beaten by the great me!"
In response Tetsu rolled his eyes with a huge grin.
"Just look at how excited Nigou is after having the honour of playing with me!" He couldn't resist and crouched down again to run his hands through the thick fur. The dog was more than happy about the extra treat.
Tetsu, on the other hand, was awfully quiet during this distraction. In the corner of his eyes, Daiki could only see his unmoving legs in front of him.
He sighed. "He's getting better, if that's what you're asking about. Maybe he's even able to reach a tie between the two of us by the end of high school." He stood up again and dusted off his pants. "Not that I'm planning on letting him win, though."
He looked back at Tetsu who was staring ahead lost in thought. Weird for him to space out like that.
Daiki cleared his throat which made the other one's eyes snap back to his. They stared at each other for a while. Daiki noticed how Tetsu was chewing on his lower lip. He almost felt like reaching out to him.
"There is something I've been meaning to tell you, Aomine-kun, but I couldn't really find the right words for it… or the right timing…"
Suddenly Daiki felt his heartbeat pick up in speed, he swallowed a huge knot that had somehow appeared in his throat.
After the brief silence, Tetsu broke eye contact. "I have been thinking a lot about middle school this past year. And I feel like I owe you an apology."
The taller boy let out a breath that he hadn't noticed he was holding.
"I haven't been a good friend to you, when you needed me most. I have come to realize that. You've always done so much for me, yet I didn't know what to do when it was my time to be there for you. I didn't want any of this to happen, yet I stood by and watched you being hurt. I'm sorry. I know an apology won't make what happened undone, but I feel like I need to tell you this. The least I can do is to tell you how sorry I am. So here it is. I am sorry for what happened, Aomine-kun."
Daiki stared at the smaller figure. Someone had pulled the rug from under his feet.
"I hope you can forgive me, or at least accept my apology." Tetsu looked back up into his eyes. "I will try my best to be a better friend to you from now on."
His body has moved on its own when he put his arms around Tetsu and pressed him against his chest. His eyes stung. Tetsu carefully wrapped his own small arms around his middle. His hair was soft under the taller one's mouth and Daiki didn't think too much when he closed his eyes and pressed a kiss on the other one's head.
They stood like that for a while that felt like an eternity. Daiki wouldn't have minded if it really turned out to be an eternity. The other one's warmth felt so soothing in the winter night.
He felt one of the hands on his back move, felt how the other one tried to wiggle free from their embrace. He groaned at the movement.
When he opened his eyes, light blue was staring back at him. Smiling softly. Yes, he could forgive those eyes. He would. He would follow these eyes to the other end of the world if he had to.
A cool hand touched his cheek, Daiki leaned against it. A thumb wiped the wet spot under his eye. The other one's smile still lingered. Daiki couldn't help himself and smiled as well. He slowly leaned down, like a piece of metal that was being pulled towards a magnet. He felt warm breath tingling his skin before he closed his eyes and let soft lips touch his own.
None of them knew exactly what to do. He felt the other one experimentally nipping on his lower lip. He mirrored the action. He felt the other one's tongue timidly touch his lip, before he relaxed and let him take the lead. Daiki couldn't remember the last time anything felt as good as this. He could feel warmth spread inside his chest, like warm tea after a particularly cold winter day.
The hand on his cheek moved upwards and softly ran over his temple, the kiss went back to soft touches of lips. He felt Tetsu's growing smile, and after one last kiss, the hand moved down until a thumb touched the corner of his lip. He carefully opened his eyes, hoping the other one wouldn't disappear when he returned to the outside world.
Tetsu smiled at him, his cheeks rosy and his breathing fast. He let out a small giggle, burying his face against his chest. The arms around Daiki tightened.
He could have stayed like this forever.